Chapter 14: Passing the Blame One After Another

Chapter 14: Chapter 14: Passing the Blame One After Another

When a raft approached Pyralia, the Seagull circling above the island noticed it immediately. In the blink of an eye, the Seagull returned to Rowan Rhodes’ side, squawking at her. Noticing its urgency, Rowan wanted to know what it was trying to say and activated her Skill.

[Human.]

"A human?" she wondered. "You mean someone is coming?" Rowan asked in surprise.

"So fast???" she thought.

As far as Rowan knew, she was only able to prepare for the island journey in such a short time because she was a Prophet. In her memory, the server-wide announcement for the first island landing had occurred during the day. "Things have changed again!" she realized.

However, after a brief moment of thought, she understood the reason. Since she had landed on the island early, smart players would naturally wonder how she managed to do it so quickly after the server-wide announcement. Driven by the intense competition, they undoubtedly started researching various materials to see if they could craft Equipment to make their rafts move. Once they started experimenting, there was a high probability they would discover the existence of wind vanes and sails.

"Competition really breeds pressure!" she mused. "Everyone is grinding!"

But since someone had arrived, should she leave the island? Glancing at the few remaining trees, Rowan decided to retreat. Her harvest for the day was more than enough, and her backpack was completely full. It was best to avoid running into other players. After all, she still planned to develop her strength under the radar. If one person had made it, a second and a third could soon follow. When that happened, as the first person on the island, she would likely become the target of a collective siege.

"Let’s go," Rowan said to the Seagull. She gathered her various weapons and tools from the ground and swiftly retreated from the island back to her raft.

The Seagull had actually beaten her to it and was currently inspecting the environment of Rowan’s raft. It seemed quite satisfied, letting out a series of distinct seagull-like chuckles. Listening to it, Rowan couldn’t help but facepalm. "That laugh is strangely hypnotic," she thought. "But... it’s quite amusing."

The arrival of the Seagull added a touch of liveliness to the raft. Rowan quickly hoisted her iron anchor from the seabed. Checking its Durability, she saw it only had ten points left and was nearly scrapped. Still, if she placed it on the Workbench and supplemented it with some resources, it would be usable again.

As soon as the iron anchor was lifted, the raft swiftly pulled away from Pyralia. Rowan watched as the island grew farther and farther away. Vaguely, she spotted a Level 3 Raft approaching Pyralia. Although there was some distance between them, Rowan noticed that the other party seemed to be a female player. Her eyes flickered slightly. "Could it be Celia Lynch?" she wondered.

On the other side, Zelda Parrish had also noticed the departing raft. Realizing that someone had beaten her to the island, a name surfaced in her mind: Rowan Rhodes.

Within District 122, she figured there couldn’t be many people faster than her. After all, she had already prepared her wind vane and sail to explore the islands even before Rowan’s landing announcement. So, upon seeing someone else, her immediate thought was that it had to be Rowan.

However, after only a moment’s thought, Zelda tossed Rowan to the back of her mind. To her, the island’s resources were far more important; she didn’t have the energy to dwell on other people. Dropping her iron anchor, Zelda stepped onto the island and immediately began collecting all the resources she could see. Sand, palm trees, Coconut trees, Mango trees... She quickly worked her way up the small hill in the back.

Initially, Zelda hadn’t paid much attention to the Stone and patches of grass, but she couldn’t ignore the obvious excavation marks left behind! Following the lead of a "formidable" player was never a bad idea. Zelda swiftly started digging before turning her attention to the remaining trees.

After her collection and chopping, Zelda searched for more traces on the hill. She eventually came to a conclusion: there had been Watermelons, but they had already been completely collected. There might have also been ore on the cliff, but that had been mined away, too. A twinge of regret welled up in her heart. She was a step too late.

Turning around, Zelda headed back to the beach and resumed chopping down the palm trees, Coconut trees, and Mango trees.

Just as Zelda was busy chopping, Harold Thompson and Simon Quinn arrived at Pyralia one after the other. The two men suddenly spotted each other’s rafts as they neared the island. Finding themselves within visual range, both subconsciously drew their weapons.

