The chat channel was filled with voices of discouragement.
But the protagonist of the heated discussion, Han Xing, remained calm, leisurely drawing his bow and shooting arrows.
In front of him, several gigantic, pangolin-like monsters had fallen at his feet.
After half a day, Han Xing had finally arrived in what was called the advanced zone.
Here, survivors were as if they had left the newbie protection area. The clouds in this vicinity were much larger, and it wasn't uncommon to encounter clouds spanning tens of square meters. The strength of the monsters within had also risen sharply.
Han Xing didn't take any unnecessary risks, nor did he explore those large clouds just to climb the leaderboard. His previous encounter with the Dark Elves was still fresh in his mind.
Instead, he chose to play it safe, maneuvering his floating island to approach clouds that were only about a dozen square meters in size.
Compared to the top three players who were gaining territory at dozens of square meters at a time, Han Xing's progress could only be described as turtle-like.
But he wasn't in any hurry.
Today was only the second day since the leaderboard opened, and the player in first place, the Whisperer, only had around 260 points.
At this rate, the largest territory growth in a day would be about 100 to 200 square meters. It would take at least three to four days to reach 1,000 points.
As everyone busied themselves exploring, the sky suddenly darkened in the late afternoon, clouds thickening and thunder rumbling.
At that moment, all the survivors instinctively stopped what they were doing and looked up.
The same thought occurred to everyone at once:
"It's going to rain."
When this thought sunk in, the survivors were momentarily stunned, but then their faces lit up with joy.
Because if the rain really fell, it would mean that the water shortage, which had plagued them for many days, would finally be resolved!
This also sent a signal.
Han Xing's spiritual spring water would no longer sell as well…
Though its healing properties were still unique, it could no longer be priced as high as before.
Boom!
Thunder echoed through the sky, lightning flashing!
The next moment, clear drops of rain began to fall on everyone's heads.
Then, the rain became heavier.
Whoosh!
As a torrential downpour descended, countless survivors began celebrating wildly mid-air.
Some survivors even tilted their heads back, using their mouths to catch the falling rain.
The air quality and environment of this world were excellent, and even the rain had a sweet taste.
The survivors burst into laughter, their spirits lifted. After days of struggling with a water shortage, it felt like a long-awaited blessing.
Smart survivors quickly brought out any tools they had to store the rainwater for drinking.
Those without tools even dug pits on the spot to serve as makeshift containers.
The chat channel was buzzing with excitement, and many survivors joined in the lively discussion.
"Wooo… Finally, it's raining! The past few days have been a nightmare!"
"Heavens, we made it through at last!"
"I can finally take a bath. I smell so bad, even I'm disgusted with myself!"
"Let me smell it…"
"???"
The survivors shouted in excitement.
After nearly half an hour of celebration in the chat, someone finally spoke up.
"Finally, we don't have to buy Galaxy's overpriced spring water anymore. His prices were ridiculous…"
Silence suddenly fell over the chat.
This was the first time anyone had publicly complained about Han Xing's pricing in the chat channel.
Before this, everyone had praised Han Xing, even elevating him to the status of a savior in District 107.
Even when Han Xing's rank dropped, it didn't shake his position in the minds of the survivors.
After all, he had been their lifeline, supplying water to thousands of people.
But now, with the water problem solved, everyone suddenly realized that Han Xing's importance might not be as great as they once thought.
Then, a survivor named "Dark Fireworks" chimed in, "To be honest, I've been wanting to say this for a while. Galaxy's prices are way too high. One transaction with him would wipe out everything we'd gained over the last few days…"
"He doesn't even consider how we'll survive future battles without gear. He's only focused on selling water at high prices, not caring about whether we live or die..."
At that moment, another survivor angrily countered in the chat.
Whirlwind Potato: "@Dark Fireworks, shut up! If it weren't for God Galaxy selling water these past two days, would you even be alive right now? Your miserable life was saved by him, and now that you're feeling bold, you start biting the hand that fed you?"
