Chapter 100: Maritime Competition 7
How could there be such twisted people in the world? They shouldn’t blame them for being ruthless, then.
Moira Lynch had been practicing her marksmanship this whole time. It was time to see the fruits of her labor.
These men all had body-strengthening abilities, so bullets might not be effective against them. But that didn’t matter—as long as the bullets were effective against the boat.
To avoid missing their shots, Moira Lynch and Hugh Finch deliberately positioned themselves directly beneath the men.
Then, they aimed and fired.
BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG!!!
After the chaotic volley, it was unclear if anyone on the boat had been injured, but the vessel itself was successfully riddled with holes.
Surrounded by the sea, being without a boat was as good as being immobilized. Completing their task would naturally be impossible.
Hearing the cries of alarm and curses from above, the pair quietly slipped away, swimming off into the distance without a thought for recognition.
Kai York returned to the reef just in time to witness the other men’s boat sink.
He looked around but couldn’t find any sign of Moira Lynch or Hugh Finch. Then he saw the burly men flailing in the water. It wasn’t hard to put two and two together.
So he raised a hand and summoned a hurricane.
Unlike ordinary players who had awakened the Wind Element, Kai York’s hurricanes were far more destructive; he could even create a tornado to devastate an entire area.
Over the open sea, the power of such an ability was magnified exponentially.
A cyan tornado appeared on the surface of the ocean, sucking up seawater as it rapidly bore down on the four struggling men.
As he watched the four men get sent flying by the tornado, the sound of applause suddenly erupted behind him.
It was Moira Lynch and Hugh Finch, who had met up with the returning Shane Rhodes. With their main fighting force back, they naturally had no reason to fear those men anymore.
They hadn’t expected to come ashore just to see Kai York putting on a great display of power, blowing all four of them away.
"By the way, where’s our boat?" Shane Rhodes asked, looking around.
"I was afraid those guys would steal it, so I put it in the Space Button for safekeeping."
As Moira Lynch spoke, she released the boat from her Space Button.
Perhaps because it had been stored in the Space Button after capsizing, the inside of the boat was now soaking wet.
Fortunately, none of them seemed to mind.
Kai York opened his Task Book. One of the stars on it was already lit. Now, he just had to wait for the Cetabeast to bring back the Greater Golden Fish and Lesser Goldfish, and his three tasks would be complete.
After that, as long as he could survive to the end and keep the team intact, they had this game in the bag.
"This game doesn’t feel that hard, actually. It’s pretty simple," Kai York said.
Hearing that, Shane Rhodes shot him a look and said flatly, "Simple? That’s just survivorship bias. Without Moira Lynch, how about you try tackling those three tasks again?"
Hugh Finch added from the side, "I bet there are a lot of people out there who can’t finish their tasks and have resorted to hunting others down."
Those men from before were a perfect example.
Not that those guys were good people to begin with.
"Let’s get going. We can’t just rely on the Cetabeast," Shane Rhodes said. "We’ve searched this area pretty thoroughly. Other than those invaders below, there’s nothing here. We need to find a new spot."
Kai York’s third task was already complete, but Shane still had no leads on his own.
He had tried placing the spikes of a Sea Thorn Ball into the small basket on his Task Card, but they were rejected.
This proved that the "invaders" weren’t all the same species.
Moira Lynch sat at the bow, one hand on the railing, spreading her spiritual power to monitor the activity beneath the waves.
There were Sea Thorn Balls and more Sea Thorn Balls, and nothing else besides Blue Shrimp Seaweed and Azure Shrimp.
Moira Lynch unapologetically collected them all into her space.
After they had been rowing for about an hour, Moira Lynch’s spiritual senses finally detected a change.
It felt like going from a desolate desert to a bustling market in the blink of an eye.
Just then, a series of ripples spread across the water’s surface in the distance, immediately capturing Moira Lynch’s attention.
Within the range of her spiritual senses, a fish was rapidly approaching them.
The other three also noticed something approaching and immediately went on alert.
Moira Lynch and Hugh Finch gripped the gunwale, bracing themselves so they wouldn’t be knocked into the sea by a potential impact.
Shane Rhodes gathered lightning in one hand, while a small, cyan tornado formed in Kai York’s. Both were ready to strike at a moment’s notice.
Just as the group’s tension reached its peak, a Cetabeast launched itself high out of the water.
The sight of the Cetabeast made them all breathe a sigh of relief.
The Cetabeast screeched to a halt beside their boat. "What are you doing here? Couldn’t wait any longer?"
Moira Lynch reached out with her spiritual power to communicate. "Not at all. We came to help. This is our competition, after all."
She said it with such righteous conviction that she didn’t seem the least bit guilty.
Hearing this, the Cetabeast swished its tail. "Well, be careful. The Golden Fish are hard to catch, especially the Lesser Goldfish. I’ve been looking all this time and have only found three. I’ve gathered all the Greater Golden Fish, though."
As it spoke, the Cetabeast opened its mouth wide, about to spit the fish out, but Moira Lynch, seeing its intention, stopped it.
"Hold on, let us get ready first."
She hadn’t expected the Cetabeast to store the fish like *this*.
This "preparation" involved having Kai York take out his Task Card, which transformed into a small basket, so the Cetabeast could spit the fish directly into it.
Watching the shimmering golden fish come out of the Cetabeast’s mouth one by one, Moira Lynch and the others couldn’t help but avert their gaze.
But none of them tried to stop it.
The game only required them to complete the task; it made no mention of the items’ quality.
And even if it did, who would dare say their Golden Fish were of poor quality?
The Cetabeast had caught them all live. They might have spent some time in its stomach, but they were still alive when they came out. Who could say a living fish was of poor quality?
Five minutes later, once the Cetabeast had spat out all the fish from its stomach, Kai York’s second task was complete, and his first task was three-tenths of the way done.
His task completion rate had suddenly surpassed Moira Lynch’s.
Next, she asked the Cetabeast about the Isle Turtle’s whereabouts.
"Why are you looking for the Isle Turtle?" the Cetabeast asked, then it dawned on it. "Is that another one of your tasks?"
Moira Lynch nodded and looked at it expectantly, but unfortunately, the Cetabeast let her down.
"The Isle Turtle is incredibly elusive; I’m not sure where it is either. However, I can tell you where it was last seen. You could try looking there."
Hearing this, Moira Lynch sighed. It seemed that was their only option.
After thanking the Cetabeast, they each took out a Sea Pearl, placed it in their mouth, and then jumped into the water one after another.
To keep the small boat from drifting away while they were gone, Moira Lynch stored it in her Space Button once again.