55: Chapter 54 God, have you abandoned us?

Countless streams of information brushed past his eyes like a waterfall.

He stood there—no, he had no body, only consciousness—and was struck full-force by that torrent of information.

At first, he couldn't see anything clearly.

It was like walking out of a pitch-black cave into the center of Times Square—but instead of advertisements, all the neon billboards were showing people.

Living people.

People talking, arguing, taking selfies, crying, laughing, selling things, asking for help—

He hadn't seen another human face for six days.

And at this moment, hundreds of millions of voices flooded in simultaneously.

He instinctively wanted to see clearly. His consciousness reached forward desperately. Like squeezing the last bit of toothpaste, he wrung out every remaining drop of energy from his body and poured it into his mental focus.

The blurry points of light began to converge.

Text.

He saw text.

It was automatically translated—every line of Eastern characters was followed by a line of English he could understand.

The first post to enter his consciousness:

"Selling Serrated Fish intestines, three for two karma points. Freshly killed. Local pickup only, no shipping."

Replies below: "What kind of fish intestines are these? The last ones I bought still had sand in them." "So what if there's sand? You expect Michelin-star dining on the Magic Sea?" "Hahahahahahahaha."

David froze for two seconds.

Then came the second post: "Seeking a two-meter-long hardwood plank! My stern has been leaking all night! Any brothers within fifty nautical miles have a spare? Willing to pay three karma points!"

Replies arrived in seconds: "I have one! Send me your coordinates, we'll ship it directly through the Trading Realm!" "Brother, plug that leak with some clothes first. I had a leak before too, let me teach you a trick—"

The third: a video.

A beautiful young Eastern girl stood on a Silver-grade Houseboat, the camera pointed at the sea. Her voice was full of smiles: "Look, fam! I scanned a school of Blue Thorn Fish with my compass today! They're only three nautical miles away! Getting ready to go hunt! Give me a like!"

Bullet comments scrolled past:

"Go for it!" "Good luck!" "Stay safe!" "The Blue Thorn Fish's weakness is its belly, don't take it head-on!" "Isn't this the beautiful sister who used Water Control last time? Fierce!"

David's consciousness stalled.

Not because of the content of the text.

But because of the atmosphere radiating from those words, pictures, and videos—that vivid, warm, lively sense of humanity.

They were buying things. Selling things. Arguing. Helping each other.

Joking around.

Living.

Living on the same sea in a way he hadn't dared to imagine over the past six days.

He kept looking. Like a man starving for three days pushed into a buffet, he didn't know what to eat first and could only desperately stuff everything into his mouth.

Posts. One after another.

"The third batch of sea beast meat from the Revival Society is now available in the Karmic Trading Realm. Limit two catties per person, priced at 1.5 karma points per catty."

"Urgent notice from the Little Life Society: Recently, some survivors have been privately selling counterfeit little life water. Please look for the official shop logo. Thank you."

"Capital University Alumni Group recruitment! As long as you were once a student or worked at Capital University, you are welcome! Academician Zhang Zhiming, the former president and a national treasure, is personally in charge!"

"[Video] Step-by-step guide to making fish hooks from sea beast bones. 90% success rate. If you can't learn it, come hit me."

"[Help] My mother's boat is about a hundred nautical miles east of me. She's elderly and doesn't know how to use the compass. Is there any kind person nearby who can help teach her? Coordinates posted..."

"[Bounty] Who can help me find my younger brother? His name is Zhang Weihua. He was a high school junior in Jiangnan before the Transmigration. The positioning function can't find him; he might not have activated his Fate Platform yet. Five karma points bounty, please."

There were over three hundred replies under this post.

Every single one was saying "Bump," "Helping bump," or "I'm near those coordinates, I'll keep an eye out for you."

David's consciousness gave a jolt.

It wasn't a tremor. It was as if something had cracked open from within, and a liquid he thought had long since dried up came flooding in.

He kept scrolling.

Photos.

Someone was showing off the results of their Houseboat modification—a Bronze-grade boat fitted with custom-made wave deflectors and a sunshade. Two middle-aged men stood beside it, grinning widely and giving thumbs-up.

Someone shared their food—a bowl of thick soup boiled with sea beast meat and seaweed, captioned: "Today's lunch. Meat and veggies. A hundred times better than the company cafeteria before the Transmigration."

Someone showed off a treasure chest—a Bronze-grade short sword held in the hand of a thin, dark-skinned youth who was smiling as if he'd won the lottery.

