novellk Chapter 131 Huh? Looking for the old man?
Chapter 131 Huh? Looking for the old man?
Chapter 131 Huh? Looking for the old man? (Three chapters of 10,000 words combined)
After a brief silence, the game's audio resumed.
Are you finding it incredibly frustrating to clean up the seaweed that clings to your skin every day? Do you feel hopeless due to a lack of safe food sources? Well, good news! The second raid is about to begin!
[This raid will still be divided into zones, with puzzle-solving, treasure hunting, and PvP—the content of the raids in different zones is completely randomized! Of course, for Zone 19 of Region 01, your raid is already fixed!]
[Registration administrators, please take your positions and prepare to draw copies from your respective zones!]
【Here comes the cooing!】
[Dungeon drawing in progress————]
[Instance Name: Coral Maze]
[Level: 1]
[Instance Type: Team-Based PvP Instance]
[Opponent Factions: Region 14, Division 444; Region 13, Division 233]
[Description: The little fish-woman princess secretly rode her royal swordfish at breakneck speed through the imperial city's waterways, accidentally crashing into and destroying a royal tribute transport ship laden with "Moonlight Pearls." Thirty thousand pearls, imbued with the power of moonlight, were scattered throughout the royal garden's "Coral Maze."]
The ancestor of the merfolk punished the little princess by making her ride a swordfish around the royal city ten times in a row, and then issued a bounty: Survivors are allowed to enter the maze to find pearls, and can exchange them for a "Black Obsidian Supply Box" reward based on their contribution points.
【迷宫水域分三层：表层光照区（0—50米）、中层萤光区（50—150米）、深层幽暗区（150米以下）】
Pearl grading list:
[Moonlight Pearl: Basic version, 1 point, total quantity 25000 pieces]
【Rare Rainbow Pearl: 20 points, total quantity 4000 (This pearl will emit a rainbow-like fluctuation every 3 hours)】
[Abyss Pearl: Dangerous item, 100 points, total quantity 999 (Warning! Abyss Pearls are contaminated! Please be mindful of your sanity level before taking them)]
【Royal Tear Pearl: Unique design, 5000 points, 1 piece available】
[Instance duration: 48 hours. The game will provide 2 Mileage Exemption Cards to survivors participating in the instance.]
[Winning ranking rewards will be doubled.]
This instance requires a team of 3-5 people to participate, and each team selects one ship to enter the instance.
Registration closes at 6 AM tomorrow. During the instance, no more floating objects will spawn on the sea!
The broadcast ended while the survivors in section 444 were still digesting the rules of this instance.
Looking at the detailed rules displayed on the virtual panel in front of him, Yu Wang couldn't help but sigh softly, "It really is as the Seal Clan Chief said. All we need to pay is some resource boxes to hire survivors to complete some dangerous missions. Why not?"
The pearls were scattered, and with so many merfolk soldiers, they could have simply sent their own people to collect them.
The royal family, however, chose to employ foreigners, and there are naturally deeper reasons for this behavior.
In Yu Wang's memory, the deep, dark areas of the "Coral Maze," while not yet at the point where monsters would appear in broad daylight, were already indistinguishable from the ocean at night in many ways. Instead of sending his people on adventures, using the resource boxes bestowed by their ancestors to hire survivors was a sure-fire way to make money.
Spending too much time in the dark depths of the sea will lower your sanity and increase your mental stress, making you very prone to going crazy and making irrational decisions.
In the real world, many experienced divers make mistakes in dark environments that seem incomprehensible to normal people. And the dark areas of this "coral labyrinth" are only more unpredictable.
However, the most valuable "Abyss Pearls" are mostly found in the deep, dark areas.
To gain high scores and climb to the top of the leaderboard, unless you directly rob other survivors, exploring deep into the Dark Zone is almost a must.
Yu Wang quickly outlined his advantages: "My innate skill can exempt me from the effects of darkness. In the past, I didn't have the money to buy good diving equipment, so I only spent a few minutes in the Underdark and got nothing. But this time, I don't need to buy equipment from the Fishman Royal Family. The portable hyperbaric oxygen tank and bubble helmet are enough for me to explore."
