Chapter 32

Despite all the players working together, the system barely lifted a finger. The C23 cruise was basically on the verge of a team wipe.
Su Han cracked the window open just a sliver to check outside. The black mist that had once swallowed the world was thinning, but the ocean’s color had only grown darker.
Once she’d checked, she quickly shut the window tight again.
Cai Sheng muttered, “Day four?! Feels like we’ve been trapped on this boat for forty damn days.” Every day dragged by, equal parts anxiety and despair. It was endless, like a century in miniature.
Zhong Rui fell into thoughtful silence. “If the cruise could move, we might actually be able to get away from the toxic area. Maybe then the sea would clear up again, if we got far enough out.”
“Who knows?” Su Han was dying to try, too. But with the cruise ship’s equipment busted, there was no way to run the experiment.
“Forget it.” Zhong Rui let it go, closing his eyes and leaning back to rest.
The three of them hunkered down in their room, eating, drinking, and honestly living it up in their own little world.
On Day Five, the black fog was just a whisper. Survivors: 33. All NPCs, wiped out.
By Day Six, the fog had almost vanished. Survivors: 29.
System announcement: “Abnormal temperature detected. Sudden heat spike to 38 degrees Celsius. Mosquito activity surging.”
"Exposure to intense sunlight can easily lead to direct UV damage, resulting in symptoms like 'dehydration' and 'burns.'"
As soon as the words left her lips, the temperature spiked, and the room became oppressively hot.
Cai Sheng, face resigned, muttered, "If we open the window, we'll just end up breathing in toxic air, right?"
Su Han replied calmly, "Exactly. So keep it together and tough it out until the heatwave is over."
Cai Sheng loosened his collar, silently cursing his luck, the heat had sweat pouring down his forehead. No fans, no AC, not even a breeze. How were they supposed to survive this?
Just then, Zhong Rui pulled out some calcium nitrate and a bottle of water and started fiddling with them.
Watching for a moment, Su Han arched a brow. "Making ice with calcium nitrate?"
Calcium nitrate, also called niter, absorbs a massive amount of heat when it dissolves, lowering the water's temperature and forming ice.
Su Han knew the theory, but she'd always been too broke to stockpile niter. And by the time she finally had cash, she was stuck on this cruise ship with nowhere to buy it.
"Yeah," Zhong Rui confirmed simply, not looking up from his work. In no time, he'd whipped up a tray of ice.
Cai Sheng leaned in, took a deep breath, and instantly felt a wave of coolness wash over him.
"Let me fan the air," he volunteered, grabbing a bamboo fan and waving it over the ice.
Instantly, a chilly breeze drifted through the room.
Su Han was quiet for a moment, then spoke up, a little more slowly, "Let's exchange contact info. After this instance, let's team up."
As long as both parties applied to the official system, they'd be matched together in every future dungeon.
After all this time observing Zhong Rui, Su Han was convinced, she couldn't ask for a better teammate. Not only was he sharp and even-tempered, he never meddled in her business.
When they needed to work together, they had each other's backs. When things calmed down, they each did their own thing, playing the game their way. It just… fit. She actually enjoyed having him around.
So, after careful thought, Su Han figured: if she had to pick a teammate, why not just go with him?
Cai Sheng almost thought Su Han was talking to him and was about to say, "I need to think about it," when Zhong Rui suddenly smiled and answered cheerfully, "Sure."
Cai Sheng, "…"
Wait, those two still weren't a team? Then how did they end up together in two dungeons straight? Was this… fate?
He kept fanning the air, pondering (and doubting) the meaning of life.
On day 7, the black mist vanished for good. Only 22 survivors remained on the cruise ship.
Thanks to the ample stockpile of niter, Su Han even made chilled water, she put water bottles right in with the ice. Pop one open and take a swig, and the cold flowed straight through her body. Pure bliss.
Cai Sheng gave a heartfelt sigh. "If it were just me, even with a personal inventory, I'd have died like five times over. If I hadn't run into you two, I'd never have made it this far."
Zhong Rui shrugged it off. "No need for thanks. You pay, I deliver. It's a fair trade."
Cai Sheng thought, What a powerhouse, just holding onto this guy's leg and I'm cruising through the game. Maybe I should just settle for being his lackey from now on?
But even if he wanted to, that didn't mean this big shot would actually agree. The thought alone left Cai Sheng tied in knots.
That afternoon, the sun was absolutely merciless. The sunlight on her skin felt like an oven set to broil.
An Rongyue huddled in the shadows, sighing nonstop. Ever since this ocean dungeon started, it was like her luck stat tanked to rock bottom.
On the very first night, chaos erupted. Everyone seemed to decide she was an easy target and chased her relentlessly.
She managed to produce fresh water, only for everyone to act like she'd poisoned it. No one wanted it.
Now things had gone from bad to worse, she had a working distiller to desalinate tons of seawater, but of course, the seawater randomly turned black overnight and was obviously toxic.
An Rongyue honestly didn't see how she could keep this up.
If she hadn't traded for some medicine, with just a few days to go until the 10-day mark, she probably would've thrown in the towel and just accepted her doom.
Waves of scorching air slammed into her, the skin on her arms burning like it was being grilled over open flames.
She pulled out a water bottle, sipping slowly, making sure her mouth was wet before swallowing the precious liquid. Then, resigned to her fate, she stood up to change hiding spots, the sun was starting to shift west, and the light would soon find her again.
She hadn't taken more than a few steps before her eyes landed on someone hunting pigeons on the deck. After landing a hit, the guy twisted the bird's neck with a snap, cut a slit, and started drinking the blood.
