Spirit Fire Port Opens!

Candlewood Island had now basically gotten on the right track.

The players' speed in collecting wax oil was also rapidly increasing, which greatly pleased Rogue.

It really had to be these players willing to grind!

If they were merely puppets with simple consciousness, Rogue probably wouldn't even have been able to anchor an island by now...

[Spirit Candle]

[Rank: Cinder]

[Remaining Wax Oil: 532]

[Spirit Candle Building: Spirit Fire Port (Constructible)]

[Anchored Island: Candlewood Island (Small Isolated Island)]

[Summoned Candle Spirits: 7]

After glancing at the wax oil accumulated within the Spirit Candle, Rogue let out a soft breath and slowly opened his eyes.

He could now construct the first Spirit Candle Building, the "Spirit Fire Port"!

The vast majority of this wax oil had come from the players. Most of it had been contributed by Li Miao and Yuanfang, while roughly half of the remainder had come from Brother Yu and the other players.

The specific quests Rogue had issued and the incentives from the mysterious shop had also played an indispensable role.

After checking the construction requirements for the Spirit Fire Port, Rogue's body slowly condensed.

"...Candle Keeper?"

Brother Mangzi, who was recovering health beside the Spirit Candle, was rather startled. Why had this guy suddenly emerged from the Spirit Candle again?

Rogue said nothing. He merely gave him a slight nod before continuing toward the cave entrance.

Brother Mangzi scratched his head. Just as he was wondering what the Candle Keeper was up to, a notification suddenly popped into view.

[Attention: This game will soon receive an update. Connection will be temporarily disconnected shortly. All players, please promptly cease your actions and return to the Spirit Candle.]

[Attention...]

"The game's updating?"

The players' eyes all lit up at the sight. Some were surprised, while others were delighted, and they stopped what they were doing.

They did not waste any time afterward. Those fighting wrapped up their battles, those fishing reeled in their Fishing Rods, and they swiftly returned to the Spirit Candle.

Naturally, when they returned to the cave, they saw the Candle Keeper heading outside, and could not help feeling puzzled.

What was the Candle Keeper going to do?

After gathering all the players together, Rogue temporarily disabled their ability to act.

The vague information conveyed by the Spirit Candle told him that constructing the Spirit Fire Port might cause quite a commotion.

Though it was only a possibility, Rogue still chose to keep the players settled down for the time being in order to avoid accidents as much as possible. He could use an update as an excuse anyway.

After surveying the surroundings at the island's edge, Rogue chose a relatively calm area where the Seawater was shallow.

"This is the spot."

Once he had confirmed the location, Rogue began communicating with the Spirit Candle's power.

[Anchored island detected. You may consume 500 wax oil to construct the Spirit Candle Building: Spirit Fire Port.]

[Construct?]

With a thought from Rogue, the five hundred wax oil stored within the Spirit Candle began to slowly vanish.

What appeared in its place was Spirit Candle Power, burning before him like a stream with faint blue flames.

It gathered from around Rogue's feet and surged toward the shore. As if it possessed intelligence, it automatically extended, spread, and intertwined... until it gradually outlined the shape of a small pier.

The dark blue flames gradually dispersed.

The wax oil slowly cooled.

Whoosh!

At the very front of the small pier, at the point where it extended into the sea, a black-and-white Flame suddenly lit up!

Rumble!

At the same time, Rogue suddenly felt a tremor.

It did not feel like an earthquake. It was more like... space itself was trembling!

"This is..."

As if sensing something, Rogue walked to the end of the port and stared at the black-and-white Flame before him.

A closer look at the strange Flame revealed that it was a candle somewhat similar to the Spirit Candle. Yet within the bright flame at its tip, blurry, dim scenes drifted past.

There were ruined ancient castles, decaying strange skeletons, swaying monsters...

And on the sea beside it, a row of wax-white wooden rafts stood neatly arranged, each with a cluster of rootless fire burning in its center.

[Spirit Fire Port constructed!]

[Spirit Fire Port · Tier 1 (Cannot be upgraded for now)]

[Functions: Traction Fire, Spirit Fire Rafts.]

[Traction Fire: Draw fragments from chaos, construct unstable passages, and travel to new fragment regions.]

"Drawing fragments from chaos?"

"It seems that what I sensed wasn't merely islands. Perhaps they were... fragments of space?"

Rogue frowned slightly and pondered for a moment.

There was no way to obtain an answer to that question for now.

The players could not use this function anyway, so Rogue stopped dwelling on it and shifted his attention to the [Spirit Fire Rafts].

[Spirit Fire Rafts: Consume wax oil at the Spirit Fire Port to create Spirit Fire Rafts, carrying Candle Spirits to ocean regions beyond the land.]

Rogue looked at the row of Spirit Fire Rafts and received detailed information from the Spirit Candle.

[Spirit Fire Rafts]

[Type: Spirit Candle Creation]

[Effect: Spirit Fire Rafts can protect Candle Spirits as they move through a certain range of waters.]

[Description: Slow sailing speed and extremely poor defense.]

"This solves the problem of the Candle Spirit Physique being unable to remain in the ocean for long..."

Rogue sighed in relief. This result was more or less what he had expected.

Ever since Anchor Island and the nearshore waters had opened up, he had been wondering what the ocean around Candlewood Island was like.

Yet the Candle Spirit Physique's inability to stay in the ocean for long was a fatal weakness, completely blocking the players' path toward exploring the sea.

This problem troubled not only the players, but him as well.

His situation was no different from theirs. If the players could not swim, naturally neither could he.

Furthermore, the world's environment also seemed to have been affected, tending toward a fixed state that greatly limited the players' ability to improvise.

Otherwise, the players would have built their own rafts and sailed out long ago...

Fortunately, now that the Spirit Fire Port had appeared, this problem had finally been resolved.

The players could ride Spirit Fire Rafts out to sea and explore the ocean to a certain extent!

"Let's look at this Traction Fire first."

Rogue did not immediately try the Spirit Fire Rafts.

Compared with the ocean, exploring land would clearly be much easier for the players.

However, Rogue turned around moments later, somewhat helpless.

The reason was simple. Using Traction Fire naturally required wax oil.

Spirit Fire Rafts also required wax oil.

He should have saved up more wax oil before constructing the Spirit Fire Port...

Now he had all these new things right in front of him, yet he could not try any of them.

"Forget it. I'll let the players log in first. I still have to rely on them to save up wax oil for me."

After letting out a faint sigh, Rogue headed into the cave.

As he walked, he considered how he should word the announcement for the players next.

For them, the greatest benefit of the Spirit Fire Port opening should be the ability to head out to sea.

He wondered how these players would react, and how they would use the Spirit Fire Rafts...

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