233: Chapter 233 Welcome to the Spinning Market!!!

Lin Xiao woke up from his sleep.

He was awakened by a rich, fragrant aroma.

The coconut milk corn porridge brewed by Jiang Wanwan, with the scent of coconut fat blooming under high heat, drifted slowly from the kitchen area.

Sweet but not cloying, warm but not dry.

Outside the window was still the deep sea; the dark body of water surged slowly outside the Coating, with almost no light visible.

The lights in the room were adjusted to a low, warm yellow setting, soaking the entire bedroom in an amber haze.

Lin Xiao had woken up late for once.

Today was the leaderboard settlement day.

He sat up and rubbed his slightly throbbing temples.

The muscles in his back were a bit sore, and there was a sense of fatigue in his waist and abdomen from overexertion.

When he looked down, he inadvertently saw scratch marks on his arm.

Several faint red marks extended from his forearm to the inside of his elbow, left by someone unknown.

Lin Xiao looked up at the four figures moving in the room.

Jiang Wanwan stood at the kitchen counter, her long black hair cascading like a waterfall down her shoulders. She tilted her head, stirring the corn porridge in the pot with one hand while tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear with the other.

Wen Yiran was lying at the foot of the bed, browsing the online trading interface, her calves swinging back and forth in the air.

Tian Xiwei sat at the dressing table, gently and focusedly applying the Deep Sea Giant Kelp Extract that Jing Hua had given her to her face.

Meanwhile, Jing Hua was dressed in loungewear, sitting on the sofa, organizing stacks of equipment blueprints.

Was four the limit?

Lin Xiao looked away, reaching a realistic conclusion.

So, he still needed to train!

He opened his personal panel.

Under the effect of the Immortal Potion, his constitution attribute had increased by another 3 points, reaching 26.

The higher the base constitution attribute, the greater the daily increase.

It increased by 3 points today; perhaps in a few more days, it would be 4, 5...

Just then, he noticed a red dot lighting up on the chat channel.

There was a private message.

Opening it, he saw it was from Fan Sinian.

Old Fan had been conquering the Rift Space with Chen Pingan and the others last night.

Before setting out, he had been aggressive, saying things like "striving to clear twelve floors" and "showing Brother Lin our strength."

But the message he sent in the early morning was in a completely different tone.

[08-09: Brother Lin, we stopped after reaching the fifth floor. We really can't f*cking push any further.]

[08-09: The mobs on the fifth floor, how should I put it... it feels like every single one has the strength of the elite monsters in the Black Tide.]

[08-09: My Golden Knight is damaged. That elite monster swiped at me, and the chest plate's durability hit zero instantly. It's a Tier 3 Set, Brother Lin, gone in one slap!]

...

Old Fan had sent voice messages.

That sense of despair was palpable.

After listening to the last message, Lin Xiao shook his head helplessly.

They had agreed to act cautiously.

These guys were already injured, yet they unexpectedly charged straight to the fifth floor.

He didn't know whether to praise them for having guts or scold them for being brainless.

Fortunately, there were no casualties; otherwise, the loss would have been massive!

Thinking of this, Lin Xiao immediately sent a mass private message, telling the captains to assemble at Dining Car 09 after the leaderboard settlement was complete.

These last two battles, especially yesterday's Black Tide defense, had made many people overconfident.

Naval guns leveling the field, points skyrocketing, Lord-class calamities being blown to pieces by three rounds of volleys...

These images were too impactful, making it too easy for people to fall into the illusion that the difficulty of this apocalypse was only so-so.

This was not a good sign.

“You're awake?”

Jiang Wanwan's voice brought Lin Xiao back from his thoughts.

She walked out of the kitchen area, holding a ceramic bowl with steam curling upwards.

Seeing Lin Xiao sitting up in bed, she curled her lips and called out softly, “It's almost ten o'clock. The sun is already hitting your backside.”

Of course, there was no sun in the deep sea.

“I know.”

Lin Xiao smiled, rolled out of bed, grabbed a set of loungewear to put on, and went to the bathroom to wash up.

As the hot water splashed over his face, he closed his eyes and let his thoughts settle.

Personnel management issues, leaderboard settlement, the upcoming third phase, the Rift Space conquest plan, and the situation with that blind girl.

There were simply too many things to do next.

