While Everyone Panicked, I Upgraded My Raft

Chapter 100: Chapter 100: New Equipment - Electric Light

”Does this air purifier have anything to do with the resources the players in our district collected earlier?”

”Probably.”

”Air purifier... Seems like it’s related to the upcoming natural disaster.”

”So, do some players already know what the third disaster is?”

”It’s likely just targeting the air quality issue mentioned on the calendar.”

”Then the core resource is the circuit board?”

”Should be.”

”How troublesome! The disasters are always one step ahead of our upgrade Speed! This has to be on purpose!”

”Yeah! With our raft’s upgrade Speed, aside from a very few players, we basically can’t handle the incoming disasters.”

”Was the Sea Survival Game ever a good thing to begin with? Did you really think it would take care of us? We might as well hope for more top-tier players to leak some items, making our days a bit less difficult.”

”True. Also, there’s this Sea Survival Shop that suddenly popped up. Although the name is similar, so far, it’s actually been beneficial to us players.”

”Anyway, I’m going to camp here and try to buy an air purifier. Otherwise, by tomorrow daytime, it’ll be too late.”

”I think so, too.”

”...”

As they discussed, countless players kept their eyes glued to the Sea Survival Shop and their own district’s trading halls.

During the first hour, the number of air purifiers appearing in the Sea Survival Shop was relatively small, but by the second hour, the quantity noticeably increased. Now, players across all districts couldn’t sleep; they were all camping out to snatch one!

Meanwhile, Rowan Rhodes, watching the air purifiers flow in and out of the Sea Survival Shop, understood that the permanent players had already figured out the crux of the matter. Sure enough, the prices for resources like Metal Ingots, glass, plastic, sand, and charcoal had instantly skyrocketed by quite a few Trading Coins compared to before.

Resource prices were determined by the market, after all. For the next three days at least, the prices wouldn’t drop.

Rowan understood this logic. She didn’t regret leaking the information early at all. After all, she had already purchased a large batch in advance, which effectively lowered her own costs. Moreover, these low-Level resources would provide lower-Level players with more avenues to survive.

Most importantly, she wanted to draw the players’ attention to the third disaster. After all, once other disasters passed, they were over. But for this disaster, if not handled properly, the side effects would follow them like a shadow.

Looking at the air purifiers produced over the past two hours and recalling what Zelda Parrish had said earlier, Rowan directly listed this batch of air purifiers in the District 122 trading hall. Indeed, the stability of District 122 was beneficial to her. In situations where allies were needed, District 122 could serve as her ally.

Sure enough, the moment she listed them, they were instantly sold out. Following that, a massive wave of players began showering her with praise in the world channel.

After a quick glance, Rowan looked away and opened the buy and sell lists within the Sea Survival Shop. A number of new resources had appeared in the buy list.

[Metal Ingots]

[copper ingot]

[titanium ingot]

[precise parts]

[circuit board]

[battery]

[oxygen bottle]

[Blueprint: Watchtower]

[Trap Blueprint]

These were newly added resources after the upgrade, evidently much more precious than the previous ones. Naturally, they were also much more expensive.

As for the sell list, basically all the resources and Equipment Rowan had on hand could be recycled. However, the recycling price was far lower than selling them through the Sea Survival Shop. Unless she was in dire need of Trading Coins for cash flow, Rowan would never choose to sell them this way.

Speaking of which, she noticed that Trading Coins had also become a commodity for player trading. It was mostly permanent players selling them to district players, because this was exactly what the players of District 122 were doing. They did this to accumulate enough Trading Coins to buy items from the Sea Survival Shop.

Subsequently, Rowan’s gaze fell upon the Watchtower and traps. She was quite surprised to see these two items, because the Watchtower was considered a building. In her memory, the Watchtower only appeared after reaching the Coastal Waters Region. Since players would appear within the same sea area, they could use the Watchtower to observe the condition of other rafts. She just hadn’t expected it to appear right now.

Rowan’s eyes unconsciously darkened, her heartbeat quickening. Did this mean that if the Sea Survival Shop upgraded again, more buildings would appear? Could she prematurely upgrade her raft into a Sea Base without even entering the Coastal Waters Region?

Rowan’s eyes locked onto the information category in the Sea Survival Shop. It had to be said that, assuming the prices were kept low, information-type commodities would undoubtedly attract the most buyers. However, any information she put up had to be something other players would accept, and it couldn’t arouse suspicion later on.

