He Ni’s heart raced with excitement, but when replying to Xiao Mogu, she quickly regained her composure:【How are you trading that sunshade? Do you want to exchange it for coconut water or coconut meat?】
Xiao Mogu’s reply was prompt, clearly prepared:【I know both coconut water and coconut meat are valuable, but making this sunshade wasn’t easy. It required rare materials, a lot of time, and physical effort. Right now, I’m the only player who has one, so I’m not going to sell it cheap.】
【Just gathering the umbrella fabric took a lot of effort. I want to trade this sunshade for 3 whole coconuts. You can think it over.】
He Ni unusually didn’t haggle immediately.
Xiao Mogu’s words revealed a lot, showing he truly intended to make a fair trade.
But three coconuts was really expensive—even if she could afford it, it would leave her nearly bankrupt.
After a moment’s thought, He Ni replied honestly:【I do think your sunshade looks very valuable. But before anyone grows vegetables or fruits, my coconuts are also quite valuable. Three coconuts is a bit too high; I can’t afford that, but I sincerely want to trade with you.】
【I can offer 2 whole coconuts for it. Let’s add each other as friends. If you want more coconuts later, I’ll give you priority in trading. How about that?】
It seemed very likely that Xiao Mogu had acquired the sunshade’s Zhi Zuo Tu Zhi.
Though she didn’t know how the blueprint was obtained, players with it were as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns.
These top-tier players had the best strength and luck; maybe tomorrow they’d get more blueprints.
Better to add him as a friend now; they might become steady resource exchange partners later.
Xiao Mogu didn’t reply immediately this time.
After a few more trades of coconut meat and coconut water, He Ni finally saw his message: “Alright.”
He didn’t haggle further.
The straightforward, sincere feel improved He Ni’s impression of him.
Her backpack now held only 3 whole coconuts.
When she pressed the confirmation seal for the trade, her 3 coconuts became just 1, replaced by a spinning floral sunshade:
【Obtained Sunshade x1】
There was no critical hit at this crucial moment, and He Ni couldn’t help but “hiss” inwardly.
If that trade had crit, how many good things could she have exchanged it for next!
But that regret quickly faded.
She took the sunshade and opened it above her head, instantly feeling a cool shade envelop her.
The “-70% negative effect from scorching sun” was no joke.
The intense heat was greatly reduced, though the sea breeze still felt hot.
The sensation was strange—like suddenly opening the door from a scorching summer afternoon into an air-conditioned room, your whole body feels comfortable except the hot wind blowing from outside.
It was still hot, but much more bearable.
The only downside was that it was a bit tricky to operate; she had to free a hand just to hold the sunshade.
He Ni scratched her head, fiddled with the fish bone umbrella handle for a while, and finally clipped it tightly onto the collar of her clothes, wedging it between her shoulder and neck, barely freeing both hands.
She exhaled deeply and sat down on the wood raft, quickly organizing her supplies.
There were already 54 units of wood.
At this rate, it wouldn’t take long to gather enough materials to upgrade the raft.
But she had to wait until June 4th after the modification before upgrading.
Perhaps by then, the level 2 wood raft could be modified again; after double upgrades, her raft’s functionality would definitely overshadow other players’.
After several trades, she had roughly 7 liters of drinking water—a little tight, but enough for a few days if rationed.
Food was no longer a worry; with the bountiful harvest, fish prices kept dropping.
Now with the sunshade, the threat from the blazing sun was halved.
With the three great dangers of thirst, hunger, and sunstroke lifted, He Ni felt a wave of relief.
Next on her list were fire and weapons.
She turned back to check messages from Bu Chi Xiang Cai.
After more than half an hour, he had voluntarily lowered the price into her acceptable range:【Bu Chi Xiang Cai: Forget it, I won’t insist on a whole coconut. They’re consumables anyway. How about this: you give me 500ml of coconut water and 500g of coconut meat, and we’re done. If you want to buy Jiao You Huo Ba from me later, I’ll give you a discount. Deal?】
【He Ni: Sorry, I don’t have that much. Thousands of players are snatching up my coconuts; only 280ml of coconut water and a piece of coconut meat are left, about 250g. Want it? If not, I’ll sell to someone else.】
【He Ni: Or next time. When I get more coconuts, we can trade again.】
She could play the market too—using the classic seller pressure and scarcity marketing tactics.
Sure enough, once she said that, Bu Chi Xiang Cai got anxious immediately:【Are you serious? That’s all? I messaged you early, with plenty of sincerity.】
【I’m impressed. Your price is ridiculous! This is a special torch! Making one isn’t easy! You’re bad for business.】
【Fine, I won’t argue. I’ll take a small loss and trade once. But next time, priority’s mine. The price won’t be this low again!】
High.
He Ni agreed happily.
As for whether there’d be a next time—she’d see when it came.
At the game’s start, fire sources and blueprints were scarce, so the price of Jiao You Huo Ba skyrocketed.
Later, when most players had fire and more ways to keep it, the price of this hand-held torch would surely plummet.
For now, she owed thanks to Xiao Luo Hao for the opportunity to get one.
She specifically freed up a storage slot just to keep the torch.
During the Beginner Period, she probably wouldn’t use it—saving it for the first night after June 4th when the Beginner Period ends.
Without the Beginner Period’s protection, who knew what dangers the night held.
With fire secured, weapons were next.
He Ni dove back into the dense pile of private messages.
The second day passed quickly amidst all the busyness.
