In the group chat, Li Shechu tugged at Zhang Zihan and asked him to explain what the phrase “sword dealer” meant.

Zhang Zihan: It means exactly what it says—he sells swords! Iron swords!

Zhang Zihan posted a photo of his standard-issue knight’s sword and raved about how useful it was. What? Wooden spears? Wooden swords? Those are just junk.

Times have changed, sir!

We’re in the Iron Age now!

This five-year-old kid was bragging in the group chat about how he’d slaughtered countless monsters with that iron sword as if he were chopping vegetables, making Li Shechu’s eyes turn red with envy.

Li Shechu: @Nan Liujing, boss, do you still sell swords? 

Nan Liujing happened to catch that message.

Nan Liujing: I don’t have the materials.

Crafting a standard knight’s sword requires iron ore, and he’d scrounged all his own from Zhang Zihan.

Zhang Zihan burst into a maniacal laugh. 

Zhang Zihan: I’ve got the materials—are you begging for them?

Li Shechu: Kid-bro! Please! 

Zhang Zihan: …Don’t call me “Kid-bro”! 

Xu Jia: Alright, let’s get down to business.

Xu Jia: The purpose of creating this group chat is to share crisis intelligence we’ve gathered and pool our ideas to deduce the most likely truth.

Xu Jia: Please take turns sharing what you know. Li Shechu, you go first. 

Li Shechu: From the beginning? What an honor! Ahem, well…

It all started a few days ago, when Li Shechu found a starving mermaid on the beach of his private island.

Skipping over the details of how he completed the hidden quest, suffice it to say that before the mermaid swam away, she tossed Li Shechu a pearl. Li Shechu didn’t post the item details for the pearl in the group chat; he simply described its function.

Li Shechu: “This pearl serves as an early warning system. Depending on the severity of the danger, it glows red—from pale to deep—and gets hot to the touch. Treat it like a talisman and keep it around your neck at all times. This thing has really saved my life several times. Last time I accidentally wandered onto a monster-infested island, this was the only thing that kept me alive.”

Even in life-or-death situations, the pearl would typically display a shade only slightly darker than light red at most. But this morning, Li Shechu was jolted awake by the heat from the pearl around his neck and was stunned to discover that the entire pearl had turned a deep red. It’s no exaggeration to say that Li Shechu rolled right out of bed on the spot.

Zhao He: Is the pearl still hot?

Li Shechu: It’s still hot. I was just a hair’s breadth away from getting burned.

Zhang Zihan: How far in advance does the pearl give a warning?

Li Shechu: It’s hard to say. All I can say is that the greater the crisis, the earlier the warning will come.

More than an hour had passed since he’d been woken by the scalding water that morning. Everything on his island remained calm and peaceful—nothing had happened—yet Li Shechu felt increasingly terrified. The last time, when he’d nearly been swallowed whole by a giant hippo, the Crisis Pearl had warned him just five minutes in advance, but this time…

Li Shechu’s heart was in his throat.

Li Shechu: If the crisis doesn’t strike soon, I’ll be on edge all day—I won’t even be able to enjoy my meals. 

Li Shechu: I was so distracted this morning that I didn’t even eat breakfast!

Nan Liujing: I’d advise you to go eat anyway—you’ll have plenty of time to be on edge later. 

Li Shechu: …Why would you say that, boss?

Nan Liujing: 【Newspaper photo】 The calm before the storm is expected to last 10 days, though that was yesterday’s statement, so it might be 9 days. Also, my informant warned us to chop more wood—maybe that’s related to this too.

As soon as he posted that, the group’s focus instantly went haywire.

Li Shechu: Holy crap! There are actually newspapers in this world?

Zhang Zihan: You have an informant? Cool!

Zhao He: So there’s a high probability the crisis is related to abnormal weather?

Nan Liujing realized that Xu Jia and Zhao He were the only experienced members in this group.

Zhao He: This intelligence is based purely on my own perceptions. As some of you may know, my talent is “Deep Sea Wanderer,” which allows me to move freely underwater. In addition, I can sense anomalies in ocean currents to a certain extent. I feel… that the ocean is brewing a tremendous danger.

