Chapter 280: Island Master Mission 1 Completed
Cole Kensington rode Bella in a circle from the sea, finally entering via a wide river where the saltwater and freshwater met.
He happened to arrive at the vast plain that Faye Yardley and the others were looking at.
"Huh, Kingston and Bella are back." Faye Yardley whistled at Bella. The mount immediately stopped in its tracks, rearing back from the sudden halt, its front hooves in the air.
Then it immediately turned and galloped toward Faye.
It shot through the elephants like a gust of wind, causing a commotion.
Only then did they discover that the elephants, much like special zombies in a Dungeon, actually had superpowers.
Superpowers of all colors flew across the plain, instantly creating a dazzling, firework-like display.
"Holy cow, these elephants were hiding their true power. Let’s go kill one and see if it drops anything good." Faye Yardley’s eyes lit up.
’If these elephants have Superpower Crystal Stones in them, this could count as a resource, right? Wouldn’t that mean we could secure two resource points right away?’
The five of them were all experts, so ganging up to hunt one elephant was a piece of cake.
As expected, after the elephant was butchered, they obtained a pale yellow crystal.
[Earth Element Superpower Crystal. Upon use, there is a chance for the user to obtain an earth-element superpower.]
"System, do these elephants count as a resource point?"
Ethan Yardley said, "Of course they do. We’re getting Superpower Crystal Stones. If this doesn’t count, what does?"
But the System didn’t acknowledge it, though it did provide a response.
[Resources that cannot be sustained long-term do not qualify as fixed resource points.]
"Long-term? What if we herd these elephants and raise them in captivity? Would that count?"
It seemed the System truly wouldn’t recognize it, no matter what Faye Yardley said.
Faye Yardley furrowed her delicate brows. "Looks like the System would rather we just hunt all these elephants to extinction."
Master Veridian, however, had a different perspective. "There’s no rush to kill them all. If we set up an Array here to contain them, that should count as raising them in captivity. We can see if the System acknowledges it then. Besides, not all the elephants have superpowers. During the fight just now, you probably noticed that even the young ones with superpowers could only use them once or twice before running out of energy."
"So, Master, are you saying the System won’t acknowledge it because not every elephant has a Superpower Crystal Stone, and once we kill them, they’re gone for good?"
Since the Master wasn’t bothered by the trouble and wanted to try, they might as well give it a shot.
After all, this plain was quite suitable for human settlement. It would be a shame to slaughter everything just because it couldn’t be a resource point. Besides, the Array could eventually serve as a protective barrier for humans.
Faye Yardley asked directly, "What do you need us to do?"
Master Veridian shook his head. "Go on and busy yourselves with your own tasks. I can handle this myself."
As he spoke, he walked straight into the agitated herd of elephants at the foot of the mountain. Surprisingly, even though he was an intruder, the elephants either ignored the Master completely or simply accepted him as one of their own.
"Whoa, that’s amazing. Mr. Zephyr Sterling, how did the Master do that?"
"I don’t know. Don’t ask me. I can’t do it either."
Since Zephyr didn’t know, Faye Yardley turned to ask Cole Kensington if he had mapped the island while circling it. The answer was naturally no, but he had hand-drawn a sketch of the island’s overall shape.
It was a spiral shape. A river separated the plain from the mountain range on the opposite side before flowing directly into the sea. The island looked as if it were semi-enclosed by the long mountain range, like the mouth of a conch shell.
"Thanks for your hard work, Kingston." Faye Yardley took the drawing. ’Maybe I can ride Bella and use the System’s auto-record function to map it.’
They could ask a geography expert for help with the specifics tomorrow. With so many people in the country, there were bound to be masters of geographical surveying.
"You all go explore on your own. Whatever you find is yours to keep." Faye Yardley said as she swung onto her horse, adding, "I’m going to go map the area."
In her mind, she said, ’System, turn on the auto-record function, quick.’
Bella really was the best mount she had ever seen. Not only could it gallop on water, but it could also tread on air for short periods. With trees or rocks as footholds, it could even travel continuously through the sky.
As time passed, Faye Yardley grew more and more pleased with the island, but her doubts also grew larger.
’Wait, is the System just giving me an island for free?’
It was common knowledge that there’s no such thing as a free lunch.
At least, Faye Yardley believed so.
’Or is this Island 3333 actually a trap?’
’But that doesn’t seem right.’ An island this large, which looked so wonderful and didn’t seem to have any particular dangers...
Using such a place to trap a minor player like her would be ridiculous.
If the System really wanted someone dead, it could just erase the player directly.
’So becoming an Island Master is this easy?’
Before the eight-hour island access time was up, Faye Yardley returned to her raft. The others’ Invitation Card timers ran out, and they were automatically sent back by the System.
She compiled all the data recorded by the System, which then automatically stitched it together into a survey map of the island. Faye Yardley couldn’t help but be impressed. Even a geography expert would have to marvel at it.
[Island Master Quest 1 successfully completed. Initiating Island Master Quest 2: Island Defense. Within 8 hours, fend off 3 waves of Contaminant attacks. Do not allow any contaminated creatures to successfully land on the island. Quest will begin the next day from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM.]
Faye Yardley frowned slightly as she read the quest notification.
It wasn’t even 2:00 PM yet, which meant she had 18 hours to prepare.
’What a headache. Who could possibly handle this without some help?’
’Looks like I’ll have to buy up a batch of Invitation Cards at a high price. Of course, the one- and two-hour cards I have on hand are also very useful. When the time is up, I can just invite someone else. Using sheer numbers should be enough to defend for eight hours.’
"System, can I invite other players to help defend against the Contaminant attacks?"
[The player may invite external support, but the number of invited players may not exceed 10 at any one time.]
’Ten players plus myself and Kingston... that means only twelve of us to defend this entire huge island?!’
This meant that everyone she invited had to be a high-level player.
"Isn’t 10 the initial friend limit? My friends list has expanded now, can’t I invite a few more people?"
The System didn’t respond at all. Clearly, 10 was the maximum number it had set.
Faye Yardley thought for a moment and sent messages to Zephyr Sterling, Master Veridian, Gavin Donovan, and her brother, respectively. As expected, all four said they would be happy to help.
Ethan Yardley even said he could bring Tiberius. That guy’s combat power was still a mystery, but there was no denying he was an expert.
That left five spots, all of which would require Zachary Pierce’s help to fill.
So she called him directly to ask.
Zachary Pierce agreed quickly. It would be easy for his side to gather five people of comparable strength.
Looking at the map of Island 3333, Faye Yardley couldn’t help but scratch her head. ’How am I supposed to assign defensive positions for this?’