Survival at Sea: My Warship is a Rubber Duck?

Chapter 146 Why are we relying on pearl coins for power again? At this rate, the monsters will be wiped out sooner or later!

[Mileage Ranking (Server-wide Overall Ranking)]

[Only the fleet leader is counted; crew members will receive basic Pearl Coins and Empty Core Fragments as rewards. Ranking rewards will be sent directly to the ranked players' personal cabins via in-game mail; please check your mail.]

【第1名】：14大区，444分区，你要撞大运咯—总里程：3711海里【第2名】：12大区，1212分区，大黑能—总里程：3058海里再往下看。

Third place, Yixin Fleet · Longitude 2878 nautical miles Yu Wang looked at the number on the list and was somewhat surprised himself.

He really didn't try to climb the charts this month.

Yuzu Islands, Ocean Current Expressway, Snail Shell City — for most of the time, the Little Yellow Duck was a stop-and-go vessel, operating only sporadically.

Moreover, by the time they reached level four, it was already near the end of the month, and the time left to have the incredible speed of 100 knots was running out.

"Could it be because I switch to the 'Pioneer' title as soon as I'm in a hurry, giving me a 10% speed boost? Never mind, everyone—"

It's better if no one tries. Those who are willing to work hard can rise to the top more easily, while those who don't can lie down comfortably.

Yu Wang muttered to himself, then closed the ranking interface and turned his attention to what was truly worth looking at this time: the leaderboard rewards.

【空核碎片X70、珍珠币X1300、称号：开拓者（限时至下次榜单发放）、黄金宝箱钥匙X3、发热毯图纸、长期副本转化捲轴、净化药剂、磨刀石X3、亚息船衣、世界小喇叭X1、大区小喇叭X3、百草枯药剂配方】

Compared to the previous leaderboard rewards, the incentives have been significantly increased.

The stockpile of empty nuclear fragments has reached 373, which is still a bit short of the 500 required for Tier 5 ships.

However, Wang was not in a hurry. The later the game goes, the greater the demand for empty core fragments will be. At the same time, there will be a group of people who are stuck at the upgrade threshold and cannot collect enough fragments in the short term. They are willing to exchange their surplus fragments for more urgently needed resources.

By then, the fragments will actually be easier to obtain than they are now.

[Title: Trailblazer (Limited Time)]

[Effect: Increases speed by 10%, increases encounter rate with floating objects by 30%]

"The effect of the Pioneer title remains unchanged, but the rhinoceros beetles are all frozen half to death. With just the ducks, we can't even collect all the floating objects that spawn normally, so the 30% increase is not very useful."

Yu Wang continued reading: "Just used up 3 golden treasure chest keys, and here are 3 more. The game is so considerate. Heated blanket? A must-have item for the next sea area. Learn the skill and put it on sale. Purification potion!?"

Upon seeing this item, he put down what he was holding and took out the coral branch that he had left unattended for a long time from his backpack.

"The purification potion can cleanse contaminated items, which is perfect for the coral amulet."

Yu Wang had a love-hate relationship with coral amulets.

Without its pain-shielding ability, it might not have been able to escape from the sea urchin swarm, nor could it have withstood the attack of a group of lion ants and managed to tear a piece of flesh from the queen ant.

However, as a contaminated tool, its side effects are also obvious.

Once your health is restored to a safe level, the pain that was previously blocked will be returned double!

That's really a tangy and refreshing experience!

However, all of that will be in the past!

[Did you use a purification agent on the coral amulet (which was contaminated)?]

"use!"

The stopper of the medicine bottle popped open, and the pale golden liquid poured onto the surface of the coral branch, making a slight "hissing" sound. The tiny burrs on the surface were dissolved, revealing the true color of the coral.

[Use 3 whetstones on the Coral Charm?]

"Sure!"

Three beams of white light merged in, and then a new panel popped up:

Coral Amulet +3

【Type: Jewelry】

[Quality: Green]

[Description: A small section of freshly colored staghorn coral, strung with a rope, claims to be an amulet. (The surface spikes have been dissolved by a purification potion; it will no longer sting when touched!)]

[Skill: Painful Flight]

[When the wearer's health drops below 40%, the amulet will automatically activate, blocking pain that could impair movement until the wearer leaves combat. This effect disappears when health recovers to 50%.]

For Yu Wang, who often pushes his health to dangerous levels, the upgraded Coral Amulet is much more useful!

The trigger threshold is much more relaxed than the previous 30%, and it can be worn close to the body at any time without worrying about being pricked by the burrs on it.

