Starting With a Reef [Global Survival]

[Welcome to the Desert. Login Reward: Freshwater Capsule ×1]
As soon as she arrived, Yun Luohe scanned her surroundings—first priority was confirming she’d teleported to the same location she’d left from last time.
Once certain, she began exploring nearby while waiting for her teammates to appear.
She pulled out the detector and swept the sand’s surface, checking to see if anything had refreshed.
A day had passed—desert resources should have respawned. But any place dug yesterday definitely wouldn’t yield materials today.
Still, something that didn’t show up yesterday could easily appear now.
Today, though, was different—the desert zone had started experiencing thunderstorm weather.
Lightning split the sky, striking down again and again. The sight was unnerving.
The system had sent out a global announcement that morning to warn players. Many now avoided the desert, but some still came, unwilling to lose their consecutive login streak—after all, a 15-day streak earned the final login reward.
Yun Luohe’s team chose to come regardless.
Everyone carried a lightning rod—enough to avoid a direct strike.
Even so, they stayed clear of trees and desert plants, just in case.
Despite the storm, the heat was as brutal as ever.
All the desert creatures had gone into hiding. Yun Luohe had planned to hunt sandworms and sand rats for more magnets, but in this weather they stayed underground.
She’d even brought Yúntūn and Roubao—wasted effort.
Still, not a total loss—they were close to a spring.
The map said it was only ten minutes away.
At the very least, they could refill their freshwater supply.
If things went badly, Yun Luohe was ready to trade some of her other resources in the marketplace at a high price for magnets.
It would cost her, but the upgrade couldn’t wait—she’d taken first place twice already.
She wasn’t about to fall behind now.
——
When they reached the spring, they saw someone already there.
He was completely covered in sun-protection gear from head to toe.
Yun Luohe approached and recognized Yu Chenjin. She was so used to seeing him with his zen staff—his signature item—that it felt strange to see him without it.
Still, she was glad. At the night market, if not for his help, she wouldn’t have gotten the Blue Crystal Lizard.
That lizard was doing fine back at her base—aloof, but its saliva had already been used in several useful reagents.
Yun Luohe: “How long have you been here?”
Yu Chenjin: “Found this place yesterday. Came by again today—been here a while. Thought you’d already left. Was planning to move on this afternoon.”
The spring coordinates were something Yun Luohe had traded for at the night market. Telling Yu Chenjin didn’t harm her team’s interests—she’d already told everyone she might run into a friend from another zone.
So when they saw him, no one was surprised.
After brief introductions, everyone got to work collecting resources from around the spring.
The most important resource here was the pale blue mineral water.
Of course, Yun Luohe also needed to use [Scanning Eye] to check for treasure chests nearby.
Last time, a spring had hidden a chest—and a sandworm nest beneath it.
Others pulled out the buckets and hoses they’d prepared in advance, siphoning water directly from the spring. No one planned to leave without filling hundreds of liters.
Even so, the thunder and lightning overhead kept everyone uneasy.
Most people would rather finish in four hours and be gone.
While Yun Luohe was scanning, a bolt of lightning exploded above her, light flaring as it shot straight down.
Everyone froze.

Yu Chenjin grabbed her hand, yanking her toward him.
The bolt split into two, both aimed directly at them.
Fortunately, the lightning rods did their job—the bolt veered slightly at the last moment. Yun Luohe also dodged just in time, and the strike hit the sand at their feet instead.
She looked down—and saw a black stone had appeared out of nowhere, glinting strangely under the sun.
Crouching, she examined it. Fine, dense lines covered its surface—marks of a lightning strike—faint blue light pulsing in the grooves.
“Could this be a Thunderstorm Stone?” Her heart leapt. She reached toward it, but the moment her fingers almost touched it, a faint electric shock made her jerk back.
She tried to store it in her pack—nothing happened. She could only stare at it, unable to touch or carry it away.
Now what?
The faint tingling in her fingertips was a warning—this thing was dangerous. But the Damaged Thunderwhirl Trident needed Thunderstorm Stones to repair.
She had to find a way.
If it was electricity… gloves.
She quickly messaged Si Qi.
Si Qi was busy in the lab—she was leading a research team now, and although she had others under her, she still personally oversaw most projects.
The insulated gloves weren’t with her—they were with another player, being used to handle fluorescent jellyfish mucus.
Si Qi contacted them, retrieved the gloves, and sent them to Yun Luohe.
Even with gloves on, Yun Luohe didn’t immediately grab the stone—there was no telling if they would block all current. The Thunderstorm Stone’s power was clearly greater than a jellyfish’s.
She carefully touched the stone’s edge.
A faint current passed through, but there was no pain. It would work.
She exhaled, placed her hand on the stone, and lifted it.
It could be held now—but still couldn’t go into her pack.
At least she could check its details.
