Chapter 199 - 174: The Home-Guarding Animal Squad

Chapter 199: Chapter 174: The Home-Guarding Animal Squad

"Father, Mother, there’s a raft over there!" From the Watchtower, Seabird One had spotted Harold Thompson and his group’s rafts from a distance.

Hearing Seabird One’s words, Father Gull, Mother Gull, Seabird Two, and Seabird Three instantly gathered around. They were assigned to watch different directions, and they hadn’t expected a situation to arise on Seabird One’s side.

"They should be players from the same sector as our master. They might have discovered the sunken ship on the seabed as well," Father Gull analyzed.

Ever since becoming Rowan Rhodes’ pets, by Nature, they had derived certain memories. Coupled with the specific information they learned from Rowan herself, they were able to quickly assess the current situation.

"Are they coming to snatch it from our master? Should we warn her?" Seabird One immediately asked with concern. "But it seems a bit difficult to notify her right now."

"To replenish her stats, our master should be coming up soon. We’ll wait," Father Gull said. "In the meantime, we can go scout out their identities and situation."

With that, Father Gull took Mother Gull along. They flew out of the Watchtower and headed straight for Harold Thompson’s rafts.

In no time, Father Gull and Mother Gull had arrived in the airspace above Harold and his group, scouting out the state of their rafts. Upon seeing the structure of these rafts, the two gulls felt reassured. The rafts were nowhere near as formidable as their master’s. Furthermore, these people seemed to know how powerful their master was, which was why they didn’t dare to get close. Instead, they could only peek from a distance.

Once they confirmed this, Father Gull and Mother Gull embarked on their return journey.

However, Harold Thompson and Simon Quinn had also noticed the presence of Father Gull and Mother Gull. They had watched with their own eyes as the two seagulls flew over from Rowan Rhodes’ raft. The moment they saw the birds approaching, their hearts involuntarily leaped into their throats.

They weren’t sure if these two seagulls had been sent by Rowan. Had she already discovered their presence?

"Are these the pets Rowan obtained earlier?" Harold couldn’t help but ask.

"Two seagulls? Probably not. After all, seagulls can be seen everywhere. I’ve killed quite a few myself," Simon Quinn said.

"But even if they aren’t pets, they’re still being raised by Rowan and can help her scout things out. If there’s a chance in the future, we could try raising some too," Harold remarked, watching the silhouettes of the seagulls through his binoculars.

As he continued watching, he noticed a "lighthouse" atop Rowan’s raft. Earlier, his attention had been entirely focused on the raft itself, so he hadn’t noticed this structure. Now, seeing the seagulls fly directly into the tower, he suddenly realized that this "lighthouse" might be a special type of building.

With this thought, Harold spoke up, "Can other buildings be constructed on a raft? I see one on Rowan’s raft. It looks like it can be used to overlook the distance. It wasn’t an accident that they spotted us."

"Let me take a look," Simon quickly followed up. He observed carefully and, sure enough, spotted the unique building. "This might be another one of Rowan’s hauls from somewhere. I’ve played some base-building games before, and they also featured Building Plans."

Hearing this, a trace of envy crept into the eyes of Harold and the others.

"Rowan really has quite a few good things in her hands! And they’re all one of a kind."

"After all, she’s ranked first across the entire server by a massive margin. The sheer value of that speaks for itself."

Their tone carried a hint of wistfulness, and hidden beneath those expressions was a deep sense of envy and jealousy. They truly wished they could take it all for themselves! If they possessed Rowan’s level of strength, how happy would they be?

While Harold and Elias Ziegler were discussing this, Simon was earnestly observing the movements on Rowan’s raft.

After a long while, he finally spoke. "These seagulls weren’t ordered by Rowan. They were scouting us on their own initiative. Also, Rowan is definitely not on the raft."

Harold and Elias’s attention was immediately drawn to Simon. Although they had just made a similar guess, they couldn’t be certain. Yet Simon sounded so absolute. They wanted to know exactly what he had discovered.

"Given Rowan’s personality, if she had discovered us, she wouldn’t hide inside the raft. Earlier, we could say she might not have noticed us, but since these seagulls have spotted us and scouted the situation, it’s impossible for her not to know. Therefore, if she were on the raft, there would definitely be some activity," Simon analyzed. "Perhaps we can keep moving forward. As long as we maintain a safe distance, we might be able to talk to her face-to-face when she comes up from the seabed."

Rowan had been down on the seabed for far too long; she had absolutely secured a massive amount of resources from the sunken ship. If they waited any longer, they feared there wouldn’t even be scraps left for them.

"Would that be seen as a provocation?" Harold was still a bit conflicted. In the face of absolute power, they truly couldn’t afford to be careless.

Simon listened and pursed his lips. "So, in order to leave safely, we just walk away?"

"It doesn’t feel right to just leave like this, either!" Harold instinctively replied.

"Then let’s stick to the original plan. There’s no need to wait for the other players. When they arrive, they’ll know to group up with us," Simon said, making the final decision.

Saying so, he returned to his own cabin, started the Engine, and began heading toward the location of Rowan’s raft. Seeing this, Harold and Elias had no choice but to hurry and catch up. In truth, they were wavering internally; what they lacked was precisely someone who could make a decision for them.

Meanwhile, on Rowan’s raft.

After Father Gull and Mother Gull returned, they briefly explained the situation regarding Harold and his group.

"Those people are weaker than our master. Although they have slightly more people, they definitely can’t beat her."

"And they wouldn’t dare fight."

Father Gull and Mother Gull spoke with a firm tone. After all, they had only realized upon getting close that the other party had long since discovered their presence. Yet, despite being discovered, the men hadn’t made any moves against their approach, tacitly allowing themselves to be observed. That alone spoke volumes.

Seabird One and the others felt greatly relieved hearing this.

However, the very next moment, Seabird Two, who was keeping watch in the Watchtower, hurriedly flew over. "Their rafts are moving. They’re heading toward us."

That single sentence instantly drew everyone up to the Watchtower. Even the Big Turtle and Void Beast Atticus were no exceptions. Standing on the Watchtower, they watched as the three rafts slowly crept toward them.

"There is no intent to attack; they are merely approaching."

"They’re here for the sunken ship on the seabed."

"The sunken ship belongs to our master. Nobody can touch it."

"I don’t want to share it with anyone else."

"First come, first served."

The Seagull Family, the Big Turtle, and Void Beast Atticus chimed in one after another. Their implicit and explicit meanings were crystal clear: what belonged to Rowan was hers, and hers alone.

"Don’t worry, they can’t take it away. If they dare enter our attack range, there’s no need to be polite—just strike directly." Father Gull, acting as the eldest presence among them, offered his advice.

The next instant, the group moved from the Watchtower to the control room on the third floor. Inside the control room, the situation with Harold and his group was also perfectly clear. The radar had long since mapped out the conditions of these rafts, its screen blinking constantly. The surrounding Fish Spear Guns were all in combat-ready status.

Even Void Beast Atticus was contemplating whether it should teleport onto the enemy’s rafts later and drop a pile of burning bottles.

Obviously, there was no need for Rowan to be present. If any other rafts wanted to attack, these animals of the Seagull Family, who were thoroughly accustomed to operating the defenses, were more than enough to give Harold and his group a run for their money.

Harold and the others remained completely oblivious to all this.

After silently traveling a certain distance, they stopped again. It was a safe distance, but it allowed them to see the situation on Rowan’s raft much more clearly. And as they carefully inspected Rowan’s raft, the gazes of Harold Thompson, Simon Quinn, and Elias Ziegler were firmly captivated by what they saw.