Chapter 124: The Final Five Percent, Volume One Concluded

Chapter 124: The Final Five Percent, Volume One Concluded

Whether it was the free lollipops or the news that the small raft was about to leave the North Plateau, the survivors in Zhangcheng couldn't help but take notice.

Over the past three months, their attitude towards this raft had shifted from suspicion and rejection to trust and even treasuring it. It was hard for everyone to accept that the raft was leaving.

Nowadays, the internet is also a valuable resource. To access the internet, one must go to a fixed location and pay to enter the network coverage area. Therefore, those who learned of this news couldn't spread it online as they used to, making it widely known.

However, half an hour after Shu Fu posted this new notice, many people in Zhangcheng still got the news.

The news spread by word of mouth, and many people, even if they didn't need to cross the water to other places today, flocked to the shore. Some crowded the shore, reading the newly posted words line by line; some looked at the raft with reluctance; others approached closely, trying to reason with the owner in the cabin, such as why not stay longer after being here for three months? The survivors in the nearby waters, including Zhangcheng, really need the raft!

Some cautiously boarded the raft, stepped onto the balcony, and took a lollipop as a souvenir when they left.

Those lollipops were naturally not the galaxy lollipops Shu Fu had previously given to Liu Shuang and Zheng Feifei, but rather the ones collected from the large glass lollipop cabinets in the buildings of Sui City. These lollipops were affordable and of good quality, and many malls would buy lollipop vending machines, placing them at the entrances and exits of passages, with several on each floor, filled with lollipops of various flavors. After inserting a coin, a random lollipop would drop out.

Some supermarkets also sold entire jars of such lollipops.

She had stored several lollipop glass cabinets in her space, and the automatic water fishing rod had harvested even more unopened jars of lollipops from the water. When she organized her space, she broke a few glass cabinets and gathered the lollipops together, as the large quantity made them perfectly suited as free gifts.

Therefore, she placed a large cardboard box directly on the balcony.

These lollipops certainly weren't as delicious as the other candies she had specifically stocked up on, but they weren't bad either, especially in these times when snacks, being non-essential, were becoming scarcer with each bite, and people wouldn't usually spend their resources on such treats.

For them, although the gift was small, it was a good one because children would like it.

As the first person took a lollipop and left the raft, a second followed, and soon, everyone who had come to the shore to watch the spectacle boarded the raft to receive a lollipop.

Due to past experiences and the fact that over these three months, the small raft had taken on a different meaning in everyone's hearts, no one took more than they should. Each person took one, said thank you, and quickly left, making room for the next person.

Some survivors, upon hearing the news, even came as a family to get lollipops, so each person could have one, and they could save them all for their children.

Shu Fu didn't keep an eye on the balcony camera all day today. She had intended to give out the gifts until they were gone, and if someone took a few extra, she wouldn't mind.

But she truly didn't expect everyone to be so orderly. It felt like, after these three months, her small raft had taken on a completely different meaning in the hearts of the survivors in the North Plateau.

She couldn't help but think again of the name the survivors here had given her raft when they posted it online: the Sacred Mini Raft.

Hmm, it seems they genuinely used the word "sacred"...

Perhaps because today was a special day, many people boarded the raft to get lollipops, but no one took the raft to other places. It wasn't until noon, when the lollipops were almost gone, that Feng Lü, the captain of the Fire Dragon Team, came again.

The cumulative number of people rescued and carried by the raft didn't limit the same person from being carried twice, so in the beginning, her cumulative numbers were mostly provided by the Fire Dragon Team.

And over these three months, when the raft docked at other abandoned cities, it had encountered covetous strangers more than once. Whenever the Fire Dragon Team was around, they would stand in front of the raft, solving the trouble for her before she could act.

Perhaps they also knew that this raft didn't need their assistance, but the assistance itself represented an attitude.

So Shu Fu's impression of the Fire Dragon Team had also changed. Feng Lü must have known that today was the raft's last day here. He came alone, boarded the raft, and named a nearby county town. As the raft slowly started moving, he went up to the second-floor balcony.

During the short thirty-minute round trip, Feng Lü sat there quietly, watching the camera in the corner of the balcony.

Shu Fu could probably guess that today's trip wasn't because Feng Lü needed to take the raft, but rather, it seemed like a way to say goodbye to the raft.

When the raft returned to the shore of Zhangcheng, Feng Lü, who had been sitting quietly on the balcony, suddenly smiled. It was a somewhat self-deprecating smile, as even he didn't understand what he was expecting.

Could it be that the raft's owner would come out to meet him because of his arrival and the impending departure?

