Chapter 433 - 431: A Heaven-Shaking Strike
Faye Yardley searched the ocean depths for enormous Sea Monsters. It was a much faster way to earn points than salvaging trash for one or two points apiece.
Of course, this was only possible because others were helping clear the trash on the surface, leaving her free to hunt Sea Monsters and rack up points quickly.
And so, to the astonishment of everyone watching the leaderboards, the number one player’s points skyrocketed, growing at a much faster rate than anyone else’s.
It was late at night by the time Faye Yardley returned to her raft.
’So many missed calls.’
Faye Yardley, of course, called her brother back first.
He picked up after a moment.
"Faye, you... you look alright. I’m glad to see you haven’t been doing anything too reckless."
Seeing the faint worry in her brother’s eyes, Faye Yardley smiled. "Don’t worry, I’m actually quite timid and like to play it safe. By the way, if other people can handle the trash around your raft, you should go hunt the giant Sea Monsters in the depths tomorrow at dawn. They’re worth 500 to 1,000 points apiece."
"...And you call that playing it safe?"
"Haha, but this proves I’m playing it safe! What if I don’t deal with them now, and in a day or two, when the trash gets even thicker, these giant Sea Monsters put aside their differences and launch a coordinated attack on our rafts?"
Ethan Yardley looked at his sister, suddenly feeling that since he couldn’t help her, he had no room to lecture her. "Just be careful. And accept the Gift."
"Don’t worry, Ethan. I cherish this little life of mine more than anyone."
While still speaking, Faye Yardley accepted her brother’s Gift. Inside was a single pill.
[Damage Prevention Pill: Take to resist a certain amount of damage (up to a maximum of 1,000 damage points).]
"Ethan, where did you get this?"
"Just take it."
Seeing her brother’s insistent look, as if he would watch her until she took it, Faye Yardley didn’t refuse. She swallowed it, but aside from a new system notification appearing, her body felt no different.
Ethan Yardley said, "I got it from a supply crate. Pretty good, right? Okay, get some rest."
After hanging up, Faye Yardley sent a message to her other friends about the enormous Sea Monsters in the depths.
This was actually a misunderstanding on her part. She assumed that since this was her situation, everyone else’s must be the same. In reality, the system adjusted the difficulty to some degree based on a player’s strength.
However, when Zachary Pierce and Zephyr Sterling ventured into the depths, they did indeed encounter large Sea Monsters.
But when Zachary Pierce had his guild members with lower combat power go down using a Water-Repelling Pearl, the Sea Monsters they saw were about the same size as the ones that surfaced during the day.
Faye Yardley went to check on Jade’s hatching progress. Apart from the cracks being slightly larger, she couldn’t see any other changes.
"Jade, are you having trouble hatching?"
The Green Egg shook frantically. ’Don’t be ridiculous, I am not!’
Faye Yardley placed a finger on the eggshell. "Alright, alright, calm down. It’ll be a real problem if you get so worked up you can’t get out."
Looking at the nearby vine, which had grown much thicker, Faye Yardley brought out a large bucket of Flower Dew for it. ’I’ll have to find Jasmine to buy more,’ she thought. ’I wonder if she’s managed to collect enough after all this time.’
"Take your time drinking, little vine. I’ll buy more to stock up. From now on, I can have Willow prepare it and leave it downstairs for you. You can just extend your tendrils down to get it yourself."
The tide of refuse during the cleanup event grew more intense with each passing day. On the final day, it was a relentless onslaught, one wave after another without a moment’s rest.
Even around Faye Yardley’s raft, the tide of refuse surged to within a three-meter radius, two meters closer than it had been for the first three days.
Faye Yardley raised her blade, infusing it with all her Inner Strength. With a single downward slash, it was as if the world itself stood still. An endless line of Sword Energy descended, and everything in its path—the refuse and the Sea Monsters on the water’s surface—was instantly annihilated.
After that world-shaking strike, Faye Yardley felt completely drained.
’Looks like this can only be used as a final, desperate measure for now.’
Faye Yardley sat weakly on Goliath’s head as the Health Care Scripture circulated rapidly within her. This time, she didn’t rely on potions to replenish her depleted energy.
’A person has to learn to recover quickly on their own, after all. Since my life isn’t in danger, not using a potion is the best choice.’
Once she recovered, she would stand and swing her blade toward the densest area of refuse, then sit down again to recuperate. She repeated this cycle over and over until 6:00 PM.
[Congratulations to all the players who held on during the cleanup event! You guys are awesome~ Now it’s time to reap your sweet rewards! Please redeem all of your points before 8:00 PM, or they’ll be cleared and won’t be saved~]
[SOB... It’s finally over. The trash is all gone. I f*cking survived again.]
[Ha, one event, and the Veridian population dropped by a whole order of magnitude.]
[Great! That’s a lot less competition.]
[Damn, the person who posted that is insane.]
[What’s all the arguing for? Hurry up and redeem the good stuff in the Point Mall so we can keep on surviving!]
[...]
Faye Yardley stared at the Point Mall, a contemplative silence falling over her. ’My points have broken a million, but what should I even get?’
What was even more outrageous was that, aside from the four small trash-collecting boats she had gotten from supply crates, the large one she had redeemed from the mall had been shamelessly taken back by the system—with no point refund!
’Scammer!
A total scammer!’
’It’s infuriating!’ Faye was completely helpless against the system’s shamelessness, so after a brief flare of anger, she could only let it go.
She could only browse the Point Mall for something good to buy to soothe her wounded heart.
"Whoa, they actually have a High Level Basic Martial Arts Skill Book this time?!"
Faye Yardley’s eyes were glued to it, seeing nothing else. Of course she was going to buy it immediately.
’So what if it costs a whopping 600,000 points? I’ve got points to burn!’
So she bought it without a second thought. ’And of course, it’s stingily limited to one per person.’
As for why Basic Martial Arts cost only 1,000 points while the High Level version was 600,000, she decided not to dwell on it. She couldn’t figure it out anyway, and the system had clearly listed the price.
She stored it in her inventory and continued browsing the Point Mall.
She didn’t really need much for herself anymore.
So she asked Lucy White and the others, "Is there anything you all want? I can use my points to buy it. After all, you all helped earn them."
Cole Kensington shook his head, but Eamon said, "Faye, could you see if they have any High Level seeds? If they do, please buy some for us."
"Alright."
Sure enough, there were High Level seeds, and none of them were cheap.
Just buying all the available varieties of High Level seeds cost her 100,000 points.
Then, Faye Yardley bought some automated workshop blueprints, house Upgrade Coupons, and a few other things.
She even noticed a line of small, faint text among the many blueprints. Looking closely, she saw it was a crafting blueprint for an Intermediate Storage Ring. This single blueprint cost 350,000 points.
For sea survivors who already had a system inventory, spending so many points on this blueprint might seem foolish. But Faye Yardley had points to burn, so she bought it on a whim.
She hadn’t expected it to be a unique item. The option vanished from the mall completely.