Gu Ning dismissed the thought. The top priority now was to assemble the seawater purifier—this confusion would naturally resolve in a few days!
However, constructing the purifier still required three pieces of wood and five white stones, so fishing became the only option.
Gu Ning first took out the starter fishing rod. Why not use the resource rod? Simple: the Personal Mall currently only accepted fish as currency. He needed to catch enough fish to exchange for white stones and gauge their value.
He cast the rod into the sea. No bait was needed, as noted in the description:
Note: The rod generates bait automatically. Bait quality depends on the rod's level and rarity.
Opening the [Upgrade] menu, the only other upgradable item besides the wooden boat was the fishing rod.
Fishing Rod (Green)
Level: 1
Upgrade Cost: 1/10 copper ingots [Upgradable]
(Note omitted)
Gu Ning upgraded it immediately. The next level required two copper ingots and one wood, so he set it aside for later.
While waiting for a bite, he took out the talent sphere.
"Tianmu, bless me—let me get a god-tier talent!" he muttered, then activated it.
[Congratulations! Acquired the epic talent Versatile.]
Epic? Just the name suggested quality.
"Tianmu, what are the talent rarities?" he asked tentatively.
[Talent Rarities: Common, Excellent, Exceptional, Epic, Legendary.]
To his surprise, Tianmu answered—likely part of the新手引导 (newbie tutorial). Not Legendary, but Epic would do. He checked the details:
Versatile (Epic): Triggers positive random transformations in any item. 3 uses daily.
"Hmm, underwhelming," Gu Ning sighed, slightly disappointed. Well, he'd test it later.
Just then, the rod jerked. He tensed, hauling up a 10cm yellow croaker. Scanning it with Spiritual Eye:
Yellow Croaker (White)
Level: 1
No frills—clearly cheap.
He sold it instantly for 1 white stone. Ten more to go.
After nine more casts (one green fish), he hit 10 stones. Key takeaway: white fish = 1 stone, green = 2. His rod couldn't catch higher rarities yet.
He spent 6 stones on 3 wood pieces and crafted the purifier—a blue cylindrical device with a wooden base and plastic tube:
Seawater Purifier (Green)
Level: 1
Function: Converts 1000ml seawater to freshwater daily.
Perfect—1 liter daily, enough to drink and possibly sell. He predicted widespread water shortages by tomorrow.
Filling it with seawater, he waited for purification (thankfully, it stored water internally, sparing him from making a cup).
Next, the resource rod. Unupgradable and random, it relied on luck. He cast again.
While waiting, he ate half a bread and drank half a bottle of water, silencing his growling stomach. Checking the Regional Chat, most had calmed down:
"Guys, I found a wooden crate with water! Lit!"
"Jealous. All I get is fish."
"Hooked an iron crate—got a fence blueprint. Life's a rollercoaster."
"Never fished before, but this slaps!"
"I miss land. Don't wanna be 'air force' out here."
"Boys, I got a paddle blueprint! Now we're moving!"
Gu Ning scrolled, filtering for intel. Fence blueprints already? Must be for future bases. But the paddle blueprint caught his eye—no paddle, no island.
Just then, the rod jerked again. He reeled in a leather satchel and tore it open:
[Congratulations! Acquired Wood x10]
So the resource rod was basically fishing for raw materials—10 wood = 20 stones. Nice.
He grabbed three planks to test Versatile. Focusing on one, he willed, Transform. It split into three identical planks.
"Seriously? That's it?"
Second try: Transform.
The plank morphed into a glowing card. Scan:
Pet Card (Blue): Summons random blue-quality pet.
Useful. He'd save the third charge.
Third try: Transform.
A purple scroll materialized:
Ice Elementalist Class Scroll (Purple): Grants Ice Elementalist class.
"Hell yeah!" he cursed, thrilled. A rare purple item—职业卷轴! His talent was a gamble, but worth it with enough uses.
Activating the scroll, he felt a chill bond with the sea. Too bad it came without skills—he'd need to hunt those down.
With a sigh, he used the Pet Card. The ocean churned, revealing a 5m blue whale nuzzling his boat, its chirps warm and welcoming.
Scanning it:
Deepsea Whale (Blue)
Level: 2
Skills: Ramming, Biting
Strength: 20
Agility: 12
Why did this pet have stats when the yellow croaker didn't? Level difference? His own panel still showed no stats... Must be a level 2+ feature.
Checking his experience: 24/100. So selling white fish (Lvl 1) = 2 XP, green = 4. Complex systems were unclear, but at least he had a grind. Wonder if buying/reselling live fish counted for XP? He'd test later.
Patting the whale's head, he said, "You're Little Blue now." Naming wasn't his forte—better to focus on fishing.
Reeling out the resource rod again, he watched the line arc into the water. This is the life, he thought, grinning. Productive, unpredictable... and finally, in control.