He had never seen the person in the raft's cabin, but to him, that person was a very special existence, as if over these three months, they had become friends.

"Where are you going after this?" Feng Lv finally spoke up. "Will our paths cross again? Will we really meet again?" He smiled, asking so many questions, though he knew he wouldn't get any answers.

Before leaving, Feng Lv, like the others, bent down and grabbed a lollipop from the big cardboard box.

"Thanks for the gift. It was great riding on your raft. See you around."

As Feng Lv stepped off the raft, Shu Fu was leaning against the soft cushion by the floor-to-ceiling window, reading a book. She glanced to the side and caught sight of his retreating figure on the shore, with the white light strip flashing on his head in the rain.

The light strip was two-thirds full, flickered twice, and then vanished.

**

That afternoon, after the raft had taken another group of people to a nearby county town, Shu Fu's bracelet suddenly started vibrating.

It was a rapid and prolonged vibration, as if several notifications had come in at once.

She held back her excitement, waiting patiently for the last person to leave the raft before activating the protective shield and autonomous drifting mode.

She sat by the floor-to-ceiling window, rolled up her sleeve, and checked the bracelet on her left wrist, where several icons were flashing.

After unlocking the bracelet, she first clicked on the "notebook" icon—

"Special mission progress bar maxed out at 5%! Congrats, you’ve earned 10 spin draws!"

"Raft level 5 progress: 100%"

"Congrats! Your raft is now level 5!"

[Check out the level 5 raft features in the 'unsinkable Drift Island House.']

Finally!

Shu Fu looked at the congratulations on the screen, feeling a sense of relief. She realized she wasn’t as thrilled as she’d expected, having watched every 0.1% increase in the progress bar over the past few months.

This wasn’t an instant win like before—it was a steady, step-by-step process where she knew every detail.

Next, she checked the backpack icon, the marker for her space. Before today, she had never seen this icon flash. She tapped the icon, and the silver frosted glove covered her left hand, signaling the collection of items into the space, just like before.

Why was this icon blinking?

Shu Fu quickly caught on and focused on the space. Instantly, she was shocked.

Her backpack space had expanded!

Originally, her space was around 150 cubic meters, but now it had grown six or seven times, to about 1000 cubic meters!

1000 cubic meters!

Now, she wouldn’t have to worry about size when collecting stuff! She could even toss in a few cars or containers!

Even without checking the level 5 raft’s new features on the screen, the bracelet changes alone were enough to blow her away. Along with these two icons, the 'spin draws' and 'map' icons were also blinking.

Shu Fu couldn’t wait any longer. She bolted to the front door to check out the new features.

"Raft: Level 5

Drift Island House: 60 square meters (two-story starter house; instant dust removal)

Construction mode: 1. Instant house swap (3 blueprints unlocked); 2. Manual renovation.

Level 5 protection features:"

1. Drift Island House owner mode (the owner area interior is a disaster-resistant, temperature-controlled, and secure living space);

2. Drift Island House durability: Advanced;

3. Drift Island House protective shield (automatic/manual): ① Daily usage time: unlimited; ③ Wristband remote control.

4. Shu Fu protective shield (automatic/manual): ① Daily usage time: 30 minutes; ② Stored time (automatically deposited at 0:00 for the remaining day): 38 hours, 19 minutes, 43 seconds.

Drift Island House functions: 1. Mooring; 2. Drifting; 3. Stealth (only under the Drift Island House protective shield state, daily time limit: unlimited); 4. Towing: No towing position detected yet.

Driving modes:

1. Directional drifting (flow speed adjustment range: 10-100 km/h);

2. Direction selection (automatic obstacle avoidance): East, South, West, North.

3. Water area map.

Daily usage time limit: unlimited.

Wastewater collection and filtration (0/10000L): 1. Automatic discharge when full; 2. Manual discharge.

Water source options: 1. Purified water (six hours daily, unlimited water usage during the usage period, automatic water storage in the tank during the usage period; time adjustable, initial default period: 9:00-12:00, 18:00-21:00); 2. Tank water storage (3294/5000L).

Garbage crushing and purification: Sink (activated); Toilet (activated).

Network: 1. Drift Island House local area network; 2. Satellite network (network card not equipped).

Whole Drift Island House power supply: Power card equipped (can set daily power usage periods during the equipped period, initial default periods: 11:00-12:00, 17:00-18:00, 21:00-22:00).

"Drift Island House placement maximum distance: within 200 meters (automatically retracts to the wristband beyond the maximum distance)."

