Hearing Lu Jiamei speak to him so formally, Ren Yuanyang knew that what she had to say must be very important.
He put down the panels he was about to assemble, walked over to the container’s opening, and replied, "Go ahead. I’m listening!"
"The truth is, the whole world is in chaos. You can’t hold on to the fantasy that the higher-ups are coming to rescue us anymore!" Lu Jiamei sighed and said mournfully.
Ren Yuanyang asked, slightly surprised, "The higher-ups are in turmoil too? That shouldn’t be possible!"
He had always assumed the government had the military to maintain order and could hold out for a while longer.
"It’s mainly because a portion of the population—the unruly ones—have awakened special abilities," Lu Jiamei replied with a bitter smile.
"Awakening special abilities? What does that mean?" Ren Yuanyang was curious.
Lu Jiamei gave him a long look, somewhat speechless. "It’s just like you. Didn’t you awaken a special ability, too?"
Ren Yuanyang froze for a moment, then immediately realized Lu Jiamei had misunderstood.
’I haven’t awakened anything. I just have the System!’
’Although, if I had to say the System *is* my awakened ability, I guess that wouldn’t be entirely wrong!’
’This misunderstanding is actually a good thing. It saves me the trouble of explaining it later!’
"Are there many people who have awakened?" Ren Yuanyang continued to ask.
"Half a month ago, the probability was about one in ten thousand," Lu Jiamei replied. "I don’t know if there’s been any updated statistical data since then."
Ren Yuanyang nodded slightly, pondered for a moment, and asked again, "Have the higher-ups figured out the reason for these awakenings?"
"I’m not entirely sure about that." Lu Jiamei shook her head, then continued, "But I heard it seems to be because of some kind of special substance in the heavy rain!"
Ren Yuanyang thought of the three semi-evolved bream he’d caught before and nodded in agreement. "It’s almost certainly because of the rainwater!"
The heavy rain was the only recent variable on this planet, after all.
Clearly, someone of Lu Jiamei’s standing wouldn’t have access to more classified information. Ren Yuanyang didn’t pursue the topic of awakenings and instead asked, "Has the meteorological department said how much longer this rain is going to last?"
Lu Jiamei glanced at him. "Do you still believe the news released by the meteorological department?"
Ren Yuanyang spread his hands. "The information you have access to is definitely different from what we ordinary people get. Besides, they’re the professionals. Their predictions should still have some value as a reference!"
Lu Jiamei was noncommittal and continued, "According to satellite imagery, the entire Blue Star is enveloped in a thick layer of clouds. It’s been raining for so long, but the clouds show no signs of dissipating. The water in the atmosphere seems to be endlessly replenishing, but no one can determine where it’s coming from."
"It’s that strange? This world really has gone off the rails!" Ren Yuanyang exclaimed. "How do you know all this?"
He felt that this kind of information should be classified; Lu Jiamei shouldn’t have had any way of accessing it.
Lu Jiamei replied, "It’s not a secret anymore. Many countries have already made the information public!"
Ren Yuanyang was taken aback for a moment, then shook his head. "It seems it’s difficult for ordinary people to get any information at all!"
"And even if we knew, what could we do about it?" Lu Jiamei said with a sigh. "All the Star Systems in the Cosmos are constantly in motion. Who knows what we’ll encounter!"
"That’s true," Ren Yuanyang agreed.
In the vastness of the Cosmos, Blue Star was just a drop in the ocean, and its people were even more insignificant.
Ren Yuanyang was powerless to investigate Blue Star’s current state. He could only push the question to the back of his mind.
For now, he had to focus on survival. Everything else could wait.
"Did a riot break out on the ship you were on?" Ren Yuanyang continued to ask.
Lu Jiamei nodded. "Yes. If I hadn’t escaped quickly, I probably would have ended up as someone’s plaything or their food."
"It couldn’t have been that bad, could it? Don’t you have a gun?" Ren Yuanyang frowned slightly.
"One pistol with only eight bullets wasn’t enough to kill all those rioters!" Lu Jiamei shook her head. "What’s more, there were Awakeners among them! You should know better than me how powerful Awakeners are."
Ren Yuanyang felt helpless. ’The hell I do. I’m not an Awakener!’
But he could only mutter this to himself before changing the subject. "Can you contact any other ships?"
"I can. I have a satellite phone, but I’ve been too afraid to turn it on," Lu Jiamei answered truthfully. "I’m worried they’ll use it to pinpoint my location!"
Ren Yuanyang nodded slightly, then asked in confusion, "Wouldn’t a cloud layer that thick interfere with the satellite signal?"
"It does, but they can still determine your general location through the satellite as long as you’re using sat-comms!" Lu Jiamei said with certainty.
Hearing this, Ren Yuanyang, who had been planning to turn on a satellite phone himself, immediately abandoned the idea.
"You should take this satellite phone. It’s no use for me to keep it!" Lu Jiamei placed the phone in a jar, sealed it with a lid, and set it on the Round Duckweed outside.
Ren Yuanyang pulled the Round Duckweed closer, retrieved the satellite phone, and tossed it to the side.
"Is the ship you were on before anywhere near us?" Ren Yuanyang asked.
Lu Jiamei shook her head. "It should be very far from us by now. When I escaped from the ship, it was sailing west, and I’ve been drifting southeast."
Ren Yuanyang breathed a slight sigh of relief. As long as they weren’t nearby, he was fine.
"Right, how did you get that bag of unprocessed rice?" Ren Yuanyang asked curiously. "Everything on the market these days should be milled rice."
Lu Jiamei explained, "The ship I was on salvaged a seed bank. The riot broke out before they had a chance to turn it in. I managed to sneak this out!"
"I see. Just focus on gathering supplies," Ren Yuanyang said, then turned back to continue assembling a bed frame from the materials inside the container.
Lu Jiamei was a bit surprised, but she still replied, "Okay!"
She hadn’t expected Ren Yuanyang to be so calm after hearing such news. He seemed only slightly curious, showing no signs of disappointment or shock.
Although the news Lu Jiamei brought was shocking, to Ren Yuanyang, who had just experienced transmigration and awakened a System, it was all child’s play.
’There’s probably nothing more fantastical than transmigrating and getting a System!’
Ren Yuanyang quickly finished assembling a large bed frame.
"Finally, no more sleeping on a waterbed!"
Sleeping in the tent before, he’d been constantly rocked up and down by the waves. The motion wasn’t huge, but the frequency was high enough to nearly make him seasick.
Thanks to its weight, the shipping container was very stable against the current wind and waves. He would definitely get a good night’s sleep tonight!
Ren Yuanyang pushed the assembled bed frame against one side, then built a table and a chair.
It was too dark inside the container, so he had no choice but to place the table at the opening. He put the chair beside it, sat down, and stared blankly at the curtain of rain outside for a while. Then he stood up again. It was time to deal with the unprocessed rice.
The space in the tent had been too limited; even if he’d wanted to plant them, there was no room to do so.
’But there’s a decent amount of space in this container!’
"System, what are the enhancement options for the unprocessed rice?"
[Growth Cycle, Environmental Adaptability, Yield...]

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