Chapter 41

The bald guy had just been itching to teach someone a lesson, but before he could, the other party tossed the fish carelessly aside and charged right at him.
Baldy curled his lips in a menacing grin and lashed out with a kick, only for his attack to be blocked cleanly. The other person's hand caught his calf and, without mercy, slammed him to the ground.
The other two tried to pile on, but Zhong Rui twisted one of their arms, swept his leg, and sent him tumbling. The last guy didn’t fare much better, Zhong Rui landed a punch on his cheek, then drove another solid hit to his stomach.
Barely a second had passed, but all three opponents lay sprawled in the dirt.
Zhong Rui said coolly, "It’s not that I can’t cut people down. I just don't want to."
Baldy's face flushed a furious red.
Su Han had been ready to jump in to help. But when she saw her buddy beat the trio into submission, she just shrugged, touched her nose, and watched from the sidelines like this was perfectly ordinary.
Then, suddenly, Baldy whipped a sharp knife out of his pocket and lunged at Zhong Rui.
"Watch out!" Su Han shouted in warning.
But Zhong Rui was already ready. He caught Baldy's wrist and squeezed down hard.
"Ow, what are you, " Baldy tried to protest, but pain twisted his face. In the end, he couldn’t take it and let the knife fall.
Zhong Rui delivered a punch and a flying kick for good measure. Then he snatched up the dropped knife and flung it like a throwing dart, bullseye, right into Baldy's chest.
The moment the knife struck, Baldy was eliminated from the game.
Su Han didn’t stand idle this time; she came over to help out, knife in hand.
Soon enough, the whole trio blocking their way had been taken out. Meanwhile, Zhong Rui and Su Han’s stamina levels were both still above 90%, nearly as good as new.
Those watching felt a cold chill run through them, Wait, these two are actual players…not secret boss characters?
Someone whispered, "Are you seriously sure you can handle players this badass?"
The burly guy opened his mouth, but no sound came out.
Zhong Rui picked his fish back up and started walking, chatting with his pal like nothing had happened. "How long have you been at camp?" His voice was gentle, no sign of the brute from moments earlier.
Su Han did a quick estimate. "Most of the day, I think."
She paused, then, curiosity getting the better of her, asked, "So, where’d you run off to? Don’t tell me you got lost."
Zhong Rui’s lips quirked up. He just smiled mysteriously. "I’ll tell you later."
That caught Su Han off guard. Was he hiding some sensational discovery?
Zhong Rui settled in on the spot, ready to set up shop.
Su Han couldn't help reminding him, "Not many people actually want live fish. Grilled fish would sell out way faster."
Zhong Rui’s expression grew subtly amused. "Grilled?"
"Need a hand?" Su Han offered.
Not shy at all, Zhong Rui gave up his spot immediately. "All yours."
So Su Han got to work again. Soon, the camp was filled with the tantalizing aroma of grilled fish.
Before they could even call out to drum up business, someone had already wandered over. "Hey, can I trade for some grilled fish?"
They hadn’t even replied when another person rushed over, eyeing the grilled fish with unconcealed longing. "I’ve got plain yogurt! You wanna swap?"
Zhong Rui, "……"
Not a soul had cared when the fish were still flopping around alive just now!
"Here you go." Su Han handed over five skewers of grilled fish to her teammate.
Before they knew it, a long line had formed in front of Zhong Rui. Everyone’s eyes were glued hungrily to the grilled fish, desperate hope written all over their faces.
Some were probably tempted to try something sneaky, but after what happened to the last group who tried, the rest stuck to the rules and queued up like angels.
"Snipe? Nah, not interested. No trade."
"Plain yogurt? Deal, but it’ll cost you two cups."
"Two bags of chips? Not enough, let’s make it three."
When all the grilled fish had been swapped, Zhong Rui’s stockpile of goodies had grown considerably.
The unlucky ones who missed out kept asking, "You out of grilled fish? Will there be more later?"
Zhong Rui waved them off. "That’s all for now, folks. Show’s over."
Reluctantly, the players dispersed.
Just then, a young girl stepped up to Zhong Rui and piped up, "Want a wicker basket? I can weave one."
“A wicker basket?” Su Han raised her eyebrows.
"Yep." The girl nodded and explained, "Thirty centimeters long, thirty wide, fifty high, you can carry loads in it. Only thing is, weaving takes forever; I’ll need a whole afternoon."
In other words, if she spent the time weaving baskets, she couldn’t go out hunting.
"How much?" Zhong Rui asked.
She didn’t hesitate. "One basket for five skewers of grilled fish!"
Zhong Rui bargained without missing a beat. "Three skewers for one basket."
The girl thought it over for a while before giving a reluctant nod. "Deal."
Once they'd settled the details, she introduced herself, "My name’s Bei Bei. I’ll be here in camp weaving. Don’t forget our deal, I’ll bring the basket for you before sundown, you bring the grilled fish."
"Sounds good," Zhong Rui agreed crisply.
Only then did Bei Bei hurry off, heading toward the woods to gather willow branches.
Su Han murmured softly, "This is great. Everyone wins."
