Chapter 2: Awakening Talent

After exiting the chat channel, Lily Rhodes continued to study the panel in front of her. Right now, she had absolutely nothing. She was completely defenseless, let alone capable of upgrading her vehicle or surviving in this strange, danger-filled place.

Just then, she noticed a new green turtle tattoo on her wrist. It was drawn in a cute, cartoonish style. She was absolutely certain this childish design had not been on her wrist before.

She stared at the turtle. A second later, something seemed to click in her mind.

It was a backpack!

Before Lily could get excited, she discovered two items inside the backpack: a fishing rod and a novice gift pack.

She opened the novice gift pack. Inside lay a single bottle of mineral water and a piece of compressed biscuit.

"Is this it?"

Lily stared wide-eyed at the water and biscuit that materialized before her. With just these meager rations, even if she rationed them carefully, she probably wouldn’t last until the third day. Surviving the second day would be a stretch.

She shifted her gaze to the fishing rod.

"It seems upgrading the vehicle has something to do with the fishing rod. Am I supposed to fish up Treasure Chests?"

As a novel enthusiast, Lily had read all sorts of books. In survival novels, the most indispensable elements were always the various Treasure Chests.

"Forget it. I don’t have any other choice anyway, so I might as well fish."

Gripping the fishing rod, Lily cast the hook straight out into the water. She did not care that she lacked bait; today, she would learn from The Fishing Sage and wait for a willing catch.

As for the water and biscuit from the novice gift pack, she couldn’t bear to consume them yet. She stored them back into the System backpack on her wrist.

Half an hour later, Lily stared at the completely motionless fishing rod, her expression flattening into a deadpan stare. She probably wouldn’t survive the novice period.

Sitting under the increasingly blistering sun, she felt like she was going to roast to death.

Suddenly, she stumbled. The turtle beneath her had started to accelerate.

Before Lily could recover from the sudden fright, she saw a box wrapped in seaweed drifting on the sea’s surface, floating right toward her.

Seeing this, her body reacted faster than her brain. Forgetting all about the fishing rod, she bent down and hauled the Treasure Chest out of the water.

Upon opening the Treasure Chest, she found a metal flashlight inside.

[High-Intensity Flashlight: Once turned on, it emits a strong beam to dispel the darkness for you.]

This item was useless during the day, but it would be incredibly helpful at night.

Lily happily tucked the flashlight away. Just then, her fishing rod twitched.

When luck finally arrived, nothing could stop it.

She quickly reeled in the line, wondering what kind of fish she had caught. After all, this was her first time fishing.

People always said that anglers enjoyed a novice protection period. Plus, she could feel a heavy weight on the end of the line. It was definitely something good.

With that thought, Lily pulled with all her might and finally reeled the entire line back in. Immediately after, a dazzling golden Treasure Chest appeared before her eyes.

A golden Treasure Chest!

Lily’s eyes lit up. She was absolutely certain that there was something amazing inside.

With an excited heart and trembling hands, she reached out.

After opening the Treasure Chest, Lily was instantly mesmerized by its contents. It was a gemstone radiating a brilliant, seven-colored light.

She casually picked up the gemstone. The next second, the long-absent System voice echoed in her ears once again.

[Congratulations to the player for obtaining a Talent awakening opportunity. As the first player to awaken, your Talent will automatically increase by one Level after awakening as a reward.]

"I knew something felt missing earlier. Turns out, I was missing a Talent."

Thinking this, Lily couldn’t wait to check her newly awakened Talent.

[Congratulations on awakening the SSS Level Talent: Super Perception!]

[Talent Effect: Your Perception Ability has received an epic enhancement. You can foresee upcoming events, including impending dangers and natural disasters.]

[Because you are the first Azurea player to awaken a Talent, your Talent Level will automatically increase. The SSS Level Talent "Super Perception" has automatically transformed into the Special Level Talent "Ocean Listener". You are the listener of the sea and can hear the voices of the ocean.]

[The abilities of the Super Perception Talent will be automatically retained.]

Lily read the brief Introduction for her Talent, but she didn’t feel disappointed at all. As the saying went, the fewer the words, the stronger the effect. Not to mention, her Super Perception Talent was also retained. She essentially possessed two Talents now.

"Hungry... so hungry!"

Before Lily could celebrate, a weak voice drifted into her ears, crying out in hunger.

"Who... who’s talking?"

She looked around and searched for a long time before confirming that the voice was coming from right beneath her feet.

"Are you the one speaking?" Lily asked.

"So hungry. I really want to eat, but I can’t dive, or the little person on my back will drown."

The voice sounded quite childish. It seemed the turtle beneath her was quite young.

"What do you want to eat?" Lily moved toward the turtle’s head and crouched down to ask.

The turtle seemed shocked that she could hear it. For a moment, it even stopped swimming.

"You can hear me?"

Lily nodded. "I just awakened the Ocean Listener Talent, so now I can hear you."

"Wow. It’s actually the Ocean Listener! Little person, you’re so amazing." The turtle’s voice was filled with joy, seemingly genuinely happy for her.

"Weren’t you hungry? What do you want to eat? I’ll go find it for you," Lily said.

Whether she could actually find anything was another matter, but she had to show the right attitude.

"I eat fish and Crystal Cores. That’s how I grow," the turtle replied.

"What’s a Crystal Core?"

As for fish, she had only managed to fish up a Treasure Chest so far. She hadn’t caught a single actual fish.

"A Crystal Core is something found inside the bodies of some large fish. You can also open them from Treasure Chests," the turtle explained.

"I see." Lily frowned slightly. She couldn’t even catch a single fish to feed herself, let alone feed a giant turtle.

But she couldn’t just let it starve. After all, the turtle was her only vehicle, and she absolutely could not let anything happen to it.

With that thought, a flash of inspiration hit her. Her Talent was Ocean Listener, which allowed her to hear the voices of the sea. Perhaps she could try listening for where to find Treasure Chests or schools of fish.

She had just taken a quick glance at the System panel and found that someone had already listed fish in the trading zone. This proved that the fishing rod could indeed catch fish. Unfortunately, the seller was demanding five hundred milliliters of fresh water in exchange.

She only had one bottle of fresh water on hand. If she traded it away, she would have nothing left to drink.

Lily closed her eyes.

Without her vision, her other senses instantly sharpened.

She felt the ocean breeze gently brush across her skin and smelled the salty scent of the sea lingering at the tip of her nose. The sound of crashing waves filled her ears, and hidden within that rhythmic splashing, she heard something else.