Starting With a Reef [Global Survival]

Yun Luohe contacted Mu Zitang, told him about the matter of the Ancient Civilization Stone Tablet, and asked him to have Tianji Pavilion keep an eye on any related information about teleportation arrays.
Mu Zitang quickly found some data on teleportation arrays.
Recently, someone else had also approached Tianji Pavilion to purchase intel on teleportation arrays, and just in time, an internal member had obtained a diagram.
The diagram’s introduction to teleportation arrays was very detailed:
Teleportation arrays can achieve rapid cross-regional movement, covering six core areas: the Four Seasons Islands, the Desert Oasis, and the Underwater Ruins.
Each teleportation consumes an energy item, limited to one person per use, but pets may be carried.
Different regions’ teleportation arrays require different teleportation items.
The building materials for teleportation arrays also vary by region, and blueprints for the specific teleportation array are required.
Materials listed included:
Ancient Civilization Stone Tablet: used to locate coordinates and activate spatial teleportation energy.
Crystal Stones: connect space, enabling point-to-point teleportation.
Obsidian: constructs the teleportation base.
High-Grade Mutant Resin: adhesive material, prevents structural collapse.
Merfolk Pearl: stabilizes underwater spatial energy, prevents deep-sea pressure from destroying the core.
Sandworm Queen’s Shedding: stabilizes the desert teleportation core.
Luminous Jellyfish Tentacle: lighting and guiding function for the teleportation array.
…
For all six major regions, the required items are region-specific specialties. Players can gather them within the regions.
Yun Luohe fell into deep thought after reading.
If free teleportation between all six regions could really be achieved, she would no longer have to worry about resources at all.
The Four Seasons Islands had all kinds of resources she needed, while the Desert Oasis and the Underwater Ruins contained countless high-grade supplies.
Unfortunately, constructing all six teleportation arrays would be extremely difficult.
It was not something that could be accomplished overnight.
Better to keep it in mind and prepare slowly.
——
Yun Luohe called Roubao over and took out the pet snacks she had brought back yesterday.
“Today you definitely need to gather more shells. This is your reward!”
She handed Roubao the pet treat for feline animals.
After eating the Salmon Strip, intimacy increased by 20. Roubao let out a purring meow of enjoyment, looking at Yun Luohe with even greater affection.
Naturally, Yun Luohe didn’t forget Yúntūn either, giving it a Resin-Amber Candy.
Eating this had a chance to increase its physical toughness, hardening its shell, and also added 10 intimacy.
Yúntūn swallowed it down in one gulp without even chewing.
“Is it tasty?” Yun Luohe asked.
Yúntūn thought for a moment, then let out a soft, drawn-out sound. “Can’t really taste it… seems sweet.”
Yun Luohe smiled faintly and opened Yúntūn’s attribute panel.
Its hardness had increased slightly.
As long as there was an effect, that was enough.
Next, Yun Luohe began crafting the newly obtained blueprints.
She was going to make a Grinder and an Automatic Milker.
Both of these were urgently needed at the moment.
With a Grinder, harvested wheat could be milled into flour.
While she was at the workbench crafting, Yun Luohe opened the Trading Center to check and saw that many of the supplies she had just listed had already been exchanged.
In return, she had also received some resources she needed herself—
For example: hemostatic herb, blueberries, and buckwheat.
She had obtained 89 bundles of hemostatic herb, three large baskets of blueberries, and 10 jin of buckwheat.
But there was still no sign of any pomelos.
Still, with these materials, Yun Luohe could start making the corresponding foods.
And with the blueberries, she could once again obtain blueberry seeds.

Just like she had done earlier with strawberries and tomatoes, seeds could be extracted directly from the fruit and planted after some time.
She had thought that hemostatic herb was a high-grade medicinal plant, but upon examining it, Yun Luohe realized it was actually a very common wild herb also called Dragon Fang Grass.
However, it could only be gathered on specific islands.
Many players had some on hand, so Yun Luohe had managed to exchange for quite a lot in a short time.
All afternoon, Yun Luohe used every ingredient she had received to cook, producing over a hundred portions of food.
Half were for trading, another portion she kept for herself to eat, and the rest she prepared for exchange with members of the Mutual Aid Association.
Since recently both she and Mu Zitang had been busy exploring the desert, she told him he didn’t need to send her the association’s exchanged resources every day, and she wasn’t giving him items for exchange either.
Now she sent over a large bundle all at once.
Mu Zitang: “Sister Yun, why did you send me so many great things? These foods’ effects are incredible.”
