Chapter 68: Silver Leaf Island

“This is Silver Leaf Island?”

It was one o’clock in the afternoon when they reached Silver Leaf Island. They had deviated a bit from their intended course due to the attack by the pirates. The sun was burning high above, and it was so hot that even the wind across the deck felt hot.

Feng Luo looked at the island in the distance. It was so named because it looked like a leaf on the map. It was covered with tropical trees of all kinds, and some birds were flying about. In the middle of the island was a thick jungle. The map showed that the island was large—at least 10 kilometers long and about 5 kilometers wide—and the former S-53 military base was located in the middle of the jungle

“Ah, we’re here at last!”

After more than a day, Aike, the white scientist NPC who had been in his cabin, and his assistant, a 17-year-old girl named Lin, finally showed their mysterious faces. Two men, each with a silver chest in their hands, stood on the deck, gazing at the island not far away with excited faces.

“Let’s switch boats!”

After circling the island at a distance and finding that there was no suitable place for the cruise ship to dock, Red Queen decided to land using small boats.

A total of seven players and two NPC scientists, plus five hired NPC crew members armed with assault rifles, got off the ship and took three hovercraft to Silver Leaf Island. As for the remaining five NPC crew members who were still capable of fighting, they would stay on-board to guard the ship.

14 people rode on three hovercrafts. When they had nearly reached the shore, Feng Luo suddenly found that something was not right with the sandy beach before them. The flat, smooth beach, buffeted by the rising and falling tides all year round, was riddled with fist-sized pits. While this was not very noticeable, it was strange.

“Don’t go up there yet,” Feng Luo warned. “Why are there so many holes in the sand? There may be monsters hidden there.”

Red Queen’s reaction was quick. “Well, attack!” she told the NPC crew on the first hovercraft.

Calling on an NPC crewman instead of a player was, of course, a good way to avoid losing players if there was a real danger, since monsters usually fought back against their attackers.

“Yes!” the NPC scouted obediently. He immediately raised the assault rifle in his hand and shot a series of bullets at the beach.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The bullets from the assault rifle hit the beach, creating small holes that sent sand flying more than a meter high.

Shh… Shh…

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Sure enough, after the attack, something began to take place. Out of the pits crawled monsters that were nearly the same color of the sand but with small black eyes and brown tails the size of a palm.

Mutant Sand Scorpion (Species code: CHV-20765). Level 40 monster, HP 1500. Skills: Burrow, Neurotoxin!

An NPC crew member used the recon ability to quickly report the results, and the recon skills and instrumentation data were much more detailed than those obtained by the Thunder Eye Scope.

Thankfully, I didn’t go up there! thought Feng Luo.

Normal Level-40 monsters were not considered to be high-level. But it was noteworthy that the HP of these Scorpions was only 1,500 points. There must have been something special about these monsters if they had such low HP at such a high level. And based on the reconnaissance data, it was likely that its “Neurotoxin” skill was very dangerous.

It is not difficult to come to this conclusion, so the staff in the hands of Red Queen quickly began to shine. Burning flames appeared in the sky. It was the move Meteor Rain!

Looking at dozens red and black fireballs tumbling down from the sky, Feng Luo had to admit that using a skill in any situation was the best way to brush up one’s proficiency. The expensive MP recovery potion and the energy crystals required for skill use were nothing but unremarkable credits in the eyes of someone like her. It was no wonder she had been able to train her Level-40 skills to reach Expert level so quickly.

The meteorites rained over half the beach, and as fireballs fell from the sky, the entire beach was barbecued. The Sand Scorpions could burrow into the ground to escape, but even the sand is baked to the point of discoloration; there was no place to hide.

One by one, the Mutant Sand Scorpions writhed in the flames. The −150 burning damage value popped up above their heads. Before the skill was finished, many of the Sand Scorpions in the center of the skill were already fried.

“Roasted Scorpions smell good, but are they poisonous?” Big Pineapple said, revealing his gluttony as he sniffed the aroma from the beach.

The meat of many monsters in War was edible through specific actions. After letting the system detect the action of collecting food ingredients, the harvested ingredients could be preserved for a long time. Players who had a career as a Chef could even use these ingredients to cook foods that added to attributes over time. However, most players wouldn’t have the courage to try Scorpion meat.

Disgusted by the thought of eating Scorpion meat, White Crescent frowned at Big Pineapple. “You’re disgusting!”

“Eh, what’s so gross about it?” said Big Pineapple. “Scorpion meat is actually very tasty. In fact, the more ugly a creature is in appearance and the more poisonous they are, the more delicious the meat tastes.” Unashamed, he proudly listed more exotic ingredients. “Like snakes, spiders, cockroaches, bees, and a kind of fish in this game called the pufferfish.”

Glazed Ice and White Crescent were disgusted by his words, while Neutron Star and Red Queen were visibly uncomfortable. Only Black Panther and Feng Luo remained calm. Feng Luo had tried these bizarre ingredients in the real world—even raw scorpion meat. How could it be too much to imagine the taste in the game? As for Black Panther, he always remained calm and expressionless. As a federal soldier, he would have experienced such things before. Only when Neutron Star threatened to throw him overboard did Big Pineapple finally stop.

When the effect of Meteor Rain was completely gone, the Mutant Sand Scorpions were all scorched and scattered across the beach. Beside them, glints of crystals and other materials were left behind. There was even a small shield for Light Armor Warriors.

The flames scorched the beach to a temperature of at least 80 or 90 degrees Celsius, making it impossible to land directly. In the game, however, this didn’t create much of a hassle. The staff in the hands of Glazed Ice quickly condensed into a stream of water energy. Water energy rose above the beach, turning into freezing cold rain. It was the Water Manipulator Level-25 area-of-effect skill “Arctic Rain”!

The rain, which was nearly zero degrees in temperature, fell on the already parched ground, blanching it in a white mist and quickly cooling the beach. It was finally safe to land.