That's very thoughtful.

He glanced at the panel briefly, then tucked the amulet inside his collar and didn't look at it again.

"Next up are the Nightmare Ship Cover, Long-Term Dungeon Conversion Scroll, World and Regional Megaphones, and Paraquat Potion Recipe."

【Nightmare Ship Clothing】

[Type: Ship Equipment]

Effect 1: Nightmare Envelopment: The ship's hull is shrouded in a layer of dark gray mist. This mist effectively distorts light, reducing the success rate of external detection skills in identifying the ship's size and precise coordinates.

Effect 2: Provides an additional 5% hull durability.

[Description: The resentment extracted from the perpetual mist of the abyssal behemoth's corpse. Upon use, your ship will become blurred, making it difficult for enemies to spot—and occasionally, it may be mistaken for some ominous sign passing by. Mind?]

"The style is quite suitable for the Ghost Pirate Ship, and so is its functionality. Even if the pursuers have counter-surveillance methods such as radar, there's no need to worry."

Zhang Xinlan took the scroll, her eyes lighting up for a moment. She and Lao Wang were both members of the fleet and had received half the number of empty core fragments and pearl coins, totaling 70 for the two of them. However, as was customary, they were all handed over to the captain for unified disposal.

Yu Wang thus possessed 443 empty core fragments.

Seeing the large amount of "World Megaphone" in his hand, Yu Wang originally wanted to send the video about "Tired, Destroy It" from the "Coral Maze" dungeon, as a way to help spread the video.

But then I thought, this video will spread sooner or later, so there's no need to waste the only World Broadcaster.

After carefully storing the two small megaphones, the remaining two items of this reward were quickly gone: a Long-Term Dungeon Conversion Scroll and a Paraquat Potion. As the name suggests, the former is an item that transforms a normal dungeon into a long-term dungeon.

"Can be used on 'Furry Island', and that island can replace 'Lion Ant Dynasty' as the region's fixed trading area."

Given the island's size, it should be able to accommodate well over 1000 survivors simultaneously. This is assuming the threats on the island are eliminated, which would require paraquat.

[Paraquat formulation]

[Type: Medicine]

[Effect: Creates a broad-spectrum planticide. Effectively removes abnormal vegetation growth, polluting algae, and parasitic mycelium in the sprayed area. Can also be applied to the hull to form a coating that is effective for approximately 6 hours.]

[Materials: Sulfur-laden shells, quicklime, monster's stomach acid —]

"This name—it's probably because it shares the same name as a pesticide."

As for the materials, it wasn't too difficult to gather them, as many could be found in shallow waters. Survivors in Zone 444 must have gotten quite a few in the "Coral Maze" instance. Having made up his mind, Yu Wang posted a new link.

[You're in for a big surprise: New business launch! We offer contract manufacturing of electric blankets and paraquat pesticides. Please provide the following basic materials. Stock will be available for immediate sale soon.]

Less than ten seconds after the message was sent, the replies below the link started scrolling: "I'm freezing every night, finally I have something to warm my bed. An electric blanket is only 150 pearl coins? I'll be waiting for some in stock."

"I can afford to buy an air conditioner, but I can't afford to turn it on. Buying an electric blanket is a good idea, and the materials are quite affordable. If you don't have the materials, buying a ready-made one is also a good option, better than those shady merchants."

"Wait a minute, this electric blanket isn't still powered by pearl coins, is it?"

"Definitely! The technology tree in this world is developed in a very strange way. All sorts of junk run on pearl coins. I don't believe the faction that designed this system didn't do it on purpose!"

"Aren't pearl coins given by killing monsters? If we keep using them up like this, the monsters will eventually become extinct."

"Hahaha, extinction? You haven't seen the nighttime beast tides, those things are endless!"

One Needle M retaliated: "Um—I've been to the Witch Alliance's archives and read a few papers on ancient ecology. Actually, strictly speaking, according to the Alliance's data, the monster population has decreased by about 50% compared to the time of the God War ten thousand years ago."

Besides us, many other native races also need to hunt monsters to earn pearl coins to supplement their household income and make purchases.

By the way, the initial blueprints for those air conditioners, electric blankets, water cannons, and other items that use pearl coins as energy to improve people's lives all came from the Witch Alliance. Later, after they circulated, the blueprints were improved by generations of people, eventually developing into what they are today.

The channel was quiet for two seconds, followed by an even more intense barrage of messages, discussing who the "Witch Alliance" was, what grudge they had against the monsters, and how they were using someone else to do their dirty work!