Yun Luohe: “Haven’t I not given you anything in a while? The association members all want things to trade, right? I just happened to make a lot of food, so let them have it.”
Mu Zitang: “Crazy! Once I send these over, everyone’s going to go wild. These past days, plenty of people have been asking me why no new exchange items were available. I just told them I was too busy, and they’d have to wait.”
Yun Luohe: “Don’t take trash trades. Follow my earlier requests—broken things only if they’re blueprints or electronic parts.”
Mu Zitang: “Got it. I’ll pass down the instructions.”
That was something Yun Luohe could feel assured about.
Mu Zitang: “Oh, right. About what you mentioned earlier—I’ve gathered a little, not much, but I’ll send it over to you later after everyone finishes their trades.”
Yun Luohe: “No problem. I plan to go ashore tomorrow. Sort out a complete intel package on the Summer Islands for me.”
She intended to use a Random Landing Card, but she still wanted a general overview of the Summer Islands beforehand. That way, no matter which island she landed on, she could be prepared.
It was better to have intel in advance than to be scrambling once she was already ashore. If Mu Zitang happened to be busy and didn’t see her message, she couldn’t afford to waste time waiting.
Mu Zitang was efficient. Just as Yun Luohe finished listing food on the Trading Center and setting prices, he sent her the intel.
She did already have a diagram of the Summer Islands, but had only ever been to Lotus Island.
The Summer Islands’ limited-entry islands were Thunder Island and Coral Island.
The resource islands included Lotus Island, Watermelon Island, Firefly Island, Oasis Island, Strawberry Island, Wasteland Island, Jungle Island, and Lizard Island.
If she had a choice, Yun Luohe wanted to go to a limited-entry island—the resources were richer, the area larger. With full equipment, she could even spend the night there.
At her current level, she no longer needed to worry about the danger of staying overnight on an island.
The probability of landing on a limited-entry island was higher, so the intel was much more detailed.
Thunder Island: shrouded in lightning all day, extremely dangerous. Without lightning protection gear, the chance of being struck was very high. There was a chance to find [Thunderstorm Stones].
Key areas included:
Magnetic Storm Field: metal objects levitate automatically, lightning protection devices unusable.
Lightning-Struck Forest: the entire forest is lightning-struck wood; harvesting it yields Thunder-Patterned Steel; underground, there is a chance to dig up Superconducting Cables.
Coolant Pool: hidden deep inside Thunder Island, extremely difficult to locate, surrounded by mutant crocodiles and electric rays.
Coral Island: submerged at high tide, possibly a merfolk settlement.
Key areas included:
Luminous Shoal: exposed only at low tide; glowing corals at night; low tide reveals countless shellfish, rich in pearls, with a chance to find pearl oysters. Nearby is a mangrove swamp infested with mosquitoes and thick mud, impassable except by walking or flying devices.
Giant Clam Reef: a ring-shaped reef formed of massive clams, swarming with sharks. The clams have a chance to contain treasure chests.
Whirlpool Trench: a spiral trench over a hundred meters deep, with powerful suction currents at the bottom.
Merfolk Ruins: an abandoned palace that cannot be entered.
Both islands had what Yun Luohe wanted—Thunderstorm Stones and Mother-of-Pearl.
Of course, Thunderstorm Stones were far more tempting.
But Coral Island had merfolk ruins. Though intel said they were inaccessible, Yun Luohe suspected a special method might exist. Plus, the Giant Clam Reef could produce treasure chests, though the sharks would be troublesome.
The limited-entry islands were highly tempting.
The resource islands weren’t bad either.
After reviewing them all, Yun Luohe judged that Strawberry Island was well worth a visit.
Strawberry Island had a strawberry field with giant strawberries that could be turned into Strawberry Lollipops.
She had just obtained one herself:
[Strawberry Lollipop: A lollipop made with strawberry juice. Sweet and fragrant, it tastes like happiness.]
[Effect: Speed +20; all gathered resources doubled for 3 hours.]
This was an insanely powerful top-tier food.
But the island was also very dangerous—besides plant mazes and thorn swamps, there were giant venomous bees that usually appeared near giant strawberries.
The giant strawberries could detoxify the bee venom, and killing the giant venomous bees could yield Golden Royal Jelly, a rare food that permanently increased stamina.
Strawberry Island also had an Ancient Tree Altar that gave quests, which in turn yielded rewards.
Overall, it was overflowing with high-grade resources.
But the probability of landing there was extremely low, and even fewer managed to return safely.
