A huge thanks to Seraphinareads for the support on Kofi. Enjoyy!

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Day 9 of Survival, a peaceful day.

Although he went to bed late yesterday, he was woken up at 7:00 a.m. today by Nangao’s parkour stumbles. Nan Liujing took a cold shower, still half-asleep, and emerged feeling wide awake. 

The first thing he did upon waking was check the mailbox; today’s delivery was finally the *Heart of the Rising Sun Daily*. This newspaper publishes the weather forecast, and it only covers today and tomorrow; it’s still a crucial reference for planting Sun Grass. 

The weather for today and tomorrow will determine whether Nan Liujing needs to set up a shelter over her fields.

【Heart of the Rising Sun Daily】

Year 213 of the Age of Catastrophe, Peaceful Day. 

Heart of Dawn Publishing.

Issue No.6.

【Weather Forecast】

Today’s Weather: Sunny turning to cloudy. Temperature: 16°C–20°C. Light breeze.

Tomorrow’s Weather: Sunny. Temperature: 18°C–24°C. Strong winds.

【Today’s Top News】

Recently, a wildfire erupted on Lava Island, and magma engulfed one of the island’s peaks, killing 120 people and causing severe economic losses. A survivor reported, “As we were fleeing, we saw something sparkling in the magma.” It is suspected to be a magical crystal. Currently, the Steam Association has immediately dispatched a team to the island to investigate. 

The Mighty Moles of Ironstone Island Have Done a Great Service! Yesterday, a team of miners—all Mighty Moles—ventured deep into the mines on Ironstone Island and discovered a deposit of mithril! As everyone knows, mithril is an essential material for crafting alchemical items. Currently, the Alchemy Guild is actively negotiating with the Steam Guild, hoping to reach an agreement on joint development. 

【Limited-Time Offer】 

……

……

【Postcard Giveaway】 

First Prize (1 winner): Permafrost Refrigerator (provided by the Alchemy Association) 

Second Prize (10 winners): Premium Saddle (provided by the Magical Creatures Protection Association) 

Third Prize (100 winners): Spring Bouquet (provided by the Jasmine Garden) 

Participation Prize (Limited): Green Tea (provided by Twilight Ranch) 

The Postcard Raffle is open to members only.

To enter the raffle, simply fill out the postcard included with this issue correctly. There is no cost to mail the postcard back.

Thank you to all the associations for their generous sponsorship of this newspaper!

——————————————

“The prizes for today’s postcard raffle are really lousy.” For Nan Liujing, the first-prize permafrost freezer would be useful, but the odds of winning it are practically zero. 

Even if he wasn’t interested in the other prizes, Nan Liujing was still going to enter. It was free anyway—whatever he won would be a net gain. If there’s a freebie to be had, why not take it?

After skillfully writing the postcard and dropping it in the mailbox, Nan Liujing put away the newspaper, grabbed his toolbox, and went to tend to his fields.

Today was a momentous day—the first batch of lettuce he’d grown on his island had ripened.

Looking out over the field, he saw five heads of lettuce lined up neatly in a row. Four of them were a delightful shade of green, each flaunting its emerald leaves, which still glistened with morning dew, looking fresh and plump.

One head of lettuce stood out from the rest—it was entirely golden yellow, looking less like a plant and more like an ornament made of gold.

Nan Liujing was absolutely dying of curiosity about it, but he managed to restrain himself, harvested all five heads of lettuce, and then checked the item descriptions one by one. The descriptions for the four green heads of lettuce were identical.

【Lettuce☆】

【Category: Ingredient】

【A fresh, green leafy vegetable with a crisp texture, perfect for salads.】

【Suggested Price: 132 Sol.】

【Condition: Fresh.】

Nan Liujing thought back to the price of lettuce seeds—it seemed to be 109 Sol.

Not bad—a small profit.

The item description for Golden Lettuce, however, is different from the others.