Someone posted a selfie—two girls squeezed onto a boat, cheek to cheek, making peace signs. The background was an orange-red horizon with two setting suns.

The caption was just two words: "Happy."

David Reeves, this man from Houston who had fixed pipes for twenty years, now floated in his own consciousness, rendered immobile by the life posts of a group of Eastern faces he had never met.

Where is this?

Did I go home? Am I back on the modern internet?

No, that's not right!

He stared fixedly at the backgrounds of those pictures and videos.

The boundless ocean, the twin suns hanging side-by-side in the sky, and those hideous, terrifying sea beast corpses.

This is the Magic Sea!

These people, just like him, were all on this godforsaken sea!

But... why?

Why was he struggling to even find waste to eat, while these people could eat grilled meat, wear battle armor, and even chat online?!

David scrolled through the information frantically. He extracted a high-frequency term, a word that occupied the core of every page, every picture, and every video.

Yanhuang Civilization!

Yanhuang Civilization! Yanhuang Civilization! Yanhuang Civilization! Yanhuang Civilization! Yanhuang Civilization!

These people were all Yanhuang Civilization people!

David's breathing grew rapid. He suddenly remembered something.

A few hours ago, that cold camp ranking list.

[1st Place: Yanhuang Camp, Total Merit Points: 34,232,581,770]

Thirty-four point two billion!

At the time, he was about to lose his life and had no mind to think about the meaning behind that number. The individualism of the Stars and Stripes people made him only care about his own survival.

But now, looking at this "Cause and Effect Fate Platform" that was as bustling as a dreamland, watching those Yanhuang Civilization people trading with each other, rescuing each other, sharing intelligence...

He had an Epiphany.

This was the truth behind the Yanhuang Camp dominating the rankings!

This wasn't some survival game at all; this was a one-sided dimensional strike by the Yanhuang Civilization people!

While he was still using feces to fish, the Yanhuang Civilization people had already built a trading network spanning the seas; while he could only wait for death when facing sea beasts, the Yanhuang Civilization people were already grouping up to grind monsters! While he was still worrying about a cup of fresh water to sustain his life, the Yanhuang Civilization people were already drinking life water that could cure diseases!

"Oh God..."

David trembled in his consciousness.

Jealousy, shock, and resentment—all sorts of emotions gnawed at his heart like venomous snakes.

Ultimately, they converged into a single roar from the depths of his heart.

Why?!!!

Why?!!!

Why?!!!

Why does the Yanhuang Civilization have this thing? Could it be that this Magic Sea survival is a world created by the Yanhuang Civilization gods?

Oh—where is our God?

Have You forsaken Your most loyal believers?

But he did not log out.

He didn't dare to log out.

Even knowing this was the domain of the Yanhuang Civilization people, even knowing he might just be a beggar receiving charity, he still acted like a shriveled sponge, greedily absorbing everything here.

He didn't want to die anymore.

He wanted to live!

He slid through the interface cautiously, fearing that one wrong move would get him kicked out of this wonderland.

He clicked into the [Help Realm].

Search: Novice, Food, Fishing.

Instantly, hundreds of guides popped up.

《Three Techniques for Catching Rock Crevice Crabs Barehanded Without Tools》, 《How to Make a Simple Fish Hook Using Boat Plank Splinters》, 《Illustrated Guide to Identifying Toxic Seaweed》...

Those posts were so detailed it was outrageous, almost like chewing the food for him before feeding it to his mouth.

David watched hungrily, memorizing them over and over again.

Until his consciousness completely blacked out from overexertion.

When he woke up again, the sea breeze was blowing on his face.

David opened his eyes, feeling the extreme weakness of his body. But he didn't lie there waiting for death anymore.

He crawled up.

Following the method taught in the posts, he removed a section of wood with a sharp splinter from the edge of a boat plank and tied it tight with a thread pulled from his own clothes.

Then, lying on the gunwale, he found a cluster of grayish-green seaweed parasitic on the bottom of the boat, based on the water current patterns described in the posts.

He didn't eat it directly, but instead used the wooden stick to gently stir within the seaweed.

A few seconds later, a beetle only half the size of a palm was startled and ran out.

"Puchi!"

The wooden splinter accurately pierced the beetle.

David pulled it up and stuffed it directly into his mouth, shell, meat, and all.

It was fishy and bitter.

But as he chewed, tears streamed down his face.

He had survived.