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

The reply below made Xiao Zheng's fingers tighten slightly.

"Another one playing the victim. Someone else did this to scam supplies yesterday."

"A woman? Send me a photo."

"A brass key, hahaha, who would want this junk?"

"Ignore her; nine out of ten people who ask for help are scammers."

"If you're really sick, just lie there and wait to die. Everyone has their struggles, right?"

Xiao Zheng stared at that name for five seconds.

Summer Evening Firefly.

The girl with the ponytail, the sweet smile, who would always give him a carton of milk when handing over shifts.

He scrolled down through the replies, which were all sarcastic and cynical; not a single person offered any help.

With so many people on the channel, not even a sip of water is offered.

Xiao Zheng exited the regional channel and opened the private chat list.

System prompt: In private chat mode, you can set yourself to anonymous. The other party can only see your anonymous code name "Sea Player #7721" and will not know your real ID.

Should I enable micro-anonymity?

Xiao Zheng thought for a moment and then clicked "OK".

He clicked on Xia Wanying's profile picture and edited a message.

"Is the bronze key still there?"

After waiting for about ten seconds, the other party replied.

"Yes...do you want it?"

"I'll trade you a bowl of hot porridge and some fever-reducing herbs."

There was silence on the other end for almost half a minute.

Then a long message pops up.

"Really? You're not kidding me, are you...? I've already been scammed once. Someone offered to trade me water for a key, but after I hung the key up, he canceled the deal and ran away..."

"I'll serve you the porridge first, then give me the key after you finish it."

Xiao Zheng got up and walked to the barbecue grill. There was still a small pot of crab roe seafood porridge in the pot.

He filled a large bowl to the brim and placed it in the trading slot.

He turned around and walked to the edge of the deck, throwing the plastic hook out, thinking about fever-reducing medication.

The phrase "100% accurate" is automatically locked, and the nylon line extends rapidly below the sea surface.

Three seconds later, the hook brought back a clump of wet seaweed.

It's not ordinary seaweed.

Premium-grade antipyretic menthol algae

Grade: Excellent (Blue)

Effects: Natural antipyretic and anti-inflammatory plant, can be chewed and taken directly to lower body temperature and relieve infection symptoms within 30 minutes.

Xiao Zheng shook off the water from the peppermint algae and threw them into the trading slot.

The note contained only two words: "Eat first."

Click send.

A transaction notification popped up: The other party has received the transaction.

About three minutes later.

"Waaaaah..."

"This porridge...it's so hot and delicious...I haven't eaten for two days..."

"Thank you... thank you so much..."

"I've taken the herbal medicine, and my stomach feels warm now, and my head doesn't hurt as much..."

"I'll give you the key right now!!"

A transaction notification popped up.

Xiao Zheng opened it and found a thumb-sized, copper-green key with an antique design and fine engravings.

[Identification Technique] Activated.

[Bronze key (purpose unknown)]

Grade: Rare (Blue)

Note: This appears to correspond to some kind of locked container or ancient mechanism. Further investigation is needed to determine its specific purpose.

Xiao Zheng accepted the key, already having a guess in his mind.

An ancient treasure map... plus this bronze key of unknown origin.

He closed the trading panel and typed a message in the private chat box.

My finger hovered over the send button for two seconds.

After typing it, I clicked send.

"Is the porridge delicious, little matcha?"

The private chat window went silent.

ten seconds.

Twenty seconds.

Thirty seconds.

There was no response from the other end.

Xiao Zheng could imagine the expression on the girl's face on the other side of the screen at that moment.

That nickname came about in the coffee shop back then.

When Xia Wanying first came to take over the shift,

I remembered the recipe for matcha latte backwards and poured half a cup of pure matcha powder into the customer's cup, which made the customer scold me until my face turned red.

From then on, he called her "Little Matcha" every time he handed over his shift.

Only he ever used that nickname.

Finally, a message popped up on the other end.

There were only three words, followed by a long string of question marks.

"Who are you??????"

Then another one followed.

"How do you know this name?! Only one person has ever called me that..."

The news abruptly ended.

I waited a few more seconds.

"...Senior?"

"Is that you, Senior Xiao Zheng??"

"You're in this district too?? You're still alive??"

The screen was flooded with messages, one after another, almost without stopping.

Xiao Zheng leaned against the mast, holding a half-bowl of cold porridge, and tugged at the corner of his mouth.

This girl's typing speed is much faster than when she used to make coffee.

"I've been looking for you for so, so long..."

"I've called your name in the channel so many times, but no one has answered..."

"I thought you were already... Waaaaaah..."

Xiao Zheng placed the bowl of porridge on the deck and tapped the virtual keyboard twice with his fingers.

"Don't cry, you won't die."

There was silence on the other end for a few seconds.

Then a message popped up, followed by a crying face.

"You make it sound so easy... I'm practically burning to death, you know that..."

Then another one came right after.

"Senior, how are you? Are you hurt? Have you eaten enough? Are you alone?"

A series of questions.

Xiao Zheng glanced at the brightly lit two-story villa behind him, then looked at the barbecue grill and half-pot of crab roe porridge that hadn't been taken down on the deck.

If this scene were filmed and shown to her, this girl would probably be too busy crying to even think about it.

"I'm fine, I'm not hungry."

"Has your fever gone down yet?"

"After taking the herb you gave me, my head doesn't hurt as much anymore, but my body still feels weak..."

Xia Wanying's reply slowed down, and her typing pace became less hurried.

"Senior, my raft is only a dozen square meters, and I don't have much material left."

"We're almost out of water."

"I'm afraid to speak in the channel. Someone tracked me down through the chat history and tried to steal my stuff..."

Xiao Zheng's finger paused on the screen.

It's a dozen square meters.

No water, no food, and still has a fever.

This situation is even worse than when Lin Xiaoya first met him.

"Are there any other injuries?"

"I was bitten on the left hand by something, and it's been swollen for a day and hasn't gone down."

Xiao Zheng frowned.

Infection plus fever at sea is basically a death sentence.

He pulled out two portions of rare swordfish meat and a bottle of clean water, and grabbed a handful of antipyretic mint algae, stuffing them all into the trading slot.

Postscript: "Take your medicine first, grill the meat, and drink water sparingly."

send.

There was a silence on the other end for about ten seconds, then a string of ellipses burst out.

"Senior... this meat... what kind of fish is this? Is it rare?"

"Where did you get so many good things?!"

"Stop talking nonsense and eat your fill first."

Xiao Zheng was too lazy to explain and changed the subject directly.

"Xia Wanying, listen to me now."

"Yes...yes."

"Close your eyes and silently say my name in your heart."

The private chat window went silent.

Three seconds passed.

"……what?"

"Do as instructed. Silently repeat three times: Xiao Zheng, Xiao Zheng, Xiao Zheng. Now recite it."

The other side fell silent again.

But she did as she was told.

next second.

Xiao Zheng's mind went blank.

A point of light suddenly shone brightly in the depths of his consciousness.

The location and distance are so clear it's almost unbelievable.