【Golden Lettuce★】

【Type: Ingredient】

【A golden-yellow lettuce that is crisper and more refreshing than ordinary lettuce.】

【Suggested Price: 1,480 Sol.】

【Condition: Fresh.】

“Wow, the price has gone up more than tenfold.” Nan Liujing managed to keep from gasping. “The star rating has gone up by half a star, too. I guess it’s because I used fertilizer.”

Nan Liujing had already learned while picking apples that the higher the star rating, the higher the price. That rule hadn’t been particularly useful before, but since he planned to trade with the locals more often in the future, the higher the price, the better.

“Looks like I’ll have to fertilize more often from now on.”

The deer offal he’d tossed into the compost bin yesterday had turned into two units of fertilizer. After a moment’s thought, Nan Liujing decided to apply it first to the watermelon patch.

Watermelon seeds were expensive, so by that logic, the watermelons they produced should also fetch a high price—and with the added star rating, it would be well worth it.

Four days passed. The watermelons were halfway through their growing cycle; vines had already begun to crawl across the ground. The field was spacious enough for them to wind their way through, twisting and turning until they emerged on the other side, where several flower buds had begun to appear. In theory, each of these flowers could eventually turn into a watermelon.

Nan Liujing counted the number of flower buds and chose the two watermelon vines with the most buds to fertilize. After all, it’s all about maximizing profit.

After fertilizing came sowing.

Nan Liujing pulled out his hoe, cleared the area, then took out the sun grass seeds and carefully buried them. It’s going to rain today and tomorrow—the perfect time to plant sun grass.

Since the seeds produce delicate leaves that can’t get wet, they can be watered normally along with other crops. Nan Liujing used a watering can to slowly water the two plots of poor-quality farmland and, after confirming that all the seedlings had sprouted, clapped his hands and left the fields.

Passing by a row of makeshift water collectors under the eaves, he took the opportunity to collect today’s supply of fresh water and pour it into an oak barrel.

His next stop was the smokehouse. He had coated the stew pot last night, covered it, and let it marinate overnight; today, he placed it directly into the cold smoker.

He placed 5 bone-in venison chops on a tray, 4 wild boar chops, and 16 venison chops on iron hooks. He lit sawdust at Nan Liujing and closed the cabinet door before white smoke began to drift out.

“Meat takes longer than fish.” Nan Liujing didn’t really mind; he was in a hurry anyway, so it didn’t matter how long it took to smoke.

After finishing his work at the smokehouse, Nan Liujing headed over to the slime pasture.

Through the fence, he saw the ranch’s only slime slumped listlessly on the ground, its two bean-shaped eyes drooping in a V-shape.

“Squeak…”

【Slime (Ocean Subspecies)】 

【Status: Hungry.】

“I still have to feed the slime.” As soon as the words left his mouth, Nan Liujing fell silent. What kind of nonsense was he spouting? Slimes were supposed to be like jelly—and they actually were jelly. Since they were living creatures, of course they would feel hungry. 

The question was, what did it eat?

“Since it’s a water-type slime made from seawater, let’s try feeding it some seawater.”

Nan Liujing decided to prioritize exploring the possibility of using floral resources.

He filled an oak barrel with seawater, pushed open the small gate, and walked into the pasture. He scooped up the floppy slime and tossed it into the barrel. Gurgle, gurgle…

The translucent slime slowly sank, and its beady eyes narrowed in pleasure. Gurgle, gurgle…

The water level began to drop at a visible rate.

Just as the seawater level dropped by about 5 liters, the slime jumped out of the oak barrel on its own, its body bouncing as it let out a burp.

“Cheep!” Nan Liujing watched as a little red heart popped up on top of the slime’s head, then—with a squelch—it squeezed out a fist-sized, pudding-like, pale blue, gel-like substance onto its head, as if it were wearing a little top hat. 

Nan Liujing picked it up and realized this was the legendary sea salt jelly.

“…Amazing.”

Putting away the jelly, Nan Liujing turned around and noticed that Nian Gao had somehow ended up crouching behind him.

