While Everyone Panicked, I Upgraded My Raft

Chapter 89: Chapter 89: There Is a Mine on the Seabed

After upgrading her raft, Rowan Rhodes prepared to start manufacturing air purifiers.

She tossed the circuit boards into the Workbench, which generated a batch of blueprints. She quickly located the one for the air purifier.

[Air Purifier: Metal Ingots x10, plastic x10, glass x5, circuit boards x2, charcoal x10]

After confirming the required resources for the air purifier, Rowan directly dismantled the Wood Walls, greenhouses, and other structures she had just removed from the raft. Once broken down, they turned into Wooden Boards, which she immediately threw into the Furnace to produce charcoal.

Just like that, relying on the abundant resources at Rowan’s disposal, the air purifiers began to be manufactured continuously.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, she also started trading Metal Ingots, plastic, sand, glass, and circuit boards in the trading hall of District 122. All things considered, with the exception of circuit boards, none of these resources could be considered scarce. Take Metal Ingots, for example. Once players reached Level 6, they could salvage them directly from the sea, so many players already had some on hand.

In District 122, thanks to Rowan’s influence, a substantial number of players had leveled up quickly. The percentage of Level 6 players might be low, but out of a massive base of over ninety thousand players, the actual number was quite significant. Thus, as soon as Rowan listed her trades, many people eagerly took the deals. This was especially true because she was offering food in exchange.

Relatively speaking, the drop rates for food and mineral water were quite low, though wooden chests did contain a fixed amount. As a result, food, water, and beverages were all hard currency on the world channel. Mixed into the currently massive volume of trades, Rowan’s listings didn’t stand out at all.

Of course, the main reason was that many players simply didn’t have the time or energy to monitor the trading hall. Their minds were entirely focused on salvaging resources; once they salvaged something, they quickly traded whatever they had for resources they lacked or needed more of.

After surviving two natural disasters, many players had come to realize one thing: every resource had its uses, great or small. It all depended on how you used them.

And so, Rowan focused all her attention on manufacturing Equipment on the raft and consolidating her resources. Time slipped away, and before she knew it, it was 3:00 PM.

”CAW!”

Rowan was in the middle of salvaging marine resources when she suddenly heard Father Gull’s cry. Having activated her natural skills, Father Gull’s words were translated directly in her mind.

”Someone’s here?” Rowan said, her expression showing no surprise. After all, according to her estimates, it was about time someone arrived.

She cast her gaze toward the far side of the ocean. Would the arrival be Zelda Parrish? Rowan felt there was a very high chance it was Zelda.

With that thought, Rowan immediately went ashore and retrieved her solar-powered electric drills and iron pickaxes from the various mines. Yesterday, she had carved away half of Glimmerstone Isle. Today, over the entire morning and early afternoon, she had stripped away half of what remained. Now, Glimmerstone Isle looked more like a small hill; only its sprawling coastline served as a testament to its former massive size.

Originally, she had planned to stay right where she was, even if other players arrived. After all, her secret identity had already been over ninety percent exposed. The only thing left was for her to actually show her face. But looking at the resources she currently had on hand and what remained of Glimmerstone Isle, she figured it wouldn’t be a bad idea to leave some scraps for the other players in District 122 to enjoy.

It was better to let her and her raft’s true faces be revealed to the District 122 players a bit later!

After packing her things, Rowan left a short message on the nearby sandy beach before returning to her raft. She started the Engine, turned the Steering Wheel, and sailed straight away from Glimmerstone Isle. This time, she didn’t even leave a trail for anyone to catch sight of.

By the time Zelda Parrish arrived in the waters of Glimmerstone Isle and saw what amounted to little more than a small reef, she was thoroughly stunned. Though she had guessed that a significant amount of ore must have been mined from Glimmerstone Isle, seeing it with her own eyes still gave her a bit of a shock. Anyone who had seen the previous two islands would know that an island couldn’t possibly be this tiny.

Zelda raised an eyebrow and scanned her surroundings. After confirming that there was no sign of Rowan or her raft, she chose a relatively open spot to make landfall on Glimmerstone Isle. The moment she stepped onto the island, Zelda noticed a line of words etched into the sand.

[There’s ore on the seabed.]

Reading it, Zelda immediately understood that Rowan had left the message. The corners of her lips curled up involuntarily. Rowan was indeed an excellent trailblazer!

Zelda instinctively glanced at the Sea Survival Shop and the trading hall. She didn’t see any power-related mining Equipment listed. It seemed Rowan hadn’t put those kinds of items up for sale. It was probably to ensure that the players who arrived later would still be able to mine some ore. After all, if she had brought in more power tools, they might have completely depleted the entirety of Glimmerstone Isle in the remaining time.

Zelda walked toward the mine with an Iron Pickaxe in hand and quietly began to dig. She worked out regularly in her daily life, so this bit of physical labor was nothing to her. She had already noticed while salvaging supplies that, in addition to having good Equipment, a player could improve their overall condition if their physical stamina was high enough. This could be considered one of her advantages.

As time passed, Zelda continued to mine. Gradually, other players began to arrive.

Faye Sinclair, Owen Caldwell, and Celia Lynch.

As the three of them arrived one after another, they noticed the raft anchored up ahead. Of course, what drew their attention the most was the ”baby” Glimmerstone Isle. This thing must have been put to work before it even came of age! Or rather, it had been ruthlessly carved down to size.

Rowan! She really was in District 122.

Still in shock, they unknowingly piloted their rafts closer to the beach. The three players immediately dropped their iron anchors into the ocean to secure their rafts. Then, they stood at the edges of their rafts, looking warily at the other players nearby.

”Hello, I’m Celia Lynch,” Celia introduced herself proactively to Faye and Owen.

The moment the name Celia Lynch was spoken, both Faye and Owen’s faces blossomed into wide smiles.

”The pro player, Celia! I’m Faye Sinclair.”

”I’m Owen Caldwell.”

Faye and Owen spoke up one after the other. After the introductions, they looked at each other with a sense of shared delight. It felt just like an offline meetup between internet friends. After all, on the world channel of District 122, they were basically all on the same side.

The three of them stepped off their rafts sequentially. The moment they stood on the beach, they also noticed the words written in the sand.

”Who left this?” Faye asked, her expression tinged with curiosity.

Celia’s gaze swept around before landing on the figure mining away in the distance.

”The person who left this message must be the top player, Rowan. She probably left early,” Celia analyzed. ”As for the person who got here before us, that should be another top player, Zelda Parrish.”

Zelda Parrish—she was another top-ten expert! Listening to Celia’s analysis, Faye and Owen nodded in agreement.

”You two go ahead and start mining! I’ll go on the world channel and tell the players coming after us to prepare,” Celia said.

Hearing this, Faye and Owen smiled. Celia’s ”old habit” was acting up again. Then, Iron Pickaxes in hand, they hurried off toward different small mines.

From the looks of it, players would be arriving one after another. It was best to start mining as soon as possible.