That water bottle is all he had. 

He woke up to thirst, and he is still thirsty. 

Thus, the first priority is still procuring fresh water. 

However, by now, Neil is absolutely sure there’s no land near from where he could find a stream. 

So, he would have to build a rudimentary facility to make water. 

He guessed the endless ocean world is similar to a game. Probably all others get equally distributed resources, such as banana leaves and coconut branches all floating on waters near them. 

That means he entered some kind of penalty land. In lieu of having a high number of logs, all other resources are reduced in quantity. 

He refused to believe wooden barrels are so exclusive and have such a low span rate. 

Thus, the first thing he needs to do is research. 

He needed to research all possible items, so he could get a wooden basin, a cup. Then, he could at least boil water and convert steam to fresh water. 

He opened research determinedly. 

The research indeed has many things. 

[ Research Bed using 10 logs ? ] (yes)(no)

Sure. 

Spend those logs. 

[ Research toilet using 10 logs, 1 sand ? ](yes)(no) 

Yep, it’s absolutely needed. 

Only, sand is not there. 

Neil looked down. 

It seems he can totally bring up the sand from the bottom of the ocean. 

While the world is indeed like a game, it’s not so much like it as well. 

In game, you just touch your tool to the resource to collect it. Even if the resources are far, there is a set amount of success and failure to hooking resources. 

However, here, this success rate depends entirely on your own physical prowess. 

Sure, you can put something in inventory by touching it, but he still has to swim, and manually pour that sand into a barrel and bring it up. 

He went on to the next item first. 

[ Research a drying rack with 20 logs? ] (yes)(no) 

Yes, absolutely yes. 

Even if he brings up that sand from the bottom of the ocean, he needs a drying rack to dry it . 

[ Research a rope with 20 seaweeds ? ] (yes)(no)

Yes, please. 

He is not quite sure seaweed makes good ropes, but he could only be thankful the research accepted them. Other than seaweed and logs, he is short on everything. 

[ Research collection station with 10 logs, 100 seaweeds ? ] (yes)(no)

Collection station referred to the board built with a net in it in order to collect floating resources. 

Instead of him paddling over to every other log, he just needs to walk along to collect logs in a certain part of his raft. 

That sounds good. 

Yes, research. 

[ Research a thick plank with 10 logs ? ] (yes)(no) 

A Thick plank is reinforced wood that is more resistant to the attacks of sharks and storms. A raft made of thick plants has extremely high hardiness. Okay. As long as it spends logs. 

[ Research a paddle wheel with 200 logs ? ] (yes)(no)

A paddle wheel makes going places easier for a raft, with a connecting wheel which you can just rotate to move forward. Yes, it’s needed. If ever autorow goes offline just like now, he needs this paddling thing. 

Even if it doesn’t, Neil realized after building paddling stations, the tiredness he felt for his skill reduced. 

The skill simply frees his hands and legs, but does not take away his tiredness. 

It still uses his physical power to make the rowing work. 

It would be a great skill for obese people who really don’t want to exercise. In fact, if such a thing existed in the real world, it would be considered ‘S’ rank skill. 

He bet he will become bigger than oil tycoons if he could bestow it and market it. 

Unfortunately, he’s not on earth any more. 

[ Research connecting platforms with 200 logs ? ] (Yes)(No)

Okay. do it. He has three rafts, they need to be connected. 

[ Research Mast making with 200 logs ? ] (yes)(no)

Hmm… There’s no wind in this area. There are fishes, but they are too small. 

For now, Neil is still thankful that he had his sandwiches from yesterday.

He is hungry and thirsty, after all, he had but a half a liter of water yesterday, and half a liter today morning. 

It would be strange if he is not thirsty. 

The hope lies in this research. That is why he is dedicated and spending every thing here. 

Finally, he found something that could actually work for him. 

[ Research utensil making with 100 logs ? ] (yes) (no) 

How could he choose not to? This is the option he has been waiting for. 

