[Notice: Congratulations on obtaining Lingbo Treading-the-Sky Boots (Transcendent) ×1!]
Shua!
The golden glow slowly faded, leaving a pair of metal war-boots etched with mysterious black-gold runes in front of Lin Bei.
Occasional wisps of air fluttered above the boot-heels; on closer look they seemed to be faint, semi-transparent energy wings—utterly fantastical.
[Lingbo Treading-the-Sky Boots]
Level: 10
Quality: Transcendent
Description: All-terrain boots usable on land, sea, or air; greatly boosts movement speed and leg strength.
Requirement: Combat Power > 1,000
Effects:
1. Lingbo: After equipping, you may walk on water.
2. Treading-the-Sky: After equipping, consume stamina to fly at low altitude up to 300 m.
3. Extreme Speed: +100 % movement speed and greatly increases kicking attack power.
4. Extreme Flash: Heighten focus to clearly track attack trajectories and perform perfect evasions.
---
Lin Bei stared slack-jawed at the Transcendent boots, drool sliding down the corner of his mouth.
With these boots he'd never again fear drowning out of the blue.
More than that—he could tread the very sky!
What man hasn't fantasised about soaring freely through the heavens?
Besides Lingbo and Treading-the-Sky, the boots also boosted speed, power, and evasion!
Were his Combat Power high enough he'd already be shooting skyward to cruise the clouds!
Still, he could slip the boots on for now.
He just couldn't trigger any of their four effects yet.
Unless… he activated Potential Surge—though that lasted only thirty seconds.
So the task before him was clear: push his Combat Power above 1,000 as fast as possible.
"But even a Great White Shark now gives a measly 200 exp. Levelling for more Combat Power won't be easy."
"Maybe I should upgrade my Island level—once the fog recedes farther, stronger Marine Creatures might spawn."
Lin Bei muttered, vexed.
In short, he had the strength—but no mobs to farm.
"How about… I drive a shadow tank into the mist and try my luck?"
After mulling it over he opened his blacklist, freed the Oil King he'd blocked earlier, and sent a private message asking to buy Fuel.
He figured the guy might ignore him after being blacklisted, and was ready to pay through the nose.
Yet barely three seconds after the message left his fingers, a reply popped up.
"Beiming Bro, you finally added me back! I'm starving to death here, waaah—"
"Don't worry, I've got Fuel—however much you want!"
"Just trade me some food and water."
Lin Bei, curious, asked: "Er… haven't you traded food or water with anyone since yesterday?"
"Ugh, don't remind me! Business is dead—only a few guys bought lubricant; I earned zip."
"As for food and water, no Survivors will part with those precious supplies for my stuff."
"Didn't you offer your doll to trade?"
Lin Bei thought the Oil King's still-999-durability premium doll should fetch plenty of food and water.
"Ahem, well… that thing's broken now."
"What? It had 999 durability! Man, you're… vigorous—never would've guessed!"
Hey, you've got it wrong! Those invading sea-beasts tore it apart yesterday."
"Oh, rough break—sorry to hear it."
"Tell me about it! The monsters charged right onto shore; if I hadn't had my gun I'd be done for."
The Oil King nodded emphatically.
Yet Lin Bei frowned. "Wasn't your invasion just Great White Sharks?"
"Great White Sharks? Sure, they gnawed a few chunks off my island, but nothing big—I just poured a few barrels of petrol down one's throat and it croaked soon after."
"They're only scary in the water. The things I mean had green faces and fangs… er, call 'em Fish-Men maybe?"
"Bulging muscles, travelling in threes or fives, human legs plus fish-fins, warty green skin—creepy as heck."
"But they're all brawn. One shot from my Big-bore Desert Eagle and they shut right up."
With that he sent a smug emoji.
"Right, Great Lord Beiming, you didn't meet those Fish-Men yesterday?"
"Nope."
Lin Bei answered honestly.
"WTF, so I'm the only one those freaks targeted? And no food or water either! My sea's pitch-black—barely any supply treasure chests all day, and every one I do get spews oil products—gag!"
"Add to that, when the sea beasts invade I get more and tougher monsters? How'm I supposed to live?"
Lin Bei silently wished the poor guy a second of peace.
He really did have it rough.
"Enough moaning. You wanted to trade, Great Lord—what d'you need? I just pulled three bottles of Fine-quality miracle oil, guaranteed top grade!"
"I need some Fuel."
Lin Bei's mouth twitched. "Fine-quality or better—got any?"
"You bet—barrels of it!"
The Oil King thumped his chest. "I've got a hundred barrels—how much d'you want?"
"I'll take the lot. How do we trade?"
"Wha—all of it? *Gasp*"
Oil King sucked in a breath, then blurted excitedly, "Each barrel's about two hundred litres—name your price and they're yours!"
"Two hundred litres a barrel?"
Lin Bei rubbed his chin. "What d'you fancy eating or drinking?"
"Ahem, I'd love Roasted Shark-Fin and Iced Cola! Saw your chat channel food-pic yesterday—nearly drooled myself to death!"
"Of course other food's Fine too."
"How about invigorating cigarettes?"
"Eh? N-no—tempting, but with my setup I'd probably burn myself alive."
"Then one Roasted Shark-Fin plus a Cola for a barrel, or three loaves of bread plus a tin of Canned Lunch Meat and a bottle of purified water per barrel—deal?"
