Humanity Forbidden Island [Complete] - 5

Chapter 53: A Deadly Thrill

"Well, to be honest, it's gold inside, all the illicit wealth Cang Gui has made over the years from drug trafficking and arms smuggling. He didn't dare launder it, so he could only exchange it for gold and hide it on this deserted island. It's a pity it's all been stolen by those wild monkeys now." Seeing my pressing questioning, he stopped beating around the bush to avoid attracting murderous intent.

"How much is there in total?" I asked. "Hmm, it seems like ten boxes, each weighing twenty-five kilograms." As soon as the black-clad leader finished speaking, I was immediately excited. Five hundred kilograms of gold—what did that mean? How many heinous acts would one have to commit to accumulate so much gold? Enough to buy several small Southeast Asian countries and become emperor.

"How's the repair of your ship going? How long will it take to be fixed?" I tried to ask him as quickly as possible. This guy understood that I was asking for crucial information. Although he still forced a smile and goodwill on his face, his eyes flashed with vigilance.

"It's hard to say. The engine room control panel was badly damaged. The ship has spare parts, but we didn't expect the spare parts for the control panel to be missing. It seems it won't be repaired anytime soon." Perhaps he was telling the truth. To be absolutely sure, I deliberately feigned anger and said, "Do you want to die?" After saying that, I pulled out the dagger from my military boot and stomped on him viciously.

"I destroyed the engine room with three grenades. According to my estimate at the time, it could be repaired in about three days. But you lied and said the ship couldn't be repaired. Do you want me to keep you alive to negotiate with the people on board?"

"Heh, look, I'm in so much pain that my head is spinning. I can't remember the exact information about repairing the ship. But you can rest assured, I'm determined to help you deal with that demon, Cang Gui. He has harmed countless people. I've wanted to get rid of him for a long time." He actually knelt on the ground, acting childish, once again professing his loyalty to me.

"Tell me how to kill Cang Gui and obtain..." Before I could finish speaking, the black-clad leader, who was crouching on the ground, vanished from my sight like a car speeding across the street in the dark.

With a "smack," I felt a hand chop at the back of my neck, and my vision blurred. This guy's hidden killing intent was suddenly exposed. I quickly gripped the sharp dagger in my hand and swung it backward.

Many leaves from low trees were sliced off, and the black-clad leader, with the speed of a flash, circled behind me again, aiming a blow at my neck. I knew this was bad; if this continued, his neck would break. I had to get out of this passive situation quickly.

I flipped backward, curling myself up like a hedgehog, rolling down the hillside. Fortunately, my clothes were thick; only my cheeks were scratched by the low, hard vegetation.

As a tree stopped my tumbling descent, I swiftly plunged my dagger into the trunk, halting my staggering motion. My mind was still reeling, making me dizzy and on the verge of vomiting.

This black-clad boss was truly skilled; no wonder those burly thugs feared this smooth-talking, ruthless fellow—he was a top-tier ninja.

In Japan, a ninja is essentially an assassin, using rapid movement to dazzle their opponent before striking unexpectedly. For this guy to perform such a monstrous feat despite being severely wounded, his ninjutsu must be superb.

I shook my head violently to clear my head, simultaneously raising my pistol and firing rapidly towards where he might be hiding, partly to suppress his attack, and partly hoping to kill him by chance.

By then, the black-clad boss had vanished. In the short ten seconds it took me to tumble down the slope, he had swiftly disappeared into hiding. I crouched and lay prone, using the corner of my eye to observe any suspicious movements around me.

Fighting at such close range with a sniper rifle would be suicidal. So, I gripped my pistol in one hand, ready to fire at any moment, and my dagger in the other, ready to protect myself. But cold sweat still seeped down my spine and the back of my neck.

Fortunately, years of battlefield combat had instilled in me good prisoner-taking habits: first, severely wound the opponent and remove any weapons. If he had been carrying a sharp blade or throwing knives, my neck would probably be half-slit by now.

He was naked, hidden behind the dense vegetation around me. Because he had no weapons, he wouldn't dare to make a move once the distance between us increased. Moreover, a person's fighting ability is greatly reduced when naked.

The surrounding trees were no more than two meters tall, mostly dense low shrubs. If I had encountered such an opponent in a forest, he might have leaped down from a tall tree and snapped my neck in one go.

Although I've mostly dealt with agents from Europe and America before, witnessing many novel killing weapons and techniques, and ultimately narrowly defeating them, encountering such a bizarre ninja master is a first.

Telling a dying man any secrets is harmless; his quick answers to my questions earlier showed he'd already planned to kill me the moment I wasn't looking.

I dare not move now, because the first move distracts the other, which makes little difference to an ordinary person, but for assassins, it's crucial.

Darkness is approaching; if this drags on, there's only one outcome: he'll slip away under cover of darkness. He won't fight me again unless he has a weapon; otherwise, trying to engage me in close combat is suicide. My shoulder is also throbbing with pain, probably from rainwater seeping in.

This guy has also received special psychological training; from the very beginning of our conversation, we both knew we were acting. He definitely knew there were no caves or medical personnel at the top of the valley. All those conciliatory words were just to lull me into a false sense

of security, waiting for the right moment to kill me. Thankfully, I had two thick bear skins, preventing him from seeing where my pistol and dagger were hidden. Otherwise, he would have instantly taken them, putting me in grave danger.

This stalemate couldn't continue; I had to be wary of him while simultaneously devising a plan. "I know you're nearby. You're bleeding profusely and will soon feel the cold, then your heart will slowly stop beating. I have a gun. If you dare touch a small twig, my submachine gun will riddle you with bullets."

Psychological tactics weren't very effective against this ninja, but it was the only way to entice him. More importantly, my mind wasn't fully clear, so I deliberately spoke sharply, making him think I had recovered from the dizziness of the blow to my neck.

"You certainly won't answer me. You're afraid to reveal your location. Even though you know where I am, what can you do to me?" I continued rambling on, hoping to give him an opening. If he couldn't hold on and tried to fight me again, I'd have a chance to shoot him.

"Five hundred pounds of gold, forty-odd women—you probably won't get to enjoy them anymore. It's a pity that someone with your high level of ninjutsu would fight me under these conditions. It's my good fortune and your misfortune." I said, trying to provoke him while keeping a close eye on our surroundings.

"You've already lost a thousand milliliters of blood, haven't you? Are you thinking of using a cloth to bandage your leg artery? Just shout 'surrender,' and I can stop the bleeding right now. Of course, you won't trust me. Actually, I'm not lying. There really are caves and medics at the top of the valley, but you're too suspicious, and you'll die from your own impulsiveness."

The guy remained hidden nearby, silent. I had to stay calm, stalling for time to make him bleed while not letting it get too dark.

"Although you hit me hard a few times just now, how much strength can a seriously injured ninja exert? It's just a tickle." I was afraid he'd attack me again, so I was trying to persuade him to give up the idea of another hand-to-hand fight.

No sooner had I finished speaking than he silently circled behind me, leaped up with a "whoosh," and lunged at my neck with a wooden stick bent into a spike. While

I was babbling on and on, I had taken a risk, deliberately ignoring my own safety to lure him into attacking me.

The reason I did this was because he had neither a gun nor a dagger; at most, he could use sticks or stones to injure the back of my head.

All's fair in war, I had already secretly gripped my pistol, tucked under the outermost layer of the bearskin, muzzle pointing vertically backward, waiting for him to fall for the trap and pounce.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!" My finger swiftly pulled the trigger three times in quick succession. The bullet shot out from under the bearskin on my back, striking the naked ninja in the chest.

A gun is always the most direct and effective way to kill; his superb ninjutsu was defeated by the speed of the bullet.

He struggled to clutch his chest, his dying breath a fierce glare at me, finally managing to squeeze out a single, bloodied word from his lips: "Despicable!"

I was immediately puzzled. Why would he call me despicable?

Was it because I hadn't fought him fairly, or because I hadn't let him kill me willingly? Judging from his dark complexion, I initially thought he was Southeast Asian, but from his dying words, he seemed more like a Japanese man, a Japanese man with the spirit of the samurai.

It's laughable to think about it now. Back then, the Japanese invading army, attempting to annex Asia, used countless despicable means to attack other countries' armies and innocent civilians.

Before he died, he cursed me as despicable. This wasn't advocating a fair duel; it was clearly contempt for dying at my hands. But once a person dies, they lose all substantial attributes. No matter how much idealism the living apply, they cannot erase their ignorance and sins in life.

My shoulder was already unbearably painful; I had to return to the cave before dark so Chi Chun could bandage me again. There were probably thirteen or fourteen men left on the large ship; at least they wouldn't dare to recklessly go ashore again.

Chapter 54: Suspicion Amidst Panic

Braving the dense rain of the dark twilight, I returned to the cave entrance. "Chi Chun, Lu Ya, Yi Liang, don't shoot! I'm back! Can you hear me?" After calling out, there was no reply from inside the cave. Cold sweat broke out on my forehead, and my heart felt like it was being scalded by hot dumplings; I was terrified that something had happened to them.

