When disaster struck, I became a big shot surviving in the ocean.
Chapter 149: Killing a Chicken to Warn the Monkeys

Chapter 149: Chapter 149: Killing a Chicken to Warn the Monkeys

The Gem event had come to an end, marking the conclusion of the ordeal for many survivors.

However, for some, it was just the beginning.

Especially for Chen Qing, who was about to face countless assassination attempts.

Upon collecting all the rewards, she had four items in total, plus ten thousand goldfish.

The Soul Map went straight to Chen Qing as she bound it to herself, and from the Combat Skill Scroll, she chose a skill for her blade.

[A-Level · Azure Darkness Sky Splitting (Golden): Where the blade passes, it seems to split the sky asunder, cutting through space, each strike resonating with heaven and earth! Infinite power!]

Chen Qing stashed the ship upgrade scroll into her space, for this scroll was what the survivors and the natives most coveted.

Unfortunately, Chen Qing couldn’t use it just yet.

As for that mysterious item, it proved to be quite interesting.

[Mechanical Slot Machine (Special): The charm of the slot machine lies in gambling with little for the chance of great return, but nine times out of ten, one ends up losing.]

This item was fascinating; Chen Qing could spend a set amount of money every day to play the gamble game for a fixed number of times.

The slot machine had seven patterns in seven slots, each representing a different type of mechanical resource, including but not limited to Mechanical Creations, Mechanical Blueprints, and Mechanical Skills...

Pull the lever, and the repetition of patterns in the slots indicates the quality of the prize, with a total of seven levels, each corresponding accordingly.

If not a single pattern was repeated, one random item from the seven potential resource patterns would be chosen.

The slot machine offered seven chances to play daily, starting with goldfish. The first time cost one goldfish, the second ten goldfish, the third one hundred goldfish, and so on.

However, according to the ten-loses-out-of-eleven rule described with the item, what’s most likely to come out are Mechanical items of White Quality.

If it were blueprints and skills, that wouldn’t be too bad, but if it’s materials, ores, and parts, that would be a tremendous loss.

The machine was a severe test of one’s willpower and self-control.

The supplies it provided weren’t something one could easily buy with money.

The most dangerous part was that even Black Quality items could potentially pop out of this slot machine!

Getting a Red Quality item from the machine would mean a huge gain for Chen Qing, regardless of not being Black Quality.

And all she might have to pay could be just a little bit of money.

Faced with such a lethal temptation, Chen Qing tossed it into her space without touching it.

For Chen Qing, the most important thing at the moment was to cure her illness, acquire a custom ship, and leave the Gem Sea.

As the leaderboard activity settled, Chen Qing remained near Sapphire Island, waiting for Wind Shadow Jade to join up.

Huo Hou and her group were also on the island waiting for Chen Qing.

Of course, they didn’t have any plans to deal with Chen Qing just yet; with Chen Qing dominating over pirates and professional forces to claim first on the leaderboard, her strength was evident. There was no need for them to provoke her.

Even if they got their hands on the items, they wouldn’t be able to keep them.

After patiently waiting for over a day on the island, just as the Gem Hunters were getting impatient and started to wonder if Chen Qing was planning to flee like the others,

they finally arrived... Superpower Vine and the staff of Sapphire Island.

Chen Qing had a share of the profits from the casino on Sapphire Island, which, together with the sea casino profits from the Babaro Caravan, was enough to pay the Gem Hunters and even leave some surplus.

The Gem Hunters breathed a sigh of relief upon receiving their compensation; following Chen Qing had been a gamble for them as well.

"Why didn’t Chen Qing come herself?" one of the Gem Hunters muttered quietly.

"Maybe she’s injured," joked another Hunter.

The speaker has a motive, and the listener has an interest.

A group of Gem Hunters who had reinvented themselves as Bounty Hunters exchanged glances and silently accepted their bounties without a word.

They seemed to scatter in different directions, but after several twists and turns, most of the Bounty Hunters gathered again in a tavern.

"What about Huo Hou?"

"She said she isn’t participating."

Just as Chen Qing had worried, the group of Bounty Hunters had set their sights on her.

If Chen Qing hadn’t been injured, then it would have been all good for everyone, but once they discovered her injury, well...

However, these Bounty Hunters weren’t the main problem. The main problem was once they made their move.

Their actions would send a signal to others that Chen Qing was now a piece of fat on the chopping board, ready for anyone to take a bite, quite possibly to be ensnared by them.

On the other hand, Chen Qing, who was on the opposite side, had long anticipated the actions of these Bounty Hunters. Bounty Hunters are like hyenas.

Wherever there is profit, there they will be.

Now that the commissions from both sides had ended, even if they attacked Chen Qing, there would be no one to criticize them.

Chen Qing’s decision to not go to the island was a very correct one. Having regrouped with Wind Shadow Jade and Superpower Vine, Chen Qing quietly sat in the workshop, starting a new round of drug formulation.

The goods she had scanned from the trading channel were enough for Chen Qing to conduct more experiments.

The Gemstone event ranking had ended, but its impact was far from over.

Not to mention the chat channels, even the survivors in Chen Qing’s private channel started probing her.

Whether Chen Qing responded or not, there would always be some survivors who would make some attempts.

Provocation, ambush.

The only thing Chen Qing could do was to suppress these miscreants with overwhelming force.

Only by killing enough and ruthlessly enough, using blood and lives as a warning, would the people behind think twice before taking any action!

Soon, the first batch of hunters would arrive.

And the visitor was, barely, an old acquaintance of Chen Qing’s.

The Reynolds Family Pirate Group.

That pirate group bound by bloodlines, the whole pirate group shared the same lineage.

They came with great momentum, four large pirate ships in total. An ordinary pirate group simply couldn’t match their scale.

The leader of the Reynolds family was Gailier Tison Renault, and behind her were her husbands, as well as her unmarried children.

Her children would leave the main ship once they started their own families.

The pirates of the Reynolds family were all very tall and had fierce and intimidating appearances, with an extremely strong pirate temperament.

Their ships, like battle fortresses on the sea, were formidable!

Following Chen Qing’s instructions, Superpower Vine and Mechanical Fish King quietly scanned the Reynolds family’s ships for a model reproduction.

Their ships were quite referential for Chen Qing.

As for their threat to Chen Qing, it was almost non-existent.

It may be impolite to say so, but it is indeed the truth.

Chen Qing wasn’t afraid of them when she first arrived at Sapphire Island, let alone now.

A huge Mechanical Sea Beast leapt from the deep sea, rising high into the air, and with the Reynolds family looking on in horror, it smashed heavily onto their ships!

"Crack—"