Chapter 218: She’s a Bit More Reliable
The public channel was much quieter today than usual. Everyone couldn’t help but worry about the family and friends still left on Aquaria.
·In the pitch-black environment, only the occasional, tiny glint of light flickered.
[Dear Players, are you fully prepared to welcome your friends and family? The 56-hour countdown for the second wave of players to enter the World of Ocean Survival now begins. 56:00:00]
Faye Yardley checked the time. It was exactly 4:00 PM. That meant the second wave would begin entering precisely at midnight on August 1st.
’Looks like a lot of people won’t be sleeping then.’
[Oh god, I’m starting to regret not using more points to trade for wood and other raft upgrade materials during the last event. My raft is only Level Five. This won’t affect me picking people up, will it?]
[It’s fine. Level 5 is already great.]
[I just want to know, what’s going to happen to the orphans and the lonely elderly folks that no one was looking after? Will they have to start from scratch when they get here?]
[I wouldn’t mind adopting one of the little ones, as long as they can eat and take care of themselves.]
[Damn it, why did our planet suddenly get plunged into eternal night? Why?! Aren’t any of the scientists from before going to explain it?]
[Explain what? Do they owe you an explanation? Did they destroy our planet? You brainless amoeba.]
[If you’re worried about certain people or places, you can have the system switch the camera directly to them.]
[Thanks, OP. I’m going to check on my grandparents in the mountains.]
RING RING RING~
Faye Yardley glanced at the caller ID and answered. "Miss Jonas, what’s up?"
Eleanor Jonas’s expression was more serious than Faye had ever seen. "Yardley, I’m sorry to bother you right now, but I heard from your brother that you’re going to the Merfolk’s Coralisle tomorrow morning. When you get there, if you see any special medicines or suitable blueprints, could you help buy some? We’ve collected some gold and silver currency, and I can transfer it to you now."
"Ah? Oh, I see." Faye Yardley chuckled. "So, Miss Jonas, you want me to do some shopping for you. Why not just ask my brother?"
A gentle smile appeared on Eleanor Jonas’s face. "Mr. Yardley has to prioritize his team’s needs. Comparatively, it’s more appropriate to ask you."
’In Eleanor Jonas’s view, Faye Yardley was far more reliable than Ethan Yardley. Besides, Faye seemed to possess a special Luck Attribute, which definitely made her a better choice than her brother.’
"Alright. How much money do you have, Miss Jonas? And what are the priorities? Just send me a list. If I find anything on it, I’ll buy it. If not, I’ll return the money to you."
"Thank you. It’s only 2,000 gold coins in total. Just use it as you see fit for whatever you can get."
Evidently, Eleanor Jonas had already prepared everything. The list was ready and sent to Faye Yardley in a Red Envelope, along with the gold coins.
"By the way, Miss Jonas, on the public channel, I saw people asking about what will happen to the orphans..."
"Don’t worry. We’ll take in as many of the orphans as we can." Eleanor Jonas added, "And there’s no need to worry about the isolated elderly, either. We’ve already learned that anyone who enters this world with disabilities or in poor health will first be granted a healthy body by the system. If any accidents happen after that, they’ll need medicine. They have plenty of life experience, and we’ll do our best to help them too."
Faye Yardley let out a soft "oh." "Miss Jonas, you all are really working so hard."
"Not at all. It’s all thanks to you for helping us merge all of Veridia. Otherwise, communication and supply distribution wouldn’t be nearly this convenient."
After hanging up, Faye Yardley let out a soft sigh. She wasn’t some great saint, but seeing the state of Aquaria still made her heart ache.
’When others stepped up to do the things she couldn’t, she felt admiration and was willing to help within her means. But she couldn’t force herself to do any more than that.’
’Just as she felt for the infants, she truly wouldn’t get involved. She had never taken care of anyone before, let alone a tiny baby. She couldn’t shoulder that responsibility.’
’She wouldn’t mind contributing some supplies and checking in on a child occasionally, provided someone else was looking after them. That, she could do.’
"Sis, are you okay?"
Glancing at the TV screen, which showed the planet completely frozen over and plunged into darkness, Willow Yardley worried that her sister would be upset.
Faye Yardley shook her head gently. "I’m fine. Even though the planet is frozen, as long as the light returns, I believe it can come back to life. I just don’t know how many years that will take."
’She might never see it in her lifetime, but it was a beautiful hope. What if—what if it actually came true?’
’If she had to spend the rest of her life here...’ Faye looked around and suddenly felt that wouldn’t be so bad.
’She was her own person; others were others. As long as she could live a good life, what did it matter where she lived?’
Sensing that Faye’s spirit had suddenly returned, Willow Yardley was a little confused, but happy nonetheless. She loved seeing Faye full of energy; it made her seem like nothing could ever get her down.
Meanwhile, Ethan Yardley and his entire team were gathered around their screen, all of them silent. The more sentimental members even had red-rimmed eyes.
Graham Quinn took a deep breath. "Boss, shouldn’t we take in a few orphans, too?"
"If we take in orphans, who’s going to look after them?" Ken Linton countered. "If our parents were here, they could help out. But us... It’s not that I’m heartless, but we’re a bunch of guys. Who here knows how to take care of a kid? We can’t just bring them over and dump them all on Rainie, can we? She’s the only girl here." He felt it was completely unrealistic for them to be caregivers.
"Besides, our parents could help fish for treasure chests, farm, and clean. If they had a craft, they could do other things. But how do you take care of a baby? None of us are even married, let alone have kids of our own."
"Speaking of which, ever since the boss’s sister merged the entire nation, many of them had managed to contact their families. For the older guys, their parents and grandparents simply hadn’t arrived yet. But for many others, their parents had been part of the first wave. If they were unreachable now, it most likely meant they were gone."
"Then we can just take in the older ones," Graham suggested. "The kind who can already walk and feed themselves."
All eyes turned to Ethan Yardley, waiting for his decision.
Ethan Yardley leaned back in his chair. "Alright, they’re not as bad off as you imagine. Besides, there’s way too much testosterone around here. We really do need to recruit some good-natured women. Not only could they help look after the kids, but we can also train a group of players in life skills over at the guild base. You know, doctors, teachers, farmers, tailors, and so on..."