So I picked up a stone from the stream and threw it at an angle into the cave to see what would happen. "Rat-a-tat-tat, rat-a-tat-tat." Gunshots immediately rang out from inside. "Listen up, you people inside! This is Zhuima! Your boat has been destroyed by me. Stop working for Canggui! If you want to leave the island alive, cooperate properly, or we'll all die together. Don't think I'm too scared. Believe me, I'll throw in ten or eight grenades!"

I shouted angrily at the cave entrance, but the enemy inside didn't reply. After a long while, a small head peeked out from the cave entrance. "You're finally back! Come in quickly, we were all worried about you." Luya said, raising her arm and beckoning vigorously into the cave: "It's a misunderstanding, it's not a bad guy, it's Zhuima who's back, hehehe." "

Luya, have Chichun and Yiliang stand at the cave entrance." I still hesitated as I called to Luya at the cave entrance, without any intention of going into the cave. Just then, Chi Chun appeared at the cave entrance, excitedly calling out to me, "Come in quickly! There are no bad guys in the cave. Don't get wet in the rain; are your wounds still moist?"

"Where's Yi Liang? Where is she? Tell her to come to the cave entrance too." I was determined to see all three of them safe before entering the cave. Yi Liang finally appeared, anxiously saying, "I'm here. You're overthinking it. There are no bad guys in the cave. We were sleeping behind the big rock."

I carefully observed their eyes, finding nothing amiss, before cautiously entering the cave. After carefully checking everything inside, I breathed a long sigh of relief. I quickly took off the bearskin and started a fire.

Stroking Lu Ya's head, seeing that the three of them were alright, I said with great joy, "Don't think I'm being neurotic. I was worried that you might be kidnapped by bad guys and tricked into a trap. If I were killed, everything would be over."

"Even if we die, we won't be forced to lie and let the bad guys capture you," Yi Liang said to me with tears in her eyes. Her delicate face was filled with infinite emotion.

"I'm just as worried about your nervousness. Ever since I gave you weapons, I've been concerned. You've never fought or killed anyone before, and the psychological pressure in this environment is immense. You might not be able to handle the panic and start shooting indiscriminately."

While I was speaking, Chi Chun had already untied the bandage on my shoulder and started applying medicine again. She said, "You're right, I'm worried about that too, especially Lu Ya, who's the most timid."

Lu Ya immediately complained, "I'm the youngest, not the most timid. How could I possibly shoot indiscriminately? I don't want to shoot anyone, or even touch a gun."

"Silly girl, you don't understand. Chi Chun's concerns are valid. There are very strange messages on this island. Once they enter a person's brain, they will unconsciously make certain actions. It's precisely because you're the youngest that you're easily affected."

I spoke in a relaxed manner, afraid that Lu Ya would worry about other supernatural things. Actually, she was a timid and stubborn little girl, which was evident when I first met her.

Her charm lay precisely in the allure that inspired a man to protect her. Because of the many artificial signals we received in our previous environment, and the social framework that protected our mindsets, we

've been living on the island for almost a month now. Our bodies are undergoing changes and shifts, so we all need to be careful, or we might develop mental health issues.

After bandaging my wounds, Chi Chun hugged my back tightly; I knew she must be terribly worried to act like that.

My biggest worry is that the ship is almost repaired, and if the remaining villains leave the island, it will lead to a series of disastrous consequences.

That night, I talked to the women a lot about defeating the enemy, trying my best to ease their anxiety. Getting inside the ship and eliminating the enemies inside is the biggest challenge. After fighting the black-clad leader, I can imagine how formidable Cang Gui is.

Moreover, I'm not entirely clear on the layout of the cabins; rushing in is much riskier than using a sniper rifle to shoot them from a distance on the island. But the enemy probably won't come out easily anymore; it's my turn to take the initiative.

(Full text novel reading, updates, faster, all at 16k Literature Network, computer site: www.www ... 16k.cn Mobile Site: wap.16k.cn Support literature, support 16k! If I were to jump into the sea again like the first time, sneaking into the ship under the cover of night, I'm afraid my body wouldn't be able to handle it. The wound on my shoulder is very sensitive to seawater, unless I can eliminate the enemy in a very short time so I can treat the wound promptly.

Cang Gui won't die easily at my hands; he's more likely to win. Sometimes, you have to force yourself to do things even if you have no chance of winning. If you don't want to risk entering the ship, you're destined to be like a trout in a stream, forever trapped on this deserted island. Moreover, the Ghost Monkey is a considerable hidden danger.

I said to Chi Chun, "Before dawn, I plan to infiltrate the large ship. If anything goes wrong, none of you should be sad, and never give up hope of survival. The trout in the stream are enough to feed you for a lifetime, and I've already taught Lu Ya several methods for catching them. Don't try to hunt crocodiles in the muddy swamp

like I did; those are not animals women can hunt. You must always confine yourselves to the area around the yard. Use your guns to protect yourselves in critical moments." Before I finished speaking, the three women threw themselves into my arms and burst into tears. The scene was like a life-or-death farewell; the unprecedented sorrow shattered my heart instantly.

At this moment, a woman's tears could hold a man's heart, but not his will. That large ship absolutely cannot be let go. Cang Gui will bring even more people to retrieve the treasure chest, and then no one on the island will have peace.

If the Sea Demon reaches an agreement with Cang Gui and launches a joint attack, our fate will be even more sealed. Therefore, we cannot be swayed by a woman's tears, seeking only temporary compromise and missing the last chance for victory. This opportunity will never come again for anyone stranded on this island.

The women hadn't slept all night; how could they sleep when they thought I would be wounded and infiltrate the large ship before dawn?

The rain finally showed signs of stopping. I gave all the necessary instructions, shouldered the necessary weapons, and got up to climb from the cave entrance to the top of the valley.

Lu Ya chased after me, crying, and grabbed my arm, refusing to let me go. "Don't go! We don't want the big ship, we don't want the big ship! We'll just stay on this island. Waaaaah..."

The child cried so hard. I released the hemp vine I was holding and stroked her head. Chi Chun and Yi Liang also stood at the cave entrance, weeping sadly.

"Don't cry, be strong. Your crying will worry me. I have to go, you know that. So, you must be brave. Whether I come back or not, you must survive. If you ever fall into enemy hands, remember to save a bullet for yourself, shoot it in the temple, that way you won't feel the pain."

"Go! You must come back! Remember, I am your wife!" Yi Liang finally couldn't hold back anymore and cried out. Chi Chun pulled Yi Liang into her arms, sobbing uncontrollably, and said, "Don't worry, I'll take good care of them, but you have to come back alive. Don't try to take them by force. You know what we really need."

"Yes, if I'm not back before dusk, don't stay in this cave. You take them and find another cave, hold out for a month, and then come back. By then, the villains on the big ship will probably have left."

It was getting dark, and I couldn't delay any longer. I said sharply, "Don't think too highly of me. I've killed many people and done bad things. The reason I'm protecting you is because I don't want to be alone on the island. You are yourselves, not anyone to me. There are many women on the big ship; I might just sail away and abandon you. Hahaha, go back into the cave. Don't be so sentimental; I don't need it."

Without looking at them, I grabbed the hemp vine and started climbing. Following the method from last time, although my shoulders were a little sore, I was lucky enough not to fall and safely reached the valley floor.

Now is not the time for recuperation; a more intense battle has just begun, and I must fight with a peaceful mind, free of any worries. Too many concerns will only hold me back.

Slowly stepping over the dark, glistening seaweed, I stepped into the icy water, the seawater immediately corroding my wounds and causing excruciating pain. My biggest worry was that the wound on my shoulder would affect my fighting ability; no matter how painful it was, I had to endure it, or I would die.

As I swam in the cold water, I pondered my strategy after reaching the deck. Staying close to the large ship would allow me to impersonate their accomplices, making it seem like I had returned with a treasure chest.

As soon as the hatch opened even a crack, I would kick it open, knocking the villains down the stairs, and then indiscriminately fire inside, taking down as many as I could.

However, I had to avoid shooting the innocent women inside the cabin; these shameless villains would definitely grab the women next to them to use as shields at crucial moments, taking bullets for their sinful acts. That would put me at a disadvantage.

One thing was certain: there were no women in the first hatch, and many bandits would come out to meet them; the treasure chest was what Cang Gui desperately wanted.

Several days of continuous rain had made the surrounding temperature exceptionally low. The icy seawater seeped through my skin, relentlessly penetrating my body; my teeth and lips trembled uncontrollably.

Looking up at the sky from the dark sea, I could vaguely see a few stars. Those guys who escaped the pursuit of the ghost monkeys were probably truly dead; I hoped their spirits wouldn't haunt me.

The large ship remained anchored in its original position, rocking incessantly. I first quietly circled the ship, confirming there was no movement on the deck, before stealthily approaching the anchorage.

