The ocean was calm.
For now.
Lin Chen stood on the deck of his raft while staring at the enormous amount of resources inside his inventory.
The rewards from the Gold Treasure Chest were still shocking.
A Legendary Sea Fortress Blueprint.
One million Energy Crystals.
Ten thousand Advanced Talent Fruits.
And a Legendary Equipment Chest.
Even now, he hadn't revealed any of it.
The greatest advantage in this survival game wasn't strength.
It was information.
The less others knew about him, the safer he would be.
Suddenly, a notification appeared.
World Announcement
Player Count Update
Remaining Survivors: 7,842,193,615
Lin Chen looked at the number silently.
Humanity had already lost millions of people.
The game was only becoming more dangerous.
Then another notification appeared.
New Feature Unlocked
Team System
Lin Chen immediately opened the new panel.
Team System
Current Team Members: 0/10
Functions:
• Team Chat
• Shared Team Missions
• Team Warehouse
• Team Rankings
His eyes lit up.
The Team System had finally appeared.
At that moment, a private message arrived.
It was Su Yao.
"Su Yao" : Did you see the announcement?
"Lin Chen" : Team System?
"Su Yao" : Are you still interested in cooperation?
Lin Chen smiled slightly.
Truthfully, he had been considering this for some time.
Su Yao possessed a Legendary Talent.
Treasure Goddess.
As long as her Talent continued working, she would remain extremely valuable.
"Lin Chen" : Send the request.
Several seconds later—
Team Invitation Received
Player: Su Yao
Accept?
Lin Chen selected yes.
Team Created
Team Name: Ocean Sovereigns
Members:
• Lin Chen
• Su Yao
Immediately, a new Team Chat opened.
"Su Yao" : Hello, Captain.
"Su Yao" : You're stronger.
"Su Yao" : Besides, I don't want the responsibility.
Lin Chen laughed.
This mysterious girl was surprisingly straightforward.
For the first time since entering the game, he officially had an ally.
...
Several hours later.
Su Yao suddenly sent another message.
"Su Yao" : Something strange happened.
"Su Yao" : My Talent upgraded after the First Storm.
Lin Chen became interested.
"Su Yao" : I can now sense fragments.
"Su Yao" : Diamond Chest clues.
Lin Chen sat upright.
Diamond Chest.
One rank above Gold.
The information immediately caught his attention.
"Su Yao" : I can't locate the chest itself.
"Su Yao" : But I can sense clues connected to it.
"Su Yao" : Collect enough clues and the location should appear.
Lin Chen narrowed his eyes.
That sounded much harder than obtaining a Gold Chest.
But the rewards would likely be extraordinary.
"Lin Chen" : How many clues?
"Su Yao" : I've already sensed one.
"Su Yao" : Deep Ocean Region.
Lin Chen memorized the information.
A new objective had appeared.
The first Diamond Chest.
...
Later that day, another discovery changed everything.
While dismantling monster materials from previous battles, Lin Chen noticed something unusual.
Inside the Sea Devourer's corpse was a crystal-like object.
Monster Core
Grade: Common
Contains monster energy.
Can be used for crafting.
Lin Chen's eyes widened.
Crafting?
He immediately opened the crafting menu.
A new section had appeared.
Core Crafting
Available Recipes:
Energy Battery
Monster Cannon
Defense Shield
Core Reactor
His heart raced.
A completely new technology tree had unlocked.
The survival game was becoming increasingly complex.
After studying the recipes, he discovered something shocking.
Monster Cores could replace Energy Crystals in many constructions.
This meant monsters were no longer merely sources of experience.
They were valuable resources.
Future battles would become even more important.
...
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the region...
A very different scene was unfolding.
Several players had gathered through private chats.
Unlike ordinary survivors, they weren't interested in cooperation.
They wanted control.
Power.
Resources.
One player spoke.
"We can't keep surviving alone."
Another nodded.
"Stronger players are hiding resources."
"We need to unite."
A third player smiled coldly.
"Not unite."
"Rule."
The others understood immediately.
An organization was being born.
Not a friendly alliance.
A force built on intimidation.
A force that would eventually target weaker survivors.
Organization Created
Sea Wolf Alliance
Members: 27
Their leader was a man named Zhao Feng.
A ruthless survivor who had already reached Level 4.
Among current players, that was considered impressive.
Zhao Feng stared at the ocean.
"We'll become the strongest organization in the region."
"Anyone who refuses to cooperate..."
His eyes turned cold.
"They'll pay the price."
The first hostile player organization had officially appeared.
...
Back on his raft, Lin Chen knew nothing about the Sea Wolf Alliance.
He was busy examining his newest discovery.
The Legendary Equipment Chest.
He had delayed opening it for several days.
Now seemed like the perfect time.
Taking a deep breath, he opened the chest.
Golden light erupted.
Legendary Equipment Chest Opened
Obtained:
Sea King's Armor
Grade: Legendary
Then—
10,000× System Activated
The armor evolved.
Golden light exploded across the deck.
Sea King's Armor
→ Ocean Emperor Armor
Grade: Mythic
Lin Chen froze.
Mythic.
A rank even higher than Legendary.
This was his first Mythic item.
The armor appeared before him.
Dark blue metal covered every surface.
Golden runes glowed across the armor.
Simply looking at it created pressure.
After equipping it, his profile changed dramatically.
Strength: 25
Agility: 20
Constitution: 30
Spirit: 20
Luck: 18
His combat power soared instantly.
If he fought the Sea Devourer again, victory would be much easier.
At that moment, Su Yao sent another message.
"Su Yao" : Bad news.
"Lin Chen" : What happened?
"Su Yao" : My Talent sensed many human signals gathering together.
"Su Yao" : They're forming a large organization.
Lin Chen frowned.
The appearance of factions was inevitable.
As resources became more valuable, conflicts would become unavoidable.
"Lin Chen" : Are they a threat?
"Su Yao" : Not yet.
"Su Yao" : But they will be.
Lin Chen nodded.
The game was changing again.
At first, humanity fought nature.
Then monsters.
Now...
Players themselves were becoming a danger.
He looked toward the distant horizon.
Somewhere out there were Diamond Chest clues.
Powerful monsters.
Unknown islands.
And now hostile organizations.
The ocean was becoming far more interesting.
And far more dangerous.