Global Flood: I Survive on Duckweed

Chapter 17: Chapter 17: Binding Successful, News from the Outside World

Ren Yuanyang turned on the hair dryer, and a stream of hot air blew out. He placed the phone under the hot air, moving it constantly to prevent any single spot from overheating and damaging the internal components.

After blowing it for a while, he stopped.

Lu Jiamei, who was organizing their other supplies, immediately came over. ”Is it done?”

”I don’t know. Let’s give it a try. If this doesn’t work, then the phone must have been broken to begin with.” Ren Yuanyang shook his head and held down the power button.

Two seconds later, the phone screen lit up.

”It worked!” Ren Yuanyang grew excited.

After the phone finished initializing, it only needed a system language to be selected before booting up.

He selected the Dragon Language, and the phone successfully started.

Besides the basic functions, there was only a single app icon—a murky-colored sphere, without even a name.

In the light of the Fluorescent Cactus, there seemed to be a small, curled-up child inside the sphere of the icon!

You could barely see it if you didn’t look closely.

It was only because Ren Yuanyang’s shipping container was relatively stable and had ample light that he was able to notice it.

Staring at the bizarre icon, Ren Yuanyang felt a chill run down his spine. ”Did you see that?”

”What?” Lu Jiamei looked at him, confused.

”Look closely at the icon!” Ren Yuanyang prompted.

Lu Jiamei observed it carefully, then suddenly cried out in surprise. ”There’s a child inside the icon, and it’s moving! Who designed this? It’s too creepy!”

Ren Yuanyang nodded.

”So, should we... join?” Lu Jiamei asked, hesitating.

Ren Yuanyang pondered for a moment before replying helplessly, ”It doesn’t seem like we have a choice. If we want to find out more, we have to join.”

Lu Jiamei frowned. ”Will there be a problem?”

”A person or power with the ability to initialize so many people’s phones and install an app could kill us easily. They wouldn’t need to go to all this trouble.” Ren Yuanyang thought for a moment and replied in a low voice, ”I don’t want to live on in ignorance. I have to find out what’s really going on.”

Lu Jiamei was taken aback for a second, then nodded.

Ren Yuanyang no longer hesitated and tapped on the app.

”Binding...”

”Binding successful!”

He smoothly entered the app, set his username, and was taken to a chat interface that closely resembled common messaging apps, with channels for World, Region, Custom, Friends...

The moment Ren Yuanyang opened it, notification sounds began to chime nonstop. He quickly muted them, and silence returned.

The World channel was filled with all sorts of different languages. Ren Yuanyang switched directly to the Region channel, where the vast majority of messages were in the Dragon Language.

”Any experts out there who can save me? I can provide my real-time coordinates!”

”Does anyone have food? I’m starving to death! Willing to repay with my body!”

”Buying generators at high prices, or looking for Electric-Type Evolvers!”

”What is this app? Where is everyone? Why are we all in this group?” This was clearly a newbie.

”Newbies, check the group files first. All the important info is in the group files!” someone reminded.

Seeing this, Ren Yuanyang immediately found the group files and began to browse through them.

The group files contained information that someone had compiled based on everyone’s discussions.

First was a conclusion about the phones and the app. According to the investigation, every phone that had been initialized and had this app appear had been soaked or dampened by the rain.

Phones that had been kept dry didn’t experience this phenomenon.

”So it is related to the great rain,” Ren Yuanyang’s brows furrowed.

Lu Jiamei, also looking at the phone, guessed uncertainly, ”Could the special substance in the rainwater have caused the phones to evolve?”

Ren Yuanyang froze for a moment, then shook his head. It was just like the system he had. ’God knows what’s going on!’

They continued to look through the information in the group files.

Some self-proclaimed insiders from ”the higher-ups” revealed that riots had broken out on over ninety percent of the large ships. Now, every large ship was a completely independent faction.

And the future of the civilians on those large ships was completely at the mercy of those in power.

Seeing this, Lu Jiamei remarked with feeling, ”Thank goodness I escaped when I did. I don’t know about the other ships, but on ours, everyone from the lower decks would have become slaves.”

Ren Yuanyang nodded slightly.

”I’m a little curious. Aren’t these self-proclaimed insiders afraid of being discovered by those in power?” Lu Jiamei asked, puzzled.

”As long as no one uses their real name, who would know who they are in reality?” Ren Yuanyang shook his head.

As long as they hid their phones, the powers-that-be could do nothing. Besides, many of those in power didn’t care if this information was revealed.

Some even took the opportunity to advertise the policies on their own ships.

”As long as you have a special skill or are a capable Evolver, you can become one of the elite and enjoy treatment fit for a king!”

’Everyone is equal? That doesn’t exist. The world has always been this way, both before and after the downpour.’

’It was just glossed over before the rain!’

The files contained many messages from large ships recruiting Evolvers and offering excellent conditions.

”Chief, with your abilities, you’d probably be welcomed as a guest of honor if you joined any faction,” Lu Jiamei said with a smile.

Ren Yuanyang shook his head. ”You don’t actually believe that propaganda, do you? If we joined them, we’d be completely controlled. We could forget about having any personal freedom.”

’With my special ability to enhance plants, I would definitely be ”studied” thoroughly!’

He had no desire to become a guinea pig for some other faction.

Without enough power to protect himself, he didn’t want to reveal how special he was.

’A common man is innocent, but possessing a treasure makes him a criminal.’

Just then, the Region channel suddenly burst into activity.

Seeing the rapidly increasing number of unread messages, Ren Yuanyang immediately switched over. He could read the files later; real-time information was more important to pay attention to.

”What do I do? They’re already chasing me!”

”Who told you to show off your evolved ability? Since you’ve already shown it, don’t resist. Just submit completely. You might even land a high position!”

”I was just trying to get the water out of my little boat! I didn’t mean to show off to them at all!”

”It’s too late for regrets now. A Water-Type Superpower is exactly what the major factions love most!”

Ren Yuanyang quickly skimmed through the discussion and finally understood what was happening.

It turned out that a lucky guy who had evolved a Water-Type Superpower had been ’lucky’ enough to be spotted by a speedboat.

”Evolver, please don’t be alarmed. We are a team from the Dawn Cruise, and we sincerely invite you to join us.”

”The Dawn Cruise! Isn’t that the biggest cruise ship in our Dragon Country?”

”I heard its facilities are incredible! Living there must be no different from living on land!”

”There’s nothing to hesitate about! Of course he should join them!”

”But I want to develop on my own...” The lucky guy clearly didn’t want to join the Dawn Cruise.

”Are you sure?” The team from the Dawn Cruise posted in the Region channel.

At the same time, the speedboat had already caught up to the lucky guy. Several men on board were pointing rifles at him.

Although he had evolved a Water-Type Superpower, his power was still weak. There was no way he could stand up to firearms.

”I choose to join you!” the lucky guy said helplessly, raising his hands.