Once on deck, I rushed towards the hatch inside the gun emplacement. The door was indeed locked. I picked up my fully loaded submachine gun and used the butt to smash the metal with all my might. But then I heard someone shout from inside, "Coming, coming! Is that Master Tanmujing? You're finally back, hehe, the boss was worried about you."

I deliberately imitated the black-clad boss's shrill voice: "Don't worry, I won't die. Stop fucking bastard, open the door."

Chapter 55: Opening the Deadly Door

The cabin door creaked open, and a scruffy, buck-toothed young man poked his head out with a grin. Just as he saw my face clearly and before he could even show his surprise, I jumped up and kicked him hard in the face.

"Ah!" After a scream, the buck-toothed young man tumbled down the stairs. I immediately yelled, "Damn it. Opening the door so slowly? I brought back three boxes of treasure!" For those few seconds, the thugs standing at the bottom of the stairs, ready to greet me, thought the black-clad boss had gone crazy and was just swearing arrogantly. In

that split second, I pulled out the submachine gun from my back and opened fire on the dozens of people standing at the bottom of the stairs. Now there was noise everywhere and constant shrieking. There were sounds of bullets striking metal, and screams of people being pierced by bullets; these could definitely be heard clearly in the inner hall, followed by a woman's scream. This narrow stairwell instantly transformed into a living hell.

My submachine gun, already set to automatic fire, its black muzzle spitting fire angrily, rattled and banged.

By the time the six men below turned the corner and prepared to return fire, I had already shot four dead on the spot. The other two gave up and managed to take cover below the stairs, thus avoiding being hit by a volley of bullets.

These two were indeed foolish; they clearly saw the four grenades hanging on my chest, yet still crawled into the cramped space. So I pulled one out and tossed it diagonally downwards below where they were crouching. With a muffled thud, the two men were thrown out as if grabbed by the neck and lifted by the waist, their faces blackened with shrapnel and oozing blood. The henchman, his face turned vertically upwards, half-rolled his eyes, a grin revealing two rows of white teeth, his legs twitching as if in the throes of death.

"Don't shoot! It's a misunderstanding! He's one of us! Boss, come out and take charge!" I shouted, mimicking the black-clad boss's voice, to the group of guys still inside the cabin.

If they heard what I was saying, they'd be completely confused, and might even genuinely believe it was a misunderstanding, making them less likely to fire randomly at me.

While I hoped the enemy wouldn't fire indiscriminately, if they dared to peek out to see what was going on, I'd blow their heads off immediately. Every kill reduced the danger; there were probably no more than seven or eight people left in the cabin.

The enemy wasn't so easily fooled. I was only using these seemingly ridiculous tricks to reverse the disadvantage of attacking the cabin alone, to lull them into a false sense of security, even if it only had a tiny effect.

With a "whoosh," the hall door opened. I quickly dodged behind the hatch to avoid being seen by the enemies inside. But I didn't see anyone open the door. The people inside weren't stupid; even though they heard me shout, they wouldn't believe me. They probably used a rope or a stick to pry the door open.

"You fucking get over here right now! If you shoot again, I'll be all alone! Are you trying to rebel?" It must have been Cang Gui cursing angrily from inside. He might genuinely believe I was the Black-Clad Boss, or he might be using a trick against me.

Now, neither of us could see the other, and neither dared to expose themselves. This stalemate was expected. I had firmly secured the hatch, and they could no longer lock me on the deck.

The women in the hall were indeed a problem; otherwise, I could have just thrown the remaining three grenades into the hall. But the stalemate was very uncomfortable, especially since my arm was aching badly, which would put me at a disadvantage in the hand-to-hand combat later.

"Let me tell you, I'm the younger brother of Jonin Master Tanki, and I'm a ninja too. You actually welcomed me with bullets? Cang Gui, what exactly do you mean by this?" I shouted deliberately in a accusatory tone, trying to provoke the people inside into talking to me.

"Shut the fuck up! Who are you? Tanki has been with me for seven or eight years. What brother did you have? I'll cut your tongue out and feed it to the dogs!" Cang Gui was indeed a hot-tempered and ruthless bandit leader, yelling and cursing at me with utter contempt.

"Hahaha, you don't know yet, do you? The one who infiltrated the ship and killed people that night was a ninja from the Tanki family. He deliberately blew up the control panel, forcing you to disperse your forces to the island. My brother had already planned with the people on the Sea Demon to double-cross them here. All those elite soldiers you sent to the island have disappeared, only Suhu and his two companions returned, spouting a bunch of scary nonsense. Don't you find that strange? The Sea Demon and the Tanki family had already ambushed more than two hundred people on the island."

"Damn it, you bunch of liars, you have no sense of honor at all! Tanki has been with me for so many years, how could I have mistreated him? And yet you plotted a rebellion. Even if I blow up this ship, I won't let him steal a single penny."

"Hahaha, how laughable! You and I are both pirates, robbing and killing innocent people. Where is our morality? Anyone who talks about morality will become cannon fodder. A bird about to die sings sadly; a person about to die speaks mournfully! Cang Gui, you've fallen to this state, why bother deceiving yourself with the word 'morality'?"

"Go to hell! When I was risking my life, you little brat were probably nursing in some woman's arms. How dare you lecture your master? You're tired of living, aren't you?"

It seems Cang Gui really believed me, otherwise he wouldn't have said these pointless angry words to me.

"The Sea Demon ship has been lying in ambush behind the rainforest for a long time. They've welded together special defensive tools to deal with the demon monkeys. They're here for the gold you've hidden on the island. Yesterday, those people deliberately provoked you so that my elder brother, Tanmu Jing, would have a chance to leave the ship and take your men with him. You may be suspicious, but you're not as cunning as my brother, hahaha."

"Laugh your mother's laughing! You two are both despicable villains, traitors, ganging up to rob me of the gold I've worked so hard to accumulate over the years. Come in, I'll fight you to the death!" As soon as Cang Gui finished cursing inside, he fired countless bullets into the cabin, and several henchmen followed suit by throwing grenades. "Rat-a-tat-tat, swish-swish-swish, boom-boom!" This fierce attack scared me so much that I quickly hid on the left side outside the cabin door. If these guys knew I was alone, and in this state, they would definitely rush out and kill me.

"Fight? What do you have to fight me with? I'm your family now, you should be holding me tight. If you want to fight, you'll only end up dead. Your agitation won't help. My elder brother, out of consideration for your past kindness to him, has asked me to let you go. If you're a coward, you'll die by my gun today. If you're a hero, you can go back and make a comeback, but..." I deliberately left my sentence halfway, waiting for him to start cursing again.

"But what? You just want to seize my gold." Cang Gui seemed to have suddenly become a different person. Although his tone was still full of emotion, his willingness to compromise was quite evident.

“Cang Gui, my brother knows your character. Don’t try any tricks. Let’s be frank. My brother wants it, but that doesn’t mean he’ll take it. If you didn’t take other people’s wealth, where would you get all this gold? As long as you’re willing to give up the dozens of women on the ship and let my brother give them to the Sea Demon, I guarantee the ship will still be yours. You can also take the weapons on board back with you, enough for a lifetime of luxury.”

“You can only fool children with that. I’m not buying it. I’d rather blow up the ship than fall for it.” Cang Gui started cursing again in a fit of rage.

“Don’t be stubborn. With your current power, can you retrieve the gold from the wild monkeys? If you trust my brother, you can live a happy life. If you stubbornly refuse to listen, you know the consequences. Don’t you think about the few brothers who are left with you? Are you willing to let them become your victims?”

As soon as these words were spoken, Cang Gui was definitely afraid. What could he do? If he continued to act recklessly and fight with me, the possibility of being abandoned by everyone was extremely high. What kind of people are those who follow him around? They're nothing but henchmen who crave wine and women and hate work. At this critical juncture, who isn't secretly plotting something?

"Alright, Brother Canggui, let's get this over with quickly. Don't leave my thirty-odd brothers waiting for you on deck. They'll lose patience. I was thinking of throwing in some incendiary bombs and burning you all alive, but my brother has given you face, so you have to give him face too, right? Tell all the women in the cabin to come out naked, without anything, not even half a sock on their feet. Don't blame me for turning on you and killing you. I hate indecisiveness the most."

"I can give you all the women. Consider these a small token of my appreciation for your brother. But once they're on deck, you have to close the cabin doors immediately. The ship will be repaired tonight, and we'll leave right away. We'll leave each other alone from now on." The wicked suffer because of their ruthlessness. Canggui was afraid that some of his brothers might defect, so he didn't dare to confront me directly and compromised first.

This step wasn't a loss for him. In his eyes, women were just like cabbages and radishes; as long as he had money and guns, he could buy and rob them anytime in this "marketplace" at sea. He was convinced I wanted these women for my own pleasure, completely oblivious to the possibility of someone rescuing me.

If a guy like Cang Gui knew I wasn't a bad person, he might exploit my weakness as a righteous person, using the women around him to blackmail me, shooting one every minute until I willingly laid down my weapons and crawled to his feet.