Crimson dripped down the corner of his mouth, and the sight sent chills down An Rongyue's spine. She noped out of there without a second thought, heading in a different direction.
Day 8: Still 20 survivors on board, but more and more people were teetering on the edge.
No one wanted to just sit around waiting to die, so players started seeking out alliances.
At 8 a.m., Zhong Rui had just woken up when someone knocked on the door. A male voice called, "Hello? Anyone in there? I want to trade supplies with you."
Zhong Rui snapped awake. He quickly stuffed the ice into his portable storage and swept the table clean.
Su Han, unreadable as always, whispered, "No point. The temperature in our room is way lower than anyone else's."
Zhong Rui, "…"
He'd just woken up, so his brain hadn't caught up. Su Han had a point, even if they hid the evidence, anyone stepping inside would feel the chill and know they had ice. Unless they refused to open the door, there was no hiding it.
"It'll be fine. Only 20 people left in this instance, and we've got guns," Su Han reassured him.
Zhong Rui considered, then nodded. "Good point." As long as they didn't go looking for trouble, anyone stupid enough to try theirs would be in for a world of hurt.
"So should I let them in?" Cai Sheng checked.
"Go ahead," Su Han approved.
As soon as the door swung open, cool air spilled out.
The two players waiting outside exchanged a look, clearly taken aback. After sharing a quick glance, one of them managed a polite, "May we come in?"
“Come in.” Cai Sheng stepped aside, letting the two of them in.
Inside and outside felt like two different worlds. The sweltering heat stayed past the door, and the moment they stepped in, relief washed over them, they never wanted to leave.
“So, what are we trading? And how?” Su Han cut straight to the chase.
The bespectacled man smiled politely, then replied with a low, steady voice, “What we need most is a large supply of clean water, the more, the better. Next is food. If you have medicine, we’re open to that too.”
Zhong Rui looked utterly uninterested. He wanted for nothing, so trades were beneath him.
Su Han, on the other hand, was curious, “What do you have to offer?”
“Daily necessities,” the refined man answered without pause. After a second’s thought, he added, “A lot of daily necessities.”
Su Han considered this, then asked out of nowhere, “So, do you have a talent skill that lets you generate daily necessities?”
The man in glasses smiled ruefully, finally admitting, “You’re right.”
“Sounds like a solid trade, then.” With that, Su Han pulled black bread and milk from her personal inventory, covering the table in an instant. “The milk’s sealed, no tricks, no tampering.”
Food and water could be gained with skills, but daily supplies only ever ran out, she had no reason to hoard them, so she was happy to agree to the swap.
At the sight, the man and his companion both swallowed hard, almost in sync.
With the sun beating down all day, you sweat through everything; the usual stash of toiletries lasted half as long.
On top of that, though the system only required 500ml of clean water a day to avoid debuffs, their parched throats didn’t care about quotas. All they wanted was one more drink.
But since entering this instance, resupplying was impossible. Their stash was running low, they’d been rationing every drop, and now their throats burned with thirst.
“So, what’s the exchange rate?” The man tried hard to hide his desperation. He was sure he might’ve already tipped his hand, but he powered through, feigning indifference.
“Daily supplies to food, 1.2 to 1. How about it?” Su Han proposed. It was a pretty standard barter, cleanliness restored by 11 points of daily supplies for satiety of 10 points worth of food, no matter the type, just by value.
She gave herself a slight edge, she wasn’t desperate, and water’s value couldn’t be measured by satiety alone. Truth was, with their urgent need for water, she’d already been more generous than most. Some people would’ve demanded a 2:1, even 3:1 rate.
Sure enough, the bespectacled man blurted, “Deal, let’s do it right now.” He scrambled to take out daily supplies from his inventory, terrified she might walk back her offer.
One hand passed toiletries, the other food. A few quick exchanges and the trade was done.
The man let out an unconscious sigh of relief. He nodded politely, “Well, we’ll leave you to it.”
The pair turned to go, but Zhong Rui suddenly tossed them a chilled bottle of mineral water.
The man caught it on instinct. The cold bit into his hands, making them tremble. Ice-cold mineral water! Was this real? Maybe, for once, the universe was on his side?
Zhong Rui waved it off, “Take it. Call it a welcome gift.”
The man in glasses just nodded numbly, far too fixated on the bottle in his hand to register anything else.
His friend couldn’t take it, dragging him away by the arm.
The door opened and shut. Soon, only Su Han and her two companions remained in the room.
Su Han glanced over, raising a brow. “What, you think a single bottle of water’s enough to buy them off?”
Zhong Rui shook his head, lazily. “I’m betting they’re not using a talent to generate supplies, they’re with the Moonfall Guild. They must have control of the cruise ship’s storeroom. That’s why they’re sitting on so much stuff.”
“Honestly? I think all they really need is water. The food thing’s just smoke and mirrors, in case their trade partner gets suspicious and refuses them.”
“They’ve got everything, except water. Their supplies are endless. Meanwhile, we’ve got clean water to spare. Maybe we’ll work together in the future.”
For a team with real firepower, choosing to stay quietly on the fourth floor rather than fight for control said a lot about the Moonfall Guild’s players. They might actually be decent people.
“Interesting theory.” But then Su Han’s tone switched, sly. “What if you’re wrong? What if they really do have some skill that generates supplies?”
Zhong Rui shrugged, unbothered. “So what if I’m wrong? Nobody’s messing with us with our stats. And not everyone’s a warmonger. Most players just want to survive.”
Su Han had no comeback for that. She thought to herself: Zhong Rui’s inventory was packed to bursting with loot anyway. If he wanted to be generous, so be it. When you’ve got it all, you don’t sweat the small stuff.