Chapter 287: Completing 3 Island Master Tasks in One Day
The largest plain and lake on the island had already been occupied by the elephants, and Master Veridian’s Array had been successfully set up.
The elephants couldn’t get out; their range was restricted, but they didn’t seem to mind.
People could go in, but they were met with hostility from the elephants the moment they entered. As long as newcomers didn’t court death by actively stepping inside, there wouldn’t be any problems.
The relatively smaller plain was at the island’s entrance where the raft was docked. It was also the spot where Faye Yardley had first landed.
It was separated from the large plain by two mountains, though the distance was much shorter if you traveled upstream along the great river.
To be honest, this small plain was much larger than the area of the small village and its farmland on Isle 1004, where she had landed before.
Building houses to accommodate 100 people would be a piece of cake. Besides, not all of them were single; a family could easily live in one house.
Faye Yardley was standing on the nearest hilltop overlooking the small plain. She even thought this little hill could be used for housing.
’Hmm, I’ll need an architectural planner for this.’
Using the System’s camera function, she snapped a series of pictures. Then, she contacted Zachary Pierce through the All World Communication interface. She urged him to find a planner to help design a layout and avoid wasting land. If possible, after meeting the quest requirement with the first hundred people, she wanted to take in even more.
Of course, besides this area, there were also hollows between the mountains suitable for habitation, but those places would house even fewer people.
Honestly, if the small plain at the island’s entrance was properly developed, designing it into a small town for one hundred thousand residents wouldn’t be a problem.
100,000 people... it sounded like a lot. But when compared to the current population count displayed in the bottom left of the world channel, it was truly insignificant.
Let alone the first hundred-odd people, who barely counted at all.
Of course, for those hundred or so individuals, making this choice was a monumental decision.
Zachary Pierce’s reply came quickly: "Okay. Also, what kind of scale are you planning for the design?"
Faye: "Design the layout for a small town of 100,000 people. Get the initial locations sorted out first. I need to clear an area."
Zachary Pierce: "Hold on. One hour at the fastest."
To be honest, the shallow patch of grassland below was definitely not suitable for building houses, so she had to go further inland toward the shrubs. The thought of clearing that area gave Faye a sudden headache.
"Maybe I should just forget it and let them handle it themselves when they arrive?" Faye flopped down, resting her head on Bella’s and murmuring to herself.
But then she sighed in resignation. Faye asked Zephyr Sterling for some Burning Talismans to start a controlled burn and clear the shrubs and weeds on the land below the hill.
Once she decided what to do, things moved much faster.
At twelve noon, she looked up at the sun, then down at the black residue left behind by the combination of Burning Talismans and Oil.
She quickly returned to the raft and received the list sent by her brother and Zachary Pierce.
Faye just confirmed the list, adding Leo Sloan’s family of five. The total came to 121 people.
Then she submitted it to the System.
[Please confirm the list. Once confirmed, the System will send an islander invitation request to everyone on it.]
Faye carefully checked the names and avatars one by one. After confirming there were no issues, about ten minutes later, the System prompted: [Congratulations, player, on completing Island Master Task 3. Beginning Island Master Task 4.]
[Island Master Task 4: Please designate an area on the island as a residential zone and provide a residential plan.]
Faye: ...
’Where are the islanders I was promised?’
’Why isn’t there a single soul here?!’
"System, where are the people? The ones who confirmed? Why haven’t they come over?"
[Friendly Reminder: Please complete the next task first. Only then will your islanders arrive to live on the island.]
She suddenly felt that a string of curses would be very appropriate right now.
After letting out a stream of colorful language, Faye took out the simple blueprint she had asked Zachary Pierce to get from the architectural planner.
Task 4 was immediately marked as complete, and Task 5 began.
For the rest of the afternoon, Faye scoured the trading market for house blueprints. After preparing the materials and using the blueprints, distinctive two-story houses, each with its own courtyard, rose from the ground.
She built a total of 50 houses, which the System acknowledged, and Task 5 was immediately completed.
Having completed three Island Master tasks in a single day, Faye really felt that the day hadn’t been a waste.
[Island Master Task 6: Construct a Defense Array for the residential area to provide a safer living environment for the island’s residents.]
Faye sighed. She looked at the sky; it was already too late to invite Master Veridian over. She could only call him and schedule the array construction for tomorrow.
The materials needed for the array also had to be purchased from the market or specially exchanged for in advance, which would take time.
With everything prepared, night fell.
Faye hadn’t done much that day. She hadn’t even killed many monsters. The controlled burn had left her feeling inexplicably exhausted.
She felt that something was clearly off with her current state, but if asked what was wrong, it seemed like nothing was.
Looking at the table full of delicious food, Faye couldn’t muster any enthusiasm.
"Sister, are the tasks not going well?"
"No, they’re going very smoothly." Faye looked at Willow Yardley and added, "Don’t worry, I’m fine."
"But you don’t look very happy."
Faye shook her head. "I don’t know. Logically, I should be happy that the tasks went so smoothly. But I just can’t get excited."
"Here, have something good to eat and some soup. Maybe you’ll feel better."
As expected, good food could cure anything.
After dinner, Faye felt her state return to normal.
She stepped out of the house. The sun had completely set, but the sky was still bright.
A sea breeze blew past, making the ends of her hair flutter. The scent of flowers filled the air.
Reaching out, she touched a hanging Bramble vine. Faye squeezed its plump leaves. "Bramble, are you getting too many nutrients?"
Her only answer was the rustling of leaves as the wind blew through them.
Speaking of which, today was August 11th, which was also the day the leaderboards updated.
"System, check the leaderboards."
It turned out she still firmly held first place on both the individual combat power and raft leaderboards.
As for the guilds, her brother’s first guild had dropped to second place. The top spot was now held by Veridia’s First Legion.
This time, the reward for the individual combat power leaderboard was a temporary +5 Constitution, and first place on the raft leaderboard was a temporary +5 agility. As a result, her Constitution was now as high as 41, and her agility had reached 37.
Her off state all day was likely related to this temporary increase in her Attributes.
After all, her Constitution was too high while her Spirit hadn’t caught up. She needed more time to adapt.