Starting from Robinson Crusoe

Not to mention, there are even bigger beasts on the grassland, some weighing tons. Relying on this little guy to confront these giant beasts directly is almost impossible, which left Chen Zhou puzzled—

This little guy cooperated with that big guy without dragging behind, and neither showed any signs of injury. Does this suggest that the little guy has some special skills that can help them gain an advantage in other aspects...

Silently raising his guard against the short guy, Chen Zhou didn’t forget to lower his voice and pass on the information he gathered to Paul.

Unexpectedly, Paul, who didn’t want to "scout" with him, also found something unusual—

A slender fragment of wood with a pale yellow surface and break marks, as if from a broken object.

"Look."

Paul said as he handed the wooden fragment to Chen Zhou, who looked at it and squinted slightly.

"This is Paulownia wood."

Since the challenge began, he hadn’t seen this kind of tree on the mountain or scattered in the grassland forests. Just by glancing at it, he was certain that this wood fragment must come from another challenger.

Moreover, he could uncover more clues from this wooden fragment—

Paulownia is a low-density wood, with an air-dry density between 0.19~0.4, and it’s not mechanically strong.

Domestically, Paulownia has rarely been used for furniture throughout history, preferring high-density wood.

But there is one country that likes using Paulownia to make furniture, and that’s Japan.

Japan experiences many earthquakes. To minimize the casualties caused by earthquakes, Japanese people not only make furniture out of Paulownia but also construct houses with it.

Paulownia is not only lightweight but also boasts excellent moisture resistance, good abrasion resistance, and is a fast-growing species, making it inexpensive. Hence, it is one of the main materials for Japanese wooden clogs.

"If these are clogs, it makes sense."

Chen Zhou knew there are many shapes of clogs; some are short at the bottom and long at the top. If the bottom of the clogs is a size 38, the top might be size 41 or even longer.

If another challenger is Japanese and wearing clogs, it wouldn’t be surprising to find footprints only 38 size in length.

This also answered his question about why another footprint didn’t have anti-slip texture—

Traditional clogs simply don’t have anti-slip texture; stepping down would only leave a rectangular indentation.

"Japanese, huh, interesting."

Chen Zhou had no fondness for Japanese people.

Despite spending 28 years on a medieval isolated island, receiving modern education, his deep-seated patriotism and profound memory of modern history never faded.

After returning to modern times, during his focus on extreme sports, he interacted with many Japanese, leaving a deep impression that this nation knows minor etiquette but lacks major principles, adheres to trivial details but lacks great virtue.

Whether due to historical background or personal experience, he couldn’t develop any fondness for Japanese people, especially now amidst a brutal challenge.

Already prepared for a fight to death, now with early knowledge of another challenger’s identity, the little struggle and compassion left in Chen Zhou’s heart vanished completely.

...

After the unexpected discovery of the wood fragment, fearing missing any clues, Chen Zhou took Paul for two more rounds around the back of the Mound.

During that time, he found several more broken wooden fragments and shredded wood between shoe prints, indicating that the Japanese clogs might not be suitable for the sturdy land of the Mammoth Plain and are probably mostly damaged.

However, besides these wooden fragments, he couldn’t find any other useful clues.

...

After exploring for two rounds, the world was completely dominated by darkness.

Clouds obscured the moonlight and star glow on this night.

Strong winds whistled across the grassland, with air filled with the fragrant moisture of wild grass, outlining a storm-is-coming atmosphere.

In the past, Paul could somewhat identify some objects under moonlight. But now, in such darkness, he was essentially blind. Without following Chen Zhou, he couldn’t distinguish directions; all he knew was the front was covered with layers of tall grass.

Worried the cries of Serrated Tiger Cubs might attract beasts or hinder their actions, Chen Zhou and Paul had specifically confined the cubs in the shrubs at the slope’s base before ascending the Mound.

Seeing Paul no longer able to keep up with his pace, Chen Zhou sent him back to where the Serrated Tiger Cubs were. On one hand, this allowed him to look after the cubs; on the other hand, it took away a burden, letting Chen Zhou fully concentrate on exploring the nearby terrain and rival camp to gather more information.

...

Returning to the Mound, this time Chen Zhou didn’t linger at the side but chose to ascend directly to the top—

From there, he could see the semi-permanent camp constructed by another group of challengers below, reducing the distance to within 1km.

The Mound wasn’t high, overall slopping northeast, with a "C" shape outside incline rather gentle, inside steeper, looking down filled with tall grass, no obstacles blocking the view, revealing the entire camp cleared by challengers.

Even shrouded by night, eight to nine hundred meters couldn’t interfere with Chen Zhou’s observations.

He saw near the slope base, a sunken shelter constructed with stone and wood had been erected.

Located near a riverbank, acquiring stone material was quite convenient, but transporting wood was rather troublesome. Chen Zhou was puzzled how they managed so much wood in a few days; when sweeping his gaze ahead, he noticed a raft tied by the river about 100m from the shelter, indicating they transported wood via water, evidently much less laborious than hauling long wooden pieces over land.

By the shelter, two challengers already had a fire going.