The little white fox looked at the slime, then at the oak barrel, then out at the ocean, and a pensive, almost human-like expression appeared on its little face. 

Nan Liujing knew what it was thinking. Finding the sight of this little creature—no bigger than a pair of cotton slippers—contemplating things with such a serious expression utterly adorable, he gave the fox a firm squeeze as he walked past. 

This instantly made the little fox yelp in protest; it rolled over onto its back, belly up, and began flailing its limbs wildly.

Unfortunately, by the time it had positioned itself to fight back, Nan Liujing was already far away. Human mornings are very busy—there’s simply not enough time to play with pets and fool around.

Nian Gao sulkily rolled over and sat up, glanced once more at the slime bouncing around in the pasture, then scampered off. 

By then, Nan Liujing had already reached the beach.

There was still some time before low tide, and Nan Liujing had come to scavenge for supplies.

Standing at the water’s edge, he gazed into the distance. Before him, the sea and sky merged into a single blue expanse—a breathtaking view. But Nan Liujing had long since grown tired of it; his attention wasn’t on the scenery at all.

“With the tide coming in here, I might even run into supplies or giant marine creatures.” Placing the marine ranch here seemed a bit too safe.

Nan Liujing held his tablet, its screen displaying the construction interface. He was moving the virtual outline of the marine ranch around, trying to find a suitable location.

Yesterday, Nan Liujing gathered all the materials on Red Soil Island and wanted to start construction as soon as possible, but the location posed a problem. “The reef area is easy to navigate, and there are definitely undercurrents down there. It’s good for raising fish, but it’s not convenient for me to get around.” So that area was out too.

At that moment, Nan Liujing felt incredibly envious of those players who had coral forests.

After much thought, Nan Liujing finally decided to place the marine ranch on the beach side, but chose a spot right at the boundary between the beach and the reef area—with the makeshift dock situated to the left and right of it.

This area usually sees supplies coming ashore, and giant marine creatures tend to head this way, so it’s relatively quiet. With the location set, a white mist began to spread.

After a clatter of construction work, a wooden boardwalk rising slightly above the sea surface appeared before Nan Liujing. 

It starts at the beach, runs straight along the reef area toward the shallow sea, and after crossing the reef area, turns back toward it, forming an L-shape.

At this point, the wooden walkway began to fan out; the two outer paths converged after passing through the two bends, while the central path continued straight ahead, forming a cross in the middle and eventually becoming a square frame shaped like the Chinese character “田,” attached to the tail end of the short horizontal bar of the “L.” 

Each small opening in the “田” character measures 1x1m. Nan Liujing observed that beneath the water’s surface, a net woven from plant fibers had been installed to prevent the marine life being raised there from escaping.

【Marine Pasture】

【Category: Architecture】

【There are 4 breeding zones within the ranch, each with a maximum capacity of 10. Place fry or adult fish into a breeding zone; no feeding is required, and the fry or adult fish will grow or reproduce over time.】

【Note: The breeding zones are separated by fishing nets, which automatically trap offspring. Every so often, kelp and shellfish will grow on the nets and can be used as feed for the farmed creatures. If too many organisms accumulate on the nets, they may break; please clear them promptly.】

“So that means I can harvest kelp and barnacles from the fishing nets every so often?” Nan Liujing thought for a moment, struggling to keep the corners of his mouth from curving upward. “Raising fish and shrimp in four farming zones while the fishing nets bring in extra income—that’s a real money-maker.”

The best part was that, thanks to the feeding system, this marine ranch could be self-sufficient—he just had to drop the fry in and wait. 

It would be a shame to let such a great structure sit idle. Nan Liujing had live fish on hand, but he also had some broken lotus roots he could trade.

The trading zone has always been rich in marine resources. If there’s one group that’s happy to be in this island survival game, it’s definitely the anglers. Set up a little stool, hook on some bait, cast out a little rod, and put on a little hat. 

They’ll sit by the sea all day long.