Dark Fireworks: "@Whirlwind Potato, what did you say? Galaxy's prices were high, and that's a fact. Why can't people talk about it?"
Whirlwind Potato: "Fact, my ass. It's just you being ungrateful. Don't drag us into this."
Dark Fireworks: "I'll #@$*…"
The two started hurling insults at each other.
Another survivor joined in, saying, "That guy's right, Galaxy's prices were outrageous. I had to trade a warrior's skill book for less than 500 milliliters of water. You tell me if that's fair."
Whirlwind Potato snapped back: "Where were all of you complaining when you were buying it? Now you're all barking like dogs."
Dark Fireworks retorted, "What's up with you? Is Galaxy your dad or something? Why are you defending him so much?"
"You bet he is! And I'll tell you this: my dad holds grudges. Be careful he doesn't remember your names and refuse to trade with you in the future!"
Whirlwind Potato's threat seemed to have an effect. Recalling the previous incident with the Lei Clan, those criticizing Han Xing suddenly went quiet.
At this point, some spectators, tired of the argument, spoke up in fairness.
"It wasn't really that bad. In that situation, just having water to sell was already pretty good."
"Yeah, if you thought it was expensive, you didn't have to buy it."
"Anyway, from today on, water isn't a problem anymore, so there's no need to blame anyone."
There were still many reasonable people in the chat who spoke up in Han Xing's defense.
Those who had complained about the prices also went silent.
The argument gradually faded away.
However, after today, Han Xing's monopoly would be overturned, and his popularity would decline.
Even his drop from the top three no longer sparked discussions.
Now, everyone's focus was on Whisperer, Black Hawk, and other players.
Han Xing, naturally, saw the discussions about him in the local network.
He wasn't fazed at all and chuckled, "This Whirlwind Potato—since when did I have a son this big?"
"Talking like it's real. Damn, I haven't even had a girlfriend yet!"
At this time, Cheng Jian and Shen Yun were busy exploring the floating islands, missing the argument in the chat.
Otherwise, knowing their personalities, they would have fought with those guys until dawn.
However, at that moment, "Smart Little Lamb" sent Han Xing a private message.
Han Xing opened it to see the message: "Good luck, I support you."
At the end, she attached a cute encouragement sticker.
A smile appeared on Han Xing's face as he guessed the young girl must have seen the negative comments in the local network and was trying to cheer him up.
Shaking his head, Han Xing didn't take those comments to heart.
His smile turned a bit sly.
"Those people don't really think that just because they won't need spring water, they won't have to buy anything else from me, do they?"
Suddenly, his smile froze, and his expression turned into one of shock.
"Damn it! I forgot to bring in my laundry! My bed and furniture are soaked!"
Without any construction blueprints, most of Han Xing's furniture was still out in the open in his territory.
A downpour like this had soaked everything.
…
After the rain, the clouds rolled away.
The next day, Han Xing maintained his pace, gradually clearing out the smaller clouds in the area.
His ranking had dropped from fourth to sixth.
Whisperer still held the top spot.
After two days of nonstop grinding, Whisperer's territory points had reached 348, more than fifty points ahead of second-place Black Hawk and third-place Papaya Star Spirit.
However, Han Xing's drop in ranking no longer caused much discussion.
The higher the expectations, the greater the disappointment. People now thought that staying in the top ten would be good enough for him.
By evening, Han Xing's ranking had finally dropped out of the top ten.
On the morning of the third day, Han Xing's territory points were at 260, placing him 13th.
Meanwhile, Whisperer's points had broken 400 after grinding all night.
Black Hawk and Papaya Star Spirit weren't far behind, with the gap between the three now less than 50 points.
Everyone continued their exploration.
By the end of the third day, Whisperer's points had surpassed 600!
Black Hawk and Papaya Star Spirit's points had both broken 500 as well.
Now, in the chat channel, the prestige of these three was rapidly rising, and their teams were starting to recruit heavily.