"Correspondingly, with external environmental pressures this time, many will choose to enter the instance to catch their breath and collect food."
The two zones combined could potentially have 60,000 people!
Sixty thousand people are vying for thirty thousand pearls. Even if they form small teams of three to five people, there would still be at least fifteen thousand teams!
Nine out of ten people are destined to just be bystanders, passively joining in the resource-hunting in-game dungeons!
At this moment, Zhang Xinlan finally finished reading the dungeon rules, brimming with confidence and excitement, and said, "We're at a bit of an advantage this time, right? After all, it's underwater, and one of our temporary abilities is the Bubble Helmet—!?"
She opened her interface and found that the section for abilities was empty!
It's empty!!!
Yu Wang also glanced at his own panel. In the ability section, all the abilities marked "temporary" had disappeared.
Only three remain: the perception of wealth, the reconstruction of flesh and blood, and the fearless heart.
He was prepared for this: "Didn't the game say that the Divine Grace experience only lasts until the second dungeon opens? Now, the time is up."
Zhang Xinlan closed her eyes in pain: "I thought our division would have an advantage in this confrontation."
But the next moment, she immediately perked up: "Our bubble helmet still has a lot of durability left, right? And we also have a portable hyperbaric oxygen tank and a diving suit, haha! Now we've got a perfect start! Those relying on temporary abilities are going to be in trouble!"
Yu Wang couldn't bear to shatter Zhang Xinlan's brief excitement.
He knew that having basic equipment was just a "ticket" to compete for rankings. Then, he took out a pen and paper and carefully recalled the information about this dungeon.
A bad pen is worse than a good memory. Relying solely on thinking in your head will inevitably lead to omissions. It's safer to write things down first and then check for errors.
In the previous life, the Divine Grace Experience Project appeared two and a half months after the game started. To explore the "Coral Maze" dungeon, most people either relied on moving quickly when the tide was low and large areas of the Coral Maze were exposed, or they relied on holding their breath with an iron lung.
However, these methods can only explore the surface area. Finding pearls is wishful thinking. Being able to collect some edible seaweed and shellfish, and catch some small fish would be considered a success.
As for the mid-level fluorescent zone and the deep dark zone, only those who own their own diving equipment or have the money to buy diving gear from the fishmen are qualified to go there.
That's right, it's a purchase, not a lease.
Since there's a high probability that survivors won't return, renting it out would definitely result in a huge loss.
"In my past life, no one could obtain the Imperial Tear Pearl. The first-place winner only had a little over two thousand points, and the winner was Division 13." Yu Wang set his goal in his heart. "In this life, the competition is even fiercer. To secure first place, I need to aim for at least 3000 points, and ideally—to obtain that one and only 'Imperial Tear Pearl' worth 5000 points!"
"Minimum three-person team—" Zhang Xinlan next to her was already rubbing her hands together, her eyes gleaming with a fighting spirit. "Who should we team up with?"
"Looking for the old man."
"ha?"
"You're always surfing the chat channels, you should look familiar, survival expert Lao Wang," whose real name is Wang Huaisong.
Zhang Xinlan suddenly realized: "So it was him! I've sometimes found cigarettes and alcohol in supply crates, and I've even traded with him before. Was he really that old? I never would have guessed."
Yu Wang originally planned to find the witch apprentice Lin Wei, but she said she needed to do her homework and didn't plan to go to the dungeon.
As for Mad Shark—he had contacted him, but unsurprisingly, he was a step too late; the other party said he had already formed a team with four other people.
Yu Wang knew perfectly well that Kuang Sha's so-called "team" was nothing more than a few "bloodsuckers" who depended on his powerful combat strength and waited for dividends.
Even with these four burdens, Mad Shark still managed to break into the top 100. If he could get rid of them, his potential would definitely be much greater than that.
Yu Wang privately offered a few more words of advice, hoping that he could see the situation clearly, but Kuang Sha seemed to have his own concerns and was reluctant to abandon his teammates, so he remained hesitant.
In contrast, "survival expert Lao Wang" was much more straightforward and efficient.
After Yu Wang extended the invitation, the other party accepted the team request without hesitation. In order to facilitate subsequent coordinated operations, Lao Wang also joined Yu Wang's nameless fleet.
