Chapter 158: Island Royale 27
"You’ve got quite a few items," Amber Sheridan said.
And they’re all high-level, too. So far, every item Perry Yates has pulled out has been level three or four, and she even has a level-five one.
Hearing Amber’s question, Perry Yates figured this might be a good chance to promote her tavern. After all, she was almost certain her Any Door could connect to other planets.
"Well, where I’m from, there’s a place called The Card Tavern. You can get custom cards made there. You can’t custom-order five-star Skill Cards, but you can get cards of any other level, items, and even five-star items made to order."
At Perry’s words, it wasn’t just Amber Sheridan—even Evan Fuller looked shocked.
"Custom cards? For real?" Amber Sheridan asked uncertainly.
"Of course," Perry Yates said.
Hearing Perry’s firm confirmation, Amber Sheridan got excited. "So, does that mean we could get cards custom-made too?"
"Well..."
Perry Yates was about to agree and mention the pricing to them when Evan Fuller cut her off. "This isn’t the time to discuss that."
"You’re right." Amber Sheridan nodded, then turned to Perry Yates. "We’ll discuss the details after the game ends."
"All right, then."
Perry Yates shrugged, not the least bit annoyed at being interrupted. ’After all,’ she thought, ’who could possibly resist the temptation of custom cards?’
’Especially not Evan Fuller.’
’She could tell he wasn’t the type to settle for being second-best.’
’He’s a potential big client.’
Perry Yates mentally rubbed her hands together in glee.
Since it was already afternoon, the trio didn’t walk much farther. They just put some distance between themselves and the blood-soaked area, then found a relatively flat spot to rest for the night before continuing their journey in the morning.
That night, during Perry Yates’s watch, she suddenly heard a loud SPLASHING sound coming from the nearby lake.
The sound was incredibly clear, as if it was coming from a spot not far from where they were.
Perry Yates looked toward the lake but saw nothing—only ripples spreading across its surface.
The splashing didn’t last long and soon faded away, but Perry Yates didn’t let her guard down. She picked up a piece of roasted bone marrow from the fire and began to eat, releasing her internal energy toward the surrounding plants as she did.
「The next day, the seventeenth day of the game.」
Perry Yates recounted what had happened the previous night.
"There might be something in this lake even more terrifying than the crocodiles," Perry Yates said, worried.
With each passing day, their situation was growing more perilous.
"Speaking of which, do you know what a crocodile’s natural predators are?" Amber Sheridan suddenly asked.
"You mean regular crocodiles? They have a fair number of predators. Large hunters like cheetahs and lions can take them down."
"What about in the water?" Amber Sheridan asked again.
Hearing that, Perry Yates thought for a moment. "In the water? Hippos, pythons, other crocodiles?"
"I think that’s about it," Perry Yates said, sounding a bit unsure.
After Perry had spoken, Amber Sheridan gazed out at the seemingly endless lake. "In a lake this massive," she said, "if it were a python... how big do you think it would be?"
...
After that conversation, Perry Yates grew unusually quiet for the rest of their journey. The only sound accompanying the trio was Perry constantly chewing her food.
’If she weren’t so low on poison, and if the lake wasn’t so vast, she really would’ve just poisoned the water.’
The trio walked until afternoon, stopping as the sky began to dim. Just like the day before, they found a spot to settle down.
This time, however, they weren’t looking for a place to rest. They chose an area with a wide, open view, wanting to see what might happen during the night.
As night fell, both Amber Sheridan and Evan Fuller took out items that granted Night Vision.
Amber Sheridan noticed Perry Yates hadn’t produced anything and asked if she needed help. Perry refused, saying she didn’t need it—she had an item in her eyes.
Amber Sheridan: "..." ’So much for trying to be helpful.’
The three of them hid within a dense tree canopy, waiting in silence.
It wasn’t until the sky was completely dark, deep into the night, that the SPLASHING sound came from the lake once more.
This time, the sound was even clearer and more violent than the night before.
And from their "front-row seats," the trio stared wide-eyed at the scene unfolding in the water.
A massive crocodile suddenly burst to the surface, struggling violently. Then, an even larger body emerged, coiling itself tightly around the crocodile.
As the massive body squeezed tighter and tighter, the crocodile’s struggles gradually weakened until it went limp.
Once its prey had gone completely still, a gaping maw opened and swallowed the crocodile whole.
Perry Yates thought the hunt was over, but it wasn’t. Just as the massive creature, having had its fill, was about to sink back into the water, another huge maw appeared.
It clamped down on the massive creature’s body, biting it clean in two. The clear lake water was instantly stained red. With that, the hunt was finally over.
「The eighteenth day of the game.」
The trio reviewed the events of the previous night. They concluded that the first creature was a crocodile, and the one that followed must have been a python.
The python had eaten the crocodile, and the final creature must have been an even larger crocodile that, in turn, ate the python.
"Barring any surprises, it looks like those are what we’ll be facing next," Amber Sheridan said.
"It’s not just them." Perry Yates suddenly stopped, her brow furrowed as she stared ahead.
"What did you find?" Evan Fuller asked.
"There’s a man-eater ant nest a hundred meters ahead. We’ve already entered their hunting grounds."
As she spoke, thumb-sized ants began to crawl out from the grass.
These first few ants, while large, wouldn’t normally have been a concern. After all, even a thumb-sized ant could be crushed underfoot.
However, when Perry Yates used a vine to part the grass, she revealed a teeming mass of ants covering the ground and the undersides of leaves, just waiting for a misstep to swarm their prey.
In this situation, they had two choices: turn back or find a way around.
Perry Yates chose a third option.
Taking out Claudia Vance, Perry Yates flew straight up into the air, carrying Evan Fuller and Amber Sheridan with her.
’When the ground was teeming with danger, what could be safer than the sky?’