The chat channel fell silent for a moment, then exploded in chaos.
Cheng Shuilu's private message notification sounded incessantly like popping beans, and her system panel automatically popped up with 999+ unread messages.
"What's going on?" She frowned and clicked on the most recent message.
[Mighty Man Crying]: "Crow Boss, please give me something to eat, I haven't had water for three days (crying.jpg), I'll trade you my clothes!"
Cheng Shuilu nearly choked on her own saliva.
Quickly swiping away that message, she blocked and deleted the person, only to find the next message was even more absurd:
[Little Puppy Online Waiting]: "Crow Boss, you're so strong in combat, so cool! Can you give me a ride? I have eight-pack abs, they can be your pillow."
"What kind of demons and monsters are these..." Cheng Shuilu muttered, her mouth twitching as she opened the chat channel. Finally, she understood the situation—someone had shared the photo of the self-heating hotpot she had posted earlier to the public channel, and now everyone knew that "Crow Takes Flight" had plenty of food.
But honestly, they didn't need to advertise it.
Cheng Shuilu shrugged. Was it that hard to guess?
The public channel was scrolling fast with messages:
[Smart University Student]: "@Crow Takes Flight, big boss, look at me! I'll trade two vehicle upgrade fragments for one box of self-heating rice!"
[Tornado Destroying Parking Lot]: "Crow, I'm your long-lost sister! I swear, I'm your sister!"
[Fake Spinach]: "Who has anti-inflammatory medicine? My teammate is almost done for! Please, help!"
[Building Materials Brother]: "@Crow Takes Flight, I'll trade you a golden resource box spot for one box of self-heating hotpot."
Cheng Shuilu squinted her eyes, ignoring some of the silly and perverted messages, her finger pausing over the message from the "Smart University Student."
She had an upgrade core, just lacking the fragments.
If she could trade for them, her vehicle's safety and speed would be greatly improved!
Her food was enough for now, and it was still early in the game, the time when food was the most scarce. Only during this phase would people be willing to exchange fragments for food.
Without hesitation, Cheng Shuilu clicked on the person's chat window.
[Crow Takes Flight]: "Not enough, won't trade."
A little game of hard-to-get.
After sending this message, she closed the chat window with [Smart University Student] and stared at a few of the other messages thoughtfully.
The [Tornado] message was ignored, and the [Building Materials Brother]'s offer was a low-quality trick. Cheng Shuilu sneered. If she knew the location of the golden treasure chest, forget one box of self-heating hotpot—she wouldn't trade even ten!
What interested her more was the message from [Fake Spinach] mentioning a teammate.
People were social animals, and perhaps later in the game, lone wolves wouldn't survive. But for now… Cheng Shuilu grinned. She, the lone wolf, was living the good life.
She hadn't expected these people to find teammates so quickly.
Just as she was mulling it over, another new message popped up in the public channel.
[Black Whirlwind Li Kui]: "Song Jiang, Song Jiang! It's me, Li Kui! Your good brother! Contact me quickly!"
Cheng Shuilu suddenly understood. These players had found real-life friends to form teams, leveraging their trust for easier cooperation.
She was a workaholic and an orphan. She rarely had any interpersonal connections, always alone when she returned home. Only now did she realize.
That jerk of a manager had used this very reason to suppress Cheng Shuilu, saying things like, "You're alone when you go home anyway. You might as well contribute to the company." That kind of monstrous speech!
At the time, Cheng Shuilu had been honest, diligent, and hard-working, only to be exploited again and again by the manager!
But now, having died once, the new Cheng Shuilu casually shrugged. If she ever met that manager again, she'd make sure to slap that fat face!
With that thought in mind, Cheng Shuilu opened the chat window again. The [Smart University Student] had sent several more messages.
[Smart University Student]: "Big boss, how about I give you three? That's all I have left!"
It had only been two minutes since Cheng Shuilu hadn't replied, and yet this person was already bargaining with himself.
[Smart University Student]: "Crow, please! I've opened boxes all morning, and nothing but food! How about I throw in a baseball bat? It's the only thing I got, I swear!"
And then came two more messages.
[Smart University Student]: "Crow, I just got another one! Four pieces in total! Can we trade for one box?"
[Smart University Student]: "Please, Crow, let me know what you think."
"Well, well."
Cheng Shuilu chuckled lightly. She'd been away for just a short while, and this person had already come up with his own price. She took her time before replying lazily.
[Crow Takes Flight]: "Four fragments and one baseball bat for one box of self-heating rice. No negotiation."
As soon as the message was sent, the system alert sounded: [Smart University Student] was "typing..."
As expected.
[Smart University Student]: "Boss! Can't you give me a little more? I have a teammate..."
Now that the plea came, it was too late. Cheng Shuilu glanced at the person's ID, and silently agreed with the name. It suited him well.
She didn't respond, letting the silence speak for itself. After a short while, the system alert chimed again.
"Player [Smart University Student] has sent you a trade request. Do you accept?"
Cheng Shuilu opened the trade interface. The other player had already placed four glowing blue metal fragments and a baseball bat, which appeared to be quite sturdy.
She checked the descriptions of the items and confirmed everything was in order before adding one box of self-heating rice to the trade.
"Trade confirmed."
With the system notification, Cheng Shuilu's inventory now contained four vehicle upgrade fragments.
She eagerly checked the details of the item:
[Vehicle Upgrade Material Fragment]
Description: Collect ten fragments to upgrade a vehicle. Using with an upgrade core yields better results.
Nice. Only six more fragments needed.
Just as she was about to close the chat window, the player sent a friend request.
"Player [Smart University Student] requests to add you as a friend."
Cheng Shuilu wasn't interested in adding friends and ignored the request. She squinted her eyes, using the chopsticks from her self-heating hotpot to pick up a piece of potato. She couldn't deny it—the food was really good!
While eating, Cheng Shuilu kept an eye on the trade channel. She still wanted to trade for six more pieces and upgrade her vehicle.
The trade channel was moving fast, with plenty of people offering what they lacked.
[Highway Survival Emperor]: "Looking for food! Anything edible will do."
[Wishing for Sea Breeze]: "Trade me a Rolls-Royce car key! After I drive it away, I'll trade for food. Any kind of food, come trade!"
[Akk Steel Pipe Softener]: "Vehicle upgrade material fragments for food! Honest trade, exchange what we have!"
Cheng Shuilu raised an eyebrow. This was the opportunity she was waiting for!
She clicked on the private message from [Akk Steel Pipe Softener], the message was short and clear.
[Crow Takes Flight]: "How many?"