Survival expert Lao Wang: "Hey, cockroaches too. Have you gotten any good wine lately? I still have a lot of pearl coins here."
Don't open your mouth to hit a cockroach: "Not yet, it seems like the rewards for opening chests have decreased as the dungeon opens."
After a brief exchange of pleasantries, it was clear that Lao Wang was a pragmatist who valued the dungeon highly. He quickly steered the conversation back to the main topic and began discussing the dungeon details and tactical arrangements with Yu Wang.
For example, whose ship should be selected to enter the instance.
Based on experience, Yu Wang knew that while collecting pearls in dungeons was important, the real test was how to "preserve" the collected pearls, at least until the dungeon was halfway through and he could choose to exit safely at any time.
Survivors can only unleash their full combat power and survival ability on a ship.
Therefore, an excellent dungeon team not only needs strong individual skills to explore the maze and deal with native creatures, but also needs a slippery boat to move quickly, evade and pursue!
"The Little Yellow Duck has good defense and speed, but in special waters like the Coral Maze, where there are exposed coral reefs everywhere and the terrain is complex, its speed advantage will be weakened, making it difficult to completely shake off a determined pursuer."
However, the flight skill has a very long cooldown time, only allowing one use every 24 hours, which is clearly insufficient.
Yu Wang analyzed in his mind: "While the 'Ghost Pirate' may not be as fast as the Little Yellow Duck in its regular range, it possesses the 'Shadowless' teleportation skill, making it virtually elusive within limited spaces. Whether for rapid relocation, evading powerful enemies, or launching surprise attacks, it has a significant advantage."
Besides, it's just a tiny little place in a dungeon area.
How much more expensive can the teleportation fee be? It's probably less than a thousand pearl coins.
With his pockets fuller lately, Yu Wang speaks with much more confidence.
Old Wang had no objection to the decision regarding the use of the boat.
His boat was the most common type of covered boat. After being upgraded to level three, it was simply a bit bigger and sturdier, but it had no special functions.
Only a fool would choose a regular ship if there were special ships available.
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but look forward to the "qualitative change that a fourth-class ship might bring" or even the "extraordinary path" that Wang had mentioned.
Having lived to such an old age and experienced so many ups and downs, he is, at heart, a thorough pragmatist, or rather, an atheist.
Even if the gods of the seafaring world truly exist, he only believes in everything he creates and earns with his own hands.
To make him kneel and worship devoutly before some vague and ethereal idol with strict entry requirements, offering his faith in exchange for an uncertain "gift"?
Totally impossible!
If upgrading his ship could truly pave a solid path that doesn't rely on the gods, that would be the future he longed for most.
Thinking of this, Lao Wang Meimei took a swig of wine, feeling the warmth emanating from her body from the inside out.
"Sigh, this is the last bottle."
As the team leader, Yu Wang completed the dungeon registration through the system interface.
Almost simultaneously after submitting the submission, he heard faint sounds of arguing coming from the two-masted sailboat next door.
Lu Ping and the other two stood on the deck of the double-gun sailboat, clearly having just discussed the upcoming group dungeon and had disagreements.
Yu Wang joined the discussion and discovered that Lu Ping's division was actually the 13th division that was currently fighting against division 444. 233
Partition.
The other man and woman did not intend to participate in their respective zone's group instance and chose to stay on the ship.
And this is the root of their conflict.
Lu Ping's tone carried a hint of helplessness: "I've advised them that even if they don't compete for rankings, gathering some food and basic materials at the edge of the dungeon is better than struggling in the sparsely fertile 'Sea of Abundance.' But they—"
She glanced at her two teammates but didn't continue.
The two men shrank back, their eyes darting around, not wanting to stand in the cold wind outside, and simply went back to their rooms.
Just as they preferred to live under someone else's roof, relying on Lu Ping's larger two-masted sailboat, rather than sailing their own small boat alone, they inherently sought stability and resisted any additional risks.
Their choices have brought about real-world problems.
Lu Ping and the other two had a decent food reserve, but fresh water was always scarce. They basically relied on the supply boxes they salvaged each day, using them as needed to barely stay hydrated but not quite satisfied. Only when they were extremely lucky could they save up a little bit.
