The 'Involution King' Second Female Lead Quits [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 63

Chapter 63: (Part 1) The Fourth World [9]

◎ Exploring the Spherical City ◎

The god’s agitated period lasted for over ten days. To save on fuel, Li Jianwei and Shu Heng let the raft drift with the wind, only stopping to explore if they came across an island.

Initially, Li Jianwei and Shu Heng thought the metal detector was used to pinpoint areas with a high concentration of minerals on the seabed or to locate treasure chests.

But after they used a shovel to dig up the first spot they located, they quickly changed their minds.

What they dug up was titanium ore, a material that took longer to smelt but could be used to create more advanced weapons and equipment!

This was great news. Their calm, go-with-the-flow routine suddenly became much more productive.

For example, when they came across a large island, the first step for Li Jianwei and Shu Heng was usually to go into the sea, kill the sharks, and then clear out the resources below the island.

After that, they would land on the island to take out the wild boars and vultures, and also capture animals to get more wool, milk, and eggs.

The cave on the island needed to be explored, as it contained cave mushrooms, a chance for treasure chests, and, very importantly, soil for planting.

In the areas outside the cave, they would collect fruits, chop trees, find treasure chests, gather berries, and occasionally pick up flowers of different colors.

During this time, Shu Heng would also carry the metal detector and wander around the island, with Li Jianwei following behind with a shovel. As soon as the metal detector made a beeping sound, she would diligently start digging.

The whole process took about a day and a night to complete for a large island, much longer than before.

Fortunately, their hard work paid off. Looking at nearly a thousand metal arrows, Li Jianwei felt incredibly secure.

In addition to the cooking pot, Shu Heng also got a juicer blueprint from a treasure chest, which unlocked beverage recipes.

Making drinks required a lot of raw materials, not only fruit but also silver seaweed and red berries.

Luckily, the drinks were very effective. They could temporarily increase health and boost speed, making them perfect for exploring dangerous areas.

“The appearance of these recipes means we will encounter danger in the future,” Shu Heng said seriously. “I saw a saying on the world channel that a big battle is always preceded by supplies.”

“We can only do what we can. I think our preparations already surpass 99% of the survivalists. Many of them are still milling around shack island. If they don’t have the courage, they might be stuck there for five or six days,” Li Jianwei’s view was relatively optimistic.

“Alright, without starting the engine, it will take us at least ten days to get there. Ten days might be enough time for us to dig up some better weapon blueprints and recipes.”

“At worst, we’ll just maximize our buffs when we explore and be as prepared as possible,” Li Jianwei said reassuringly, stuffing her shovel into her backpack and giving Shu Heng a kiss.

What to do when your partner overthinks things? Just kiss her more, so her mind is filled with only you.

Compared to large islands, exploring small islands was very time-efficient. There were no monsters on or around the islands, only abundant resources. And since the area was relatively small, Shu Heng could run around quickly with the metal detector.

As they explored more, Shu Heng gradually figured out a pattern. On large islands, there were usually four to five places with detectable resources, while on small islands, there were only one or two.

Name: Li Jianwei Status: Health (100/100), Hunger (47/100), Hydration (56/100) Days Survived: 49

The god’s agitated period ended on the 40th day. The system’s reminder at the time was to watch out for sea creatures, as their activity would increase.

That day, Li Jianwei understood what the system was warning them about. The shark circling the raft turned into three, and jellyfish appeared in the water.

Jellyfish wouldn’t attack survivalists on their own. After killing the sharks, Li Jianwei intentionally maxed out her stats and tried to kill a jellyfish.

She found that jellyfish couldn’t be killed. They would only leave after being attacked a certain number of times. A jellyfish sting wasn’t too painful, only taking off 10 health, but it did cause a ten-second swimming speed reduction.

With her flippers on, her speed was reduced to what it would be without them, so it didn’t affect Li Jianwei much.

