Famine 36: Triple Protection

Triple Protection
[Day Eleven / 6:00 PM / Farm Perimeter / Current Farm Satiety: 45%]

Before nightfall, the last group of service players finally arrived at the farm.

In these past five days, changes had brought new vitality to the areas surrounding the farm.

The group of service players now numbered over a hundred, already taking on the shape of a nascent settlement. The defensive works everyone had once excavated together had, under the direction of the blacksmith, been expanded to accommodate more people.

Within this small community, several individuals capable of commanding respect were gradually emerging.

Li Cui’e was in command of the core winter clothing weaving techniques; she acted decisively and efficiently, with strong organizational skills. Wu Jing was cheerful and sociable, adept at rallying others—his call had once incited the earlier service player unrest. There was also Li Xuan, an apothecary owner, who was kind and capable; with an undemanding trade, he was the one everyone turned to in case of conflict within any household, always ready to mediate. He occasionally handled some statistics, fundraising, and similar miscellaneous tasks, and everyone trusted him.

These three had long enjoyed prestige and were personally close; by complementing each other’s strengths, they gradually formed the prototype of a leadership group.

Meanwhile, with the farm now providing a steady food supply, Lin Qiushui’s squad had simply stopped going out on missions. With only minor adjustments to their equipment, they had become the guardians of the service players’ settlement. The service players pooled funds to pay their wages, so they kept watch and patrolled atop the walls, dealt with stray myriapod monstrosities, and protected the community’s safety.

Lin Qiushui was still young, but was fond of being on the move by nature, and was quite content with the current state of affairs. Yun Zhong, now able to settle down and properly care for his younger sister, was also happy and tackled every day’s work with enthusiasm.

Wang Wen pushed up his glasses, sighing with emotion:

“We were supposed to be the ones eliminated by the master of this place! Half a month ago, I didn’t dare imagine I’d live to see today, much less days of such leisure and ease.”

“All of this, we owe to Master Kuuga.”

Everything looked to be thriving and full of promise.

And the most tangible benefit brought by all these changes, led by Si Zhiyan, was that the farm’s income had risen sharply.

Over the last five days, Si Zhiyan had earned a total of 35,340 credits, easily exceeding the farm’s cumulative credit requirement for level 3.

To maintain the farm’s satiety during the evening digestion each day, it was necessary to spend a certain amount on daily upkeep. Si Zhiyan held spending to the minimum, disbursing a total of 12,300 credits over five days. This was used to purchase three empty seedbeds, two small cottages, and a new facility—the [Aquatic Accelerator], which sped the growth of fish fry and shellfish populations.

Now, schools of hand-sized fish leapt in the ecological ponds, shrimp trails marked the clear pond bed, and the pond walls were thick with shellfish, which were becoming ever more abundant.

It would not be long before there was fish and shrimp and shellfish to eat.

All the remaining credits were hoarded.

Including previous reserves, Si Zhiyan had a total credit savings of 23,060.

Having more credits was a good thing, but it could not resolve the most fundamental problem.

The red sphere of light still bound the farm’s core, locking satiety at 49%. Spending more credits did nothing.

In the farm’s basement, dark liquid was still steadily rising. Without explosives in hand, the danger of [Devoured by the Starving Farm] still hung over Si Zhiyan’s head.

[Main Quest: Feed It (3)]
[Quest Description: Raise the farm’s satiety to 50% within fifteen days.]
[Failure Penalty: Become food (stewed)]

This quest had been issued on the second day, with a final deadline on the seventeenth.

There were six days left until the farm would devour him.

Si Zhi leaned back on the sofa, fingertips pressed together, pondering the next move.

Tang Qinghuai and Li Shize could handle the other preparatory steps in advance and reduce the actual process of making explosives to less than two days. That was the limit.

Which meant they had, at most, two days to deal with Gu Haoping and take out his warehouse base.

As the sun set, Tang Qinghuai sat beside Si Zhiyan, taking a bite of noodles with meat sauce while prying open today’s spatial rift.

Space slowly tore open to reveal the skeletal ferry on the other side.

They transferred into a vast, dark sheet-metal warehouse, where the flicker of a camp lamp illuminated Sha Tong and Zhong Manwen, seated against the far wall.

Tonight, the rift was not open for business.
It was time for an internal meeting of the resistance.

“Excellent,” Sha Tong said, sprawling at the head of the table, elbows on knees, a cigarette dangling from his lips, a wild grin on his face.

“All the traitors are dead. Everyone’s here. That’s a good thing.”

With one blunt sentence, he passed over five days of blood and strife. Tang Qinghuai pressed his lips together. Zhong Manwen gave her a faint smile, then surveyed the whole room.

In the darkness, scattered pinpricks of flame rose and fell. Some stood, some sat, guns and blades at their sides; packed tightly, at least a hundred people filled the warehouse.

Everyone’s eyes shone in the firelight, each with a different expression; yet still, here they stood.

Even the man who’d shouted “qualified player!” through the rift was there. He carried a green recurve bow on his back, his face determined.

And, [a letter of thanks from Master Kuuga].

This, indeed, had drawn people to their side.

When people were brought into another adjacent room, Yi Zheng and the others were already waiting, ready with sums of money and speeches of persuasion.

On the very day the rift opened, Zhong Manwen had explained that for the resistance, the most important task was expanding their ranks.
With the call of the Rift of Life, that was not so difficult. The right to survive, tangible self-interest—these were always the firmest of allies.