The instance lasts for 48 hours, during which time supply crates stop spawning on the sea. This means that the small amount of food and water the three of them painstakingly accumulated could very well be largely consumed by their two teammates who stayed behind. This is clearly unfair to Lu Ping.
That's why they were arguing just now.
Lu Ping wanted to divide the remaining food equally, and she would take her share of the food and water with her, but the two men firmly disagreed, because that would make the next 48 hours much more difficult for them.
Hopefully, Lu Ping will only bring half a day's worth of food and water into the instance. Anyway, the resources in the instance are not contaminated, so it will be easy to find something to eat.
They can always make up for it later.
This is the other party's internal affair, and it is not appropriate for Yu Wang to interfere.
He was more concerned about the safety of his own side.
His main concern was that he and Zhang Xinlan would bring most of the ducks into the instance, leaving only the little yellow duck account behind.
If the man and woman who stayed behind took the opportunity to attack the "Little Yellow Duck" and board the ship to plunder supplies, it would be troublesome.
That's the downside of temporary teams formed across different regions: they lack trust and struggle to coordinate their actions.
Although they may not have enough extra resources to produce enough ammunition to reduce the durability of the "Level 4 Little Yellow Duck" to below 30%, it's always good to be on the safe side.
"Looks like I'll have to keep Duck A," Yu Wang thought to himself. "If things get bad, it'll need to be able to fight back—hmm, I'll leave it a few ordinary ducks as helpers."
He felt a little regretful.
The original plan was to bring Duck A into the instance so that when humans and other ducks went to sea to search for treasure, Duck A, with its strong self-management ability, could independently drive the "Ghost Pirate" to maneuver and provide support on the sea.
However, after Zhang Xinlan's "training" during this period, Duck C is no less intelligent than Duck A. If she is temporarily put into the role of steering the boat, she may also be able to take on the function of steering the boat.
That evening, Yu Wang began to assign troops and make final preparations for the dungeon raid.
Besides the core ducks A, B, and C, and the crucial chef duck, there were still fourteen ordinary ducks left after the last Deep One attack. Yu Wang used some of the reserved fish meat to summon more, bringing the total number of ordinary ducks to twenty.
Leave five support ducks A behind, and the remaining fifteen ordinary ducks, along with ducks B, C, and the chef duck, all follow into the instance.
More ducks mean more help. Even if they can't get pearls, it's good to let them dig for seaweed and find some blood coral.
However, after all that, the stored fish meat was almost completely used up, and the other survivors mostly kept the pure fish meat for making oil and grilling, so their reserves were also running low.
If we don't reach the next sea area quickly, it will be difficult to replenish our fish supplies rapidly.
The next morning, before dawn, Yu Wang and Zhang Xinlan began their final preparations.
Seeing the two-masted sailboat next door, Lu Ping also got up.
Because her ship would enter the instance, the other two, no matter how reluctant they were, had no choice but to crawl out of bed and brave the cold wind to quickly return to their own ships.
The darkness did not obstruct Zhang Xinlan's vision. She could vaguely see that the two people seemed to have emerged from a room and then quickly slipped into the man's speedboat.
She shook her head, not taking it to heart.
The main vehicle for entering the instance this time is the "Ghost Pirate," and the living facilities on board are relatively simple and need to be set up in advance.
The two of them spent the whole morning getting everything ready.
Fortunately, with Chef Duck around, breakfast was still plentiful and tempting.
The radishes in the radish soup are even carved into the shape of small sailboats, symbolizing smooth sailing.
Chef Duck specially prepared a three-person serving, and Yu Wang sent the extra hot breakfast to "Survival Expert Lao Wang" through the transaction function.
Old Wang was indeed already up, and was in the cabin checking the supplies he would bring into the dungeon: bedding, dry rations, fresh water, spare weapons and tools.
Despite Yu Wang's repeated assurances that he would be responsible for food and basic supplies, Lao Wang stubbornly insisted on bringing his own and refused to take advantage of the situation.
Seeing this, he no longer persisted.
In any case, they will eventually be impressed by Chef Duck's cooking skills.