“Don’t take risks like that again. What if it had been a ten-second stun? Jellyfish attack frequently. If you get hit again during that ten seconds, you’ll be stunned until your health drops to zero!” Shu Heng sternly criticized Li Jianwei’s behavior afterward.

Li Jianwei meekly admitted her mistake, then knelt down, looked up at Shu Heng, and tried her best to widen her eyes. “But you’re still here, right? If I’m in danger, you can save me. I know you can do it, right?”

It was obvious that Li Jianwei was trying to use her charm to appease Shu Heng’s anger.

Shu Heng had to admit that she was a real sucker for it. Facing Li Jianwei who was kneeling on the ground and rubbing her head against her stomach, Shu Heng’s anger slowly subsided, leaving only a faint flicker.

“I’ve told you, I don’t want to be a reason for you to take risks. I…” Shu Heng said with a hint of helplessness.

“Mhm, I know. You’re my strong, reliable support,” Li Jianwei said, cutting in. “But even if I were alone, I would have tried to test the jellyfish’s attack power, because my intuition told me it wouldn’t be a big problem.”

“It’s just that I feel even more at ease with you here. I feel like you’ll save me if I mess up.”

Shu Heng: “…”

This isn’t the same thing at all! Li Jianwei is trying to get away with something! Am I really that easy to fool?

“Shu Heng, when we get out of this game together, I’ll come find you, okay?” Li Jianwei buried her head in Shu Heng’s flat stomach. “I can’t be without you now. I don’t want to be separated from you.”

Shu Heng sighed softly, reaching out to stroke Li Jianwei’s head.

Forget it, Li Jianwei is a born adventurer and warrior. Let her try. It’s better than not knowing how to react when danger strikes.

…

Li Jianwei and Shu Heng didn’t choose to drift for ten days to reach their next destination because they ran into another survivalist on a large island.

It was Xiao Ding, whom Li Jianwei had met before. Xiao Ding didn’t know that Li Jianwei had intentionally led her away from the multiplayer area last time, so when she saw her, she greeted her warmly.

Seeing that Li Jianwei and Shu Heng had formed an alliance, she exclaimed “Wow!” and traded some information she had gathered for details about the alliance system from Li Jianwei.

“It seems like the intimacy system has both objective and subjective parts. Cooperation definitely increases intimacy, and maybe trading does too,” Xiao Ding mused.

Clearly, Xiao Ding already had someone in mind for an alliance, but they hadn’t met the requirements yet.

“When I was exploring shack island, I met a lot of people. They found that the mutated vultures would respawn five days after being killed, and each time you kill one, it drops mutated meat and a metal ring with a different code.”

“Someone speculated that these metal rings are a form of ID and might be needed to enter certain areas later on.”

“The mutated meat can’t be eaten. One bold person tried to roast it. After taking a bite, they got a poison buff and it took them two full days to barely recover.”

“But they speculated that this meat can be fed to specific monsters. It might give them a debuff, or it might let us tame special monsters.”

Half of the information Xiao Ding provided was based on facts, and the other half was speculation she had heard along the way. All of it was very useful to Li Jianwei and Shu Heng.

Learning that Xiao Ding hadn’t gotten a brown bear headpiece from killing one, the two discussed it and gifted her a regular brown bear headpiece, hinting that a key to open the area behind the cave could be found on the seabed.

Xiao Ding was a little embarrassed. After hearing that the two had a great need for metal, she gifted them metal ingots*20.

[Detected a nearby friend candidate. Add Survivalist – Xiao Ding – The Cautious One as a friend?]

“You’re The Cautious One?”

“One-Shot-Wonder?”

Li Jianwei and Xiao Ding asked at the same time. Xiao Ding touched her nose. “I’m just very cautious. I spent about a week exploring both shipwreck and shack islands, and I never took risks. I avoided monsters. When I wear this title, there’s a chance monsters will ignore me.”

“This is a title I got early on. It just makes the hit-box for hooking things a little bigger,” Li Jianwei said with a hint of nostalgia, sending a friend request. “Your title’s ability is quite useful.”

