Night fell once again.
Inside this fully enclosed metal room on the second floor, the world grew so quiet it seemed someone had pressed the mute button.
Qin Yu locked the door.
Though in this isolated expanse of sea, a lock couldn't guard against human nature, much less genuine malice, it was a habit.
A habit of preserving a final boundary for oneself, even in the safest of times.
He turned around and looked at the S-class Deep Sea Cloud Dream Bed that occupied half the room.
Without any unnecessary movement, he simply collapsed onto it.
"Hah..."
A long, heartfelt sigh escaped him.
It wasn't the jarring pain of hitting hard wood, nor the discomfort of lying in a tent with an aching back.
It was an embrace.
In that moment, Qin Yu felt as if he were enveloped by a warm, gelatinous substance.
S-class Deep Sea Mollusk Colloid.
This thing was truly miraculous.
It perfectly conformed to every muscle and bone in his back.
Even the sore spots in his lumbar region from prolonged strain were gently and precisely supported by a soft, cushioning force.
"Is this the value of an S-class item?"
Qin Yu rolled over onto his side.
The pillow automatically adjusted its height to keep his neck aligned in the most relaxed position.
It was incredibly comfortable.
This comfort wasn't just physical.
It was a mental release.
Ever since arriving in this damned apocalypse, his nerves had been stretched taut like a rubber band at its limit.
Killing sharks, expanding his base, guarding against the dark tide, and staying wary of others.
Every second was spent calculating.
Every second was spent in tension.
Only now.
On this bed.
Qin Yu felt that taut rubber band finally loosen.
No need to worry about a knife in the back from under the bed.
No need to fear rolling into the icy seawater with a simple turn.
"System."
Qin Yu called out in his mind.
The character panel appeared.
[Host: Qin Yu]
[Status: Extreme Comfort (Mental Recovery Speed +300%)]
[Hidden Wounds Repairing: Latissimus Dorsi Minor Strain (Estimated Repair Time: 20 minutes)... Right Arm Ligament Fatigue (Estimated Repair Time: 15 minutes)...]
Looking at the rows of flickering green data, a faint smile tugged at Qin Yu's lips.
This wasn't just sleep.
It was recharging.
It was evolution.
When he woke tomorrow, he would be a fully fueled killing machine once more.
He closed his eyes.
His breathing quickly became deep and steady.
No need to count sheep.
On this bed, insomnia would be an insult to S-class resources.
...
Just a wall away.
In another room.
The atmosphere was far from as tranquil as Qin Yu's.
"Wow... Sis..."
Yao Qian's voice was hushed, but her excitement was impossible to conceal.
She rolled back and forth on the bed.
Like a puppy just placed in a new home.
"This bed... is it alive?"
"It's hugging me!"
Yao Qian clutched the soft pillow, burying her face in it, her voice muffled as she spoke.
"It smells so good..."
"There's no smell of the sea, nor the stench of sweat."
"It's like... like the scent of home after the sun has dried everything."
Yao Xue sat by the bed.
She wasn't as wild as her younger sister, but her trembling fingers betrayed her current emotions.
She gently stroked the sheets, smooth as silk.
As a doctor, she was sensitive to materials.
This was definitely not any material currently existing on Blue Star.
It warmed to the touch, offered excellent breathability, and she could even feel a faint bioelectric current pulsing at her fingertips.
It was designed to stimulate blood circulation.
"Stop rolling around."
Yao Xue patted her sister's wildly kicking thigh.
"That's a real silk nightgown, don't wrinkle it."
Yao Qian stopped, lying spread-eagled on the bed, staring at the ceiling.
Though it was just painted sheet metal, in her eyes it might as well have been the dome of a palace.
"Sis."
Yao Qian suddenly turned her head, eyes sparkling.
"What do you think Qin Yu is doing right now?"
Yao Xue's hands, which had been undoing her hair, paused briefly.
"Sleeping."
She replied indifferently.
"What else would he be doing?"
"Hehe..."
Yao Qian giggled mischievously, flipping over to lie on her stomach, propping her chin with her hands, her White Silk Stockings-clad calves swinging in the air.
"Don't you think... such a nice bed."
"Such a big bed."
"It's kind of wasted on him sleeping alone?"
Yao Xue's cheeks warmed slightly.
She turned and glared at her sister.
"Yao Qian."
"Clear all that nonsense from your head."
