Chapter 25: Survivor's Gamble

Lots of survivors either lack courage to gather resources or are used to being waited on. They'll have minimal supplies.

Food and medicine will skyrocket in price, and thatched house materials or blueprints will be in high demand.

The newbie protection period is over. Sea beasts or other threats may land on small islands, especially those with few or no Floating Stones. Weapons that boost personal strength will become invaluable.

Out of 100,000 people in this survival region (counting vassals, more than 100,000), at least 10,000 will likely perish in the next seven days.

Those who survive won't be pushovers. It's best for Logan to gather abundant resources and brace for deadlier competition ahead.

He saw people forcibly taken to other survivors' islands, or forced to serve them. He wasn't sure how that movement worked, but it implied a big risk. Until he understood the method or formed alliances, he should speed up his power growth and stay extra cautious.

The ghost ship glimpsed in his vision spelled unknown danger. Until he was strong enough, he should avoid encountering such paranormal forces.

Resolve renewed, Logan grabbed a wooden umbrella, hobbling over to the stone pillar. The region's chat interface had plenty of new private messages, the earliest from "MorganBlossom."

"Wahh! Logan, you liar! You've destroyed my last hope—my wetsuit is torn to shreds, and even the oxygen tube is cracked!"

He read it and recalled the events leading up to his near-death. Putting two and two together, he realized what had happened to MorganBlossom's diving gear…

"It seems I'm still alive, and it looks like that equipment set blocked most of the power," Logan Lane muttered to himself.

In fact, Logan's guess was off. A B-grade peak Aurora Hornshark would never have such feeble attack power.

Because it was the novice protection period, sea beasts above E-rank were limited to one percent of their true strength.

Moreover, Logan's aura had not been particularly strong at the time, so the shark didn't go all-out in its first strike. Overall, it amounted to roughly one-twentieth of its usual power.

Less than one percent of the blow had reached him after being blocked by the purple shell; that remaining 0.5% still flung Logan thousands of meters out of the sea and shattered the D-rank swimsuit.

Barely one ten-thousandth of the original force struck Logan's body—and it was still nearly fatal.

What Logan didn't know was that, due to hidden rules, his injuries had already healed by ninety percent in the aftermath.

Yet he still spat blood, sustaining serious wounds that almost killed him. If not for the purple shell and that set of higher-level gear, his remains wouldn't even be found—he would have been vaporized.

This also explained why a single piece of B-grade Aurora Hornshark meat contained so little energy that Logan couldn't handle it: the rank gap was just too large.

He ignored MorganBlossom's angry messages for the moment. He needed to reevaluate his plans.

Next, Logan checked other private messages—everyone wanted to add him as a friend, hoping to buy food or water, or even rent his weapons.

A few attempted moral blackmail, claiming to be from the Celestial Empire or to represent "major forces," demanding free handouts because he was supposedly "one of them." Logan snorted and dismissed these requests.

He knew from his dreamlike vision that this was a "civilization survival game." Failing meant the extinction of humanity.

But he wasn't about to share that secret knowledge, especially while he remained weak.

No country truly existed here anymore; any notion of uniting forces was pointless until people figured out how to survive.

He turned down all nuisance requests, then opened the district chat. The feed was chaotic, so he skimmed:

"Crap, I only managed half a thatched hut. Now it's raining nonstop—can't finish it!"

"How is that possible? If you have thatched-house building drawings, it's a system build, right?"

"I don't have drawings. I can't afford 'em, so I tried to build it by hand." The user practically wept.

"Wow, that's gutsy. I made a triangular shack out of a few planks. I once opened a super-strong glue, so I stuck the boards together. No nails, though, so it's tiny. I can't fit inside with my supplies, so they're sitting outside," someone else lamented.

"Help! My kid has a high fever. Anyone have fever meds?"

"Same, can't find cold medicine! Will trade drinkable water for it!"

"+1 same question!"

"+2 same question!"

"I have a warm, fizzy soda. Anyone interested?"

"Haha, +1."

"… +99."

Logan sighed at the mix of desperation and humor.