While Everyone Panicked, I Upgraded My Raft

Chapter 109: Chapter 105: Private Chat Group

[District 122: (95,837/100,000)]

”Owen Caldwell: Permanent players in the Sea Survival Shop can actually send private messages and create group chats? And other districts only have one permanent player?”

”Group chats? You guys can contact players from other districts?”

”God! You can contact other districts! What’s the situation like over there?”

”@Owen Caldwell, chat more and find out what’s going on in the other districts!”

”Is there any way to know how many districts there are in total?”

”If we know the number of districts, we can figure out the total number of players across the entire server.”

”Harold Thompson: Other districts only have one permanent player, so why does our district have four—oh wait, five? Isn’t that over the limit?”

”Simon Quinn: Something’s fishy.”

”Zelda Parrish: Maybe our district has always had a high survival rate, so we got more slots?”

”Celia Lynch: Players in our district started crafting Equipment relatively early, so we probably have an advantage over other districts!”

”Doesn’t that mean our District 122 is entirely unique?”

”All thanks to the boss, Rowan Rhodes!”

”I feel like the Sea Survival Shop might be doing this out of respect for Boss Rowan.”

”I think so too.”

”But speaking of which, this makes the Sea Survival Shop much more convenient to use. Bosses, you have to bring back the good stuff to make District 122 bigger and stronger! We’ll definitely support you.”

”Yeah, yeah, our good days depend entirely on you guys.”

”Let’s just help each other out.”

”Zelda Parrish: @Owen Caldwell @Faye Sinclair @Skye Schuyler, don’t reveal that you are from District 122. Keep your anonymity. I’ll handle all the public statements for District 122, okay?”

”Owen Caldwell: Okay.”

”Faye Sinclair: I’ll listen to you.”

”Skye Schuyler: Mm-hmm, I agree.”

”...”

As they chatted, the anomaly of District 122 was casually brushed off and attributed to Rowan Rhodes being ranked first across the entire server, as well as District 122 having the highest survival rate. Moreover, this explanation was widely accepted.

At this moment, Zelda Parrish involuntarily pursed her lips as she read the others’ analyses. When she saw in the Sea Survival Game’s permanent player group chat that other districts only had one player each, she did indeed feel that District 122 was entirely too special. So special, in fact, that she couldn’t help but suspect the Sea Survival Shop might actually belong to Rowan Rhodes. That was why she had intentionally steered the conversation in a more suitable direction when she spoke up.

As a result, the others had followed her lead, rationalizing the entire situation. Of course, the premise of this rationalization was that she genuinely harbored such suspicions herself. Comparing the two possibilities now, she could only settle on this thought for the time being. The argument that the Sea Survival Shop belonged to Rowan Rhodes was still a bit far-fetched.

If it were true, just how formidable must Rowan Rhodes be! It hadn’t been that long since the Sea Survival Game invaded their world. No matter how incredible Rowan was, achieving rank one across the entire server was already an immense feat. Surely she couldn’t have planned ahead and manipulated all the players right in the palm of her hand? Even if that were the case, they would just have to accept it! With only a fifty percent probability, Zelda Parrish wasn’t about to treat it as an established fact.

On Rowan Rhodes’s end, she finally let out a long sigh of relief as she watched the direction the World Channel was taking. Although they had grown suspicious, they hadn’t let their imaginations run wild, and they even came up with a reasonable explanation. That was pretty good. However, she also noticed that Zelda Parrish and Celia Lynch deserved credit for guiding the conversation. Their reasoning had instantly derailed the train of thought of all the other players. Moreover, since it was well-founded and logical, it naturally managed to win people’s trust.

Still, she harbored a lingering sliver of doubt toward Zelda Parrish. She couldn’t shake the feeling that Zelda might have already suspected her. But suspicions aside, Zelda hadn’t said anything out of line on the World Channel and had even helped cover for her. That was enough. Her secret identity hadn’t been entirely exposed after all. Truthfully, even if it were exposed, it would merely make her a larger target. She already drew enough attention as it was; one more thing wouldn’t make much of a difference. But it was better to remain hidden. That way, she could lay low and steadily develop for a long while.

