The 'Involution King' Second Female Lead Quits [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 64

Chapter 64: World Four [10]

Successful Scavenging

Looking down through the shattered glass, the water, which was four stories deep, appeared as dark and bottomless as the open ocean. In the pitch-black environment, a single headlamp couldn’t illuminate much.

“See anything? I can’t see a thing,” Xiaodi said, lying on the edge with his headlamp on.

“The water is so calm, it gives you the illusion that there’s nothing but water inside,” Xiaogao added, also with a headlamp, lying beside Xiaodi.

“Same here. I can vaguely see the glass frame, but that’s it,” said Li Jianwei, moving her head to try and get her light to cover more area.

“There’s a special substance in the water that greatly weakens light transmission. The penetration depth is less than ten meters,” Shuheng concluded after careful observation. “Even with four headlamps, we can only see half of the water’s surface.”

Xiaodi touched his leather helmet. “So, should we dive in? Maybe the clue is in the water.”

“Or we could throw a bomb in? If there’s something in there, it should react to the explosion,” Xiaogao suggested.

Li Jianwei stroked her chin. “The last two explosions were already quite big. If something was in there, it should have reacted by now.”

“Unless it has ‘intelligence’ and knows to stay quiet to lure us in, then ambush us,” Shuheng added.

Xiaodi and Xiaogao gasped. An ambushing, intelligent monster sounded incredibly dangerous.

“We have two bombs left. Should we try setting one off in the water to see if it draws the monster out?” Xiaogao scratched his head. “Would a key item be destroyed by the blast?”

“If it is, it should respawn after a certain period, right? The special items on Shack Island also reset with the monster spawns,” Xiaodi said.

Li Jianwei didn’t say anything, as she was messaging Xiaoding to ask about the item respawn rules. Xiaoding’s reply came quickly. In a game where players don’t need to sleep if they’re in good condition, no one misses important news.

【Xiaoding: The item respawn mechanisms for Shipwreck Island and Shack Island are different. The former is three days, the latter is five. We suspect the respawn time gets longer the further you go. When items reset, all resources reset. Many people choose to stay on Shipwreck Island to constantly explore and accumulate resources. The notes also reset, and the notes for the same special island are identical.】

A full hundred characters of information gave Li Jianwei a better idea of the situation. She also took the opportunity to share a tip with Xiaoding: the spherical city requires a zipline to explore, and gold coins can be exchanged for resources at the highest point.

“Let’s try it,” Li Jianwei decided. “If a key item is destroyed, we can wait for the next respawn. But if we mess up and get killed, we won’t get another chance.”

Shuheng briefly considered it before nodding in agreement. Xiaogao and Xiaodi had no objections, as they were used to following orders.

The good news: The bomb didn’t destroy the tank. It did, however, force the hidden monster out.

The bad news: The hidden monster was a giant hammerhead shark, over ten meters long. It could easily swallow a survivor whole and looked extremely dangerous.

The four of them stared at each other, unsure of what to do next.

“Since it’s a monster, there must be a way to kill it; we just haven’t found it yet,” Shuheng said, remaining calm. “We only have one bomb left, so our options are limited. I suggest we split up and search other buildings for resources.”

“Maybe we’ll find a special building with something that can deal with this hammerhead shark,” Shuheng concluded. “Today, we’ll focus on scavenging. We’ll meet back here at dusk. If we can gather enough bombs, we’ll decide on our next move.”

After distributing the elevator keycards, they split into two teams. Once Xiaogao and Xiaodi were out of earshot, Li Jianwei quietly asked, “Shuheng, have you figured out a way to deal with the monster?”

“I have a rough idea, but it requires a lot of bombs, and it’s a very risky plan,” Shuheng replied honestly. “I haven’t figured out how to divide the tasks yet.”

Li Jianwei nodded thoughtfully. “Let’s keep exploring. Maybe other buildings also lead to the underground area and will give us a new solution.”

Li Jianwei and Shuheng began their sweep, focusing on finding gold coins and special items. They only collected basic resources they passed by, making them much more efficient than Xiaogao and Xiaodi.

As the sun began to set, the team of four reunited at the wishing fountain.