When they land a big catch, they post about it in the forum to show off; any fish or shrimp they eat gets listed in the trading section. While others are fighting tooth and nail on Resource Island, they’re still sitting by the sea.

With ears attuned to the sounds outside, their hearts are set on the hook in the sea.

Pressure to survive? Lack of resources? Financial hardship?

Sure, they exist—but just look at the big fish I caught today; it’s bigger than my arm!

That’s just the kind of people anglers are.

No one can stand eating fish day in and day out, so Nan Liujing pulled out 1 Broken Lotus Root—which he had thoughtfully cleaned beforehand—and quickly traded it in the Marketplace for a bucket of fresh, live fish fry.

True to form for a fisherman, fish fry are counted by the bucket. 

In this game, fish fry are limited to specific species, so everyone knows exactly what kind of fish they are.

Buying adult fish is simply more expensive, and waiting for them to breed takes even longer—it’s like buying fish fry and opening a mystery box.

Nan Liujing poured the fish fry into the marine ranch with a splash. A single marine ranch can hold a total of 40 fish fry, so he emptied the entire bucket.

Looking more closely at the aquaculture area, several tiny fish fry—no bigger than toothpicks—were swimming lively in the deep blue seawater, each with a countdown timer on its head, showing different numbers.

The shortest was 1 day, while the longest was as long as 12 days.

Nan Liujing had high hopes for the marine ranch. Crouching on the wooden boardwalk, he dipped his fingers into the water to stir up a few of the tiny “toothpicks,” feeling the fry’s tiny mouths gently pecking at his fingers. His face naturally took on the benevolent expression of a capitalist looking at his “cabbage” (a slang term for small investors).

“You’d better grow up big and strong—my smokehouse is waiting for you.”

With that, the work at the site was finally wrapped up. Before the tide went out, Nan Liujing even found time to go home and cook breakfast for himself and Nian Gao.

Nian Gao’s breakfast, however, was still pet biscuits. Foxes are omnivores, so in theory, whatever Nan Liujing eats, Nian Gao can eat too.

But considering their current food reserves were ample, Nan Liujing had been making do with whatever he had each day. Since Nian Gao was still a young cub, he doubted that the nutritional value of his own food would be sufficient to meet the needs of a magical creature. 

At this point, the pet cookies he won from the postcard raffle came to his rescue. These were essentially the game world’s all-purpose pet food—they seemed capable of meeting the nutritional needs of all types of magical pets. More importantly, they were free!

Perfect!

The little fox cub also gets tired of eating the same thing every day. Pet cookies are its staple food, but Nan Liujing gives it other treats every day as well. Plus, the little cookies produced by the Magical Creatures Protection Association seem to taste really good. The little fox cub is always very eager at mealtime. As soon as the cookies are poured out, the fox buries its snout in them, nudging the little cookies all over the place until the makeshift food bowl falls apart. With cookies scattered all over the floor, it chases after them, panting heavily as it runs around the room.

While Nan Liujing was massaging the salmon with salt, he watched Nian Gao chase after the cookies, wondering to herself if he should get it a proper bowl. 

Since the household had plenty of bowls, and adhering to the philosophy of making do with what’s available, he’d currently stacked a few scraps of canvas together and folded them into a “cloth bowl” for Nian Gao using the same technique as for origami boxes.

This bowl had two major flaws: first, it was too flimsy. Nian Gao ate with such gusto that he’d knock the bowl apart in just a couple of bites, sending the little cookies flying everywhere; second, it held water. Nan Liujing washed out a tin can to hold water for him, but it would soon become dented and pitted, its edges covered with the little fox’s teeth marks. 

It was just that time of life when its teeth were itchy, and it wanted to gnaw on everything it saw.

The breakfast he’d prepared for himself today was salt-baked salmon. Considering that the temperature had been dropping day by day, he decided to use the salmon tail to make a soup. These two pieces of ingredients had been sitting all alone in the storage room, taking up two slots. Nan Liujing had been eyeing them for quite some time, so he figured he might as well use them both up today. 

