Thanks to Emme for the Kofis. Enjoy the bonus chapters!

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【Your friend “I Love Survival Game” has sent you a gift.】

Dan Xingyu clicked to accept it and found it was a large bowl of plain water.

【I Love Survival Game: I just upgraded my water well today—the water tastes great.】 He remembered that “God Has No Form” was set in a desert.

Dan Xingyu saw the system notification.

A green-tier drinking water resource. Tears of envy trickled down the corners of his mouth.

【God Has No Form: Godfather, promise me—if you ever manage to unearth something as good as a water well again, please make sure to set some aside for your little one first, okay?】

Qiyu:?

【I Love Survival Game: That sounds so weird.】

【I Love Survival Game: Okay.】

Even though he said it was strange, he agreed anyway.

Dan Xingyu thought to himself: Big Brother is still a soft-hearted guy.

【God Has No Form: Draw me some well water—I’ll make some soup with it tonight. With water this good, the soup is sure to taste amazing.】 

Soup?

Qiyu stared at that word, his throat involuntarily twitching.

【I Love Survival Game: Okay, wait a moment.】

He had a container for holding water.

A good water well comes with a wooden bucket for drawing water—originally, the basic water well structure was just one, but after upgrading, it became two.

After taking a moment to untie the rope from the wooden bucket, he filled it to the brim and traded it to God Has No Form. 

【I Love Survival Game: Once you’re done,  give me back the bucket—otherwise, you won’t get one next time.】

【I Love Survival Game: Same goes for the bowl.】

【God Has No Form: Need one of those? Hold on a sec.】

A little while later.

【God Has No Form initiates a trade.】

He returned the empty wooden bucket and bowl, and on top of that, threw in a set of stainless steel buckets and a basin.

【God Has No Form: I created the blueprints,  but unfortunately,  this stuff is completely useless in our district—it serves absolutely no purpose.】

After chatting with God Has No Form, Qiyu noticed that the sky seemed bluer, the sunlight was exceptionally bright, and even the air felt fresher and more pleasant.

For once, he felt a bit restless, eager for time to pass quickly so it would be dinner time soon. Fried rice and soup.

Just thinking about it made him feel happy. 

He walked into the wooden cabin and installed the wall lamps—which had been sitting unused in his backpack—one in the bedroom and one in the living room.

【New furniture detected. Do you want to connect the Energy Crystal Card? Once connected, using the items will consume Energy Crystal Card energy.】

Select “Connect.”

There was a small switch beneath each wall lamp; flicking it once caused a warm yellow glow to spread, and flicking it again made the glow disappear. It could share the energy from a single energy crystal card with the hot water in the bathroom.

After looking around the cabin, it was time to get down to business. He headed to the village and checked the plants in the farmland one by one. Each one was growing exceptionally well—they even had the “thirsty” indicator.

Qiyu could only walk regretfully to the edge of the Red Maple Forest to practice Waterball there, and in the process, explore its potential. He had no idea how many people in the zone chat channel were losing sleep over him.

The story begins with a visit from the wandering merchant Duo Ju.

To claim the top spot on the Shelter Leaderboard—and to do so in a way that could be described as a “legendary slap in the face.”

In Server 01, quite a few players were secretly keeping an eye on “I Love Survival Game.”

As it turned out, a day later, he made a high-profile announcement across the entire server—and even threw in a server-wide bonus. Originally, Qiyu ranked 16th on the wealth leaderboard.

Players in Zone 01 saw his ranking suddenly jump to 11. They thought the top player was about to pull off another rapid climb, but the next moment, he plummeted straight to the bottom of the rankings. 

What on earth was going on?

Before they could even figure it out, “I Love Survival Game” reappeared, landing straight at eighth place. 

As luck would have it, the player who had previously held the eighth spot was none other than “Very Handsome Down There.”

It has to be said that Qiyu and the Temple of Gods seem to share some kind of fateful connection.

These completely unpredictable ups and downs made players—especially those at the top of the leaderboard—even more curious about what “I Love Survival Game” was actually up to. Just then, Civil Engineering Brother showed up with his ad.

【Civil Engineering Brother: Want first-hand intel on the Wandering Merchant? Provided by a big shot from “I Love Survival Game”—guaranteed authentic. Price: 200 units of wood. DM me if interested.】 

【Cockroach Taste Is So Weird: 200 units of wood? Civil Engineering Brother, have you switched careers to rip people off, too?】

【Little White: Haha, I knew it. In a survival game, where would you find a good person for no reason? This guy was just putting on an act before; now that he’s hooked up with a big shot, he doesn’t need to pretend anymore.】

【Civil Engineering Brother: Hey everyone, I’m being upfront about the price here—this information isn’t something everyone needs. To be honest, information from wandering merchants isn’t very useful to the average player. But for those who can actually put it to good use, the benefits of knowing this in advance are worth far more than 200 units of wood.】

200 units of wood sounds like a lot at first, but in reality, that’s just 20 emerald crystals.

The most valuable part of the information provided by Qiyu is…

For players who purchase it, understanding the Wandering Merchant’s mechanics allows them to tap into the source. The value saved through this process was big enough, not to mention that the top players in the game have secured a 5% discount for all players across the server.