With an hour to go before the dungeon opens, Yu Wang sipped his soup, watching the chef duck running back and forth with a "da da da" sound. He felt increasingly dependent on it, and he always had to time it perfectly, waking it up as soon as it went to sleep so it could cook.
Chef Duck also loves making all kinds of delicious food and has a great interest in human seasonings, researching new recipes in the kitchen every day.
Six o'clock sharp.
[Ding! Registration for the "Coral Maze" raid in Zone 444 has closed!]
[Counting participants — Count complete!]
[Number of participants: 47622]
[Teleportation is imminent! All participants, please prepare!]
All survivors who registered for the "Coral Maze" instance, regardless of their location, were enveloped in a soft light.
The next second, they disappeared from the current sea area along with the ship they designated.
Yu Wang felt a blur before his eyes, and then the boundless, dark green "spinach soup" sea, filled with floating flowers, disappeared.
Instead, there was a clear, azure body of water that shimmered with the luster of jewels.
The seawater is extremely transparent, allowing you to see dozens of meters below at a glance.
The "Ghost Pirate" along with Yu Wang, Zhang Xinlan, Lao Wang who was teleported in by the game, and a bunch of ducks on board were now steadily floating on this unfamiliar sea.
The boat bobbed gently with the waves, as if stepping from a nightmare into a fairy tale world.
Light flashed all around, and ships of various shapes appeared one after another, densely packed, quickly filling the nearby sea area.
However, this time the scene is very large, and there are many spawn points.
The spawn points are evenly distributed, and there are not many ships gathered at each point. At a glance, there are only a few hundred ships around the "Ghost Pirate".
Upon seeing the menacing "Ghost Pirate," their captains simultaneously moved their ships further away.
Those who operate such special ships have undoubtedly taken countless lives in the real world; they're not to be trifled with.
Zhang Xinlan was hoping they would go further away, so that their view would be better.
She quickly looked around and concluded, "It seems that this time is the same; everyone has been distributed to different places in batches."
The ship spawn points are still arranged in a circular pattern. In the middle of the spawn points, beneath the sea surface, lies an unimaginably vast and colorful coral reef, like a dreamlike kingdom. Because it is currently low tide, the sea surface is covered with exposed coral rocks, which stand majestically like underwater mountains, with their tops protruding above the sea surface and layers of coral corpses and living coral piled up below, extending all the way into the darkness of the deep water.
These intricate passageways intertwine to form the "Coral Maze".
If a boat enters the area at low tide, it can only move forward with difficulty in some narrow channels. If the boat has a deep draft, it will inevitably be scraped on the bottom, or even run aground and become unable to move.
It seems that smaller ships will be more popular in this instance.
"The tide has receded quite thoroughly."
Old Wang squinted, sniffed, but his attention was drawn to something else. "Wow! What a strong smell of alcohol!"
It's still aged wine! Where did it come from?
Yu Wang immediately opened the temporary chat interface exclusive to the instance.
The number of participants in the upper right corner of the interface made him raise an eyebrow slightly: 71145 people!
His previous estimate was too conservative.
It seems that the deteriorating environment of the "Abundant Sea" is forcing more survivors to enter the dungeon, even if it's just to change the environment and search for some basic resources, it's worth the trip.
It is worth noting that among these 70,000-plus people, more than 40,000 were from partition 444, suggesting that the Chinese side had the advantage in terms of numbers.
At this point, Lao Wang had already pinpointed the source of the wine's aroma.
He pointed in a direction and exclaimed excitedly, "Look at that sandbar island over there! The smell of wine is coming from there!"
Looking around, they saw a grayish-white sandbar island, about the size of two football fields, lying quietly in the blue waves, about 500 meters away from them.
Many fish-men can already be seen busily working on the island. They either set up simple stalls with seashells and corals or spread waterproof tarpaulins on the ground, which are filled with all kinds of goods such as food, drinks and daily necessities.
There are many similar sandbars and islands scattered around the surrounding waters, and each island has its own market, yet there are still not enough places to accommodate them all.
Because there are so many fish, some fishmongers have even set up their stalls directly in the water, enthusiastically hawking their wares, completely unaware that most of their main customers cannot communicate freely underwater.