“I found one timed explosive. We searched a total of seven buildings,” Xiaogao said, trading the special items to Shuheng. After a long period of cooperation, the four had successfully added each other as friends, and their trust had grown.

“We swept through ten buildings and found two, so we have four in total now,” Shuheng said. She paused for a moment. “I’ve observed the structure of the tank. Besides the glass, there are eight load-bearing pillars. I think we can attach the explosives to the pillars, time it, and lure the monster over to attack it.”

“As long as we leave four pillars, the tank won’t be damaged, and we can still get out through the opening after we’re done.”

“But how can we stay safe?” Xiaodi asked, raising her hand. “Thirty seconds is a long time for us to swim away, and the hammerhead will follow. If we want the explosion to hit it, won’t the person luring it get hurt?”

“That depends on how the monster determines its aggro,” Li Jianwei said. “If it’s based on distance, then all four of us will need to work together to keep the hammerhead in a specific position.”

“If it’s based on attacks, it will be simple. We just need to spread out and keep shooting it with arrows,” she continued. “So, before we set the explosives, we need to determine the hammerhead’s intelligence level and its aggro mechanism.”

After hearing this, Xiaogao and Xiaodi began to brainstorm. They knew the key to the game was defeating the hammerhead, and it was clear that four people working together was more reliable than just two.

“All four of us are going down?” Xiaogao asked.

Li Jianwei nodded. “I’ll be in charge of placing the explosives. The three of you will lure the monster. You must get it near the explosives within thirty seconds.”

“We can test it first, and once we’re familiar with its mechanics, we can place the bombs and perform the actual operation,” Shuheng added.

Since everyone was already on board, no one objected. The four of them had come prepared for a boss fight and had their best items with them, so they didn’t need to go back to the raft.

After putting on oxygen tanks and flippers, they exchanged hand signals and dove in.

According to the plan, they spread out in different corners. Li Jianwei was responsible for the first hit on the hammerhead and then swimming toward Xiaodi. Meanwhile, Xiaogao would be responsible for the second arrow. If she got the monster’s attention, she would move toward Shuheng, and Li Jianwei would be responsible for the third attack.

If the hammerhead kept chasing Li Jianwei, they would activate Plan B, with Shuheng taking command through the friend channel and the others following her instructions.

Fortunately, while the hammerhead knew how to hide and seek, its aggro mechanics were simple after being attacked. It would attack the closest person, but if the distance was less than ten meters, it would prioritize the person who attacked it. For example, if Li Jianwei was 18 meters away from the shark and Xiaogao was 25 meters away, the shark would target Li Jianwei. But if Xiaogao attacked it, it would ignore the closer Li Jianwei and turn to charge at Xiaogao instead.

The hammerhead was significantly faster than a regular shark. Even after eating stat-boosting food and wearing flippers, their speed couldn’t match its. This meant that drawing the monster’s attention was crucial to creating an opportunity to defeat it.

Li Jianwei, in charge of placing the explosives, was very calm. After planting them, she swam over to Shuheng to help her with aggro and to assist Xiaogao and Xiaodi if they made a mistake.

BOOM!

A massive shockwave spread through the water. Although the four of them were far enough away to avoid damage, the aftershock still sent them spinning in the water. Li Jianwei and Shuheng quickly regained their positions and re-established the hammerhead’s aggro, preventing it from knocking out the still-disoriented Xiaogao.

Once, twice, three times!

After the third explosion, the hammerhead shark, which was now riddled with arrows, finally flipped onto its back. The system notification rang out in all four of their minds.

【Congratulations, Survivors, you have defeated the underwater behemoth! You have received a note with important information*1 and the title *Fearless (equipping it increases attack power).】

Li Jianwei received an additional title: *Explosion King (equipping it increases movement speed and grants immunity to explosion damage).】

Li Jianwei’s first thought was that she could use this title to farm the hammerhead for a huge amount of resources and rewards.

The hammerhead’s body didn’t disappear. Xiaogao and Xiaodi sensibly gave Li Jianwei and Shuheng space to collect the loot. Shuheng nodded to Li Jianwei, who swam over and clicked “collect.”

