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

Lin Xiaoya gritted her teeth and squatted back down beside the pile of corpses.

Xiao Zheng continued his ruthless harvesting.

Twenty-five, thirty...

On one side of the deck is a lush, vibrant plantation.

On the other side, there were piles of squid carcasses and chopped pieces of meat, with gray-blue ink spreading across the deck, and a mixture of blood and sea smells.

Half farmland, half slaughterhouse.

The two worked together with an almost uncanny level of coordination. One killed, the other dismantled; their roles were clearly defined, and their efficiency was off the charts.

My experience points have skyrocketed to 900.

In the sea ahead, the swarms of fluorescent squid seemed endless.

This hunting ground was far more fertile than he had imagined.

The hook flew out again.

But this time, the moment the rope tightened, the resistance transmitted back suddenly increased dramatically!

weight!

A dull, immense force, like a relentless descent into the sea, came through, completely unlike the pulling sensation of a fluorescent squid weighing tens of kilograms.

Xiao Zheng's arms were bulging with muscles, and he was pulled back two steps by this force before he could regain his balance.

The rope was pulled taut and made a creaking sound, and the thing on the other end was struggling frantically.

He let out a low growl, exerted force with his waist and abdomen, and pulled back inch by inch!

"boom!"

The sea surface suddenly exploded!

What was being dragged out of the water was no longer the translucent fluorescent squid.

Instead, it was a ferocious behemoth covered in dark red carapace, over 1.5 meters long, with pincers as wide as an adult's shoulder when opened!

Detection technique activated.

[Elite-level - Abyss Iron Claw Crab]

[Health Points: Extremely High]

[Special Ability: Carapace Hardening - Physical damage reduction of 70%]

Elite level.

Physical damage reduction of 70%.

After scanning the identification information, Xiao Zheng took two steps back.

The abyssal iron claw crab slammed heavily onto the deck, its dark red shell striking the wooden planks with a dull thud.

This thing was a whole size bigger than the Blue Ice Heavy Crab we had killed before, and its claws made a sharp "crack" sound when they opened and closed.

With 70% physical damage reduction, when attacked by a normal weapon, only 30% of the original force remains.

But his strength is eighty-three points.

Thirty percent is enough.

Xiao Zheng pulled out a spare spear from the storage box. The spearhead still had the venom of the blue-ringed octopus on it. He thrust the spear into the weak point marked by the Appraisal Technique.

The moment the spear tip pierced through, the iron claw crab's right claw suddenly swept across!

Xiao Zheng dodged to the side, twisted the spear shaft, and pushed it in three inches deeper.

The blue ring venom seeped into the body along the wound.

The iron-clawed crab's struggles began to slow down, and the frequency of its claws opening and closing became visibly slower.

Xiao Zheng did not give it a second chance to strike.

Pull out the spear, change the angle, and thrust it in a second time.

The spearhead pierced through the crab's abdomen, pinning the entire crab to the deck.

The iron-clawed crab's eight segments twitched a few times, then remained completely still.

[Defeat Elite-level Abyss Iron Claw Crab to gain 80 experience points.]

Eighty o'clock.

Xiao Zheng glanced at the experience bar.

[Level: 5 (980/1000)]

Twenty points to go.

I'm just 20 points away from leveling up to level 6.

The surrounding waters have been completely wiped out of the bioluminescent squid, and new ones won't be available anytime soon.

He pulled the spear out of the crab shell, shook off the slime, and casually leaned it against the pile of planks.

"Senior, is he dead?"

Lin Xiaoya spoke from behind, her voice weak and feeble.

Xiao Zheng turned around.

She slumped down next to the pile of planks, her back against a stack of neatly arranged squid meat, her legs crossed and stretched out on the deck, her toes unconsciously curling back and forth.

The hem of her shirt had long since been pulled out from under her skirt, hanging loosely on her body.

Two buttons on the collar had come undone at some point, revealing a large expanse of skin soaked in sweat.

She wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand, her movements languid.

"Completely dead."

Xiao Zheng withdrew his gaze, walked to the barbecue grill, took out a piece of high-quality squid from the storage box, and threw it onto the grill.

Are you hungry?

Lin Xiaoya didn't respond, and only spoke after resting for a while.

"Xiao Zheng, are you using me as free labor?"

No way.

"So tell me, how many squid did I dismantle today?"

"More than thirty."

"What about experience?"

"zero."

"What about your salary?"

Half a grilled squid.

"...Tell me yourself, isn't this exploitation?"

Xiao Zheng flipped the meat on the grill but didn't continue.

The squid's oil dripped onto the fire, sizzling and releasing a fragrant aroma.

Lin Xiaoya's nose twitched, and she unconsciously sat up a little straighter.

Xiao Zheng cut a piece of the roasted meat and handed it over.

"eat."

Lin Xiaoya snorted, but her hand moved swiftly, snatching the food and taking a big bite.

He chewed twice and mumbled a "hmm".

"...It's alright."

She shifted her legs, crossed them, and used her knees to hold the piece of meat, gnawing on it until her mouth was full of oil.

Xiao Zheng sat down against the pile of wooden planks, less than an arm's length away from her.

"Once the house is built, I'll reserve a private bathroom for you on the first floor."

Lin Xiaoya stopped biting into the meat.

"real?"

"A two-story sea-view wooden cabin, with living quarters upstairs and a kitchen and bathroom downstairs. We'll partition off a separate space with wooden planks and connect it to a water purifier. You can soak for as long as you want."

"Don't we need to cover it with the canvas anymore?"

"Need not."

Lin Xiaoya sat up straight immediately.

She had been adrift at sea for so many days, and only took a bath yesterday. Moreover, she relied entirely on that tattered canvas to keep herself from drifting out of the water with the slightest breeze. Not only was she constantly on edge, but she also felt like there was a clingy gaze peeking at her from behind.

Even though the person whose gaze was directed at her was sitting right next to her.

"Then I want a big wooden tub that can be filled with water, so I can soak in it and look out at the sea..."

"Okay, okay, okay."

"And a window! The kind with glass!"

"Fill it up if you have enough materials."

"besides……"

"Swallow the meat in your mouth first."

Lin Xiaoya puffed out her cheeks, chewed hard for two bites, swallowed, and immediately opened her mouth to speak.

Xiao Zheng stuffed the second piece of meat into her mouth.

"Let's talk after we finish eating."

Lin Xiaoya glared at him, but didn't stop eating, continuing to bury her head in her meat.

Xiao Zheng leaned against the pile of wooden planks, munching on his own portion, but his mind was far from idle.

The monster density in the sea is indeed high, but most of the glowing squid colonies have already been cleared out. Heading further east, we should be able to find a new gathering area.

I'm just 20 experience points short; killing any rare-level monster will be enough.

After reaching level 6, you can choose one of three new gold-tier attributes.

What will happen this time?

As he was pondering this, Lin Xiaoya suddenly patted his arm.

"Senior, look over there."

She was still clutching half a piece of meat in her hand, and pointed northeast with her other hand.

"What's that? An island?"

Xiao Zheng looked in the direction she pointed.

At the horizon, there was a dark shape.

He stood up, walked to the edge of the deck, and squinted at it for a few seconds.

wrong.

The thing had an irregular outline, uneven heights, and—it was moving.

The island will not move.

Xiao Zheng took out his compass and activated the map.

A sea area with a radius of one kilometer was scanned.

On the map, about one nautical mile to the northeast, a large area of ​​dense markings appeared.

They are not a single entity.

It consists of a dozen or so small wooden rafts connected end to end with iron chains, forming an irregularly shaped large water platform.