Having experienced a group dungeon before, the survivors seemed much more composed this time, at least avoiding the embarrassing scene of being rushed to the scene in a panic, disheveled and unclothed.
Once the surroundings were clear, most of the eager boats started up and rushed toward the maze-like coral reef waterway in the distance, while a small number turned around and headed toward the nearest sandbar market.
Before long, only a few boats remained at the respawn point where Yu Wang and his group were, seemingly still observing.
Yu Wang withdrew his gaze and said to Zhang Xinlan and Lao Wang, "This time we have plenty of time for the dungeon, 48 hours. Why don't we go up to the island and take a look? The merfolk have set up so many stalls, maybe we can find some good stuff."
Zhang Xinlan nodded immediately. She had long been curious about what strange and unusual items those fishmonger stalls would sell.
Old Wang, like a mischievous old man who had discovered a treasure, raised both hands in approval, his heart already itching with the irresistible aroma of the wine.
The three hit it off immediately.
After leaving Duck to guard the "Ghost Pirate," they rode the Sea Helmet Worm ashore.
Due to frequent descents into the water and the influence of the abundant seawater, the sea helmet worm's movements are somewhat stiff, but fortunately, short-distance movement is not a problem.
The little white flower on the unicorn swayed in the wind, signifying the successful completion of the mission.
As you get closer to the sandbar, the noise becomes even clearer.
The fishmen hawked their wares in various accents: "Fresh fluorescent seaweed! Perfect for lighting and eating! 80 pearls a serving."
"Specially designed pressure-resistant water bladder! Diving to 150 meters is not a dream! 300 yuan each, 1000 yuan for three!"
"A family heirloom maze map! Only 2,000 pearl coins!"
"Weapon repair! Fair prices! Honest and fair dealing!"
"Temporary boat storage! 30 yuan per hour!"
In addition, the air was filled with a mixture of smells: the fishy smell of the sea, the smoky aroma of grilled fish, the pungent smell of herbs, and the rich aroma of wine that Old Wang couldn't forget.
Here, merfolk guards protect the area, ensuring order and safety. While their presence primarily safeguards the tribe members who have spontaneously come to set up stalls from being robbed by human survivors, it indirectly provides a harmonious trading environment for humans.
If you moor your boat here, you won't have to worry about it being attacked when you leave.
All manpower was focused on searching for pearls.
No wonder the game emphasizes that this dungeon requires a team. Without these fishmen, it's difficult for a solo player to balance exploration and defense, putting them at a natural disadvantage.
Each of the three had something they wanted to buy, so after agreeing on a meeting time at the market entrance, they dispersed and joined the bustling crowd of fishmen and survivors.
Holding a huge sum of 1000 yuan in pocket money, Zhang Xinlan strode confidently into the market. After visiting several stalls, she looked at the pearl coins in her hand, none of which she had spent, and was a little dumbfounded.
"Yu Wang, are all the prices among the merfolk this outrageous? A thousand dollars doesn't seem to buy much!"
"Of course, these aren't normal prices. A thousand pearl coins have a lot of purchasing power, but here—you must have traveled before, right?"
Many tourist attractions inflate prices for visitors because they're likely only doing business with you once. The same applies here, and because of racial differences, they feel less guilty about overcharging, so prices can easily be ten times higher.
"What should we do? Did we come all this way for nothing?" Zhang Xinlan looked at the survivors around her. The items sold by the fishman were very useful, and some were even indispensable. However, every time a survivor made a purchase, they paid with a pained expression.
"Don't rush, take a look around. If you really want to buy something, then we'll talk about it. If it doesn't work out, try to negotiate the price down," Yu Wang advised.
Suddenly, his gaze was drawn to a uniquely shaped stall on the edge of the sandbar.
What makes it unique is that most of the surrounding stalls are simply made from local materials, such as seashells, coral fragments, and sand mixed with adhesive.
In short, do whatever is easiest.
But that stall clearly required a lot of thought:
The building was constructed in the shape of a copper hot pot, but the material is neatly cut and tightly spliced gray-white stone bricks. It occupies a large area of more than 200 square meters and is three stories high.
