Su Qingyue stared at Lin Ji before her, her eyes filled with terror.
There was even a hint of pity mixed in.
He’s insane.
This guy is absolutely insane.
Suddenly finding themselves in this godforsaken place, it’s easy for anyone to have a mental breakdown.
What Evolution Talent?
What becoming a queen?
And freezing the entire ocean?
This is nothing but the delirious ramblings of someone scared out of their mind.
"Lin Ji, you... you need to calm down."
Su Qingyue tried to pull her arm free from his grasp, her voice trembling slightly.
"Even though the situation is terrible right now, we... we just need to wait for rescue. Please don’t act like this..."
But Lin Ji didn’t let go.
He stared into Su Qingyue’s eyes, his expression unusually serious.
"I’m not insane."
"Su Qingyue, every word I’m saying right now is sincere."
"Even though your talent is currently Trash E-grade, I have the ability to evolve it."
"S-grade, even SSS-grade—none of that is a problem."
At this point, Lin Ji paused, leaning slightly forward, instantly closing the distance between them.
Su Qingyue could even feel the warmth of his breath.
"But there’s no such thing as a free lunch."
"I can help you, on one condition... you have to be mine."
"In this world without laws or morals, I don’t believe in so-called ’classmate camaraderie.’"
"I only trust those who belong to me completely."
Su Qingyue froze.
Her originally pale, delicate face flushed bright red in an instant.
Out of anger, and out of shame.
As the esteemed young lady of the Su family, the untouchable campus belle of Haicheng University, when had she ever been threatened like this?
To actually demand that she... become his woman?
In exchange for something as fantastical-sounding as talent evolution?
"You... you’re shameless!"
Su Qingyue violently shook off Lin Ji’s hand, shrinking back into the corner.
She bit her lip, her eyes turning cold once more.
"Lin Ji, I misjudged you."
"I thought as classmates, we could look out for each other."
"I never expected you to take advantage of someone in distress!"
"I, Su Qingyue, would rather starve to death, die at sea, than agree to such an absurd demand!"
Lin Ji wasn’t surprised by this outcome.
If this proud campus belle had agreed right away, that would have been truly bizarre.
Trust is the most extravagant luxury in the apocalypse.
Besides, he was only testing the waters.
"Fine."
Lin Ji shrugged indifferently.
"Since the great campus belle has such backbone, I wish you the best of luck."
"Even if the deal’s off, let’s part amicably. We’ll each rely on our own abilities to survive."
With that, he stood up and walked to where the two rafts were connected.
In the panic when he first woke up, he hadn’t noticed—his raft and Su Qingyue’s weren’t the same one.
Rather, two separate rafts had been pushed together by the waves, their uneven edges wedged against each other.
Lin Ji raised his foot and gave the connection point a hard kick.
Crack.
The two rafts separated with a sound.
Pushed apart by the waves, a gap of over a meter instantly opened between them.
A clear boundary drawn.
Watching Lin Ji drift gradually farther away, Su Qingyue felt an inexplicable sense of panic.
But remembering his earlier words, she forced herself to harden her heart.
Scoundrel!
A petty man who takes advantage of others’ misfortune!
I refuse to believe I can’t survive on my own!
Lin Ji had no time to concern himself with Su Qingyue’s inner thoughts.
He sat cross-legged on his small raft and picked up the rusty iron hook.
The survival game had only just begun.
The sea surface was littered with all kinds of debris.
Wooden barrels, plastic bottles, and many unidentifiable packages.
According to the system prompt, these were all resources.
But before that...
Lin Ji focused his mind and looked at his personal panel.
In the talent section, [Eye of Insight (B-grade)] was emitting a faint glow.
Lines of small text appeared before his eyes.
[Talent Skill: Eye of Insight]
[Effect One: Prediction (once per day). Predict auspicious or inauspicious events, fortune or misfortune within half a day, or trigger a low-probability lucky event.]
[Effect Two: Insight (Passive/Active). See through the essence, weaknesses, and hidden attributes of items.]
[Effect Three: Intelligence (once per day). Obtain a piece of urgently needed intelligence information (limited by level, intelligence may be vague).]
[Note: Limited by mental energy, only one active mode can be used per day.]
Lin Ji stroked his chin.
Prediction was too metaphysical, and Intelligence was too vague.
At this stage, the most practical was clearly "Insight."
After all, with so much debris floating on the sea, relying solely on luck to blindly hook items would likely mean exhausting himself without retrieving anything valuable.
"Activate Insight mode."
Lin Ji silently recited in his mind.
The next second.
The previously gray and hazy sea surface instantly transformed in his eyes.
Countless streams of data flickered above the floating objects.
[Damaged Plank: Though poor quality, it’s still wood.]
[Empty Plastic Bottle: Useless except for taking up space.]
[Moldy Bread: High chance of causing diarrhea if eaten.]
Lin Ji scanned his gaze around.
Most were ordinary trash displayed in white text.
Suddenly.
His gaze fixed on a spot ten meters ahead to the left.
There floated an inconspicuous express box.
But in Lin Ji’s eyes, it emitted a faint green glow!
Item Grades: White (Common), Green (Excellent), Blue (Fine), Red (Rare), Purple (Epic), Gold (Legendary).
Encountering a Green item right from the start?
What incredible luck!
Lin Ji took a deep breath and swung the iron hook in the air a few times.
Whoosh!
The hook accurately caught the strap of the express box.
With a strong pull.
The express box, splashing water, landed beside Lin Ji’s feet.
For some reason, despite being soaked in seawater for so long, these cardboard boxes showed no signs of falling apart.
Lin Ji eagerly tore open the tape.
The moment he opened the box, he froze.
Inside lay a small square box.
Pink packaging, adorned with indescribable illustrations.
[Ultra-Thin 001 (Green)]
[Description: The ultimate experience, as if wearing nothing at all.]
[Decomposition Yield: 5 Evolution Points.]
The corner of Lin Ji’s mouth twitched.
Well, well.
So this is what’s called Green quality?
Giving me this in a survival game—are they trying to make sure I die faster?
"Pfft..."
Su Qingyue, who had been secretly watching from over there, clearly saw the illustrations on the box as well.
Even from several meters away, Lin Ji could sense the heat rapidly rising on her face.
"Pervert!"
Su Qingyue glared at him fiercely, then flusteredly turned her head away.
As if looking at it for even a moment longer would give her a sty.
Lin Ji, however, remained perfectly calm.
As long as he wasn’t embarrassed, the embarrassment belonged to others.
"Don’t underestimate this thing."
Lin Ji toyed with the small box in his hand, choosing not to decompose it.
"This is rubber—it might come in handy later for making a slingshot, or it could be useful for storing water."
Although decomposing it would give him 5 Evolution Points, he had a feeling keeping it would prove more valuable in the long run.
He stored the treasure away.
In good spirits, Lin Ji whistled as he continued casting his hook.
It had to be said, with the Eye of Insight, his efficiency had skyrocketed.
In less than ten minutes.
He had locked onto another target.
This time, it was a package that looked quite heavy.
Pulling it up, he took a look.
Lin Ji’s eyes lit up.