The functions of the level 5 raft seem ordinary, as if nothing has changed, not even the interior of the Drift Island House has undergone any changes, but only she knows how significant those changes are to her!

The Drift Island House protective shield, stealth time, and most importantly, the unlimited daily usage time of the raft!

She never realized how appealing the word "unlimited" could be.

What does it mean for all these functions to be "unlimited"?

It means that from now on, her raft can maintain an invisible state on or under the water forever, she no longer needs to keep track of the raft's protective shield time, she can stay wherever she wants, for as long as she wants!

Other minor changes also made her happy, such as the unlimited purified water usage period plus automatic water storage, which means the daily limit has increased from the original 100L to 5000L, after all, in six hours, a 5000L tank can be filled no matter what! Even if she doesn't use water during the set times, the tank alone can last her a very long time.

So, Shu Fu happily selected "2" for the water source option—tank water storage.

For example, the addition of network functions, although it seems that a card is still needed to use it, but at least the raft is no longer an isolated island!

Also, the new function of the power card, the appearance of setting daily power usage periods, means she no longer needs to install and remove the power card, she can adjust the time freely, allowing power to appear automatically during the times she needs. The current initial period allocation is very reasonable, she hasn't made any changes.

In addition, the long-awaited fourth function of the raft has finally appeared: towing!

Seeing the line about no towing position detected yet, she immediately took out the glass storage box from her space, the two gold and two blue most important cards were all here, she placed the two gold cards close to the function screen.

Instantly, after two crisp "beep" sounds, the function screen displayed a new details page.

"Towing:

Towing position 1: Empty. [Initial sharing function: Option 1 (not yet selected); Option 2: (not yet selected); Option 3: (not yet selected)][Special: None]"

Tow slot 2: Empty. [Initial shared functions: Option 1 (not selected); Option 2 (not selected); Option 3 (not selected)][Special: None]

Note: Once a shared function is selected, it cannot be changed, so choose carefully. For every 100 consecutive days of towing, one additional sharing function can be unlocked.

When she clicked on "Tow slot 1," the screen displayed a top-down view of the raft in the water, with a highlighted area in the water at the left rear of her raft’s aft deck, indicating the position for Tow 1.

At the same time, a list of options popped up on the screen.

"Selectable tow rafts (Note: Bond level must be ≥80)

1. Chen Fa's raft (Bond level: 100);

2. Zheng Feifei's raft (Bond level: 96);

3. Lu Zheng's raft (Bond level: 91);

4. Yao Ruoyun's raft (Bond level: 90);

5. Hua Qiong's raft (Bond level: 85)

6. Fang Zhuo Wen's raft (Bond level: 81)"

Looking at this list, Shu Fu was utterly shocked, her eyes widening in surprise!

She hadn’t expected there to be six names on the list!

What did this mean?

It meant that Hua Qiong, Zheng Feifei, and even Fang Zhuo Wen, whom she hadn’t been in touch with since leaving Louyun City, had awakened without her knowledge!

She had originally thought there would be at most one less tow slot, but now—it was a classic case of too many people and not enough resources!

At this moment, the content on the detail page revealed a lot of information she hadn’t understood before, such as the meaning of the number next to the white light strip.

It turned out it wasn’t a trust value, but a bond level.

No wonder! When she had guessed that the number represented a trust value, she had been confused why people she had never met would have numbers next to their light strips. Logically, the other party didn’t know her at all, so where would the trust come from?

Compared to trust, the bond level encompassed a much broader meaning. For example, even if the other party didn’t know her, if they came from the same world or both possessed the special ability of a raft, this, in a way, also counted as a bond. Or, for instance, being in the same team and having gone through disasters together—even if both sides weren’t familiar and hadn’t spoken much—the bond would still increase.

And because it was a bond level, not trust, Zheng Feifei, Hua Qiong, and even Fang Zhuo Wen didn’t need to be by her side to awaken on their own. These few people had already formed an unbreakable bond with her!

Or, to put it another way, the bond between them and her had already been fully established.

A bond level of 80 or higher was required to meet the conditions for towing a raft. This meant that, apart from possessing the special ability of a raft, only those who had formed a strong bond with her and had been associated with her raft missions—or so-called "female time-travelers from another world"—could stand on the starting line for the tow raft position.

These two basic conditions were indispensable.

As for those with bond levels in the single digits, and Wen Yi, whose level was 29 after awakening, they might lack one of these two basic conditions, so their rafts couldn’t be towed by her.

What’s the point of towing?

She clicked into the "Initial shared functions" selection bar and found, as she had guessed, that it listed some of her raft’s existing functions, including water purification, electric energy, garbage disposal, instant dust removal, manual upgrades, sewage treatment, network, aquatic map, and defensive shield.