This is precisely why I pretended to be the black-clad boss's brother and fabricated some baseless stories for him. In my current physical condition, fighting inside the cabin would be a near-certain death. If I fell into an ambush, not only would I die, but the women on the island wouldn't live much longer either.

Outsmarting them became the only option. No matter how despicable and treacherous my methods were, against such ruthless bandits, all's fair in war. I learned about this kind of "information warfare" during my special training at a mercenary camp in Thailand. Many of these techniques were borrowed from Sun Tzu's Art of War in Eastern China; the wisdom of the Chinese is truly unfathomable.

Chapter 56: Using Deceit Against Deceit

Hiding behind the cabin door, I could hear the women inside crying and sobbing as they walked towards the deck. The shouts of the thugs, mixed with cries, came from inside the cabin: "Stop fucking crying, you jinxes, get yourselves on the deck! Hurry up!" It was Cang Gui's men cursing the innocent women. These thugs were venting their resentment on the women.

Leaning against the hatch, I loaded the second full magazine, ready to greet the naked women lining up to emerge from the deck. If Cang Gui dared to mingle with the women and try anything funny, I'd shoot him dead immediately.

Standing near the hatch was dangerous; there was no cover, and in a gunfight, enemy bullets would easily hit me. A young woman with blond hair walked out of the hatch completely naked and stood on the deck. Her eyes were vacant, her face expressionless; she had clearly suffered long-term abuse.

The women followed one after another, each one standing on the deck with her head bowed low. They thought they had fallen into the hands of another group of thieves and had completely lost hope. The moment they stepped onto the deck, the fresh sea air they inhaled gave them a brief moment of freedom.

"Do not restless, to the deck, to the front, are not moving on the ground," I gestured to each woman who came out of the deck, constantly reminding them in short English phrases to cooperate.

The three women in front seemed to understand the English, their faces immediately showing surprise. They didn't see the large group of people behind me, but only a wounded and soaking wet me, and immediately understood what was happening, becoming obedient. The few

dark-haired women who came out later didn't understand my meaning at first, so I quickly pointed to the blond women in front, indicating that they should do the same. The women who came out of the cabin then realized that I didn't look like Suhur's accomplice, much less a bad guy, and quickened their pace to the front of the deck. I hurriedly whispered to them to stay calm and not run, otherwise it would arouse suspicion.

"Hahaha, these girls are pretty good, big breasts, perky butts, quite to my liking. Brother Canggui's gift is nice, I appreciate it. I'll go back and pick out a few pretty girls to have some fun. Hahahaha." To make the act more convincing, I uttered a few more lewd and maniacal words.

"I've given you all the women, just a small token, nothing special. The last two little black-haired girls came up to the deck, you must close the hatch immediately, or I'll blow up the ship. I'm in a terrible mood today, I hope you understand. I'm a man of my word." Canggui's words were a threat; he wanted to quickly seal the hatch so I would lose control of him.

"Yes, Brother Canggui is a straightforward man, I will keep my promise and do as I say." After saying that, I looked at the thirty-seven women who had come up to the deck. The last two were indeed little black-haired girls, which initially startled me, thinking that Luya had been captured and brought onto the ship.

"Brother Canggui, these two little girls are pretty good, delicate and tender. They'll be great serving me when we get back, hahaha, thank you so much, brother, hahaha." I called out to the cabin, pretending to be serious, while gesturing for the last two girls to hurry up and lie down at the bow.

"Alright, brother, the women are all up there. Close the cabin door so my men can disarm the bomb. It would be terrible if it accidentally exploded and hurt the brothers on deck. We're all in this for the money, it's no big deal! Getting hurt is absolutely unacceptable." Canggui's words made me anxious. If he really had a nuclear weapon detonator hidden on the ship, he was just waiting for the day he couldn't command respect and they would all perish together. Even if I were on deck, or even thirty meters away from the ship, I would be seriously injured by the explosion.

"Brother Canggui, are you sure you've given me all the women in the cabin? Don't keep a few as concubines for yourself; that would be a real hardship for my love of beauties." This was a provocation to Canggui. He could tell I was deliberately trying to provoke him, stalling for time by not closing the cabin door. But he couldn't help but consider the possibility that if I were truly a cunning, suspicious, and lecherous man, it wouldn't be surprising for me to say something like that.

If it were a matter of mutual destruction, everyone on the ship would be afraid of death, and Canggui was especially so. He was a man who indulged in a life of debauchery and pleasure, addicted to it all. His greatest fear was losing his health and life. Besides, he was a bandit; his instinct for self-preservation was far more pronounced than most.

“Brother Canggui, my brother says you’re a master. We Japanese ninjas admire masters the most, so I admire you too. But I have a favor to ask, and I wonder if you can grant it. Of course, Brother Canggui, please don’t misunderstand; I mean what I say. If I say I won’t make things difficult for you, I certainly won’t. Men are all about keeping their word, especially us Japanese samurai.”

“Hehe, thank you for your brother’s high regard. I’m nearly fifty years old; how could I be considered a master? Perhaps you’ve misunderstood your brother.” This old fellow was trying to be friendly with me, but who knows what he was cursing me for. His feigned kindness was just a way to get me to close the cabin door quickly, end this pointless chatter, and let this old turtle safely retreat into the ship.

Hearing Canggui say this, I immediately felt much more relaxed. So he was an old man; even if he knew some kung fu, no matter how skilled he was, he had to admit he was old and not a highly skilled old man in the traditional sense. Among the ruthless bandits, the true master of hand-to-hand combat must be Tankii.

Canggui must have assumed Tankii's younger brother was just as formidable as his older brother, which is why he compromised so much with me. Another brilliance of this old man is his cunning; otherwise, he couldn't have achieved his current status through mere violence.

I've been worried about how to defeat Canggui, but it seems I overestimated him. In any case, Canggui's advanced age means his physical lethality is limited, which excites me.

And the true master, Tankii, unexpectedly died at my hands. The decisive battle wasn't even at the end. If I hadn't ambushed that Tankii ninja yesterday, I probably would have died at his hands today.

God's grace is like a child's temper, utterly irrational, bestowing upon me countless hardships, yet allowing me to so luckily kill that Jonin.

"Brother Canggui, don't worry, I won't be greedy. Don't be impulsive. If the ship explodes, wouldn't it be a pity for all these beauties? My intention is that you will definitely not return to this line of work after this trip. Since you have so many elite soldiers under your command, why not leave them for me to lead in great undertakings?"

Chapter 57: The Information Warfare of the Turtle

"As expected of Tanmujing's younger brother, truly the younger generation surpasses the older. Do you want this old man to follow you in your great undertakings? My men will probably be killed by your men as soon as they step out of the cabin! It seems I have fallen for your treacherous scheme."

Canggui realized that I had murderous intent towards him, and my intention to borrow troops was obvious, just like forcing him to commit suicide. After all, he was not a three-year-old child, and he would no longer naively believe the increasingly slim possibility.

"Brother Canggui, are you really going to let those young men be ruined by you? Listen up, everyone else inside, if you're willing to work with my Tanmu family, strip naked and run straight out of the cabin. Don't look around, just jump into the sea. Small boats will be there to meet you. If you have the guts, come with me to do great things. If you don't, you'll die in here with me as cannon fodder."

These words were very provocative to the ruthless bandits in the cabin. At this critical juncture, even Canggui's own father would have to consider whether it was worth continuing to work for him. The more intense their internal struggle, the more likely they were to turn on each other. If these wolves were to fight amongst themselves in the cabin, that would truly be a mercy from God to the virtuous.

"I knew you were lying to me, kid. Looks like we're really going to die together." Hearing the old man Cang Gui raging in the cabin, I quickly shouted, "Whoever takes down Cang Gui and stops the explosion will be richly rewarded!"

As soon as I finished speaking, chaotic gunfire erupted from inside. I was overjoyed; I hadn't expected my lies to actually incite the remaining enemies to self-harm.

Once it quieted down, I shouted again, "Haha, not bad! Listen up, brothers inside! If you take down Cang Gui, walk naked out onto the deck, don't look at anything, just jump into the sea. Without guts and ambition, how will you follow me? If not, you might as well shoot yourself in there now!

" "Lord Tanmu, we three brothers are willing to follow you from now on. We used to follow Master Tanmu Jing, and we hope to continue serving the Tanmu family." "A loud-voiced fellow shouted out loudly and devoutly.

"Good, it's a good thing to join me. Now is the time to expand our manpower. What about the others? Have they submitted?" I said deliberately in a hearty tone.

"Boss, there are only the three of us inside. I took care of Cang Gui and the other two guys." It was the same loud-voiced fellow who answered me, but his tone was full of excitement and enthusiasm, like a lackey waiting to claim credit.

"Very good. You three did as I said. Only those who dared to roll on the edge of a gun deserve to be members of my Tanmu family. Come out and jump into the sea." "

As I spoke excitedly, I took a few steps back and knelt on one knee on the deck to prevent the thugs inside from coming out armed, or from simply faking it.