Besides selling coconuts, she intermittently fished up 2 coconuts, 1 Po Fan Bu Shu Bao, 1 Que Tui Deng Zi, and some junk with her Hook Claw.
By combining chatter from other players in the World Channel, she roughly figured out the salvage rhythm.
Drifted items refreshed about every 3 hours.
With the rule that resting recovers stamina, players should balance work and rest, only salvaging valuable resources and avoiding random grabbing.
As for the Yu Gan, no need to mention—it was all junk from 20 attempts today; no fish, no shrimp, not even a strand of seaweed.
In stark contrast, the World Channel was flooded with posts about bountiful hauls:【Qiao Zhenxin: Another large yellow croaker! After auto-decomposition, it yielded a full 17 units of yellow croaker meat. Now I have 99 yellow croaker, 99 lobsters, 99 star-spined fish, and other odds and ends. My bag is full, can’t sell, anyone want to buy? If no one buys, I’ll have to throw them back into the sea.】
【Yi Wei Yu: Selling silver-blade fish, star-spotted shrimp, and sand crab. I’ll sell for any useful resource. DM me if interested.】
【Player3425552: Caught over a dozen species of fish, shrimp, crab, and turtle yesterday. Today’s another pile. My backpack is totally full, and different species can’t stack together—so annoying.】
The channel was full of bragging about big fish and big shrimp.
Some players even posted screenshots of their backpacks, which except for freshwater, wood, iron nails, and fiber, were packed with nearly 10 slots of seafood max-stacked at 99 units each.
At the start of the game, some players wanted to buy fish meat but couldn’t find any.
Two days later, many had come to despise the bony fish and smelly shrimp; they were too lazy to spend stamina breaking them down and just released them.
After dark, prices for all kinds of seafood in the Trading Hall plunged repeatedly:【Large yellow croaker meat x31 Price: 1 wood】
【Large lobster meat x18 Price: 50ml drinking water】
【Star-backed turtle x27 (with 2 shells) Price: 1 wood】
Some even put together raw seafood bundles to clear space:【Seafood raw meat x67 Price: 2 wood】
【Mixed fish meat x82 Price: 2 iron nails】
According to game rules, raw meat at room temperature spoils after 6 hours.
If you can’t eat or sell it, and your backpack’s full, better to try swapping it for something than tossing it back into the sea or letting it rot on your raft.
He Ni read these posts with teeth grinding, truly understanding the saying “damned if you do, damned if you don’t.”
But it worked to her advantage.
Since every catch with her fishing rod was junk, she effortlessly swapped 1 wood for 69 units of the widely recognized most delicious large yellow croaker meat, and 2 ropes for 99 units of her favorite lobster meat.
Just as she felt she wouldn’t worry about food for weeks, the silent Xiao Luo Hao popped up again, dropping a heavy announcement in the World Channel:【Xiao Luo Hao: Treasure these days of bountiful harvest. Everyone can trade different fish species. I recommend stockpiling several types, each up to 99 units. After the Beginner Period ends, drop rates will be cut by 50%. When you leave Feng Rao Zhi Hai, special bonuses vanish, and extra Zai Nan may appear. Food will be much harder to get then. It’s wise to stock up early.】
The Beginner Period takes place in the sea area called “Feng Rao Zhi Hai.”
Unlike other seas, Feng Rao Zhi Hai’s seafood are large and fat, with a single fish decomposing into a dozen or even dozens of units of raw meat.
Once you leave Feng Rao Zhi Hai and lose the Beginner Period bonus, ordinary players might have to cast 3 or 4 times to catch a 2-kilogram small fish.
He Ni finally understood.
No wonder all her fishing catches were junk—it wasn’t “luck” but the dual bonus of the Beginner Period and Feng Rao Zhi Hai.
Others’ bonuses went to seafood, hers only to junk.
Ha! Vile Sea God!
This reminder also stirred players up again after the “Bai Xue Bing” threat:【Anonymous Player: When will we leave Feng Rao Zhi Hai? Don’t scare us!】
【Bai Ying: Anyone want to trade seafood raw meat? I offer Thunder-patterned octopus, flame-tail bonito, bright-scale snapper, and moonlight shrimp for large yellow croaker and cloud-patterned white shrimp. DM me; rates negotiable.】
【Su Jia Luo: Big shots, what does “extra Zai Nan stacking” mean? What disasters might happen? Help me understand!】
The topic quickly shifted to speculation about disasters after the Beginner Period ends.
Xiao Luo Hao didn’t comment again.
But the butterfly effect of that one message was as powerful as his earlier self-promotion.
The World Channel soon filled with players shouting to trade seafood.
He Ni grew more curious about Xiao Luo Hao.
She clicked on his avatar, and a virtual profile popped up:【Player: Xiao Luo Hao】
【Age: 27】
【Gender: Female】
【Talent: Hawkeye】
【Skill: Hidden】
【Cheng Hao: Hidden】
【Sanctuary: Hidden】
【Location: Hidden】
【Click to add friend to learn more about Xiao Luo Hao~】
She hadn’t looked closely before, and seeing many call Xiao Luo Hao “big brother,” she had assumed male. Turns out, not.
He Ni didn’t rush to send a friend request; without further improving her strength, there was no need to force connections with a well-known big shot.
But Xiao Luo Hao’s kind warning was worth serious attention.
She could take advantage of everyone’s low prices on seafood now to stockpile.
Her Talent granted 5 backpack slots without stacking limits, which would come in handy.