Xu Jia: This ties in with the information from J. Zhao He: 

That’s what I thought, too.

Xu Jia: Zihan, it’s your turn.

Zhang Zihan: Oh, my information is similar to Zhao He’s. He can sense the ocean and feel the sky. All I can say is, the winds haven’t been blowing the right way lately.

Li Shechu: How exactly are they off?

Zhang Zihan: It’s hard to describe, but it’s somewhat similar to that one sentence in the news J posted. 

Zhang Zihan: It’s like—the calm before the storm.

After that comment, the group chat fell silent for a few minutes.

Nan Liujing looked out the window and noticed that, at some point, the tide had gone out.

A giant conch appeared on the beach, causing Nian Gao to howl in terror, while Hei Tang circled the conch, looking for an opening to attack. The giant conch lay motionless on the beach.

Just then, the group chat icon flashed, and a new message popped up. 

Xu Jia: J, do you think this crisis is related to a natural disaster?

Nan Liujing sat back down. Nan Liujing: Hard to say.

Earlier, while speculating on the various possibilities regarding the natural disaster, Nan Liujing and Xu Jia had agreed that the mission would arrive simultaneously. That is, on the 33rd day of survival, after the 30-day beginner period ended, the day of the natural disaster would arrive.

This was the conclusion they had reached as the most reasonable assumption.

But a natural disaster—even if it were a precursor—shouldn’t have come this early.

Nan Liujing: But I don’t think so.

Nan Liujing’s reasoning was simple: if it were a natural disaster, shouldn’t there be at least some mention of it in the newspaper? Even if he missed yesterday’s big news, there should have been a few follow-up reports by now.

Yet, the only news item in today’s *Impermanent Sea Daily* that mentioned the matter focused on trivialities like “several shops have closed; tourists should be careful not to go there for nothing.”

This suggests that, for the indigenous people, the crisis ten days from now isn’t all that dangerous.

At least not as dangerous as a natural disaster.

It’s worth noting that when natural disasters were predicted earlier, the Witches’ Roundtable even held a gathering.

However, just because the indigenous people reacted indifferently doesn’t mean that all players will come through this unscathed.

Judging by the newspaper bird’s attitude, it clearly felt that Nan Liujing’s small island lacked the conditions to weather this crisis safely, which is why it warned him.

Li Shechu’s pearl began to glow as a warning several days in advance, which indirectly confirms this.

What kind of crisis requires stockpiling extra wood? No, when it comes down to it, does this really hint at logging? That line of thinking is a dead end—let’s try a different approach. Think about the crisis itself.

It’s related to abnormal weather, ocean currents, and wind… The sky had been completely clear and cloudless in the days leading up to the crisis…

Nan Liujing pinched the bridge of his nose and suddenly let out a low curse. He typed rapidly on his tablet.

Nan Liujing: It might be a typhoon, not sure—I’ll double-check. 

Li Shechu: Huh? A typhoon?

Zhao He: If that’s really the case, we’re in trouble. The players are all still staying in makeshift shelters right now. 

Zhang Zihan: What about a typhoon?

Li Shechu, a native of Guangdong Province, typed furiously in the group chat: “Typhoon??? What do you mean, ‘what’s going to happen’??? This is going to be a huge problem, okay!!!” 

He gave the clueless kid a slow lesson, and Zhao He found a silver lining in the misery.

Zhao He: No wonder your informant told you to stock up on some wood—just in case a typhoon blows our shelter away, we can build a new one right there on the spot.

Nan Liujing: …I think he means we should use more wooden planks to reinforce the doors, windows, and walls before the typhoon hits, but you’re right, too.

Xu Jia: @Nan Liujing, how confident are you in your typhoon prediction? 

Nan Liujing: Five out of ten. I need to contact a few more informants.

Zhang Zihan: Cool! 

Li Shechu: Doesn’t the atmosphere feel a bit like a pre-battle meeting of superheroes? Are we about to save the world? 

Xu Jia: Okay, I’ll write the post right now. Once it’s confirmed, I’ll post it on the forum immediately to alert everyone else. 

Li Shechu: What should we do now?

