Chapter 395 - 393: Increased Attributes, But a Weaker Body?

Time ticked by, second by second. The potent energy from the second injection was also absorbed by the energy cluster within Faye Yardley’s body and by her body itself.

The attribute values on the large screen never finalized, so they could only wait for Faye Yardley to come out and report the results herself.

[Agility +1]

As Faye Yardley stood up from the chair, she felt an unexpected wave of weakness. ’Shouldn’t an increase in attributes make me feel stronger, more full of life?’

She forced herself to maintain a normal gait, walking out of the isolation cabin step by step, at a steady pace.

Seeing her emerge, Ethan Yardley immediately grabbed her arm and asked with concern, "Faye, are you okay?"

Shaking her head slightly, Faye Yardley managed a smile. "I’m fine."

She then turned to the others and said with a smile, "Thank you. My agility increased by one point."

Hearing this, Zachary Pierce and all the researchers behind him exchanged excited high-fives and cheered.

Zachary Pierce asked caringly, "Are you experiencing any physical discomfort?"

The team leader beside him added, "Yes, please be completely honest, Miss Yardley. We also need you to cooperate with a basic physical examination."

Having come here, she was already aware of and had agreed to this procedure.

Faye Yardley nodded. "After the energy from the agility agent you injected was depleted, my attributes did increase, but I feel a bit weak. I’ll let you know when I’ve recovered."

After undergoing a series of examinations, Faye Yardley left with her brother, Ethan Yardley.

This left the entire research team to plunge into a brainstorming session.

Some even felt that studying Faye Yardley’s current physical structure might be more effective than researching the attribute elixirs.

Of course, this suggestion was immediately shot down by Zachary Pierce and Jay Jonas. Never mind whether Faye Yardley herself would agree—as her partners, they were the first to object.

After returning to her raft, Faye Yardley invited her brother over.

The siblings sat together by the fireplace, warming themselves. Ethan Yardley now held an iron fork; since there was nothing else to do, he decided to roast a couple of steamed buns.

When the buns were toasted and fragrant, he passed one to his sister. "How could you be so reckless? You should have told me about this first. I could have tested the waters for you. It wouldn’t have been too late for you to go after I confirmed it was safe."

Faye Yardley shook her head. "I don’t want it, you can have it. Since we both decided to use their stuff, it doesn’t matter who went first. I’ve tried it. The attributes did increase, but this kind of increase is very different from the ones I’ve gotten through other means before. I don’t recommend you go."

"You’re saying it’s bad?"

Faye Yardley brewed herself a cup of Star Feather Flower Tea and had Willow Yardley bring her brother a pot of her homemade sweet rice wine.

"It’s not that it’s bad, just that this level of physical weakness might take a day or two to recover from, maybe even longer. You have a lot to deal with. It’s not worth risking it for such a small increase in attribute value."

Taking a sip of tea, Faye Yardley continued, "But it’s different for me. I have a lot of people around to help."

Ethan Yardley grunted in agreement. He knew about Bella Yardley and Cole Kensington’s combat prowess. Besides, as long as his sister didn’t leave her raft, its defenses alone were something an ordinary person couldn’t hope to break through.

"Then don’t go next time. This time... was actually pretty dangerous."

"I know. When you haven’t experienced something, you always want to give it a try. Now that I have, I know."

Faye Yardley spoke casually. Leaning back on the sofa and sipping her tea, she showed no outward signs of anything being wrong.

If she hadn’t said herself that she felt a bit weak, no one would have noticed.

"It’s almost dawn. Do you want a late-night snack?"

Ethan Yardley pointed to the steamed bun. "Isn’t this it? Here, I’ve even got wine. Did you harvest another batch of sweet rice?"

"You want some sticky rice?"

Ethan Yardley decided to drop the subject and brought up Kyle Lewis instead.

Apparently, in the short time since he’d been back, Gavin Donovan had already filled him in on the situation.

Faye Yardley found this strange. "A Qualification Enhancement Pill? Enhance what qualification? This isn’t some cultivation fantasy. Everyone can rely on the system to raise their attributes and personal combat power through hard work. What qualifications are there to even enhance?"

"Don’t ask me, I don’t know either. Anyway, that kid ate that elixir. Donovan went to see him, and the attributes he’d raised were indeed taken back by the system. Not only has he reverted to his initial state, but he’s also lost his chance to become an islander. That elixir is pretty unsettling."

"He said his mom, Leah Chandler, gave it to him?"

"Mhm, that’s what he told Donovan. Whether that’s the truth, only he knows."

Faye Yardley didn’t necessarily doubt it, she just couldn’t understand why Leah Chandler would leave that kind of elixir for her son.

’Could it be that she went through all that trouble to get it from Logan Langdon for her son?’

She voiced this suspicion to her brother.

Ethan Yardley also found it strange. "The system recognized that elixir, too. Could it have been tampered with? Because if the description said that eating it would reset you to your base attribute values, I doubt that kid would have been willing to take it."

"So, in the end, did you agree to let him join the guild and offer him protection?"

"The kid doesn’t seem to have any ill intentions, and now he’s in this state. Plus, he knows you, so I figured I’d give him a chance to survive. Besides, his raft is actually quite well-upgraded," Ethan Yardley said. "However, Logan Langdon specifically reached out to me earlier and told me to let him know if Kyle Lewis asked to join my guild."

Faye Yardley smiled. She didn’t think her brother was wrong to accept Kyle Lewis, but she saw no need to inform Logan Langdon. "Logan Langdon knew in advance that Kyle Lewis would come to you? I’ll ask Mr. Pierce if he got a heads-up too."

Before long, both Zachary Pierce and Jay Jonas replied. They said Logan Langdon had mentioned it in passing, but they hadn’t paid it much attention since he’d only brought it up casually while discussing other matters.

"It seems Logan Langdon knew this would happen when he traded the elixir to Leah Chandler." Faye Yardley had a feeling Logan Langdon was plotting something. Even with the island being mined so heavily, he didn’t seem worried at all that it would be dug out of existence.

"Who cares what he’s thinking? I don’t need his approval to recruit someone." As Ethan Yardley spoke, he finished off a toasted bun in a couple of crunches.

"By the way, with the weather this cold, do you still have people assigned to fish for treasure chests?"

"Of course."

Only after asking the question did Faye Yardley remember the Silver Treasure Chest she’d gotten from the bottom of the sea. She still hadn’t used it.

But she wasn’t in good shape right now. She took another sip of tea. ’Better wait a while longer.’

"But there haven’t been any High Level treasure chests, so we just open them ourselves. Faye, how low do you think the temperature will drop this time? Most people have already used up almost all their wood. If it gets any colder, I’m afraid the number in the bottom-left corner might drop by a digit."

Faye Yardley glanced at her brother. "Since when were you so compassionate?"

Ethan Yardley: ...