Raft for All: I'm guaranteed to get a golden affix when I upgrade!

"Senior, are you serious? How did you kill him?"

"I just saw someone on the channel say they encountered a shark, the raft was smashed to pieces, and they were bitten to death."

"You're all alone???"

Xiao Zheng replied.

"Yeah, I just tried out a new weapon."

"It crashed into me, and I didn't dodge."

"Perfect for practicing."

Another sea area.

Lin Xiaoya stared at the three short replies on the chat panel, her finger hovering in mid-air, not falling for a long time.

He didn't dodge.

This is a good opportunity to practice.

These words swirled in her mind for a long time.

Every few minutes, someone on the regional channel would broadcast news of shark attacks and deaths, and she could feel that overwhelming fear all too well.

And what about Senior Xiao Zheng?

Not only did they not dodge, they also initiated the fight.

One person, one kill.

Lin Xiaoya sat on her pitiful raft, hugging her knees, her mind filled with that photo. The great white shark with its white belly turned up, the eye socket with a crossbow bolt stuck in it, and the overhead angle.

What does that angle mean? It means that after Xiao Zheng finished killing, he stood on the edge of the raft, looking down at the corpses.

It's like looking at a dead fish.

She pinched her toes with both hands, her heart beating a little fast.

It wasn't fear, but another indescribable emotion.

Back in college, she had noticed Xiao Zheng a long time ago. One day at noon, she was having lunch with her roommate Xia Wanying when Xia Wanying stood up with a takeout meal and said she was going to deliver it to someone.

She asked who it was for, and Xia Wanying gave a name.

Later, she secretly took a look.

The boy sat alone in a corner of the cafeteria, a bowl of the cheapest vegetarian noodles in front of him, eating intently. He wore a faded old jacket with frayed cuffs.

Xia Wanying placed the food in front of him, and he looked up and said thank you.

There were no extra words, nor any expression of being flattered.

Lin Xiaoya remembered this person after just one glance.

Later, I gradually heard some things about him from Xia Wanying.

He grew up in an orphanage, received a full scholarship, and worked part-time throughout his spare time.

He consistently ranked first in his major, but never participated in any clubs or gatherings.

She thought to herself that this man was living too intensely.

But he also lived a very lonely life.

And that was the end of it. She didn't know Xiao Zheng at all; her only connection was with Xia Wanying. Xia Wanying was the school's undisputed beauty queen, and although she had also been voted the school beauty queen, she never took it to heart.

It's not that I feel inferior. It's that I feel it's meaningless.

But things are different now.

In this dilapidated world of survival, Xiao Zheng brought her grilled fish, oranges, and even sent her photos to amuse her.

Although that photo almost gave her a heart attack.

Lin Xiaoya buried her face in her knees, her ears burning hot.

No, no, no.

They just posted it casually, don't take it personally.

She shook her head vigorously, forcing herself to calm down, and her fingers flew across the virtual keyboard.

"Senior, you should leave that area as soon as you're done killing them! Sharks are social animals; they'll gather around when they smell blood!"

After sending it, I added another one.

"I saw someone on the channel say that great white shark blood can attract other sharks within a radius of several hundred meters, which is very dangerous!"

Another one was added.

"Besides, a dead shark's carcass will attract even larger deep-sea fish, so you absolutely mustn't stay there!"

She sent all three messages in one go, staring at the chat panel, her heart pounding.

After waiting for about ten seconds, a reply came.

"Don't worry, the shark is completely dead; all the blood has been drained."

"And my raft is very sturdy; nothing can break it."

Lin Xiaoya was so anxious upon seeing these two sentences that she almost stood up.

"It's not the raft's fault! What if you're standing on the edge and get dragged into the water? You're not a fish, what would you do if you fell in?!"

Xiao Zheng remained silent for a few seconds.

Then a message pops up.

"You care about me that much?"

Lin Xiaoya's fingers froze.

The heat traveled from my neck all the way to the top of my head.

She opened her mouth, then closed it again, staring intently at those four words, her mind completely blank.

It took him a long time to type out a single line of text, his fingers trembling.

"I was just... showing normal concern."

"After all, you've given me fish and oranges before."

"One should be grateful and repay kindness."

After sending the three messages, she felt guilty. What gratitude? Do you really care about others this much?

Xiao Zheng replied quickly.

"Okay, I'll remember that."

"From now on, if there's any danger, I'll let you know first, so you can worry about me all you want."

Lin Xiaoya almost smashed the virtual keyboard.

How dare this person talk like that?!

Her face flushed, she was about to reply, "Senior, you're joking, aren't you?" when her finger hovered over the text input box...

"Splash!"

The seawater on the right side of the raft suddenly surged.

A gray-black triangular dorsal fin slowly rose from below the water.

He was less than ten meters away from her.

Lin Xiaoya froze on the spot.

The dorsal fin, about half a meter tall, gleamed wetly in the sunlight, and was slowly circling her little raft.

shark.

The small raft beneath her feet was completely undefended. She didn't even have a decent weapon; all she had was a plastic hook and a few loose planks.

The dorsal fin circled once, and the speed increased.

A huge grayish-white shadow was faintly visible beneath the water's surface.

That beast is testing us.

Lin Xiaoya's legs trembled so badly she couldn't stand and collapsed onto the middle of the raft. The raft rocked slightly with the current, and with each sway, her heart tightened.

It is waiting.

Wait until she reveals a weakness, or wait until the raft is tilted by the waves.

Lin Xiaoya hugged her knees tightly, her nails digging into the skin of her arms.

The chat panel is still lit up.

She reached out with trembling hands and opened Xiao Zheng's private chat window.

My fingers tapped on the keyboard for ages, but the words I typed came out in fits and starts.

"Senior."

"I have sharks here too."

She paused for a few seconds after sending that message. The shark's dorsal fin circled around again, this time even closer, less than five meters from the edge of the raft. The seawater was churned white by its tail fin.

She suddenly became very calm.

It wasn't the calm of relief, but the numbness that comes after despair has reached its limit.

A small raft. No weapons. Not even a decent stick.

The channel alone has lost hundreds of lives to shark attacks.

How can an ordinary girl like her fight against this kind of thing?

Lin Xiaoya opened the trading panel.

I checked all the supplies in my storage compartment.

22 ordinary wooden planks. 11 metal sheets. 6 ropes. A number of palm leaves.

She bit her lip, packaged everything into a single transaction request, and sent it to Xiao Zheng.

Then type it out word by word in the chat box.

"Senior, these are all for you."

"Planks, metal sheets, ropes—I saw someone on the channel mention the materials for a weapon, and it seems like we have just enough."

Consider it returning the fish and oranges to you.

After sending the message, she typed another line.

"Senior, if there is an afterlife..."

"I wish I had met you sooner."

"I will get to know you on my own, without going through Wan Ying."