Setting the salmon aside to marinate in salt, Nan Liujing took out the salmon tail and, with some effort, used an oyster knife to slice it in half lengthwise. 

He brought out a stew pot, set it over the glowing red charcoal to heat it up, drizzled a circle of olive oil around the bottom, added a few cloves of minced garlic to sauté until fragrant, and then placed the salmon tail in the pan to sear. 

Once both sides are golden brown and the aroma of garlic and fish fills the air, pour in the hot water that had been brought to a boil earlier, cover the pot, and let it simmer slowly.

Now return to the salmon.

Place the salt-cured salmon on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with black pepper, and grill it over another pile of coals. Unable to find a lemon, Nan Liujing gave up. So be it—it’ll be a bit fishy, but he’s used to that taste anyway. 

While waiting for both dishes to cook, Nan Liujing finally got a chance to rest for a bit.

“Hey…”

Glancing at the grubby plastic stool, Nan Liujing stepped over it and settled comfortably onto the sofa, where the crackling flames of the fireplace cast a warm glow on her face.

The brand-new sofa came with a light-colored dust cover draped over the deep red cushions. Nan Liujing lifted the dust cover and let his butt sink into the soft, thick cushions; the sofa’s backrest provided firm support. He leisurely crossed his legs and pulled out today’s newspaper. 

After finishing his pet cookies, Nian Gao was drawn by the aroma of salmon and began circling the fireplace hungrily, making little grunts and whimpers.

After reading about a certain singer’s love-hate drama with her seven exes, Nan Liujing shook out the newspaper and calmly turned the page. This section featured a Sudoku puzzle. Nan Liujing took out a pencil, pondered the grid for five minutes, and then filled in a few numbers in a sweeping, flowing hand.

“Perfect!”

Twenty minutes flew by in the blink of an eye. The boiling soup pot bubbled so vigorously that the lid began to lift. Nan Liujing set down the newspaper, put on a pair of cotton gloves, and yanked the lid off in one swift motion.

Fragrant white steam instantly washed over his face. Nan Liujing flinched back from the heat, then took a deep breath: “It smells so good!” This proved that excellent ingredients truly require complex cooking techniques.

Nan Liujing proudly carried the pot to the dining table; the noodle broth had turned a rich white, with orange-red fish flesh peeking through.

Eagerly reaching for a soup spoon, Nan Liujing tasted a spoonful. He fell silent for a moment, then decisively added a spoonful of salt, followed by a lethal dose of black pepper. 

【Salmon Tail Soup】

【Category: Recipe】

【A simple, slow-simmered fish soup with a strong fishy aroma—it’s absolutely delicious. It contains plenty of black pepper, which will make you sweat profusely! Restores 10 Stamina points upon consumption.】

【Suggested Price: 130 Sol.】

【Condition: Fresh.】

It backfired…

Maybe the finished product was too terrible, or perhaps the price was just too low—even the recipe triggered an error.

Nan Liujing silently brought out the baking sheet. The salt-baked salmon sizzled on the sheet, its skin already crisped to an enticing golden brown.

After the earlier mishap, Nan Liujing no longer trusted the food’s appearance. Before tasting it himself, he carefully checked the item description.

【Salt-Baked Salmon】

【Type: Ingredient】

【Simply salt-cured and then grilled to perfection—a perfect combination of olive oil and salt! A lightly flavored grilled fish; the jaw is the tastiest part. Restores 30 Stamina upon consumption.】

【Suggested Price: 820 Sol.】

【Condition: Fresh.】

【You have unlocked a new recipe: Salt-Grilled Salmon.】

“Looks like this one worked out.” Nan Liujing let out a sigh of relief, picked up his chopsticks, and on his very first bite, picked up the fish jaw—which the system had designated as a delicacy—“Let’s see what it tastes like…” 

With one pick of his chopsticks, he pierced the fish skin and lifted a piece of orange-red flesh. Salmon jowl is rich in fat; even after being grilled, it still looked incredibly succulent.

