ATPnovel Chapter 62 Undercurrents
Chapter 62 Undercurrents
Chapter 62 Undercurrents (Bonus Chapter)
The Little Yellow Duck cuts through the waves. Inside the cabin, one person focuses on steering while the other is busy salvaging, their cooperation becoming increasingly seamless.
The two ducks seemed somewhat superfluous at that moment.
With the boat cover on, any stain can be wiped clean with a single wipe. At this moment, there's not much else to do; it's so salty it's practically pickled.
Initially, not far from the entrance strait, some resourceful survivors were piloting their rafts, following the "Little Yellow Duck" at a distance.
There weren't many, about a dozen or twenty.
Their intentions are not hard to guess. They think that following behind special ships might allow them to get some benefits, avoid risks, or take the opportunity to get close to the ship and get a friend's spot.
After so many days of gameplay, even the most oblivious survivors now know that those who possess special ships, besides their own talents, also have ship skills. If used properly, not only can they live comfortably, but their friends and acquaintances can also benefit.
For example, refrigerated ships can reliably obtain water by condensing water; water buses earn pearls by carrying monsters at the cost of their lives; and chef ships can always retrieve a box containing ingredients every day.
The little yellow duck boat in front of us —
The survivors following behind secretly speculated: The skill must be related to obtaining duck eggs, meat ducks or something like that, right?
If we could add the ship owner as a friend, wouldn't we have the opportunity to trade fresh poultry and eggs in the future, so as to improve our diet which is so rich in seafood every day and has seriously excessive purine levels?
"Hey guys in the yellow boat ahead, slow down! Let's go together so we can look out for each other!"
"Hey sister! Stop scooping beans! Do you keep ducks on your boat? Do you sell duck eggs? We can even discuss the laying ducks! I can trade you sanitary napkins! Brand new, unopened!"
The messages were varied, but fortunately, apart from Zhang Xinlan, no one had yet linked the ID "You're going to have a stroke of luck" with the "Little Yellow Duck" account.
Otherwise, what's following behind the duck right now wouldn't just be a few dozen rafts.
Yu Wang ignored the shouts from behind, and with a slight thought, the turbocharged "duck" engine emitted a deep hum, the duck's webbed feet stirred the clear waves, and the ship's speed quietly increased.
They quickly left a group of rafts with a speed of just over one knot behind.
"Hey! Don't go!"
"Wait for us!"
"Damn, it runs so fast! That's so unfair!"
"What a waste! You have a special ship but only dare to hover around the edge! Someone in the chat channel has already collected seven or eight beans!"
'
A disappointed or furious shout came from behind, but it was quickly drowned out by the sea breeze.
As the "Little Yellow Duck" continued to sail along the edge of the outer islands, the number of other boats in the vicinity became visibly smaller.
At the same time, the color of the seawater gradually changes, indicating an increase in water depth.
However, perhaps because it is close to land, no sharks have been seen yet.
When the "Little Yellow Duck" sailed near a reef composed almost entirely of gray-brown rocks, it slowed down.
The island began to match the reference points in his memory.
"This is roughly the area," Yu Wang muttered to himself, temporarily handing over control of the steering wheel to Duck A beside him.
He stood on the top of the ship, carefully searching for landmarks.
He surveyed the numerous islands of varying sizes and the exposed reefs scattered among them.
In my memory, the phrase "Let the world be filled with love" was mentioned in my previous life's boastful sharing. It was the key landmark for finding that cave.
Near the cave, there is a uniquely shaped rock that resembles an eagle swooping down to peck at something.
-
The hidden entrance is located below the "eagle's beak," and the entrance is underwater, requiring diving to enter.
"Eagle Beak Reef—Eagle Beak Reef—" Yu Wang murmured to himself, his gaze sweeping over the jagged black reefs one by one.
Some reefs resemble crouching wild beasts, some resemble collapsed giant pillars, and some are sharp as spears. In this area severely eroded by the sea, strangely shaped reefs are not uncommon. What's more troublesome is that the shape of the reefs is not quite the same when viewed from different angles.
Just a moment ago it looked like a seahorse, but if it turns around, it could become half a tree trunk, greatly increasing the difficulty of identification.
After searching carefully again, he still found nothing. As time ticked by, the dungeon had been open for nearly an hour, and Yu Wang couldn't help but feel a little impatient.
However, during this period, Zhang Xinlan's bean-picking work progressed smoothly.
She became increasingly skilled at her work, and the total number of beans of various colors she hooked had reached ten, a very fruitful harvest.
Although this result would only rank in the bottom 10,000 out of 50,000 people.
But she was lucky and found the healing bean she had always longed for.
During group dungeons, the zone chat channels remain open as usual, but chat content is separated between inside and outside the dungeon.
