While Everyone Panicked, I Upgraded My Raft

Chapter 63: Chapter 63: The Sea Area Is a Virtual Space

Rowan Rhodes had long understood what Zelda Parrish and the others were thinking.

After the raft continued moving forward, Rowan started checking the District 122 world channel and naturally saw the shift in their discussions.

Especially right now, Harold Thompson and Simon Quinn had popped up again. They had both gone silent when they were condemned earlier, but now, seeing the public sentiment aligning with their desires and demands, they were back to jumping around actively.

”Harold Thompson: This game is really unfair! I didn’t expect some players to be doing so well.”

”Simon Quinn: I think the resources might even be reorganized later on.”

”Harold Thompson: Right, exactly! I feel like the players who are lagging behind should unite, otherwise all the resources will be plundered by the top players.”

”Simon Quinn: Like those nearly three thousand Frost Phosphorus Shrimp! If they all belong to one person, just imagine how rich her resources must be!”

”Celia Lynch: @Harold Thompson @Simon Quinn, how many Frost Phosphorus Shrimp did you catch?”

”Harold Thompson: Why should I tell you?”

”Celia Lynch: If you won’t even be honest with us, how can we believe you’ll distribute things evenly after teaming up? Don’t tell me you just want others to give their extra shares to you!”

”...”

Celia Lynch still chose to stand out at this moment!

For one, Harold Thompson and Simon Quinn already had conflicts with her, so by stepping up, she wouldn’t be making any new enemies. She was truly sick to death of those two and the others who tried to stir up trouble. Whenever other players were doing well, they would use a jealous tone to draw out people’s dark sides. If they were allowed to keep talking, the order that District 122 had managed to maintain risked collapsing again.

And after Celia stepped up, a portion of the players quickly followed suit.

”Instead of obsessing over how much stuff the big shots earned, it’s better to follow in their footsteps.”

”With the Frost Phosphorus Shrimp right in front of us, hurry up and improve your catching efficiency!”

”Otherwise, in similar waters, why are the big shots able to catch so many?”

”I think it has to do with the raft level. The higher the Level, the stronger the attacks you face, but correspondingly, there are more Frost Phosphorus Shrimp.”

”Don’t just look at how many Frost Phosphorus Shrimp they caught; they risked their lives for them.”

”...”

Public opinion reversed in an instant.

At the very least, the rewards for surviving the extreme heat disaster had left most of the players in District 122 with some strength to spare. As long as there was a proper path to take, no one would consider a crooked one. Naturally, they mostly just didn’t want to become targets themselves. If resource plundering truly began, who could guarantee that they would be the ones doing the plundering, rather than the ones being plundered?

Most ordinary players were just normal people who prioritized their own interests.

After browsing through the messages, Rowan’s lips curled up slightly.

With over ninety thousand people came over ninety thousand different agendas. Who could guarantee that they were all good? District 122 had players like Celia Lynch who were willing to share their experiences, but it also had shit-stirrers like Harold Thompson and Simon Quinn. She figured it was fine to have a group of people like that jumping around causing a fuss. It would keep the players of District 122 from naively assuming that players from other districts were just as amicable, which could lead to them suffering heavy losses during future raft battles.

Rowan’s thoughts quickly pulled away from the world channel because she discovered that the stretch of sea she was currently in actually had an end. Her raft had arrived in front of a ”wall” and could no longer move forward. However, to Rowan’s eyes, what lay before her was still a boundless, endless ocean.

After confirming this, Rowan let out a long breath.

It was finally certain. The sea area where each player was located had boundaries; it was more like an independent space carved out by the game. Only when they were near an island would they step out of this space, which was why players could encounter one another.

To think that the Sea Survival Game had actually created such a massive virtual space for every single player.

At this moment, Rowan realized even more just how powerful the Sea Survival Game truly was. One had to know that the number of players was counted in the billions. She wondered what direction this game would eventually take. What was its purpose?

Given the current situation, she could only take things one step at a time. Regardless, gathering more information was definitely the right move.