“It’s not bad. If we get more information later, we can exchange it,” Xiao Ding said. She had a good impression of Li Jianwei and wanted to establish a long-term information exchange.

Li Jianwei didn’t refuse. She and Shu Heng were usually too busy to collect information from the world channel. Maintaining contact with the relatively cautious Xiao Ding could make up for their current shortcomings.

After sharing their resources, Li Jianwei and Shu Heng parted ways with Xiao Ding.

“I think we should get moving. Maybe some survivalists have already gotten the note from the archives,” Li Jianwei said. “The special island areas allow for multiplayer. If we’re too slow, we won’t just have to deal with monsters, but with other survivalists too.”

Shu Heng nodded in agreement. They could figure out how to deal with monsters by testing them, but it was hard to predict what other survivalists would do. One moment they could be your allies, and the next they could be raising a machete against you.

Compared to fighting other survivalists, Shu Heng’s view was the same as Li Jianwei’s: she would rather fight the mutated monsters on the special islands.

With their opinions aligned, Li Jianwei started the engine and filled it with wooden planks for fuel, while Shu Heng stood by the radar on the second floor, turning the steering wheel to ensure they were on the right course.

The fastest they could drift with the wind was about four nautical miles per hour. With three engines activated, the raft’s speed was close to twelve nautical miles, three times faster than before.

This meant the journey that was supposed to take ten days would now only take about three.

The clock they had opened earlier was placed inside their room on the second floor, allowing them to know the precise time while they worked.

On the 53rd day of survival, at three in the afternoon, the two finally saw the outline of their destination.

It wasn’t an island like they had imagined, but a small city encased in a spherical protective shield.

Li Jianwei looked up at the shield. “This looks very high-tech. Could it be a lab where the final boss is imprisoned?”

Shu Heng also looked up at the futuristic-looking creation. “Maybe we’ll even find living people inside. It would be even better if we could figure out why we were pulled into this game.”

After their exclamations, Li Jianwei and Shu Heng began to sail around the edge of the spherical city, trying to find an entrance.

Judging by the city’s height, even standing on the fourth level of their raft, they couldn’t reach the visible entrance, let alone the fact that the entrance had no doorknob-like features.

After circling about halfway, the raft stopped at the edge of the spherical city, where they discovered a place that looked like an underground exit.

However, it was already approaching six in the evening. Based on their experience so far, monsters were more ferocious at night than during the day.

It was best to explore an unknown area during the day and not take risks at night.

The spherical city was completely foreign to Li Jianwei. She had no idea what kind of monsters would pop out.

Not to mention, Li Jianwei had also noticed that mutated dogs, which were supposed to appear on shack island, had shown up on shipwreck island. It was possible that the monster spawning in special areas was completely random, offering a new surprise with every new playthrough.

“Shall we leave first thing tomorrow morning?” Li Jianwei asked Shu Heng.

Shu Heng nodded. “I’ll make some extra food and drinks tonight.”

To ensure they were in top condition, Li Jianwei and Shu Heng went to bed at ten o’clock, aiming to get a full eight hours of sleep.

The next day, when Li Jianwei got up, she deliberately checked the world channel.

[baogeng: Another day survived, I’m so awesome.]

[caicaicai: If only we had a smart device and the internet, it wouldn’t be so bad to stay in this game forever.]

[bh77: Anyone looking for a partner to team up with? It’s so boring living alone.]

[Jiaoer: At least we have the world channel to chat on, even if we can only post thirty characters a day, aaaaaaahhhhhh]

Good, no particularly useful information on the world channel. I’ll leave the information gathering to Xiao Ding.

Before they left, Li Jianwei and Shu Heng reported the items in their backpacks to each other.

They each carried two machetes, three plastic bows, three stacks of metal arrows, three stacks of stone arrows, one metal spear, two headlamps. They also brought 15 grilled meats, 6 mushroom omelets, 2 vegetable soups, 5 silver smoothies, and 10 simple smoothies.