I waved to the naked women lying on the deck in front of me, signaling them not to look up and to keep their faces pressed against the deck to avoid being accidentally hit by bullets at waist height.

The women immediately did as I said. At that moment, they seemed to see the dawn of victory, and their faces showed a hope of escaping.

"Brother, we brothers have escaped! This proves to you our courage. Tell the brothers on deck to keep their guns in check!" A burly man with a full beard shouted as he rushed out of the cabin. "Thump thump thump thump," his bare feet stomped on the deck, but he didn't look to either side, only focused on running forward. When he was almost at the ship's side, he suddenly leaped up, like a "horse" shape, his body leaving the deck and soaring into the air above the sea.

With a loud "splash," the man plunged into the vast sea. "Brother, I'm here too! My life belongs to you from now on. I'm willing to serve you for life!" A thin but well-built Southeast Asian man ran out with his eyes closed.

When people are truly desperate, they won't let go of even the slightest possibility. He must have thought that closing his eyes would make him look more devout and win my favor.

The third man was a young British man. He ran out very slowly, and when he reached the deck, he suddenly slipped and fell. It was clear he doubted what I had said, so he was nervous and ran in a disoriented manner, which explained his fall.

But this fall gave him a clear view of the scene on the deck. I immediately pointed my submachine gun at him. "Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat!" Twenty-four bullets rained down on his chest and muscular abdomen.

The deck erupted in chaos, a cacophony of screams from the women lying prone and the dying screams of the fallen man.

The guy's mouth was half-open when he died. He realized he'd been tricked and tried to shout, but before he could, a whistling bullet ended his life. He didn't convulse for long; death was swift. Blood flowed from his chest and abdomen like red earthworms.

"I told you not to look around! How can such cowards follow me? Brothers, go pull the newbies up from below. They're our men now!" I shouted dramatically to the men underwater as I walked towards the ship's side, submachine gun in hand.

These two guys who jumped into the water had no weapons; I could expose them openly.

They swam far from the ship. The one with the stubble poked half his head out of the swaying water, his wet hair plastered to his scalp, obscuring his eyes. He shook his head violently, wiping the seawater from his face, and surprisingly, smiled and waved at me. I smiled back at the bearded man.

But he quickly sensed something was wrong, because no one else appeared on deck, and my smile betrayed a murderous intent. Just as I raised my gun to shoot him, he dove into the water like a dolphin and disappeared.

Actually, it was too late; no matter how fast he darted underwater, he couldn't outrun my bullets. I fired twenty-four shots at the bearded man's position, and the ripples he created instantly turned the surface of the sea crimson.

The other man who jumped into the sea, terrified when I shot the bearded man, had already taken the opportunity to dive deep into the water and hide. But I still sprayed bullets fiercely at the spot where he had submerged, hoping to kill him by chance. But after forty-eight shots, the water still didn't turn red; he had dodged them.

I quickly pulled a grenade from my chest, turned around, and threw it into the cabin door, in case there were any cunning bandits lying in ambush inside who would hear the commotion outside and attack me. The ship was well-stocked with weapons; if they could take down the large ship, they wouldn't hesitate to use a few grenades. Although they themselves said there were only three left, one should always be cautious.

Chapter 58: Thirty-seven shapely buttocks

. A loud "boom" came from the cabin door, startling the women lying on the deck into screaming again. After the grenades were detonated, I immediately crouched on the ship's gunwale, searching for the diving guy. As soon as he couldn't hold his breath and surfaced, I had to kill him.

"Don't panic, can anyone tell me if Cang Gui is an old man?" The women were terrified, and none of them answered my question.

By this time, it was already bright daylight; the gloom of the past few days was about to dissipate. It seemed even the heavens didn't want to help the villain escape underwater. The rising sun turned the sea red, making anything floating on the surface look strange.

There was no cover around the sea. Since I had a gun, no matter how far he swam, I could shoot him. This lean guy could only hide beneath the large ship.

I began searching along the ship's hull for the man. If I couldn't find him, I wouldn't feel safe entering the ship, much less leaving. Sometimes, letting any enemy escape could be a grave mistake.

The group of women huddled on the deck, their round buttocks raised high, resembled sea lions sunbathing on a beach, each displaying a glistening, smooth curve—a spectacular sight.

I carefully observed the ship's underside while remaining vigilant at the hatches. As I passed the group of women, I signaled them not to move. If an enemy rushed out of a cabin, they would indiscriminately fire at me, and the women would be doomed.

Right where the ship was anchored, the man clung to the chain like a catfish, half his nose above the water to breathe. His eyes turned bloodshot, and the moment he saw me appear above him with my cold submachine gun, he vanished like a fish seeing a swan, disappearing beneath the hull.

Because the ship was tilted downwards, by the time I lay down and reached down with one hand to shoot him, the bullet only sent sparks flying from the thick, black anchor chain before he vanished again.

This guy probably had never felt such terror in his life; he felt like I was during my training in the devil's camp. Every mercenary buried their face in the mud and water, crawling forward 50 meters. Anyone who couldn't hold their breath and raised their face would have their skull blown apart by machine gun fire from above.

Now, this guy underwater was like my protégé, and in that instant, I felt like I held the whole world in my hands; the thrill of having the power of life and death washed over me.

He must have circled to the other side of the ship. The next time I see him surface for air, he won't be so lucky, because I'll have switched to a pistol and can quickly crouch down and shoot him.

I sprinted to the other end of the ship and shouted, "Come out! Get out here now! I have thirty or forty guns, let's see how long you can hold out! Hahaha!"

The guy underwater would surely keep the furthest distance from me and return to the anchor position. As soon as I finished shouting, I quietly returned to the anchor position. This created the illusion that the person and the sound were not in the same place.

The guy underwater wouldn't dare move; he was like a turtle playing hide-and-seek with me. If he swam too fast, he would make a huge noise, which would be more terrifying to him than any other sound.

However, the guy didn't appear below the anchor position. The ship was over a hundred meters long, and it wouldn't be easy for me to run back and forth to block him. Since he knew I was good at using language, he wouldn't be so easily fooled.

So, at the bow of the deck near the anchor position, I pulled out a concealed grenade. If he quietly climbed onto the ship, even if the grenade didn't kill him, it would make a loud noise to alert me.

I reloaded my submachine gun and began searching the cabin. Six more bodies lay sprawled at the bottom of the stairs leading to the cabin. I pulled up a body shot in the heart, stood it upright, and tossed it into the hall. There were no sounds of sniper fire from inside, so an ambush was unlikely.

The hall's layout was exactly as I'd seen it that night: six huge gambling tables and chairs piled high with food and gambling paraphernalia, a complete mess. Only a beautiful chandelier hung from the ceiling; there were no traps or hiding places. I couldn't find Cang Gui's body on the floor.

They'd clearly had a fierce fight, yet there were no signs of it. I cautiously made my way to the next doorway. There, I saw two burly men lying on the floor, their backs riddled with bullet holes, blood flowing everywhere.

An elderly man in a grey tracksuit sat behind the door; there were no gunshot wounds on his body. I figured this must be Cang Gui. I drew my pistol, slowly crouched down beside him, and began to examine him.

Although this man was old, he still retained the dashing appearance of his youth. His thin eyebrows were mixed with gray, his face was crisscrossed with scars, and his round, bulbous nose was covered with pits, like those seen on the moon. His lower lip was split, apparently from a cut to the mouth that hadn't been stitched up in time.

I checked his breathing and found he was still breathing faintly. A little blood seeped from his gray hair, which was leaning against the wall; he'd probably been hit on the head with the butts of rifles by three of his traitors, temporarily knocking him unconscious.

Before the old man regained consciousness, I had to tie him up. First, I tied his hands behind his back, intertwining them with his feet. Then I gagged him with a strip of cloth and used a rope, like a bit for livestock, to pull it from his back to his feet, securing it tightly. To prevent him from breaking the rope by rubbing against hard objects, I moved him to a large table and secured him there.

Without external help, even if Cang Gui had three heads and six arms, he couldn't break free. Just as I finished dealing with the old thief Cang Gui, a loud bang came from the deck. I grabbed my submachine gun and charged out like lightning. The women lying prone on the deck were terrified.

When I spotted the anchorage, the guy who'd been knocked down by a grenade, naked from the waist down, was struggling to his feet and leaping into the sea. His body had been badly wounded by shrapnel, so his movements were somewhat slow.

When I was about fifty meters away, I raised my submachine gun and fired a continuous, dense barrage of bullets at his body, just as his feet left the deck. The guy screamed in pain mid-air, swaying as he plummeted off the ship.

"Splash!" Another splash. I rushed to the ship's side to check. He was floating in the red-foamed waves, like half a piece of raw pork thrown into the water to feed the fish. His body didn't sink to the bottom, bobbing on the surface with the surging waves.

Chapter 59: The Evil Explosive Device

Seeing that the guy was dead, I was relieved and hurried back into the cabin to continue searching the entire ship. Following the route I remembered, I reached the engine room and found it safe; no remaining bandits were hiding there. At the end, I saw the control panel; it had already been repaired.

