Chapter 120 The Last Five Percent

Chapter 120 The Last Five Percent

This time, the transition of light and shadow lasted a bit longer, longer than the time it took her to place the vacation house directly through the drift bottle, perhaps because she was inside the Drift Island House.

The effect was similar to taking clothes directly from a drawer versus changing into another set of clothes.

Shu Fu felt a bit dizzy from the transition of light and shadow and instinctively closed her eyes. When she opened them again, her surroundings had completely changed.

The broad surface of the Yinsha River provided ample water for this S-class raft house to comfortably spread its wings. She should now be standing in the large living room at the front of the villa, a rectangular space open on both sides. Compared to the outermost layer deck, it was still a compressed space, estimated to be about seventy to eighty square meters.

The living room had a high ceiling, about three to four meters, with walls on two sides. The front and right walls and windows had all turned into large floor-to-ceiling glass panels, making the entire living room's view extremely broad. Even sitting inside, one could take in the sky and water at a glance.

The living room featured a main color scheme of wooden floors, walls, and ceilings paired with smoky gray furniture, occasionally accented with black and white. Although black, white, and smoky gray are cool tones, the warm base of the wood color diluted this coldness, making it appear very sophisticated and elegant.

The living room was fully equipped with all necessary furniture and decorations: a soft and spacious sofa set, a uniquely shaped and practical coffee table, a soft and new shaggy carpet, a compressed glass display cabinet, a large bookshelf with a few books, an electronic fireplace simulating flames, fresh and soft electric floor-to-ceiling curtains, a large display screen that could connect to phones and tablets, and various small spotlights on the ceiling and walls besides floor lamps, chandeliers, and table lamps.

Since she had already equipped the electric card before changing the house type, all the lights were turned on by default after the house type changed.

She had decorated her loft apartment in her original world and knew well that good lighting effects require professional design. Warm and cool lights with small spotlights creating a diamond effect, paired with glass or obsidian, would bring completely different feelings with different colors and angles.

Now, the lighting in this living room was clearly the most expensive design. Even though it was raining outside and the weather was gloomy, the living room was exceptionally bright and clear, splendid and open, thanks to the perfectly matched small spotlights.

Although the surrounding furniture and appliances were new, upon closer inspection, some of her commonly used items, such as power banks, books, snacks, trash bins, Bluetooth speakers, water dispensers, and even her half-drunk coffee cup, were all appropriately placed where they should be.

The functional panels originally located at the front and back doors were now on the left wall near the glass. She noticed something different: this panel could actually be taken off in this house type!

Originally, she could only operate some settings of the Drift Island House by standing at the front and back doors, but now she could carry the functional panel around and operate it throughout the house, probably because the S-class house type was too large and required some detailed adjustments.

Soon, she discovered that the glass wall in front of the living room was actually a glass door that could be opened. Each door had a fixed central axis and could be adjusted from a horizontal splicing mode to a vertical opening mode. When fully opened, the entire front glass wall of the living room became an open screen state, offering a better visual effect.

The door leading to the underwater glass bedroom was still in a similar position in the living room. She went down to check and found it was about twice as large as before, with an additional bathing area near the glass wall, featuring a beautifully shaped four-corner bathtub and several glass cabinets.

Following the outdoor bath, an underwater bathtub had appeared.

Was this meant for her to enjoy the underwater world while bathing?

**

The corridor leading to other rooms was located at the right rear of the living room, continuing the large glass wall on the right side of the living room. It was a wide corridor with floor-to-ceiling glass, with four doors from front to back, leading to the bathroom, storage room, gym, and entertainment/reading/media room.

The dining area plus the open kitchen was at the very back of the villa, a dining space with floor-to-ceiling glass walls on three sides: left, right, and back. The kitchen was against the wall of the last entertainment/media room in the corridor, first featuring a Chinese kitchen with a sink, countertop, and various built-in kitchen electronics, alongside a double-door refrigerator and freezer.

Opposite the Chinese kitchen was an island bar in the center of the dining space, a Western kitchen countertop with a sink and built-in induction stove. Here, she saw her coffee machine and commonly used kitchen utensils and seasoning packets, automatically organized in cabinets or on countertops where they were most suitable.

The back of the bar had several rotating high stools. She could eat directly on the island bar or sit here drinking coffee, enjoying the surrounding scenery.

Further on was the dining table, not very large, a six-seat rectangular wooden table with six chairs, though she wondered when guests would ever come to her Drift Island House.

The stairs leading upstairs were on the other side of the dining space, at the left rear of the villa, indoor wooden hollow steps. The left side, like the right corridor, was floor-to-ceiling glass, allowing a view of the different functional rooms below when stepping on the stairs.