This intel was classified S-rank, which Tianji Pavilion had exchanged from the European Emperor Association at heavy cost.
Who from that group had gone to Strawberry Island, Yun Luohe didn’t know.
But clearly, they had profited greatly.
The more she read, the more Yun Luohe wanted to go to Strawberry Island. But the danger level was too high. And if she used a Designated Landing Card alone, it would be wasteful. Better to invite someone along. With the Strawberry Lollipop, she could double gathered resources for three hours—madly harvesting strawberries on Strawberry Island would be incredible.
Since the desert event was paused for three days anyway, why not? She could use a Random Landing Card tomorrow, then a Designated Landing Card the day after.
That wasn’t a bad idea.
She’d ask around to see if ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) anyone had a Teaming Card. A reliable partner would be best, since her trip to Strawberry Island would be the day after.
After finishing the intel, she realized it was already late.
The Tidal Wall Clock chimed right on time, its sound echoing across the entire reef.
It was now 8:00 PM. Nights were falling later and later, and the sky was still bright.
The temperature was absurdly high—even the seawater was warm. Many players’ reefs were scorching hot, with mutant seaweed nearly impossible to clear without high-grade sickles. And ever since yesterday’s system announcement, countless mutant barnacles had appeared on reef edges. These couldn’t be eaten and would even devour reef stone.
If Roubao hadn’t noticed them while shell-diving in the morning and scraped them off with its claws, half a day later, several square meters of reef might already have been gone.
Many players didn’t realize until evening when they got the system prompt that their reef area had shrunk by more than 5 sqm.
After a full day of work, Yun Luohe was ready for dinner and a rest.
She wanted something good tonight: Lobster Risotto with Spicy Stir-Fried Octopus.
The risotto had been prepped earlier; she only needed to cook the octopus.
She planned to try a new cooking method.
—
While Yun Luohe prepared her dinner in the kitchen, the chat channel exploded over the food she had just listed.
“Look! Who managed to buy Yun Luohe’s food! Hahaha!”
The message was instantly drowned in a flood of new posts.
The effects of Yun Luohe’s high-grade dishes were simply too enticing. Whether restoring stamina, boosting speed, or enhancing defense, all were desperately needed by players.
Currently, in the entire Second Zone, only she had leveled Cooking to Lv.6.
Her food was truly one-of-a-kind.
The moment it was listed, the chat channel went wild.
Many players wanted to buy, but her listed trade requirements were too picky. Even after painstakingly gathering the items, they often returned to find everything sold out.
Those who succeeded had to act fast and also have massive stockpiles of resources.
After all, Yun Luohe had only listed a few dozen portions in total. With tens of thousands of players, getting one was no easy matter.
“I snagged a stamina recovery dish!” one lucky player bragged, immediately drawing a flood of envious and jealous replies.
“Damn it! I scraped together the resources for half a day, and by the time I checked back, it was gone…”
“Big Boss Yun Luohe, can’t you list more? Nobody can get any!”
“I’ll trade Ice Crystal Ore for food—PM me if you’re selling.”
The trading channel descended into chaos, filled with requests, flexes, and complaints scrolling nonstop.
“These food effects are broken—her Cooking must be over Lv.5 already!”
“Going from Lv.5 to Lv.6 takes a mountain of exp. How did she even manage it? We’ve got, what, four Lv.5 chefs in the entire zone?”
“Heh, well, our Mutual Aid Association’s private group can exchange for her food.”
Someone from the Association posted a screenshot of internal trades.
“No way, that good? And exactly the right dishes? Does Yun Luohe have ties with your Association?”
“She’s a member of the Mutual Aid Association?”
“The Association is connected to Tianji Pavilion. So what’s the relationship between Tianji Pavilion and Yun Luohe, then?” The chat spiraled into speculation.
Meanwhile, Yun Luohe was in her kitchen, focused on stir-frying the octopus.
The hot oil sizzled in the pan. She tossed in the chopped octopus, flipping quickly, adding seasonings. Rich fragrance spread instantly.
In just over ten minutes, she was enjoying a delicious dinner.
She opened the chat to glance at new messages, but the scroll was too fast to follow. Still, when she saw her name mentioned, she lingered for a moment to read.
So that was what they were discussing.
Nothing particularly useful. So she switched to the forums instead.
She hadn’t checked them in a while.
Some trending posts caught her interest:
#Mechanical Island Exploration Share#
#Live Expedition on Lizard Island#
#My Crazy Shopping Spree at the Desert Night Market#
#Looking for Like-Minded Players to Team Up for Island Landings#