An Ling spent the entire afternoon with her eyes glued to the trading module.
With nine keys currently in her possession, her goal was to obtain at least nine locked wooden chests. Of course, the more of those things she could get, the better. Even if she couldn’t open them all now, she could always save them for later.
Outside the wooden house, the storm continued to howl fiercely. As the sky grew darker, however, the intensity of the rain began to subside. At 6:00 PM, the rain stopped completely.
Sunlight began to pierce through the dense, dark clouds on the horizon, creating holes of light that grew larger and larger until a brilliant rainbow appeared. An Ling stepped out onto the island, her feet treading on the damp ground. She looked toward the distant sunset and took a deep breath of the fresh air.
Being on a small island surrounded by the sea was already suffocating enough; the prolonged torrential rain had only added an inexplicable layer of gloom to her mood. Now, the sky had finally cleared.
Unfortunately, it was no longer possible to fish for resources today. She would have to wait until tomorrow.
Most of her afternoon had been spent resting, but she had managed to trade food for twelve locked wooden chests. In this place, food was the only true hard currency. Having just endured a massive rainstorm, the survivors wouldn’t be lacking freshwater for a while. There was no air pollution here, and since the rain came from ocean evaporation, the water should be quite clean.
‘Should I go with Double Blessings or Great Fortune?’ An Ling sat inside the wooden house, wondering if she should open all the boxes now.
Great Fortune would certainly bring good luck, but Double Blessings could double the dropped cards. Since both had their own merits, An Ling decided to open half of them for now. After all, there were still two days left; she might not even get the Great Fortune blessing tomorrow.
Of the nine keys, she would use four first.
**[Obtained Item Card x1 * 2, Enhancement Card x1 * 2, Building Card x1 * 2, Mineral Water x3 * 2, Ham Sausage x3 * 2, Gauze x5 * 2, Plastic x5 * 2, Rope x6 * 2.]**
An Ling was delighted and quickly picked up the cards. However, when she saw the identical patterns on them, her expression suddenly stiffened. ‘I forgot… the contents of these cards are fixed.’
If they were all Upgrade Cards or Enhancement Cards, it would be fine, but the specific items within Item Cards and Building Cards were determined the moment the chest was opened.
**[Warning Flag Item Card: The stronger the wind and waves, the louder the bell rings! Can predict the weather in advance.]**
Well, she now had two of these, and having an extra one was completely useless.
**[Greenhouse Building Card: For professional growers! Allows the island soil to be cultivated. Consume building cards of the same type to expand the area. Initial area: 4*4. Materials required: 40 Yellow Soil. Points Gained: 3.]**
‘So, in simple terms, this is just a miniature version of a greenhouse?’
An Ling looked at the size of her island. The wooden house and the shower stall were located right in the center, meaning there was no way to fit this greenhouse.
“The area is still too small,” she muttered.
These two cards were definitely useful, but she couldn’t build them at the moment. She could only temporarily store them in a chest. As for the Enhancement Cards, they were versatile; there were simply too many places where they could be used.
After using one Item Card, a small black triangular flag appeared in the wooden house. It had no pattern, and its length was equal to the width of the wooden door. The flagpole was about two meters high, with a rope tied to the bottom from which a single bell hung.
No matter how she looked at it, the item seemed ordinary. An Ling couldn’t see anything special about it. Moreover, it wasn’t exactly small, making it impossible to carry around.
After studying it for a while, she discovered that the item could be integrated with her wooden house. The flag would fly at the very top, while the bell hung inside the room. This way, it could provide a basic early warning effect—though she didn’t know how much lead time it would give.
‘In that case, isn’t it actually perfect that I have two?’ An Ling stepped out of the wooden house in the dark and tried to combine the second flag with the wooden boat. Sure enough, the combination was successful.
After all, the wooden boat and the island shared similar functions. Now that the boat also had an early warning capability, she wouldn’t have to fear being suddenly caught in bad weather while exploring resource islands.
Her luck was good this time; the two identical cards both turned out to be useful. Just a moment ago, An Ling had even been thinking about how to trade the extra card away.
Returning to the wooden house, she began preparing dinner. The fifth day was fast approaching, and she had to seize every moment to develop.
‘I’ll just eat something simple tonight. Anyway, the chests can preserve food permanently now.’ An Ling picked through her food supplies.
With the Food Chest, she had changed her previous mindset. Now, she simply ate whatever she craved. Sealed food was also very important; it was a mandatory resource for when she eventually went ashore. For dinner tonight: canned beef, a braised chicken leg, and a box of self-heating rice.
After satisfying her hunger and resting for a bit, An Ling prepared for bed. As for the two Enhancement Cards, she hadn’t decided how to use them yet. With her island landing approaching, she had to consider her options carefully.
She had thought about enhancing the pistol, but that wouldn’t change the number of bullets. Its current power was perfectly sufficient, so using a card there would be a waste. If it could replenish the ammunition, she would at least wait until she had exhausted her current supply before enhancing it.
As for the wooden bed, the oars, the wooden boat, or even the pickaxe and axe, all were items that currently needed enhancing. It was a bit troublesome, so she decided to wait until the need arose before using the cards. For now, she would keep them in her hand.
The night passed without incident.
The next morning, the rising sun dyed the seawater gold, and a sliver of warm sunlight shone into the wooden house. An Ling opened her eyes groggily and began to get out of bed.
Her points had naturally increased by 2 today. Adding that to her previous 8 points made exactly 10 points. The island area expanded by another one square meter, reaching 28 square meters.
This was already equivalent to a standard bedroom, yet An Ling had to arrange everything she needed in an orderly fashion within this limited space. For breakfast, she had a cup of coffee and a pack of toast.
After finishing her meal, she looked down at her pendant and reached out to turn it, beginning today’s blessing.
A golden hammer pattern appeared!
‘This is the last type of blessing!’ An Ling quickly checked the information.
**[Obtained Blessing Amulet Buff: Heavenly Fortune. Triggers a random quality upgrade when building. Golden Legend, you deserve it!]**
**[Remaining Time: 18 hours, 23 minutes, 45 seconds]**
‘Building? Does that mean the things I make will receive a random quality upgrade?’
This wasn’t hard for An Ling to understand. The only problem was that everything she had encountered so far was white grade—the lowest of the low. Where was she supposed to find something to upgrade?
‘Maybe I should try making a flint pickaxe and see what happens?’