Five days was not enough to forge a truly unified team. Everyone was a makeshift addition, and it was hard to guarantee that all would share a single mind.

Still, they were all united beneath the same banner and ideal—

“To kill Gu Haoping and welcome back Commander Nie,” Sha Tong said gravely.
“That is why we stand here, all of us.”

“Our combat force now numbers ninety-three qualified players, twenty-eight service players, for a total of one hundred and twenty-one warriors.”
Sha Tong grinned:
“That’s so many people. If we twisted off Gu Haoping’s head and used it as a football, we could play five matches.”

The group burst into laughter.

Sha Tong pressed down both hands, and the laughter died at once.

“Now back to business.”

“Siblings, we need to pick the right night, and before Gu Haoping is even aware of our presence, tear his forces to pieces.”

“Gu Haoping seems reckless, but he’s shrewd and extremely cautious in truth. Except in necessity, he never sets foot outside the command manor. We’ve come up with various ‘lure the snake from its den’ strategies, but none seem truly viable.”

Sha Tong held up three fingers.

“So, to twist off Gu Haoping’s head, we’ll have to tear through the triple protection of his lair.”

“First: the Sea of Blood.”

“The command manor stands at the far edge of the skeletal ferry, surrounded on three sides by the Sea of Blood. Lately, they seem to have found a means of briefly controlling the sea’s tides.”

“When the attack launches, he’ll surely retreat to the manor and use the sea as a moat to hold us off. We’ll have to charge straight through it.”

The resistance members exchanged glances, murmuring among themselves.

Not everyone was capable of crossing the Sea of Blood. Most qualified players had no real answer to the curse, able only to use expendable protective items. The cost was enormous, and not everyone possessed them.

If their ranks were battered by the sea even before battle began, it would be a severe blow to the resistance.

Si Zhiyan silently prepared, then spoke:

“Allow me to offer what little I can.”

Sha Tong immediately looked up, his gaze brightening.

Si Zhiyan, lounging amid the mist, legs crossed, said lightly, “As for breaking the Sea of Blood barrier, you need not worry.”

These words, delivered with ease, resolved a massive difficulty for the resistance.

Spirits throughout the room rose, and many looked at Si Zhiyan with gratitude.

“Thank you, Master Kuuga.”

“Next, the second layer: the Command Guard.”

Sha Tong put down another finger and clicked his tongue.

“The Command Guard has been reshuffled. The new commander is from Gu Haoping’s own men, and the guard is filled with nearly two hundred hand-picked lackeys, sustained by nutrient paste and mainline quests. The new blood is loyal.”

Those who’d once held the position of guard captain, watching their squad reduced to this mess—even if they said nothing, their hearts must ache.

Sha Tong gave a cold smile.

“But they forget one thing.”

“No matter how he replaces people, no matter how I’m sidelined…
the Command Guard was built by Commander Nie and me, hand in hand.”

“We have fewer people, but that doesn’t matter. I have detailed plans. The night before the final battle, I’ll explain how we’ll fight this.”

“For now, to prevent leaks, I must keep it confidential. Please trust me.”

Everyone nodded, showing their understanding.

“Our problem lies in the third layer of protection.”

Sha Tong drew a deep breath and rose to his feet.

Si Zhiyan looked up.
Here it comes—the focus of tonight’s meeting.

But instead of addressing the next protection barrier, Sha Tong changed the subject abruptly, asking:

“Yi Zheng, what was Commander Nie’s Chosen Weapon?”

Yi Zheng, called on suddenly, straightened up: “Eh? What’s there to ask? That two-meter-tall death scythe—Commander Nie was never seen without it.”

Sha Tong curled a lip. “No. That scythe is an S-ranked cursed object, something Commander Nie, Gu Haoping and I won together. Out of worry over my lack of ability, Commander Nie had me try it out at first, but I wasn’t cut out for cold weapons, so in the end, he kept it himself.”

“Commander Nie’s true Chosen Weapon…”

Sha Tong spoke slowly.

“…is the Skeletal Ferry itself.”

For a moment, the entire resistance erupted; a wave of whispers surged through the room.

Even Yi Zheng leapt to his feet in shock:
“The Skeletal Ferry is a weapon?!”

“Exactly.”

Sha Tong sighed and rubbed his brow.

“It attacks or defends, opens space between buildings, floats stably atop the tides of the Sea of Blood… This enormous ferry, able to shelter thousands, is no mere cursed item.”

“It is the apex cursed item of the game of Famine—a Chosen Weapon.”

Si Zhiyan understood instantly.
No wonder, at first glance, the curse information hadn’t appeared for the skeletal ferry.

Just like Andersen’s [Magical Mask], the Skeletal Ferry was a Chosen Weapon, a linkage-type cursed object. Only if the farm and the item’s owner were in contact at the same time could its properties be assessed.

“…And the most infuriating thing is that, starting a year ago, for reasons unknown even to me, Commander Nie actually shared part of the Skeletal Ferry’s power with Gu Haoping.”

Sha Tong ground these words out, teeth clenched, his anger obvious.
Back then and even now, he could not understand—he and Gu Haoping had both served under Commander Nie for six, seven years, so what made Gu Haoping so special?

Chosen Weapons should never be shared. If Commander Nie had ignored himself, Sha Tong would have had no complaints.

But why Gu Haoping? What was he to deserve that?

But protests or not, facts were facts; in the end, hands clasped behind his back, Sha Tong could only sigh out the final sentence:

“So, the third and final protection we must break is…”

“…the Skeletal Ferry itself.”