Zhang Zihan: Need I even ask? Head to the trading section to pick up some nautical charts, then go chop down trees on Resource Islands.

Li Shechu: Sea charts in the Trading Section are ridiculously expensive right now… Sigh, fine.

Zhao He: Let’s ask our friends how to deal with a typhoon.

Li Shechu: @Zhao He, why ask anyone else? I can answer that for you. Stock up on food, grab some candles, and stay home. Don’t go out unless you have to—and even then, hold off if you can—then pray the typhoon clears out quickly.

Li Shechu: If your home has glass doors and windows, you’ll need to tape a “米” character over them… though that’s a bit of a luxury—nothing to do with us poor folks. 

Nan Liujing suddenly realized his bathroom still had glass windows. 

Just then, Xu Jia sent him a private message.

Coral Island—Xu Jia: I have some thoughts regarding the hint your friend gave you. Could you please describe it in more detail?

When describing the incident to Xu Jia, Nan Liujing referred to the newspaper-delivering bird as “a very smart but non-speaking animal friend,” but in the group chat, he used “informant” instead. Xu Jia immediately realized that Nan Liujing didn’t want others to know this part of the story, which is why he chose to message him privately.

Nan Liujing thought for a moment, then replied to him.

At least for now, in his view, Xu Jia’s judgment and character are both trustworthy. 

Coral Island—Xu Jia: Really? Like swinging a baseball bat…

Unknown Island – Nan Liujing: Did you notice that?

Coral Island – Xu Jia: When people chop down trees—whether to generate more force or to get more wood—the axe always comes down, striking the tree near the roots.

Coral Island-Xu Jia: But when a baseball player swings at the ball, their primary goal is to hit it as far as possible, so the bat swings upward. 

Coral Island-Xu Jia: What was your friend’s motion like at that moment?

Nan Liujing paused for a moment; the image of the newspaper bird perched on his mailbox, tilting its head and calling out to him, seemed to reappear before his eyes.

He remembered that the newspaper bird would bring its wings together at its chest, raise them, turn sideways toward the farmhouse wall, and spin while flapping its wings… from top to bottom, then back up, tracing a perfect arc.

Unknown Island—Nan Liujing: It’s heading upward. So it’s not a reminder to cut down more trees. Is that right? 

Coral Island—Xu Jia: You’ll have to ask it yourself.

After gathering supplies before high tide, Nan Liujing pulled out some stationery and began writing a letter.

The letters were addressed to Milai from the Island Management Committee and to Pete, whom he’d met on Chestnut Island. In his letter, Nan Liujing asked if anything major—like a typhoon—was about to happen on the impermanent sea.

With a heavy heart, he pulled out 100 Sol and, as soon as he dropped the letters into the mailbox, Nan Liujing sighed, “I wish it were just wishful thinking.” If only someone could write him a letter telling him: Nothing will happen in 10 days! That would be so great.

But wishing for something like that wasn’t going to happen so easily. 

After mailing the letter, Nan Liujing took the opportunity to check the supplies in the warehouse. There were still 287 units of wooden planks, and the quantities of other materials were also sufficient for him to rebuild a basic farmhouse.

His food reserves were also ample—enough to sustain him for at least a month.

But considering the severe damage the typhoon might cause, these meager supplies offered Nan Liujing no sense of security. He took out a nautical chart and ran his fingers over it reluctantly.

Just as Li Shechu had mentioned in the group chat, the price of nautical charts in the trading zone had skyrocketed to a terrifying level. This was mainly due to their scarcity.

For most players, aside from the one initially gifted by the Committee, the only way to obtain one was through treasure chests—but the odds were about the same as pulling an SSR in a single gacha draw.

Adventure-loving players like Zhang Zihan used up their navigation charts early on and began buying them up in the trading area.

Nan Liujing had also used up his charts, with only the one he’d previously bought from Victor remaining.

His original plan was to wait until Jinks’s skill cooldown ended before using the nautical charts to visit a resource island and save a set of coordinates, so that he could make the most of these nautical charts and maximize his profits.

