Sea Survival: My Luck is Off the Charts

After being irrigated with plenty of the black water, the Bramble surprisingly bloomed with vibrant flowers.

The black branches and leaves gave way to gorgeous flowers that seemed to glitter under the sun.

Faye Yardley watched, unable to stop herself from praising, "They’re absolutely beautiful."

’It really is like that old saying,’ she thought, ’the most beautiful flowers bloom from the mire.’

The Bramble then actively extended a branch toward Faye Yardley, on which bloomed the largest, most brilliant red flower.

When Faye Yardley didn’t move, it even wiggled the branch.

"For me?"

It moved again.

Faye Yardley plucked the brilliant red flower.

[Magic Flower obtained. Consume to randomly increase Attributes.]

"It’s for eating?! Shouldn’t it have grown a fruit? I guess it’s not true that brambles don’t bear fruit."

Despite her grumbling, Faye Yardley picked it up and sniffed. It had a faint, sweet fragrance. The large, bowl-sized red flower was then eaten, bite by bite.

After finishing the entire flower, Faye Yardley felt light and floaty, as comfortable as if she were swimming in a hot spring.

[Charm +1, Spirit +2]

AHHH!

Faye Yardley wanted to scream. This was completely unexpected.

To think her charm value could be increased like this! And her Spirit had broken through to 31 points.

Her mind felt clearer, and she wasn’t sure if it was her imagination, but she seemed to carry that same faint, sweet fragrance after eating the flower.

"Thank you, Bramble. You’re the best."

Faye Yardley reached out and took hold of a branch. It automatically retracted all its thorns, so she wasn’t hurt.

"Do all your flowers have this effect?"

The branch swayed twice.

"No? If the answer is no, move once."

It moved once. Faye Yardley let out an "Oh." ’Well, that’s fine too,’ she thought. ’Can’t be too greedy.’

The Magic Vine on the small, second-floor balcony was doing its best to grow, but its growth was just too slow. No matter how hard it tried, the change wasn’t immediately obvious.

It was so mad. It had clearly sprouted first, but now its territory was being completely overrun by the Bramble outside.

The Bramble had indeed extended its branches into the ocean and was now pushing its way toward the black water.

It felt so blessed; the nutrients here were simply too rich.

With enough nutrients, it could bloom even more flowers.

’As for that other Magic Plant of the same origin on the second-floor balcony... heheh. So what if it was a step ahead of me? It’s just a pathetic weakling with stunted growth.’

Faye Yardley had no idea the two Magic Plants she was growing were capable of developing a rivalry.

Moreover, after the Bramble appeared, her raft’s offensive and defensive capabilities had even seen a small boost.

This time, Eamon came crawling over.

Seeing the Bramble before him, its terrifying, ferocious nature masked by gorgeous flowers, he truly didn’t know whether to be pleased or dismayed.

’How can a Magic Seed be cultivated this way?’

But the results before him proved that there was nothing wrong with it.

It seemed he was still too conservative when it came to cultivating plants.

Blackwood, on the other hand, was already excitedly parkouring across the Bramble.

Unfortunately, every time it tried to take a bite, the Bramble would smack it away.

It wasn’t afraid of the pain. Not long after being smacked and sent flying, it would just run and jump right back onto the Bramble.

It repeated this cycle tirelessly, enjoying every moment.

Faye Yardley paid the two of them no mind. It wasn’t like they would seriously hurt each other.

At worst, the Bramble would just lose a few leaves.

Looking at its dense foliage, losing a leaf or two would have no impact whatsoever.

"What a wonderful, high-energy day!"

With that, Faye Yardley went straight to the thatched shelter, took out her fishing rod, and prepared to fish for treasure chests.

She wasn’t worried about catching any good sea creatures here; her goal was the treasure chests, after all.

Humming a little tune, she waited for a chest to take the bait.

She decided against using the special fishing rod for now. Because of the strange nature of this area, Faye Yardley wanted to investigate it more thoroughly first—or rather, she wanted to feed her Bramble and make it even stronger.

What if she fished up something bizarre, or even another creature, that tried to compete with her for the black water?

’It’s better to keep life simple. I don’t need that much excitement.’

Faye Yardley had always been one to follow her heart. If she felt bored, she’d find something to do. Now that she had something to do, she didn’t mind if things were a little less thrilling.

After some thought, she messaged both Zachary Pierce and Eleanor Jonas to tell them the black water could be used to raise special plants. Just how special they turned out would depend on whether they were willing to make the investment.

After all, there was a good chance they’d lose everything they put in.

Zachary Pierce messaged back: "Plants that have been treated with the black water generally cause irritability when consumed. But like you said, the higher one’s personal Attributes, the stronger their resistance. Maybe we could prepare some of this special food just in case. You never know when it might come in handy."

Faye Yardley: "Oh, okay. Do you want to come see it for yourselves?"

Zachary Pierce: "If it’s possible, just inviting me and Jonas would be great."

Faye Yardley: "I can do it now."

Zachary Pierce immediately sent two one-hour Invitation Cards.

Faye Yardley shouted over to Blackwood and the Bramble, "We’ll have guests soon, so you two quiet down a bit, okay?"

She accepted them without hesitation and invited the two of them onto her raft.

When Eleanor Jonas saw the dense black foliage dotted with splendid, colorful flowers, she couldn’t help but exclaim in amazement, "Yardley, you’ve made your raft look so gorgeous!"

"Haha, right? I think it looks great, too."

Zachary Pierce was a bit speechless. ’Whether it looks good or not isn’t the important part,’ he thought. But he waited for them to finish speaking, his gaze drifting toward the patch of black seawater not far off.

"You brought your own Water-Repelling Pearls, right? Go on and take a look. I won’t go with you. There’s a whirlpool at the very bottom. If you step on it, you’ll be spun around rapidly and then launched back to the surface. It’s pretty fun."

Eleanor Jonas let out a little "Ah." "You’re not going?"

"Oh? Does Miss Jonas want me to go with you?"

"No, no, I just subconsciously assumed you’d come along." Eleanor Jonas said, feeling quite embarrassed.

As they entered the sea, the Bramble’s underwater branches pulled back significantly, pretending to be dead as they drifted with the waves.

Faye Yardley, meanwhile, excitedly reeled in her line. A Wooden Treasure Chest! Come to think of it, she felt like it had been days since she’d opened a chest. The sight of one made her feel almost nostalgic.

Nearby, Cole Kensington stared at the fishing rod in his own hands. ’Is there any difference?’

Ever since he got it, he hadn’t managed to catch so much as a single piece of seaweed.

What happened next made him question his very existence.

Whenever Faye Yardley cast her line, she never came back empty-handed.

Yet after more than half an hour, his own rod hadn’t so much as twitched.

’Am I really cursed when it comes to fishing?’

’Doesn’t everyone talk about beginner’s luck?’

’Why doesn’t it apply to me? Is that fair?’

"Kingston, take your time fishing. No rush," Faye Yardley said. "It looks like they’re back from the seafloor. I’m going to go check on them." After stowing an Iron Treasure Box in her backpack, she got up and walked toward Goliath’s head.