Nan Liujing picked up a piece, examined it, then held it to his nose to take a whiff—it smelled delicious.

He felt a tug on his pant leg. Looking down, he saw Nian Gao standing upright, pawing at his calf, a suspicious little droplet of liquid still hanging from the corner of its mouth. Nan Liujing raised an eyebrow: “Want some?”

“Wah-wah…” Nian Gao’s eyes were glued to the fish meat; it stared at it several times before reluctantly looking away, then gazed at its owner, emitting a series of intricate, whimpering “Yi-yi”

Nan Liujing grinned at it, flicked the fish meat into the air with his chopsticks, tilted his head back, and caught it with an “Ah-woo.”¹ He held the fish meat between his teeth, showing it off to the little fox cub as if to boast, then rolled his tongue to tuck it into his mouth and began to chew contentedly: “I’ll give it to you later.”

The whole sequence flowed as smoothly as water; Nian Gao’s eyes widened in disbelief. It took him several seconds to realize what had happened, and he immediately let out a frantic, furious howl. 

Nan Liujing was delighted. Laughing, he picked up a piece of fish with his chopsticks, pinched it, and offered it down: “All right, here you go.”

“Yee.” As soon as it saw the meat, Nian Gao immediately dropped its angry expression, rubbed against Nan Liujing’s calf in a playful manner, and then wrapped its two little paws around Nan Liujing’s hand, licking the fish meat off with a smacking sound. 

Taking advantage of the fox’s quiet moment, Nan Liujing hurried to eat his own breakfast.

He took a bite of the fragrant salt-grilled salmon, followed by a sip of the fishy, spicy salmon soup. The interplay of delicious and unpleasant flavors sent her mood swinging between heaven and hell. 

Finally, the salt-grilled salmon was gone, but a little less than half the pot of soup remained.

After finishing the fish, the little fox began tugging at Nan Liujing’s pant leg, whimpering as it begged for some soup. The fishy smell seemed to have a strong effect on animals; the little fox licked its lips, its eyes full of anticipation. 

Nan Liujing set down her soup spoon, looked at the little fox cub, and wrestled with his conscience for a moment before finally pulling out his tablet. He tapped into the trading section and posted his first message since logging into the game—

【Can foxes eat black pepper?】 

Five minutes later, a player claiming to be a zookeeper rushed to the scene and vehemently condemned Nan Liujing’s “immoral” attempt to poison the fox. 

Nan Liujing put down his tablet, sighed, and—under Nian Gao’s disappointed gaze—poured the leftover soup into the compost bin. He comforted the little fox cub: “Next time, next time I’ll definitely serve you a bowl before I add any seasoning.”

By the time he finished washing the pot, it was exactly eight o’clock.

Nan Liujing shook the water droplets from his hands and looked out the window to check the beach.

The tide was slowly receding, leaving scattered supplies on the beach. A giant crab, as big as a millstone, emerged from the water, and at the same time, a strange floating object drifted toward the shore against the tide. 

Nan Liujing furrowed his brow, leaned closer to the window, and, thanks to his keen eyesight, made out exactly what it was.

A black suitcase lay across the surface of the sea—square in shape, with brass trim, looking understated yet luxurious. 

On top of the suitcase, a cat the same color as the suitcase sat upright, its four white mangosteen-like paws tucked together, its tail curled around its front. The kitten held its head high, revealing the white fur on its chest—like it was wearing a white scarf—and looked incredibly proud.

The suitcase, carrying the cat, moved forward slowly. Judging by their direction, in just over ten meters they would collide with the giant crab and then run aground.

“Oh, this…” Nan Liujing ran a hand through his hair, clicked his tongue as if in exasperation, hesitated for half a second, then looked at the little fox cub chasing its tail in circles around the room. His tone turned serious. “Nian Gao, give me a hand.”

“Huh?”