Soon, night fell.
Qianyue had just finished building the bamboo house and went inside when the system's voice rang out:
【A cold wave is coming.】
[As the temperature drops at night, the character's mobility will be affected. Please keep warm.]
At the same time, the wind suddenly blew outside.
Because time was tight, Qianyue only had time to put two rows of bamboo together to form a triangle shape and place it on the ground when building the house, and did not do any other fixing.
The reeds on both sides of the door curtain were blown around by the wind. Qianyue couldn't help but lift the curtain to take a look outside, and suddenly a cool breeze hit her face.
Under the moonlight, the originally calm sea surface was disturbed by the wind, and the waves kept hitting the shore. The splashing sound became the only noise in the dark night.
The sea, which was azure blue during the day, was now as dark as ink. Looking at it was like staring into the abyss. The mysterious and unknown darkness made people feel inexplicably scared.
Qianyue walked to the shore, took a look, and immediately frowned.
"The water's rising."
The island was originally only ten square meters in size, and after the water level rose, there was even less usable land.
While high and low tides were perfectly normal, Qianyue instinctively felt something was amiss when it came to this instance. She pondered for a moment, then inserted a bamboo strip as a marker where the water met the bank.
She murmured, "Since this is a survival instance, the wind and the rising water are definitely not accidental phenomena."
"The wind is only going to get stronger over the next few days. We need to reinforce the bamboo house tomorrow."
The next day, 00:05:00
The supplies were distributed on time, and Qianyue got a bandage.
She walked out of the bamboo house and clearly felt that the temperature today seemed to be a little lower than yesterday.
The sunny weather was gone, replaced by a lingering mist. The sea in the distance was shrouded in mist, and faintly visible were people moving around on the uninhabited island.
Calculating the time, it was just the time when the new crop was ripe. Those people probably went to the island before dawn and squatted there waiting for the first batch of harvest materials.
Qianyue: "...quite determined."
But she didn't want to join in the fun.
If she went over now, the people on the island might jump into the water, abandoning all their supplies and running back to their own island - after all, she had to leave them a chance to survive, right?
Qianyue harvested some crops on the island, then walked to the place where she had planted the bamboo strips last night and took a look. She found that the water level had dropped again.
There were a lot of good things on the shallow part exposed above the ground, and Qianyue picked them all up and put them into the bamboo basket.
But as she picked up the pieces, Qianyue felt something was not right.
"This water level..."
Qianyue paused to observe carefully, and intuitively felt that the water level today seemed slightly higher than yesterday. Unfortunately, there were no suitable reference points nearby, so it was difficult to discern any changes at first glance.
But the more Qianyue looked at it, the more uneasy she felt - this subtle intuition had saved her countless times in the wilderness, and Qianyue's face suddenly became solemn.
She originally planned to lay a foundation today and fix the bamboo house on the island, but she suddenly changed her mind.
"We're only seeing initial signs now, but the water is likely to continue rising in the next few days. The island is too flat and easily flooded, so it's too risky to keep the bamboo house fixed on the island."
Thinking of this, Qianyue no longer had the heart to continue fishing, and returned to the bamboo house carrying half a basket of seafood.
Because her backpack couldn't hold all the materials she collected, most of them were piled up next to the house, forming a small mountain.
Among them, there are about forty pieces of reeds and twenty-five pieces of bamboo left.
Although the number of reeds seems to be more than that of bamboo, both are actually calculated by roots. Forty reeds together make up only a small pile, and the fire can't even burn for a minute.
"What a pity! It would be better if there were more reeds."
As Qianyue spoke, she took out the bamboo raft from her backpack.
After being used several times yesterday, the durability of this bamboo raft has become 16/20, but Qianyue currently has no more materials, so she can only use it as the "foundation" of the house.
That’s right, the foundation.
Qianyue gave up the idea of settling down on the island and decided to build a floating houseboat.
She pondered, "The bamboo raft doesn't have enough water, so the house on it should be as light as possible. The fewer props we use, the better."
"This bamboo raft doesn't have a long lifespan. It'll probably be scrapped in a few days, and it'll probably need to be replaced. So it's best to make the house on top detachable."
After figuring out the general direction, Qianyue got down to work.
It just so happened that the bamboo shed she had built yesterday met the requirements. She only needed to splice the bamboo shed and the bamboo raft together and secure them with reeds.
But then again, Qianyue actually prefers reeds to bamboo rafts.
She thought to herself, "If I could use reeds to support the boat, it would be much better than a bamboo raft."