This was unexpected. The real reason they lingered was to retrieve the gold, not because of the damage to the ship. In a way, I should thank those monkeys; if they hadn't taken the treasure, I would have had no chance of seizing the ship.

The armory still contained the original weapons, but the torture instruments in the corner no longer had women bound to them. Seeing the gruesome death of that tall, thin man last time, these bandits had probably lost their appetite for torturing women.

Next, they searched the bedrooms on the next floor, but after searching for a long time, they couldn't find a way down. They had no choice but to run back to the deck and say to the thirty-seven women, "Don't be afraid, I won't hurt you. But you must obey my orders, or you will be killed without mercy." Fear and

unease flickered in the eyes of these naked women again. “Now you don’t need to be afraid of anything. Be brave and point out which of your women is a member of this ship. The Cang Gui has female henchmen. If you don’t speak up, I’ll kick you all over the sea to feed the sharks.”

Several white women, after hearing my angry rebuke, raised their faces and cried, saying to me in English, “We are all passengers on the passenger ship, robbed by these bandits and brought aboard. They want to sell us to South Africa as prostitutes. Our relatives have all been killed by these devils. Now we just want to go home.” After saying this, the white women started sobbing again.

“Don’t cry. Now no one can hurt you at will. The villains on the ship are all dead. You can boldly point out which female villain is mixed in with your group. If you don’t speak up, you will regret it later.”

A Southeast Asian woman propped herself up and began to cry loudly, “The women on the ship were all kidnapped by pirates. The oldest among us is thirty-five years old, and the youngest are two twelve-year-old children. These two girls are my children, but they were violated by that cursed old man. It’s a tragedy.” Her body and neck were covered with scratches, clearly showing that she had been abused and beaten.

I noticed the two young, pitiful children. They looked at the weeping woman, longing to rush into their mother's arms, but their fear of me held them back, preventing them from moving.

"There really isn't a traitor. I've heard Cang Gui has several female subordinates. Which one of you is it? Step forward now, or I'll expose you myself. You'll be tortured ten times more severely than these women. I think my methods for interrogating prisoners of war and agents will be enough for you."

As soon as I finished speaking, the women of various skin colors lying on the ground began to sob, their spines jutting out beneath their thin skin, a testament to their ravaged bodies and minds.

The sun, absent for days, finally climbed high in the sky, casting its warm rays upon the deck. The pain in my body had lessened considerably in the joy of our great victory. But I knew that capturing the large ship was difficult, and holding it was even more so.

Suddenly, I saw the black girl among the prostrate women. I beckoned to her, signaling her to stand up and come over. The Black girl seemed to have no recollection of offering me bacon and wine that night.

She approached me timidly, her head still bowed low. I reached out and stroked her smooth neck, which radiated a warm, damp scent beneath her short black hair. The moment my fingertips touched her skin, she shuddered as if electrocuted. "Don't hurt me. I can work for you, make love to you, be your servant, please don't..." I

hadn't expected her to be so afraid of men's approach. Many of the women in this group shared her fear, which was precisely what I was worried about.

"Since you speak English, let me ask you, which of these women is Cang Gui's henchman? Don't be afraid, tell the truth. With me here, no one can hurt you now. Just tell the truth boldly."

I encouraged her to speak the truth in a comforting tone, because I had witnessed this Black girl being harmed, so she was the first to be ruled out as a suspect. "Um, um..." the Black girl stammered, as if afraid of something.

“Speak now, telling the truth won’t be wrong. You have to believe me. Don’t think I’m playing tricks on you just because I fooled that old thief Canggui. I need your help now, so please tell me the truth, girl.” I whispered in her dark, shiny ear. The girl’s ear was so soft that it made my heart skip a beat. I took a deep breath of the feminine scent emanating from her body.

“Yes, these women were all captured. None of them are with the bad guys.” She said timidly, never daring to look up at me. “Go and take a look. If you see any suspicious women, tell me immediately. Don’t worry, no one will hurt you anymore.”

As I spoke, I gripped my pistol and walked with the girl towards the group of women lying down. The women immediately became agitated, terrified, emitting clearer whimpers as they pressed their bodies tightly against the deck.

“Two little girls, go help your mother up and stand to the side. And you and you, stand to the side too. No one else is allowed to move.” I carefully observed their bodies, trying to identify them.

Many of the women had obvious scratches and whip marks on their shoulders, thighs, buttocks, and backs. After carefully confirming the scabbing time of each woman's wounds, I ordered her to get up and stand to the side. Finally, twelve women remained lying face down on the deck, as I couldn't see their injuries.

“Lie flat on the deck, try to show your injuries as

much as possible. Don't be shy, and don't move.” Several white women, their faces already streaked with tears and filled with immense grievance, slowly turned their naked bodies over. Two plump women had obvious bite marks and scratches on their lower abdomens. Several other women had cross-shaped burn marks from cigars on their genitals.

The sight before me made my blood boil. These evil men had actually tortured innocent women to such an extent. "You and you, and you too, go stand over there. Why can't we see any wounds on either of you?" In the end, only two women remained lying on the deck, their hands covering their private parts, their legs tightly pressed together, their beautiful faces contorted in pain.

Chapter Sixty: The Bleeding Pull Ring

"Can't explain, huh? Then I'll have to shoot you both." With that, I pulled the safety on my pistol, deliberately making a loud clanging sound, as if I were about to shoot, to scare the two women.

The two women were terrified and tried to speak, but I didn't understand their language; it was probably German or French. It seemed they hadn't understood me at all, so I pulled the black girl over, pointed to the wounds on her body, and gestured to them to understand that without wounds, one would be shot.

Because of their fear, the two women's understanding was very poor. It took a lot of effort to make them understand. One of them, a woman with a pert bottom and fair skin, immediately spread her legs, exposing her genitals to me.

It was severely swollen there; the flesh under the pubic hair bulged high, and it was obvious that a foreign object was inserted inside. There were severe teeth marks on her inner thighs; it was clear that these were not self-inflicted wounds.

The scene startled me. I quickly gestured for her to stay still and told the woman with beautiful blue eyes and striking red hair to move away.

I holstered my pistol, slowly crouched down, and parted the fair-skinned woman's legs. I then used my fingers to separate the pale yellow pubic hair, revealing the pin of a hand grenade dangling from her genitals.

This enraged me. That old bastard Cang Gui was so vicious, trying to use this beautiful woman as a human bomb to get close to me—truly inhuman.

Now I was in a real predicament. If I removed the grenade directly, it could easily cause further damage to the woman's organs. If I slowly pulled it out, there was a risk of it exploding.

If I didn't remove the grenade soon, the woman would be in great pain, and blood was already seeping from the swollen area. I turned to the black girl behind me and said, "Girl, help me lift her back. I need to remove what's inside her."

As soon as the black girl heard that I wanted to help, she immediately understood that I wasn't intentionally doing anything evil, and she eagerly ran over and lifted the white woman's upper body.

I tried to spread her legs as wide as possible, then pressed one hand against the exposed pin of a grenade at her genitals, and the other hand against her soft mons pubis. Like a midwife, I encouraged her to push and expel the contents of her genitals.

She was in great pain, drenched in sweat, and constantly screaming in agony. I used my fingernails to pull the grenade outwards with appropriate force to alleviate her pain.

Since the grenade was oval-shaped, once the thickest part was exposed, it could be pulled directly. When she had squeezed the grenade halfway out of her narrow vagina, I quickly pulled it, and with a scream from the woman, the pin popped out. I quickly turned and threw the blood-stained grenade into the sea. The grenade exploded between the ship and the sea. The women around her gasped in shock.

A pool of blood had already formed on the deck beneath the white woman's buttocks, and she was terribly exhausted. "A few of you come and keep an eye on her." As soon as I finished speaking, three or four women immediately gathered around, some wiping her sweat, others wiping away her blood.

My own forehead was also covered in cold sweat. Luckily, the blood-soaked grenade's pin hadn't slipped off inside the woman; otherwise, not only would the woman have died, but everyone nearby would have been seriously injured.

Seeing that the fair-skinned woman was safe, the red-haired woman calmly laid her upper body on the deck. Her beautiful red hair and pretty face were extremely beautiful and moving in the red light of the rising sun. After

wiping the sweat from my forehead, I calmed myself down and moved towards the red-haired woman. She was no longer as afraid of me as before, and willingly opened her legs to show me her private parts.

She was in the same situation as the fair-skinned woman; she too had been cruelly turned into a human bomb by the old scoundrel Cang Gui. This time, the black girl came to my aid. She lifted the red-haired woman's upper body and used her two slender, shiny black arms to hook the red-haired woman's legs, making it easier for me to pull out the grenade.

After I threw the second grenade into the sea, the red-haired woman finally survived, and her private parts weren't seriously damaged.

"Alright, now I can confirm that you are all victims. Don't worry, your days in hell are over. You'll be sent back to your countries soon." After saying that, I ran back into the cabin, carried out all the corpses, and threw them into the ocean. I also secretly hid the dead bandits' weapons under the stairs.