He happily moved on to the next option. 

[ Research multipurpose fire place with 80 logs ? ] (yes)(no) 

Yes, absolutely yes. 

There are more items in the research tab, but he could think of them in a while. 

The most important utensils and fireplace are already being researched. 

It’s time to open the barrels. 

He opened the first barrel. 

[ 2 banana leaves, 1 pig iron, 5 ropes, 1 rusty knife. ]

Not bad. He collected banana leaves and ropes, and left the rest of the items out. 

He was opening barrels with a roughly sharpened log, but it would be better to do it with a rusty knife. 

The next barrel is a surprise. 

[ 10 banana leaves, 1 copper stone , 1 hammer. ]

The rest are alright, but the hammer is the real treat. 

It’s far better than a rusty knife. This is a claw hammer, with nail remover, and small pike in the middle on the top in blunt conical shape, so it can be used for stabbing as well as beating if needed. 

He left the copper stone out, and moved on to the next barrel. The good thing is the empty barrels remained with him. He stored away those empty barrels. 

The next barrel he opened with the hammer. 

[ A clawed silver basin, gold chain with ruby pendant, two silver toast glasses. ]

In a normal situation, one would feel happy that they obtained valuable items. However, Neil’s joy is for an entirely different reason. 

He seriously lacked a metal or clay to boil water in. 

With this, he acquired many things needed for making a rough water purifier. 

He is a game buff, so he sure knows about survival and garbage collecting games. 

He has seen various kinds of game water purifiers, so he remembered one where a banana leaf hangs over steaming water, then, at the leaf’s base, a tumbler is placed for collecting water. 

The fireplace is still in research. 

So, he continued on opening barrels. 

[ 20 copper stones, 10 pig iron ] 

Fine. 

Next. 

[ 1 water skin, 1 whiskey bottle, 4 moldy bread, 1 oil bottle ] 

Neil immediately opened the water skin. 

He poured the water in his water bottle to make sure it’s all clean, and surprisingly, it is. 

Then, he carefully took half a sip. 

He has no idea how long this barrel has been roaming the sea world, and he absolutely does not want to get weird diseases on this ocean. 

The water’s fresh and sweet, like spring water. 

Thankfully, he is not in a cray thirst period. 

Neil reverently took a few more sips, only to moisten his lips, then tightened the bottle cap. 

He doesn’t want to waste water. 

His chances of finding another source are not high yet, he needs this water for emergency use. 

After all,the human body can make up for water by burning fat, but there’s a limit to it. 

He would rather his body make up for it, and then relieve the emergency than be caught without water. 

He stored the bottle in inventory. 

Copper stones are piled together, so were the pig iron pieces. 

He opened the next barrel. 

[ 100 meters long rope, 10 pig iron , 1 brone stone ] 

Okay.. that’s new. 

Thank you. Next, next ..

[ 1 steel dagger, 1 leather pants, 1 sea skirt, 1 canvas bab ] 

[ 20 bronze stones ] 

[ 10 copper stones, 20 pig iron ] 

[ 20 banana leaves, 1 moldy bread ] 

[ 10 logs, 1 rough saw ] 

[ 5 iron stones, 1000 meters thin rope, 1 wooden bucket ] 

[ 1 oil lamp, 1 lighter, 10 charcoal briquettes ] 

[ 10 bronze stones, 10 copper stones ] 

That is enough barrels for now. First build that water purifying station.

He opened the research. 

Bed, Drying rack, connecting platforms are done research. 

Thus, the first thing is to retrieve sand. 

He donned his snorkeling gear. 

Thankfully, his snorkelling gear is full fledged. 

That means it allows one to dive up to three meters, however, it is very very strongly advised you keep it under 1.5 meters. 

Unless you are a trained professional, you shouldn’t cross 1.5 meters for diving. 

First he made a buoy. 

Thankfully, he has thin rope, and plenty of stones. 

He snorkeled first to find the clear sand.