Nightfall

Seeing the message from someone named "Research Institute 3154," Lin Yuan found it a little strange:

"Sell it? How? We can't trade right now, and we don't know where each other is."

Research Institute 3154: "Don't worry. By my estimate, trading should be one of the first features to unlock. It might even be available tomorrow. I'm just making a reservation now."

His answer immediately piqued everyone else's curiosity, but no matter how they questioned him, Research Institute 3154 only said he was guessing. Eventually, he simply stopped speaking.

Lin Yuan, however, felt that the other party wasn't purely guessing and seemed to actually know something.

Still, he had no intention of digging for answers in the regional channel right now. If trading really did unlock tomorrow, there would be plenty of time to ask then.

He turned his attention back to sanity.

Zero: "Was everyone's sanity full before you looked at my picture just now? I didn't think it through. I hope I didn't accidentally hurt anyone whose sanity was low."

Never Skunked: "Hey, little bro, you're overthinking it. As long as we're on our boats, we recover one sanity every five minutes anyway. Everyone must have been at full sanity. Don't blame yourself."

I Quit Farming: "Huh? Yours recovers that slowly? I recover one sanity every minute."

Wind-Ear: "Isn't yours just too fast, farmer? I recover one every five minutes too."

The others joined the discussion. Most recovered one sanity every five minutes, though some were a little faster or slower. The differences were probably caused by their different boats.

However, they also mentioned that once they entered the water, their sanity could no longer recover automatically.

Quite a few people in the channel had tried entering the water at the start and lost some sanity after seeing the underwater world. When it hadn't recovered at all while they were down there, it had scared them badly.

But not one of them had dived deeper than ten meters.

According to their descriptions, this seawater was rather strange. Staying afloat was somewhat harder than normal, and the moment they stopped moving, they would automatically sink. It was a little like the mythical weak water in which nothing could float.

Also, when swimming in the water, they found that their stamina drained exceptionally quickly.

Lin Yuan, on the other hand, hadn't felt any problem with stamina consumption at all. He guessed it was because he had no endurance stat.

As the others in the channel kept talking, the topic soon drifted elsewhere.

What everyone discussed most was fishing.

Out on this vast sea, fishing was the most important means of obtaining supplies.

The fish they caught were one aspect of it. Shell Treasure Chests were the other.

Shell Treasure Chests were just like treasure chests in a game, yielding all kinds of things when opened.

From ordinary fish to basic materials like wood and cloth, and even tools such as daggers, Shell Treasure Chests could contain all sorts of things.

Shell Treasure Chests also came in different grades. Some looked battered, like dead shells, while others had smooth, gleaming surfaces that clearly marked them as extraordinary materials.

"Never Skunked" even showed off his strength stat of a whopping 11 points in the channel. According to him, his stat had increased after he ate a delicious grilled fish from a treasure chest.

After chatting about this for a while, Lin Yuan also learned that the upper limit for an ordinary person's stats was 10. Basically, 10 points could be considered Guinness World Record level.

However, high stats didn't only bring benefits. Bro Skunked had discovered that after his strength rose to 11, he seemingly couldn't get full no matter how much he ate, as though his stomach had become a bottomless pit.

Fortunately, he really did have a knack for fishing. Otherwise, his body, which surpassed ordinary human limits, might have starved him to death.

After exchanging quite a bit more information, everyone gradually ran out of things to discuss. Apart from a few who were still chatting, the others stopped posting.

Ultimately, in this strange seafaring game that everyone had been pulled into, they had more important things to do than chat.

Lin Yuan also left the regional chat channel, preparing to catch some more fish and Shell Treasure Chests.

Although he didn't feel tired or hungry at the moment, he thought what "Research Institute 3154" had said was worth listening to.

If trading really did unlock tomorrow, preparing more supplies of various kinds now might let him find some useful things on the market then.

Cannons to fill his currently empty weapon room, for instance.

Before diving, Lin Yuan opened the Shell Treasure Chest he had just retrieved, obtaining 5 units of wood and 10 Shell Coins.

The latter came with every treasure chest. Their use was currently unknown, but the game would probably unlock a corresponding feature later.

Since he had lost some durability while trapped in the world twenty meters below earlier, Lin Yuan tried out his "Emergency Repair" ability.

The skill proved more effective than he had imagined. In just a few seconds, 3 units of wood disappeared from the warehouse, and Lin Yuan's health (durability) was fully restored.

"One unit of wood restores about 20 durability. Not bad. I just don't know whether I can use this skill in combat."

Unlike "Steel Harpoon," this skill had no cooldown. If he could use it in combat too, then stockpiling more wood would be equivalent to having unlimited health potions, an enormous boost for him.

At that thought, he decided to focus on finding Shell Treasure Chests in a moment.

By comparison, the various kinds of fish were worth far less.

As for the underwater world below ten meters, or even twenty meters, Lin Yuan didn't intend to visit it this time.

He could stockpile enough wood first. It wouldn't be too late to explore deeper waters once he was ready.

Lin Yuan swam constantly between the surface and ten meters down, searching for his prey.

Although this made Lin Yuan look far more bedraggled than the others fishing from their boats while basking in the sun, actively hunting was far more efficient than sitting around waiting for fish to bite.

According to Bro Skunked, catching one Shell Treasure Chest an hour through normal fishing usually counted as good luck. Some special boats could improve fishing ability, but even then, it was only one every half hour.

After searching for several hours, however, Lin Yuan had gathered nearly a hundred Shell Treasure Chests, almost filling his entire warehouse.

He didn't even dare open all these chests. If the supplies filled the warehouse and couldn't fit, they would all spill into the sea.

Lin Yuan had already tested it just now. This seawater really was like weak water-even wood placed on its surface would slowly sink.

Although it sank very slowly, that still put an end to Lin Yuan's idea of piling supplies on the sea's surface.

"I'll wait until tomorrow. If the trading market really opens, I'll exchange these chests for something useful."

Lin Yuan surfaced again.

It was nearly dusk now, and half the sun had sunk below the horizon.

"Damn it... am I going to have to float out here all night?"

At a time like this, thinking about how everyone else in the channel could sleep soundly aboard their boats made Lin Yuan a little envious.

His body still didn't feel tired, but he was getting mentally weary.

Just then, the system's voice sounded again.

[The sun is setting, and night is falling. All players, please prepare.]

[By day, Paradise is everyone's paradise. By night, it is a paradise for other things.]

[We wish everyone survival through this night, which is destined to be unforgettable.]

[Special notice: After nightfall, players can no longer recover sanity over time. We recommend remaining inside your cabin and not looking outside, lest you see something you shouldn't.]

Upon hearing the system's notification, Lin Yuan's first reaction was-

Great, then give me a cabin to stay in!