Chapter 203 148: Now the Fun's Really Started

After reviving at the Milestone Spirit Candle, Old Yan quickly summoned his Spirit Fire Raft and headed toward Brother Yu's location.

But the Spirit Fire Raft's speed... you couldn't call it fast. At best, you could say it was as slow as a snail.

Old Yan was frantic. He could only type furiously in the party chat channel.

"Old Yu, what's the situation?"

"You're not dead, are you?"

"Old Yu?"

"..."

Unfortunately, message after message vanished without a trace. Brother Yu didn't reply.

Old Yan wanted to use a Signal Wax to summon other players for help, but his Level was too low and he was broke, so he hadn't bought any. All he could do was fret helplessly.

Under these circumstances, Old Yan finally arrived at the previous location, his Spirit Fire Raft bobbing along unsteadily.

The Dark Boundary gradually receded from view.

And Old Yan finally saw a scene that left him utterly stunned.

There were no sounds of a fierce battle on the sea ahead; the fight had clearly reached its end.

Severed limbs and tentacles of the Touch in the Jar floated on the water's surface, their strange blood staining the sea a different color.

And there was Brother Yu, standing on the corpse of a massive Touch in the Jar, a Law Greatsword in his hand.

Impaled on the edge of the Law Greatsword was the Firewood Thief, its chest run through.

"..."

Not yet dead, the Firewood Thief weakly raised a hand, as if attempting a final struggle.

However, a fist suddenly smashed toward its Pot Head.

CRACK!

With a dull crunch, the Pot Head shattered on impact. Shards of pottery, sticky with blood and tissue, flew everywhere, revealing the Pottery Man's mangled, bloody head, from which fresh blood streamed.

[You have slain a Firewood Thief!]

[Acquired: Unclean Wax x1]

[Acquired: Pottery Head Cover x1]

[Acquired: Firewood Stealer's Robe (Excellence)]

[Acquired: Banner·Sound of Pot Knocking]

[Hint: As the first player to slay a Firewood Thief, you can find the Candlekeeper and explain the situation. You may receive an unexpected reward.]

"Dammit!"

Even after killing the Pottery Man, an indescribable fury still blazed in Brother Yu's eyes. He threw another punch at its head, sending blood flying.

WHAM!

The Pottery Man's battered corpse was sent flying by the punch, turning to Ashes as it gradually dissipated.

The other Touch in the Jar corpses also began to turn to Ashes and disappear.

Brother Yu took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, the anger in his heart finally subsiding a little.

Then, without even picking up the drops, he returned to his Spirit Fire Ship, sat down, and stared out at the sea in silence, resting his chin on his hand.

"Oh my god..."

"This... Old Yu, you... you killed the Firewood Thief?"

Old Yan's eyes went wide.

Even as the corpses of the Firewood Thief and its Summoned Creatures dissolved into nothingness before his eyes, he still found it hard to believe.

He had read about this Firewood Thief's past achievements on the forums.

It had fought one against six, most of whom were top-tier players. And although it was supposedly weakened, it was still undoubtedly at the peak of its combat power.

But even so, the Pottery Man had still won the final victory back then.

'And Old Yu actually managed to slay such a powerful hostile NPC all by himself?'

'Doesn't that mean Old Yu is stronger than six top-tier players?!'

'I knew Old Yu was good at everything *except* fishing, but this is just ridiculous!'

'This is insane!'

The shock in Old Yan's heart was simply beyond words.

"Damn, Old Yu, you're a beast! If you post this on the forums, those young kids are going to lose their minds, hahaha!"

"Hey, why aren't you picking up the drops? They're all glowing! It's all good stuff!"

"By the way, doesn't this thing have a nasty control Skill? How the hell did you kill it...?"

"Old Yu? Old Yu!"

Old Yan blabbered on for a while, but Brother Yu ignored him. Puzzled, Old Yan looked over at him.

Seeing his frustrated, regretful, and sorrowful expression, Old Yan suddenly felt the urge to laugh.

"What's wrong with you? It was just one fish, you can always catch another one. By killing this Firewood Thief, you've made a huge name for yourself!"

At these words, Brother Yu finally turned to look at him, but then he let out a long sigh and shook his head, his eyes filled with pain.

"There will be plenty of chances to kill this thing."

"But a fish that big... once it gets away, you'll never have the chance to catch it again..."

"..." Old Yan was speechless.

'Why does it feel like the old coot actually has a point?'

Thinking about it that way, he could understand Brother Yu's feelings a little.

With that, Old Yan sympathetically patted his shoulder. "Forget it, it's already gone anyway. Instead of wasting time on regrets, you should be figuring out how to catch even more big fish, right?"

"...You have a point." Brother Yu sighed again.

"Hurry up and grab the drops so I can take a look." Seeing he wasn't so sad anymore, Old Yan urged him.

He could empathize with Brother Yu, but... only a little.

...

「Meanwhile.」

Outside the instance, the world chat had exploded.

[Announcement: Players "Never Air Force Fisherman" and "Tobacco and Alcohol Wanderer" are the first to slay a Firewood Thief and have obtained eligibility for a special reward from the Candlekeeper!]

"..."

After this game notification, with its distinct color and font, appeared, the players who had been idly chatting suddenly stopped talking.

The entire world channel fell silent.

After a long moment, message notifications came flooding in like a torrential downpour.

"What's going on? Why can't I post all of a sudden? Did the devs mute us?"

"They probably didn't want us to spam the announcement off the screen... Oh crap, that means this is a real announcement!"

"Someone killed that Firewood Thief?"

"Huh?"