Some of the food had healing effects, so their additional medical supplies were 3 silver seaweed. All of it was placed in Li Jianwei’s backpack, who was in the front, so she could use it at any time.

Both of them were wearing a full set of armor, plus their backpacks. Since the city seemed to be built on the water, they didn’t bring their flippers or oxygen tanks, but they did bring the zipline they had found earlier.

In addition, Shu Heng’s bag contained a shovel, a metal detector, an axe, and other tools. The metal ring and mutated meat they had picked up before were also stuffed into her backpack, just in case.

For their first exploration, their main goal was to stay alive, so they brought a little bit of everything, leaving only about twenty empty slots for new resources they might find.

Li Jianwei, with her machete and headlamp, took the lead, with Shu Heng following close behind, holding her metal spear.

The light was decent when they first entered. They could clearly see the all-metal corridor without turning on the headlamps.

But after two turns, their visibility without a headlamp was reduced to only two meters, and a squeaking sound came from somewhere.

“It sounds like rats. Be careful,” Shu Heng warned.

Li Jianwei hummed in acknowledgment. Her pace slowed, and she pricked up her ears, listening for the source of the squeaking.

Squeak!

Noticing the sound rapidly approaching, Li Jianwei, guided by her intuition, swung her machete to the right.

Warm bl00d spurted out under the light of the headlamp. A half-human-sized mutated rat fell to the ground, twitching.

Shu Heng’s pupils constricted. She used her metal spear to stab the rat’s head, finishing it off.

Watching the rat’s corpse disappear, Shu Heng slowly let out a breath.

“We’ll explore together. You watch the left side, I’ll watch the right,” Shu Heng said, putting on her headlamp. Having a mutated rat suddenly lunge at them was still a bit too startling. It was better to share the risk.

Li Jianwei hesitated for a moment, then agreed. “Okay. Every minute, I’ll turn back and look behind us to make sure there are no monsters.”

Shu Heng had no objection. The corridor had many twists and turns, as well as forks in the road. It was important to watch their backs.

They explored the corridor the same way they explored the cave: from right to left, adhering to the principle of not missing a single spot and conducting a thorough sweep.

Many rats attacked them by surprise. Most of the time, Li Jianwei’s reaction speed was faster, and with a swift strike, she would stun the mutated rat.

Shu Heng’s follow-up attacks became more and more precise. In no time, the two of them had killed no less than ten mutated rats together.

As they went deeper, signs began to appear in the corridor, pointing to the planting area and the elevator.

The two reached the elevator area first. There was a lot of plastic and fragments to pick up, and after opening a briefcase-like treasure chest, Li Jianwei also got a weapon blueprint and titanium ingots.

“I can make a titanium sword. Its attack power is much higher than my machete,” Li Jianwei said, letting Shu Heng look at the specific stats before immediately clicking to learn it.

“The elevator can’t be used. The system says there’s an electrical problem. We’ll probably need to fix the circuit,” Shu Heng said.

After a brief stop at the elevator door, Li Jianwei and Shu Heng continued to explore along the right side, finding some basic supplies and some temporarily useless tape.

After about an hour of exploring, they successfully arrived at the planting area.

Good news: The planting area had a lot of bananas and strawberries. Picking all of them would be a great haul.

Bad news: The planting area was not only short-circuiting but was also flooded. Every five seconds or so, there would be a three-second electrical flash. Only some areas had wooden planks floating on the water, clearly a place that would test their skills.

“There are exposed wires over there. I think we need to use the tape to fix the circuit,” Li Jianwei said after thinking it over.

“If the current is 220V, you’ll be in danger if you slip even once and get shocked,” Shu Heng said, her face grim.

“Then I’ll just try not to make a mistake. I’m pretty confident in my skills,” Li Jianwei said with a smile. “And we’re wearing leather boots. Leather should be less conductive than bare feet.”

Shu Heng couldn’t argue. She just told Li Jianwei to drink a silver smoothie to temporarily increase her health by twenty points, giving her more room for error.

