Chapter 368: This Is His Island?

[You are about to dock at Isle 10198. Please prepare to disembark.]

Just as they were about to break through the mist, Faye Yardley, on a sudden whim, activated the raft’s Invisibility function.

This island probably didn’t have a pier yet, so after emerging from the misty area, the raft pulled up to a relatively gentle reef area that was easy to land on.

"Willow, after I get on the island, move the raft a little further away. I have eight hours of exploration time. When you think it’s about up, come back closer to pick me up."

Willow Yardley was a little confused. They had always just docked right at the shore on previous islands. However, she didn’t ask why and simply agreed, "Okay, sister."

Faye Yardley leaped lightly onto the shore, and with just a few graceful bounds, she disappeared into the dense forest.

Following her instructions, Willow Yardley had the raft slowly back away from the island. Perhaps because they were now farther away, she noticed many human figures moving about to the left of the reef area where they had landed.

’Why wouldn’t an inhabited island have a pier?’

’I should record this scene quickly. My sister might have a use for it.’

Faye Yardley, who had darted into the woods, was now like a monkey, leaping and swinging ceaselessly from one treetop to another branch.

Whether it was due to her incredible luck or not, she soon spotted two people talking and laughing in the forest. Faye Yardley stopped moving, hiding herself among the leaves. With her back against the top of a tree, she swayed gently with the wind.

What she didn’t expect, however, was for the two of them to each pick a tree, quickly pull down their pants, and squat. They then started chatting from their not-so-distant positions.

Faye, perched in a treetop opposite them, nearly froze solid. ’A chat this... fragrant? Are they serious?’

"Mr. Shaw, how much have you dug up as of today?"

"How much could I have? My whole family is working hard, and after all these days on the island, we’re still nine pieces short of qualifying for housing. That new residential area is already built. I saw some people have already completed the requirement and moved in."

"My family’s a bit slower than yours, but not by much. We should be able to move in with the same batch. Maybe we’ll even be neighbors."

"Did you hear? There was a cave-in over at Mining Area Two yesterday, I think. Someone got trapped inside."

"Yeah, I know. None of us have any mining experience. We just bang away with brute force. Luckily, Island Master Langdon arrived in time. Otherwise, someone would’ve died."

"That’s true. Sigh... And here I thought coming to an island would be..."

"PFFFT... PFFT PFFT..."

"Holy crap, Mr. Shaw! You’re farting while you take a shit? You got the runs or something?"

By this point, Faye Yardley had already moved several trees away, distancing herself from that... odorous location.

’Island Master Langdon?’

’It couldn’t be Logan Langdon, could it?’

"System, System, is this Logan Langdon’s island? The Logan Langdon from the Veridia region of Sea Survival."

But the system remained silent.

Faye Yardley had already given up on the idea of looking for resources. If this really was Logan Langdon’s island, he would have surely scoured it back and forth many times already.

’What kind of good stuff could I possibly find within a few hours?’

Instead, she simply stopped and listened for the sound of human voices carried on the wind.

She constantly adjusted her course, following the direction of the voices.

The trees grew shorter, and Faye gradually descended to the ground, darting swiftly through the low shrubs and weeds.

She crouched carefully in a large patch of weeds, parted the stalks, and looked down. She was shocked to see so many people in the small valley below.

On the flat ground, tents were pitched one right next to another, and the area was swarming with people.

’So many people... A single glance reminded me of a crowded city square during New Year’s celebrations. There must be hundreds, maybe thousands of them.’

She had rarely seen so many people gathered in one place. Even back on her own Conch Isle, she’d never seen this many at once. It seemed like everyone there was always busy with their own tasks, not congregating in a large group like this.

She could understand their conversations. As more people spoke, she caught occasional snippets about life on the rafts and their life now. Most of them were consoling themselves, saying that at least here, as long as they were careful while working, they didn’t have to live in constant fear for their lives.

"Working? Mining?" Faye Yardley frowned slightly. ’Mining shouldn’t be that urgent, should it? If you have something like a blueprint for modern mine construction, couldn’t you get it done in no time?’

’Blueprints might be rare, but surely there are alternatives in the Zombie Dungeon’s Point Shop.’

’There’s absolutely no need to make these people mine using such primitive methods.’

’Right, what kind of ore are they even mining here?’

’Could it be that this type of ore can only be extracted this way?’

’Wait, isn’t Leah Chandler on this island? Should I go look for her?’

The thought had barely surfaced before Faye Yardley herself snuffed it out.

’Don’t do anything unnecessary,’ she warned herself.

Faye Yardley saw someone excitedly shout that they had found something.

She activated her camera’s zoom function and focused in, getting a clear look at the so-called "ore" in the person’s hand. It was a misty-blue stone, about the size of a pigeon’s egg.

It might not have been ore, because Faye Yardley clearly saw the misty-blue, egg-sized object pulse once.

’It’s alive. A living thing.’

Sure enough, there were people in charge of collecting them.

It seemed you couldn’t hide them, either, because everyone leaving the mining area was scanned. These "eggs" would be detected no matter where they were hidden.

’The people on the island, aside from the slightly harsh living conditions, it seems that, just as they said, as long as they’re a little careful, they won’t—’

’Won’t, my ass.’

Just as Faye Yardley was about to leave, she saw someone being carried out. Then she heard someone say this was already the third one today.

’They’ve only been on the island for a few days, and there are already casualties? What’s even more absurd is that the people here seem to think it’s normal. Have they been brainwashed?’

Aside from the grieving families, it seemed that if someone died while mining, their family would receive special treatment and be allowed to move into the residential area with reduced requirements.

Of course, trying to commit suicide in the mines to secure those benefits for one’s family was impossible. Rumor had it the mines were under full surveillance.

Faye Yardley listened to the jumbled conversations, piecing all this information together, and felt a wave of exhaustion wash over her.

’What in the world are those eggs?’

’I’m so curious.’

She had been squatting for a while. Faye Yardley shifted her feet, and just as she was about to leave, she saw a woman on horseback ride into the valley. The crowd automatically parted for her. Taking a closer look, she saw it was none other than Leah Chandler.

’Speak of the devil...’

She was probably there to collect the "ores." After confirming the count, she gathered them, placed them in a bamboo basket on her horse’s back, and then mounted her horse and left.

’The whole process took less than half an hour. Pretty efficient.’

This time, Faye Yardley truly began to move out from the weeds. She massaged her slightly numb feet, then looked in the direction Leah had gone and set off in pursuit.