Su Qingyue’s voice was hoarse, tinged with unwillingness.
"Right, just chill it."
Lin Ji shook the bottle in his hand. "Drinking warm water in this weather is pure torture."
Su Qingyue bit her lip, staring fixedly at that bottle of water.
In the end, the instinct for survival overcame her pitiful pride.
"Throw the water over first."
She extended her hand.
"Ah, that won’t do."
Lin Ji wagged his finger. "What if you take the water and don’t do the work? You have to come over here to do it."
"You..."
Su Qingyue was speechless with anger. "How am I supposed to get over there from this far away!"
Although the two rafts weren’t far apart, there was still over a meter of distance between them.
In between was all blue seawater. Though it looked beautiful, everyone knew that beneath the surface lay danger!
"Use your head."
Lin Ji pointed at the raft beneath his feet. "Didn’t the system say? This raft moves according to your will."
"As long as you think about moving closer, it will move on its own."
Su Qingyue was taken aback.
She tried silently reciting in her mind: Move forward.
Sure enough.
The raft beneath her feet seemed to come alive, slowly drifting toward Lin Ji’s direction.
The two rafts were side by side once more.
Su Qingyue cautiously stepped over.
Standing on Lin Ji’s raft, she felt utterly uncomfortable.
Especially under Lin Ji’s unabashed gaze, which swept over her body again and again.
"Hurry up, I’m short on time."
Lin Ji urged.
Su Qingyue took a deep breath and crouched down.
She placed both hands over the pack of bottled water.
Talent activated.
A steady stream of cold air flowed from her palms.
It had to be said, even though it was only an E-grade talent, it was truly exceptional for chilling drinks.
Before long, a layer of white frost formed on the bottles.
The cool air was palpable, looking refreshing just by sight.
But the process was extremely draining.
By the time she had chilled all twelve bottles, Su Qingyue was exhausted, her face pale and her forehead covered in cold sweat.
Her body swayed unsteadily, nearly causing her to collapse.
"Done..."
She stood up weakly, wiping her sweat.
"The water... give it to me."
She extended her hand, her eyes filled with longing.
Finally, she could have a drink of water.
Lin Ji inspected the pack of water.
It was cool to the touch, perfectly effective.
"Not bad, you’ve got good skills."
He nodded in satisfaction.
Then, he casually picked up the half-empty bottle he had been drinking from earlier and handed it over.
"Here, your payment."
Su Qingyue stared at the half-empty bottle, her entire body freezing.
"You... what do you mean?"
Her voice trembled.
"I only wanted one bottle... a full one..."
"Did I ever say I’d give you a new bottle?"
Lin Ji shrugged innocently.
"I only said I’d share a bottle with you."
"Even though this one’s been sipped from a few times, it still counts as a bottle."
"Besides, earlier, to show you how refreshing drinking water is, I used up quite a bit of my own hydration. Deducting this much is only reasonable, right?"
"You!!"
Su Qingyue trembled with rage.
Tears welled up in her eyes.
Despicable!
So utterly despicable!
She had put in so much effort, exhausting herself half to death.
And all she got in return was this half-empty bottle of someone else’s leftover saliva?
"Don’t want it?"
Lin Ji made as if to withdraw his hand. "Fine, I’m still thirsty anyway."
"I want it!"
Su Qingyue snatched the half-empty bottle from his hand.
As if afraid he would change his mind, she unscrewed the cap and gulped it down.
The cool liquid slid down her throat.
Though it was only half a bottle, and though he had already drunk from it.
At this moment, it was the sweetest nectar in the world.
After finishing the water.
Su Qingyue glared at Lin Ji with reddened eyes.
Then, without looking back, she jumped back onto her own raft.
Controlling the raft to quickly distance herself from this devil.
Lin Ji watched her retreating figure, the smile on his face gradually fading.
Turning cold and calm.
He wasn’t a sadist.
But he had to make this young lady understand one truth.
This was the apocalypse.
No princesses, no knights.
Only survival.
To survive, that pride of hers had to be shattered completely.
Su Qingyue soon calmed down.
Though still fuming, she was at least willing to drink water and stay obediently on her own raft.
After all, in the face of survival, what did a little grievance matter?
Lin Ji didn’t provoke her further.
He sat at the edge of the raft, holding the bag of whole wheat bread, nibbling on it while continuing to observe the sea.
Eye of Insight activated.
Lines of data flickered across his retina.
[Dilapidated Plank: Good for burning, not much else.]
[Empty Plastic Bottle: Contains half a bottle of unknown yellow liquid. Best not to touch.]
[Moldy Rotten Apple: Eating this will likely give you three days of diarrhea on the raft.]
Lin Ji curled his lip.
As expected, good stuff wasn’t so easy to come by.
Just as he was about to look away.
Suddenly, a tempting shade of green appeared again at the edge of his vision!
Amidst the pile of miscellaneous trash, a square package bobbed with the waves.
[Military Self-Heating Meal Box (Green)]
[Description: Contains high-calorie self-heating hot pot, combining flavor and energy!]
[Decomposition Yield: 20 Evolution Points.]
Lin Ji’s eyes instantly lit up.
Self-heating hot pot!
On this vast ocean, being able to eat a steaming hot pot was a pleasure even the gods wouldn’t trade for!
Without another word, he swung the iron hook in his hand.
"Gotcha!"
The hook landed perfectly.
Directly catching the package’s strap.
With a strong pull, the heavy box broke through the water and landed steadily on the raft.
"Why didn’t I awaken a ten-thousand-fold drop rate system?"
Lin Ji mused to himself, feeling a bit smug as he opened the box.
"If I had that, I’d soar straight to the top—who needs anything else?"
But then he reconsidered.
The Eye of Insight was actually more practical.
After all, no matter how high the drop rate, if he couldn’t see through an item’s true nature and brought back something dangerous, it would still mean death.
The box opened.
The distinct plastic smell of packaging wafted out.
Inside, six boxes of self-heating hot pot were neatly arranged!
Tomato Beef Brisket, Spicy Tender Beef, Mushroom Chicken...
Quite a variety of flavors!
Lin Ji picked a Spicy Tender Beef one, skillfully tore open the packaging, added water, and closed the lid.
Not long after.
Bubble, bubble.
Steam pushed against the lid, making a pleasant sound.
An overpowering aroma of spicy and numbing spices drifted with the sea breeze.
"Gurgle..."
On the raft not far away, Su Qingyue was struggling to hook up a damp package with her iron hook.
Before she could even open it to see what treasure it was, that enticing scent wafted into her nose.
Her stomach instantly betrayed her with a growl.
She froze.
Instinctively, she turned to look.
Lin Ji was holding a steaming box, eating with such gusto that oil dripped from the corners of his mouth.
"Phew... so hot! So delicious!"
He picked up a piece of beef dripping with red oil, blew on it, and then swallowed it in one bite.
That look of pure enjoyment on his face was almost unbearable to watch.
Su Qingyue swallowed hard.
She lowered her head and looked at the package she had just fished up.
She opened it with great anticipation.