The previously lined-up bathroom, storage room, gym, and entertainment room near the left side of the villa were all located under the wooden stairs, not enclosed to preserve the view from the left glass wall.

Of course, these functional rooms were equipped with electric floor-to-ceiling curtains and skylights, allowing for private spaces if needed by fully closing the curtains and skylights.

The second floor was even more luxurious, with the space divided into two. The back was the bedroom plus a bathroom with a shower, both with large pure glass walls and electric curtains.

During the day, she could open all the curtains, making the bedroom walls transparent, offering a panoramic view of the surroundings from all sides.

The front half of the second floor, which she had seen from the third-floor balcony, was a super-large balcony with a wooden eave, wooden flooring, and pure glass railings. The best part was that there was also a decent-sized swimming pool.

The pool was built against the front and right glass railings, with the pool edges also being the railing edges. If she moved vigorously while lying on it, water would spill over the railings, fall onto the glass skylight of the deck, and then into the water outside the raft.

Shu Fu's mind blanked for a moment, suddenly realizing why she was acting like a visitor touring a model house, just timidly looking around.

She had plenty of time now and could fully immerse herself in the experience!

So, five minutes later, Shu Fu, with her hair tied up in a bun and wearing a swimsuit, dove into the pool on the balcony.

The pool water was crystal clear, with soft blue lights installed at the bottom, casting a pure, light blue glow over the entire pool. The water was temperature-controlled, so it wasn't cold at all when she got in, and it felt great.

While wondering if the pool water counted toward her daily purified water limit, she swam leisurely to the edge of the railing.

She lay there, lightly waving her hand, and the pool water rippled over the glass railing. Just as she had expected, the water first cascaded onto the glass canopy of the deck, then flowed out through the canopy and into the rainy river outside the raft.

It felt as if she had created a small waterfall.

Shu frolicked in the water for a while, then went to the right side of the glass railing and lay there. On this side, inside the pool, there were a few transparent glass round chairs, offering her a place to rest while she soaked.

Although the second-floor balcony was semi-open, it was still part of the Drift Island House's protective zone because of the wooden eave. Even without turning on the protective shield, it remained temperature-controlled, exclusive, and disaster-resistant, so no one else could enter the pool area.

However, without the protective shield, the floor-to-ceiling glass walls of the living room and bedroom kept outsiders from peeking in, but the balcony with the pool and the front deck, along with other leisure areas, were visible to others.

She wondered if, when she turned off the protective shield and drifted on the water, others might see her lounging carefree and lazy and get so angry they'd want to come up and attack her...

Of course, that was just a thought. Being too flashy never ends well; staying under the radar is the key to survival.

The glass canopy on the first-floor deck was smooth and clean. As she lay by the pool and looked down, she could clearly see every corner of the first-floor deck.

It was slightly smaller than the rear deck but still about 70 to 80 square meters. The sofa seating area was sunken.

Probably because it was powered, the infinity massage pool at the front left of the deck was bubbling on its own.

Shu Fu thought for a moment, climbed out of the pool, dried her feet on the mat by the lounge chair, wrapped herself in a large towel she had prepared, and then made her way through the dining area, hallway, and living room, arriving at the front deck.

She tossed the towel onto a nearby rocking chair and, without hesitation, slipped into the massage pool.

The feeling here was completely different from the second-floor balcony. Because the entire massage pool was sunken, the bottom of the tub was much lower than the deck. The floating deck itself wasn't very thick, and with the left and front sides of the tub being pure glass, it felt as if she were soaking directly in the river outside.

Curiously, she reached out her hand and immediately felt the chilly rain outside the protective shield. The rain was heavy, splattering loudly on her hand, and she quickly pulled it back.

Even without the protective shield, this area had a different temperature from the outside. When she lay on the edge, it felt like there was an invisible glass barrier, blocking the cold and harsh weather outside, with only the soft white noise of the rain filtering through.

The Yinsha River was known for its majestic presence. In the upper reaches, the water rushed, and the river twisted and turned, with steep mountains and dense forests on both banks, offering a completely different experience from drifting on the sea.

Shu Fu took out the map panel from her wristband, casually set a not-too-distant destination on the Yinsha River, set the speed to 20, and let it start drifting.

Meanwhile, she soaked in the massage pool, sometimes leaning back or half-lying down, occasionally experimenting with the massage modes. When she felt a bit hungry, she took out a box of washed fruit to snack on, and when thirsty, she grabbed a cup of water. When she craved something sweet, she sipped on some pearl milk tea.

Leaning against one side of the massage tub, she looked out at the gloomy sky through the glass canopy, feeling like she had become too indulgent. Just yesterday at this time, she was wearing heavy winter clothes, trudging through the wind and rain with legs that felt like lead.