Civil Engineering Brother knew others were constantly badmouthing Qiyu, and the rumors haven’t stopped circulating since the initial message was sent out.

Night fell. 

Whoosh!

A sharp arrow pierced through the fence, landing in the mud beyond the enclosure and sinking deep into the ground.

Successfully converting the water element into a water arrow not only increased its attack power but also saved mana. 3 Qiyu returned to the log cabin, eager to check his survival panel.

A message.

He waited eagerly for a few minutes, but there was still no movement. 

【I Love Survival Game: Can I eat yet?】 

【God Has No Form: Wait a few more minutes; the soup isn’t quite ready yet.】 

Dan Xingyu felt a bit of a chuckle coming on. Why did the game’s top player’s tone remind him so much of a stray puppy in the alley back home? 

Wait a minute—that’s a pretty weird comparison.

Qiyu didn’t quite get it.

Isn’t making soup just a matter of boiling water? 

But he knew full well that he couldn’t make that delicious jerky, so he listened to God Has No Form.

【God Has No Form: If it weren’t for the free transfer limit, I could’ve sent the fried rice first.】 After the newbie period ends, a 5% transaction fee will be charged.

The Survival System likely anticipates that players might try to exploit loopholes, so transactions with fees of less than 10 items are charged at 10 pieces of wood, or the equivalent in supplies.

Whether it was Dan Xingyu or Qiyu, they could both easily afford 10 units of wood. It was just a matter of a few minutes, but it meant spending money unnecessarily.

About six minutes passed.

【God Has No Form initiated a trade.】

A large plate of fried rice and a huge bowl of stewed soup. The transaction fee was a symbolic 1 Wood. 

Qiyu accepted almost instantly, and soon, the food was laid out on his wooden table.

The fried rice contained eggs and diced meat; the scrambled eggs were golden brown, the meat was succulent and slightly charred, and the glistening rice grains were distinct and separate.

The soup was a rich bone broth, likely made from the meat of some mutated creature from the desert. The meat had been stewed until tender—it fell off the bone at the slightest touch of the chopsticks—yet retained its elasticity, making it anything but dry or tough to chew.

As the God Has No Form had said, the best flavor was indeed in the soup. Qiyu was at a loss for words.

He simply drank it sip after sip, then thought to himself: So it really isn’t just a matter of boiling water to make soup, is it? 

【God Has No Form: Not bad, right?】

Dan Xingyu waited demurely to be praised. 

The Survival Panel remained completely still, not so much as a flicker.

Staring at the chat window for a few seconds, he realized: It must be so delicious that he was too busy to even acknowledge me. 

That wasn’t exactly true.

Twenty minutes later. 

【I Love Survival Game: Check this out.】

【Information · Energy Tower Blueprint】

Dan Xingyu had expected a storm of praise from Big Shot Bitter Melon, but instead, a blueprint was tossed his way. 

As soon as he saw what the blueprint was, he sat up straight.

【God Has No Form: What’s this?】

【I Love Survival Game: 120 green-quality resources in exchange for an energy tower.】

【I Love Survival Game: Secure the shelter properly.】

【I Love Survival Game: Does your district have parchment paper and magic potions? If so, buy them—I’ll craft some magic scrolls to carry with me.】

【I Love Survival Game: Be sure to stay safe.】

Wait—wait a minute!

Dan Xingyu was deeply moved at first, but then he started to wonder—was this guy a little too trusting? How long had they even known each other? They’d only shared a single meal together, and yet he was already revealing something as powerful as an energy tower to him.

But the more he watched, the stranger it seemed.

Dan Xingyu started to piece things together: ???

【God Has No Form: Bro, what’s this?】

Qiyu replied bluntly:

【I Love Survival Game: I ate the most delicious meal in the world today, and I’m really worried you might die.】

So that he could continue to enjoy it for a long, long time, he hoped that God Has No Form would live forever. 

Dan Xingyu didn’t know what expression to make for a moment.

Even though the other person was complimenting him directly, that reaction was a million times more exaggerated than if he’d been told his cooking was delicious. I mean, for the person being complimented, it felt a little… awkward?

【God Has No Form: Damn it! Don’t underestimate me! (Image)】 

Qiyu clicked on the image.

God Has No Form ranked first on the combat power leaderboard in Server 88. 

He let out a sigh of relief.

【I Love Survival Game: That’s great.】

That way, he wouldn’t have to worry about the people he used to know—you never know, one day, when the sun rises, they might just be gone. 

Dan Xingyu froze.

He posted his ranking on the leaderboard, waiting to see how the other person would react.

Whether it was flattery and praise or a roundabout attempt to negotiate a deal, it was all within his expectations.

But he never expected the other person to reply with just a few short words. “That’s great.” 

He was completely at a loss when faced with such overly sincere words. Qiyu was thinking about something else:

【I Love Survival Game: So, do you still need the energy tower?】

【God Has No Form: Of course I do!】

For some reason he couldn’t quite explain, he inexplicably replied: 【God Has No Form: I deserve it for being such a great cook!】