After a while, the boat was still rocking without stop, and Ye Yi had no idea what was going on outside.
Swaying left and right with the wooden boat, worried it would hit something while she steadied the fire basin with her hand, she really did forget she had a system Backpack at the critical moment every time.
She tried putting the fire basin into the system Backpack, her hand went empty, and it went in successfully.
Next time she absolutely had to remember: think of the Gathering-and-Crafting System first, and only look for other methods when the system couldn’t handle it.
No time to think much, the boat was still rocking. Ye Yi braced against the cabin, stood up unsteadily, forced the cabin door open, and, holding the railing beside her, carefully made her way toward the bow.
Reaching the very front, she looked down and saw moonlight scattered over the blue sea, and a giant shark ramming the boat with its head, over and over.
The huge shark kept butting the boat somewhere with its head. Ye Yi’s legs nearly gave out in fright, and she quickly gripped the railing tightly with both hands.
How was there even a shark here? Steady your nerves, don’t panic. There was a way, she had the Gathering-and-Crafting System, and she’d surely be able to deal with it.
She’d never tried gathering a living thing and didn’t know if it would work. And to gather something, she had to put her hand on the object, meaning she had to touch the shark to try. If the gathering failed, she was the closest to the shark and would face being bitten, even eaten.
But no telling how much longer the boat could hold, once the shark bit through it, it would all be too late.
Suppressing her fear, Ye Yi bravely straightened up and, amid the rocking as the shark rammed the boat, walked toward it.
The huge shark, not yet aware someone was walking toward it overhead, kept ramming the boat as if playing. Standing above the shark, with its bloody maw down in the water, from Ye Yi’s angle she could see only the top of its head, which lessened her fear of it somewhat.
She crouched, gripped the railing tightly with her left hand, and amid the boat’s rocking carefully leaned half her body out. The instant the boat dipped, her right hand shot down toward the shark.
She’d just touched the shark’s slippery skin when it suddenly surged up, opening its bloody maw.
Ye Yi shuddered all over, pushed both hands against the railing, and toppled backward onto the deck. Sitting there, not daring to move, she stared at the shark’s enormous teeth and the rotting flesh on them. Fortunately the shark only lifted its head to glance, no telling whether it had seen the person on the deck.
It sank back into the water and resumed ramming the boat.
The grating sound of impact jolted Ye Yi out of her terror. She stood again, this time clearly much faster than before, swiftly gripped the railing, aimed her direction, closed her eyes, and quickly put her hand on the shark.
“A shark detected. Gather?”
“Gather.”
The instant she thought it, the huge shark vanished. Ye Yi let out a breath, her legs going weak, only when she tasted blood in her mouth did she realize she’d nervously bitten her tongue.
Realizing the shark had been gathered successfully, where was the gathered item?
She scrambled up and looked into the deep sea. A flash of blue light glinted at the bottom, then vanished.
She’d missed another supply again. What would gathering a shark yield?
She leaned on the railing, looking at where the shark had rammed, pitch-black, nothing visible. She went back to the cabin, dug out the flashlight from the mess, returned to where she’d stood, turned on the beam, and shone it at where the shark had rammed.
She examined the boat carefully, good, no visible damage. It seemed the boat the mysterious consciousness had given was quite sturdy.
Exhausted, she went back to the cabin, gathered the scattered supplies into a pile, took the fire basin back out of the system Backpack, and set it in the very center.
Unexpectedly, however it had gone in, that was how it came out, the fire hadn’t gone out at all, nor had it burned any further.
She picked up the small iron pot from the corner and looked at the greens soup inside, only a bit at the bottom left, the rest spilled on the boards.
Ye Yi put the pot on the grate to reheat, dug out the compressed biscuits, tore one open, and ate. Very crumbly, with peanut bits, but it really stuck in her throat.
Seeing the water in the pot giving off faint steam, she picked it up and drank a few mouthfuls to ease her choked throat.
Had she known the shark was coming, she’d have drunk the soup earlier, so much water wasted.
Soon a pack of biscuits was gone, and the greens soup finished. Ye Yi carried the pot out of the cabin, crouched by the side, rinsed it quickly with seawater, and scooped a full pot of seawater back in.
She lit another briquette with the gun, added it to the fire basin, and set the pot on the hot side. She picked up the small blanket and down jacket from the boards and shook them out, thankfully she’d kept them a bit far from the pot, or they’d have gotten dirty.
Then she set the three hot-water bottles aside, put all the other scattered supplies into the two starter packs, and stored them in the system Backpack. She really was afraid of running into a situation like that again.
The very first day was this thrilling, no telling what else lay ahead.
The seawater in the pot soon boiled. Ye Yi took the hot-water bottles she’d prepared, filled them, and set them on the down jacket laid over the boards.