"He's a man."
"A normal, vigorous young man."
"Don't think he didn't notice your little antics last night, and don't think I didn't notice either."
Yao Qian stuck out her tongue and buried her face in the pillow.
"I just... just wanted to repay him."
"Repay him?"
Yao Xue snorted coldly, taking off her slippers, her long, elegant legs sheathed in Black Silk Stockings gracefully moving onto the bed.
She leaned against the headboard, her gaze passing through the gaps in the incompletely sealed wooden window, looking out at the dark night sky.
"In this world."
"The body is the cheapest form of repayment."
"Among the tens of thousands of survivors out there, women willing to sell their bodies for a single steamed bun could form a line from here to the coastline."
Yao Xue's voice was cool, yet carried the rationality of someone who had seen through worldly affairs.
"Is he lacking women?"
"If he just called out in the channel, this Raft would sink from the weight of women throwing themselves at him."
Yao Qian stopped swinging her legs.
She rested her head on the pillow dejectedly.
"Then... then what are we?"
"If we weren't important, why would he give us such good meat to eat? Why let us sleep in such a nice bed?"
"He even made us tomato and egg stir-fry..."
At this, the young girl felt like crying again.
That had been the most emotionally overwhelming moment of the day.
Yao Xue fell silent.
She placed her hand over her heart.
There, her heartbeat wasn't as calm as her outward appearance suggested.
Why?
Because he was Qin Yu.
Because while he appeared ruthless, appeared to treat everyone as tools, deep down he possessed a quality most scarce in this post-apocalyptic world.
Principles.
He would break bones in battle.
But he didn't torture, didn't humiliate, didn't treat people like livestock.
"Because we're obedient."
Yao Xue finally offered this answer.
"And because... we're useful."
She pulled the blanket over both of them.
"Go to sleep."
"I want to stay in this bed. I want to stay in this room."
"Then wake up early tomorrow."
"Finish sewing those pigskins and smoke the meat properly."
"Don't let him think keeping us around means feeding two mouths that only know how to eat and mate."
Yao Qian fell silent.
She obediently slipped under the covers and nestled closer to her sister.
No sounds came from next door.
Yet that presence—
The man's aura—
Even through a wall, it gave the two sisters an unprecedented sense of security.
On this vast ocean that could swallow lives at any moment,
He was their only anchor.
...
The night grew deeper.
The Everlasting Day Lamp overhead, in its dim mode, still stood guard faithfully.
The white circle of light enveloped the Raft like a protective shield.
The rhythmic slapping of waves against the iron armor gradually became monotonous and hypnotic.
Time passed.
3:00 AM.
The hour when sleep is deepest.
Also when the ocean shows its fiercest face.
"Vmm—"
A faint yet profound vibration arrived without warning.
Not the wind.
Not the waves.
It seemed to come from deep beneath the sea, or perhaps some distant place, traveling through the water and steel foundation straight into their bones.
In the water glass on the bedside table,
The surface rippled with dense concentric circles.
The next second—
Qin Yu's eyes snapped open.
There wasn't a trace of drowsiness in them.
Only clarity.
And sharpness.
As if he hadn't been sleeping at all, merely resting with closed eyes.
The deep-sleep effect of the S-grade bed was too potent—four hours were enough to restore him to peak condition.
The slightest disturbance would trigger his system-enhanced perception.
"Vibrations?"
Qin Yu didn't rise immediately.
Remaining lying down, he quietly assessed the movements beneath him.
Low frequency.
Long wavelength.
This wasn't the sharp impact of a monster hitting the Raft.
It felt more like...
Resonance caused by some massive entity in motion.
"Earthquake? Or tsunami precursor?"
Qin Yu threw off the covers.
Moving as lightly as a cat.
He didn't turn on the lights.
Darkness was the best camouflage.
He snatched up the S-grade shotgun beside his pillow.
The cold touch of the weapon instantly put him in combat mode.
Approaching the window,
He peered through the gaps in the wooden boards.
Outside remained a dead, silent black.
Beyond the circle of light, nothing was visible.
But he could sense it—
The wind direction had changed.
The sea breeze, originally carrying a salty dampness, now held a strange new scent.
The smell of earth.
And...
The odor of rotting wood.
"Land?"
Qin Yu's heart jumped.
Where would an earthy smell come from in this endless ocean?
