After a full day’s work, Yun Luohe made a pot of mixed seafood risotto.She simmered a broth from shrimp shells, added a dozen scallops, diced smoked meat, then picked a few tender leaves from the Greenhouse.She folded in fresh-milled new rice.Ten-odd minutes later, the whole pot was ready.Roubao and Fenfen had both worked hard today, so Yun Luohe gave them each an extra meal.Roubao got a pan-seared fish steak; Fenfen got crunchy biscuits.Seeing the two of them eating happily, heads down, shoveling food without even looking up—While eating, Yun Luohe quickly skimmed the chat channel and forum. No matter how busy she was, she still needed to track current events, understand a portion of what players urgently needed, and the forum often had very useful shares.Right then, the finals notice for the cooking tournament arrived.This notice contained the finals theme and participation requirements.[Finals Theme: The Taste of Happiness. Prepare one dish apiece for five judges.][Finals Venue: Luxury yacht.][Judges: Peach, Vivira, Captain Hilco, Liya, Old Xu][Rewards: The champion will receive a legendary cookware item, ten top-grade ingredients, Cooking skill proficiency +2000, the complete S-grade cookbook for the Chef’s Tournament, Peach Favorability +20]First place was indeed a great prize.Since she had to cook for five judges, she needed to cater to their tastes. @All the best reads, all at Jinjiang Literature CityBy luck, today Yun Luohe had gotten a lot of NPC information from Captain Hilco.Peach had a raging sweet tooth; Vivira liked floral honey; Captain Hilco loved seafood and strong liquor.As for Old Xu, she only knew he adored high-grade ores—his food preferences remained unknown.And Liya—there wasn’t any information at all.Yun Luohe contacted Tianji Pavilion and requested all NPC dossiers.Peach’s and Captain Hilco’s intel overlapped with what she already knew.Vivira’s dossier only revealed that she liked all kinds of insects—the rarer, the better.There was no information on Liya; not even what she did.Yun Luohe remembered Captain Hilco had seemed to have more to say back then but stopped—maybe he’d been about to tell her about Liya.For now, she could only gather as much intel as possible. The finals would start in three days, which meant Autumn Day 25.She still had two days to prepare.Captain Hilco would also return to her island on Day 26.So before that, she had to upgrade the reef rating and also finish building Captain Hilco’s residence.Not a moment of idleness. @All the best reads, all at Jinjiang Literature CityFortunately an Advanced Livestock Shed was already built, and after an afternoon’s effort the spiders had collected enough materials to build another Advanced Livestock Shed.Construction would start tonight and be finished by tomorrow.Yun Luohe opened the Trade Hub, took out a portion of high-grade dishes, and quickly exchanged for a large number of chickens, ducks, geese, and rabbits.With that, the number of small animals would be sufficient.Yun Luohe sorted all the animals into the Chicken Coop and Livestock Shed.[Teeming with Life achievement achieved. Rating +400. Reward: Dog Collar.][Dog Collar: When worn by a dog, increases loyalty and includes basic command functions, allowing the dog to more clearly understand simple owner commands.]This thing was useless without a dog; she’d need to get a dog to use it.And she wasn’t planning on keeping a dog for the time being.Yun Luohe checked the time; it was already deep night.There hadn’t been many insects at night lately; the reef was quite calm.But the radiation fog was very thick; by early tomorrow it would probably hatch a large number of insects again.A cool wind blew against her; it felt comfortable. Yun Luohe suddenly remembered she hadn’t gone sea fishing in a long time. With the yacht about to be finished, she might as well try the deep-sea rift again tonight and see if she could land another Bluefin tuna.Last time she’d only had some meat left and sold it for that many Sea Coins. She could never have enough Sea Coins—she’d just spent tens of thousands on blueprints and materials—so she needed every way possible to earn more.By recycling the trash the Mutual Aid Association turned in daily via the Trash Bin — Transform into Treasure and then dumping it into the Shipping Crate, she could reliably make over ten thousand Sea Coins a day.But that was far from enough.She didn’t have the time to constantly cook for players to earn their Sea Coins, so hoarding some high-priced goods to sell to NPCs was the best way to make money.The sea shimmered under the night.Yun Luohe first took the newly bought Knot-Mesh Fishing Net and tied it to the stern, packed some bait inside—it should attract small shoals from the shallows.Even small fish were still meat—good for a pot of fish soup—and this was a sturdy net bought from