"Holy—seriously?"
Oil King's eyes bulged; he swore in shock.
"Absolutely. Shark-fin's limited stock, so I can't supply huge amounts right now."
"No problem! Here's the deal, Bro—one Roasted Shark-Fin slice and a bottle of Cola from you each day, everything else we settle with bread and Canned Lunch Meat."
Oil King pondered for a moment. "Reserve the fin and Cola for a month; the rest we'll trade under plan two."
"Works for me."
Lin Bei nodded and promptly traded Oil King 210 loaves of bread, 70 cans of lunch meat, and 70 bottles of purified water.
"As for the roasted fin and Cola, give me a minute."
"Hahaha, sure, sure!"
Oil King's face lit up—he felt so happy he could explode.
At last… no more dry throat or empty stomach!
"Great Lord Beiming is too generous! Handing over such precious supplies without blinking, and all I gave was a bit of Fuel—what a saint! Not like those stingy lube traders; they're worlds apart from the Great Lord!"
"This Oil King has decided: I'm hugging Beiming's thick thigh for dear life! Life will be so much easier!"
Munching bread and gulping water, Oil King resolved to follow Beiming to the end.
"Bro, whenever you need Fuel, just look me up! I'll give you twenty… no, fifty percent off—let's be friends!"
"Consider this little Bro's goodwill—hope you won't refuse."
Oil King sent a trade request, placing an excellent-grade Desert Eagle and a full 300 bullets on offer.
Seeing this, Lin Bei recalled the "Facing the Gale" guy he'd just blocked—what a difference between people…
He didn't actually need the pistol, though.
His weapons were piled into mountains; if he wanted, he could become the Island Survival World's biggest arms dealer right now.
He cancelled the trade. "Keep the pistol—you need the firepower more than I do. And take this; protect yourself. I'm counting on future restocking."
Lin Bei opened a new trade and sent over an Adaptive Protective Suit.
"Holy—excellent-grade gear! I hereby name you my god—cough—my boss!"
With a yelp Oil King shoved every barrel of Fuel he currently owned into the trade window: "All I have—900 common barrels, 300 premium barrels! All yours, boss!"
"Don't refuse! This set is priceless! Now I can fight without worries!"
"Boss, whatever you need, just say the word! Fuel? Take it! Just keep me fed so I don't starve!"
"Please~~~"
Having seen Beiming's strength, Oil King turned full boot-licker, calling him boss every other second.
Recalling his tens of thousands of shadow tanks and seeing Oil King's eager attitude, Lin Bei didn't refuse and tacitly accepted the title.
If someone was willing to supply endless Fuel at any cost, why say no?
Of course, he knew this was a favor owed.
He didn't care and simply accepted the debt.
He wanted Oil King to stay alive so the Fuel would keep flowing.
Judging by Oil King's story, his island… was clearly different from most players in the public chat channel.
In short, it seemed more advanced—and more dangerous.
The Fish-Men in the invasion event were proof enough.
Besides, Fuel was currently useless to the average survivor's development stage.
Oil King's island resources were ahead of their time.
That only strengthened Lin Bei's guess.
He sensed that islands yielding a single resource were rare—and vital.
So he planned to invest in Oil King, hoping for a pleasant payoff one day.
He would observe Oil King a while longer; if satisfied, he wouldn't mind gifting a shadow tank to boost the island's overall Combat Power.
"Speaking of which, what's up with Bei Bei Nan Gua? Half a day and not a peep—did something happen?"
Frowning, Lin Bei opened his friends list.
Just as he was about to check on her, she messaged first.
"Big Brother Beiming, be careful—some Survivors have built ships and turned Pirates, raiding other islands."
"A bunch just tried to ambush mine; they had pistols, but I wiped them out—scary but safe."
"Big Brother, please watch out!"
She sent a trade request with dozens of primal stones on offer.
"I looted these from them—take them, Big Brother."
"Glad you're okay."
Lin Bei felt a warm surge at the sight.
"How could anything happen to me? Their pistols were just for show—couldn't hit a thing! And with the protective set you gave me, even a hit wouldn't matter."
"But your island must be huge by now, right? A bigger target draws Pirates—stay careful."
Bei Nan voiced her worries.
She knew Beiming's suit could stop bullets, but if too many invaders came and surrounded him, danger still loomed.
That fear kept her on edge about his safety.
"Relax, I offed an intruder this morning—easy. Don't worry."
Lin Bei chuckled. "Keep the stones and level up your island fast—more resources spawn the next day."
"…All right."
Seeing Beiming was safe, Bei Nan finally exhaled.
Then she noticed a trade request from him.
She opened it—and froze.
On the trade window lay a slender longsword wreathed in cold mist.
The excellent-grade blade—Fine Snow Dance.
"You know ancient martial arts; this should help."
With that, Lin Bei confirmed the trade.
On the other side, Bei Nan trembled, tears brimming.
No one had ever treated her this well since childhood.
He cared about her safety, worried about her plight.
All she'd known since memory began was training—getting stronger.
Everyone around her demanded results; warmth was non-existent.
Sloppy training meant injury in sparring—or death.
She had endured countless hardships over the years.
Coming to Island Survival felt less like a life-and-death crisis and more like release—a brand-new life.
"…Should I sail out too? Find him and protect him by his side."
"That way he'd never be in danger."
Head lowered, Bei Nan murmured, eyes gleaming with steely resolve.