How could she be so comfortable today?

She needed to reflect!

There was still 5% of the mission left for the Level 5 raft!

She needed to stay vigilant; it wasn't time to fully relax and celebrate yet...

As she thought this, she picked up a nearby octopus ball, skewered one, and popped it into her mouth. These octopus balls were best eaten in one bite—crispy on the outside, tender and juicy on the inside, with chewy octopus meat paired with wasabi cheese sauce and bonito flakes, absolutely delicious...

**

Two hours later, after enjoying the massage pool and the swimming pool, and exploring every corner of the luxurious S-class vacation-style villa, Shu Fu changed back into her home clothes and sat down at the dining table in the villa's dining area, ready to do a seven-draw.

Music, scented candles, and the delightful Shu Fu were all set.

First spin, green second prize: Raft usage extension card (one week).

When she saw the one-week duration, Shu Fu's heart sank, thinking that drawing this first wasn't a good omen...

Second spin, red third prize: 100 bags of 50-pound rice.

Shu Fu felt a spark of joy; while she still had plenty of rice from takeout meals in her space, the packaged rice was running low. Now, her stock was fully replenished. Next time she wanted to send supplies to someone, she wouldn’t have to worry about running out!

However, 100 bags of rice take up too much space, just like the 100 barrels of 20L purified water she hadn’t claimed yet due to lack of room. After all, food and water have expiration dates and aren’t suitable for storage in a portable compressed display cabinet.

She needed to figure out a solution, perhaps getting a few motorhome-sized containers to store unused furniture, then placing the entire container in the display cabinet. This would free up space for perishable food and water.

Third spin, green second prize: One-year electricity card.

Perfect!

Fourth spin, blue second prize: Portable freezer (5 compartments).

Shu Fu murmured, “What’s this new thing?”

Having drawn a portable compressed display cabinet before, Shu Fu immediately associated “portable” and “compressed” with furniture-like space and claimed it instantly.

Like the display cabinet, this portable freezer had a fixed location. Coincidentally, she was in the dining area during the draw, and when she looked up, she spotted a long, narrow black metal cabinet by the island kitchen.

The cabinet had five compartments, with a sleek black metal exterior. The front, like the display cabinet, had glass panels and couldn’t be opened by hand, but items could be stored when held near it.

After some quick testing, she realized: this was a time-stopping space cabinet!

Each compartment could hold up to 100 identical items, each under 1 cubic meter. For instance, boxed and bottled milk, both 500 milliliters, couldn’t be stored together. It couldn’t store stacked boxes, like a 12-carton milk box; each carton had to be stored individually, but the limit could reach 100.

Like the portable compressed display cabinet, once claimed, it appeared as a refrigerator icon on her bracelet, letting her access items without needing the raft.

Shu Fu knew exactly what to use it for!

She slid open the dining room’s glass door to the rear deck and claimed the 100 barrels of 20L purified water she’d drawn earlier. Luckily, the rear deck was over 100 square meters, giving her enough space for all that water. She quickly summoned the portable freezer’s projection on her bracelet and stored all 100 barrels in its first compartment.

Then, she stored all 100 bags of 50-pound rice in the freezer’s second compartment.

Shu Fu returned to the dining room, delighted to see the freezer by the kitchen island now filled with purified water and rice. The problem she’d been fretting over was now solved!

However, if possible, containers were still needed, as there were quite a few home furnishings in her space that could indeed be stored in containers and then in the display cabinet, saving more space.

Fifth spin, red third prize: Dessert gift pack × 10.

Shu Fu loved these kinds of ready-made foods the most. A dessert gift pack contained about a dozen flavors of cakes, puddings, and mousses, mostly her favorites: matcha mille-feuille, durian mille-feuille, marble cheesecake, Earl Grey mille-feuille, tiramisu, red velvet cheesecake, caramel pudding, pearl chocolate lava cake, cocoa pudding, original cheesecake, matcha mousse, and chocolate roll...

Each flavor was in independent blocks, four pieces each, with about 50 to 60 pieces in a large gift pack, neatly stacked in transparent square boxes. Just looking at them made her feel happy.

Sixth spin, blue first prize: Upgrade Set (planting).

Another blue first prize!

Shu Fu was a bit excited and quickly tried to swipe the card on the functional screen. When she saw the same "No usable medium detected" message as last time, she wasn't upset; instead, she felt somewhat reassured.

If the usage method of this Upgrade Set was indeed as she had guessed, then the appearance of "planting" this time also provided her with more information.

On the seventh spin, she got a green second prize: a one-week Raft usage extension card.

