While Everyone Panicked, I Upgraded My Raft

Chapter 57: Chapter 57: Frost Phosphorus Shrimp

The appearance of cold-resistance products in the Sea Survival Shop was actually considered quite normal by the players of District 122. After all, they had already enjoyed the benefits brought by special Equipment and food during the previous natural disaster. Those with relevant Skills would try their hand at crafting. Even if the Effect wasn’t optimal, as long as it worked, it was fine.

For instance, some players noticed Owen Caldwell mentioning that using charcoal in a Charcoal Stove yielded a better Effect than directly burning Wooden Boards. Thus, they specialized in producing large quantities of charcoal to earn a small profit margin. After all, not all players were willing to spend time making charcoal. Since it could be bought with just a slight premium, there were still a great many buyers.

Similarly, some players began selling glass bottles filled with boiling water. While the heat retention wasn’t long-lasting, the glass bottles were reusable. This setup allowed top-tier players to save time for gathering more resources, while lower-tier players traded their labor for survival necessities. It was mutually beneficial. The experience gained from the previous disaster continued to benefit District 122.

However, the situation was completely different for players in other districts. Many had paid little attention to developing their Skills, choosing instead to spend all their time gathering resources. Now, seeing the Equipment and food with special Effects in the Sea Survival Shop, a sudden burst of inspiration struck them. Many players began researching and delving into their Skills, finding a new path forward.

This was especially true in districts that had resident merchants who had publicly revealed their identities. These merchants bragged in their district’s world chat about their privilege to purchase cold-resistance gift packs from the Sea Survival Shop, making countless players burn with envy. Initially, many hadn’t understood why certain players were invited by the Sea Survival Shop. Once they learned it was due to possessing special Skills, many began studying the seemingly useless Skills they had neglected while fishing for supplies. They all hoped to receive an invitation one day. To their surprise, this dedicated practice actually led quite a few players to tinker and invent new items.

Meanwhile, quick-witted resident merchants started collecting special products within their own districts. Since they had the authority to list items in the Sea Survival Shop, they would sell them at a higher price. Even with the markup, players were still willing to buy. Under these circumstances, the variety of goods in the Sea Survival Shop grew increasingly diverse.

Rowan Rhodes naturally noticed the changes in the Sea Survival Shop’s inventory. Especially after she traded the cold-resistance gift packs to the resident merchants, they became much more proactive in listing goods. Having received tangible benefits, they now understood the true energy of the Sea Survival Shop. To increase the variety and liquidity of the merchandise, Rowan deliberately exchanged some resources for Trading Coins to inject into the market. This ensured that the Sea Survival Shop maintained a massive presence across all servers. As various transactions took place, the circulating Trading Coins would eventually flow back into Rowan’s hands. As the owner of the Sea Survival Shop, she would always be the dealer running the house.

At this moment, Rowan was busy selecting the second batch of resident merchants. Having seen the immense benefits the first batch brought her, she now wished for as many resident merchants as possible. More merchants meant that even if she, the owner, did nothing, all the resources she desired would continuously pour into her pockets. That way, she could better equip her raft and arm herself.

Based on the Skills of the first batch, Rowan began filtering candidates in other districts with two rules in mind: first, cover as many different districts as possible, and second, avoid overlapping Skills. After carefully picking and choosing, she sent out invitations to the second batch of resident merchants. This time, the second batch responded with even greater Speed. They accepted immediately and instantly began listing their goods. Many even sent her private messages trying to curry favor, which Rowan carefully sifted through.

By the time she finished this bout of busywork, it was already twelve o’clock.

The temperature had dropped to negative eight degrees Celsius, and the seawater was slowly beginning to freeze. Relying on the Engine and the Metal Raft, Rowan’s raft continued to move forward relatively smoothly. However, wherever she passed, the surrounding seawater was freezing into long, crystal-clear needles. Rowan noticed this phenomenon through her glass window.

In reality, the players’ previous speculations in the world chat were correct. As the temperature continued to plummet, the seawater would freeze, locking all marine resources beneath the ice. Most importantly, a raft would become trapped in place, unable to move forward, reduced to a lone vessel stranded on an endless continent of ice and snow. If anyone thought they could just stay put and endure until the extreme cold disaster ended, they were dead wrong! Staying in place was actually the most dangerous choice. A stationary target would attract a wide variety of ice-attribute marine creatures.

Take the Frost Phosphorus Shrimp, for instance. These were schooling marine creatures with a silver-white, thin-ice-like carapace that emitted a faint glow at night. They thrived in low temperatures and despised the heat, which gave them the ability to track down heat sources. Once a heat source was detected, they would swarm and launch a collective attack. They would continuously freeze and bind their target, launching magical attacks to inflict a freezing Effect. If that failed, they would self-destruct. Upon detonating, they would scatter various Ice Needles to deal sustained damage to their target.

A single Frost Phosphorus Shrimp was easy to deal with, but what about thousands or even tens of thousands of them? As long as the heat source remained, they would never stop attacking. From the moment the ocean surface began to freeze, they had already awakened and started converging toward the raft. Without a doubt, they were probably already on the move. The most critical issue was that their reproductive ability was extraordinary, and their growth Speed was terrifyingly fast. If the raft remained stationary, it would face their endless, relentless assaults. However, a raft had limited Durability. Therefore, the raft had to keep moving.

For a raft to advance on the ice, it required external force. She had already figured out what that external force would be; it was just that the ice wasn’t thick enough yet. Thus, her most pressing priority right now was to deal with the Frost Krill. The Frost Krill were highly destructive, but they did offer certain advantages to players. Frost Krill served as a primary food source for most marine creatures, meaning they could be used as bait to catch edible seafood. At the same time, Frost Krill inherently provided a cooling Effect and were highly filling. Even though the extreme heat disaster had passed, they would still prove useful in the future. Because of this, while preparing to defend against the Frost Krill, Rowan also planned to harvest as many of them as possible.

Calculating her next move, Rowan walked over to the Workbench. To catch Frost Phosphorus Shrimp, a shrimp trap was the best tool. It could catch not only Frost Phosphorus Shrimp but other types of shrimp as well. The core material for making one was rubber. However, rubber trees were native to islands that would only appear later on, meaning they were currently unavailable. Fortunately, there were substitutes for the shrimp trap. Rowan’s gaze fell on the list of resident merchants. Among the players she had invited, there just happened to be a few who possessed this exact Skill!