Li Jianwei was confident. Five seconds was enough time for her to run a long distance, and the gaps between the wooden planks weren’t that big. She felt she might not even need to step into the water.

And so, Li Jianwei began with full confidence, while Shu Heng stood at the door, her heart in her throat.

Every time electricity flashed in the water, Shu Heng couldn’t help but hold her breath, worried that Li Jianwei would get shocked.

Fortunately, Li Jianwei’s skills were excellent. In a moment, she was at the exposed wires.

The tape was electrical tape. Under Li Jianwei’s quick work, the electrical current inside was reduced by half.

Yes, it was only reduced, not completely gone.

“I can open this door here. There must be more wires to fix inside. You wait for me out here,” Li Jianwei shouted.

Seeing the light on Shu Heng’s head bob up and down, Li Jianwei continued deeper, nimbly jumping between the wooden planks.

But you can’t walk by the river without getting your shoes wet. There was a long stretch of water without planks near the wires. Even though Li Jianwei timed it perfectly, she was still shocked.

Good news: The shock didn’t stun her, causing her to fall into the water.

Bad news: The shock took off 55 health. Without a healing potion or medical treatment, getting shocked twice would be life-threatening.

Note that this was the health lost while Li Jianwei was wearing a full set of armor. If someone without armor came, the damage would be much higher than 55.

After she used the tape to fix the exposed wires, the remaining electrical flashes finally disappeared.

Noticing that her health was slowly recovering, Li Jianwei didn’t rush to heal. She just waded through the water to Shu Heng.

“All fixed. Now it’s time to reap the rewards,” Li Jianwei said, opening her arms for a hug. “See? I told you I could do it!”

“You’re hurt,” Shu Heng said, her expression calm. “How much health did the shock take off?”

“You saw that?” Li Jianwei subconsciously turned to look back. Logically, her body should have been blocked by the wall.

Shu Heng didn’t say anything. She just reached out and picked up a strand of Li Jianwei’s hair. The end of the hair, which was usually smooth and straight, was now dry and frizzy.

“Not a lot, 55 health. The last stretch was a bit long. I thought I would make it, but I didn’t expect to get shocked when I raised my leg,” Li Jianwei confessed, realizing she couldn’t hide it.

“But my health has already recovered to 70. The silver smoothie is very useful. My health cap is still 120, so I’ll be fine even if I get shocked twice.”

Shu Heng sighed softly. She could only grab Li Jianwei’s collar, tilt her head slightly, and give her a kiss.

“You know, if I lose you, it’ll be very difficult for me to keep exploring dangerous places like this,” Shu Heng said, her tone pleading. “So, please, be more careful about your own safety, okay? Do it for me. I don’t want to lose you.”

After so many days together, Shu Heng had already figured out Li Jianwei’s thought process.

With Li Jianwei, simple dissuasion was useless. She had to use emotional manipulation to make her realize the importance of her life.

“I’m sorry. Next time, I’ll send you a message first to see if there’s a second way. Or I’ll eat some more buff food before I try,” Li Jianwei said, her head lowered. “Don’t be mad, okay?”

“I’m not mad,” Shu Heng said, making her voice sound calm and composed. “I’m just worried about you.”

“Really?” Li Jianwei looked at Shu Heng with puppy eyes. Her intuition told her that Shu Heng was mad.

“Really,” Shu Heng sighed inwardly, reaching out to stroke Li Jianwei’s head. “I’m not mad at you. The circuit had to be fixed, and the risk was necessary and unavoidable.”

Shu Heng wasn’t lying. More than Li Jianwei’s sudden risk-taking, Shu Heng was more frustrated by her own lack of skill.

If she were as quick as Li Jianwei, Li Jianwei wouldn’t be the only one who had to take on most of the risks. They could take turns.

After processing her complicated emotions, Shu Heng’s face broke into a smile. “Alright, now it’s time for our rewards. There are a lot of strawberries and bananas here. Collect them and take them back, and we can make more smoothies. Maybe we’ll even find one that boosts our defense.”