Jinks’s next ability cooldown wouldn’t end for another 4 days, but he had to go to Goldfinch Island to attend a banquet hosted by a wealthy family. However, among the major metropolises nearby, if there was anywhere that sold alchemical items for disaster relief, it would definitely be Goldfinch City. Therefore, Nan Liujing absolutely could not miss this event.

The next opportunity won’t come for another 11 days.

Eleven days—that’s too long to wait.

Right now, the only place Jinks can travel to repeatedly is Chestnut Island, but it’s privately owned, so they wouldn’t let him roam around freely there. Nan Liujing had no choice but to stake everything on the trip to Goldfinch Island in four days.

But to do that, he’d have to stockpile enough goods in advance and get ready to trade. Otherwise, even if he went to Goldfinch City, all he’d be able to do is stand at the shop door, clutching his empty piggy bank and crying.

There were still too few profitable items in his warehouse, and the vast majority of them were food supplies he’d stockpiled for himself.

Unless it was an absolute emergency, Nan Liujing would find it hard to bring himself to sell his food reserves. It would be like selling his family’s last remaining rice before winter to buy a cotton quilt.

It’s a real dilemma.

The only option is to use up the nautical charts early and take a chance on the possibility of finding a resource island.

…If luck isn’t on my side, I might end up using up all my remaining nautical charts here.

But looking on the bright side, Goldfinch Island might sell coordinates for other resource islands. If so, I’ll buy a whole bunch of them—then I can go wherever I want!

It’s just a single nautical chart—if I need to use it, I’ll use it. Big deal!

Nan Liujing took a deep breath and set off with the nautical chart to find Hei Tang.

Pre-disaster preparations demand every second; survival is a race against death. Only the racecourse isn’t a straight road, but a maze made up of countless forks in the road. The act of running is the act of choosing; whether the choice is right or wrong, the most important thing is not to hesitate at the fork.

He had to keep running, running nonstop. Always stay one step ahead of the disaster.

【Random Nautical Chart】

【X routes detected. Please select one.

—Whirlpool Island 

—Olive Island 

—Black Tree Island】

Nan Liujing closed his eyes, suppressing the curse word that nearly slipped out. He’d just said he was going to bet on a resource island, and now he crashed on his very first try?

As if to make matters worse, he actually knew every single one of the islands that spawned.

Whirlpool Island is the great prison of the Impermanent Sea, and Black Tree Island is Pete’s hometown. According to him, it’s also a backwater so poor that not even a bird would shit there, with nothing but black trees and hardly anything of value to be found.

Two options were suddenly ruled out, leaving only Olive Island.

Nan Liujing remembered there was a town on Olive Island, which was actually a bit more bustling than the little village on Black Tree Island. Nan Liujing scratched his head and spun around in a circle, feeling frustrated.

To be honest, he didn’t want to choose any of them—he’d rather go to Fresh Fruit Island to pick a few hundred apples and make baked apples. But once the nautical chart was activated, the options that appeared couldn’t be changed; he had to choose from among them.

“Fine, Olive Island will do… I’ll go ask around about the typhoon first.”

With a long sigh, not wanting this nautical chart to go to waste, he made another trip to the warehouse to grab the piggy bank and everything else he could sell before carrying Hei Tang onto the ship.

Hei Tang was still clutching the beach-variety slime—its current favorite toy—and couldn’t bear to let go, playing with it the moment it stepped aboard.

The round slime rolled back and forth as the cat’s paws played with it; in the sunlight, it looked even more like a giant glass marble.

Nan Liujing ruffled the kitten’s head. Since it was his first time visiting an Indigenous town, he wasn’t sure what to expect, so he had to bring along the toughest little kitten in the family. The kitten tilted its head back and purred, wrapping its tail around his wrist.

“Don’t worry, human. I’ve got your back.”

“Let’s go, Olive Island!”

【You have approached the town island: Olive Island. You have 24 hours to visit; exceeding this time limit will result in deportation.】 

Olive Island, Olive Town.

Victor slept until nearly noon.

Outside the window, sparrows were chirping nonstop, as if holding some serious meeting.

The innkeeper’s young granddaughter, clutching a large bowl of ground millet, skipped out the door. With a flick of her chubby little hand, she scattered a handful of golden millet, spreading it across the cobblestone path.

