Chapter 11: Making a Crab Trap and Achieving King Crab Freedom

Wen Mingyue recalled that when she had drawn the intermediate bow, her luck stat had been 8—yet this person had directly given her an advanced blueprint.

Thinking back to the luck stat card she’d traded earlier, she was now 100% certain that this person was none other than Miss Zhao, the max-luck player from her previous life.

This little windbreaker of hers—so warm and thoughtful—she loved it!

Wen Mingyue: Wait 8 minutes.

Smiling with squinted eyes, Wen Mingyue swiftly began cooking a pot of instant noodles, cracking in an egg and tossing in several leafy greens.

She also thought about the team the other person would form later on and decided to classify her under the “friends I trade supplies with” category.

She immediately clicked to follow her—now they were officially friends.

Then she casually picked three oranges and two lemons, each larger than an egg.

After all, an advanced bow blueprint complete with arrows was a huge win no matter how you looked at it.

Meanwhile, Zhao Lingxin was holding a steaming hot bowl of instant noodles with a look of deep satisfaction.

Seeing that there were also bonus fruits included, she sent the remaining half of a watermelon in her inventory to Wen Mingyue.

Anyway, when she tried to give it to her brother earlier, he said he didn’t want any.

So giving it as a gift in return was perfect.

Later, when her tragic-sack of a brother Zhao Jin’an discovered that the system’s reward—an advanced bow blueprint—had been traded by his dear sister for a bowl of instant noodles, he was so mad he nearly coughed up blood.

But even that didn’t stop his sister’s reckless antics. What could he do? It wasn’t like he had good luck anyway.

He glanced at his own luck stat—ha.

Wen Mingyue: Sorry, but your sister also gave me a luck stat card. I’m at 9 now—one more and I’ll max out.

Zhao Jin’an: RIP, I’m already dead inside.

Elsewhere, Wen Mingyue happily munched on the watermelon, while 069 piped up saying he wanted to eat too.

So the host and her system started chatting:

069: Host, which tastes better, watermelon or oranges?

Wen Mingyue: They’re both delicious.

069: Which one is sweeter?

Wen Mingyue: Watermelon is sweeter, plus it quenches your thirst. It’s even better when chilled.

Wen Mingyue: Do you want to try some?

Inside Wen Mingyue’s consciousness space, 069 was nodding furiously.

Looking at the last two bites of watermelon in her hand, she hesitated. She kind of didn’t want to part with them.

But it was her precious system—had to spoil him.

Wen Mingyue: How do I give it to you? There are two bites left.

069: I asked the senior systems who already graduated—they said we can’t eat until after graduation. My level’s not high enough yet.

Wen Mingyue: After graduation?

069: Once I graduate, I’ll have a physical form. Then I can leave the system space.

Wen Mingyue was thrilled—did that mean she could actually pet a cat in the future?

Wen Mingyue: How long until you graduate? Will you have to leave afterward?

069: I currently have 35 points. Graduation requires 60. After I graduate, I can choose not to leave right away.

Wen Mingyue: 35 points, huh.

Wen Mingyue: Then if I die later, will your score reset? Will you be deleted?

069: Don’t worry, Host. The score won’t reset. I just won’t qualify as an excellent graduate, but I won’t be destroyed.

Seeing the worry on her face, he added:

069: Our interstellar federation really values and cares for every system. For newcomers like me, there are special privileges and extra care.

Wen Mingyue: What a great company! Is your federation still hiring?

069: Should I ask?

Wen Mingyue: Haha, no need. I was just joking.

Honestly, Wen Mingyue was envious.

She had graduated college at 22 and then joined a multinational company. At first, everything was going smoothly.

But later on… even her giant international company hadn’t been spared.

Wen Mingyue had been teetering on the edge of quitting her job for a long time. She gritted her teeth and held out for a year—then suddenly, the Survival Game descended.

There was too much to say, and all of it brought tears.

But on second thought, at the rate things were progressing, maybe she could actually give her family a better life in this game world.

Snapping out of her thoughts, she got back to work.

Fortunately, not long after finishing her meal, she fished up a wooden crate. Over the next two hours, she reeled in another four crates. Clearly, there were more crates in the afternoon than in the morning.

Fewer people were chatting in the regional group now—everyone was fully focused, watching for the arrival of crates.

At 6:00 PM, the system’s Little Q voice broadcasted through the sky:

[All treasure crates have been updated for today. 6–7 PM remains daytime. Nighttime low will be 20°C. Please keep warm.]

[It will be dark after 7 PM.]

[Night is dangerous—do not leave your protective shield lightly.]

[See you all tomorrow!]

As Wen Mingyue remembered, during the first three days of the newbie protection period, the weather was always warm and sunny with a light breeze. The daytime highs never exceeded 30°C, and the nights were not too cold.

However, once the three-day protection period ended, the weather would become unpredictable—temperatures could plummet to -20 or -30°C, where even breathing would sting, or soar above 40°C, with ground temperatures reaching nearly 50°C, enough to peel off a layer of skin.

So collecting protective shields was already part of her plan. The higher the level of the shield, the better its temperature control.

But right now, she could only rely on drawing them herself or receiving them as system rewards. No one would be foolish enough to trade away a shield for supplies.

Sitting on the leather seat in the cockpit, she began opening the crates she had fished up that afternoon.

Adding to the three from the morning, she had caught a total of 9 crates in the afternoon: 8 wooden and 1 iron crate.

The loot was as follows:

A clay pot suitable for making soup

A 20-kWh power card

A personal hygiene kit

2 sponges

3 plastic sheets

9 pieces of glass

1 box of instant noodles (12 packs)

A 10-jin kitchen seasoning gift pack, including 6 jin of blended cooking oil

1 stove blueprint

From dismantling the crates, she obtained:

Wood: 8 units × 4

Nails: 8 units × 8

Iron ingots: 1 unit × 5

Wen Mingyue wasn’t hungry yet and planned to haul up the fishing nets she had cast in the morning before eating dinner.

So she had the upgraded 069 link the nets to the crane system. That way, she could reel them in directly from the cockpit.

The two nets yielded over 200 jin (100+ kg) of fish, shrimp, and crabs.

Among them were three mantis shrimp, each about the length of her forearm, with translucent yellow stripes—very pretty.

There were also two large lobsters, plus plenty of smaller shrimp.

She got a few squid, two salmon each weighing around 5 jin, and several fat snow crabs.

There was also an 8-jin coral trout, and a 6-jin tiger grouper.

As for the smaller fish, Wen Mingyue planned to mash them into fish bait.

All of it was stored into three cards by 069 and placed in the freshness-preserving space. Wen Mingyue was very satisfied with the first day’s haul.

Suddenly, she remembered the king crabs she had been dreaming about, and quickly searched through the fishing tools for the crab trap blueprint.

[Crab Trap: Iron Ingot ×50, Refined Iron ×5]

[Build?]

She calculated her materials—just enough—so she tapped [Build].

In less than a minute, the crab trap was finished.

It was roughly 2 meters long, over 1 meter tall, and about 80 centimeters wide—a rectangular structure.

Wen Mingyue instructed 069 to place the crab trap beside the crane. 069 even took the initiative to bind the trap to the crane system.