15: Chapter 15 Shen Qing's Arrogance & the Appearance of the Officials
[Personal Broadcast] Magic Sea Territory · Day 3
Survival Reward: Camp Merit + 1
Personal Settlement: Merit Value + 1
[Regional Broadcast] Camp Sequence & Personal Merit Ranking have been opened.
Yang Hang's hand holding the juice paused.
"The ranking is open?"
He took off his sunglasses and sat up, his brain spinning for two seconds. Personal Merit Ranking, ranked by Merit Value. What was his Merit Value again — — over 550 million.
There was no need to look at the first place; it was definitely him.
Then his expression changed subtly.
"Oh no."
With a Merit Value of 550 million hanging at the top of the list, the second place likely didn't even have one million. This gap... how should I put it, it's roughly equivalent to the top scorer in the college entrance exam getting 750 points, while the second place gets 7.5 points.
Anyone with a brain seeing this number would have a question — — Who is this person? Why is the Merit Value absurdly high?
Thinking deeper, and linking it to the Cause and Effect Fate Platform itself — — would the creator of the Fate Platform naturally have high Merit Value?
This chain of reasoning isn't long; a smart person could figure it out in three steps.
Yang Hang put down his juice cup and tapped his fingertips on the armrest of the lounge chair.
But then he thought, with the name "Yang Hang" on the list, no one would know who he was. Among 1.3 billion people, there are at least tens of thousands named Yang Hang. Besides, he hadn't posted on the forum, no one had seen his ID, and no one knew what he looked like.
Anonymity is the best protection.
Except for his parents and younger sister who might be a bit troublesome, everything else... is not a big problem!
He lay back down, put on his sunglasses, and decided not to rush into looking at the details of the ranking list.
"Let the bullets fly for a while."
Time rewinds ten minutes. In another sea area.
President Shen Qing stood in front of the fishing spot on the dock deck, holding the silver speargun in her left hand with the muzzle pointing down, the alloy shell of the gun reflecting the midday sunlight.
The corners of her quick-drying clothes were stained with dried salt, her hair was casually tied back with a rope, and a few strands of loose hair were blown away by the sea breeze, sticking to her neck.
She wasn't looking at the fishing spot.
Her gaze fell on the interface of the Fate Platform forum, her brows slightly furrowed.
The 2.0 version updated suddenly this morning; the regional echo channel and positioning function went online simultaneously, and the entire ecosystem of the Fate Platform underwent drastic changes within a few hours. Several "assembly order"s had already appeared in the regional echo; some were gathering fleets, some were forming mutual aid groups, and others were calling out to build a "sea city".
These were all within her predictions.
But one thing exceeded expectations — — a large number of enthusiastic netizens flooded under her post, suggesting she disclose her coordinates in the regional echo and let people nearby come to help.
"Sister Shen, send your coordinates, I'll come pick you up!"
"Don't fear the sea, we'll guard you, you just stay on the boat!"
"There's a fleet within thirty nautical miles of you, do you want me to help you contact them?"
The goodwill is real. The trouble is also real.
Her current public image is "a rational and calm strategy-type player with a weakness of fear of the sea"; the advantage of this persona is strong affinity and high trust, but the disadvantage is — — too passive.
A person who is protected by others can hardly become a leader.
And what she needs is precisely leadership.
President Shen Qing's fingertips unconsciously stroked the cold gun body of the speargun. The silver alloy gleamed with a cold luster in the midday sun, and only one arrow remained in the chamber.
She couldn't completely overturn her original persona, that would seem hypocritical. But she could accelerate it.
"The fear is real, and overcoming the fear is also real."
She worked out a clear line in her mind — — there was only one thing to do next: enter the water in front of everyone.
Not hiding under the boat to practice secretly, but recording in the post in a live-stream style how she stepped into the sea step by step. Using the speargun as a safety guarantee, using an underwater respirator to eliminate the risk of drowning, and using reason and tools to fight instinctive fear.
This is more persuasive than any strategy post.
Because among 1.3 billion people, she is definitely not the only one afraid of the sea.
Just as her thoughts settled, a notification sound rang in her ears.
[Ding! Congratulations on successfully surviving the third day in the Magic Sea Territory, your affiliated camp Merit + 1.]
[You gained Merit Value + 1.]
[The third-day Camp Sequence and Personal Merit Ranking are officially opened, which can be viewed in the personal panel.]
President Shen Qing's eyes instantly sharpened.
Personal Merit Ranking.
She quickly went through the data in her mind. As of this morning, she had achieved a Breakthrough of 610,000 in Merit Value. Two hot posts continued to ferment, interaction in the comment section remained high, and every like and every collection was contributing Merit to her.
She had paid attention to the posters of other high-heat posts on the Fate Platform — — they were scattered under different IDs and had not formed a combined force.
People relying on teaming up to farm Merit? It's only been one morning, too late.
610,000.
This number should be enough to firmly stay at the top of the list.
A trace of imperceptible smile flashed across her eyes, quickly suppressed by her.
Compared to the personal ranking, she cared more about something else.
Camp Sequence.
Yanhuang Camp... what rank can it get?
At the same moment.
On a shallow reef plate unknown nautical miles away from President Shen Qing, hundreds of boat houses of various sizes were densely docked together, connected by ropes and improvised welded metal parts, looking from afar like a floating maritime punk base on the sea.
At the highest point of the reef, a flag made of red cloth strips fluttered in the wind.
Standing under the flag was an old man with a straight back.
Zheng Yuanshan.
In his sixties, square-faced, thick eyebrows, temples completely white. When standing there without speaking, he was like a silent reef.
In front of him was a hand-drawn sketch of the sea area, drawn with charcoal on the boat deck, marking the distribution of reefs, water depth estimates, and tidal directions within ten nautical miles. The handwriting was neat, the lines were clean, and one could tell it was the work of someone with professional training.
"Old Zheng, there are still some scattered individuals on the side of our sea area who refuse to come over, saying they are afraid of us swallowing their supplies." A dark and thin middle-aged man walked over to report.
Zheng Yuanshan didn't even raise his head: "Don't force it. Our priority is still to unite comrades and restore the organization to a certain level. Once trust is established, everyone will naturally come later."
"The leaders cannot be contacted for the time being. The rise and fall of Yanhuang Civilization rests on our shoulders. We must hold on and wait for the return of the leaders."
"Yes."
The middle-aged man turned and left. Zheng Yuanshan added another stroke to the sketch, marking the location of a reef discovered this morning.
A notification sound rang.
He stopped the charcoal in his hand.
[The third-day Camp Sequence and Personal Merit Ranking are officially opened.]
Zheng Yuanshan ignored the personal ranking.
He clicked directly on the Camp Sequence.
The things engraved into his bones from over fifty years of military life would not disappear just because of retirement. Personal honor and disgrace are minor matters; the position of Yanhuang Civilization is the big matter.
"What rank will Yanhuang Civilization be?"
He stared at the slowly loading panel, the rotating aperture reflected in his pupils.
Loading complete.
The ranking of the Camp Sequence appeared before his eyes, line by line, from top to bottom.
Zheng Yuanshan's expression was stunned at first.
Then, his pupils shrank.