Chapter 111: Maritime Competition 18
Ignoring the stunned Kai York, Moira Lynch started stuffing Spider Silk into her Space Button.
A whole cave full of Spider Silk—of course, it wasn’t all going to fit inside the Space Button.
Once she’d stuffed in a good amount, the two of them continued on their way.
After they left the cave, Moira Lynch then stored all the remaining Spider Silk in her personal space.
To avoid any trouble from the Cleanser Spider when it returned, Moira even thoughtfully left it a small gift.
After walking for about an hour, the two finally emerged from the dark cave.
Although they hadn’t encountered any major dangers along the way, some parts of the path were truly difficult to traverse.
Suddenly, Kai York’s stomach let out a loud GROWL. Immediately after, Moira’s stomach followed suit with a couple of rumbles of its own.
It was only then that they remembered they hadn’t eaten since falling into the cave. Now that they were finally out, they were starving, their stomachs practically touching their spines.
Moira Lynch took out two servings of rice drizzled with meat sauce and a couple of side dishes. They dug in right away; they were hungry enough to eat a horse.
While eating, Moira didn’t let her guard down. Her eyes scanned the surroundings, eventually landing on a cluster of golden mushrooms.
[Fluffy Mushroom: Rich in nutrients, delicious flavor, strong Life Energy. The most common and cheapest mushroom variety in the galaxy, excluding those produced by the Isle Turtle.]
A single Fluffy Mushroom was half a meter tall.
Moira Lynch walked over and stuffed it into her Space Button.
Kai York, who was busy stuffing his face, didn’t say anything. In any case, his job was to provide the muscle; he left all the thinking to others.
After collecting the Fluffy Mushroom, Moira looked around but couldn’t spot any others, feeling a little disappointed.
’Weren’t they supposed to have tenacious Life Energy? Why are there so few?’
Annoyed, Moira took the log the Fluffy Mushroom had been growing on and stored it in her personal space to see if she could grow one herself.
After they had eaten and drunk their fill, Moira Lynch checked the time. It was three in the afternoon.
"Do you remember what time we entered the game?"
Hearing this, Kai York thought for a moment and said, "I think it was seven o’clock."
’Four hours left. That should be enough.’
Just then, a mechanical voice sounded in their ears.
[There are now four hours remaining until the end of the game. Players who have completed their tasks, please submit your Task Cards. If Task Cards are not submitted before the end of the competition, all results will be nullified.]
After the system’s voice faded, Moira Lynch and Kai York’s eyes went wide. They had to submit their Task Cards?!
’It didn’t say anything about this before.’
Meanwhile, high above Planet Aelmar, a small ball of light used its chubby hand to wipe away nonexistent sweat from its forehead.
"That was close. I almost forgot about that."
"Submit the Task Cards? Where do we submit them?" Kai York shouted.
’The competition is about to end, and now they pull this stunt? Is the game system doing this on purpose? Does it not want us to pass?’
Moira Lynch, however, was calmer. She figured that since this was an annual competition, Patience should be able to look up some of the rules.
"Patience, do you know where to submit the Task Cards?"
[There is a submission point for Task Cards on the boat used by the contestants. Alternatively, you can return to the competition’s starting point to submit them.]
’On the boat?’
Moira Lynch froze.
They had been using the boat from the competition as a flowerpot since they arrived.
Moira was now thankful she hadn’t gotten rid of the boat for taking up too much space.
Moira Lynch took the boat out of her Space Button, moved the Soldier Food Rattan and Repair Aloe Vera out of it, cleaned out the soil, and in a corner, they finally found the submission slot for the Task Cards.
After the Task Cards were successfully submitted, three bright, shining stars appeared on the back of both Moira Lynch and Kai York’s hands, along with two fainter star imprints. These two would only fully materialize after the game was over.
"We need to find the boss, quickly."
They had submitted theirs successfully, but Shane Rhodes and Hugh Finch hadn’t yet.
What was once ample time had suddenly become incredibly tight.
She put the boat away carefully. It was an important item now and couldn’t be lost.
"Patience, locate Shane Rhodes and Hugh Finch."
Before Patience could give a result, a bolt of purple lightning suddenly flashed in the distance. This was the signal they had agreed upon when they separated.
Judging by the distance of the lightning, Shane Rhodes and Hugh Finch were actually nearby.
Ten minutes later, the four of them successfully met up.
Moira Lynch took the boat out again and had the other two submit their Task Cards.
"By the way, Moira, is your Space Button full yet?"
"Not yet. Why?" Moira Lynch asked.
At her words, Hugh Finch’s eyes lit up. "That’s great! We found a huge patch of Soldier Food Rattan. Quick, come with us."
Led by the two, Moira Lynch saw the massive patch of Soldier Food Rattan—it was indeed a huge area of Soldier Food Vines.
However, Moira Lynch didn’t act immediately. Instead, she prepared to find the main bodies of these Soldier Food Rattans first.
Shane Rhodes and Hugh Finch had already taken care of that.
The two of them had been busy with this task before the system’s announcement.
Their original plan was to find Moira after locating the Soldier Food Rattans, but then the system’s voice had suddenly piped up.
With everyone working together, they ultimately found over thirty Soldier Food Rattans and countless Soldier Food Vines.
Since there were only a few hours left, they decided to just fill every last bit of space in their Space Buttons with Soldier Food Vines for now.
If they came across anything else later, they could just take the Soldier Food Vines out.
An hour and a half later, all their Space Buttons were filled to the absolute brim.
With a little over two hours left, the closer they got to the end, the more cautious they needed to be.
Hugh Finch performed a divination and calculated that if they remained on the island, they might run into some minor trouble.
Although the outcome would be that they’d come out unscathed, the group still didn’t want to take the risk and decided to return to the sea.
Having made their decision, the group prepared to head back.
Guided by the Learning Machine, it took them just over half an hour to reach the edge of the Isle Turtle.
The very instant they jumped into the sea, the sound of a fierce battle erupted from deep within the forest.
’This must be the ’minor trouble’ Hugh’s divination mentioned.’
At this, the group couldn’t help but feel relieved that they had left quickly.
Even though Shane Rhodes and Kai York were formidable fighters, they couldn’t handle having Moira Lynch and Hugh Finch as dead weight.
While Moira and Hugh’s skills were decent, they were no match for players who had truly awakened combat-type talents.
If a real fight broke out, Shane Rhodes and Kai York would have to protect Moira Lynch and Hugh Finch. Even if they could escape unscathed, it probably wouldn’t be easy.