It can be described as the largest shop on this sandbar.
And business is booming, with a lot of people coming and going inside.
Above the stall hung a large sign made of glowing coral:
【Hot Pot Base (Coral Maze Temporary Branch)】
From afar, you can see a round, gray-and-white spotted seal, its rear end sticking out, busily greeting the guests.
"Ah Jiao?" Yu Wang was a little surprised. Ah Jiao, who was earnestly soliciting customers, looked up when she heard the voice. Her dark eyes saw Yu Wang and she was stunned for a moment. Then, a look of surprise and joy appeared on her face.
"It's you! My benefactor!"
It greeted them warmly, "It's been so long! I didn't expect to see you here. There are still seats available in the private rooms. Would you like some breakfast? It's on me!"
After saying that, it scratched its head somewhat embarrassedly: "I'm really sorry, because this is just a branch for survivors, it certainly can't reach the level of what you ate at the restaurant last time."
Ah Jiao never dreamed that the part-time job she received would be a temporary store manager for two days.
Even though it's temporary and there's no extra pay, he's still a store manager!
It arrived at the sandbar several days in advance, busy transporting materials, building stone pots, and preparing ingredients, finally getting everything in order before the survivors arrived.
Thank you for your guidance and support, boss!
Yu Wang naturally refused: "We're just looking around here; we'll be going back to the ship later."
Upon hearing this, Ah Jiao's leopard-like face showed a moment of distress, but he quickly noticed Yu Wang's words: "Shopping? You can't go shopping like that! Prices are all outrageous; buying anything there would be a huge rip-off!"
"How about this, my benefactors, whatever you want to buy, I'll buy it for you, and I guarantee you'll save at least ten times the price!"
""
This is such a pleasant surprise! Having a local guide can save a lot of time and money.
"Then I'll have to trouble you, A-Jiao," Yu Wang said with a smile.
Ah Jiao was so happy she patted her belly: "Great! As long as you can get help, I'll take care of the rest!"
After setting down the wooden sign used to attract customers, the seal led the two quickly through the market.
It's clear that Ah Jiao is well-liked; wherever he goes, vendors greet him, and an old fisherman even smiles and slips him small cookies.
In the end, Yu Wang bought three maps of the Coral Maze with only ten pearl coins.
I spent another fifty pearl coins to buy two servings of all the local snacks on the food street.
And a few jars of evening primrose oil, which A-Jiao highly recommends, as it can slightly improve underwater pressure resistance.
In addition, there are all sorts of goggles, fluorescent strips of cloth for marking, and so on.
The total cost was less than 200 Pearl City.
Moreover, Zhang Xinlan could finally indulge in a shopping spree with the thousand yuan of pocket money she had.
An hour passed quickly, and it was time to meet again. The three met once more by the rocks they had agreed upon at the edge of the sandbar.
Yu Wang and Zhang Xinlan saw Old Wang swaying as he walked towards them from afar, carrying a bulging bag in his arms like a precious treasure.
Items wrapped in waterproof tarpaulin.
Upon closer inspection, Old Wang's face was as red as a boiled shrimp, and he exuded a strong smell of alcohol that could be detected from several steps away.
"Old Wang, you—" Zhang Xinlan looked at him with some concern, afraid that he had drunk too much.
After all, it's said that older people have fragile blood vessels and should smoke and drink less.
"Hahahaha!" Old Wang let out a hearty laugh, but his eyes were unusually bright, showing no signs of drunkenness. On the contrary, he was full of energy and even straightened his back a lot.
"It's nothing! It's nothing! I'm perfectly fine! I just ran into an old fisherman over there who sells his homemade deep-sea aged wine. The aroma of that wine, wow, it's amazing!"
I chatted with him for a bit and found out we were both heavy drinkers. He insisted on pulling me aside to have a drinking contest with me!
Hahaha, this old man is still as sharp as ever! I drank that old fish under the table! I won several jars of his private stash of fine wine!
"Here's one of the stakes: a jar of shipwreck rum that's supposedly been buried in sea mud for fifty years! Worth it! Even if we hadn't entered the maze, this trip would have been worth it!"
