Deep-Sea Survival: Starting as a Sponge

A series of magnitude 9.9 earthquakes strikes multiple regions. Tsunamis sweep across the globe, and seawater floods inland. In a single night, all the world's land sinks beneath the ocean.

Everyone is transported to the deep-sea floor, each starting with a one-cubic-meter safety pod.

Bei Nanxing had just clocked out from her shift at the aquarium when she opened her eyes again to total darkness.

The System appeared, giving off a faint white glow. Only then did Bei Nanxing know she was still alive, and that she was deep beneath the sea.

The System issued a warning:

[Welcome to Create a Civilization: The Ten-Thousand-Meter-Deep-Sea Ark Project.]

[Players can operate the two mechanical claws outside their pods to salvage supplies.]

[Seafloor magma is about to engulf this area. Players are advised to upgrade their safety pods.]

Bei Nanxing looked at the handles, which resembled those in Gold Miner, and at the oversized crab claws on either side of her safety pod.

One grab brought back a pile of plastic seedling trays and battered aquaculture nets.

She even fished up a little sponge that had nearly suffocated in the mud.

But why didn't this sponge look like the ones she remembered?

Bei Nanxing: ...

Bei Nanxing: Never mind. It might come in handy.

Using some of the junk she'd salvaged, she threw together an extra breeding basket and made a home for the little sponge.

A System notification appeared:

[Player has successfully saved a dying creature!]

[The creature can live alongside the player!]

[Congratulations on awakening the E-rank talent: Symbiotic Companion!]

[Symbiotic Companion: Form symbiotic relationships with marine life and discover their special growth potential!]

Bei Nanxing stared at the sponge in the net, which had only just begun showing signs of life.

So her golden finger was being a sponge's babysitter?

When an undersea volcano erupted, everyone else fled in panic while Bei Nanxing collected magma, all to keep her little magma octopus alive.

When mutated coral attacked, everyone else dodged for cover while Bei Nanxing fished for clownfish, just to add more species to her breeding grounds.

Deep-sea creatures that were strange and frightening, creatures nobody dared to raise...

Bei Nanxing's eyes lit up. "I can raise this one! And that one too! Bring them all over!"

Bei Nanxing stockpiled supplies and raised creatures as her one-cubic-meter safety pod continued to upgrade, its functions becoming more complete.

More and more players gathered near her...

By the time Bei Nanxing came to her senses, all kinds of players had gathered outside her home.

The System announced:

[Congratulations! Your undersea settlement has met the requirements to build an undersea city. Build it now?]

When the System released the contribution rankings, Bei Nanxing stared at her first-place score, lost in thought.

She'd only meant to raise one little sponge. How had the whole server ended up raising creatures too?

Reader's guide:

1. The heroine will become the strongest. She grows over time and raises all sorts of strange animals. (All animals in the story are fictionalized and do not exist in real life.) She will also create new animals later on.

2. Ensemble cast: five women and two men, each with their own golden fingers and career arcs.

3. The heroine has a love interest, but the romance develops later, once her living conditions have become relatively stable.

Theme: Work diligently and give everything your best.