Chapter 366: My Heart Aches, the Delivery Has Arrived
Chapter 366: Chapter 366: My Heart Aches, the Delivery Has Arrived
Since Tiberius had said so, Faye Yardley didn’t insist on waiting until tomorrow.
Besides, she wasn’t afraid of going into the sea at night. Danger was always present anyway.
In any case, visibility deep in the ocean was the same whether it was day or night. If anything, the Luminous Pearl would be even more useful in the darkness.
Blackwood had eaten its fill and was asleep, so Faye Yardley didn’t wake it. She just invited her brother and the others over but didn’t let her brother tag along. Instead, she and Tiberius went straight into the sea by themselves.
Along the way, Tiberius kept asking Faye Yardley things like, "Is this the place?" or "Are we going the wrong way?" Faye mostly ignored him, and when she got truly annoyed, she’d shoot him a death glare that would shut him up instantly.
’Duh. She had a system recording the Sea Map. Her memory might be faulty, but the system couldn’t possibly be wrong.’
When Faye Yardley appeared in that patch of sea again, all the jellyfish, small fish, and shrimp instantly froze. Even the deep-sea plants stopped swaying with the current.
"Why has everything stopped moving?"
Faye Yardley was baffled. She reached out, grabbed a jellyfish, and gave it a poke. ’It’s real, not a fake,’ she thought. ’So why is everything acting like it’s dead?’
Meanwhile, as Tiberius followed her into this area, his whole body instantly began to transform. Formidable dragon horns sprouted from his head, and ice-blue scales materialized on his cheeks.
He charged directly toward the patch of deep-sea plants below, and soon, he revealed his true form—the form of his clan.
An ice-blue dragon—an ancient dragon from the legends of Veridia.
As Faye Yardley watched the ice-blue figure weave and tumble through the vegetation, she heard a joyful dragon’s roar.
At that moment, the luminous peach blossom jellyfish truly looked like falling petals, drifting down into the dark green underwater foliage.
Who would have thought you could witness a beautiful rain of peach blossoms in the deep sea?~
"So beautiful~"
While she was mesmerized by the beautiful scene, an ice-blue figure emerged from the dark green vegetation. The long dragon gradually transformed, step by step, back into the handsome young man she recognized.
"Faye, you should head back now. Thank you for bringing me here. This is for you."
As Tiberius spoke, he placed a very ordinary-looking, yellowish-white stone in her palm. "Tell Ethan for me that I won’t be returning. But there’s no need to break my contract. With our bond, his healing ability will be much stronger than that of the Commonfolk when he’s injured. Rest assured, I’ve left him something to protect his life."
[Courage Stone of the Ice Dragon Clan: It will make you stronger.]
"Thank you, Tiberius. I’ll tell my brother."
Faye Yardley said, gesturing around them, "So, you’re going to stay here?"
"Yes. But once I’ve claimed this place, I’m going to seal it off, so you won’t be able to find it again. If you need anything, you can just call me."
Faye Yardley didn’t stand on ceremony. "Okay. Goodbye, Tiberius."
After saying her goodbyes, she left the area and entered the dark zone. When she looked back, there was nothing to see.
And strangely enough, that area had also disappeared from her system’s Sea Map.
The journey back to the surface was not a peaceful one. Her earlier descent had likely been quiet because Tiberius was with her. As a member of the powerful and rare Ice Dragon Clan, the aura he naturally emitted was enough to make other creatures instinctively give them a wide berth.
The moment her head broke the surface, Faye Yardley heard Bella’s neigh. She stood up in the water and whistled in the direction of the sound. Bella’s figure immediately appeared before her, silhouetted against the moonlight.
By the time she returned to her raft, her brother had, of course, already left.
She checked the time—it was already 2 a.m. on September 9th.
"Bella, go get some rest. You worked hard today."
Bella nuzzled its head against her hand, gave a low whinny, and ran back to the stable.
Faye Yardley turned around to see Willow Yardley standing in the doorway, watching her.
As she reached the doorway, she asked, "Why are you still up so late?"
"Sis, hurry and get washed up for bed. If you’re hungry, I made a bunch of steamed buns with different fillings. You can just grab them from the warehouse. I’m going to bed now, too."
"Okay. You don’t have to wait up for me next time. Just stick to your own schedule."
After saying that, Faye Yardley went upstairs by herself.
After taking a shower and lying in bed, Faye Yardley finally took out the small stone Tiberius had given her. It looked completely ordinary, but the system had identified it as a Courage Stone.
’How am I supposed to use this? Surely I’m not meant to eat it?’
As this thought crossed her mind, she held the stone up to her eyes, examining it. ’How on earth do you use this thing?’
But as she was fidgeting with it in her hand, it suddenly slipped and fell onto her chest, right over her heart. A searing heat spread from the spot, and the stone vanished.
Pain!
Clutching her chest, Faye Yardley was suddenly assaulted by an intense, constricting pain.
The searing pain only began to recede after a long while.
’Is my heart actually going to give out?’
First, it had absorbed a "Seed of the Strong"—the stone from Baby—and now it had absorbed a Courage Stone.
She let out a long, slow breath.
[Strength +4]
She clenched her fist. Every time her Strength broke through a new threshold, she had the illusion that she could destroy the world with a single punch.
Although her constitution was strong enough to go three or four days without sleep, old habits died hard, and she couldn’t resist lying down for a quick nap each day.
As it happened, she woke up a little over an hour later, right on time at 4 a.m.
After getting up and washing her face, she performed her daily routine of checking on the Green Egg and the vine.
At 5 a.m., the raft’s radar beeped. A moment later, a cool-looking truck appeared in front of the raft, and a voice boomed from a loudspeaker: "Hey! Is this the residence of Faye Yardley? Come on out, you’ve got a delivery!"
"Coming, coming! Yes, it is!" Willow Yardley called back. "Does she need to sign for it in person?"
"A family member is fine."
Hearing the voices, Faye Yardley came right over.
Just as she expected, the ton of Flower Dew had arrived.
After she signed for the delivery and paid the C.O.D. fee, the cool truck vanished with a WHOOSH.
"Vine! Hurry down from the balcony! Your food has arrived, come and get it!" Faye Yardley shouted up toward the second-floor balcony.
The moment she opened the large barrel, both Eamon and Bella came rushing over, drawn by the scent.
The vine beat them to it, plunging headfirst into the barrel.
Bella pawed the ground and snorted, but without Faye Yardley’s permission, it could only circle the barrel anxiously.
"Sister, could you spare a little for me and Bella?" Eamon asked. "I think it would be perfect for growing red apricots and Winter Evergreen Trees."
After Eamon spoke, Bella quickly nodded in agreement.
In response, a dense thatch of leaves quickly grew to cover the barrel’s opening completely.
Faye Yardley walked over and patted Bella’s head, then turned to Eamon. "This batch was bought for the vine. Next time, I’ll get a whole barrel for you and Bella, so there’s no need to fight over it."
Their reactions proved that Jasmine’s Flower Dew was effective. ’This means we can have a long-term partnership,’ Faye thought.
So, she went ahead and decisively ordered another ten tons of Flower Dew from Jasmine.
At 6 a.m. sharp, a server-wide announcement from the system suddenly appeared.