Chapter 197 - 172: Oh My God! It Really Is Rowan Rhodes!

Chapter 197: Chapter 172: Oh My God! It Really Is Rowan Rhodes!

Harold Thompson prayed silently in his heart, but the raft continued to move forward. He decided he still needed to confirm it for himself.

As the raft sailed on, the small black dot on the distant ocean gradually became clearer with the passage of time. He could now roughly gauge the size of the other raft. Seeing the rather massive raft ahead, Harold’s heart involuntarily skipped a beat.

He didn’t know if it was Rowan Rhodes, but judging by the scale of the other party’s raft, it was at least Level 7 or above. A level like that definitely belonged to a top-tier player! If that was the case, they were in trouble!

Furthermore, he noticed that besides being large, the raft also seemed quite tall. His own raft was built to two and a half stories. Yet he noticed that the other party’s raft was significantly taller than his two and a half stories, seemingly twice as high. So, was it a five-story raft? In District 122, how many people could possibly have a five-story raft???

The ominous premonition in Harold’s heart grew stronger. "Could it really be Rowan Rhodes?" he thought.

Harold felt his mind go into a daze. His gaze unconsciously drifted to the World Channel. The trending topic in the District 122 World Channel was still centered on him and the sunken shipwreck, with everyone asking which top-tier player had arrived ahead of them. They wondered if this top player could go head-to-head with Harold’s group. Because of this, the World Channel was extremely lively right now. Even Zelda Parrish and the others had been drawn into the discussion.

[Zelda Parrish: It’s not me.]

[Celia Lynch: Not me either.]

[Faye Sinclair: I’m on Aeridor! It’s so beautiful here; I’m completely lost in the scenery.]

[Owen Caldwell: I’m on Brimstone Isle.]

[Whoa, if it’s not these big shots, who else could it be?]

[@Zelda Parrish, can you contact the great Rowan Rhodes right now? If you can’t reach him, does that mean he’s currently underwater?]

[Wow, are our prayers actually coming true?]

[Zelda Parrish: I actually can’t reach him.]

[Hahaha, I’m looking forward to this even more now.]

[@Harold Thompson, your raft should have been moving this whole time. Can you see the condition of the raft yet?]

[Yeah! By now, you should be able to tell what Level the raft is at a glance.]

[Actually, it’s hard to tell. Even at Level 6, a raft can be expanded to 100 square meters!]

[The area can be deceptive, but the construction of the raft absolutely cannot be faked.]

[Look at the greenery. The great Rowan Rhodes planted so much Eira Grass before, so his raft must have a substantial planting area. It might even have multiple floors.]

[Speaking of which, have your rafts been upgraded to a Metal Raft yet? If it hasn’t been upgraded to a Metal Raft, it seems impossible to build a third floor because it would sink too deep into the water.]

[Haven’t upgraded yet! Metal Anchors aren’t that easy to get. Even if you replace it piece by piece, it still takes a while! Besides, two floors are enough.]

[So that guarantees that Rowan Rhodes’s raft wouldn’t have a low number of floors. How many floors does the one you’re looking at have?]

Reading all this, Harold cast his gaze toward the distant raft. It seemed... there really was greenery on the top! Did they look like trees???

Harold was speechless. Remaining silent, he continued to lurk in the chat.

[Come to think of it, Harold Thompson hasn’t surfaced for a long time. Knowing his personality, what does that mean? It’s not hard to guess!]

[Haha, I noticed that too.]

[Whoa, so it really could be the great Rowan Rhodes?]

[I’m not surprised at all that Rowan Rhodes could find a sunken shipwreck!]

[Owen Caldwell: Earlier, in the large chat group for the Sea Survival Shop, I heard a player mention that the blueprint data obtained on Glimmerstone Isle seemed to mark the locations of sunken shipwrecks.]

[That makes it even more certain.]

[Oh my god! This is such an epic reality check!]

[@Harold Thompson, come out and tell us what you’re thinking right now.]

[@Harold Thompson, did we guess right?]

[...]

Following the players’ deductions, more and more people realized that their previous guesses might actually be spot on. At this moment, every player felt an incredible sense of satisfaction. Harold had been acting so arrogant; now he was probably about to face his comeuppance! More players began to revel in Harold’s misfortune. This was pure poetic justice.

Zelda Parrish, Celia Lynch, and others also mingled in the crowd, tagging Harold. Especially Celia. She had been threatened by Harold’s group on multiple occasions. Even though they hadn’t actually made a move against her, the experience of having to fight tooth and nail and remain on constant alert because of them was very real. She hadn’t retaliated simply because she had more important things to do and didn’t want them to affect her progress. But that didn’t mean she could calmly watch Harold and his crew live better and better lives. Now, seeing them get the short end of the stick made her happy.

Looking at the screen full of tags, Harold’s face darkened. At first, seeing their schadenfreude, he was able to maintain his composure, thinking they were just jealous. But now, the situation was different because it was highly likely they had hit the nail on the head.

Especially during this short span of time, he had gotten closer to the other party’s raft. Using his binoculars, he could now see the scene on the raft much more clearly. A four-story raft. The topmost level was a glass sunroom, brimming with greenery. There were towering fruit trees of various kinds, and a large number of Seed Beds placed on shelves. Most importantly, from top to bottom, the combination of the Metal Raft and Metal Walls made it look like an impregnable fortress. Even the perimeter of the raft was entirely covered in spikes, alongside automatic fishing nets.

How many players in District 122 could achieve this? Only one! And that was—Rowan Rhodes.

On the World Channel, the people tagging him shifted from spectators just enjoying the drama to Simon Quinn and the rest of his team. After all, seeing the deductions on the World Channel, they were also starting to get a little worried. Who was Rowan Rhodes? A top-tier powerhouse who could take on a hundred people single-handedly. The big shot among big shots. Snatching food from the jaws of a beast like him? How many people would dare? So they desperately needed Harold’s feedback.

Looking at all these messages tagging him, Harold remained silent. He truly didn’t want to reply right now, because he knew very well that if he answered, he would probably be mocked by a lot of players. And it would be far more vicious and toxic than it was now. But no matter how reluctant he felt, facing the team he had painstakingly built, he had to take the initiative to explain.

Taking a long breath, Harold finally surfaced on the World Channel.

[Harold Thompson: @Simon Quinn @Elias Ziegler @Sean Rowan @... I looked with my binoculars. The raft has four floors. The very top is a glass sunroom with a lot of plants inside. From bottom to top, the raft is a combination of a Metal Raft, Metal Walls, and glass...]

Harold’s description was very detailed. He didn’t dare to state with absolute certainty that the person was Rowan Rhodes; he could only reveal it through this description. When the time came, he definitely wouldn’t be the only one suggesting a retreat, and thus his pride as the boss would be preserved.

When Harold’s message came out, many players were utterly stunned. Once they finished reading, the players instantly went wild!

"Good heavens! It really was Rowan Rhodes!!!"

"Hahaha! Harold Thompson is such an unlucky bastard!!!"

"This is too satisfying!!!"