Day 21 of Survival, a peaceful day.

Sunday.

Even the fish fry with the longest growth period in the marine ranch matured today—it turned out to be a bluefin tuna.

This fish is both delicious and expensive. Nan Liujing was as thrilled as if he’d won the lottery, and immediately decided to keep this fish in the marine ranch for breeding—one becomes two, two become three, and like a snowball, the numbers would keep growing.

In addition to the bluefin tuna, he also kept one salmon, one cod, and one eel, each occupying one of the four aquaculture zones, waiting to produce fry with the help of the marine ranch.

Although none of these four fish can reproduce on their own, since the marine ranch’s instructions say they can, Nan Liujing has no choice but to trust it.

Pretty amazing, right? Game Settings.JPG

As for the rest of the saltwater fish in the ranch, he hauled them all out, planning to smoke them or dry them into fish jerky.

While hauling in the fish, Nan Liujing also noticed that the kelp and shellfish hanging on the fishing nets had grown quite large. He simply took off his clothes, jumped into the sea, harvested a batch with a small knife, tossed them onto the wooden boardwalk, and then climbed back up, still dripping wet.

He crouched down to count the haul: he counted 24 pieces of kelp, 16 oysters, 19 scallops, and 47 purple mussels.

That was quite a haul—it was definitely a bountiful harvest.

Nan Liujing happily packed the pile of ingredients into his backpack while thinking about how to prepare them.

Seafood doesn’t keep well, so it would be best to cook it today. But right now, his top priority was to use up the delicacies he’d brought back from the appreciation banquet.

There really was too much—yesterday he’d eaten five meals and was so stuffed that when he rolled over in bed at night, he pressed on his stomach and nearly threw up.

So this seafood would have to be preserved as pickled or dried goods.

The weather had been good lately, so Nan Liujing was more inclined to sun-dry the seafood.

As for himself, he wanted to burn off the excess energy he’d consumed and speed up his digestion—the only way to do that was to work hard.

So, after finishing his farm work on the island, Nan Liujing took out his nautical chart and prepared to set sail for exploration.

Actually, there was no shortage of work to do on the island—the newly formed reef area had a huge pile of oysters to harvest, and climbing up and down the reefs was quite strenuous. But for Nan Liujing, the most urgent task right now was to gather the materials for building the typhoon guardrails as quickly as possible.

He already had the magic crystals, but he only had a little over 300 wooden planks.

The farmhouse, farmland, smokehouse, slime ranch, animal shed, and marine pasture required a total of 46 typhoon guardrails—which meant he needed 480 wooden planks.

As for the makeshift dock, he didn’t need to worry about that. Milai had mentioned in a previous letter: if the makeshift dock were damaged during a typhoon, the committee would take care of the repairs free of charge.

So for now, his top priority was to hurry to a resource island and chop down some trees.

Packing stamina potions, an iron axe, a linen backpack, and a variety of other travel essentials, Nan Liujing boarded the boat with Hei Tang in his arms.

Nian Gao was lying on the dock, its two little white paws pressed together. It had buried its snout between them, head hanging low, looking very dejected.

Nan Liujing stopped in his tracks.

He put the cat on the boat first, then crouched down beside Nian Gao and reached out to stroke the little fox cub’s head: “I’m sorry, Nian Gao. I don’t know what the situation is like on this Resource Island—it might be very dangerous, and I’m afraid I won’t be able to protect you.”

Nian Gao’s ears drooped, and it wagged its tail listlessly: “Woo…”

Nan Liujing’s conscience pricked him instantly.

Come to think of it, he hadn’t taken Nian Gao out anywhere since bringing it back from Fresh Fruit Island. The little guy had been stuck on his tiny, run-down island with nothing to offer—its only source of fun was digging holes, and it spent its days herding animals and hunting slimes. Even at such a young age, it had already been through so much…

Every time Nan Liujing went out to sea, he only took Hei Tang, who was strong in battle, leaving Nian Gao all alone to guard the house.

What had Nian Gao ever done wrong? All he wanted was to go out to sea and have some fun.

Sighing, Nan Liujing stroked the little fox cub’s big tail and said, “Come on, let’s go out and play together.”