Captain Hilco; there might be a pleasant surprise.Yun Luohe had been near the deep-sea rift several times, so she found the place quickly.She deliberately brought Fenfen and perched it on her shoulder.With its special ability, it should—Once they arrived, Fenfen flew to the bow and swiveled its little head left and right.Yun Luohe had improved the tuna bait; this—Movement.She couldn’t help switching on [Scanning Eye] to check below the surface, but she could only see some glowing plankton and small shoals drifting past. She waited patiently, hands firm on the rod.Minutes ticked by.Just as Yun Luohe thought she might go home empty-handed tonight, Fenfen suddenly shrieked, urgent: “There’s a big shadow below! Really fast.”Almost at the same instant, the rod in Yun Luohe’s hands bent down into an exaggerated arc.A huge force tore up from the water, dragging Yun Luohe’s body slightly forward.“Fish on.”Yun Luohe planted her stance, sinking her weight.She locked both hands on the rod and began a tug-of-war with the giant.The line went taut as a spear; the thing below had monstrous power, knifing left and right and constantly diving, trying to break free.Yun Luohe had already glimpsed it—a giant Bluefin tuna.Bigger than the one she’d landed last time.So this was the benefit of higher Luck.She was thrilled, but she knew she couldn’t rush—and she couldn’t celebrate too soon.A hook-up was one thing; landing it was another.To haul up this behemoth, she’d have to work for it.The seesaw dragged on for nearly an hour.At last, the Bluefin tired.During the fish’s frantic runs, Yun Luohe had taken short rests and eaten two dishes to refill her Stamina.Now the Bluefin’s struggles were waning—time for her to press the advantage.She inched the line back, inch by inch.Finally she brought the fish to the surface.Up close, it was a colossal brute.By eye, at least three hundred kilograms.At two jin per portion of meat, and removing head, tail, and bones, this fish would yield at least fifty portions of prime cuts.Perfect.Yun Luohe hauled the fish aboard; it nearly filled the whole boat.Hahaha—one fish and the hold’s bursting!Time to head back.She planned to keep it alive in the fish pond.Live storage preserved flavor far better than slaughtered storage—especially with the tournament finals coming up, where fresh ingredients mattered most.With a Bluefin of this caliber, freshly killed, the fillets turned into dishes would definitely move Captain Hilco.Back on the island, she first transferred the three-hundred-kilogram giant Bluefin into the fish pond.Watching it slowly swish its tail in the clear water, Yun Luohe finally let out a breath.She had built the fish pond the day before yesterday; now it was earning its keep.——@All the best reads, all at Jinjiang Literature CityAutumn Day 23.At first ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) light, Yun Luohe received a prompt.The Advanced Livestock Shed was finished.[Secure Livelihoods achievement achieved. Reef rating +400. Reward: Motorcycle Blueprint ×1][Motorcycle: Two-wheeled vehicle. Top speed 80 km/h. Carrying capacity 300 kg. Unlocking it will greatly improve movement efficiency on the island and in surrounding areas.][Materials: Steel Ingot ×10, Rubber ×5, Advanced Lubricant ×2]Yun Luohe arched a brow. The Motorcycle Blueprint was practical enough; the island area kept getting larger, and traveling on foot really did waste time—especially when collecting materials meant running back and forth between the reef zone and the Greenhouse. A ride would save a lot of effort.Steel Ingots and Rubber were fine; the question was what she could use to make Advanced Lubricant.She’d check the Trade Hub later to see if she could buy some.For now, no time.A huge swarm of insects was surging toward the island’s center; she had to handle it at once.Yun Luohe issued the order: “Spider Legion, move out and wipe those insects.”Hundreds of spiders immediately poured out of the Spider House, drilled and disciplined.Leading the Spider Legion, Yun Luohe hunted the swarm. With several hundred spiders moving together, the battle was over in two hours. The insect tide was annihilated, converted into nourishment for the Spider Legion’s upgrades.After that, Yun Luohe continued dispatching spiders to clear land and fell trees.