Being a Train Conductor really wasn't easy.

After washing up, Lin Xiao sat down at the dining table.

Jiang Wanwan had specifically added a lot of wolfberries to the corn porridge.

The individual red fruits with black patterns floated on the golden surface of the porridge, like some kind of silent hint.

Seeing this, Lin Xiao scooped a large bowl without changing his expression and began to drink in large gulps.

No other meaning behind it.

Only because Wanwan's cooking was too good; the porridge was sweet and soft, the richness of the coconut milk and the sweetness of the corn melting on the tip of his tongue, the warmth sliding down his throat all the way to his stomach.

Jiang Wanwan sat across the table with her chin in her hands, a doting smile on her face.

In those gentle eyes, there was a sense of composure refined over long years.

“The event cards have been updated again today,” she said. “When should we draw?”

Lin Xiao put down his bowl and directly transferred one million stardust to her.

“Let me see the limit of the event cards!”

“How much? One million!” Wen Yiran, who was vigorously drinking her porridge, looked up, a grain of corn still stuck to the corner of her mouth. “Brother Lin, you're too extravagant! It takes a long time to earn a million stardust!”

She counted on her fingers over and over, her expression changing from shock to heartache.

“Don't worry, the greater the investment, the richer the rewards.”

Lin Xiao replied calmly.

He tapped the table and continued, “Based on the situation in the previous phase, the event cards on settlement day provide very generous rewards.”

“But we've already completed the public event, so there shouldn't be a second one. It might be some other type of reward event.”

Jing Hua held her bowl, looking at their conversation in confusion.

Her lips moved as if she wanted to ask something, but she was too embarrassed to interrupt.

Seeing this, Tian Xiwei quietly leaned into her ear and explained in a voice only the two of them could hear.

What event cards were, what star emblem abilities were, and how Jiang Wanwan's card-drawing mechanism worked.

However, after hearing the somewhat confusing explanation, Jing Hua's expression became even more bewildered.

“Then let's not worry about the amount of stardust for now.”

Jiang Wanwan stood up and moved her chair back, clearing a space.

“First, let's draw the event card. Everything follows the guidance of fate!”

“The guidance of fate?”

Lin Xiao looked at her, his gaze lingering on her face for a moment longer before he nodded. “Then start drawing.”

Jiang Wanwan cupped her hands, closed her eyes, and recited the prayer.

Subsequently, a brilliant golden light surged from between her fingers, illuminating the entire room in gold.

Jing Hua stared at the churning golden stardust, her eyes widening suddenly.

Such strong runic power.

She looked at Jiang Wanwan, her eyes full of surprise.

Is she even human?

On the other side, Lin Xiao looked at the event card forming in mid-air, frowning slightly. “A million stardust and it's still a gold card?”

His purpose for spending so much stardust was to test the stardust thresholds for different qualities of event cards.

How much for silver, how much for gold, and how much for even higher qualities.

But now it seemed that even after throwing in a million, the color of the card hadn't undergone a qualitative change.

However, this gold card was different from before.

The back of the card was engraved with complex patterns, with lines more regular than any card he had drawn before, vaguely forming some kind of ancient runic structure.

The corners were trimmed with dark gold, shimmering with a metallic luster under the light.

It was clearly much more advanced than before.

While observing, Lin Xiao was suddenly taken aback.

“Huh? Why is there only one?”

Jiang Wanwan opened her eyes, her brow slowly furrowing.

The prayer had ended, but no second card appeared in her palms.

Her expression changed from focus to confusion, and then from confusion to a sense of disappointment that was almost self-reproach.

“Strange, I only sensed one event card just now...”

“Ah, then we've lost big this time...” Wen Yiran poked at the corn on her plate with her chopsticks, her face full of woe.

“Don't dwell on it; just let nature take its course.”

Lin Xiao reached out, his fingertip touching the edge of the gold card.

The card flipped over.

[Welcome to the Zhuanzhuan Market]

[Effect: Old items from the Zhuanzhuan second-hand market are being sold at low prices, bundled into [Mysterious Blind Boxes]. When you open these blind boxes, there is an extremely low probability of obtaining a Legendary Relic. Hurry and get yours!]

[Every dusty cardboard box and every old item has its reason for existing. They may carry someone's forgotten past, or they may be the starting point of your next journey.]