Chapter 207: Chapter 207: The First Guild
"What’s this? A long, narrow rectangle? I think I have one of those."
Looking at the picture her brother pulled up, Faye Yardley took a rectangular box out of her storage. It was the one she had scavenged from the seafloor. Since it was so well-sealed, she’d just stored it away and forgotten about it.
"Take a look. Does it look like this one?"
Ethan Yardley’s expression was complicated as he looked at the stone-white box. "Faye, you’re seriously like a walking Treasure Box. You have everything one could ask for."
"Oh, it really is this one? Here, it’s yours."
Ethan Yardley didn’t stand on ceremony with his sister. After storing it in his inventory, he said, "Once the guild is expanded and upgraded, we should be able to occupy an entire island. When that happens, I’ll be an Island Master! I’ll have to set aside a plot of land on the island just for you."
"Alright, I’ll be waiting then. Try these fresh water caltrops, they taste great."
"It’s such a pain to eat these. I’d rather just eat strawberries."
Faye Yardley huffed, then picked one up and tossed it to her brother. "Peel it for me."
Ethan Yardley: ...
In the end, Ethan Yardley obediently peeled a whole plate of water caltrops for his sister. ’Seriously, if she weren’t my own flesh and blood, I would’ve just walked away,’ he thought. He found them too much of a hassle to eat himself, yet here he was, waiting on her hand and foot. Only his little tyrant could get away with this.
"Alright, if there’s nothing else, I’m going to head back. If you’re short on anything, just let me know. Don’t be too proud to ask just because you’re ranked number one."
Faye Yardley nodded. "Don’t worry. You know me better than that, don’t you? I’m definitely not the type to suffer in silence just to save face. If you’re busy, you should hurry back."
"Alright, I’m off. You still have some points, right? Go ahead and redeem a few extra Invitation Cards and hang onto them. That way I can come over and mooch some food whenever I have time."
She rolled her eyes at him. "You’re just too cheap to buy them yourself, aren’t you? It’s only a hundred points per card. If I’m feeding you, the least you can do is pay your own way here."
"Haha, it’s because your big brother is poor! Have some sympathy, will you? By the way, my mood always seems to improve after coming to your raft. That isn’t some special effect from being max level, is it?"
"It’s probably the effect of one of my items. Anyway, when you reach max level, you get to place an item. You should use a Light Energy Group. You still have some of those, right?"
"I do. I definitely have Light Energy Groups. And I feel a special connection to the fiery red ones. In that case, I’ll use a fiery red one when I upgrade my raft."
They exchanged a few more words before he left.
After her brother left, everything suddenly felt quiet.
Faye Yardley looked at the plate of water caltrops her brother had peeled for her. She ate two before putting the rest away in her personal storage.
Faye used her last few thousand points to stock up on various basic materials, including Space Stones.
After spending every last point, she took a quick shower and went to bed early.
It had been a truly tiring day.
She tried circulating her Health Care Scripture while lying down, and to her surprise, it actually worked.
’Looks like I don’t have to be sitting in meditation,’ she thought. ’I was just stuck in my old ways of thinking.’
Eventually, she fell asleep. The Health Care Scripture began to circulate automatically within her, flowing even more smoothly than when she consciously controlled it.
Waking up right on time at 4 a.m. the next morning, Faye Yardley felt refreshed and clear-headed. After quickly freshening up, she went to give the Magic Vine a better home, transplanting it into a High Level Planting Pot with fertile soil.
She sprinkled some dew on it and sighed. "I’m almost out of food for you. When are you finally going to be fully grown?"
’Even if I wanted to find more, it would be hard to get it through random chance unless I use a Rare Island Entry Order.’
Then, she tapped her head. ’Right, silly me. Even though the fruit will only be exclusively mine if I tend to it personally, I can still put the vine itself in the planting room. I’m not sure if I can trust Eamon not to mess with it, though.’
The vine swayed its leaves, and Faye Yardley reached out to touch one gently. "Are you trying to say you’re happy staying out here?"
The vine’s leaves bobbed up and down, which made Faye Yardley laugh. "Alright, you can stay here then. I’m not in a rush, and neither are you, so this is fine. Speaking of which, today seems like a good day to relax. I think I’ll go fish for some Treasure Boxes."
With that, she tossed a Light Energy Fragment to the Green Egg and headed downstairs, her mood bright.
By the time Faye Yardley finished her warm-up and left the training room, the sun was already high in the sky.
"It’s not even 8 a.m., but it feels hotter than yesterday at noon."
Willow Yardley nodded. "Yes, the temperature has risen today, but it’s not too bad overall. In your terms, it’s about 25°C at most right now."
"Twenty-five degrees this early and you call that ’not too bad’?" Faye muttered. "Looks like I’ll have to fish from under the thatched awning. I can eat breakfast while I’m at it."
The thatched awning had been moved from its original spot to the side of the raft closer to Eamon’s cabin.
It was already July 26th. Looking at the messages in the public chat, it seemed like everyone was preparing for their families’ arrival.
But she knew there had to be plenty of people like her, who had never harbored such hopes. They were just the ones who stayed silent.
[System Announcement: Congratulations to player Ethan Yardley of Veridia for being the first to successfully establish a guild. The Guild Rankings are now open. Rewarding 3,000 Guild reputation and 2,000 personal reputation.] x3
Faye Yardley smiled as she watched the golden fireworks burst in the air before her. ’He was fast this time,’ she thought. ’Don’t tell me he stayed up all night working on this?’
She opened the new Guild Rankings tab. There was only one name listed, under the outrageously arrogant guild name: The First Guild.
’That’s exactly the kind of name my brother would come up with on a whim,’ she mused. ’I wonder what will happen if his ’First Guild’ gets knocked off the top spot later.’
A look at the public chat confirmed her thoughts. Plenty of people were roasting the guild’s name, but even more were clamoring to join.
Faye Yardley watched, amused. No matter what, both she and her brother were forging their own paths.
To be honest, her mindset had changed a lot since she first entered the game.
In the past, she might have tried to interfere with her brother’s choices, but now she had decided to let him be. While he could be impulsive, he was generally very reliable.
He was willing to trust her, so why shouldn’t she trust him?
She took a bite of the shredded bamboo shoot bun in her hand and waited for a Treasure Box to bite. Life felt surprisingly pleasant.
Eamon was now not only busy with the planting room but had also started tending to the small garden.
"Sister, should I transplant some bamboo to plant beside the pavilion?"
"Eamon, I’ll leave it up to you. I trust your judgment when it comes to arranging the plants."
"Hehe, thank you for trusting me, Sister! I’ll take care of the arrangements then."
Faye Yardley watched Eamon happily scamper off to get busy, an unconscious smile gracing her lips.
The fishing rod beside her twitched. Faye grabbed it with one hand, stood up, and gave it a sharp tug, hauling a heavy Iron Treasure Box onto the raft.
"Tch. A great start!"
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