Yes, Rowan was planning for the future, because she didn’t know if her ownership of the Sea Survival Shop would be exposed one day. Therefore, she had to ensure that even if it was exposed, and people found out the Sea Survival Shop was hers, they would merely think she was formidable and capable of using the platform to reap massive profits, rather than deducing her ”foresight” ability through the process.

If she hadn’t considered this, Rowan could have simply sold the complete developmental trajectory of the virus disaster! But she also knew perfectly well that there was still time. After all, her raft hadn’t even been upgraded to its complete Level 10 form yet!

Nevertheless, Rowan went ahead and bought the Watchtower and the Trap Blueprint first. The Watchtower was quite tall, making it a perfect resting spot for the Seagulls during the day. As for the traps, they were meant to be set up around the raft. Once deployed, they didn’t require bait and could attract ocean fish. There would be many such traps in the future; besides those around the raft, there would be ones on the raft and on islands. Different traps corresponded to different scenarios.

Just like that, Rowan installed the Watchtower and traps onto the raft, and they instantly materialized.

Rowan originally wanted to go to the third floor to check out the Watchtower, but then she realized it was getting dark, and everything around her was pitch black. The Seagulls and Sea Turtles could see clearly in the dark, but she couldn’t. Initially, she had planned to craft a campfire and place it on the second and third floors. However, it suddenly occurred to her that since the raft had entered the automation stage, it was time to consider using electricity.

Speaking of electricity, she was reminded of an upcoming problem. The virus disaster was accompanied by heavy fog. As time passed, the fog would thicken until nothing outside could be seen. Because of this, solar power would be affected. Consequently, the entire raft’s electrical operation would have to rely on batteries.

Currently, all the batteries she had on hand were basic ones—they drained completely upon use, making them single-use consumables. Compared to buying them directly, producing them herself was a solid choice. Fortunately, she had already unlocked battery production at the Workbench earlier, so she happened to have a certain reserve.

Come to think of it, several future disasters would affect solar energy. Under such circumstances, producing a generator was the only reliable solution. However, whether it was a wind generator or a biofuel generator, she would need blueprints. She would have to see if she could find an opportunity to obtain them from sunken ships or islands later on.

With this in mind, Rowan directly unlocked another Workbench to simultaneously produce batteries.

At this moment, in Rowan’s workshop, 15 Workbenches were running in unison, producing different Equipment. After all, the time required for each piece of Equipment varied. Moreover, production would sometimes halt due to a lack of resources, and it would only resume after Rowan, the owner, replenished the materials. Aside from the Workbenches, the Furnace and the loom were also actively running. It was safe to say that the workshop now bore the rudimentary shape of a factory.

Rowan watched all of this with satisfaction. She unlocked yet another Workbench and tossed copper ingots into it. Then, she easily located the blueprint for a light bulb. With the blueprint in hand, Rowan began production.

Just like that, a light bulb was created.

[Light Bulb: plastic x 5, copper ingot x 2, rope x 1]

The light bulb didn’t require wires; it was used in conjunction with a battery. If not using a battery, it could be powered by the raft’s generator. As long as the raft had a power supply, it would light up, just like any other piece of Equipment.

Rowan immediately started mass-producing them.

The brightness of the light bulbs was something a campfire couldn’t compare to. She hung one straight away on the ceiling of the first floor. When the light bulb turned on, the entire first floor was brilliantly illuminated. She put one in the second-floor control room, one in her bedroom, and one in the shower room.

Next was the third floor.

As Rowan went up to the third floor, the Seagull Family and Big Turtle all came forward to greet her. Seeing the third floor suddenly become bright, they all let out uncharacteristic ”wow” sounds in sheer awe. Rowan smiled, then placed one in the Seagulls’ room as well. After installing it, she also showed them where the switch was located.

”Master? Where’s my room?” Big Turtle suddenly sidled up to Rowan and asked.

”...Aren’t you living in the pasture?” Rowan asked.

”Not anymore~”

Hearing this, Rowan directly built another level on top of the Seagull Family’s room. After all, the ceiling of the third floor was already 10 meters high. Adding another level only cost some wood. Once it was built, Rowan installed a light bulb in this room as well.

”Alright, I think you guys should go to rest now. See you tomorrow morning!” Rowan bid her pets goodnight. At this point, she felt she had completed everything she needed to do. As for the rest, it could wait until tomorrow morning!

”Goodnight~”

A moment later, Rowan had returned to her bedroom. She turned on the air purifier and fell into a deep sleep.

She slept incredibly peacefully this time, because apart from the virus, no one would attack the raft. And even if they did, her raft wouldn’t be breached so easily now.