Don't be fooled by its thinness and lightness. Once it's tied tightly together, it's much more practical than a bamboo raft. Not to mention building a house on it, Qianyue has even visited a floating island made of reeds*.
The locals are building houses and schools on the Reed Island, which is no different from the mainland.
In addition, rubber tires are actually very good. Whether you make them directly into tire boats or tie the tires under wooden boards or bamboo rafts, they are very useful.
Qianyue happened to have three tire blueprints in her hand - she got them from the airdrop yesterday. Unfortunately, there were no rubber trees on the nearby island, and there was a lack of raw rubber, so they could not be made.
Qianyue stayed on her island for most of the day, working on the boat, which made the people on the nearby islands breathe a sigh of relief.
But when they arrived at the uninhabited island to refresh supplies, everyone was still very quiet, as if they were afraid of disturbing Qianyue - even though her island was actually several hundred meters away from the uninhabited island.
At first, they were intimidated by Qianyue's intimidation, but later a tacit understanding was formed among these people. When the time was almost up, they would rush to the island and rush to line up. When the crops were really ripe, they would take turns picking them according to the order of the queue. No one could stay for a long time or queue up again.
Over time, everyone found that this was not a bad idea and gradually adapted to it. While waiting in line, they even started to make deals in a friendly manner.
"Miss, I'm here to bring you a coconut~"
Qianyue had just finished fixing the last part when a girl's voice suddenly came from the side. She turned around and saw Xu Xiaogu sitting on a large ghost lotus, smiling sweetly at her.
Xu Xiaogu: "Can I come up?"
Qianyue nodded.
Xu Xiaogu, who was still standing unsteadily yesterday, jumped down from the big ghost lotus with ease. She did not move towards Qianyue. As soon as she landed, she took out several large coconuts from her backpack and placed them on the island.
Qianyue was confused:?
Xu Xiaogu smiled and said, "This morning when I was practicing paddling the lotus, I accidentally drifted away. As a result, many people came to me to exchange supplies for lotus leaves. Now everyone in our archipelago is also riding the big ghost lotus."
She blinked, "But don't worry, I didn't sell it to that bald man."
Lotus...
Qianyue silently complained about this word in her heart, turned her head and saw that since she didn't know when, there were a lot more people coming and going in the nearby waters.
Some were rowing boats, some were sitting on lotus leaves, and some were even lying on driftwood. Most of them were faces Qianyue had never seen before.
However, they mostly moved around the uninhabited island and did not approach the private island, so Qianyue did not notice them before.
Seeing her looking over, Xu Xiaogu explained, "Those people are here to trade. It's more convenient on an uninhabited island."
Qianyue raised an eyebrow: "Aren't you afraid they'll come and steal the supplies?"
Xu Xiaogu pursed her lips and smiled: "They don't dare."
As for why those people didn't dare... Xu Xiaogu glanced at Qianyue secretly and didn't explain in depth.
She said, "I heard that you didn't leave the island today, so I brought some things here."
Qianyue was a little surprised: "No need."
No reward without merit. Even though she always likes to "blackmail" others, Qianyue knows very well what she can take and what she cannot take.
She had collected tuition fees from those people before, so she felt at ease. But for people like Xu Xiaogu, forget it; she didn't want to owe anyone a favor.
Xu Xiaogu insisted, "If you hadn't told me the purpose of the Great Ghost Lotus, I wouldn't have been able to make so many deals. Consider this as payment."
Qianyue said without hesitation: "The payment is in exchange for the goods. You already paid the reward yesterday."
Xu Xiaogu: “…”
Perhaps because he didn't expect Qianyue to be so resolute, Xu Xiaogu stood there in a daze, feeling embarrassed for a moment.
Someone was looking over here not far away. Qianyue was very sensitive to gazes, so she subconsciously turned her head away, startling the other person.
Only then did Xu Xiaogu say quietly, "Okay, I must apologize to you."
Qianyue: Hmm?
Xu Xiaogu: "The reason those people didn't dare to mess around on the uninhabited island is because we told them that we have a big boss in charge of our archipelago."
"We'll give the boss a cut of every transaction. Similarly, if anyone dares to mess around in our archipelago, the boss will help us teach him a lesson..."
Qianyue was speechless. "Excuse me, the person you are talking about is not me, right?"
Xu Xiaogu suddenly shouted, "Boss! This is our protection fee today!"
The claim of collecting protection money was of course fake. Qianyue couldn't possibly do something that Jinjiang didn't allow.
The reason why Xu Xiaogu suddenly shouted like that was because a few outsiders were looking in curiously.
She said with embarrassment, "Those guys looked very strange. They looked like they were from the same gang. We were afraid they might do something wrong, so we just wanted to scare them."
