If Jiang Lai had still been uncertain or skeptical about the nature of this game before, the sight of this massive ship now seemed to blow away all her doubts.
The ship was several times larger than her little boat. In fact, it looked more like a giant wooden raft, with a small, decaying cabin on top.
Haijia nudged the raft with her head, pushing it alongside Jiang Lai’s boat.
“This is a gift I picked out for you from the bottom of the sea, to thank you for saving Xiaobao,” Haijia said, as if the raft was nothing special to her.
“Let’s go, Xiaobao, time to go home.”
This was clearly meant for her child.
“I…”
Xiaobao’s chubby flippers still clung to Jiang Lai’s boat, and he looked back at his mom, hesitating.
“Mom, I want to play here a little longer…”
Now that she could understand the little guy, Jiang Lai found Xiaobao even cuter—just like a child reluctant to leave a friend’s house, pleading with his mom.
“If you don’t listen, I’ll tell your dad when we get home. Then you can forget about coming out again.”
Haijia’s tone was a bit stern.
Jiang Lai seriously suspected that the beast language translator was smartly converting their words into human language—otherwise, why did these sea creatures sound just like a human mother and child?
“Okay…”
Xiaobao reluctantly patted Jiang Lai’s little boat with his short, chubby flipper.
“I’ll come play with you again,” he whispered, just loud enough for Jiang Lai to hear.
Then he dove into the sea and disappeared.
Haijia followed her son and sank beneath the waves.
Soon, the sea was calm again—except for the raft now floating beside Jiang Lai.
Looking at the raft, Jiang Lai’s eyes darkened.
She opened the public chat and saw that the number of people in Zone 68 was now (9979/10000).
Someone had disappeared.
But in just two days, it was impossible for someone to have upgraded their boat to this extent before dying.
And judging by the raft’s decayed state, its owner must have been gone for a long time.
That meant there had been other players before them.
The game had said they were Earth’s first batch of players.
So, before them, other civilizations must have entered this game.
Where were those people now?
Did they clear the game and return to reality, or did they all perish?
Jiang Lai had no answer.
The system didn’t have permission to answer such questions either.
But there was no point in dwelling on it now.
Jiang Lai put a steamed bun on the trading platform, looking to exchange it for a rope at least three meters long.
Her little boat drifted wherever the current took it, and the raft was even more uncontrollable.
If she wanted to explore the raft, she had to tie it to her boat first.
Otherwise, if she got on and couldn’t get back, she’d lose her home.
Her moldy steamed bun was clearly one of the most popular items on the trading platform.
Soon, she received several trade offers.
After reviewing them, Jiang Lai chose a five-meter-long, two-finger-thick white hemp rope.
She tied one end to the iron hook at the stern of her boat and the other securely to the raft’s railing.
With less than a meter between the two, she could step across easily.
She put all her belongings into her backpack, then stepped onto the raft.
The raft was about ten square meters, with a small, dilapidated wooden cabin in the middle.
Three sides of the raft had railings, but most had rotted away.
“System, is this what a level-two boat looks like?” Jiang Lai guessed.
【Yes.】
The system couldn’t answer questions about the raft’s previous owner, but it could confirm the raft’s level.
“So, upgrading to level two means you get a house,” Jiang Lai thought, longing for her own upgrade.
With the wind, sun, and growing cold at sea, having shelter would greatly improve her quality of life.
She opened the door and went inside. There was a bed, a table, and a chair.
But what surprised her most was what was on the table.
She’d seen it in the public chat before—a water purifier!
This was exactly what she needed most!
Jiang Lai couldn’t stop smiling as she reached out to touch the purifier.
She put it in her backpack, which confirmed it was in perfect working order. She’d worried it might be water-damaged, but it was fine.
With the purifier stored, her backpack’s ten slots were now full.
She had no choice but to return to her boat and put the last moldy bun, the yellow newbie clothes, and the purifier on board.
Then she went back and put the bed, table, and chair from the cabin into her backpack.
The table had two drawers, but she didn’t have time to check them. With her backpack full, she’d just leave anything inside for later.
After clearing out the cabin, Jiang Lai looked at the raft, several times bigger than her boat, and felt a bit reluctant.
“System, can I dismantle this raft?” she asked, thinking of all the materials that went into upgrading.
【Yes.】
Overjoyed, Jiang Lai jumped back to her boat and tossed her military coat onto it.
She put the raft into the last slot in her backpack and clicked “dismantle.”
【A dilapidated level-two shelter can be dismantled for Wood ×80, Nails ×40. Proceed?】
“Yes!”
Jiang Lai clicked confirm without hesitation.
The amount of materials was a bit low for a level-two raft, but since she’d gotten it for free, she could accept the system’s “middleman fee.”
Soon, the raft disappeared from her backpack, and her wood and nails now totaled: Wood ×235, Nails ×95.
Her little boat was now piled high with stuff, barely any room to stand.
The bed, table, and chair in her backpack didn’t even have space to be set out.
Without hesitation, Jiang Lai opened the Ginger’s info page and clicked “upgrade.”
Xiaobao is temporarily offline, but will return later~
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