Bounty Order

Ling Chu was completely baffled.

She remembered the ID "Invincible and Handsome"—he was the one who'd asked about her iron ore source last time, and when she ignored him, he'd threatened her. Now he was on the rankings too, sitting at second place on the Sin Ranking.

Wasabi seemed to be that lucky Farmer who'd escaped using some special trick when she failed to kill him in the Public Challenge.

But who the hell was Wang Duoyu?

Ling Chu opened the Public Chat channel, which she hadn't checked in a while, and scrolled up.

[Public Channel]

188 Pure Young Man: "Wait, is nobody paying attention to the new shop? What the hell are these new Sea Shells?"

A Silly Bird: "I've got over seventy Sea Shells on me, forgot where I got them—maybe from a Treasure Chest? Damn, this Island Locator Card is so expensive, can't afford it."

Wang Duoyu: "My buddy said he went to join a Public Challenge, so why's his avatar gone dark?!"

A Silly Bird: "Are you sure your buddy didn't die in a Sea Storm?"

Wang Duoyu: "He upgraded to a Sailboat ages ago, no way he died in a storm!"

Moyudawang: "Is your buddy called Missing Teeth?"

Wang Duoyu: "Yeah, how'd you know, was it you?"

Moyudawang: "You'll have to ask the rank one. Who do you think gave him all that Sin Value?"

Wang Duoyu: "For real?"

Wasabi: "For real. I saw with my own eyes Tooth Bro get shot by him. He's got a female accomplice too."

Half Summer: "I can vouch for that. Rank one killed four people in the Public Challenge. Everyone who joined knows."

Wang Duoyu: "Alright, alright. A life for a life. I'll avenge my buddy!"

Moyudawang: "Bro, you got the strength for that? Are you a Pirate or a Pirate Hunter?"

Wang Duoyu: "I'm not a combat class, but I've got money."

He immediately threw out a screenshot of an added Bounty Order.

Invincible and Handsome: "I added a Bounty Order too. Just can't stand it. I'm a Pirate myself, but I look down on indiscriminate killers like this."

Squid Ball: "Oh, spare me. You've got 30 Sin Value—what kind of good guy are you? Isn't it just because you're rank two and want to drag rank one down so you can take the top spot?"

Invincible and Handsome was stunned by her words. Last time, when he'd said Ling Chu was profiting from lives, this was the busybody who'd butted in. Cautious as ever, he'd even checked the rankings thoroughly but hadn't found her, wondering where the hell she'd popped up from.

Invincible and Handsome: "What's it to you if I add a Bounty Order?"

Squid Ball: "Then what's it to you if Wang Duoyu adds one?"

Invincible and Handsome was left speechless, caught in her Russian doll trap.

Little Bitter Melon: "Ling Chu is rank one on the Sin Ranking, but she's also rank one on the Justice Ranking. There must be a reason she killed people..."

Lulu Loves Eating Melons: "That Sanfuye, the first one to kill someone—why isn't he on the Sin Ranking? Did someone kill him?"

A Silly Bird: "Yeah, his Sin Value must be high. The Justice Ranking's rank two only has 20 Justice Points. Did rank one kill Sanfuye?"

Squid Ball: "@Qu Shui Liu Shang, someone avenged your sister. What about those resources you promised back then?"

Qu Shui Liu Shang: "Heh. All Pirates, birds of a feather."

Qu Shui Liu Shang was the one who'd said in the Public Chat that whoever killed Sanfuye would get five days of food plus an iron ore. Back when Sanfuye killed his sister, the Bounty Order feature hadn't been released yet. Qu Shui Liu Shang had only made a verbal promise in the Public Chat, and now he was backtracking. No one could do anything about it.

Ling Chu had killed Sanfuye because he'd ambushed her, not to avenge some random Passerby A's sister, and she couldn't care less about his promised scraps.

She sent a message in the Public Chat.

Ling Chu: "A contest of wealth? Haven't you seen who's rank one on the Wealth Ranking? Next time, put something decent on the Bounty Order. What the hell is this bounty of Eggplant Beans Potatoes? Making a three-veg stir-fry?"

A Silly Bird: "Hahahahahaha three-veg stir-fry hahahahahaha."

Moyudawang: "? Is that funny? How many people can't even afford eggplants and potatoes!"

A Silly Bird: "I know, sorry sorry, it just hit my funny bone... hahaha."

Wasabi watched the string of "haha" in the Public Chat and felt humiliated.

In a fit of impulse, he bought another Bounty Order and pulled two items from his warehouse to put on it.

[Wasabi has used a Bounty Order on you, adding bounty supplies: one Rare Quality Unknown Plant Seed, one Precious Quality Unknown Plant Seed.]

Wasabi: "I've added two more plant seeds. I don't need to tell you how precious seeds are, especially Rare and Precious quality ones!"

Wasabi's heart ached—these were his last-resort items.

He couldn't beat Ling Chu, so he could only hope some other strong player would take her out.

As the saying went, heavy rewards bring brave men. If he could use this to get Ling Chu killed, it'd be worth it. Otherwise, having a powerful enemy constantly eyeing him would keep him from sleeping soundly at night.

Ling Chu glanced at the system notification. This kid still had good stuff hidden away?

Too bad she hadn't managed to kill him back then—otherwise, those seeds would already be hers.

Ling Chu hesitated over whether to slap a 100 Sea Shell bounty on Invincible and Handsome, but since Wasabi and Wang Duoyu had no Sin Value, they couldn't issue a Bounty Order.

She dropped the thought—wasn't 100 Sea Shells better spent on her own gear? Once she found a way to grab Invincible and Handsome's coordinates, she'd use Tracking Technique to lock him down, then fire off a Bounty Order right before killing him, so the reward would still be hers.

If someone else offed Invincible and Handsome, she'd just be handing them free profit.

She wasn't about to make a losing deal.

The Public Chat Channel quickly shifted from the rankings to the next disaster, since that was the real life-or-death concern for players.

[Public Chat Channel]

Driving a Ferrari with One Hand: "Anyone know how to boost ship speed? My boat's only doing 15 km/h, I'm screwed next disaster."

Lulu Loves Eating Melons: "Tell me about it. Barely survived the Sea Storm, now there's some Meteor Shower coming—this game's trying to kill us."

A Silly Bird: "Don't panic, guys. Upgrade your ship to Level 3, and the speed will be enough."

Driving a Ferrari with One Hand: "No shit. Who can afford a Level 3 ship right now?"

A Silly Bird: "I did. Since I was the first to upgrade to Level 3, the system gave me a Blind Box. Oh, by the way, anyone know what this Mysterious Fruit is for? Can you eat it?"

Invincible and Handsome: "Silly Bird, check your DMs. Sell me that Mysterious Fruit—it's useless to you anyway."

Squid Ball: "Silly Bird, don't listen to him. The Mysterious Fruit boosts stats when eaten, it's good stuff. Eat it yourself."

Invincible and Handsome: "...￥%&...&!"

Invincible and Handsome probably cursed a string of profanity, then got censored by the system.

A Silly Bird might have that ID, but they weren't actually dumb—they didn't buy Invincible and Handsome's line for a second. Something from a System Blind Box couldn't be worthless.

Then Silly Bird pasted the Level 3 ship's stats into the Public Channel, along with a screenshot.

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