"Someone has already landed. Fighting now will only benefit others," Simon hastily said to Harold upon noticing Zelda’s raft not far away.

Harold glanced at the nearby raft. Noticing that his own raft was still drifting forward, he quickly spotted the iron anchor on Zelda’s raft. He hurriedly pulled out his resources and began crafting an iron anchor of his own. Simon did exactly the same.

By the time their rafts were anchored near the island and they disembarked, Zelda was already preparing to leave. Harold and Simon exchanged a glance and unanimously blocked her path.

"Rowan Rhodes?"

Hearing the name, Zelda paused her steps. She looked at the two men and scoffed, "I’m not her." Although the person before her might have been Rowan, she disdained throwing the blame onto someone else.

"Are you the first to land on the island?"

"You chopped down all the resources! What are the rest of the players supposed to do?"

Harold and Simon clearly didn’t believe her, instantly resorting to moral kidnapping right there on the spot.

Zelda shot them a fleeting glance and continued walking toward her raft. In unison, the weapons in Harold and Simon’s hands swung toward her. Zelda’s body shifted nimbly, easily dodging their attacks. With the iron shovel in her hand, she delivered a swift thwack to each of their heads. Harold and Simon felt a sudden wave of dizziness. When they regained their senses, they stared at their interfaces to see their Life Values had plummeted by half, sending an instant chill down their spines.

"Spare us, boss! We just wanted to ask you about the situation on the island!"

"That’s right!"

The two men immediately begged for mercy.

Looking at their cowardly displays, Zelda gave a soft hmph and walked away. In the blink of an eye, she had leaped onto her raft.

"Look at my raft—it’s only Level 3," Zelda called out to the two men. "You can’t even beat me, yet you want to take on the number one player in the entire server? Give it a rest!" Leaving behind those mocking words, Zelda reeled in her iron anchor and departed, vanishing from their sight in an instant.

Following Zelda’s hint, Harold and Simon finally realized that the woman couldn’t possibly be Rowan. "Damn it, I better not run into her next time," Harold cursed unconsciously, rubbing his head.

"She must be Celia Lynch," Simon continued to deduce her identity.

"Right, it has to be her," Harold agreed, easily persuaded. A Level 3 Raft and a woman—who else could it be but Celia Lynch?

"Let’s hurry up and collect resources! If anyone else comes, we’ll be in danger," Simon quickly reminded him.

"Yeah," Harold nodded.

The two approached the remaining palm trees, Coconut trees, and Mango trees, taking out their Iron Axes to chop them down one by one. But before they could even take a few swings, new rafts arrived.

When the newcomers disembarked, the newly arrived players immediately fixed their stares on the two men. After all, the signs of fresh logging were far too obvious.

"It wasn’t us! We just got here too. Someone ahead of us chopped down most of it. It was Celia Lynch!" Simon directly dumped the blame onto Celia.

The newly arrived players checked the Durability of the two men’s Iron Axes and believed their words. Thinking that collecting resources was better than slaughtering each other, the players turned their attention to the remaining palm, Coconut, and Mango trees.

With everyone scrambling, the collection process instantly became arduous. Harold and Simon’s harvest was much smaller than they had anticipated, but fearing they would be robbed, the two fled early on.

They also discovered a mechanic: when approaching the island, all rafts shared the same sea area, but upon leaving the island, they would return to their own private sea areas. Obviously, their own sea areas were much safer.

Once they were far enough away to ensure they couldn’t see any other rafts or the island, they immediately began their public denunciation on the District 122 World Channel.

"Harold Thompson: @Celia Lynch, you collected so many resources. Why don’t you leave a way out for the rest of the players?"

"Simon Quinn: @Celia Lynch, you’ve gone too far! Just you wait! Your attack on us won’t be easily forgiven."

Celia Lynch, who was currently working hard to fish out wooden crates, was struck speechless as she watched the accusations hurled at her on the World Channel.

"I haven’t even landed on an island yet!!!" she thought. "If you’re going to make someone a scapegoat, shouldn’t you at least be realistic?"