【Today's Weather】
Clear skies, temperature 2–9°C
Sunrise time: 10:00
daytime duration: six hours and twenty-five minutes
Climate Trend: extreme cold air is approaching. Be sure to collect sufficient survival supplies and warm clothing.
“Hiss... Why does my whole body ache?”
Groggy, Li Qinglang reached out and rubbed his shoulder;
“What time is it? I shouldn't have overslept. I need to hurry up and get up to go to work.”
Half an hour later...
Li Qinglang suddenly sat up from the lounge chair.
“Damn, I've already crossed over, so why the hell am I still going to work? That cursed 996 lifestyle has conditioned me.”
“Still, this lounge chair is nowhere near as comfortable as a bed, and I slept for too long. It's almost daybreak.”
Sufficient sleep had not restored Li Qinglang to full health. Instead, because the lounge chair was too short and not soft enough, all the joints in his body were somewhat stiff.
He quickly got up and put on his clothing, forcefully stretched his back, and pressed down on his legs from side to side. “It looks like getting a comfortable bed is important. Otherwise, in the long run, it will seriously affect my body's functions.”
There were still more than ten minutes until daybreak, and Li Qinglang thought about the preparations he would need to make before entering the Dense Fog Zone.
First, he looked at the homeland spring eye on the table. After storing water for more than ten hours, it now contained roughly two hundred milliliters. Since the Purified Water Pearl had been left inside the whole time, this was all excellent-grade spring water.
“I have to bring the Mist-Piercing Glasses and the glowing Barbie Doll. I also need to bring the pickaxe, so I won't be completely defenseless if I encounter any danger.”
After confirming that nothing had been missed, Li Qinglang put on his windbreaker.
Because he had stayed in the Light Mist Zone too long yesterday, the windbreaker was still somewhat damp. But he had no other clothing, so he could only make do. Once the Big Tycoon's stone arrived today, he would immediately construct the living room of the Shelter. Then, with a fireplace, he could dry his clothing.
Time passed quickly.
The weather on the Mist Continent still could not be measured by common sense.
The originally pitch black sky rapidly brightened within five or six minutes, as if a veil had been lifted.
As he was about to leave, Li Qinglang had a sudden inspiration. He tore off a cloth strip from his hoodie, soaked it in the spring eye until it absorbed all the water, and carefully stuffed it into his pocket.
“All right, everything is ready!”
At exactly ten o'clock, he opened the wooden house's main door on time. The first thing to greet him was a blast of cold wind from the Mist Continent.
“It's so cold! Why is it so much colder today than yesterday?”
He could not help shivering. Since the wooden house's interior space was small, Li Qinglang had not noticed the exact temperature just now.
“Yesterday's high was still above ten degrees, but today it has directly dropped to 2–9 degrees. The daytime is also shorter than yesterday.”
A sense of unease lingered in his heart. The Mist Continent changed too much every day. If he failed to keep pace...
Tightening his windbreaker, Li Qinglang hurried outside.
Because he had discovered a humanoid creature's palm print to the right of the log cabin yesterday, Li Qinglang decided to begin exploring toward the left this time, heading for the Dense Fog Zone.
The Light Mist Zone had just expanded by 1,000 meters after the Shelter reached Level Two, so he would search for other resources along the way.
“I thought putting on the glasses would let me see the Light Mist Zone clearly too, but they don't work at all. Are these glasses only useful in the Dense Fog Zone?”
He proceeded cautiously along the way and soon reached yesterday's boundary, then continued inward for roughly one hundred meters.
“Huh? There's a patch of bamboo here. Good things!”
He had been worrying about not having a container. Each section of a bamboo plant could be sawn off and used as a cup, and it was both attractive and practical.
“I can come back here later and saw down two bamboo stalks.”
He silently memorized the location, then continued to advance his exploration.
Today's daytime was not as silent as yesterday. Insects chirped and birds called from time to time. Just as he was about to reach the Dense Fog Zone, he heard rustling sounds beside his ears.
Looking toward the sound source, he saw two or three rabbits lowering their heads to eat grass. They seemed to sense the aura of a stranger, and all at once, several rabbits raised their heads and stared fixedly at Li Qinglang.
Li Qinglang's body instantly tensed. He crouched halfway and slowly removed the pickaxe tucked at his waist.
Although they were called rabbits, each one was as large as a Chinese rural dog! Their two front teeth were not flat but sharp, resembling those of carnivorous animals.
【Snow Rabbit（ordinary）】
Introduction: A weak herbivorous animal with a strong reproductive ability, accustomed to being active late at night and at daybreak.
The two sides faced off for more than a minute. Seeing that he posed little danger, the rabbits turned around one after another and hopped into the Dense Fog Zone.
“Phew...”
He exhaled, then wiped the cold sweat from his forehead;
“Are the rabbits here all this fierce? If we really fought, I don't think I could beat them. Fortunately, herbivores are generally docile.”
In fact, Li Qinglang was underestimating his own strength. When he had been working like a beast of burden under the 996 schedule, he might indeed not have been able to defeat these rabbits. But now, after his physique had been strengthened by Sweet Spring Water, even though it had only been for one day, his physical fitness was already close to that of a soldier.
.....
“The Dense Fog Zone is just ahead. According to Huang Zhiteng, moving any one hundred meters forward in the Dense Fog Zone will naturally trigger a reward, so there's no need to search deliberately.”
After summarizing Huang Zhiteng's experience, Li Qinglang planned to finish quickly and avoid staying in the Dense Fog Zone for long.
