"It’s a Skill Book... This is the first time one of these has dropped. The drop rate must be pretty low."
Faraway glanced at it, lost in thought. "Looks like if we want to learn new Skills, we’ll have to get them by killing these monsters."
Li Miao came over, clicking his tongue in amazement as he looked at Sister Guagua with a hint of envy. "Faraway and I have killed so many Fishman Leaders and never seen one of these, but you get one after just four or five kills..."
Sister Guagua was the last player to join the game and the only female player.
Her Talent is called [Luck]. It doesn’t add any Attributes but slightly increases the item drop rate.
This was also why Faraway went to the trouble of taking her to kill Fishman Leaders.
The effect wasn’t exactly obvious, but they could clearly feel that they needed to grind fewer times.
If it had been them doing the killing, they probably would have had to grind many more times.
"Oh, it’s not me! It’s all thanks to you guys carrying me to victory, haha..."
Guagua said, crouching down to pick up the remaining Wax Oil.
"Guagua, I’ll take this Skill Book," Faraway said.
Guagua hummed in agreement.
The Wax Oil would go to her, and any useful drops would go to Faraway. They had agreed on this beforehand.
A piece of Fishman Scale Armor had dropped earlier, which Faraway hadn’t taken. It was in her inventory now.
"That Skill’s power must be explosive."
Li Miao said. He had been the first victim of "Bone Fork Throwing." If the Fishman Leader’s eyesight hadn’t been so bad, he probably would have been skewered on the spot.
"Hard to say."
Faraway shook his head slightly. He felt that this so-called Skill would probably be affected by other factors.
[ATTENTION!]
[All Candle Spirits, please proceed to the Spirit Candle’s location immediately!]
Just as everyone was chatting idly, a notification appeared in their vision simultaneously.
"What’s... What’s happening?" Li Miao asked, a little surprised.
"...Probably a game update," Faraway mused.
"An update? Is there new content?" Guagua blinked, her expression full of anticipation.
"Let’s talk later. Back to the cave first."
Faraway shook his head, then beckoned for everyone to head back toward the cave.
...
[Spirit Candle]
[Tier: Residual Ash]
[Remaining Wax Oil: 306]
[Spirit Candle Building: Spirit Fire Port (Not Built, requires Anchor Island)]
[Anchored Island: None (Requires 300 Wax Oil)]
[Summoned Candle Spirits: 5]
After glancing at the Spirit Candle interface, Luo Ge turned his gaze to the players behind him and began to speak slowly.
"As beings of Firelight, we will not be trapped on this darkness-shrouded island forever..."
"But to dispel chaos, we must reforge order..."
"Now, after many days of accumulation, the Spirit Candle’s power is full."
"Next, I will anchor the island, letting the Candlefire burn brighter to drive out the darkness..."
With that, Luo Ge gave a slight nod to the crowd of players.
By now, he had temporarily restricted most of their actions.
But Luo Ge had still underestimated this group of lively and restless players.
THUMP~ THUMP~
Brother Mangzi and Li Miao seemed to have reached some sort of tacit understanding. With only the ability to Jump left, they bounced around nonstop, giggling foolishly.
Seeing this, Guagua’s interest was piqued. Finding it amusing, she quickly joined in.
The few players were having the time of their lives.
Luo Ge: "..."
’I should have disabled their ability to Jump, too.’
But he didn’t have time to change such a minor detail now.
[300 Wax Oil consumed.]
[Beginning to anchor island...]
SWOOSH!
Luo Ge’s eyes focused. The Spirit Candle before him slowly levitated, and the Candlefire at its tip suddenly flared!
The next moment, he actually reached his right hand directly into the Candlefire and slowly pulled out a burning, sword-like wick.
’Holy shit...’
Seeing this, the players, who had been listlessly spacing out, snapped to attention, their eyes filled with shock.
"This island..."
"Shall be named Candle."
As his voice fell, Luo Ge, holding the wick, plunged it violently into the earth!
BOOM—
At that moment, the azure Candlefire erupted, spreading out in all directions until it covered the entire island!
The players’ vision was instantly filled by the dazzling yet gentle Firelight...
The dim island was now bright.
In the sky, the Fierce Sun reappeared. The pitch-black, icy waves seemed to have been cleansed, turning a deep blue.
This dark, lonely island and its near-shore waters were illuminated once more.
"ROAR..." "HISS..."
As the Firelight swept past, the auras of the island’s once-ferocious monsters seemed to be suppressed.
The light enveloped all of Candle Island and a small patch of the surrounding near-shore area.
But in the distance, the sea and sky remained covered by boundless darkness...
[Island anchoring successful!]
[Candle Island has been illuminated. The stats of island monsters have been weakened. You may also consume Wax Oil to completely expel monsters.]
[The near-shore area of Candle Island is now open. Exploration is possible once requirements are met.]
[Your Candle Spirits can use the universal tool in this area: Fishing Rod.]
[Building: Spirit Fire Port has been unlocked. Construction requires 500 Wax Oil.]
[Anchoring Reward Acquired: Pink Little Sea Snail x1.]
His vision gradually brightened.
A series of notifications also flashed through Luo Ge’s mind.
However, he didn’t have time to examine them in detail yet.
He definitely couldn’t expel the monsters on the island completely; after all, his current source of Wax Oil still depended on them.
As for the near-shore area...
Luo Ge gave the specific information from the Spirit Candle a quick look.
Then, he sent a notification to the players and removed their movement restrictions.
[Island Anchored!]
[Near-shore area unlocked. Exploration is possible once requirements are met.]
[Universal Tool Unlocked: Fishing Rod (Must be unlocked at the Spirit Candle)]
"Near-shore! Fishing rod!" The first to speak was Brother Yu. His eyes lit up with excitement. "We can finally go fishing!"
Before the island was anchored, Candle Island was completely shrouded in darkness. The monsters in every direction were a secondary concern.
The most outrageous thing was the pitch-black, icy seawater.
Faraway had tried to enter it once.
But the moment he touched the water, his body dissolved like a snowflake falling into a furnace.
They had also tried chopping down trees to build a raft, but ridiculously, the felled trees would quickly return to their original state, and the raft they had painstakingly built rotted away just as fast.
Even stones thrown into the sea would gradually dissolve. It was completely absurd...
But no one was surprised. After all, this was a "game." While the situation wasn’t particularly realistic, it fit the game’s logic.
’Anchoring the island... There should be other changes, too, but the most important one has to be this near-shore area... I wonder what’s in there.’
Faraway mused.
’Can we swim in the sea now?’
Li Miao was getting excited. As a kid who grew up inland, he had a strange sense of longing for the ocean.