Chapter 289: I Became an Island Master Just Like That?
Faye Yardley froze for a couple of seconds when she heard the system notification, then blurted out, "Conch Isle."
[Naming successful.]
[Server-wide Announcement: Congratulations to Veridian player Faye Yardley, the first to become a Sea Island Master! Reward: Personal Reputation +2000, Free Attribute Points +3, Veridia Reputation +1000.] x3
[Server-wide Announcement: Congratulations to Veridian player Faye Yardley for her personal reputation surpassing 10,000 and achieving the rank of ’Well-Known’! Reward: Silver Treasure Chest x1.] x3
"Yardley, congratulations. Now, hurry up and get this old Master something good to eat. I’m starving."
Of course Master Veridian had seen the announcements—he wouldn’t have congratulated her otherwise—but nothing was more important than filling his stomach.
A huge smile spread across Faye Yardley’s face. "Willow, take the Master to get something nice to eat."
"You’re not going?"
"The system notified me that the people who agreed to come to the island will be arriving in five minutes. I need to get back to the island and wait for them."
She wasn’t worried about food for herself. Faye Yardley just grabbed some sushi from the kitchen fridge, stuffed it in her mouth, and strode toward Conch Isle.
They arrived quickly, just as expected. Faye Yardley waited for a short while in front of the houses in the residential area, and then 121 people materialized out of thin air before her.
The people who arrived were clearly very composed. There was no surprised shouting; instead, they all maintained a tacit silence.
Then, a remarkably spirited-looking elderly man stepped out from the crowd. "Hello, Island Master Yardley. From now on, we’ll be residents of your island. I’m Wyatt Thorne. Commander Pierce should have mentioned me."
Faye Yardley nodded and said with a smile, "Hello, Mr. Thorne. Welcome, all of you. I have an announcement to make. From now on, Mr. Thorne will be the village head for the settlement on Conch Isle. Behind me are the homes I’ve prepared for you. Village Head Thorne, please handle the assignments. We had 41 households registered previously. It’s one house per household. There are 50 houses in total; the vacant ones are for future newcomers. Under no circumstances is any family to occupy more than one house."
Faye Yardley’s words were directed not just at Wyatt Thorne, but at everyone else as well.
"Don’t worry about that. We all carefully read the confirmation agreement from the system before we came." Wyatt Thorne seemed perfectly at ease with the responsibility.
It was just over a hundred people, which was a piece of cake for him to manage. Besides, the vast majority were from military families.
"I’ll be relying on you to manage things here from now on, Mr. Thorne. Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you need anything." Faye Yardley then quickly added, "Oh, right. I haven’t explored this island in detail myself, but there’s a large plain if you follow the river upstream. Just be warned, it’s inhabited by aggressive, powerful elephants, so you shouldn’t venture there lightly. This area isn’t completely safe, either. As you settle in, be mindful of the smaller wildlife—not all of them are friendly."
Faye Yardley didn’t involve herself in the specific details of assigning houses. She only noticed that whenever a house was claimed, a large crate would appear, leaving her utterly baffled. ’What in the world is this?’
However, a cheer then erupted from the crowd. They had been worried that the belongings they had so carefully packed were gone.
Now that they knew their belongings wouldn’t be lost as long as they had a designated home, they were eager to find their houses and settle in immediately.
Leo Sloan’s family chose a house next to Wyatt Thorne’s, both near the closest small hillside.
He had entrusted some belongings to Faye Yardley, so once his house was confirmed, she went straight into their yard, entered the house, and materialized the furniture, bedding, and other items.
"Thank you so much, Island Master," Leo Sloan said, his voice filled with emotion. His family was finally, truly, reunited and safe.
"No need to thank me, Mr. Sloan. You all get settled in. I’ll be going now."
Faye Yardley left and went next door to find Wyatt Thorne. He had come alone, and she had her doubts about whether he could manage well here by himself.
"Ah, Island Master Yardley. I’m afraid I have to bother you again. You’ve prepared these wonderful houses for us, but they’re completely empty inside. Would you mind doing us a favor and asking Commander Pierce’s people to prepare some furniture and bedding? Otherwise, with just the one crate of belongings we brought, I’m afraid we won’t even be able to get a good night’s sleep."
Faye Yardley nodded. "I’ll talk to Mr. Pierce. Once he has everything ready, I’ll just invite him over. There’s a lot I don’t know, so please feel free to give me a heads-up, Mr. Thorne."
The rest of their conversation left Faye Yardley gaping. The system had been unbound from them. This meant they had, for all intents and purposes, returned to their previous way of life.
If she wanted to contact them, she, the Island Master, would have to figure out how to install a communications network on her own.
Faye Yardley hadn’t spoken much with Leo Sloan before. He had sent her a Red Envelope with a request for help when he got to the island, and she had simply done it since it was no trouble.
’I never would have expected this.’
They were truly living a grounded life now. What’s more, they could no longer rely on the system to improve their physical attributes; they would have to train and get stronger on their own, bit by bit.
’Faye Yardley didn’t know if she could make the same decision if she were in their shoes.’
When she got back to her raft, the system prompted her to receive a batch of supplies. The rafts and all the items on them that had belonged to the new arrivals were now hers.
’Well, I’ll just consider it a reimbursement of materials for building their houses.’
As for their beds, wardrobes, sofas, and other furniture, as well as bedding and clothes—she no longer needed to bother her brother or Zachary Pierce. It was all included in her "Island Master’s Other Supplies."
Barely two minutes after stepping onto her raft, Faye Yardley was already getting off it again. She went back to the island, found Wyatt Thorne, and had him gather everyone in an open area in front of the houses. Then, under their astonished gazes, a huge pile of furniture and clothing appeared. As for how each family would claim their things, she left it completely up to them.
’Just thinking about all those trivial details gave her a massive headache. Besides, how was she supposed to know which furniture belonged to whom?’
’We’ll see later if they can all get along. It’s only about a hundred people. Surely they won’t beat each other’s brains out over this.’
’Besides, with Wyatt Thorne and his supposed wealth of management experience, things would definitely be fine.’
’As for tossing troublemakers into the sea to feed the sharks... Faye Yardley had no psychological qualms about that whatsoever.’
’She felt her mindset might not be entirely normal anymore. But who cares? It wasn’t stopping her from enjoying life, was it?’
Back on the raft, Faye Yardley saw Cole Kensington also coming from the direction of the island. "Kingston, where have you been?"
"Hunting on the island. Scouting for any nearby threats."
"Thanks for doing that. Are there any other large beasts nearby?"
Cole Kensington nodded. "I just took down a large spotted cat. I’ll take it to Second Sister in a bit to have her prepare it for a meal."
’A large spotted cat? Does he mean a tiger?’
’Anyway, it didn’t matter what kind of prey it was. Any meat processed by the system was guaranteed to be pollution-free. Besides, the creatures on this island weren’t polluted to begin with, so anything the new residents hunted would be safe to eat.’
’In any case, maybe I should get a couple of doctors on the island. At the very least, there’d be someone to see people for headaches and fevers.’