Yu Wang stopped paying attention to the direction of the conversation.

After absorbing the gains, the next step is to take stock of the losses from the battle.

-

The "Little Yellow Duck" fell from the sky, looking cool, but it lost 300 durability points and had many scratches on its hull, requiring repair.

The Ghost Pirate also suffered similar damage, with many of the decorative items along the ship's side falling off.

Zhang Xinlan raised her hand: "And the 90 pearl coins used for the 'Shadow Follows' teleportation, which was spent when locking onto Zhou Cheng, ah, that strange snake."

Yu Wang nodded, making another note in his mind.

To be honest, after reaching level 4, he increasingly felt that Zhang Xinlan's talent and the Ghost Pirate's skills were almost terrifyingly compatible.

It's practically a semi-automatic Grim Reaper's Eye!

One glance is enough to know their true name, and then, combined with ship skills, they can't escape the pursuit, no matter where they are.

If it weren't for this ability to accurately locate that snake last night, it would have slipped away silently.

Once it matures, given the disgusting methods of the Nesting God Cult—parasitic possession and generational evolution—it will inevitably become a major problem in the future.

"Unfortunately, imprisoning only this one extraordinary cub can only hinder the development of the Nesting God Cult, but cannot eradicate it."

At this moment, Zhou Cheng, who was placed in a brand-new metal cage in the lower deck of the Ghost Pirate, was pressing down on a ship-eating snail that had accidentally wandered into the cage with his tail, and was caught in a dilemma.

So, should I get it or not? Will the model be incompatible? By the way, are these screws male or female?

Send Zhang Xinlan a list of the wood, plastic, and metal materials needed to repair the ship, and Yu Wang casually scrolls through the mileage leaderboard.

and many more.

He suddenly realized something was wrong.

"Why don't I see the left-wing and right-wing saints?"

Yu Wang flipped through the list, but there were none in the top ten on the first page.

Top 20?

No, there isn't.

He finally found the name of the left-wing saint when he was ranked fifty-third.

-

25 regions—1218 sub-districts Left-wing Saints—Total distance: 2047 nautical miles (just over two thousand nautical miles).

It is almost half the distance of the first place, 3711 nautical miles.

As for the right-wing saints, they are not even listed.

After all, this is a region that gets penalized by the game every few days. They're probably already in a special dungeon, fighting for speed-up packs.

Yu Wang stared at this ranking for a long time.

"The right-wing saints were definitely left behind because they didn't have the necessary credentials, and they might even have been abandoned by the church now. But this left-wing saint—does he have special support, or does he have the necessary credentials?"

"Forget it, why bother with this? He's just a nobody worth 600,000, we'll take him down sooner or later!"

The ten-day cooldown period has long passed, and Zhang Xinlan has already checked it using the "Eagle Eye" active skill.

Considering the semi-abandoned status of the Right Wing Saints, Yu Wang ultimately decided to send Zhang Xinlan to investigate the Left Wing Saints.

The obtained name is Guo Mufeng, and the location teleportation price is 600,000.

Fortunately, he didn't have any items that could block detection, so he successfully obtained the name.

"I can definitely save up 60 before the 'Eternal Night Hunt' ends. Maybe by the time of the teleportation, the price will be even lower because the Left-Wing Saints are still chasing me. Luckily, they didn't check the Right-Wing; given how fast she hasn't even made the list yet, the price would definitely be higher."

"Okay, I've had a busy day, time to go back to sleep."

Region 01, Sub-region 19 Penalty Location: [Special Chase Dungeon - Ship-Eating Snail Canyon]

As the night passed, sunlight began to peek through the gaps in the clouds.

After a night of fighting, the survivors of Division 19 finally had a chance to catch their breath and properly observe the dungeon area.

Having experienced at least seven or eight penalty dungeons, they were already quite adept at running dungeons.

The first thing to do upon regaining sight is to observe your current location.

Although the area's name includes "fjord," the sea is so vast that over 20,000 dilapidated ships are scattered across it, yet it doesn't feel crowded.

The water was stagnant, almost completely still, with a corpse-green color and a thick consistency. The air was filled with the stench of fish meat rotting at the bottom of the hold for three to five days, and a layer of grayish-white foam floated on the surface.

This is "Ship-eating Snail Fjord".

The "special chase dungeon" mentioned in the game is a merciful act of charity, a last chance.

That sounds nice.

