Chapter 278: Unpolluted, Temptation +1
After passing through a thick white mist, a hazy island appeared ahead.
Faye Yardley felt it was about time, so she sent out three invitations.
Soon, the three of them arrived one after another.
"Wow! Calm winds, gentle waves, and bright sunshine. This old man certainly prefers fine weather like this," Master Veridian remarked, stroking his beard as he surveyed the surroundings.
The island didn’t even have a dilapidated dock, so they had to find a relatively flat spot to stop. Faye Yardley leaped ashore.
[You have landed on Island No. 3333. The Ordinary Island Entry Order permits an 8-hour stay. The countdown begins now. Friendly Reminder: If you fail to return to your raft after 8 hours, you will be ejected from the island and dropped randomly into the sea. The sea is very dangerous; you will become lost without a raft.]
[This island does not yet have a master. Do you wish to use the Legendary Island Order?]
She received a system notification the moment she set foot on the island.
The others followed her onto the island.
Seeing her standing still, Ethan Yardley patted her shoulder. "Faye, what’s wrong?"
"Ah? Oh, it’s nothing. The system just sent a reminder that we only have eight hours to explore."
’Should I become the Island Master of Island No. 3333? I’d better check this place out first.’
’Who knows what the Island Master quest entails? Before I claim a territory, I have to figure out what resources it has. At the very least, I need to know how big the island is.’
Before encountering an ownerless island, Faye Yardley had thought any empty island would suffice.
’Now that I’ve actually found one, all these questions are popping into my head. It’s so hard to ignore them.’
"Kingston, take Bella and circle the island’s perimeter. Find out how big it really is." Faye Yardley decided she had to know the island’s size first; if it was too small, she wouldn’t waste her Legendary Island Order.
’My personal standard is that it should be at least the size of a county... The land area has to be over 1,000 square kilometers.’
Faye Yardley felt that she was indeed getting greedier.
’My brother’s guild territory is only about sixteen acres, and I thought that was good enough. But when it’s my turn, I’m scoffing at anything small.’
’Hehe, good thing my brother doesn’t know what I’m thinking.’
Glancing at her brother, Faye Yardley said, "Don’t just stare at me, let’s get moving. We’ll head into the island from here. We don’t know how big it is. If it’s small, we might even see Kingston circling back around from the other side."
They crossed a tidal flat of mixed pebbles and sand, then came to some larger, scorched-looking rocks. Climbing over them, they officially set foot on the island proper.
Before them was a meadow dotted with small white and pink flowers.
Occasionally, something resembling a roly-poly would scurry quickly through the grass.
Beyond the meadow was a thicket of slightly taller shrubs.
In the distance, a range of rolling mountains was visible.
Master Veridian surveyed the terrain and said, "I’m going to head to the highest peak for a better view."
Zephyr Sterling glanced at Faye Yardley. "My master and I will head up the mountain first, then. What about you?"
"We’ll explore the nearby area for now. If you find any resource nodes, remember to log them for me."
"Okay."
The two of them took off, leaping and bounding toward the highest peak.
The siblings were left looking at each other. Ethan Yardley spoke first, "You have some special plans for this place, don’t you?"
"You really are my brother," Faye Yardley chuckled. "That’s right. If this place is big enough and rich in resources, I want to become its Island Master. Then in the future, you can introduce yourself as the brother of the Island Master of Island No. 3333."
"Wow, thanks so much," Ethan Yardley said sarcastically. Then he asked, "What do you need me to do?"
"Explore the island, of course! If it’s tiny and has nothing on it, I wouldn’t want it anyway."
Ethan Yardley exclaimed, "You call this small? From what I can see so far, it’s not small at all, okay?"
The two chose a relatively flat direction and walked on. After a while, Ethan Yardley exclaimed, "Faye, you’re unbelievable! You said my guild headquarters was plenty big, but now that you’re about to claim an entire island, you’re saying the part we can see is too small? Isn’t that a bit of a double standard?"
Faye Yardley burst out laughing. "Well, our situations are different, aren’t they? Whoa, holy—there’s a wild ox up ahead! Quick, let’s get it! We’re having beef!"
"Watch me."
Ethan Yardley sprinted to the left, moving to corner the exceptionally sturdy-looking wild ox.
Faye Yardley took out her Longbow and nocked a Crystal Arrow. She wasn’t afraid of missing such a large target.
She waited until her brother got closer to the wild ox, then let the arrow fly from her bow.
The Crystal Arrow struck the wild ox squarely in the eye, instantly freezing the surrounding area. To her surprise, a large python was also caught in the ice.
During the five-second hard stun, Faye Yardley repeatedly fired her left Arm Crossbow at the large python.
The Arrows were fitted with explosive talismans.
The moment the Arrows hit, the talismans activated. Their explosive power was immense; the python’s bucket-thick head was blown to smithereens.
Both the wild ox and the python became the siblings’ spoils. To Faye’s pleasant surprise, when the system processed the carcasses, there was no notification of contamination. This meant the area was free from any pollution source.
This was definitely good news.
This news was so good that Faye Yardley felt she could accept the island even if it turned out to be a little smaller than she had hoped.
"Looks like you’ve found a great spot," Ethan Yardley said, genuinely impressed. "It should be rich in resources, and it’s not polluted. If people were to settle here, as long as they’re willing to work hard, hunt the threatening large animals, and set up some protective barriers, this would be an excellent place to live."
If his sister was willing, this place could house quite a few people.
Of course, he wouldn’t be the one to persuade his sister to let strangers come settle on the island.
It all depended on what she wanted.
The first step, of course, was to help her become the Island Master.
Otherwise, everything else was just wishful thinking.
This was even more exciting to him than when he established his own guild headquarters.
"Faye, if you really want to claim this place, I and the people from my guild can all help you."
Faye Yardley nodded. "Okay. If I really need your help, I won’t hesitate to ask."
The two of them continued to explore as they talked.
As they moved from the meadow into the shrubbery, the number of small animals suddenly increased.
They even ran into a sounder of wild boars.
"Don’t wild boars usually live in the mountains? Why did this family make a home in the bushes? There are seven piglets. Let’s take down the two adults and bring the piglets back to the raft to raise in the livestock pen."
"Alright, you call the shots."
The wild boars didn’t even wait for them to devise a hunting plan before charging straight at them.