The chirping in the trees fell silent. The sparrows exchanged glances, then—in perfect unison—flapped their wings and swooped down to the ground.

“The meeting is on hold—let’s eat first!”

With a flutter, the sparrows landed all over the ground, pecking at the millet with a steady “tap, tap, tap.”

Before long, a flock of pigeons flew in from who knows where. Like bullies, they shoved the sparrows aside, cooing as they scrambled for the millet. A few particularly bold ones even flew straight onto the little girl’s hand and into her bowl.

The little girl was trying to protect her bowl, help the little sparrow, and keep the pigeons from sneaking up to peck at her little pigtails—she was so overwhelmed she started wailing in frustration.

Victor watched from upstairs, amused. He pushed the window open with one hand and whistled out the window. Both the pigeon and the little girl looked over, and he flung a piece of white bread far away.

Seeing the delicious white bread, the pigeons forgot all about the millet and swarmed toward it to fight over it.

The little girl let out a huge sigh of relief, smoothed her hair with her hand, and then waved vigorously upstairs: “Good morning, Mr. Victor!” 

“Good morning, Jenny,” the tall man said, leaning sideways against the window with a hearty smile. “Is there any food left in the kitchen?”

“Grandpa made potato soup and crispy rolls; they’ve been sitting on the stove the whole time and are still warm. Would you like me to bring them up for you?” 

“No, I’ll come down right now,” Victor said, straightening up with a flick of his hips. “Could you make me a cup of black coffee?”

“No problem!”

After finishing his brunch in the inn’s first-floor dining room, Victor carried his coffee cup over to the innkeeper, who was sitting behind the front desk in the lobby reading the newspaper, to discuss future supply arrangements.

“Your next visit should be in six days, right?” the owner said casually, flipping through the newspaper haphazardly.

Victor rested his arm on the counter, looking relaxed. “Give or take? Anyway, I’ll definitely stop by once before the typhoon hits—I’m just not sure which day.”

The boss glanced at him from behind the newspaper: “That’s strange—you’ve never missed a day before.”

Victor curved the corners of his mouth. “I’ve got my own things to take care of, after all.” 

“A new big client?”

“Hard to say.” Victor took a sip of coffee; the rising steam blurred his crinkled eyes. “But the future looks promising, doesn’t it?”

Jenny came running in from outside, her little ponytail flying as she happily threw herself against the counter: “Grandpa! We have a visitor—a really handsome big brother who brought a kitty!”

Hearing this, everyone looked toward the door and saw a tall, slender young man walking in against the light, holding a cat with emerald-green eyes in his arms. “Hello, is this… Victor?”

Speak of the devil.

Victor took another sip of coffee, set his cup down, tapped his temple with two fingers, and laughed, “Oh!”

Creak.

The door was pushed open by a hand. Victor stood by the doorway, one hand resting on the door, and stepped aside gallantly, saying, “Please come in.” Nan Liujing hesitated, gave him a suspicious look, and walked into the room with the cat in his arms.

Victor closed the door behind him and remarked casually, “It’s a bit spartan in here—sorry about that.”

Nan Liujing hesitated for a moment: “This is a hotel room, right? Is it okay to talk about someone else’s business like that?” 

“Haha… Please keep this a secret.”

Victor carried a chair over with one hand, set it down by the table, and gestured for Nan Liujing to take a seat. “This inn has been in business for over a century. The building and decor might seem a bit dated by today’s standards, but it’s very comfortable to stay here. I’m on friendly terms with the owner, so I always choose to stay here whenever I visit Olive Town.”

After Nan Liujing sat down, Hei Tang jumped out of his lap and stood there, nuzzling his calf. “It’s not bad—the decor has a nice retro feel to it.”

Nan Liujing took the beach slime out of his pocket, hesitated for a moment, then looked at Victor: “Excuse me, would it be okay if my child played here for a while? It only plays with the ball and won’t break anything here.”

Victor made a gesture indicating it was fine.

Nan Liujing tossed the slime far away, sending it straight into the wall.

The slime bounced off the wall and whizzed back toward them. Hei Tang’s pupils contracted, and she darted out.