8 Water Purifier

Liu Xue peeled the tape off the boxes, one by one.

[Received: Glass Pane x2, Metal Sheet x3, Bottled Water (250ml) x1]

[Received: Raw Mackerel (Grade D) x11, Wood x5]

[Received: Island Foundation Stone x1, Slice of Bread (100g) x2]

"Looks like the lady of luck isn't smiling down on me today," he said, mildly grunting.

He would be lying if he said he was not somewhat disappointed; there was no haul of any graded-items or the apples he was craving for.

"The two slices of the bread will be my breakfast, but what do I do with the raw fish?"

'The metal sheets are nice, but they're still not enough to build the house. Looks like the fish will have to be put on for trades."

"It does seem a bit cruel to put raw food up for trade, though."

Liu Xue had no doubts that some unlucky crazy without food would gladly take up the trade, as well as eat the fish raw, uncleaned.

"After all, the world is full of maniacs."

The thought of desperation made him remember something that he probably should not ever forget. He slapped his thighs and stood up.

Liu Xue clasped his hands together. "How could I forget? Today's a new day. That means I can sign in! I got the double S-grade fishing rod yesterday. Goddess, lady luck, give me another tool of similar rating, please!"

"System, sign-in," he whispered.

[Sign-in successful. Host receives SS-grade multifunctional tools toolbelt!]

[Multifunctional Tools Toolbelt - Grade: SS-level]

[Built and used by Hephasteus himself! Simply think and reach into the magical toolbelt to grab any desired tool used in survival and craftsmanship - including utility knives, hammers, chainsaws, blowtorches, drills, and more! Some limitations apply. Downsides: tools are of varying quality (replaceable), hand-me-downs (cleanable), not fully automated.]

Liu Xue did a double whammy forwards. "Score!"

In a flash, he took off his normal belt for his office dress pants and put on the brown shaggy toolbelt that had only one pocket. While it looked more like a front-facing fanny pack than a toolbelt, he spared no attention to its funny appearance. He followed the instruction as per its description: thinking about a tool before reaching in and pulling something out.

In his hand was a modern metal blowtorch. Liu Xue was in awe. He tried again, pulling out a full-blown chainsaw this time.

"With this chainsaw, I don't have to be afraid of the lurking tiger as much!" Liu Xue said, smiling from eye to eye. "This system is truly mystical! What kind of magic was infused into this toolbelt?"

He did not forget to bow to the sea. "Lady luck, I'm sorry to doubt you. Thank you for letting yesterday's luck run out!"

Liu Xue stored the rest of the resources into [Storage] that was not consumable. He then flipped over a material box and wiped it clean of sand, all before placing and lining up the raw fish neatly. Magically, he exchanged the chainsaw for a simple kitchen knife and began to slit the fish open.

There was a moment of hesitation as he stared blankly at the fish. He been to the seafood section of the supermarkets a few times and was sure he needed to clean the fish before cooking, but he did not know how. After deliberating, he decided to just do it hands-on. With his eyes closed, his hands reached into the slit. Twisting and turning around, he pulled out its guts, as much as he could.

"Gross," Liu Xue said, gagging. His stomach churned as he walked to dump the fish guts into the sea and wash his hands.

After a few short trips, he was ready. With a blowtorch from the toolbelt hand, he began to sear the fish. Immediately, the faint and delicious fragrance of barbeque smoke wafted up and into his nose, though not as rich as the pollock from yesterday.

Liu Xue attributed it to the lower grade of the mackerel compared to the pollock, but anyhow, he still could not resist smacking his lips. His stomach growled with excitement at having something to eat after skipping dinner yesterday night with all the sweating and labor done.

Seeing the fat and oil dripping down from the material box to the sand, Liu Xue was a bit regretful. He had not cooked like this in years yet most of it had to go. He left one fish, plucked the bones out, threw it between the two slices of bread, quietly ate the make-shift sandwich, and watched [Transaction Complete] prompts fly by.

By the time Liu Xue finished the sandwich, the trades had long been completed. In fact, they were all sold out immediately. Those lucky enough to get the metal sheets and linen in their first material boxes sent many private messages to him. After reading a few, he could not bother with the rest; he realized they were currying favor so for the messages by those who missed the trades, he closed the private message box without even a blink.

"If you have the time to write up an essay on why you deserve my mackerel, you certainly have enough time to fish for more material boxes or themselves," Liu Xue said, shaking his head helplessly.

He wiped the corners of his mouth with the sleeves, before turning his attention to [Storage].

With the trades this morning with the mackerel, and yesterday with the pollock and wood, Liu Xue could not help but curl into a smile seeing all the resources. He had over two hundred plus wood, twenty metal sheets with the metal powder converted, two foundation stones, two bottles of water, twelve pieces of linen, eight glass panes, and also exactly eight pieces of charcoal.

Liu Xue did not waste a heartbeat to enter the [Construction] tab. The option to build the water purifier was finally lit.

[Water Purifier - Grade: B-level (Constructable)]

[Materials Consumed: Glass Pane x8, Linen x8, Charcoal x8, Metal Sheet x8, Water Purifier (Grade B) Blueprint x1]

[Construct? (Yes/No)]

He tapped yes as soon as the prompt came up. Another prompt appeared, reading that the construction was successful, and the water purifier was sent to [Storage]. He noted the option to build the water purifier now had disappeared entirely: the construction had consumed the blueprint and he would need another blueprint to make the options accessible again.

Again, the holographic outline of the water purifier sent Liu Xue in awe as he placed it in the middle of the beach where he stood. The water purifier looked like any water dispensers on Earth, but without the buttons. There was a bucket with a divot at the top strung to a blue see-through cylinder at the bottom.