While Everyone Panicked, I Upgraded My Raft

Chapter 74: Chapter 74: The 3rd Island - Glimmerstone Isle

”Owen Caldwell: @Faye Sinclair, bedding that increases Life Value recovery Speed? Can your Skill do that?”

”Faye Sinclair: Not without materials. I can’t manufacture it at the moment.”

”Owen Caldwell: Someone was just collecting broken cloth, and then a small batch of bedding appeared. It might be related to the broken cloth.”

”Faye Sinclair: I’ve tried using broken cloth before. Putting it into the Workbench only produces ordinary clothes, and even with my tailoring skill, it still only produces ordinary clothes.”

”Zelda Parrish: That means a new piece of Equipment has turned broken cloth into a new resource, and through this Equipment, gear with special Effects can be made.”

”Celia Lynch: Then the person collecting broken cloth is highly likely Rowan Rhodes! She just upgraded to Level 8 and might have unlocked new Equipment.”

”Skye Schuyler: So Rowan Rhodes is also a resident player of the Sea Survival Shop? Wow! The number one player on the server is so mysterious!”

”Owen Caldwell: You can buy them all. Paired with a wooden bed, the stat bonuses make recovery Speed fast.”

”Skye Schuyler: So the Sea Survival Shop can also generously collect needed resources for its resident players, right?”

”Zelda Parrish: There should be a prerequisite: the Equipment manufactured must be sold in the Sea Survival Shop.”

”Skye Schuyler: Then I’ll boldly ask for some. I’m quite free right now.”

”...”

A few of them chatted casually in the World Channel. They were all relatively prominent players in District 122. The reason many other players didn’t interject was that they wanted to glean some information from their conversation. Just from this brief exchange, the amount of information revealed was quite substantial.

The next moment, countless eyes focused on the Sea Survival Shop. Things that caught the eyes of these top players were definitely not simple. Moreover, they could recover Life Value! The verdict was unanimous: buy.

Zelda Parrish was also one of those who managed to snatch some up. The piece of information she knew more than the others was... Rowan Rhodes was in District 122. Speaking of which, other than the server-wide announcements, Rowan had always been very low-key. Especially after the Sea Survival Shop appeared, she hadn’t shown her face.

She had once suspected that Rowan was the mastermind behind the Sea Survival Shop. Although she later dismissed that idea, she always felt that Rowan would definitely be invited. Yet, there had been no news, which made her doubt her own deductions. But today, she had finally appeared. It felt like a strong declaration of her presence.

With a smile, Zelda continued to trade for broken cloth in the Trading Hall, and then traded the broken cloth to the Sea Survival Shop. Since the other party needed it, she might as well help out! Perhaps there would be a chance to make friends in the future. The current favorable situation in District 122 was inseparable from Rowan’s help.

Zelda’s actions did not escape Rowan’s eyes. After all, she was monitoring the World Channel herself, wanting to see the players’ reactions after the bedding was listed. The response was roughly what she had expected.

Quite a few resident players began initiating trades with her. For those who only wanted resources without offering Equipment in return, Rowan rejected them all. This was also a form of screening. However, she hadn’t expected Zelda to take these extra actions.

A thought flashed through Rowan’s mind. Zelda knew about her. There was only one possibility: on the first island, when she left, Zelda must have noticed someone ahead. In that situation, the only person with a higher Level could only be her. Therefore, Zelda was certain she was in District 122.

But even if Zelda knew, it seemed she had never mentioned it in the World Channel. And doing this now looked more like... a gesture of goodwill? Even if there was a chance she didn’t know?

Having figured this out, Rowan felt reassured. It didn’t matter if Zelda knew; people would find out sooner or later anyway. At first, she hadn’t wanted to show her face in District 122 because, having been reborn, she loathed socializing with any players and hated having their eyes on her. But the situation was different now. She had the ability to protect herself. Although she didn’t care anymore, she still wouldn’t actively expose her identity. If she could keep it hidden, she would! It would save her from a lot of unnecessary trouble.

Over the next period of time, broken cloth was continuously delivered into Rowan’s hands. After putting it into the loom for production, she listed the finished products directly in the Sea Survival Shop. Although bedding wasn’t a cold-resistance type of Equipment, its Life Value bonus Effects catapulted it into becoming a best-selling commodity.

When players from other districts bought them, they also guessed that the person listing the bedding was Rowan. After all, there were truly quite a few people keeping an eye on her. Or rather, keeping an eye on the leaderboards.

So as soon as Rowan reached Level 8, many players noticed. This was especially true for those who had just recently advanced to Level 7. Their advancement to Level 7 was heavily influenced by Rowan; they figured that if she could level up, they could too. Therefore, they had truly racked their brains trying to catch up, even giving up on unlocking certain Equipment.

Yet, right when they had finally caught up, this Rowan had upgraded again... and again... and again? And after leveling up, new commodities appeared in the Sea Survival Shop that they couldn’t possibly produce under their current circumstances. Naturally, they linked the two events together. Unable to hold back, players from different districts began discussing it in the World Channel.

”I’m truly in awe of this Rowan Rhodes. How does she level up so fast?”

”A Level 8 Raft? That must be C-level Equipment! And C-level Equipment requires a battery.”

”Where did she get a battery? The Sea Survival Shop?”

”A battery has only appeared in the Sea Survival Shop once, and there was only one, just to let people know the item exists.”

”Then how does she have one?”

”There must be an unknown channel. Also, hasn’t she been rewarded with Bronze Treasure Chests a few times? She might have gotten it from there.”

”It’s exactly because we know there are rewards for ranking first that we want to suppress her, but looking at it now, it’s just too difficult.”

”If the game continues in this mode, surpassing her is going to be incredibly hard.”

”It can’t stay like this forever.”

”I hope to have the chance to see who this mysterious powerhouse really is in the future.”

”Although I’m a bit jealous, for her to level up this quickly, she definitely has some real ability.”

”She probably has great luck too.”

”Maybe it’s because she’s first, and she obtained something from the first-place rewards.”

”...”

Similar discussions were happening across the different districts. Many players genuinely admired Rowan’s abilities from the bottom of their hearts, but they also felt a sense of imbalance. This was especially true for those who were top achievers not only in reality but also within the game. But with this one person constantly suppressing them with an absolute advantage, leaving them unable to find any ”solution” to break through, could they feel balanced? No!

Under these circumstances, they also wanted to find an opportunity to meet this person and see her true face. Of course, they also wanted to look for her weaknesses to see if they could replace her.

The various rewards in the Sea Survival Game all proved one thing: being first was crucial. They, too, wanted to see the view from the top.

Rowan had no idea about the discussions regarding her in the various districts. Her gaze had already been attracted by the third island—Glimmerstone Isle.

Glimmerstone Isle had appeared on the Map.