[Lightning Raw Stone: Extremely rare special resource. Only appears during thunderstorms; very difficult to obtain.]
So it wasn’t a Thunderstorm Stone after all—but it was related. She couldn’t carry it forever, though.
Mu Zitang: “Sister Yun, what is that thing?”
Cheng Xuening: “The current on it looks scary.”
Yun Luohe read the description aloud. “Can’t put it in my pack. No idea how to take it back—I can’t just hold it the whole time.”
Yu Chenjin: “What if you try breaking it with a tool?”
“Worth a shot.”
She pulled out her mining tools.
The iron pickaxe had no effect. She switched to an obsidian one.
Finally—it began to break, though slowly. Each strike cost 10 stamina.
It was exhausting—halfway through, she had to stop and eat before continuing.
At last, the Lightning Raw Stone split open.
Inside were two blue Thunderstorm Stones.
The outer shell had become high-grade thunder ore—suitable for crafting weapons.
“Didn’t expect a lightning strike to drop loot,” Yun Luohe said wryly.
Only two Thunderstorm Stones per raw stone—and the trident needed five. Repairing it wouldn’t be easy.
Still, they could go into her pack now—that solved the transport problem.
Who knew if there were more raw stones out there?
She planned to check the marketplace later for more.
The group got back to work.
Before long, Yun Luohe’s [Scanning Eye] located a chest beneath the spring.
This time, there was no nest—just a quicksand trap.
Through her scan, she saw the trap shift like a living thing, with the chest resting at its center. Anyone who approached would be swallowed.
Digging away the sand revealed it—a gaping maw of shifting grains, its “tongue” of sand holding the chest, constantly moving.
Yun Luohe tossed an object onto the sand—it vanished instantly.
Any person who tried for the chest would be gone just as quickly.
Good thing she’d brought Yúntūn.
What humans couldn’t do, Yúntūn could.
It spat out two thick strands of silk—like giant, flexible chopsticks—that reached into the trap from above and clamped onto the chest without touching the sand.
Its silk could now change length, thickness, and even form—hard as steel or supple as rope.
Retrieving the chest was as easy as plucking it from a shelf.
It set the chest before Yun Luohe.
Everyone praised it.
“Awesome!”
“Incredible.”
“I thought we’d have to work for it!”
Yúntūn ignored them, leaping into Yun Luohe’s arms and rubbing its head against her.
It was so large now that it bowled her over. She hugged it, smiling.
“Good baby. You’ll get a reward when we’re back.”
It chittered happily.
Worried about the heat, she sent it back into her pet storage.
With the chest retrieved, they let Qin Sisi do the honors of opening it.
All eyes were on it, anticipation high.
[Desert Crystal Core ×10, Desert Ruins Map Fragment ×1, High-Grade Cable Blueprint ×1, Sandworm King’s Treasure Cave Map ×1, Magnet ×20, Crystal ×2, Bronze Gear ×5]
The haul set everyone buzzing.
Mu Zitang: “Nice! This is a lot of good stuff.”
Yang Mian: “Another ruins fragment—we’ll have the set soon.”
Yun Luohe wasn’t overly optimistic about the ruins. Someone had already obtained a complete map, and several days had passed since the night market. If the others still hadn’t gathered all fragments, they were slow—and by the time they reached the ruins, the best loot would be gone.
There was no rushing it. Her philosophy was simple—if it’s yours, it will be yours. If not, forcing it was a waste.
In this game, survival came first. The desert ruins were dangerous, and their team only had three members with high combat power—Cheng Xuening and Qin Sisi weren’t ideally suited for ruins exploration.
If they completed the map, they’d check it out.
If not, they’d focus on gathering other materials and upgrading the reef.
She studied the High-Grade Cable blueprint.
[High-Grade Cable: Connects power equipment, stabilizing transmission to all buildings.]
[Materials: Sandworm Gland ×5, Resin ×1, Copper Ore ×1, Spider Silk ×1. Requires High-Grade Workbench.]
She had everything—and plenty of extra—so she could make more than one.
Between yesterday’s shark hunt yielding shark skin and today’s bronze gears, she could craft another Tidal Windmill.
A Tidal Windmill was worth as much as a greenhouse—and selling it bundled with high-grade cables could fetch a huge price.
Only the luckiest players could afford it—maybe enough to trade for all the magnets she needed and high-grade furniture to boost the reef rating.
And there was the Sandworm King’s Treasure Cave map.
A treasure cave meant loot—and they would definitely explore it.
The chest had been theirs thanks to [Scanning Eye] and Yúntūn, so the others didn’t argue.
Yun Luohe didn’t hoard it—she gave some crystal cores and crystals to her teammates.
As for the treasure cave, she planned to bring Yu Chenjin along—the loot would be split with him, a fair return for his help at the night market.
No one objected.
With time to spare, they decided to stay at the spring for another half hour to fill more mineral water before heading to the cave.