On the island, there were many stones. With these stones, Li Yuan made two buoys, so he didn't need to constantly stay by the fishing net. After Avril set the net, they could just wait a few hours before collecting their catch.

Avril made a bed out of leaves and used some spare branches to start a fire. After eating dried fish for so long, she could finally enjoy a few hot meals.

"Captain! We've found something good!" Within two days, Avril and Rookie brought good news again, "We've discovered this clay!"

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"And then?" Li Yuan wasn't sure what was so great about it.

Avril, accustomed to Li Yuan's calm demeanor, excitedly explained, "Captain, besides sea fish, there are plenty of crabs and hermit crabs here. If we grind their shells into powder, mix it with sand and clay, and apply it to your ship bottom, once it's dried, it will reinforce the ship bottom and prevent leaks!"

Li Yuan was taken aback.

If Avril's method worked, it would indeed be very useful for him! If he wrapped the fish-skin ship membrane over this layer of clay, it wouldn't affect the ship's speed.

With multiple layers of protection, his ship would become even more robust!

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's get to work!"

Although Avril's combat power was only 0.5, she was quite clever. She first dug a pit on the beach and then used logs to roll Li Yuan over the pit, allowing her to apply the clay to the bottom of Li Yuan's ship.

Standing in the pit, Avril spread a large lump of the mixed black substance underneath, smoothing it out evenly, and then started a fire under the ship bottom.

"Damn, am I really roasting myself over a fire? Why am I doing this?" Li Yuan was quite frustrated.

With the clay protection, Li Yuan didn't catch fire, but he did feel a warm sensation below.

By the end of the afternoon, Li Yuan's reinforced ship bottom was finally completed. Following the original log track, Avril managed to push Li Yuan back into the sea.

"Captain, how does it feel now?"

"The draft is a bit deeper, but otherwise, there's no noticeable difference."

"Haha, Captain, don't worry. I used to help my dad repair ships all the time. After this treatment, even without fish-skin protection, it definitely won't leak!"

"Alright, I'll trust you for now."

Life on the deserted island was particularly leisurely. Avril and Rookie's main tasks were fishing, enjoying barbecues, and occasionally digging around the island.

Avril hoped to find some useful minerals, but unfortunately, apart from clay, they hadn't found anything else.

Li Yuan used fish skin to make a fish-skin hull and also created two simple water purification devices. Not only were they more numerous, but they were also larger than before, using up three units of his wood.

Additionally, with the increased load capacity of the ship, Li Yuan stored more dried fish for emergencies.

Li Yuan didn't want to keep the excess wood on the ship, as he couldn't fit 90 units of wood. He had Avril use ropes to make a wooden raft, tying the wood to it and securing it with a fishing net to drag it behind them.

In the blink of an eye, they had been there for over half a month, and by now, all preparations were complete.

That night, Avril and Rookie returned to the ship to rest.

The night sea breeze was particularly cold. Li Yuan didn't feel cold, but Avril couldn't help but shiver. The wind blew through her slightly yellow hair, malnourished and gently dancing against her cheeks. Avril tucked her hands into her sleeves, hugging Rookie for warmth.

"Captain, where are we going next?"

Seeing this, Li Yuan hesitated for a moment and said, "I don't know either. Do you know any other places where we can get wood?"

"For wood, you usually have to go to islands."

"But we don't have any more islands to go to now," Li Yuan said.

"Well, my grandpa only left my dad one nautical chart, and we've checked all three islands. So..." Avril pondered, "If we can't get wood ourselves, we'll have to buy or trade for it from others."

"But to do that, we need to enter the Human-Tier Sea Zone, where there are medium and large maritime markets."

Entering the Human-Tier Sea Zone? Li Yuan was uncertain. In his current state, he might be a rookie even in the Human-Tier Sea Zone, and with only two crew members, their combined combat power was 1.5. Encountering pirates would be extremely dangerous.

"For now, let's not enter the Human-Tier Sea Zone, at least not until I level up again," Li Yuan said.

Avril tilted her head, thinking hard, "If we don't enter the Human-Tier Sea Zone, we can still look around its periphery. Some places have maritime markets, though they're relatively small."

"Small is fine, as long as they exist," Li Yuan said. "But what do they usually trade for wood?"

"They trade for all sorts of things, like iron ore, copper ore, rubber, animals, food, water, sand, and more."

"Huh? Sand too? Isn't there a lot of it here?"

"Captain, sand is very cheap. People use large transport ships to carry sand by the dozens of tons. How much can you carry? You probably wouldn't earn enough for even one piece of wood."

Li Yuan didn't really understand the current market, but after thinking it over, he got the idea.

Supply and demand determine value. Resources that are easy to obtain, like fish and sand, are also easy for others to get, so their prices naturally aren't high.

"Do we have any high-value trade goods?"

"Seems like... we don't... Oh, wait, clay is quite valuable, but... we've already collected and used all the clay here."

Avril dashed his hopes with a cold splash of reality.

"Is doing business really this hard these days? Is there no way?"

Avril thought carefully and said, "Captain, with your skills, you could do processing work. But... people usually don't trust strangers with their resources. You'd have to process it in front of them, and in your current state, I'm afraid it wouldn't be good if others saw."

If others saw Li Yuan instantly completing constructions, fleets from the Heaven-Tier Sea Zone might come rushing to capture him, and Li Yuan didn't want to end up as a laborer.

"Right, we could do transport jobs to earn pearls and buy wood directly with pearls!"

"What do you mean?"

"In the market, pearls are a universal currency, divided into White Pearls, Black Pearls, and Golden Pearls, each with different values. White Pearls are the cheapest, and Golden Pearls are the most expensive," Avril explained. "Sometimes, trade markets need goods transported between them, so they need people to help transport materials. Of course, it's not free labor; you get paid for the transport."

"Aren't they afraid the transport ship will run off with the goods?"

"They have people accompany the ship. Plus, if what you said happens, that ship would be blacklisted by the navy, and the consequences would be dire. Captain, I know a few small trade markets. Should we go?"

"The navy too!" Li Yuan realized that the Azure Epoch was quite developed.

"Yes, but the navy doesn't work for free. Each maritime trading market has to pay a large amount of pearls to the navy annually to ensure the safety of trade routes. The navy only maintains the safety of trade zones and the routes between them. They patrol the routes and fend off pirate fleets trying to hijack transport ships, so it's relatively safe near the routes. Even if we're dragging all this wood, we should be fine."

"Really!" Li Yuan was suddenly very interested.

Now he had a way to make money! As long as he could buy 60 more units of wood, he could level up!