Failing to get a gold prize on her last chance, Shu Fu felt a little disappointed, but she was already quite satisfied with the new blue first prize and the compressed freezer she had drawn this time.

She stored the new blue card in the glass box she had set aside for such cards and looked again at the two green cards in her hand, both of which were one-week Raft usage extension cards.

Two weeks, fourteen days, totaling 336 hours—enough to extend the raft's usage by 336 days.

Previously, she had complained that the extension cards didn't last long enough, always fearing they wouldn't be enough, calculating time daily, and going to great lengths to find land when the raft couldn't be used.

But now, with plenty of raft extension time, she couldn't shake off her unease.

After all, the prizes she had drawn were never useless or superfluous.

Seeing that she was only five percent away from reaching level 5 with her raft, the sudden abundance of raft extension time made her wonder: does this mean the last five percent of the mission is problematic, or will raft usage time still be an issue after reaching level 5?

**

The raft, shaped like an S-class villa, drifted aimlessly in the upper reaches of the Yinsha River for three or four days. These days of drifting were mostly aimless and relaxed, as she waited for the last five percent of the mission to appear, but clearly, this "troublesome little imp" was at it again.

During this time, Yao Ruoyun made it to Zhicheng, reunited with her parents, and got in touch with Zheng Feifei. However, the temperature in Zhicheng was still below freezing, and the ice and snow layers in many parts of the city had not been completely cleared. Due to road restrictions, they couldn't meet right away.

A month ago, when Shu Fu got online, she had let Zheng Feifei know she was safe. In fact, during previous disconnections, she could have used satellite phones to stay in touch with others, but each disconnection made it hard to explain her situation, and she feared contacts might affect the mission, so she stuck to her mobile phone. Being disconnected meant just that, and the same applied to Zheng Feifei.

This time, she had Yao Ruoyun contact Zheng Feifei mainly because of the fireworks promise.

She didn't know if Zheng Feifei was a companion or how long this barrier would last. Many things were hard to explain, so she told Yao Ruoyun to avoid mentioning the satellite phone and just say they met by chance, with Shu Fu asking her to report her safety and deliver a gift.

Yao Ruoyun naturally obeyed her instructions, but she also made sure to update Shu Fu on Zheng Feifei's situation.

She was doing fine. Even though Zhicheng had many survivors, her family had arrived early, making it easier to find housing and work than it is now. Plus, the government had provided many preferential policies at that time. Apart from the cramped living space and initial discomfort with Xizhou Province's climate and food, everything else was fine.

Later, Yao Ruoyun mentioned her mother Hua Qiong, saying she couldn't spot any abnormalities yet, as before awakening, she couldn't see a light bar above her mother's head.

As for herself, she had originally thought that she would tell her parents about becoming a person with special abilities, having a raft and space as soon as she saw them, but in the end, she calmly held back.

Because they were in a safe city and didn't need the raft for the time being, and the allocated housing was quite small, making it impossible to place the raft, she decided not to mention it for now and quietly stockpile supplies in the backpack slots.

This was something she learned from Shu Fu: keeping a low profile and staying hidden ensures long-term safety. Just because she became a person with special abilities and had space and a raft, she shouldn't rush to show off. After all, Shu Fu had such a large and luxurious raft but still kept a low profile and stayed hidden in the tunnel eating compressed biscuits with everyone. What did she have to show off?

Yao Ruoyun also sent a message to Lu Zheng via satellite phone, hinting that she was a companion. Lu Zheng was very cautious because Shu Fu had not mentioned Yao Ruoyun during the mission period when she was with her, so upon suddenly receiving this message, he didn't reply at all.

But Lu Zheng quickly called Shu Fu, saying it was important and that a call would be better.

He confirmed Yao Ruoyun's situation and satellite number with Shu Fu, then stored Yao Ruoyun's satellite phone, thus maintaining contact among the three parties.

Yao Ruoyun, still following Shu Fu's previous instructions, did not mention the events that had occurred in Wei County to Lu Zheng. Now that the Wei County mission was over, Shu Fu wasn't afraid to bring it up again.

She was just afraid that if Lu Zheng knew her current drifting location, he might come with Chen Fa and others to join her.

Although Chamu County and Dari County are almost across the entire Xizhou Province, for some reason, she felt that Lu Zheng might just do it...

Currently, she was just one step away from reaching level 5 with her raft. If, like the last mission at level 4, the location might change at any time, so for safety's sake, all reunions and meetings should wait until the raft reaches level 5.

Another week passed, and the last five percent of the mission still hadn't come.

After waking up naturally that morning, Shu Fu decided to drift south along the Yinsha River, back to the vicinity of Wei County, to see if it was possible to trigger the mission there.