Nian Gao’s ears perked up instantly, and it jerked its head up: “Eep?”

Nan Liujing tapped Nian Gao’s little black nose: “But listen—if there’s any danger on the island, you have to stay right by my side. No running off, okay?”

“Ying! Ying ying!” Nian Gao jumped up happily, let out a few excited yelps, then pounced onto Nan Liujing’s lap, whimpering in a roundabout way: “Ying~”

Nan. Liujing smiled and gave it a light pat on the butt: “Hop on board.”

Nian Gao leapt onto the boat in a flash.

Hei Tang sat upright on the boat and yawned lazily. Seeing Nian Gao come running over joyfully, circling around him nonstop, she reluctantly reached out a paw to pat the not-so-bright little fox cub.

“Meow.”

Don’t worry, dumb fox—Meow’s got your back.

“Eek! Eek eek eek!”

Let’s go play! Let’s go play! Let’s go out and play with my owner! Yay!

Over there, Nan Liujing took out a nautical chart and placed it on the mast at the bow, nervously staring at the system prompt that appeared before departure.

【Random Nautical Chart】

【Three routes detected. Please select one.

—Pine Island

— Floating Cloud Island 

— Iron Stone Island】

Nan Liujing thought for a moment and immediately made a decision: “Let’s go to Pine Island.”

Just by the name, you can tell there are plenty of trees there.

As for the other two options, the name “Drifting Cloud Island” was a complete mystery—it gave no clue as to the island’s resources. “Iron Stone Island,” on the other hand, had been in the news repeatedly lately; last time, the Steam Association was in the thick of a fierce battle there, so Nan Liujing feared he wouldn’t be able to chop wood in peace there.

In that case, he might as well choose Pine Island.

Once the choice was made, the small wooden boat slowly began to move.

On board, Jinks’ claws were firmly clamped onto the mast, standing as stiff as a parrot figurine. Nian Gao, full of energy, was darting back and forth across the cramped wooden boat, chirping nonstop.

Hei Tang found it annoying, so she simply hid in Nan Liujing’s shadow to take a nap.

As for Nan Liujing, he took out the newspaper he’d received that morning, unfolded it, and began reading.

It’s worth mentioning that when he checked his mailbox this morning, in addition to his own mail, he discovered four reply letters addressed to players from different committee liaisons. Nan Liujing forwarded all of them to Xu Jia. Since he was the one assigned to coordinate with these players, the letters naturally had to be handed over to him.

He also picked up yesterday’s postcard raffle prize—Nan Liujing won 10 sheets of blue wrapping paper. Having absolutely no idea what to do with them, he could only put them away for now.

This time, Nan Liujing first pulled out the *Impermanent Sea Daily* to look for today’s follow-up report on Phantom Thief 39. To be honest, he’d already been following this news like a serialized story; not seeing new developments each day left him on the edge of his seat. He was both curious about what trouble Phantom Thief 39 had gotten into this time and who he’d offended, and eager to know if the Court of Judgment and Holy Light Cathedral—which had been hot on Phantom Thief 39’s heels—had uncovered any new clues.

Sure enough, there was a related report today.

【Early yesterday morning, one of the clergy squads that had left the Holy Light Cathedral in pursuit of clues regarding Phantom Thief 39 arrived at Breeze Island, where they happened to run head-to-head with a group of fanatics from the Church of the Abyss. After a fierce battle, both sides were rendered incapacitated. As they lay motionless on the street, the clergy squad inadvertently learned that the Church of the Abyss had also come specifically to track down Phantom Thief 39. A week ago, Phantom Thief 39 infiltrated the Church of the Abyss using methods beyond ordinary comprehension and stole the bishop’s scepter, enraging the Church of the Abyss…】

“Whoa!” Nan Liujing was blown away by what he saw. “Man, this Phantom Thief 39 doesn’t spare anyone—not the law or the underworld. He’s managed to piss off everyone!”

That’s really something—Nan Liujing could only admire such a troublemaker.

And this investigative reporter from the *Impermanent Sea Daily* is no slouch either—how did he manage to dig up this scoop? Did he just hang out among the clergy and fanatics on Breeze Island to eavesdrop?