It is rare that players would actually line up on an uninhabited island. Outsiders subconsciously think that everyone is soft-tempered, so it is normal for this place to be noticed.
At that time, they just wanted to deter outsiders and protect the resources of their uninhabited island, but they didn't expect that the name of the boss would spread like this.
In addition, Qianyue had not left the island all day today and did not seem to be worried about her livelihood at all, which further confirmed the speculations in those people's minds.
Qianyue was filled with questions: "...So why me?"
Xu Xiaogu avoided his gaze: "This..."
There are some others who really want to be the leader, but they have to defeat Qianyue first before they can win the support of the others!
From another perspective, if the protagonist of today's topic was anyone else, the players on the archipelago probably wouldn't care about what the other person thinks. Rumors are just rumors, as long as they work.
But the protagonist of the rumor happened to be Qianyue - when the news really spread, the players realized it belatedly and panicked.
—Why did you mention her?
I didn't think too much back then! I just told the truth! Who here hasn't been beaten by her?!
—I always feel like we’ll get beaten up again if she finds out…
…
But things have already happened, and there is no point in saying anything now.
After much deliberation, the players finally sent Xu Xiaogu, the only one who had not been beaten, to test the waters.
Qianyue: “…”
It must be said that after hearing the whole story, she only had one feeling in her mind -
Is this the image you have of me? I just like to beat people up for no reason? Besides, is that a beating?
That is the education of love!
"Anyway, I'm really sorry... Consider these things our apology!"
Xu Xiaogu said this with a stiff upper lip, and without waiting for Qianyue to reply, he threw down the pile of coconuts, jumped onto the big ghost lotus and ran away, his movements so panicked as if he was afraid of being caught by her.
“…” Qianyue hesitated to speak.
She looked at the bamboo boat she had just put down, then at the coconuts on the shore, feeling a little confused.
It's probably this feeling that you can't help but feel uncomfortable while you're sitting at home.
As night fell the next day, the cold wave continued to intensify.
Qianyue filled the gaps in the bamboo raft wall with the reeds she had collected during the day. While eating a seafood stew cooked in coconut shells, she seriously thought about how she would make a fire on the bamboo boat if the island sank.
This portable warehouse provided by the system is good in every way except that the space is too small. Even the food put in it can always remain fresh and hot.
——But the prerequisite is that she must have a place to make a fire and cook.
Bamboo has a hollow structure, and bamboo tubes are prone to explosion when exposed to fire. Therefore, accidents are likely to occur if a fire is directly lit on a bamboo raft.
On the other hand, there might not be enough fuel after leaving the island.
Even a good cook cannot cook without rice. Even though Qianyue has experienced countless harsh environments, she has to admit that when there are no tools, some things suddenly become quite difficult.
Qianyue rested her head on the reed mat with her hands. "Now that I think about it, this dungeon seems quite difficult."
Maybe she would need to go out and see if there was anything she could exchange for tomorrow...
On the third day of the game, at dawn, Qianyue went to check the water level again and unfortunately found:
The water level really rose.
And it's not just a little bit.
Qianyue: "This is a big trouble."
After noticing something was wrong with the water level yesterday, she used new bamboo strips as markers for the day.
After nightfall, she inserted a third bamboo stick to mark the water level after high tide on the second night of the game.
According to the normal rules of tidal rise and fall, it is normal for the water level to have a slight error between the two days due to interference from many factors.
Qianyue said to herself, "But this is definitely not normal."
At this moment, there were not only errors between the three bamboo strips in front of Qianyue, but the differences were also very large.
Even their positions are different, with a distance of about a thumb's mouth between them.
The bamboo strip with the highest altitude currently marks the highest water level after the second night of high tide, while the one sandwiched in the middle marks the highest water level after the first night of high tide.
The last bamboo strip was at the water level after the tide receded yesterday, but it is now soaked in water.
As luck would have it, the new water level just touched the middle bamboo strip, which meant that the current low tide water level was the same as the high tide level the first night.
In other words, in just two days and two nights, the sea level rose by at least twenty centimeters.
At first glance, this number may not seem large.
But the problem is that the altitude of the island where Qianyue is located is not very high.
Now it's just a cold wave, if there are big storms or something in the next few days...
Qianyue's expression suddenly became serious, and her mind was working rapidly.
"Five days, the fifth day at the latest."
By the fifth day of the game at the latest, her island—no, maybe more than just her island.
Qianyue glanced around and had already made a judgment in her mind.
In two days at the latest, not only her island, but all the islands in this sea area will not escape the fate of sinking.
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