Survival: Ocean (Playwright) Chapter 106: The Treasure Quietly Awaiting Excavation, Lower

Wu Hui sat alone at the prow of the wooden raft, with Wang Xiaodie lounging behind him in a surprisingly cheerful mood. She had changed into fresh clothes and then sidled up beside him, resting her head naturally against his shoulder. “Master, you really have to take responsibility for me~” The sweetness in her tone was so cloying it made even her own skin crawl.

Wu Hui glanced at her but remained silent. He understood that once he had opened this door, the two of them would soon find themselves in situations like this with disturbing frequency. Yet refusing to yield with sheer willpower alone carried its own risks—distraction, mental strain, and who knew what else. After the encounter, Wu Hui’s demeanor toward Wang Xiaodie softened noticeably. Of course, she still performed her share of the chores—washing dishes, folding clothes—otherwise this girl would have lost all motivation to gather supplies and break the slave contract.

Wang Xiaodie had spent the past two days laying out every detail of her life for him. She could find no real difference between her current existence and what she remembered from before, which surprised her. After all, she had already surrendered her first blood, so she harbored no real reluctance. She had simply heard that Wu Hui kept quite a few girls outside.

In the early stages of low-level play, pulling new recruits into the game rarely spanned great distances. Wang Xiaodie lived in Changqing City, was a student here, and had become a player at roughly the same time as Wu Hui. Her family had seemed empty from the start; she had been an orphan for years and relied entirely on scholarships. Becoming a player had made her life far more comfortable. In childhood she had been so poor she gambled at casinos to cheat, even stole things. It was all the grit of someone who had clawed her way up from the bottom.

Wu Hui had told her part of his own situation in return. “I still don’t quite believe it,” Wang Xiaodie said, openly leaning into his arms. “You’re actually just an ordinary student?” She let out a theatrical sigh. “Ah, this is so boring. Let’s play something. Preferably with stakes.”

“What else can we bet besides the slave contract’s expiration?” Wu Hui asked, pushing up his glasses.

“Whatever you like,” Wang Xiaodie replied.

They began to play.

The stakes were modest—just one or two days of contract time. They gambled from midday until evening, moving from idioms chain games to word-guessing contests. Wang Xiaodie could occasionally win with pure luck—rock-paper-scissors, that sort of thing—but she lost every other round. In the end she forced the slave contract’s expiration forward by twenty-eight days.

“Damn it!” she muttered, squatting dejectedly beside him. “I’m done playing.”

Gamblers who chase losses never end well.

Wu Hui wondered whether he should let her win a little. It wasn’t out of pity; he simply found it dull to win every time, and the other party would only grow tired and quit. Those casino swindlers played on until they knew the tricks, all to give their victims a taste of sweetness before the final kill.

The raft’s supplies, especially fuel, had dwindled sharply. Food could be supplemented by fishing, and with a water purifier freshwater was plentiful. Reaching the next island would pose no problem, but what if it was barren, with no resources at all? What if the island after that was just as distant? They could endure it. Food and water were still sufficient; at worst they could make jerky, even if it tasted bitter, and survive.

Still, a greater danger loomed. What if a storm struck?

In recent days the sky had filled with thickening clouds and the sea wind had shifted unpredictably. Wu Hui stared into the distance, his expression betraying rare unease.

“What’s wrong?” Wang Xiaodie, who had just lost another month, seemed resigned. She leaned closer again. “I’ve finished the last bottle of magic potion. I only owe you two months now. Honestly, I’m still quite happy about it. But… at the beginning it didn’t feel this long.”

Had she been trapped?

No, it was entirely her own reckless gambling. If she hadn’t bet against Wu Hui, only one month would remain. She had even gained a magical book as compensation.

That book… seemed to be the one she had caught herself.

The only small comfort was that Wu Hui did not appear to intend forcing her to hand over all her items and points the moment they reached land.

Wu Hui noticed her sudden mood swing and asked, puzzled, “There may be a storm.”

“…Indeed.” Wang Xiaodie looked up. “In that case, can the raft survive?”

“It can’t.” Wu Hui began organizing supplies. “Even if it doesn’t break, it will flip. So… prepare yourselves.”

Psychological readiness and material readiness mattered most. Secure important items to your body; if the raft overturned, you could still cling to floating planks and hope for rescue after reaching shore.

He himself had little to fear. The worst outcome would be a storm at sea, the raft capsizing, the bear and Wang Xiaodie drowning. Yet Wu Hui could still rise again with the fish-lung potion and the tools he carried.

Wang Xiaodie had no such advantage. She was far more alarmed than he was.

“Stay calm,” Wu Hui said. “First feed the bear and the insects. They were only half-full these past few days—now give them more to keep them strong.”

“Got it.” Wang Xiaodie returned to work.

Wu Hui turned his attention to fishing. This time he reeled in a treasure chest. Adding Wang Xiaodie’s contribution, he now held ten gold coins. His mark reserves on the Hundred Insects Spectrum also showed progress; one inscribed beast could be unlocked.

Water spider. Aquatic habitat, claws, high agility.

The final mark had come from opening the chest itself.

In this situation, summoning more creatures could mean greater strength later. The sea offered far richer resources than land. An infinite-bait fishing rod and even a torn net could feed many mouths. Drift bottles hidden with secrets and potion recipes waited to be discovered.

This was a vast, untapped treasure.

The book recording summoning combinations of over a hundred insect-type inscribed beasts was another. Yet behind every treasure lay unknown dangers—storms, conspiracies. Even he, facing such things, felt small and helpless.

“Hey, shall we keep playing?” Wang Xiaodie’s worry had lasted perhaps three hours. Once she confirmed she had prepared everything possible, this girl quickly shook off her panic.

After all, whether a storm would come remained uncertain. Constant worry only harmed oneself.

“You’re treating this like debt that doesn’t weigh on the body?” Wu Hui observed her behavior with mild confusion. It was convenient, however; he could practice the casino’s slow, steady luring of victims into deeper and deeper ruin.

Wang Xiaodie remained blissfully unaware, even delighted by her rising win rate.

Unconsciously, she had now lost another ten days. It was slower than losing an entire month at once, but steadier, like a slow bleed.

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