Normally, in a deserted island instance, everyone would be scrambling to find food and fresh water, hunting, picking berries, seeking out water sources, doing whatever it took to survive a bit longer. In dire moments, they'd even have to steal from others just to make it.
But in the D16 server, with Su Han and Zhong Rui around, the food supply was skyrocketing, they were survival maniacs, after all.
With food taken care of, players without hunting skills could finally do other things, like gathering honey, weaving baskets, or making wooden tools to trade with the well-fed.
And just like that, the top-tier players lived it up, while even the non-hunters could trade for enough food to make it through another day.
Zhong Rui stuffed the odds and ends into his backpack, then waved his friends over. “Come on, follow me.”
Su Han thought, what the hell is this guy up to now? But out loud she said, “What if someone swipes the firewood while we’re gone and there’s nobody watching it?”
Zhong Rui replied coolly, “Then let them take it. It’s not like it’s worth anything.”
Su Han had nothing to say to that.
“Hurry up,” Zhong Rui urged, taking the lead up ahead.
Su Han obediently trailed after him.
Soon, the two of them left the camp behind and headed deeper into the woods. All around them, it was deserted and deathly quiet.
Su Han thought, if I hadn’t run into Zhong Rui so many times, I’d seriously be wondering if this guy was about to kidnap and sell me.
Suddenly, Zhong Rui spoke in a voice as soft as a whisper, “I accidentally discovered a cave up ahead. Only one way in or out. It’s dry inside, the temperature’s perfect, and there’s plenty of space. Plus, it’s not far from camp, so I’m planning to set up base in there.”
A cave?! Su Han’s eyes practically lit up, a huge grin bursting onto her face.
“Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go!” Instantly, all her gloom was gone, energy fully recharged.
The corners of Zhong Rui’s mouth unconsciously quirked up.
After walking for about fifteen minutes, the pair arrived at their destination.
The cave entrance was hidden behind a two-meter-tall wall of wild grass, completely concealed. Inside, Su Han discovered the space was huge, easily a hundred square meters. But for now, it was totally empty.
Zhong Rui fetched a rough wooden bucket from a corner. Su Han peered inside and was shocked to see, eleven fish!
Curiosity got the better of Su Han. “Okay, what exactly did you do? How do you have this many fish?”
If she remembered right, Zhong Rui’s fishing skills weren’t even close to hers. Even she couldn’t brag about landing a dozen fish, and altogether, Zhong Rui now had sixteen! Unbelievable.
Zhong Rui’s lips moved, just barely, as he spoke two syllables: “Fishing net.”
Su Han, “….”
A fishing net? Ugh, this cheater!
Still, she was suspicious. “When did you even get that?”
Zhong Rui replied coolly, “Back in the beginner instance.”
The beginner instance? Su Han was stunned, and couldn’t help asking, “So, last instance…”
Before she could finish, realization crashed in. The third instance had been pure chaos, a fishing net would’ve caught way too much attention. Plus, her own inventory had been overflowing with food back then, so there’d been no need to stock up.
But the fourth time was different. Stranded on a deserted island, everything, food, water, supplies, had to be scrounged up by hand. Suddenly, a fishing net was basically the ultimate cheat code.
Seeing the light bulb go off in his teammate’s eyes, Zhong Rui went on, “I teamed up with another player who had a boat. We fish together, split the catch seventy-thirty, my seventy, their thirty.”
“A run a day and food’s no worry. Any extras can be traded for other supplies.”
“Based on how things went today, it only takes a morning to fish. After all, their boat isn’t big, and with two players plus twenty fish, that’s about the max load.”
Su Han couldn’t help but remind him, “Even if you can bring in tons of fresh food every day, it’s not easy to store. Best to trade for stuff that keeps, long-term food and drinking water.”
But then she thought, Zhong Rui definitely knew that already, no need to nag. She shrugged off her backpack and changed the subject, “Who’s revealing their stash first?”
“I’ll go,” Zhong Rui offered, starting to dig through his backpack. “My five items: fishing net, dagger, stamina booster, protective vest, and a one-liter bottle of mineral water.”
“I’ve got eleven fish left over from today.”
“I traded away five roasted fish just now. Got these in return: six bags of chips, two containers of plain yogurt, five chocolate bars.”
“And that’s it. Down to my last scraps.” Zhong Rui let out a melodramatic sigh.
If other players ever heard this, they’d probably riot, down to your last scraps, my ass!!!
Now it was Su Han’s turn. She listed, “My five items: flint, dagger, tang sword, protective vest, and a big one-liter jug of mineral water.”
“Triggered my talent skill on Day One, got a piece of dark rye bread and a bottle of milk.”
“Then traded grilled fish for five pouches of 10g honey and two cans of cola.”
“That’s about it.”
Su Han thought to herself, it’s not like I’m out here running cheat codes.
Zhong Rui took a look around and said seriously, “This place is way too empty, we need to fill it up with supplies, fast.”
Su Han nodded eagerly. “Agreed!”
Using the cave as a base meant she could stockpile to her heart’s content, never again would she have to worry about other players eyeing her stash.
Come to think of it, living in a cave meant no pointless socializing. All she’d have to worry about was how to get more food and water each day. The only real wild card was whatever tricks the system decided to throw at her. Now that was her kind of game mode.