Staying in such an environment for an extended period of time is tantamount to slow suicide!

"From 50,000 to 30,000, from 30,000 to 20,000! When will this end? Do we have to all die before it's over?!"

One woman couldn't hold on any longer and roared in anger!

No one responded to her words, but she herself was triggered by the roar and suddenly coughed uncontrollably, finally spitting out a mouthful of green phlegm mixed with gritty impurities.

"Hold."

She cursed in a hoarse voice.

Similar green sputum stains were found on the sides of almost every boat in this fjord over the past night.

Someone nearby optimistically comforted him, "Just hang in there a little longer. Once our divisions are disbanded, the sky's the limit. Where you're assigned will depend entirely on luck."

97

"Yes, at least a third of the people in other zones have passes, and some even have half! If we sacrifice some time searching for supplies every day, we definitely won't be last place again, and we certainly won't be worse than we are now."

Some were even more pessimistic: "Tsk, a bunch of drags on, which district would be willing to accept us? We'd be lucky if they didn't start fighting!"

"It's all that bitch's fault."

I don't know who spoke first.

Nobody asked "which bitch".

There are over 20,000 people in this fjord, and everyone knows who that refers to.

A small boat squeezed out from the dense gaps between the boats.

The plank was only a little over three meters long, and the hull was tattered and slightly leaking due to the dense feeding of boat snails.

The rower kept his head down, his hood pulled low, and the small section of his chin that was exposed was taut.

If someone looks closely, they will recognize that this face has appeared multiple times in the chat interface of section 19, promoting the doctrines of the Holy Angels Cult.

Of course, nobody recognizes him now.

She abandoned her original magnificent ship with its own church, abandoned her faith, stole a small sampan, changed her appearance, and mingled with the survivors.

"Damn it! Guo Mufeng! Get me some supplies right now!"

The reply came very quickly, as if it had been prepared in advance.

Left-wing saint: "I didn't either."

"As you know, everything we have is a gift from His Majesty. And His Majesty has been busy with important matters concerning the Supreme Heaven lately, and there will be big moves soon. Haven't you seen how active the Siren Merchants have been lately, how the Witch Alliance is coming back into focus, and how the number of cultists is also surging?"

"Besides, I have hundreds of mouths to feed. Using supplies requires going through official accounts, which means being transparent, and being transparent means giving an explanation to those below. You know what kind of people they are; without a good reason, they'll never give up."

Left-wing Saint: "Baby, hang in there a little longer. Once His Majesty is done with this, he'll definitely be able to handle your matter."

Upon seeing this, Xu Ting almost cursed aloud, but she managed to suppress her anger with all her might. She softened her tone and tried to plead, "What I did back then was so that we could gain a foothold. Please, now you are the only saint. I won't take anything from you anymore. I just want to live."

This time, the response was slower.

Left-wing Saint: "Wasn't that your own choice? Alright, don't come looking for me again. I'm very busy here. Another group of cultists has infiltrated. Your Majesty, shift your gaze. Those filthy evil gods are about to take advantage of the situation and seize the huge pie that is humanity!"

"It's annoying."

"I also have a heavy burden on my shoulders."

"You'd better watch yourself."

When Xu Ting sent another message, it displayed a red exclamation mark.

The other party has deleted you as a friend.

"Cultists?"

These three words suddenly appeared in Xu Ting's mind, and she felt as if she had grasped a new hope.

Suddenly, the cabin lights dimmed, and she felt a sharp pain in her head, followed by a blur before her eyes.

A demon statue, taller than a person, with bone wings, a blue face, and fangs, squatted there, staring at her with a half-smile.

Human—I admire your eloquence. Would you like to discuss a collaboration with me?

"Who are you?"

[Just a poor soul whose boat was stolen by a treacherous villain.]

Xu Ting stared at the statue with a puzzled look, or rather, at the statue's face.

Despite knowing it was a very serious situation, she still found herself getting distracted.

She always felt there was a footprint in that spot.

Is it true or not? Who kicked him?

Two days passed peacefully.

On the morning of the third day, Lu Ping went to Yu Wang to say goodbye.

In just two days, she secured several collaborations with astonishing efficiency, including electric blankets, portable air conditioners, oxygen cylinders, and paraquat pesticide that sold out as soon as it hit the shelves.

As a "transfer station" in the 233rd sub-district of the 13th district, she sold these supplies in bulk to the desperate survivors there.

Yu Wang provided the materials and production, while Lu Ping was responsible for liaising with the survivors on her side and handling sales.

