Chapter 61: Other Survivors

Lily Rhodes shrugged. Who knew?

Previously, she had envied how other people’s special vehicles could upgrade automatically just by waiting around. Now, Shelly could do the same. It was fantastic. From now on, eating simply meant upgrading.

However, recalling the Biological Energy Clusters she had interacted with, she guessed that Vitality Energy only increased when consuming fresh food. The food she provided from her inventory either had its Biological Energy stripped away by her Decomposition Technique or it had dissipated long ago.

Before diving underwater, the scorching surface temperatures meant there were hardly any fish around, so Shelly had survived purely on stored reserves. It wasn’t until they submerged that the giant turtle began foraging independently.

After emptying all the Bronze Treasure Chests, Lily brought along a few more empty ones. Once she finished preparing, she left Shelly again.

This time, she didn’t stow the turtle away. Instead, she let it roam nearby to find food. Although Shelly had been hunting for itself lately, its massive size required a terrifying amount of daily sustenance. As a result, despite its independent hunting, it still mostly relied on the stored whale meat and Crystal Cores. The former provided excellent satiety, while the latter offered abundant Energy. Even though the cores no longer contributed to upgrades, Shelly still loved eating them.

Now that Lily knew eating fish accelerated its upgrades, she naturally wanted the turtle to eat as much as possible. As for herself, she wouldn’t be completely defenseless if something went wrong, especially with the two Orcas around.

Mother Orca darted off the moment she emerged, seemingly sensing something. Only Baby Orca remained by Lily’s side.

Sailing back to the island, Lily refrained from using the Decomposition Technique. Instead, she mimicked a regular Survivor, gathering materials bit by bit—though this was merely an act.

During her time underwater, several other people had apparently discovered Rugged Isle. Observing them from afar, she realized they didn’t know each other. This allowed her to breathe a sigh of relief. If they were a coordinated group, she wouldn’t have dared to step foot on the shore.

"Go pluck all the leaves off those Leaf Trees for me," Lily instructed.

Baby Orca let out a cheerful squeak. Swishing its tail, it swam through the air exactly as it would in the ocean, reaching the tops of the coconut trees and swatting every single leaf down.

Lily noticed that it wasn’t exactly swimming in thin air. A faint mist of water vapor enveloped its body. Rather than flying, Baby Orca remained submerged in water—it just happened to be water suspended in the sky. Was this an Orca Talent? Then again, in a world where Skill Books existed, a magical whale Talent was hardly surprising.

Entering the forest, she noticed a sharp drop in temperature that hadn’t been as obvious the night before. Even Baby Orca grew noticeably more energetic.

Elsewhere, a female player steered her bamboo raft’s sail, slowly approaching Rugged Isle. She landed at the exact spot where Lily had arrived the previous night.

Reina Quinn didn’t look thrilled upon discovering a clearly man-made trail leading inland. It meant someone had beaten her to the island. Being a step late meant the island’s resources had already been claimed.

Without hesitation, Reina secured her raft, clutched a Diamond Treasure Chest to her chest, and charged inland.

It was common knowledge among Survivors that Bronze Treasure Chests and above could be used for storage. Furthermore, a raft could only be stolen if the owner willingly surrendered it or died. This was exactly why Reina dared to leave her bamboo raft unattended. She couldn’t carry it with her, and nobody could hijack it or steal its contents while she was still breathing.

The deeper Reina ventured, the more shocked she became. She had initially assumed the wide trail was cleared by a large group. Yet, she only found a single set of footprints along the way. That meant a solo Survivor had carved the path. Moreover, the tool used was clearly not a chopping implement like an axe. An axe couldn’t achieve such clean cuts. Even a chainsaw couldn’t manage it.

Further down the path, she reached the spot where Lily had battled the giant owl. The corpse was long gone, but the dried bloodstains and scattered feathers silently testified to the brutal battle that had taken place shortly before. With no other factions around, she couldn’t tell who had won—the Survivor or whatever they had been fighting. Either way, the victor’s presence didn’t bode well for her.

"Forget it. I won’t think about that right now. Getting resources comes first."

Drawing her axe, Reina prepared to chop down some trees. Her first targets were naturally the coconut trees, as the nearby mango trees had already been cleared out by Lily. Coconuts were sold in The Supreme Shop at steep prices, making them a luxury few could afford.

Just as Reina started swinging her axe, two more people arrived at Rugged Isle, one after the other, on a different shore. If Lily had opened the chat channel at that moment, she would have realized that quite a few people had discovered the island and were already disembarking.

The two new arrivals landed close to each other, spotting the other’s raft early on. Hardened by days of survival tests, their immediate reaction was to grab their weapons—not to initiate an attack, but out of fear that the other would strike first.

After a prolonged standoff, one of them broke the silence. "Man, it’s too damn hot to just stand here glaring at each other. Look at the size of this island. There’s plenty here for both of us."

The other man slowly nodded. In unspoken agreement, they split up and headed inland separately. Although they had adapted to this life of survival, their fundamental humanity remained intact. Besides, just as the first man said, the island’s resources were abundant enough to share. There was absolutely no need for an unnecessary conflict.

Meanwhile, Lily was busy gathering materials.

Though she could see at night, she was ultimately more accustomed to the brightness of day. She gathered resources and crafted small planter boxes simultaneously.

Small planter boxes were currently the hottest selling item in The Supreme Shop. As the Survivors gradually stabilized their situations, they were beginning to prepare for long-term survival.