At this point, the initial chaos in the channel had long since subsided. Survivors who had collected beans would often post screenshots in the group chat to show off their skills or to demonstrate their abilities.
[Regional Channel (444 Zone - Within the Dungeon)]
[Number of online users: 50196]
"Haha! Another muscle pea! My luck is off the charts today!"
"Does anyone have extra sanity beans? I'll trade one stamina bean! I was almost scared to death by the underwater shadow just now!"
"Looking for trawl net manufacturing services! I can offer three times the amount of materials!"
"Damn it, a shark! I almost got bitten! Why are there always sharks lurking near the beans on the seabed!"
"Seriously? I should have accumulated over eighty beans in the time it takes to eat a bite of food, and just surviving is a victory! I've only found thirty-odd!"
Among the constantly updated information, one name appeared with exceptionally high frequency.
Currently, the player with the fastest collection speed is the one with the ID "Survival is Victory".
The real-time bean count displayed next to his avatar (which can be made public) has exceeded eighty, leaving everyone else far behind!
His turtle team is just too overpowered.
Most of the other survivors could only painstakingly retrieve beans from the surface of the sea, while a few braver ones held their breath for a minute or two and risked diving into the shallow water to collect a few beans.
-
The idea that "survival is victory" can drive swarms of sea turtles to easily dominate both the surface and underwater! The efficiency is many times higher!
What's even more enviable is that even if he were unlucky enough to encounter sharks, they would not actively attack large groups of sea turtles unless they were extremely hungry, which allowed him to almost avoid the biggest underwater risks.
At this rate, barring any major unforeseen circumstances, he should have no problem securing first place in the dungeon.
The other outstanding performers were all rafts equipped with trawl nets.
Originally designed to facilitate fishing and intercept floating debris, the expansion module has now unexpectedly become a major force!
With just a trawl net, you can catch all the beans floating on the sea surface, just like catching a rock.
Other survivors who tried to retrieve survivors with grappling hooks couldn't match his efficiency with a single sweep of the net, no matter how hard they tried.
Zhang Xinlan was so anxious from seeing the constantly updated boastful pictures on the channel that she almost got blisters in her mouth.
Although she managed to collect ten, it was insignificant compared to those big shots who collected dozens of coins at a time.
The total amount of beans floating on the water surface seems like a lot, but with more than 50,000 survivors sharing them, it's likely that the beans on the sea surface will be completely depleted before noon. Those who want to climb the leaderboard will be forced to dive into the dangerous underwater world.
If she weren't currently too afraid to do it, she would have grabbed Yu Wang by the collar and demanded an explanation for why he wasn't working and why he wasn't going to the central sea area with the highest bean density.
Are the cannons just for show?!
While her heart was screaming, Zhang Xinlan's actions were utterly honest: "Here, take the healing beans."
She knew that Yu Wang was injured and not in the best mental state, and these beans were exactly what he needed right now.
Yu Wang did not refuse. He was planning to go into the water to find the cave entrance by following the undercurrent, and he was worried that the large swimming movements might tear his wounds, which had not yet fully healed. The healing bean came at just the right time.
[Received: Healing Bean*1]
[Healing Beans: Contain gentle life-restoring energy; consuming them can accelerate wound healing, dispel some abnormal conditions, and restore a certain degree of vitality. (Limited effectiveness against curses)]
A bean the size of a head doesn't need to be eaten entirely to be effective.
Otherwise, the person might be injured but not yet dead, but die from overeating beans.
Like fish meat, which can increase attribute values, it only has an effect on the first bite; the rest only serve to satisfy hunger.
Yu Wang took out a small knife, made a slit in the bean curd skin, took a few big gulps of the sweet and slightly thick juice, and then cut off a small piece and swallowed it.
[After taking the healing beans, based on the body's constitution attributes, Qi and Blood increased by 11%]
The effect is immediate.
A warm current, accompanied by a cool sensation, spread from my stomach to my limbs and bones. A tingling, itchy feeling came from the wounds that were throbbing, which was the cells repairing themselves rapidly.
The heaviness and restlessness in my mind were washed away, and my thoughts became clearer than ever before.
With his condition significantly improved, Yu Wang immediately began preparations for underwater exploration.
While inspecting the equipment, he explained to Zhang Xinlan, "I found that the density of these beans is almost the same as that of seawater. Only a small portion of them float on the surface, while most of them are actually suspended at different depths underwater, drifting with the current like jellyfish."
"So if we find the direction of the convergence of the underwater ocean currents, there is a high probability that we can find the place where the beans are carried by the current, which may be a seabed depression, the back of a reef, or even a cave."
"The density of beans in that place is far greater than that of beans scattered on the sea surface, making it much more efficient than competing with people on the sea."
In just a few words, he clearly explained the logic behind his seemingly "inactive" behavior.