“Gold-Shell Spiders, your target is the dense forest over there—the felling is yours. Gemstone Miner Spiders, pulverize all those big rocks in the southeast.”She herself turned toward the Chicken Coop and Livestock Shed.The coop was packed; the cackling and quacking never stopped.The chickens, ducks, and geese she’d put in yesterday had already started laying; the rabbits huddled in corners, nibbling carrots.Two days without cleaning had left hygiene in a poor state.Yun Luohe summoned a few Horticulture Nanny Spiders to start cleaning the coop.The Livestock Shed felt much emptier—because of the upgrade, the space had grown and could hold many more animals.Yun Luohe put a few newly bought lambs inside.She also installed some automatic devices like a milking bucket and feeders…She had the spiders lay out feed for all the small animals. Seeing the lambs go to the grass by themselves, she left reassured.By late morning, it was done.The Opening New Ground (clear and level 5000 square meters of land) achievement triggered as well.System prompts chimed again:[Opening New Ground achievement achieved. Reef rating +500.][Reef rating has surpassed 5000. Current rating: 5128/50000.][Reef evaluation tier increased.][New Reef Mall permissions unlocked.]“Great!” Yun Luohe’s eyes lit up—the 5000-point target was finally met.She immediately opened the Mall.Basic Building Materials Pack: includes Wood ×200, Stone ×200, Basic Metal Ingot ×50. Daily limit 5 packs. 2000 Sea Coins/pack.Seasonal Seed Pack: includes two bags of seeds for each of the four seasons. 1500 Sea Coins/pack.Basic Mine Blueprint: 10,000 Sea Coins.Low-Tier Service Hiring Contract (Junior Farmer): weekly limit 1. 5000 Sea Coins/week.Rare-Series furniture; low-tier armor/weapon/tool blueprints…Mall Ad Board: post hiring/purchase ads, 1000 Sea Coins/time.First, she bought five Materials Packs, then purchased the Small Dock Blueprint and Basic Mine Blueprint.The spiders had already collected almost all the materials for building the house this morning.With the Materials Packs she’d just bought, the dock could start construction too.They should be able to finish before Captain Hilco’s next visit.She pulled up the construction interface, selected a location for the dock, broke down the Materials Packs, and fed them into the build. A countdown popped up on the screen: 8 hours.As for Captain Hilco’s house—where should she build it?Yun Luohe made a round. “Let’s just put it near the Brewery Workshop. The environment’s good… add a little garden next to it, then make a courtyard.”He was the first resident NPC, an important matter—she had to make him satisfied.Right—With the tier upgrade, she could recruit temporary workers.Yun Luohe opened the Mall and found Services.A mid-tier reef could temporarily hire a Mid-Level Architect. It wasn’t high-tier, but better than nothing.The price was a bit steep: 500 Sea Coins to post an ad, and the hire cost was separate.A Mid-Level Architect was at least 5000 Sea Coins/week, but that was money she had to spend.[Hiring Mid-Level Architect. Sending recruitment ad…][Architect applications received… Please select…]So fast?Yun Luohe opened the applicant list.Three people in total.She could only see their names, avatars, and salary.Their weekly rates were 5000, 5500, and 6000.Not much difference…She picked the most expensive.[The architect will arrive on the island tomorrow at 08:00 sharp…]Since they’d only arrive tomorrow, today she’d pick the site and set the frame. Once the architect arrived, they could handle detailed design and soft furnishings.Her communicator chimed.Yu Chenjin was contacting her.She immediately took out the Conch Communicator and answered.“There’s a forum post sharing intel on the cooking finals judges. Take a look, but only as reference. By my analysis, it’s half true, half false.”“Got it. I’ll check now.”District 2’s chat channel was discussing it at the same time; Mu Zitang happened to see it and quickly screenshot it to her.District 2:“There’s a hot post! ‘Revealing the Five Finals Judges’ NPC Preferences’—go look! Does anyone have Yun Luohe as a friend? Tell her to check it.”“Saw it. I think it’s highly credible!”“But it also says Vivira currently hates people gifting insects because the insect disaster has driven her crazy? Is that credible?”“Better safe than sorry! What if it’s true? But why would this person make it public? They’re from District 5; nobody over there is even competing.”#Sharing the five finals judges’ NPC food preferences~#Peach: Hates cloying sweets! Believes desserts mask the ingredients’ true flavor. Prefers savory and clean, refreshing, natural dishes; likes sashimi.]Vivira: The Insect Lady; due to the current insect plague, she’s grown averse to anything insect-related and now loves chicken and smoked flavors.Captain Hilco: The old captain; likes hard liquor—the stronger the better; extremely demanding about seafood—must be top-grade deep-sea fish. Doesn’t like vegetables.Liya: The mysterious apothecary; hates un-fresh ingredients; doesn’t like seafood.Old Xu: The blacksmith; likes pure-flavor roasted meats or dishes with a sense of brute power; doesn’t drink.After reading the post, Yun Luohe could confirm the info was half true, half false—usable as reference, but not to be trusted wholesale.One particular point was key: the bit about Liya.

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