At this point, Rowan reined in her wandering thoughts and prepared to continue producing air purifiers to exchange for resources. Now that she had the Building Plans, she knew exactly what resources she needed to gather. She would work toward that goal ahead of schedule. After all, without going through the Sea Survival Shop, she would have to wait until she entered the Coastal Waters Region and searched medium-sized islands to obtain Building Plans. That was still a long way off! Since she could develop her base early, she naturally would.

In the time that followed, the attention of countless permanent players was drawn to the Sea Survival Shop’s private messages and group chat channels. This kind of cross-district private communication was far more thrilling than chatting within their own districts. Information was exchanged, and resources were traded. Countless small group chats sprang up in response. Even Zelda Parrish and her three peers created a small group chat.

”Zelda Parrish: We can chat privately here. In the future, when we trade with the Sea Survival Shop, we can discuss it here.”

”Owen Caldwell: Okay.”

”Faye Sinclair: Got it.”

”Skye Schuyler: Sure, sure! I just wonder if Boss Rowan will join our group chat.”

”Zelda Parrish: If she doesn’t, it just means she has no intention to. We can’t force it.”

”Skye Schuyler: That’s true. But this group chat feature is genuinely great. I saw a small group specifically recruiting players with the Medical Skill. I’m going to drop in and network a bit. You guys can do the same!”

”Owen Caldwell: Sounds good. I’ll go take a look.”

”Faye Sinclair: Me too.”

”Zelda Parrish: If there aren’t any for your skills, you can start one yourselves.”

”...”

As Zelda spoke, she had already created a small group for the Manufacturing Skill and sent the link to the main chat. These group chats could be password-protected. The small District 122 group she had just formed was secured with a password, which she then posted in the District 122 World Channel. Skye Schuyler and the others quickly joined.

Seeing that Rowan Rhodes hadn’t joined, Zelda genuinely felt it was a pity. After all, since Rowan hadn’t made an appearance, the probability of her being in District 122 was still only ninety-nine percent—not fully guaranteed. But in the very next moment, right after they finished chatting, a new member suddenly appeared in the group.

”Skye Schuyler: Ahhhh! Someone joined! Is it Boss Rowan?”

”Zelda Parrish: Welcome.”

”Faye Sinclair: Welcome.”

”Owen Caldwell: Welcome.”

Watching the four of them talk, Rowan paused for a moment before typing out a single sentence.

”Rowan Rhodes: Hello, everyone.”

Her decision to join this small group chat was well thought out. Her identity was practically an open secret in District 122. While she didn’t plan on making public appearances in the district, joining this small group was an excellent way to ensure that all of District 122 could better serve her purposes. And the moment Rowan spoke, that remaining one percent of doubt vanished completely.

”Skye Schuyler: Ahhhh! Boss Rowan, it’s really you! I’m so excited!”

”Owen Caldwell: Boss, how come you never pop up in the District 122 chat?”

”Faye Sinclair: Whether or not the boss speaks up is entirely up to her.”

”Zelda Parrish: Everyone, let’s not mention this on the District 122 World Channel.”

”Skye Schuyler: Got it.”

”Rowan Rhodes: Thank you all for keeping this a secret. I’m just not used to chatting publicly. I joined this group so that District 122 can develop better in the future. We can communicate again if anything comes up. I have to get back to work now.”

With this, Rowan had made her stance clear. Zelda and the others quickly voiced their agreement. Rereading Rowan’s message, each of them couldn’t help but carefully savor her words. This was the number one player across the entire server! Just being in the same small group chat filled them with a subtle sense of thrill!

They could tell that Rowan was genuinely busy, hiding herself away after just a few words. However, this perfectly fit Rowan’s persona. If she wasn’t so busy, how could she have achieved such incredible results! They needed to get back to work too.

Soon, the District 122 small group chat fell silent. But the bustling activity among the other permanent players continued elsewhere.