From the women, I learned that there was a hidden door under the table in the middle of the hall, which led down to the bedroom and kitchen. These were places I hadn't checked; there might still be some villains hiding there.

From the armory, I brought a box of smoke grenades and flashbangs and placed it in the center of the hall. I opened the hidden door under the table, threw in three flashbangs, and then threw in ten smoke grenades.

If there were still enemies inside, they would surely succumb to the smoke and automatically run up to the main hall. Cang Gui was still unconscious on the large table next to me

. I picked up my submachine gun, silently counting down the seconds, waiting for any enemies that might emerge. "Damn it, we finally fixed this big ship, and we can't even get a good night's sleep, just fighting up there. Smoke grenades have been thrown into the bedrooms and kitchen. Cough cough cough cough, cough cough cough cough." As the voice drew closer, a guy wearing a blue hat with a blue tiger tattoo on his arm climbed up, panting heavily.

"Rat-a-tat-tat," the bullets fired before he could even open his eyes and see his surroundings properly ended his life and his complaints. Twenty minutes later, I threw down two more flashbangs. After a blinding flash of light, I jumped down to the second floor.

It was like a sleeper car, but all the berths were empty. Those bandits who used to sleep in the cabins were now long dead on the island and the ship. After searching the area below, I threw a flashbang grenade into the galley, but no blinding screams came from inside.

Then I kicked open the galley door. All I saw were food and alcohol; no one and nowhere to hide.

Now, only Cang Gui and I remained on this large ship. Before the Sea Demon arrived, I was the master of this ship, the righteous force trusted and relied upon by all the women.

Relieved, I returned to the deck and told the women, "Go back to the cabins; it's safe there. Help carry those two injured women down." Hearing that all the villains on the ship had been killed, the women's faces immediately lit up with joy and sorrow.

Joy that those who had harmed them had been punished, sorrow for the cruelty they had suffered these past days.

Chapter Sixty-One: A Last Glimmer of Light on the Cliff

After returning to the hall, they were momentarily at a loss for what to do next. “Cang Gui is already tightly bound. He can’t die now; I still have questions for him. Don’t kill him, and don’t listen to his lies and untie him. Otherwise, you’ll still be trapped in this misery.”

The women nodded vigorously, indicating their willingness to listen to my advice. However, I was worried about them. The mental health of most of these women was unclear, and I had to be vigilant to prevent them from acting irrationally until everything was settled.

I paused and said, “Now, I’m going to bind you all as well. Don’t be afraid; this is only temporary. There are several other women on the island who have been harmed by villains, just like you. Once I bring them to the ship, I’ll set sail and take you away from here. Don’t doubt anything. If I were a villain, I wouldn’t have come to the ship alone to kill Cang Gui. Most of the villains who came to the island were killed by me. Alright, time is precious. You are safe now. Don’t mind being bound for a while. Cooperate.”

The women obediently accepted my binding. The smoke in the hall had cleared considerably. I rearranged my weapons, found a rubber raft, got off the large ship, and glided back to the island.

The stench of blood surrounding the large ship might have already attracted sharks, but I had to risk going to retrieve the women from the cave and end their savage, cave-dwelling life. The sun was just past noon; I hoped to find them before dusk, otherwise, I didn't know where to find these women who thought I was dead.

My mood was more exhilarating than ever before, though the pain in my shoulder made me dizzy. If I were to faint now, it would lead to a huge misunderstanding and tragedy.

The small, orange rubber raft soon reached the shore, and I hid it under a clump of dense weeds. Although all the bandits on the ship had been eliminated, leaving only the old, bound ghost, unexpected events always happen. After all, I hadn't seen the bodies of the bandits who had escaped the monkey's pursuit.

If I ran back to the cave from the forest, it would take at least four or five hours, and there was still the possibility of encountering the monkey. Now that I had the large ship, it would be too tragic to be killed by the monkey.

I ran straight to the vines hanging from the top of the valley and tried my best to climb. The rock face, bathed in sunlight, exuded a humid, hot vapor that hit my face. I took off my green jacket; the bandage on my left shoulder was loose, and the soaking seawater had corroded it, leaving many bloodstains.

I unwrapped the bandage and used my teeth and right hand to tighten it again, trying to constrict the wound as much as possible to prevent excessive blood gushing out when I climbed.

This vine was now my last line of defense on the road to victory. The rain of the past few days had made it somewhat rotten, and it would break one day. Every time I used it to climb, that breakage drew closer.

If I climbed to the top of the valley wall, thirty or forty meters high, and the vine suddenly broke, it wouldn't just be my life and the lives of Yi Liang and the others that were lost. Whenever I thought of this, I would try to recall that night when I removed the shrapnel, and Chi Chun, naked, sat on my lower abdomen, using her softest, wetter parts to squeeze and absorb all my pain.

A sharp pain shot through my shoulder, and even through the green coat, I could feel the blood gushing from the taut straps. My mind felt like it was being filled with molten lead, making my vision blurry.

My state on the vines was like that of a drunkard—wanting to act or not act, yet acutely aware of the grave consequences. I had already climbed over twenty meters; if my will faltered even slightly, I would plummet and never see the next sunrise.

My military boots were a great help, providing a much better grip on the vines than my old riding boots. Several times, as I kicked at the valley wall, I accidentally stepped on the green moss and white mushrooms, which were like a puddle of wet mud, offering absolutely no friction. On land, I might have at most slipped and fallen, but now I was risking my life.

As I neared the top of the valley, my vision began to blur. I saw countless golden butterflies fluttering around me, their soft claws gripping my shoulders and arms, pulling me upwards as if trying to drag my soul from my heavy body into the sky.

This was a sign of impending death. If I believed the illusion and relaxed my grip, my soul would truly be snatched away by the golden butterflies. In my hazy mind, I heard the voices of three women, but I couldn't see their faces.

I desperately wanted to say goodbye, even at the cost of immense pain, to tell them to go to the boat and not try to escape on the island. However, my nerves could no longer control my muscles; I hung precariously on the cliff face like a stone statue.

I tried to open my mouth and bite down hard on a thick hemp vine, betting everything on it like a gambling chip. I couldn't climb any further; I had to catch my breath and wait for the illusion to fade.

Suddenly, I felt several snakes slash down from above, biting my back before biting my feet. I was numb to the pain; the snakes were carrying me upwards, as if trying to swallow me whole.

My shoulders, back, and legs chafed painfully against the stone wall. I felt myself floating, as if God had opened the gates of heaven, and I was being pulled upwards by angels' hands. It was an unbearable sensation.

"Wake up, Zhuima, it's us! Wake up!" A jumble of voices echoed in my ears, and raindrops pelted my face. In my unconscious state, I felt much better; the weight on my body had completely lifted. But I clung tightly to the vines. I had to hold on a little longer; I couldn't give up. I didn't want to leave the three of them like this. I wanted to hold on a little longer.

"Relax, let go. It's alright, you're safe." These words kept reaching my ears. I saw many white angels vying for the vines in my hands. "Give it to me, don't struggle so much."

I wanted to talk to these angels who wanted me to give up the hemp vine, to tell them that I couldn't stay in heaven yet, that Yi Liang and the others still needed me. But I couldn't open my mouth. I felt like the nerves in my body were a spider's web, binding me tightly.

The only thing I could do now was to hold on to the hemp vine tightly and not let anyone take it away. If I lost the hemp vine, what awaited me was the bottom of a valley fifty or sixty meters high. I don't know when, but I completely lost consciousness.

When I woke up again, it was dusk. I was lying on the hot rocks, Chi Chun and Yi Liang were fanning me with banana leaves to keep away mosquitoes, and Lu Ya was wiping the cold sweat from my brow with a strip of cloth.

Chapter Sixty-Two: The Fiery Clouds in the Sky

The eyes of the three women were swollen from crying. I didn't say anything, just stared at the fiery clouds in the sky. "Don't speak. We're at the top of the cave now. It's safe here. You're finally awake, that's wonderful!" Before the three women could finish speaking, they burst into tears of joy, many tears streaming down their handsome faces.

"I've re-bandaged your shoulder wound with boiled cloth strips. You've lost blood, so you need to lie down and rest. Don't move around or try to talk." Chi Chun said to me, wiping away tears from the corners of her pink eyes, laughing and crying at the same time.

The faces of the three women blocked my view, obscuring the fiery sunset, as beautiful as a newly painted scroll. I felt their beauty was embedded in the sky, bringing me boundless peace.

I closed my eyes briefly, signaling them not to worry. I just needed to rest, and I would recover. Lu Ya dipped some water in a cotton strip and slowly dripped it onto my lips. Her tear-stained face became even more adorable, and a hint of a smile appeared on her face. She must be overjoyed to see that I was still alive.

Yi Liang was a clever girl. She noticed the suspicion in my eyes and knew I wanted to know what had happened. So, she smiled through her tears and began to tell me softly. "After you left, we were all very worried. Just as the sun was beginning to peek out, we heard the courtyard gate being pounded on wildly. We thought bad guys were coming to attack, so we immediately hid behind a large rock in the cave, ready to die with them. But..."

