Under the warm glow of the setting sun, the lone fisherman heard the incoming footsteps and looked over to see an uncle followed by a lively young lady wearing a floppy straw hat.
Well, who else could it be besides Jack and Miss Highschooler.
“Big brother, look who’s back~ Ehehe~”
Yu Zhiye ignored the curious baby who came to poke his fishing pole again and nodded to Jack.
Jack arrived at his other side and grinned. “Yo, catch anything, Steve?”
“No luck today. You? How did your exploration go?”
“Sheesh. You wouldn’t believe our luck! Look what we found!”
Jack extended a hand downwards, and the next moment, a wooden casket appeared out of thin air and thumped right down onto the sand.
Yu Zhiye can’t be any more familiar with that casket.
It was the same loot box he acquired from fishing yesterday! To think they actually found such a treasure!
His surprise was genuine and there was no need to hide it.
“This… where did you find it?”
“Out there, buried in the sand. We dug it up after the little missy kicked a corner by chance.”
Miss Highschooler puffed her little chest with hands on her hips.
“Hum, that’s right! It’s this Miss that found it!”
“Yes, yes, good job, little missy.”
“Ehehe~” Xiao Shuling is awesome.jpg.
Sweet Stars above… Yu Zhiye looked back and forth between the silly girl and the chest.
Gotta know, he fished for almost a whole day using his luck-buffed fishing rod, but he didn’t get a single chest today!
But by the sound of it, they went out for a walk and this silly girl just so happened to bump right into a treasure chest?
What kind of luck is this?!
Alright, alright, there’s actually no need to envy others.
He has his opportunity, others had theirs. He can fish for chests, so it’s only fair others can dig up chests.
The game is balanced. Silly people have their silly luck, and he has his mysterious rod’s luck buff.
Sadly, he can’t expect his luck to be great every day. Yesterday must’ve been a fluke.
But at least he knew: this fishing game was stable! There’s nothing to be unhappy about!
In fact, he was very happy that this team, which he was half a member of, could actually collect loot boxes!
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Because that meant he now had another source for items and materials! That’s great news!
When his thought came to here, Yu Zhiye almost couldn’t hold back his smile. “Congratulations, you two. Guess you must’ve gotten some valuable stuff. Gold coins? Diamonds?”
“Bwahaha! We wish!” Jack didn’t bother hiding and frankly told the truth.
“Pity. The chest only came with some junk—a few sticks and the like. Right, and that straw hat the little missy is wearing now.”
“Ehehehe~”
Oh! Cosmetics? Yu Zhiye glanced at the girl doing a little spin with her hat.
Well, guess the casket’s loot table was much more extensive than he initially thought.
“Cool. Cool. That’s better than nothing.”
“Yeah, I suppose so! Oh right! Take a look at this...”
Jack unceremoniously flipped open the chest lid.
At a glance, Yu Zhiye saw it was almost packed full. “Huh? All of this… your supplies?”
“Yeah. That’s the best part of this thing. We can actually pack most of what’s in our inventory in there and store it all together. Super convenient!”
“Umu. Umu.” Miss Highschooler nodded along.
Yu Zhiye did a quick count of what’s stored then glanced at the girl. This naive girl actually trusted a stranger to hold her survival supplies for her?
Xiao Shuling placed her hands on her hips. “Eih! I chose the hat this time, but this Miss will get her own box soon enough!”
Jack chuckled kindly and explained, “Finders keepers. The little missy could’ve kept the box as well, but this little missy is really willful and insisted I carry it.”
“Ehe~”
Yu Zhiye looked at the young lady thoughtfully. What a broad mind.
This little missy really knows the ways of the world and is probably not as simple as she seems. No wonder she entered that Anomaly A’s radar.
Feeling the strange gaze coming from Yu Zhiye, Xiao Shuling blinked back innocently, then skipped over to hide behind the uncle, poked a head out and stuck out her tongue playfully.
Yu Zhiye’s lips twitched. How innocent. Maybe he should add her to the dangerous personnel watchlist as well?
“Aight, little missy, behave.”
Jack tipped the naughty girl’s floppy hat down to block her out then looked back at Yu Zhiye. “By the way, Steve, if ya want a box, I’ll reserve any spare we find for ya.”
Yu Zhiye didn’t reject the kindness and nodded. “I’ll trade some supplies for it.”
“Aight! Then I’ll take your word for it!”
“Guess we all now have something to look forward to.”
“Bwahaha! Ain’t that right?” Jack snapped the chest lid shut and stored box in his inventory. “Aight, it’s getting late. We should head back. Together?”
Yu Zhiye checked the setting sun in the distant horizon.
There should still be plenty of time left, but… safety first.
Don’t want to accidentally stay out here when night begins! Best to head back early!
Gotta leave a great margin of error just in case the mysterious existence behind this game plays tricks.
So he hauled in his empty line, put away his rod, and nodded. “Cool. Let’s go.”
The party of three headed back for the store, chitchatting and sharing tips all the way.
“Steve, anything interesting happen today?”
“Somebody fell into quicksand again, if that counts.”
“Bwahaha! Guess that’s the risk of this game. But at least with risk, comes rewards.”
“Eih! If only the reward was a good potty spot. Fuu! It’s so inconvenient to go while exploring!”
“Huh? You don’t got empty bottles?”
“Eh? Eh??”
“They’re stackable. So might as well hoard some. Who knows when they’ll come in handy.”
“Bwahaha! So true!”
Back in the store, Yu Zhiye parted ways with the other two.
“Not having dinner with us, Steve?”
“Be there soon. Gotta make a quick trip to… the restroom.”
“Yeah? Aight, catch you later then.”
“Big brother, little Ling’er will wait for you~ ehehe~”
Yu Zhiye felt goosebumps from how cringe that sounded. He really wanted to say: girl, we’re not familiar!
But he didn’t bother. Don’t want to trigger dark story lines by accident!
The more innocent they are, the more careful he gotta be in every interaction. To avoid saying something he’ll regret, best way is to just ignore her.
Even better? Stay away from her.
Gotta say: The men’s restroom door was quite the good shield against such ladies… well, most of the time.
Ahem. Yu Zhiye reeled his wandering mind back in and focused back on his main objective right in front of him: the core.
“Due to less working hours, the turnover after noon is much less than the morning-noon run, but...”
[Main Core (Lv. 1)]
The core of this pocket dimension that stores all energy collected.
[Core Energy Units] x13
[Upgrade] x10 core energy
The core energy was finally enough! It was time!
“Main core, upgrade!”