Sea Survival: My Luck is Off the Charts

My brother called while I was eating breakfast. "Faye, where on earth did you get these this time?"

Faye Yardley calmly finished her milk before answering, "I went treasure hunting last night. Combined some Treasure Map Fragments."

"I’ve been busy building the guild headquarters lately. I’ll invite you over to take a look once I’m done. As for The Merfolk Invitation Card, let’s go together after I finish up here. You still have yours, right?"

"I do. Okay, I’ll wait for you to finish."

"Don’t you dare sneak off and go without me."

Faye Yardley nodded. ’It’s not like I’m someone who goes back on her word. My brother really doesn’t trust me enough.’

Ethan Yardley gave a few more reminders before hanging up to get back to work.

’Come to think of it, the Water-Repelling Pearl isn’t really that useful to me right now,’ she thought. ’And after giving one to my brother, I still have three left.’

’Trading them for some Treasure Map Fragments or Dungeon Fragments shouldn’t be too much to ask, right?’

With that in mind, she sent two Water-Repelling Pearls to Eleanor Jonas, explaining what she wanted in return.

The reply came back quickly. Eleanor said they would take the pearls. She only had two Treasure Map Fragments in stock but could add two complete Invitation Cards for Dungeon 1 and Dungeon 4.

Faye Yardley agreed immediately.

This was actually the first time she had gotten an Invitation Card for Dungeon 4.

The image on it was split in two. One side showed a sun-drenched beach with golden sands and turquoise waters. The other depicted a scene of dark, gathering clouds and crashing waves, with people in the sea stretching out their hands as if screaming for help.

On the back, a single word was written in large letters: Solo.

’So it’s another solo dungeon.’

Just looking at it made Faye Yardley want to use it immediately.

"Faye, try these sesame sweet dumplings. I didn’t add much sugar, so they shouldn’t be too rich."

Storing the items in her warehouse, Faye Yardley nodded. "Alright. I know anything Willow makes will be delicious, even without tasting it."

"Faye, do we have a destination?"

"No. For now, we’ll just find a patch of sea with no one around and stay there."

After breakfast, Faye Yardley found herself feeling a little bored.

Yesterday had been brilliantly sunny, but the weather today was much worse. For them, however, an overcast day was probably more comfortable.

Stepping from the balcony directly into the garden, she saw that Eamon had planted a mixture of various flowers together. The arrangement had a wonderful sense of depth and was quite beautiful.

A grove of bamboo beside the pavilion also complemented the surroundings perfectly.

A spring-fed pool was designed with flowing water.

Faye Yardley truly felt that her "home" was getting better and better.

’Now I just need to become better myself.’

[You have received an invitation to visit from Wade Warren. Do you wish to travel to Wade Warren’s raft?]

Huh?

Though confused, Faye Yardley chose to accept the invitation.

In the next instant, she appeared on Wade Warren’s raft.

’It’s hard to believe this is only a Level 6 Raft.’

But the various structures were arranged neatly; at least it wasn’t chaotic.

"Wade Warren? Wade Warren?"

"Hey, Leader, you’re here. Sorry about this, but I’m a little injured. I actually called you here to ask for your help."

Faye Yardley looked at the man who had just opened the door. His face was pale and bloodless, and his voice was weak. She found it hard to believe this was the same, ever-energetic Wade Warren.

"What happened to you?"

"Come in and have a seat, Leader."

Wade Warren pushed the door open with effort. If he hadn’t been leaning on the doorframe, he looked like he would have collapsed entirely.

Faye Yardley eyed him suspiciously for a moment before nodding and entering the house.

The house was sparsely furnished. She picked a rattan chair in the living room and sat down. Wade Warren slowly shuffled over to the sofa, clutched his waist, and collapsed onto it.

"D-don’t mind me. I just don’t have any strength right now."

Faye Yardley asked, "Didn’t you redeem an Inner Injury Holy Medicine?"

Wade Warren gave an awkward smile. "I already used one. It just wasn’t enough to heal me completely right away."

Since he had already used both internal and topical medicines, Faye Yardley didn’t press the issue. Although she had learned Basic Acupuncture, her skill was, frankly, so poor that she wouldn’t even dare use it on herself.

’He’d probably get better faster if I didn’t get involved.’

"So, what did you call me here to help with?"

Though Wade Warren claimed to have no strength, at her question, he managed to point a finger at the floor. "Un-under the raft..."

"A powerful, contaminated Sea Monster?"

"Yeah."

Faye Yardley’s interest was instantly piqued. ’Perfect! This is a great chance to get an Energy Stone. The more powerful the Sea Monster, the more likely it is to have one.’

"Then I’ll go kill them for you. Are there many? And let’s be clear—if I do the killing, the loot is all mine."

"Two of them. And of course, it’s all yours."

Faye Yardley stood up and smiled. "Alright, I’ll go take care of them for you. You just get some rest. I’ll let you know how it goes, one way or another."

"Th-thanks."

’Under the raft?’

Faye Yardley swam a couple of laps in the water but saw no sign of the Sea Monster Wade Warren had mentioned. ’Am I going in the wrong direction? Or not deep enough?’

’He didn’t give any specifics, so they have to be near the raft.’

’Could they have been content to just let Wade Warren escape from their clutches?’

Apparently not. Faye Yardley descended another ten meters or so and spotted huge, dark figures swimming back and forth in the water.

Sensing her presence, they charged right for her.

Faye Yardley’s eyes lit up. ’Perfect timing!’

After dispatching the two contaminated Sea Monsters, she not only got two Energy Stones but also a variety of other basic materials. It was a bountiful harvest.

She wanted to search the area a bit more, but the Invitation Card’s time limit expired. In the next instant, Faye Yardley was back on her own raft.

After a quick rinse, Faye Yardley opened the group chat and tagged Wade Warren, telling him the problem was solved.

Wade Warren replied quickly, clearly having been monitoring the group chat: Okay, thank you, Leader.

Bonnie Callahan: Ooh? What happened?

Because they could use their thoughts to speak directly in the chat, Wade Warren’s reply was clear enough: A Sea Monster appeared near my raft. I couldn’t beat it, so I called the Leader for help.

Bonnie Callahan: Awesome! Faye’s a gem, as expected. She shows up and gets it all done.

Leo Sloan: Has anyone gotten a compass or anything else that points direction from a chest?

Faye Yardley: Do you need one for something specific? I see some on the trading market.

Leo Sloan: I just wanted to let everyone know that if you have one, you can actually sync it with the system’s location service. It will give you a set of data, like coordinates, which makes it much easier to find friends and family. My wife and I are already heading toward a specific coordinate point. I’m sure we’ll be able to meet up.

Faye Yardley: Wow, that’s amazing. I had no idea you could use a compass like that.

Kyle Lewis: Thanks, Mr. Sloan! I’m going to buy two right away. This way, my mom and I will have a chance to reunite out here on the ocean.

It was indeed a very useful function. As long as they had a specific direction to travel, they would eventually meet, no matter how slow their rafts were.

Of course, the function was pretty useless for Faye Yardley herself.

After all, the only person she was concerned about was her brother, and it was already very easy for her to see him if she really wanted to.

’But now I have an even bolder idea,’ she thought. ’What if I made my brother’s guild headquarters island my own? Wouldn’t that be wonderful?’