While Everyone Panicked, I Upgraded My Raft

Chapter 50: Chapter 50: Level 7 Raft - Raft Automation

”The mysterious acquisitions are back.”

”Haha, isn’t it more of a friendly reminder?”

”Does the Hot Stone have any other uses besides making torches to repel sea creatures?”

”There’s also the geothermal core. I still have no idea what this resource is used for! But I feel like it definitely has something to do with temperature.”

”You guys are way too sensitive!”

”It’s basic common sense! When things are this abnormal, something’s definitely brewing. It never hurts to prepare early.”

”Back during the extreme heat, a lot of people guessed that extreme cold would inevitably follow. We just didn’t know when. Looking at it now, it’s highly likely to be the second disaster.”

”It wouldn’t be bad if it was the second one. At least our Equipment would come in handy!”

”Right, the Insect Skin Short Sleeves made from Rough Insect Skin have a temperature-regulating Effect.”

”Ahhh! I previously only bought the Heat-resistant Suit, and now I have to buy this too!”

”You should be thankful you found out now. You still have time to prepare!”

”Actually, I’m really curious. Who is this big shot constantly leaking information in advance? It always feels like she has insider knowledge.”

”I think it’s highly probable that this big shot just has a special Skill!”

”True, the very fabric of our world is different now.”

”@Faye Sinclair, can you turn the Insect Skin Short Sleeves into long sleeves?”

”Faye Sinclair: Yes, see you in the Trading Hall.”

”...”

Following the players’ discussions, a whole new wave of trades began to sweep through the Trading Hall. The players were gradually abandoning their lingering attachment to reality and the past, taking a more proactive approach to dealing with the Sea Survival Game and the natural disasters. After all, the chips in the players’ hands were constantly increasing.

Looking at the World Channel, Rowan Rhodes gradually found the familiar feeling of playing the game in her previous life. The main difference was that in this life, far more players in District 122 had survived, and there was much less hostility among them.

Meanwhile, the Hot Stones and geothermal cores that Rowan Rhodes needed were being listed on the Trading Hall one after another. After all, up until now, the players still didn’t know what these two resources were for. Since someone was willing to buy them, they didn’t mind parting with a portion for trade. Going by this big shot’s usual habits, she would eventually sell the finished products later anyway. When that time came, they would figure out the true value of those resources.

It had to be said that Rowan Rhodes’s previous series of actions had unknowingly established her personal credibility among the players of District 122. With her around, the players in District 122 seemed to feel a lot more secure. Therefore, when the players put up their trades, they only asked for things they urgently needed—for example, large amounts of plastic, fragments, food, and water.

During the extreme heat disaster, even though materials had been floating in the water, many players had eventually been in no condition to salvage them. They needed to prepare in advance.

As for Rowan Rhodes, she traded for everything she had on hand with those who actively requested supplies. After all, with the Sea Shop, she would never run short on these resources. Every single transaction was, in fact, an accumulation of capital for Rowan Rhodes, the initiator. She would only become richer and richer.

After trading for the required resources, Rowan Rhodes threw them into the Furnace to begin crafting. Furnace crafting also took time. The more intricate the Equipment, the longer it took. To speed up the process, she intentionally built four additional Furnaces, operating all five simultaneously. The Seawater Desalinator, Workbench, Crafting Table, and Furnaces... all formed a ring together. This was a relatively optimal number that Rowan Rhodes had calculated.

However, once everything was built, she had no intention of continuing manual production. Given the right conditions, she wanted to establish automated manufacturing.

Rowan Rhodes’s gaze fell on the items available for listing. There were 45 batteries in total, obtained from opening Bronze Treasure Chests and exploring sunken ships on the seafloor. Besides these two methods, a battery could also be crafted through the Workbench. The two resources required to craft a battery were quite special: they needed to be synthesized using an Acidic Mushroom and copper ore. The battery was the foundation for many future technological Equipment. Currently, she had neither Acidic Mushrooms nor copper ore, so she naturally couldn’t produce any.

However, the 45 she currently had were enough for some simple Equipment upgrades. It was just that after installing batteries to upgrade the Equipment, they would begin consuming electricity—or rather, batteries—instead of Wooden Boards. Therefore, upgrading would inevitably consume more resources.

Under normal circumstances, Rowan Rhodes would have deemed it not worth the cost. But it just so happened that she had a way to solve this problem!

And that was to upgrade the raft to Level 7.

After upgrading to Level 7, copper ore would start appearing in the ocean. With copper ore, she could manufacture solar panels. Once solar panels were installed, they could provide a continuous supply of electricity for the Equipment, reducing battery consumption.

If she hadn’t acquired a certain number of batteries from dismantling the sunken ships, she wouldn’t even have entertained this idea! Since she had the ability to stay one step ahead, she naturally didn’t mind taking that step. Especially since she had the Sea Survival Shop, any Equipment produced through automation could be consumed extremely quickly.

The next moment, Rowan Rhodes turned her gaze to the interface and directly selected the upgrade option. A window popped up as usual.

[Level 7 Upgrade Requirements:]

[Condition 1: raft area of 49 square meters (Met)]

[Condition 2: All Equipment on the raft must be at least D-level (Not Met)]

Rowan Rhodes browsed through the resources required for each Equipment upgrade. Her reserves were more than sufficient, so she proceeded to upgrade them one by one. After the upgrades were complete, the text on the pop-up window changed.

[Conditions 1 and 2 have been met. Do you wish to upgrade the raft?]

”Yes.”

Because Rowan Rhodes had expanded the raft in advance, this upgrade didn’t bring any physical changes; only its statistics were updated.

[Territory: Initial Raft]

[Level: Level 7] [Upgrade]

[Introduction: A relatively fully functional raft]

[specification: 100 square meters] [Expansion]

[Durability: 900/900 (Wooden House +200)]

[defensive power: 900/900 (Wooden House +200)]

[Current Equipment: Hook Claw, fishing net, campfire, long spear, Wooden House, wooden fence... (D-level)]

[Unlockable Equipment: raft (Metal Wall), Production (Medical Table), Survival (Seed Bed), Weapons (burning bottle)]

The moment the raft was upgraded, the resources in the surrounding waters refreshed.

[copper ore: The primary material for making electronic components.]

[circuit board: The main component of electronic devices.]

The moment she saw the resources, Rowan Rhodes sprang into action. In just a short while, she had hooked quite a bit of copper ore. After gathering a sufficient amount, she walked over to the Furnace. She refined the Metal Scrap collected from the sunken ships directly into titanium ore, and then smelted that into titanium ingots. At the same time, she smelted the copper ore into Metal Copper Ingots.

With these two important raw materials in hand, she tossed them into the Workbench and began manufacturing solar panels. After laying out the solar panels on the third floor, Rowan Rhodes inserted the batteries into the Equipment.

[Engine has been upgraded to Electric Engine (C-level)]

[Furnace has been upgraded to Electric Furnace (C-level)]

[Seawater Desalinator has been upgraded to Electric Seawater Desalinator (C-level)]

[Workbench has been upgraded to Electric Workbench (C-level)]

[...]

As the Equipment was upgraded to run on electricity, their tiers jumped straight from D-level to C-level. The system window popped up once again.

[The conditions for upgrading the raft to Level 8 have been met. Do you wish to upgrade?]

Looking at this notification, Rowan Rhodes let out a long breath.

Upgrading one Level was already high-profile enough!

Should she upgrade yet another Level???