218: Chapter 214 Pessimism
Less than thirty seconds after the announcement was released, the rhythm of the comments in the Symphony Realm changed drastically.
The discussions among Yanhuang Survivors were still oscillating between "Can a Bronze Grade Houseboat withstand it?" and "Can acid rain actually make people stronger?" — the comments from other civilization Survivors had already flooded in like a breached dam.
Compared to the limited Fate Platform comments during the second Magic Sea Beast Tide, this time the density was so high that it even overwhelmed the voices of the Yanhuang Civilization in the entire Symphony Realm's information stream.
[Raymond Altman (Gaul): Oh, damn it, my eyes aren't deceiving me, are they? What kind of madness is the Magic Sea up to? Is it trying to wipe out us Rotten Wood Class Survivors all at once?]
[Emma Donald (Maple Leaf): The Acid Rain Season sounds so terrifying. My Houseboat is already Rotten Wood Class. What should I do!]
[Alan MacDonald (Fog City): Please, everyone, calm down and read the second point of the announcement carefully. "Initial Stage: Rotten Wood Class and lower quality items, equipment, and Houseboats will be continuously corroded under long-term exposure until they are completely destroyed." Completely destroyed. Yanhuang Survivors have the Causality Enhancement Realm; most of their Houseboats were upgraded to Bronze Grade long ago. We don't have the Enhancement Realm. Most of our Houseboats are still Rotten Wood Class.]
[Sophie Tremblay (Maple Leaf): My Houseboat is Rotten Wood Class. My weapon is Rotten Wood Class. The protective suit I'm wearing is Rotten Wood Class. One month. Thirty days. It won't stop raining. These things will rot away right in front of my eyes. And then what? I'll be standing on the surface of the sea?]
[Kim Min-jun (Taegeukgi): Acid rain corroding Rotten Wood Class items and Houseboats... Over seventy percent of the Survivors in our Taegeukgi Camp have Rotten Wood Class equipment. This isn't a disaster; this is a massacre.]
One message after another.
The speakers changed from individuals to groups, and from groups to a tidal wave.
Someone was calculating.
[Andrei Popov (Polar Bear): I've done a rough statistic. Based on the situation in my area, excluding Yanhuang Civilization Survivors, the proportion of Survivors from our own civilizations who possess Bronze Grade or higher Houseboats is no more than fifteen percent. The proportion of those possessing Bronze Grade or higher equipment is no more than twenty percent. In other words — over eighty percent of Survivors from other civilizations will face the risk of their Houseboats being destroyed in the initial stage of this Acid Rain Season. If the boat is gone, it's practically a death sentence for the person!]
Someone was analyzing.
A Stars and Stripes Survivor with the ID "Sori Harper" posted a long thread, which was quickly pushed to the top of the trending list.
[Sori Harper (Stars and Stripes): I've broken down the announcement, and the conclusion is simple — this Acid Rain Season is a funeral rite for the weak.]
[Early stage acid rain corrodes Rotten Wood Class — eliminating the weakest batch of Survivors.]
[Mid-stage acid rain strengthens, beginning to consume Bronze Grade durability — eliminating mid-level Survivors.]
[Late Stage acid rain may threaten Silver Grade — even the strong will have to fight for their lives.]
[Layered with rising sea levels, tsunamis, giant waves, and mutated sea beasts — this isn't a single disaster; it's an all-encompassing elimination tournament with nested beast tides. It's harsher than the previous two Magic Sea Beast Tides. The beast tide only kills for one night; the acid rain kills for a month.]
[To be honest, these days I've been focusing on the Sequence War, the leaderboards, and the point rankings. Those things gave me an illusion — as if surviving in the Magic Sea had become a peaceful competition, not so lethal anymore. Today's announcement woke me up. This is the Magic Sea. It always has been.]
[I once thought that even if we, the other civilizations, couldn't defeat Yanhuang and take the final victory, we could at least survive until the 365th day and live on under the Yanhuang Civilization. Now I realize — I might not even have that qualification.]
[After this Acid Rain Season ends, how many of us from these civilizations will be left?]
The last line had no punctuation other than the question mark.
But the comment section below exploded.
It wasn't anger. It was agreement. It was fear. It was a kind of vulnerability that could no longer be hidden once one's inner thoughts were spoken aloud.
[Juan Sanchez (Samba): My Houseboat started leaking three days ago; the Rotten Wood Class floorboards rotted naturally after being soaked for too long. I've been plugging it with cloth strips. Now acid rain is coming? Can I even plug it?]
[Francois (Gaul): I was a baker before Transmigration. The biggest adventure of my life was getting up at two in the morning to knead dough. Now you want me to survive thirty days in acid rain?]
[Rupert (Polar Bear): I miss my mom. She's sixty-seven this year. If she was also transmigrated, and she's alone on the sea... Her Houseboat must be Rotten Wood Class.]
[Maria Souza (Samba): My daughter is fourteen. Fourteen years old. Where is she? What level is her Houseboat? Can she survive this? Has anyone seen a fourteen-year-old girl with long, dark hair who speaks Portuguese? I beg you.]
[Tanaka Misaki (Fuso): I don't want to die. I really don't want to die. I'm only nineteen.]
The boundaries of civilizations disappeared at this moment.