A war correspondent, huh.

Having satisfied his curiosity for the day, Nan Liujing turned the page with a sense of contentment and, with consummate skill, headed to the food column to learn a new recipe: braised beef.

This recipe came at just the right time. Nan Liujing still had some unused Snow Mountain yak beef in his storeroom; he’d used one piece earlier when making tomato meat sauce, leaving four pieces remaining—perfect for making braised beef once he got back.

He had all the spices needed for the dish.

Today’s agriculture and livestock column introduced methods for breeding animals.

This issue’s column was personally written by an expert from the Shepherds’ Association. While the expert might not be a skilled writer, the article was concise, straightforward, and to the point—easy to understand at a glance.

The most common breeding method, of course, is simply to put a male and a female together; when the time is right, they’ll mate naturally.

If you have specific requirements for the quality of the next generation, you can also find a breeding ram specifically for that purpose. This method is quite expensive—not only does renting the ram cost a significant amount of money, but the ram will be on-site for ten days to half a month, leaving him completely exhausted, and the nutritional supplements during that time must also be paid for by the borrower.

If you don’t want to spend that money but still have some quality requirements, you can purchase frozen semen from the Shepherds’ Association.

The frozen semen also comes from high-quality studs, and its advantage lies in its consistent quality. The price per vial ranges from 8,000 to 20,000, which is very reasonable.

Nan Liujing: “……”

Even the expert is here to promote his own association.

Although it was just another advertisement, it still made Nan Liujing remember that the Shepherds’ Association sells frozen semen.

In his animal shed, he didn’t have to worry about the Black-faced Sheep—he’d be holding a little lamb sooner or later.

But his White-feathered Chickens and Black-and-White Dairy Cows were all females, and his Long-haired Rabbits were all males. If he wanted to get chicks, calves, or baby rabbits, he’d have to figure out a way to breed them.

The next time he goes to Olive Island or Goldfinch Island, he’ll have to make a point of visiting the Shepherds’ Association’s shop to ask about it.

After finishing the *Impermanent Sea Daily*, he realized less than half an hour had passed, and they were still halfway to Pine Island, so Nan Liujing picked up the *Heart of the Rising Sun Daily* again .

Today’s Issue No. 68.

Unfortunately, after flipping through the entire newspaper from cover to cover, he couldn’t find a single news item worth paying attention to, so Nan Liujing had no choice but to flip back to check the postcard raffle.

【Postcard Raffle】

First Prize (1 winner): Royal Jelly (provided by the Beekeepers’ Association)

Second Prize (10 winners): Sapphire Brooch (provided by the Fashion Alliance)

Third Prize (100 winners): Butterbeer (provided by John’s Tavern) 

Participation Prize (unlimited): Hay Seeds x10 (provided by the Shepherds’ Association)

Even today’s postcard raffle prizes were rather mediocre.

Nan Liujing sighed, shook his head, put the newspaper away, and prepared to go back and write another postcard. 

Even if the prizes didn’t include what he wanted, Nan Liujing certainly wouldn’t miss the raffle. No matter what he won, he could always resell it—even the smallest prize would still bring in a little pocket money.

After patiently swaying on the boat for another 10 minutes, Jinks, who had a better vantage point from her elevated position, suddenly muttered a “quack.”

Nan Liujing stood up and turned to look toward the bow. At the far end of the horizon, where the sea met the sky, a small, emerald-green island came into view.

【You are approaching Resource Island: Pine Island. You have 6 hours to explore; exceeding this time limit will cause you to miss the return voyage.】

The small wooden boat drifted closer and closer, soon arriving near Pine Island. Nan Liujing leaned over the gunwale, resting one hand on his forehead as he scanned the horizon. 

After looking for quite a while, he couldn’t spot any structures resembling a dock along the island’s edge—it seemed this was another unclaimed resource island, much like Mushroom Island.

Unclaimed? Perfect. If it’s unclaimed, then he can chop down those trees on the island however he likes. Nan Liujing let out a sigh of relief. He took a few more glances at the island covered in greenery, and a smile instantly spread across his face.