Half a day later, the supply station was finally completed.
[ Howling Pothos ] placed a large number of spare items on its left half, while the right half was filled with fishing gear and frozen fish by [ Epic-Level Giant ].
The fisherman plans to learn how to build a clay stove that won't expose an open flame or produce smoke after logging off; this supply station at the bend in the river seems to have great potential.
With the supply depot now operational, the two immediately moved on to the next phase of their plan.
[ Epic-Level Giant ] put away his fishing rod, used a hand drill to repair the edge of the hole in the ice, and asked:
"Is this big enough for you to get in?"
That's enough.
[ Howling Pothos ] tied the newly released item from the Adventurers' Guild, " Bee Silk," to her waist, attached the other end to a large tree, and then handed it to [ Epic-Level Giant ]:
"If I'm not back in fifteen minutes, pull me up."
"Good."
[ Howling Pothos ] arrived at the hole in the ice, took a deep breath, pinched her nose, and jumped in.
"Thump!"
His figure disappeared on the river surface, leaving only the undulating water at the entrance of the ice cave and the gradually tightening Bee Silk as a testament to his survival.
In the real world, the [ Howling Pothos ] has never tried winter swimming.
His lifestyle was not particularly healthy to begin with, and his long hours spent with electronic devices made him very worried that he might suddenly die from the cold water.
But now the World of Disorder satisfies his curiosity in this regard.
Although his sensory synchronization was only adjusted to 20%, he could still feel the chilling cold enveloping him, and the heat in his body was rapidly dissipating with the water flow.
What he could feel with absolute certainty was that he was losing control of his body.
As the body temperature dropped, [ Howling Pothos ] could clearly feel her fingers losing sensation.
It wasn't ordinary numbness, but rather like the anesthesia used before surgery, causing a complete loss of control and sensation over a part of the body.
He stared at the upper left corner of the player's field of vision, where he had placed a semi-transparent countdown timer. He needed to follow the Bee Silk back to the ice cave before the number reached zero, or he might become the first player in the World of Disorder to drown under the ice.
However, it now seems that he may have to face the problem of being forced offline due to hypothermia rather than drowning.
The body of a semi-vegetative person seems to possess some root system characteristics of aquatic plants, enabling them to absorb some oxygen from the water.
The initial breath had long since dissipated, but [ Howling Pothos ] felt almost no suffocation, and its body did not exhibit the convulsions typically seen when drowning.
The water beneath the ice flowed gently, heading south towards Fir City.
Because the creatures under the ice are all half-dead in winter, the undisturbed river water seems much clearer than before.
Looking across the water, [ Howling Pothos ] could even see some half-dead fish swimming upstream, seemingly heading towards the bait that [ Epic-Level Giant ] had prepared.
I'm really hungry...
He couldn't help but sigh inwardly, but the bad news was that the fish were hungry, and so was the [ Epic-Level Giant ].
[ Howling Pothos ] followed the water flow forward, and even through the thick ice, it could feel the magnificent city wall approaching.
Suddenly, he saw something abrupt yet not so abrupt in his field of vision—a metal grille covered with the corpses of unknown algae.
It's considered abrupt because seeing this suddenly in a completely natural river would leave anyone stunned.
The reason it doesn't seem out of place is that anyone with a brain who built city walls would have constructed such a structure at the entrance or exit of sewers or rivers.
Seeing the metal grille appear in front of him, [ Howling Pothos ] felt a sense of relief.
Without this, he would inevitably feel that there were more ambushes waiting for him ahead.
Having identified the obstacle ahead, [ Howling Pothos ] chose not to continue.
He came down here simply to check the situation and didn't bring many tools with him.
Feeling his body growing colder, he silently changed the 15-minute countdown for the remaining dive to 12 minutes, and then began the return journey.
Returning to the ice cave is the real problem—[ Howling Pothos ] needs to swim against the current to get back to where it came from.
Otherwise, with his current strength, it would be almost impossible for him to break through the ice from below, given the combined effect of the World of Disorder rules and certain physical rules that were not disordered.
As its body gradually stiffened, [ Howling Pothos ] used its hands and feet as tools, even in its stiffness, it remained in a position that facilitated paddling. It swam forward with all its might, and finally, when it was exhausted, it saw the entrance to the ice cave that was so close at hand.
However, his body had reached its limit. Just when he thought he was about to be forced to respawn at the nearest respawn point due to exhaustion, a large hand pierced through the icy river water, grabbed his completely stiff arm, and slowly pulled him out of the ice cave.
The two sat around a campfire, and [ Howling Pothos ] slowly thawed his body.
While grilling fish over the campfire, the [ Epic-Level Giant ] instructed:
"Hurry up, it'll be dark soon, we need to turn off the fire quickly. But don't worry, I'll find some time tomorrow to dig a smokeless stove so we can use it together."
Upon hearing this, [ Howling Pothos ] involuntarily shuddered.
"Great idea, you have so much life experience."
Like most middle-aged men, [ Epic-Level Giant ] also enjoys being praised. He smiled and waved his hand, saying:
"So what? It's just that there are no portable gas stoves in this world, otherwise I would have made you two stir-fries right away."
He smacked his lips as he watched the [ Howling Pothos ] slowly thawing:
"Do you think our bodies in the game are a bit too strong?"
He looked into [ Howling Pothos ]'s eyes and said seriously:
"I don't really care about those attributes you young people talk about. I remember a girl who liked to grow plants on her body. Those things are a bit too unrealistic for me. But winter swimming and diving really leave me speechless. They're just as shocking to me as when I got my leg reattached."
He sighed as he said this:
"I wish everyone's body was this resilient in real life."
[ Howling Pothos ] shook its head:
"The bodies here are not only incredibly resilient, but you can even get a new one after you die. That doesn't happen in reality. But I do have similar thoughts. Sometimes I even wish this were the real world, since every effort I make here truly receives positive feedback."