This meant that any raft towed by her could share some of her raft’s existing functions, transforming from a primitive raft into a modern one!

Not only that, but the shared functions even included a defensive shield, which meant the towed raft could also be included under the protection of the Drift Island Shelter. From then on, whether in deep waters with roaring waves or the unpredictable underwater world, wherever her Drift Island Shelter could go, their rafts could trail behind her, advancing fearlessly!

At this moment, Shu Fu’s mind raced, as if she could already picture a future moment—a truly exhilarating moment!

Even though the towing slots are still empty, the "shared features" seem to be directly selectable. She didn’t rush into choosing, as she still didn’t know which features the owners of these two towing slots would pick. She had to pick the raft she wanted to tow first.

Shu Fu scanned the list of six names and tried to click on the first one, "Chen Fa's Raft."

The towing failed, and a message popped up on the screen: "Chen Fa's Raft" is not within the towing range. Please confirm that "Chen Fa's Raft" has been successfully placed.

Okay, she got it. She had to meet up with her friends first, and only after meeting them could she proceed with the towing. That made sense.

Shu Fu was thrilled. She could already imagine the looks of shock on Chen Fa and Lu Zheng’s faces when they heard this news.

Of course, it was also possible that after all this time, Lu Zheng and the others had gotten used to life in the new city. Additionally, since Xu Tingfeng and the other four, as well as Yue Dong and Jiang Dai, couldn’t live in the raft cabin, Lu Zheng might not choose to tow.

After all, towing means leaving land behind for good and making the raft and water their home from then on. It’s not a decision to take lightly.

Fortunately, there are only two towing slots available now. If Lu Zheng decides to stay on land, she could offer the spot to Yao Ruoyun or Zheng Feifei. They are very likely to choose to tow, as their raft cabins can accommodate their families of three. Especially Yao Ruoyun—she’s probably itching to go.

So, the most important thing now is that she needs to increase the number of raft towing slots as soon as possible. The only way to get more towing slots is by relying on her luck with spin draws.

Shu Fu sighed, thinking this method of getting towing slots seemed pretty unreliable.

She headed to the bathroom to wash up, planning to go all out with a ten-spin draw.

Surely this ten-spin draw would give her at least one towing slot, right? But what about after this ten-spin draw? Now that the raft has reached level 5, would there still be quests to level up to 6?

If the missions end here, would there be no more spin draws down the line?

Shu Fu suddenly thought of the "Spin Draw" icon that had been flashing on her wristband earlier. Suddenly realizing something, she stopped mid-wash, quickly rinsed off, and then reactivated her wristband.

She pulled up the spin wheel. On the small metal circular display, there were no colored sections or pointers. Instead, a line of text flashed, waiting for her to confirm.

"Detected that the raft has reached level 5. Level 5 rafts get an extra spin draw every 72 hours, refreshed at 0:00. Spin draw chances can accumulate."

Indeed!

72 hours is three days, which means that even if there are no more progress bar missions in the future, she’d still get a spin draw every three days!

Every month, she can achieve a ten-spin draw!

The level 5 raft was truly something else. After grinding through that last five percent of the upgrade, it was all worth it!

Shu Fu clicked on the line of text on the spin wheel, confirming the message. She retracted the wheel, ready to spritz on some perfume and go all out with the ritual.

However, after retracting the wheel, she noticed that there was still an icon on her wristband that she hadn’t checked.

It was the map panel icon.

Normally, the water map barely changed after the next level's raft progress bar mission appeared. Since starting with the level 1 raft, Shu Fu had always been within a limited barrier. Over the past year and a half, she had come to accept the fact that she wasn’t free.

Even when she thought about finding Chen Fa and Lu Zheng to tow, her first instinct was to drift to the water closest to Chamu County and wait for Chen Fa and the others to come overland to meet her.

The new features of the level 5 raft today had already given her too many surprises. Could there be more?

She summoned the map panel, and just like the spin wheel, there was a line of flashing text waiting for her confirmation.

When Shu Fu read the line of text, her eyes widened in shock again!

"Congratulations! The global water map has been unlocked. The raft has now entered global free drift mode."

(End of Volume 1)

Author's Note:

Wow~ I've been thinking about this last line since the first time Fu Fu opened the map in Sui City. 500,000 words later, I've finally written it! It wasn't easy~~

—Congratulations, Fu Fu! From now on, all the waters of this planet belong to you~

Although it's divided into two volumes, the second volume is about construction, so it will probably be short~ The main story is almost finished, hahaha~