The plumber from Stars and Stripes was worried about his wife and two children. The burly man from Polar Bear was missing his elderly mother. The young mother from Samba was searching the vast Magic Sea for her young daughter.
No one cared which camp you belonged to. No one was thinking about merit points or rankings at this moment.
Fear is the most egalitarian language.
Seeing these messages, some Yanhuang Civilization Survivors began to offer comfort.
[Wind-Chasing Youth (Yanhuang): Don't be so pessimistic! The announcement says it will be destroyed under "long-term exposure," not that it will rot away all at once. Maybe Rotten Wood Class Houseboats can last ten days or half a month? What if you open a Silver Grade treasure chest by then?]
[Little Noodle Shop Owner (Yanhuang): Yeah, yeah, exactly, and the announcement says it only corrodes Rotten Wood Class during the "initial stage"; maybe the initial stage only lasts a few days! What if the acid rain isn't that exaggerated later on?]
[Old Fisherman (Yanhuang): I also don't think it's that terrifying. Besides, sea beast mutations don't necessarily head your way; the Magic Sea is so big.]
[Salted Fish Turnaround (Yanhuang): To be honest, we Yanhuang have quite a few Rotten Wood Class Survivors too. My second uncle's Houseboat is still Rotten Wood Class; all his karma points were spent eating at the food god shrine. You think he's not panicking? Plus, even if most of us are Bronze Grade, the announcement says the Late Stage can threaten Silver Grade; we won't be able to withstand that either. Everyone is actually the same.]
[Fishing Light Song (Yanhuang): Yeah, don't be afraid, don't be afraid. Once it really reaches that point, Lord of the Fate Altar definitely won't sit idly by. During the previous two beast tides, Lord of the Fate Altar opened new functions for us to save our lives. He will do it this time too. You guys don't panic either; if we really can't withstand it, we'll all think of a way together.]
But these comforts, when seen by Survivors from other civilizations —
The effect was the exact opposite.
[Sori Harper (Stars and Stripes): ...You say you have Rotten Wood Class Survivors too, and that you won't be able to withstand the Late Stage either. But you have the Causality Enhancement Realm. You have the Spatial Backpack. You have the Numerical Panel. You have the Combat Assistance System. You have the Farm Realm. You have the Causality Bank. You have the Life Spring. You have the food god shrine. You have the compass. You have the Lord of the Fate Altar. You have everything. Actually, we are "not the same at all" .]
It was quiet for a long while.
[Juan Sanchez (Samba): Lord of the Fate Altar won't sit idly by. But that's for you Yanhuang Survivors. We still have a competitive relationship; is Lord of the Fate Altar really willing to help us?]
No one answered.
Because for the answer to this question, no one had a definite answer in their hearts.
[Francois (Gaul): The more you try to comfort us, the more afraid I get. Because your way of comforting is "we will also be miserable" — but if you're miserable, someone will bail you out. If we're miserable... we're just miserable.]
[Andrei Popov (Polar Bear): Yanhuang Civilization Survivors, I really appreciate your kindness, but the current situation we are facing... some things cannot be smoothed over by comfort.]
[Tanaka Misaki (Fuso): I've decided. If my Houseboat can't hold up within seven days, I will... commit suicide and withdraw. At least the merit points can still be preserved for the camp. I don't want to die slowly being corroded by acid rain. That's too painful.]
Thousands of similar statements followed this message.
Cold, calm statements from those who had already figured out their way out.
The comfort from the Yanhuang Survivors stopped completely.
It wasn't that they didn't want to speak anymore. It was that they didn't know what to say.
Silence spread for about three minutes.
Then, a post from a familiar Fog City Camp ID appeared in the Symphony Realm's information stream.
[Victoria (Fog City): Lord of the Fate Altar, Lord Fate Master.]
Everyone's eyes focused on it.
[Victoria (Fog City): I am Victoria. Fog City Camp, 6th place in the Individual Sequence Contest. Since the opening of the Fate Platform visitor system, we billions of Survivors from other civilizations have received the grace of Lord of the Fate Altar, enabling us to avoid danger with the compass, escape with weather warnings, and exchange information through the Symphony Realm. These favors are etched in our hearts; we dare not forget them in this lifetime.]
[Victoria (Fog City): But today, the Acid Rain Season has arrived. I cannot remain silent. The remaining tens of millions of Survivors in my Fog City Camp have nearly eighty percent of their Houseboats and equipment still at the Rotten Wood Class. They don't have an Enhancement Realm and have no way to upgrade their equipment on their own. One month of acid rain is a one-month countdown to death for them.]
[Victoria (Fog City): I am not threatening. I have no qualification to threaten. I just want to say — these people, every living Survivor from other civilizations, are worshipers of Lord of the Fate Altar. Their existence is not a burden. The Magic Sea after the Acid Rain Season still has a longer road to travel. After 336 days, in the Universal Dimension Hegemony, the Earth civilization needs more than just the strength of the Yanhuang camp.]
[Victoria (Fog City): I implore Lord of the Fate Altar to consider opening more functional access permissions of the Fate Platform to visitor users from other civilizations. Even if the fees are higher, even if the functions are limited — as long as it can give us a glimmer of hope to survive, that is enough.]