Lightning zigzagged across the sky, thunder crashing through thick black clouds that stretched endlessly above. Fierce winds howled, yet some invisible barrier kept them from blasting down upon the island.
Logan Lane stepped outside, face pale. He could see the raging tempest up there—if those gale-force gusts struck directly, his thatched hut and newly built cabins would be torn apart in seconds.
A cold, mechanical voice echoed in his mind:
[ The Ocean Survival Game rules have changed.]
[Someone has expanded their island by more than 10 miles during the novice protection period. The difficulty of survival increases, and rewards are distributed accordingly.]
[1. The number of daily material crates for novice fishing nets is raised to 10 casts per day, and the items in those crates are doubled. However, these nets will become unusable after the fifth day.]
[2. The novice protection barrier is weakened. Sea beasts below E-rank may now attack survivors. Starting tomorrow, island erosion will advance. Islands that have not been expanded will lose one Floating Stone every three days, chosen at random, until shaped landmass is lost.]
[3. A reminder: this is a true survival world. If you die here, you are dead for real and will not return to your original world.]
[4. To show you the cruelty of survival, if you make it through tomorrow night, you will witness the live deaths of various survivors over the next three days.]
[ Enjoy! ]
Logan's tense features relaxed a fraction. He had no idea who triggered these rule changes, but at least the announcement was clear. The rising danger had two main points. First was island erosion, but that didn't worry him too much since he could expand anytime he wanted using his stockpile of Floating Stones. The second threat was attacks from F-rank sea beasts. That was more concerning.
While Logan's strength had grown, he knew little about genuine F-rank sea monsters.
His only fights so far were against a near-death Frost Serpent and a Dragon Armor Beast that was half-distracted by its own evolution.
Neither had demonstrated the true speed and ferocity of a fresh F-rank beast.
His heart pounded. He hurried to the stone pillar, opening the Regional Survivors chat. Predictably, the channel boiled with rage aimed at him.
"That damn dog-coin boss DemonSlayer did this! Who else has thousands of Floating Stones to expand an island over 10 miles?"
"Right on. That jerk pretends to be from other countries and the Celestial Empire. Who even knows who he really is? Maybe he's some twisted Yin-Yang freak. He's probably meant to be a eunuch."
"Does anyone know who his wife is? Let's get to her first and have some fun."
"Screw him. He's got all these resources but demands trades from us. Making a blood profit, that's what he's doing!"
"Agree +1!"
"Agree +1!"
… +99
Logan's eyes turned icy. He mentally memorized each malicious handle. If the day ever came when he encountered them face to face, they wouldn't leave alive.
His scrolling stopped at a familiar name: MorganBlossom.
"Don't jump to conclusions," she wrote. "I just checked logs. It was obviously TheBarbarianKing's island that exceeded 10 miles. Don't blame Boss DemonSlayer."
She then posted a camera-shot of chat history (since stone pillars lacked screenshot features). The snippet read:
"TheBarbarianKing: 'You bunch of fools. My island's expanded to 12 miles! Kneel and worship me, or I'll smash you all to pieces!'"
Logan frowned—he couldn't find that message in the feed, probably because it had been deleted. Annoyingly, his daily chat slots were used up, so he couldn't respond directly. He could only grind his teeth at the insults thrown his way.
Still, MorganBlossom's evidence had an impact.
The chat erupted again. Some people insisted DemonSlayer was innocent, while others refused to believe TheBarbarianKing could gather that many Stones.
The channel erupted into two factions, and Logan watched with a humorless smirk. These "afterthought defenders" only bothered supporting him now that proof was out.
In the entire thread, aside from MorganBlossom, he saw only three others openly defending him. One was AngelInWhite (the doctor from Day One).
Another was "I'mYourUncle," who had renamed himself to AllSuppliesInMyBowl. The last was a user calling themselves DefendTheMotherland—the same person who once traded him a partial S-rank water purifier blueprint for 1,500 grams of Dragon Armor Beast Meat. Logan had long suspected that person was unusual.
Both islands exceeded 10 miles in size. They were lush with greenery, colorful blossoms, and occasionally small birds fluttering through the branches.
In a cozy, lantern-lit cabin on Leon Peak's island, a tall, scar-faced man sat on a wooden rocking chair, face twisted with anger. Two trembling women massaged his shoulders. Nearby, a young, half-foreign man knelt on the ground, eyes reflecting pure fear.
Leon glared at the youth. "Lee Chunford, you've got some nerve sending messages behind my back. Feeling proud of yourself? Or do you think betraying me is fun?"
"Boss, no! I swear I only wanted to prove you're stronger than DemonSlayer. I have no hidden agenda, I promise!" Lee Chunford raised his hands, swearing a thousand oaths he hoped might appease Leon.
Leon got up and kicked him in the ribs. The youth sprawled onto the floor, coughing. Leon sneered. "You think I believe in curses, retribution, or anything like that? My hands are drenched in blood. I've killed more people and raped more women than I can count. Where's my divine punishment? I don't see it."