Chapter 737 - 42: Coal
The beacon’s light, although getting dimmer, is getting closer to the ground.
For Chen Zhou, the biggest difficulty now is time.
In less than two days, he must retrieve the bow and arrow, transfer Paul, reconnoiter enemy movements, and deal with any possible sudden situations during this period.
Paul’s knee injury is manageable, but Tiger Third’s spinal injury requires splint fixation, which is only a temporary measure and cannot achieve the immobilization of professional medical equipment. Handling must be very careful; otherwise, the injury may worsen. These tasks are very time-consuming.
...
While sprinting through the forest, planning the shortest route, Chen Zhou quickly reached the place where he left the Longbow.
Fortunately, it seems no challengers have passed by there; the Longbow and the quiver remained exactly as positioned.
After taking the bow and arrow, Chen Zhou carefully cleaned up the traces of battle left behind by him and the Black-robed Man, took away the empty shell of the used smoke grenade, and tried to rub away the bloodstains with soil.
Not knowing if anyone saw the destruction caused by these battles, he could only repair the fence after the sheep were lost.
After all, challengers entering the Black Forest will certainly not share intelligence; deceiving one is as good as deceiving all. Success or failure depends on the details, even small things require attention.
...
Exerting his strength without reservation, almost without stopping, after cleaning up the battle scene, Chen Zhou rushed to the edge of the Black Forest.
After dark, other challengers arriving at the supply drop center area were ready to rest, adjusting their state to participate in the intense supply battle later.
The darkness is their obstacle, but it is Chen Zhou’s shield.
Climbing up a tree to look from a high vantage point, Chen Zhou first spotted the group of challengers reduced to one person by the Black-robed Man killing his companions.
His campfire was directly below the cliff, far from the Black Forest, maintaining a distance from another full team, seemingly not intending to compete for supplies. Tomorrow, when daylight breaks, he might attempt to climb the Broken Cliff alone, heading southward.
With his companions dead, the only thing this person can get is a few survival tools.
But the difficulties ahead are far from being solvable with a few survival tools. Having witnessed this person’s skill when chasing the Black-robed Man, Chen Zhou has mentally sentenced him to death—
Without his intervention, when harsh winter sets in, this person certainly won’t last long; he might not endure until the coldest temperature, potentially starving to death from food shortage or freezing in the bone-chilling wind.
...
His gaze swept over the "lone wolf" below the cliff, and skimming over the head of the full team camping at the Black Forest’s edge, Chen Zhou noticed two other clusters of firelight in the night.
One campfire was on the cliff, but with some distance from the edge, he couldn’t see how many people were around the campfire.
The other campfire was on the far other side, similar to the lone wolf, also below the cliff; due to the distance, he couldn’t discern the specific situation.
...
"Including these two groups of challengers, a total of six groups have come near the Black Forest.
There are 50 groups in the challenge; excluding the group I have eliminated and the gang of wanderers, over a tenth have been drawn by the supply drop.
The beacon will soon land, and it seems only these competitors can arrive at the scene."
At the beginning of the challenge, Chen Zhou had anticipated the presence of "Turtle Party" who would avoid battles and intense competition.
Now it seems the number of "Turtle Party" is even more than he imagined.
If there are still challengers too far away or who have abandoned halfway, the first supply drop could still see fewer than ten competing groups, meaning as much as four-fifths are huddled in some corner waiting for others to die off.
Shaking his head, Chen Zhou couldn’t help but laugh at this thought.
If the Space-Time Administration Bureau truly intends to determine a victor this way, why bother putting all challengers in the same space?
They could simply mimic "Challenge Robinson," placing everyone at the same starting point to play a "standalone game."
"It seems some people imagine the Space-Time Administration Bureau to be too kind. If they truly valued human lives, my partner in solitary island challenges should be Robinson.
With the existence of ’air-drop supplies,’ it’s impossible to last until the end without relying on them.
Like the mysterious rewards in the solitary island challenge, without the 15-day blind box, I might have gone insane or died long ago..."
Realizing most challengers hold naive ideas, Chen Zhou becomes more assured.
If someone hasn’t even grasped the rules and thinks their life and wilderness survival skills surpass the minus sixty-five-degree temperature, he has nothing to say.
Whether these people act out of confidence or avoidance of other challengers, fearing death.
By voluntarily giving up this supply, they have lost most of it unless they can actively participate and succeed in the next supply battle; otherwise, Chen Zhou’s momentum will keep growing until his advantage accumulates into triumph—
Indeed, now observing that apart from himself and Paul, no one else has ventured into the Black Forest, Chen Zhou is already certain of victory.
The facts prove his planning was correct; marching rapidly to secure an advantage was a wise choice.
Up until now, those still lingering on the outskirts only know a Black-robed Man went into the forest, not even aware of him and Paul’s presence, creating a massive information gap.
...
Confirming that other challengers are at most entering the edge of the Black Forest, Chen Zhou directly returned to the forest.