Thank goodness, thank goodness, he was still alive.
Wasabi regretted it terribly. He never should have listened to Missing Teeth's instigation in the first place. He'd been one of the players denouncing Ling Chu in Nearby Channel when Missing Teeth had privately messaged him, asking if he wanted to join them in surrounding and attacking Ling Chu.
Missing Teeth had said he'd killed a Pirate before. Killing Pirates didn't increase your Sin Value and even earned you Justice Points. Pirates liked to kill and plunder, and they always had plenty of supplies. Missing Teeth had a gun and a Special Profession, and if they got a few more people to join them, they'd have no problem killing Ling Chu. Afterward, he'd give Wasabi a quarter of Ling Chu's supplies.
He hadn't been able to resist the temptation and had agreed. He never expected that his greed would nearly cost him his life—and waste one of his precious spores. Medicine was already scarce, and if he didn't bandage the wound, his health would keep dropping.
Wasabi clutched his shoulder, which throbbed with pain, and a flash of hatred crossed his eyes. He'd already given up attacking and tried to run, but Ling Chu still hadn't let him go. She'd even shot at him as if she meant to kill him.
At least he'd survived. As long as the green hills remained, there'd be no shortage of firewood. He'd get his revenge another day.
[Nearby Channel]
[Player Ling Chu killed player Missing Teeth.] [Player Ling Chu killed player A Quan.] [Player Ling Chu killed player Rippling Sun.]
The channel was flooded with those glaring kill notifications.
The atmosphere instantly fell deathly silent.
Maybe they were shocked, or maybe they were terrified.
For a full minute, nobody chatted in the channel. The people who'd been denouncing Ling Chu just moments ago didn't dare say a word.
Only Squid Ball, who loved watching the drama unfold, sent a message: "Three against one and you still lost? If you don't have what it takes, don't bite off more than you can chew. What a shame. I always said Missing Teeth was short in every way—and now his life's been cut short too."
Ling Chu neither confirmed nor denied it.
She wasn't some great philanthropist. If people came right to her face and bullied her, she wasn't going to just take it.
Those guys had come here to die, plain and simple.
Ling Chu took the Shotgun from Missing Teeth. The other two didn't have anything valuable on them either, just two Iron Pickaxes. Their good stuff was probably still on their boats.
After searching the bodies, Ling Chu saw she still had some time left, so she hurried to mine more Sea Urchins.
When the two hours were up, the system prompt sounded right on time.
[This Public Challenge has ended.] [The top ten players ranked by cleanliness are listed below.] [1, Ling Chu, 1,562 cleanliness points] [2, Moyudawang, 325 cleanliness points] [3, Little Bear Biscuit, 301 cleanliness points] [10, Half Summer, 289 cleanliness points] [The players listed above will receive system rewards. Players who did not rank will receive a participation prize: Wheat Bread*1, Mineral Water*1 bottle.] [All players will be forcibly removed from this public sea area in ten minutes, or may choose to leave early.] [Congratulations! You placed first in this Public Challenge and received the following rewards: System Blind Box*1, Rare Ice Crystal Ore*5, Pompom Sea Urchin Decorative Ornament*1, Mysterious Fruit*1, and the special title "Ocean Scavenger."]
[Public Chat Channel]
Moyudawang: Is the ranking rigged or something?! I worked myself to the bone digging up over three hundred sea stars. How did I only get second place?! How did someone get over a thousand cleanliness points? Do kills count toward cleanliness too??
Half Summer: ...You've got a death wish, talking like that?
Moyudawang: What's there to be afraid of? Once we leave this public sea area, who's going to know where anyone is? If they can find me, then I'll give them credit.
Moyudawang: Is the system going to explain or not?! If I'd known killing people counted toward cleanliness, I would've gone all out too.
[System: Killing players does not increase cleanliness. The cleanliness points of players who are killed will not be added to their killer's score. Since a player has questioned the results, the cleanliness breakdown for the player ranked first is now being posted. The player cleared 672 Pompom Sea Urchins, cleanliness +1,344 points Cleared 87 Long-spined Sea Stars, cleanliness +87 points Cleared 5 Exploding Sea Urchins, cleanliness +50 points Cleared 5 pieces of ocean trash, cleanliness +81 points]
Ling Chu had been surprised at first to see that she had more than fifteen hundred cleanliness points. Only when the system listed the breakdown did she understand. Titch had been helping her collect Sea Urchins nonstop, and with her own haul included, it wasn't surprising that they'd gathered over six hundred.
She'd collected one Exploding Sea Urchin herself, so Titch must have collected the other four. As for the five pieces of ocean trash, four of them had been Treasure Chests worth 20 cleanliness points each, which was why they'd earned her a total of 81 points.
Moyudawang didn't say anything.
Squid Ball: Why'd you go quiet? Ling Chu came in first for cleanliness and still found time to kill a few people. That's got to sting.
Ling Chu had killed the Missing Teeth she hated, so Squid Ball couldn't help speaking up for her.
[Player Moyudawang has left the public sea area.]
[Player Half Summer has left the public sea area.]
Two notifications popped up in the channel, announcing their hasty departures.
Ling Chu wasn't in a hurry to leave. She looked over the rewards she'd just received.
There was no need to go into the System Blind Box and Mysterious Fruit. She put them away, planning to open all her Treasure Chests and Blind Boxes at once after leaving the public sea area, while the Double Luck effect was still active.
[Rare Ice Crystal Ore: A rare, sturdy ore that gives off a chill and lowers the temperature around it. Anything that comes into contact with it will freeze. Can be used to craft equipment.]
[Pompom Sea Urchin Decorative Ornament: Place it on your boat to increase the boat's Durability Value by 5.]
[Title: Ocean Scavenger]
[Your good deed of cleaning the ocean has spread among the creatures of the seabed. When you wear this title, seabed creatures' favorability toward you increases by 10, and your swimming speed increases by 10.]
Ice Crystal Ore was a material for making weapons and equipment, and it even had "Rare" in its name. It sounded like a good find. The Pompom Sea Urchin Decorative Ornament added 5 Durability Value, while Ling Chu's little Sailboat had a total Durability Value of only 8.
As for the last reward, Ling Chu wasn't sure what good increased favorability with seabed creatures would do. Maybe they'd lead her to Treasure Chests, like the school of fish had today? She'd have to wait and see.
The swimming speed boost was more straightforward. This was her only title so far, but something was better than nothing.
After looking over her rewards, Ling Chu and Titch surfaced one after the other.
By then, more than half the boats nearby had already left.
Some players had chosen to leave the public sea area as soon as the challenge ended.
After all, there was a "deranged Pirate" here who'd killed four people. Everyone was making a quick getaway.
Once Ling Chu climbed aboard her Sailboat, she wiped herself down with a clean piece of Cloth, then told Titch to take the helm. It was time to clean up the battlefield.
She still hadn't collected the boats left behind by those four unlucky players. Most players didn't have portable storage, so they kept their good stuff in their boats' holds.
Ling Chu had Titch steer the Sailboat toward the nearest unmanned boat. Then she noticed another Sailboat still beside hers. The girl aboard it was the baby-faced girl who'd asked her about the Sailboat's design earlier.
"Here, take this back. I can't draw."
Ling Chu pinched the card between two fingers and flicked it onto the baby-faced girl's boat. The girl reached out and caught it.
The baby-faced girl was about to say something when she noticed that Ling Chu wasn't even at the helm, yet her little Sailboat was moving forward at a steady pace.
Only then did she spot Titch standing at the stern. Beneath the brim of his Pirate Hat, half of his face was visible—nothing but stark white bone.
A skel—skeleton!!!
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