【You have received: Hammerhead Shark Trophy1, Shark Meat20, Key*1.】

“A trophy, twenty pieces of shark meat, and a key we don’t know the use of yet,” Li Jianwei said. “Let’s go search the area and see if there are any blueprints. I suspect there are spaces on floors -3 and -4 that we haven’t explored yet.”

For a boss that occupied four floors, the loot seemed too small for the difficulty.

After being given a specific search area, Xiaogao and Xiaodi got to work. During this boss fight, they had once again seen how capable Li Jianwei and Shuheng were and were now even more determined to continue working with them. While exploring alone could get them special items, being carried by pros was great! They felt safe, and most importantly, the pros didn’t treat them as cannon fodder but as partners.

After searching, the four of them found an extra passage at the junction of floors -3 and -4. The passage required the key dropped by the hammerhead to open. When Li Jianwei opened the metal door, a group of mutated fish monsters rushed out. Despite being prepared, she was startled and stepped back. Shuheng’s metal arrows were the fastest, followed by Xiaogao and Xiaodi’s. After backing up to a safe distance, Li Jianwei used her titanium sword to move through the swarm. With everyone working together, they took care of the fish in under ten minutes.

The mutated fish monsters didn’t have any special drops. After swimming up the passage for about five minutes, they reached a new underground tunnel. Both sides were piled with many fragments, plastic, and planks. There were a lot of basic resources, but also many winding, maze-like paths.

“The layout here is similar to the entrance passage,” Li Jianwei warned. “Be careful of mutated rats. They might jump out at you from corners or ventilation shafts.”

Xiaogao took the lead, keeping pace with Li Jianwei and using her headlamp to watch the front. Xiaodi walked backward, her headlamp illuminating the area behind them to ensure no rats would jump out of a vent to ambush them. Shuheng, as the commander, was protected in the middle. Her main task was to remember the paths they had taken so they wouldn’t get lost in the tunnel.

During their exploration, their survival days went from 55 to 56, which told them it was now six in the morning.

“Do you have enough food and water in your bags?” Shuheng asked. “If not, we can lend you some for now.”

Xiaogao and Xiaodi only had basic backpacks, with a combined total of fifty slots. “Thanks, but we brought a lot of watermelon and simple fish stew,” Xiaodi said. “We still have about half left.”

“Okay, let’s take a short break to restore our condition and check for any debuffs,” Shuheng said, beginning to organize her backpack.

They had found many useful blueprints and recipes along the way. These were special drops and all went into Li Jianwei and Shuheng’s bags. The blueprints were learned on the spot, the new recipes were given to Li Jianwei to hold, and the duplicates were temporarily stored in Shuheng’s bag. If there was enough space in their backpacks later, they would trade these recipes to Xiaogao and Xiaodi for a low price. If not, they would have to leave them behind. Of course, Xiaogao and Xiaodi could trade with them in advance if they could make some room.

After another hour of wandering in the tunnel, the four finally reached a place that resembled a bank vault.

“The key from before doesn’t work here, and there’s no way to operate this,” Li Jianwei said after examining the door. She stroked her chin. “Did we take a wrong turn? Does the door open from the other side?”

“If we turn back, we’ll have to retrace our steps,” Shuheng said, mentally mapping out their path. “Based on our direction and the distance we’ve traveled, this should be the final destination.”

“If we can’t open it, why don’t we just blow it up?” Xiaogao said, still the reliable source of suggestions. “We still have one timed explosive left, right?”

“What if we destroy the passage? Won’t we get trapped?” Xiaodi worried. After all, they had already obtained the key note.

“Then let’s vote on whether to blow it up,” Li Jianwei said, being democratic. “I vote yes.”

“I vote yes, too,” Xiaogao raised her hand.

Xiaodi hesitated, but she trusted her companion and girlfriend’s decision and also raised her hand.

“Great, it’s a unanimous vote,” Li Jianwei announced. “Everyone, step back. My title makes me immune to damage, so I’ll be responsible for setting it up.”

“But…” Xiaodi seemed to want to say something, but Xiaogao pulled her away.

“What Li Jianwei says is what Shuheng says. One of them speaking is enough,” Xiaogao explained quietly.

Xiaodi blinked. As she backed away, she whispered, “Should we learn that too? From now on, I won’t object to any of your suggestions.”