Unless...
He pushed open the door and stepped barefoot onto the solid wood floor without making a sound.
Reaching the second-floor terrace,
The sea wind blasted through the collar of his sleepwear.
Chilly.
Squinting, Qin Yu fixed his gaze due south.
There—
Lay a darkness deeper than the night itself.
"System, activate night vision."
Though he lacked specialized night-vision gear, his enhanced physical attributes granted him vision far beyond ordinary humans.
His pupils contracted slightly.
The darkness before him gradually gained layers.
Then—
Qin Yu's pupils abruptly dilated.
About two kilometers from the Raft,
A mountain.
No.
A massive black shadow stood silently upon the sea!
It was enormous.
At least ten times larger than the previous island with the wild boars.
Like a slumbering prehistoric behemoth, most of its body remained submerged, revealing only a menacing ridge above the water.
That dead Wang Meng had been right.
There really was a massive island.
And.
It was moving.
The low, resonant hum was the sound of this island displacing seawater.
"A floating island?"
Qin Yu tightened his grip on his gun.
His heart involuntarily quickened its pace.
Fear?
No.
It was greed.
The primal instinct of a hunter spotting an unprecedented prey—a mix of wariness and exhilaration.
An island this vast.
What could be on it?
Fools like Wang Meng, charging ahead with nothing but a shoddy axe, were courting death.
But if this island held resources...
It would be a mountain of gold and silver!
Though their raft now had a two-story structure and iron plating,
at its core, it was still a floating coffin.
It lacked too many essentials.
Soil.
Vegetables.
And minerals.
The scraps earned from selling water were far from enough to establish true maritime dominance.
"An opportunity."
Qin Yu murmured under his breath.
His words scattered into the sea breeze.
Just then,
the door to the adjacent room creaked open.
Yao Xue emerged, draped in a coat,
clutching a scalpel tightly in her hand.
Her face was pale, clearly startled awake by the vibrations.
Spotting Qin Yu by the railing, she relaxed momentarily, only to tense up again.
"Qin Yu..."
"You felt it too?"
Qin Yu didn't turn around.
He simply raised a hand, pointing due south.
"Look there."
Yao Xue followed his gesture.
At first, she saw nothing.
But as her eyes adjusted to the darkness, the colossal outline gradually took shape on her retina.
"A sharp intake of breath—"
Yao Xue nearly dropped her scalpel.
"That... that is..."
"That's where Wang Meng died."
Qin Yu's voice was unnervingly calm.
"Or a similar island."
"So massive..."
Yao Xue's voice trembled.
As humans, facing such an incomprehensible leviathan, fear was instinctive.
"Should we flee?"
She asked reflexively.
"It's upwind—if we change course, we might avoid it."
"Flee?"
Qin Yu turned around.
In the faint light cast from the masthead,
Yao Xue saw his face.
There wasn't a trace of fear on it.
A near-mad smile even tugged at the corner of his lips.
His eyes burned with an intense fire.
"Why flee?"
Qin Yu patted the cold iron railing.
It emitted a sharp "clang."
"Yao Xue."
"Remember this."
"At sea."
"The fiercer the storm, the more valuable the catch."
He gazed at the island, looming like a demon god, as if it were his own backyard.
"Up there."
"Lies the soil we need."
"The minerals we seek."
"Perhaps even something to make this vessel truly soar."
Qin Yu withdrew his gaze, glancing at the mechanical watch on his wrist.
3:30 a.m.
Two hours until dawn.
"Go back to sleep."
He passed by Yao Xue, his tone detached.
"Huh?"
Yao Xue was stunned.
With such a colossal threat looming, sleep?
"Conserve your energy."
Qin Yu pushed open his cabin door, pausing mid-step.
His back still turned to Yao Xue, he said:
"At daybreak."
"We land on that island."
"I'm going to strip it bare."
The door clicked shut.
Only Yao Xue remained standing in the cold wind, staring at the massive dark shadow, unable to regain her composure for a long time.
Madman.
This man was utterly insane.
Yet for some reason.
As she looked at the tightly closed door.
The fear of the unknown in her heart miraculously faded away for the most part.
Replacing it.
Was a strange, boiling passion.
If she followed him...
Perhaps...
This island truly was just a slightly larger supermarket?
Yao Xue took a deep breath.
Clenched the scalpel in her hand.
And turned back to her room.