"Sister Qing, Zhiyun!"

"We're a long way off from having enough materials to upgrade the ship to the next tier. Let's focus on securing food and water first, then we can think about gathering materials."

"I'll share the 5x5 slot backpack I got as a reward for becoming Captain with our friends' group. From now on, any food and materials we get, we can just put them in there to share."

It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from bit.ly/3iBfjkV.

Qin Xuan opened the ethereal blue interface before him. After binding Su Qing and Su Zhiyun's identities to his ship and creating a friends' group for the three of them, he shared the ship upgrade information and the 25-slot backpack with the group.

"Mhm!"

Hearing Qin Xuan call her 'Zhiyun' so affectionately, Su Zhiyun's heart seemed to melt, a strange sweetness blooming within her.

"Xuan!"

"You're the Captain now. From now on, we'll follow your arrangements. You just need to set the direction for the important matters, and I'll be here to give you advice," Su Qing said with a serious expression, her gaze gentle as she looked at Qin Xuan.

Although she and Zhiyun had awakened abilities, in this gladiatorial arena of the sea crawling with Survivors, she had to make Qin Xuan mature quickly. Whether in terms of martial strength or intellect, Qin Xuan needed to become strong enough to stand on his own. Only then could the three of them live in peace.

"Mhm!"

"Sister Qing, Zhiyun, don't worry. I won't let you down."

Qin Xuan gazed at the two beauties, one older and one younger, a flash of burning desire in his eyes.

This sailboat had to be upgraded as soon as possible. Only with this ship could his blissful life of conquering goddesses be secured.

After a brief discussion about their future roles, the three of them focused their minds on the ethereal blue 【Main Interface】 before them.

The interface wasn't complicated, mainly divided into five major sections: 【Trading House】, 【Chat Room】, 【Personal Info】, 【Carrier Info】, and the still grayed-out 【System Quests】.

The 【Chat Room】 was split into four channels: International, National, Provincial, and Regional.

In the Regional Channel, the names and information of several million people were listed in order of proximity.

Although the number of people was huge, because the interface was connected to the Survivors' brains, one could quickly filter for the information they needed.

Following the prompts, Qin Xuan set all of his data and information to hidden.

With his information hidden, others couldn't see his coordinates or info, and he couldn't see anyone else's either.

He could only see the information of Su Qing and Su Zhiyun in his friends list.

Li Yihua of East Sea: "Fuck, I awakened the Defense System. What kind of awakening is this? It just strengthens my body, increasing my power, defense, and speed. Couldn't they have given me an ability for flying and escaping?"

Chen Yong of East Sea: "Flying and escaping? You think this is a movie? I used to practice Baji Quan. Now that I've awakened the Power System and my body's been enhanced, I can take on 30 guys at once. Haha..."

Jiang Yichuan of East Sea: "Me too. I feel like my Jeet Kune Do is terrifyingly strong now. I love this Ocean Survival Game! My body is now more than ten times stronger than its previous limits."

Lin Qing of East Sea: "Does anyone have food and clean drinking water? I can trade other supplies for them."

Jiang Yiwu of East Sea: "I have two people with D-Class life-support abilities on my ship. Any teams willing to cooperate?"

Yang Dafan of East Sea: "My team is all B-Class Power System users. Looking for life-support-type backup to create a beautiful future together."

Ma Rong of East Sea: "I've awakened a C-Class fishing ability. Can anyone lend me some Ocean Coins and food? Once I show my skills and catch something big, I'll pay you back tenfold."

Lu Zhen of East Sea: "Haha, Zhang Xiaohua, you gold-digging bitch! To think we're in the same region. You better hope I don't run into you, or I'll make you regret it."

Gao Shimiao of East Sea: "Help! Someone save me! I was matched with two murderers! They've been bullying me all day, I'm about to die... *sob sob*..."

Uncle Chuan of East Sea: "Hehe, little lady, we're in a fucking hellhole like the Boundary Sea. No one can save you now. Don't cry. If you can't fight it, you should learn to enjoy it."

"This place is a paradise for men... Hahaha..."

...

As soon as he opened the regional 【Chat Interface】, messages scrolled up rapidly, jumping every second as new content pushed the old ones up.

If he saw something interesting, he just had to slide the scrollbar in the chat box, and the new content would stop pushing it up, which was quite convenient.

Since everyone had just awakened their abilities, the 【Chat Interface】 was mostly filled with messages from people looking for teammates or calling for help.

Each person could only post five free messages in the 【Regional Channel】 per day. For anything more, they had to send private messages or add friends.

Alternatively, they could choose to pay 5 Ocean Coins per message to post in the public area of the Regional Channel.

As for the Provincial and National Channels, they were completely empty, without a single message.

"Holy shit!"

Qin Xuan glanced at the cost of sending messages in the Provincial and National Channels and was shocked.

It cost 500 Ocean Coins to send a message in the Provincial Channel, and 1000 Ocean Coins for the National Channel.

With such high fees, it was no wonder there wasn't a single message in the Provincial and National Channels.

As for the 【International Channel】, it was grayed out and couldn't be opened at all.

"Xuan!"

"It seems you're not the only one capable of hunting low-level sea monsters. There are quite a few powerful experts among the Survivors in other provinces and regions of the country."

"We should try to keep a low profile from now on. It never hurts to be careful."

Looking at the 【Trading House】, Su Qing saw that many people were already listing low-level sea monster skeletons, complete sea monster carcasses, and various simple blades and armor for sale.

All in all, these items filled more than a dozen pages, with hundreds of sea monster remains, weapons, and armor pieces.

Su Qing's slender brows furrowed slightly as she gently reminded Qin Xuan.

Although Qin Xuan was empowered by his ancient martial arts, he was still too young. And with two beauties like her and Zhiyun on the ship, trouble was bound to find them.

It was necessary to indirectly remind Qin Xuan to be more cautious.

"Sister Qing!"

"Don't worry. We're not playing a game right now; we're fighting for our lives. There's no room for carelessness."

"I won't get arrogant or complacent, you don't have to worry!"

Understanding the hidden meaning in Su Qing's reminder, Qin Xuan nodded slightly, his affection for this beautiful and intelligent woman growing even stronger.

"Mhm!"

Seeing that Qin Xuan understood her, Su Qing's alluring eyes curved into crescents, a pleased look on her face.

Qin Xuan was young but steady, and possessed such strength. With her and Zhiyun's safety tied to him, Su Qing felt a little more at ease.

Suddenly, an anonymous message appeared on the main interface of the 【National Channel】, catching the attention of all three.

"Seeking to buy Iron Boxes completely enveloped in blue, red, gold, or ochre fluorescence. If you have a box or any leads, you can message me privately. The reward will definitely satisfy you."

Su Qing and Su Zhiyun were slightly stunned. An eager glint flashed in their eyes as they both looked toward Qin Xuan.

Both women were extremely intelligent. From this single message, they could already tell that the red box in Qin Xuan's possession was incredibly valuable.

Even though they were just three people on a wooden raft, both women tacitly chose to keep quiet and didn't bring up the red box with Qin Xuan again.

They knew this wasn't a game, but a desperate struggle for survival. One wrong step could lead to their eternal damnation.

They also never believed that they already had Qin Xuan wrapped around their fingers, able to make him do their bidding.

On the contrary, if they failed to show sufficient value, and they encountered real danger in the future, the possibility of Qin Xuan abandoning them to save his own life was very high.

"Holy shit! There's a whale like that? A thousand Ocean Coins for a single message, just to buy a box?"

"What kind of treasure chest could possibly be worth that much?"

"Lord System, please grant me one of those boxes! I want to get stronger so badly."