“They’re a special case,” Xiaogao said, her insight clear. “We should stay the way we are. It’s better to discuss important decisions to cover all the bases.” The reason Li Jianwei and Shuheng could speak for each other was that their opinions were almost always consistent, and both of them were very thorough.

…

The thirty-second countdown quickly ended. With a BOOM, a crack was blown open in the bank-like vault door. The main structure was not damaged, and the gap was just big enough for a survivor to squeeze through. The rest of the door remained in place.

“This door is so thick! There must be something good inside,” Xiaodi exclaimed.

She was right. Li Jianwei, who went in first, found a lot of valuable resources, including blueprints for a Biofuel Refinery, a Charger, an Engine Controller, an Electronic Purifier, 20 Titanium Ingots, and 20 Strawberry Seeds. If the blueprints hadn’t been immediately learnable, Li Jianwei and Shuheng’s large backpacks combined might not have been able to hold everything.

Since Xiaogao and Xiaodi had also contributed a lot to exploring the passage, the two of them discussed it and decided to give them some titanium ingots and strawberry seeds. As for the blueprints they had, Shuheng told Xiaogao and Xiaodi the required materials, and offered to craft them without an extra fee if they provided the resources.

“The resources we pledged to you earlier will be our thanks,” Xiaogao said, making it clear she wasn’t trying to get a freebie.

However, Xiaogao and Xiaodi faced one problem: they had so many new blueprints that they wouldn’t have enough titanium ore to craft them all.

“Since we’re planning to explore the next special island together, why don’t we stay here and keep exploring until everything resets?” Li Jianwei suggested. “There’s a lot of titanium ore here, and we can exchange gold coins for many things. I think we can treat this place as a repeatable resource point, and the resources we get will be more than we’d find on regular islands.”

“Most importantly, I have a buff that makes me immune to explosion damage, so if we fight the hammerhead shark again, we’ll be much more efficient,” she added. “We can give you the duplicate blueprints and recipes, but you’ll need to give us half of the gold coins and basic resources you find.”

These ideas hadn’t come to Li Jianwei out of nowhere; she had already discussed them with Shuheng through their friend channel. This was their agreed-upon plan.

The offer sounded great to Xiaogao and Xiaodi. After a simple glance at each other, they nodded in agreement. Blueprints were clearly more useful than basic resources, and they knew they couldn’t handle the hammerhead shark on their own.

“It’s a pleasure working with you. Before the items reset, our goal is to sweep through the buildings as quickly as possible and remember where the gold coins spawn, so we can be more efficient next time,” Li Jianwei said, extending her hand to Xiaogao.

If it had just been Li Jianwei and Shuheng, they could have still handled the shark, but with a much lower margin for error. They didn’t mind trading the blueprints that were less useful to them for more valuable titanium.

With the four of them in agreement, the next few days were relatively relaxed. Robots, mutated dogs, and mutated rats were no longer a threat. On the seventh day their raft was moored at the spherical city, Li Jianwei and Shuheng discovered that everything had reset, and the exit, which resembled a plane’s emergency exit, had been closed.

Re-exploring was a bit time-consuming, but the thought of getting a lot of strawberries and bananas made re-winding the wires seem inconsequential. Thanks to the Explosion King title, Li Jianwei repaired the power without taking any damage, earning extremely admiring looks from Xiaogao and Xiaodi.

“It’s not hard; you just need to time it right. If you’re not fast enough, you’ll just get a small shock. With the food buffs, a 55 HP loss is acceptable,” Li Jianwei said, generously sharing her tips. They would be working together for a long time, and the more Xiaogao and Xiaodi knew, the smoother their future explorations would be.

With their experience, the new round of exploration was easy. After collecting enough timed explosives, they went straight for the hammerhead. Because Li Jianwei had immunity to explosion damage, they defeated it in half the time it took last time. With Shuheng’s guidance, the four of them smoothly blew open the vault and collected a huge amount of resources.

But as they emerged from the destroyed area, they ran head-on into another team. The two players on the other side saw Li Jianwei and her group and immediately pulled out their bows and shot at them.

Li Jianwei: ?

They couldn’t just stand there. Without needing to discuss it, Li Jianwei’s team pulled out their metal bows and began shooting back.