How much she can sell for above the base price she set depends on her own ability, and that portion is her own profit.

With this benefit, at least I escaped the embarrassing situation of not being able to afford food or drink water properly. I even got a zone-level teleportation card, which allows me to join friends in the zone and build my own fleet.

Lu Ping had her own considerations for doing this. Her own ship's level and speed would only hold her back, and because of the zone restrictions, she could not officially join Yu Wang's fleet to enjoy the teleportation convenience of "followers".

It's best to leave early before you cause any aversion, leaving a good impression and creating opportunities for future collaborations.

Yu Wang didn't try to stop them; after all, two days had passed, and all the problems the partners were facing had been resolved.

"Hmm? Where's Sister Ping?"

Zhang Xinlan got up unusually early today, wearing a down jacket that made her look like a big polar bear preparing for hibernation, yet her expression still carried the bewilderment of someone who had just woken up.

There's nothing we can do; we haven't been able to gather the two most important materials for "Hengwen Clothing," namely "volcanic rock" and "ice marrow," yet.

The level of these two materials is simply not compatible with the current exploration capabilities of the survivors.

Yu Wang suspected that the blueprint was not intended for survivors at this stage at all, but was just a useless piece of work.

"She's been teleported away. From now on, she'll be our partner in District 13. Paraquat is selling like hotcakes in their district, far outselling air conditioners, electric blankets, and portable oxygen cylinders. Last night, we made a thousand Pearl Cities. If we hadn't been short on materials, it could have tripled. In a bit, use a district megaphone to buy the relevant materials."

"good----"

It was a weak and listless reply.

Yu Wang looked back and noticed that Zhang Xinlan had dark circles under her eyes. Counting the days, he realized it was almost time for her to start taking online classes.

The little cockroach has been improving rapidly lately, so it's normal that the online course schedule is ahead of schedule. The golden legendary item is indeed quite user-friendly.

They also know how to teach according to students' aptitudes.

After breakfast, Zhang Xinlan carried a deck chair and climbed onto the duck's head on the Little Yellow Duck ship, so she could sunbathe, process private messages, and look around at the same time.

Birds fly by, so you can practice your marksmanship while you're at it.

Yu Wang shook his head and looked away, continuing to study the genetics notes he had found among the spoils of the Nesting God Cult.

The document contains detailed records of the breeding experiments conducted by the Nesting God Cult.

"Hiss, it only decreased by 1 point this time, that's some progress."

Yu Wang was not simply seeking out novelties; rather, he used it as a way to hone his spirit, and he also gained unexpected benefits.

Because there was a rather messy section of notes that I couldn't understand, I even went out of my way to find the snake that was locked up.

This also prevented a major escape attempt.

Zhou Cheng made a snail lay a bunch of eggs. In his plan, once the eggs hatched, he could abandon his superhuman body and attach his consciousness to the newborn snails, thus escaping the cage.

Unfortunately, the plan fell apart halfway through, and two units of flesh were also cut off.

At this time, Yu Wang's fleet had taken initial shape. To the right of the Little Yellow Duck was the Ghost Pirate, which was shrouded in the ethereal dark gray mist of the "Ge Xi Ship Clothes," its outline blurred, with occasional flashes of dark light like electric arcs disappearing in the mist.

At first glance, it looks like a wrecked ship that has just escaped a storm, its vengeful spirit still lingering.

In fact, a group of ducks were drying down comforters and watering the vegetables in the growing room on the deck of the ship.

On the left is Old Wang's huge wooden boat, forty meters long and resembling a Fujian ship.

It has a high, pointed gunwale, a deep draft, and many cabins.

However, due to the addition of expansion modules such as a bow triple-barreled cannon, a hull made of iron, a watchtower, an internal fish tank, and a brewing room, it looks quite different from the Fujian-style ship and is somewhat incongruous.

Old Wang also set up a fishing chair on the deck. When he got tired of practicing his knife skills, he would sit down and have a drink.

In his words, young people should be given some private space.

After greeting Lao Wang, Yu Wang put away his notebook and returned to his cabin.

"Unexpectedly, Old Wang, who said he would arrive in a while, was the first to be teleported, while Lin Che, who said he would arrive soon, was held up."

"Lin Che's cold-resistant Gu worms are in the critical stage of hatching and cannot withstand the fluctuations of teleportation, so we will not wait for him and will go to the dungeon first."

As he spoke, Yu Wang took out the "Long-Term Instance Conversion Scroll" and the "Furry Island Pass".