Once the remaining seawater in the pot had cooled a little, she washed her face and feet with it.
Finally she took the warmed small blanket, laid half over the down jacket, and left half to pull over herself when she lay down.
Before sleeping, she checked the boat’s doors and windows to make sure there were no problems, then lay on the blanket warmed by the hot-water bottles, took off the jacket, pulled the blanket over herself first, then draped the jacket over the blanket.
A hot-water bottle at her feet, one on each side of her waist, then she wrapped the blanket tight until not a wisp of wind leaked in. Watching the last ember in the fire basin go out, she closed her eyes and, rocked by the sea, slowly fell asleep.
The night was peaceful, without any disturbance.
When she opened her eyes the next day, the sun was already high enough to warm her backside.
Ye Yi patted her stomach, not the slightest hunger. Sure enough, compressed biscuits were filling. Her mouth was just dry, a bit thirsty, she needed to replenish water.
She got up, took out the now-cold hot-water bottles, folded the small blanket and down jacket, and stored them in the system Backpack.
She took out the mineral water left from yesterday, stepped out of the cabin, and breathed the fresh sea air. She opened the cap, took a small sip, held it in her mouth, let it swirl around, then slowly swallowed, this nicely moistened her throat and mouth.
Looking at the calm sea, she sat cross-legged on the deck, spread her arms wide, and shouted at the top of her lungs, very chuunibyou: “Ah, from today this sea is mine! Everyone’s welcome to come visit!”
The sound drifted off across the water, and afterward Ye Yi couldn’t help laughing at herself.
She hadn’t spoken all day, shouting like that felt much better. In this map she hadn’t seen a single soul, she wouldn’t forget how to talk by the time she got out, would she?
At that thought, she set herself a goal: she had to say at least ten sentences to herself every day. Having decided, she immediately began: “Good morning, Ye Yi. Today is day two of Open-Sea Survival, keep it up!”
That said, she faced the sea, closed her eyes, breathed deeply, and, steadying herself, ran through a session of yoga, this effectively prevented muscle atrophy.
After a full yoga set, she felt much lighter in body and mind. She opened the wristband to check the time: 8:11 a.m., temperature 22°C, humidity 46%, Gathering-and-Crafting System experience Lv2: 14.1/80, nothing else changed.
Finally her gaze settled on the ability. She’d used Gather many times, she’d never once used Craft, and still didn’t know what it was like.
She opened the Craft page, looked at the rows of 3D icons, and tapped the first one directly: campfire. A 3D phantom of a campfire appeared in front of her.
Ye Yi was confused. Wasn’t it supposed to just craft it directly? What was this phantom?
To the right of the 3D campfire was a red “Craft” button. She tapped it, and the system’s mechanical voice sounded: “Insufficient materials, cannot craft. Details available.”
At the same time, a string of prompts appeared on the phantom: Campfire, can cook food, provide light, etc., the crafting of some items also requires a campfire.
Second line: Materials needed: small sticks 0/1, dry grass 0/1, wood 0/3.
Third line: Please collect materials, then craft.
Ye Yi got a headache. On this boundless sea, where was she going to collect sticks, dry grass, and wood?
Tear the boat apart? That wouldn’t help either, where would she find dry grass on the sea?
Disappointed, she closed the campfire, ignored the stone axe and other tools, and opened the water purifier she’d been eyeing all along. An option popped up: Basic, Intermediate, Advanced.
There were even grades? Curious, she pressed Basic, and a 3D phantom of a simple water purifier made from a plastic bucket appeared. Ye Yi looked, it was made of wood, leaves, and a plastic bucket. Basic indeed.
She pressed Craft: “Insufficient materials, please check details!”
Prompt: Basic Water Purifier, can purify the seawater in the plastic bucket into fresh water.
Materials needed: thick boards 0/6, palm leaves 0/6, plastic bucket 0/1.
Great, she had none of these materials. The Craft function was like a decoration, she couldn’t even make a basic purifier, let alone anything else.
Furious, Ye Yi closed the Craft function. What use are you? Even if she died of thirst, she didn’t believe she could ever successfully craft even the system’s simple purifier.
Better to do it herself and be self-sufficient.
She was, after all, a survival enthusiast who frequented survival forums, a water purifier was surely a breeze for her.
She cleared her mind and recalled the videos she’d watched about making purifiers for open-sea survival. First she needed a large container and a smaller one, plus a plastic bag.
Fill the large container with seawater, put the small container in the middle of the large one, then seal the mouth of the large container tight with the plastic bag, and finally place a weight on the bag.
That way the vapor from the evaporating seawater would condense at the center of the plastic bag and finally drip into the small container inside, and that would be drinkable water.