He patted the package in his arms triumphantly, his breath reeking of alcohol, but his eyes were clear and his steps were steady, clearly indicating that he had an amazing capacity for alcohol and was in excellent condition.
Yu Wang was somewhat amused and exasperated, but seeing that he hadn't messed things up and seemed to have been invigorated by the alcohol, walking briskly and perhaps even receiving some positive buffs on his stats, he didn't say anything more.
With their respective spoils, the three boarded the Helmet Beetle and returned to the Ghost Pirate, which was a little further away.
On the way, Old Wang was still enthusiastically recounting the details of his drinking contest with the old murloc. In just one hour, he had actually learned most of the murloc's drinking games, surpassing his teacher. Zhang Xinlan listened in astonishment, nodding repeatedly and exclaiming how impressive he was.
Back on the ship, Duck C and the few ducks left behind quacked and came up to greet them, rubbing their heads against Yu Wang and Zhang Xinlan's legs. Yu Wang patted each duck's head to comfort them, and then gave some of the fishman tribe's specialty seasonings and snacks he had purchased to the eagerly awaiting chef duck.
"Let's do some research and see if we can replicate it, or modify it to suit our tastes," Yu Wang instructed.
The chef duck took the food and immediately darted into its kitchen.
The remaining purchased items, mainly maps, some practical tools, and spare rations, were carefully stored away.
Yu Wang even specially set aside a portion of several snacks and sent them to the altar that followed him.
There, a certain small figurine has already subtly hinted at something.
When he came out of the room, Zhang Xinlan and Lao Wang had already spread out the three maps they bought for 10 pearl coins and were studying them on the small table in the cabin.
The map is drawn with great detail and is made of waterproof and corrosion-resistant materials, so it can be unfolded and viewed underwater without any problems.
"This is good stuff." Old Wang, reeking of alcohol, looked at the sunlit area on the surface: "It marks the areas where the rocks will be exposed after the tide goes out, and the safe waterways that ships of different displacements can only use."
Yu Wang nodded in agreement. For survivors who were here for the first time and knew absolutely nothing, how much trouble would this thing save them from groping around and bumping into the bottom of the boat?
Saying it's priceless is a bit of an exaggeration, but it can definitely greatly improve initial efficiency and security.
In addition, the map also marks the areas where dangerous native species congregate.
For example, pufferfish nests, "deep concentration areas of poison snails," etc.
However, the map only shows the "surface illuminated area" and the "middle fluorescent area," but lacks a detailed topographic map of the "deep dark area."
On the overall map of the area, the Dark Zone is represented only by large black shadows, next to which is a prominent warning sign: "Danger! Unauthorized personnel are prohibited from approaching!"
Suddenly, without warning, a game notification sound appeared in my ear.
[Ding! The first survivor to find the pearl has appeared!]
The real-time points leaderboard is now open!
[First place ID: Shenghui·Donglaifeng, Points: 1, Faction: Region 13, Division 233]
A notification brought many people who had been lurking in the instance chat channel to the surface.
"How long has it been? Someone has already found pearls?"
"What incredible luck! My ship is still stuck at the spawn point!"
"Wait, what's with that 'Holy Radiance' prefix in his ID? I checked the member list, and it seems he's not the only one with that prefix! What's going on, has the 'Funeral Love Family' gone overseas?"
"Probably someone from the Holy Angel Cult, right? The one causing such a stir on the world chat!"
"Damn! They have divine favor, does that give them a boost when finding things?!"
The atmosphere on the deck of the "Ghost Pirate" became slightly tense.
Zhang Xinlan grew anxious: "You're moving so fast! Let's get moving too. Looking at the map, the maze seems to have an inverted pyramid structure. If we go deeper into the maze, we might have a better chance of success."
"Wait a minute—there are still two hours until the iridescent pearls start glowing. Should we still try to steal them? They're 20 each!"
"It's a point!"
Zhang Xinlan was desperate and grasping at straws, rambling incoherently and not even knowing what she was saying.
Yu Wang did not respond immediately; his fingers moved quickly across the panel, browsing the list of dungeon members.
Indeed, we found more people whose names were prefixed with "Holy Radiance," but fortunately, the number was small.
Out of 70,000 people, there are only three.