While Rowan was lost in thought, the Seagull Family curiously began to ram against the surrounding virtual barrier.

Rowan actually approved of their actions. If they hadn’t attacked it, she would have tried attacking it herself. Since someone was already doing the job, she would focus on preparing for the third wave of Frost Phosphorus Shrimp. She also wanted to see if there was any difference in the Frost Phosphorus Shrimp that gathered around this boundary area.

After a few rounds of trapping, her shrimp cages were completely totaled.

However, on the trading hall and the Sea Survival Shop right now, all sorts of shrimp cages were prominently listed. After all, upon discovering the effects of the Frost Phosphorus Shrimp, all players had added catching them to their goals, aside from simply surviving the extreme cold disaster. As a result, shrimp cages had become hard currency.

Many players with weaving and Manufacturing Skills were learning to make shrimp cages. Especially in some districts with resident players—because the overall market across all districts was vast enough, they would heavily buy up shrimp cages within their own districts and then upload them to the Sea Survival Shop to earn the price difference.

The market for Frost Phosphorus Shrimp and shrimp cages was brought to life just like that.

The reason Rowan knew this was because the resident players she hadn’t invited were also putting up listings on the Sea Survival Shop.

After Rowan bought new shrimp cages and finished setting them up, she walked over to the ”virtual wall.”

The Seagull Family was still attacking. Watching their actions, Rowan felt somewhat curious. She had assumed the Seagull Family would stop after a few strikes, but she didn’t expect them to persist for so long.

Just as she was thinking this, with the Seagulls’ next strike, she was shocked to discover that faint cracks had actually appeared on this virtual wall. Following that, the sound of cracking ice could be heard from beneath her feet, and the surrounding temperature began to continuously rise.

Rowan’s mind stirred. So, this virtual space could be shattered!

What kind of scene would she see after breaking it? Her heartbeat unconsciously sped up. However, watching the Seagulls attack with increasing vigor, Rowan eventually called them to a halt.

”Stop attacking!”

Upon hearing her words, the Seagulls naturally stopped.

As soon as they did, the cracks on the virtual wall vanished instantly, the temperature dropped once more, and the ice on the sea’s surface resumed freezing.

Seeing this, Rowan let out a long breath. She had already deduced that the space the players were in was a virtual one. The extreme heat disaster, the extreme cold disaster, and even the series of disasters they would encounter in the future were all the results of the Sea Survival Game’s manipulation.

She could indeed break this space right now, but what then? Could she escape the Sea Survival Game?

No!

She might even draw the heavy scrutiny of the Sea Survival Game and get snuffed out prematurely. The risk was too great. This was also why she had just let the Seagulls act while she refrained from doing anything.

With billions of players, the Sea Survival Game likely had its own operational logic and wouldn’t deliberately pay attention to a specific player. She figured that as long as it wasn’t a player taking action, the Seagulls’ actions were more likely to be deemed an ”accident.”

[Attack?]

Seabird One flew over to Rowan’s side, letting out a loud SQUAWK.

Rowan shook her head. ”Keep catching Frost Phosphorus Shrimp! We’ll attack it again when there’s an opportunity in the future. At least, not right now.”

After receiving an answer, Seabird One didn’t ask any further. It brought its family along and started digging holes around the raft. As for Rowan, she also began waiting for the third wave of Frost Phosphorus Shrimp to attack.

What Rowan didn’t know at this moment was that while they had been attacking the virtual wall, a log was being generated in a certain information center somewhere.

[DING! District 122 virtual space is under attack.]

[DING! Detecting whether the attacker is a player.]

[DING! The attacker is a Seagull.]

[DING! Extracting energy to repair the virtual space.]

[DING! Sustained attack, insufficient energy, reporting for processing. Reporting...]

[DING! Attack has stopped. Report withdrawn.]

[DING! Checking the extent of damage to District 122’s virtual space...]

[DING! Minor damage. Repair complete.]

[DING! File has been sealed.]

Rowan’s vigilance had saved her this time.