Volcano Island

"What materials are you still missing?" Ling Chu asked.

"Long-spined sea stars or bread sea stars—I need to grind their shells into powder," Lingering Wind and Fading Moon said.

Long-spined sea stars?

Ling Chu blinked. What a coincidence—she'd been worrying about where to dump that pile of long-spined sea stars in her ring space.

"I've got over two hundred long-spined sea stars. I'll give them all to you. Besides these, what other trash... uh, materials do you need?"

Lingering Wind and Fading Moon was stunned: "Over two hundred?"

"Not enough?"

The reply came back immediately: "Enough."

Lingering Wind and Fading Moon felt a bit speechless. The sea stars he could barely catch one of after fishing for ages with his net—in her eyes, they were trash?

The two signed a system contract. Lingering Wind and Fading Moon first traded her ten bottles of Life Potion, ten bottles of Mana Potion, and ten bottles of Antidote Potion. The remaining potions would be sent to her within two days.

Ling Chu was very satisfied with this transaction.

From now on, no matter what trash she picked up, she wouldn't just toss it. Her ring space was huge anyway, and who knew when it might come in handy. This game had too many bizarre professions—what she saw as garbage might be treasure in someone else's eyes.

Ling Chu closed the private message window and suddenly noticed a small black dot on the sea surface opposite her. She quickly grabbed her telescope to look.

At the far end of the red thread's guidance lay an island.

Ten minutes later.

Titch maneuvered the boat to a stop in the shallow waters near the island. With the upgraded boat now equipped with an anchor, parking was much more convenient, and there was no fear of the wind and waves carrying the vessel away.

Before setting foot on the island, Ling Chu didn't forget to take out the shiny gambler's coin from her ring.

She hadn't claimed today's luck yet!

She flipped the coin upward with a flick of her hand and caught it deftly on the back of her palm.

When Ling Chu saw the coin's pattern, she nearly cursed.

The old man's head on the reverse side stared right back at her, the upturned corner of his mouth seeming to mock her rotten luck.

Ling Chu's brows knitted into a tight knot, a mix of hesitation and frustration.

She'd experienced the power of Double Luck before. This bad luck was bound to be just as potent.

After a moment's hesitation, Ling Chu still chose to land on the island.

She didn't want to waste an entire day stuck on the boat. If there was danger on the island, she could always retreat back to the vessel.

[You have discovered an Unclaimed Island. Explore the island and find the Island Core to claim it as your territory.]

[This island is a Tier 2 Island. Landing limit is 72 hours. If you stay beyond that time, you will be ejected from the island.]

That Island Locator Card, worth 100 Sea Shells, had only a tiny chance of pinpointing a Tier 2 island. She never expected to hit such a low-probability event.

At this moment, Ling Chu didn't know whether to count herself lucky or unlucky.

Even Tier 1 islands had dangerous plants like Ghost Thorn. A Tier 2 island meant even greater peril.

The moment Ling Chu stepped onto the island's soil, she felt the temperature was abnormally high. A wave of scorching heat, from some unknown source, blasted her in the face.

The ground beneath her feet felt more like rock. Cup Moss spread through the crevices like a soft carpet of emerald, and not far off, towering fern trees were entwined with vines, standing like ancient sentinels.

Titch had put on the Crab Shell Armor. His Skeleton Frame was tightly encased in the armor, giving him the air of a skeleton general—he looked especially "tanky."

He seemed never to have worn armor like this before; his gait was a bit awkward, and every step he took left a deep crater in the moss.

Ling Chu had a dagger at her waist and an Oak Longbow slung across her back. She let the durable Titch take the lead while she followed behind him, slowly exploring deeper into the island.

Suddenly, Ling Chu felt a sharp pain in her ankle. On instinct, she lifted her foot, flinging the thing clinging to her ankle to the ground, and stomped hard.

The crushed scorpion burst out dark green bug blood.

[Volcanic Rock Scorpion (Deceased)]

[A heat-resistant scorpion that lives near volcanoes. Its tail is venomous.]

Ling Chu noticed a poison status had appeared next to her character bar: health decreased by 1 every minute.

This poison status was nasty. She only had 60 health points total. If she left it unchecked, she'd be GG in less than an hour.

Ling Chu quickly took out a bottle of Antidote Potion and drank it. The poison status was cleared.

Sure enough, when you're unlucky, everything goes wrong—even walking normally gets you bitten by a scorpion.

As for the crushed scorpion corpse, Ling Chu didn't let it go to waste. She stored it in her ring space. Scorpions were good stuff—they could be used as medicinal ingredients in the real world too.

After that, Ling Chu paid extra attention to where she stepped, checking the ground carefully before each footfall.

Even so, along the way, she nearly tripped over small stones, got her clothes snagged by vines, and when she got tired and wanted to lean against a tree root to take a drink and rest, she found she'd stepped right into a large pile of foul-smelling dung.

"..."

She never understood why people called being lucky "stepping in dog shit."

Whoever said that must never have actually stepped in shit.

Frustrated as she was, she grew even more cautious. This pile of dung was clearly much larger than what a human would produce, proving that large animals roamed here.

This island was at least five times the size of Iron Ore Island. Ling Chu had been walking in one direction for nearly twenty minutes without any sign of crossing it.

The island clearly had a tropical rainforest climate. The scorpions called Volcanic Rock Scorpions and the abnormally high temperature both indicated a volcanic crater beneath the island. Ling Chu also caught a faint sulfurous smell in the air, growing stronger the deeper she went.

The rocky ground beneath her feet grew hotter and hotter. Soon, Ling Chu found herself facing lava that had not yet fully cooled. Pitch-black molten rock tore through the jungle like the claw marks of a giant beast, searing mist seeping from the cracks. The scorching sulfurous air rolled through the atmosphere like an invisible snake coiling around every inch of land.

Not far ahead, a large Fig Tree Forest appeared. The fruit was plump and juicy; some of the overripe figs had split open, dripping thick, sweet pulp.

Fig trees thrived in high temperatures and humidity, preferring acidic soil. The volcanic ash soil environment of this tropical rainforest was practically a natural petri dish for them.

Before Ling Chu could approach the forest, a massive dark shadow coiled at the base of a tree caught her attention.

Dark red scales crisscrossed with grooves, a long, powerful tail wrapped around its body, and bits of prey bone still stuck between its three-toed claws. It was drowsy in the high heat.

When her Eyepatch swept over the shadow, an information panel appeared.

code
[Sulfur Giant Lizard]

[Tier 2 Monster. A giant lizard that lives in tropical rainforests with frequent volcanic activity. Possesses heat-resistant, high-defense scales.]

[Skills: Acidic Spit, Sweeping Tail, Pounce.]

...She seemed to have found the owner of that pile of droppings.

If you find this book enjoyable, to avoid losing track next time, please remember to add it to your bookshelf.