Taking a deep breath, Li Qinglang plunged into the dense fog.
Because he was wearing the Mist-Piercing Glasses, the instant he stepped from the Light Mist Zone into the Dense Fog Zone, he felt the lenses heat up, and everything before his eyes suddenly became clear.
All kinds of flowers, grass, and trees grew wildly, while brilliantly colored vines tangled together.
Because the Mist-Piercing Glasses had a viewing range of only fifty meters, he left marks on the trees as he walked rapidly forward.
【Huanghuali Wood（good）】
Introduction: Wood that emits a natural, faint fragrance. Its scent has a slight calming effect, and its texture is hard, making it suitable for construction.
The Dense Fog Zone was extremely rich in resources. Not only was there good-grade wood, Li Qinglang also saw the stone mine he had been longing for in the distance, and it was good-grade as well.
After walking quickly for roughly ten seconds, he felt slight signs of chest tightness and shortness of breath. Without panicking, he calm down and took the cloth strip soaked with spring water from his pocket. The instant he stuffed it into his mouth, all discomfort vanished without a trace.
“It really works!”
Li Qinglang's confidence surged, and he once again quickened his footwork.
After advancing one hundred meters, a scarlet light flashed past, and a dark red stone pillar appeared at the original place.
There was a circular base beneath the stone pillar. The pillar itself was diamond-shaped and floated half a meter above the base. Faintly, it seemed that seven or eight names were engraved on it;
NO1: Kristin
NO2: Orianna
NO3: Xu Zhiqiang
NO4: Huang Zhiteng
.....
“There really is a reward!”
Looking at the stone pillar that had appeared from thin air, Li Qinglang cried out in excitement:
【Mistbreaker Totem（unknown）】
1. This totem appears only one hundred meters inside the Dense Fog Zone.
2. It appears during the first seven days after Survivors log in to the Mist Continent.
3. The totem records the first one hundred Survivors brave enough to enter the Dense Fog Zone.
4. The totem evaluates the current Survivor's overall ranking among all similar individuals and grants a reward（The evaluation includes shelter construction, owned items, food, resources, and so on）
5. The reward tiers are divided as follows:
The top 1% of all survivors - S
The top 5% of all survivors - A
The top 10% of all survivors - B
The top 20% of all survivors - C
The top 50% of all survivors - D
6. Begin evaluation?（Countdown: 60 minutes. The totem disappears when the timer ends.）
“Wait!”
Li Qinglang forcefully pounded his thigh;
“I didn't expect it to conduct an evaluation and divide rewards by ranking. I thought it would just give me a treasure chest. This is too sudden!”
He turned and left, as if he had made some kind of decision...
Li Qinglang sprinted toward the coconut trees by the seaside. There were also three giant coconuts he had discovered. If he carried all three back to the Shelter, his evaluation would at least surpass several tens of millions of people.
After all, one coconut was roughly equivalent to a normal person's food for one day and water source for two days. The three coconuts were extremely important now!
While running, he took out the Communicator:
Li Qinglang: “Beep beep beep. Big Tycoon, are you online? This is extremely urgent.”
Wang Yixin: “I am. What happened?”
Li Qinglang: “Have you started breaking stones? An emergency happened on my end, and I urgently need ten stones.”
Wang Yixin: “No way, boss. Are you chasing me for payment first thing in the morning?”
Li Qinglang: “Sorry, brother. There's really an emergency on my end. I'll treat you to coconut water later, all right?”
Wang Yixin: “All right. I'm currently felling trees. Since you're in a hurry, I'll go break stones now. Can I give them to you in half an hour?”
Li Qinglang: “Yes, yes, that's perfect. Thank you so much!”
He sprinted all the way to the coconut tree, climbed it, and used the pickaxe to knock down the coconuts. Fifteen minutes passed.
With no time to think much, Li Qinglang picked up two coconuts and ran toward the Shelter, not even realizing that he had grown stronger.
Another fifteen minutes passed.
“There's still one coconut left, but I won't make it in time... I've got it!”
He turned and ran beneath the coconut tree. Li Qinglang picked up the coconut and hurried toward the Mistbreaker Totem.
“The one I'm carrying in my hands definitely counts as my own Resource, right? Hahaha, I'm such a clever little genius!”
During this time, Wang Yixin also sent over the ten stones.
He currently possessed sixty wood and fifty stone. The materials were just enough, so he chose without hesitation to construct the living room of the Shelter.
At this point, all preparations were complete.
With only five minutes left on the countdown, Li Qinglang's figure appeared before the totem.
“Begin evaluation!”
As Li Qinglang's voice fell, the totem, which had originally been floating about half a meter above the ground, rose slightly again and emitted a gentle red light.
Three seconds later;
“Evaluation completed. The current Survivor's reward tier is: S!”
“Hahaha, I did it! The highest-tier evaluation!”
Li Qinglang laughed happily, though this had also been within his expectations.
As for Shelter Level, the highest was currently only Level Two. At most, someone might have built one more kitchen or bathroom than him.
Regarding items, Li Qinglang possessed two excellent-grade items, one fine-grade item, and a large pile of ordinary-grade items.
As for food and water sources, he had used all the purified seawater for trade and had not had time to add to his reserves. But at least he possessed three large coconuts, which was just enough to squeeze into the top one percent.
His only weakness was building material. Constructing the living room had drained his last piece of wood.
Therefore, Li Qinglang was still quite apprehensive during those three seconds of evaluation.