Hearing Yi Liang pause like this, a glint immediately appeared in my eyes. Chi Chun, realizing that Yi Liang was telling me about their experience, quickly took over, wanting to be concise and to avoid making me feel uneasy.

“Let me tell you. We waited in the cave for ages, but no bad guys showed up at the entrance. The wooden door to the courtyard kept rattling, and Luya thought it was the spirits of the island's dead haunting her. She was so scared her legs went weak. Yiliang and I were sure it wasn't human, so we grabbed the vines at the cave

entrance and climbed to the top of the valley. We tied the baby and Luya up and dragged them up too, then lay here, too scared to move.” “Are you…are you hurt?” I managed to squeeze out a question. Luya laughed happily, her little hands stroking my slightly feverish forehead. “We’re not hurt. By the time those leopards that attacked the courtyard gate swam in from underwater, we were already on the top of the valley. They were huge and fierce, constantly glaring at us, roaring and leaping towards the top. One gray-black leopard even used its claws to hook onto the wooden door and climb up. It was about to leap up when Yiliang started crying, so I shot at the gray leopard, scaring them all into not daring to climb any further.”

As soon as Lu Ya finished speaking, Yi Liang's eyes lit up with amusement. I figured Lu Ya must have twisted her embarrassing story with Yi Liang's again; I knew that girl's personality best.

I forced a smile to show my approval of Lu Ya. "Are the leopards still there?" Lu Ya asked, then launched into her story like a little hero. "I don't know. They all disappeared after I fired. Don't worry, I'll protect you. I can use a gun too."

Yi Liang finally couldn't help but cover her mouth with her delicate hand and laugh. Then she took the child from Chi Chun and held it in front of me. I didn't know if she was teasing the child or teasing me. Actually, if Yi Liang's father had left her in my attic that day, she might already be carrying my child.

"Here, take your medicine." Chi Chun said, her cherry-red lips slightly parted, her fleshy tongue sticking out a small pinch of thick, dark paste. She dipped her white jade-like fingers in it, pried open my lips, and put it inside. My taste buds immediately tasted an intense bitterness, and I involuntarily swallowed the herbal medicine that Chi Chun had chewed for me.

Women are born to nurture life; they nourish and comfort men, while men often destroy life.

"You, don't go down to the top of the valley. Wait a few hours, and I'll be almost recovered." Sitting in front of me, Chi Chun suddenly bent down and kissed my forehead with her soft, sweet lips, then smiled and said, "You should rest well. The top of the cave is much safer than the cave itself. If it weren't for those leopards, we wouldn't have been able to reach the top of the valley, and we wouldn't have seen you sleeping on such a high cliff."

Hearing Chi Chun say this, I realized that I had once again narrowly escaped death.

"We called you for ages, but you didn't respond. We were terrified! We quickly cut the hemp vines off the wooden door and lowered them to trap your feet. Our hearts were pounding; we were so afraid that if we hesitated even a second longer, you'd fall."

Chi Chun's tense expression as she spoke seemed to bring everyone back to the scene when they rescued me, their faces filled with fear. Yi Liang noticed this and, to ease the tense atmosphere, said softly to me, "You're so stubborn. After we finally managed to pull you up, you were still semi-conscious, refusing to let go of the hemp vines holding your hands and feet no matter how much we tried to persuade you. You kept thinking you were still hanging on the cliff, like a stubborn child."

Everyone laughed at Yi Liang's words. From the moment I rescued Chi Chun from the Snow, until this moment, I realized she had been hiding something from me. In fact, she had always understood Cambodian. During these days, while holding her infant, she remained wary of me, Lu Ya, Yi Liang, and the others.

She deliberately spoke to me in broken English, wanting to know what we talked about in private and whether it posed a danger to her. I had never suspected Chi Chun of this before, but Yi Liang's teasing just now, spoken in a Cambodian dialect, made Chi Chun immediately realize her cunning.

I didn't know whether I should blame such a woman; she still cared about the past and the father of her child. Whether her feelings for me were genuine or not, I wouldn't blame her, nor would I expose her or force her to reveal her true feelings.

My body was weak now; I felt I didn't even have the strength to lift a gun. Let alone deal with a wild leopard, even a few leopard cats could eat me. To regain my strength as quickly as possible, I closed my eyes again, letting myself slowly fall asleep. There

would be no more rain tonight; the surrounding rocks still radiated the heat absorbed during the day, making us feel warm. Several women used banana leaves to swat away mosquitoes while laughing and gazing at the stars in the clear sky.

It was hard to believe; perhaps I was destined to continue protecting these women, or perhaps there was still an unfinished bond between us. Unexpectedly, I was saved twice by this woman, Chi Chun.

Chapter Sixty-Three: Loving an Anemic Man
When the melodious calls of seabirds once again echoed in my shallow sleep, a slight chill had already woken me. Three women were fast asleep beside me. Yi Liang deliberately pressed her body close to mine; she knew I would feel cold at night, so she tried to wrap me as tightly as possible with the bearskin covering herself.

I took a deep breath of the island's damp, cool air, feeling an infinite sense of refreshment wash over my body. My limbs twitched a few times, and I felt my body belong to me again. I gently lifted the bearskin and covered the sleeping Yi Liang. Her white, red lips murmured a few words, as if speaking to a loved one appearing in my dream.

Slowly, I stood up and took a few steps back and forth. Although I was still a little dizzy, the strength to hold the gun had finally returned. For nighttime safety, Chi Chun had already pulled a dagger from my boot and cut the single hemp vine hanging from the wooden door to prevent the leopard from climbing up the cave roof and attacking.

The M25 and Leifu sniper rifles were still inside the cave; Chi Chun and the others hadn't had time to bring them when they climbed to the top. My naked eye could only clearly observe dangers hidden within a fifty-meter radius.

Although there had been fighting in the courtyard a few days ago, little had changed. Only the surrounding trees, after being washed by the abundant rain, had become unusually lush. I had seen a leopard once in the woods, witnessing a bandit being mauled to death, which had been very helpful to me at the time.

Leopards' colors are mostly warning colors; I can easily identify them if they are crouching on a branch of a large tree or under a low bush.

However, the range of my naked eye search is still very limited. If a leopard is hiding a hundred meters away, I have no way of knowing.

These hungry leopards must have locked onto us as their targets. Although they are felines, they possess the patience and cunning of wolves, adept at creating illusions to lull their prey into a false sense of security.

Most of the carnivorous beasts on the island are currently driven by a strong urge to hunt. Most critically, the numerous corpses of bandits in the forest mean that if the leopards and grizzly bears have consumed human flesh, their likelihood of preying on us increases significantly.

This explains why the leopards have all converged on the vicinity of the courtyard, frantically ramming the gate after sensing human presence, and even cleverly emerging from underwater. Human-on-human cannibalism is addictive, let alone for wild animals.

If these beasts remain lurking nearby, waiting for an opportunity to attack us, I will not hesitate and will certainly do everything in my power to kill them.

Although I have ample guns and ammunition, capable of easily piercing leopard flesh, the memory of the gruesome attack on the bandit by the leopard forces me to proceed with extreme caution. I must treat these ferocious animals as new enemies.

I pulled the hemp vines hanging from the valley wall and tossed them below the cave entrance. I picked up the two submachine guns at my feet, loaded them, and began trying to descend to the cave entrance with one hand. As soon as

my feet touched the ground, I released the safety on the guns, ready to fire at any approaching danger. The light was still dim, and the cave was somewhat dark.

I moved very quietly as I climbed down from the top of the valley, partly because I didn't want to wake the sleeping woman, and partly because I was weak and couldn't exert myself too much. In my current physical condition, I was strong enough to deal with a leopard.

If the opponent were a human, a fight would be inevitable. The key to resisting a leopard is to shoot it from a distance; if it gets close, there's no chance of victory.

A leopard's teeth and claws can easily tear through human flesh—not just superficial wounds, but fatal ones. If the wounds become infected, it will only worsen the situation, making death inevitable.

I searched the cave with my weapons, found the two sniper rifles, slung them behind my back, and went to the yard to check the sturdiness of the wooden wall. Actually, the gate was quite solid; if it weren't for the clear puddle below, the leopards would have had a hard time getting in. Their claws and teeth do far less damage to wood than an axe or saw.

Near the gate, there were many large enough stones. Since I shouldn't put too much strain on my shoulders, I found a thick wooden pole and pried all twenty-odd large stones into the puddle, blocking the passage to prevent the leopards from getting restless and coming in to cause trouble again.

After reinforcing the fortifications, I arrived at the foot of the small waterfall. The planks had been smoothed by the cascading water. Lifting the wooden planks covering the pool, I saw thirty or forty bluish-black trout on the surface. They immediately closed their bubbling mouths, flicked their tails, and dived back to the bottom.

The dried meat in the python skin bag was almost gone. These few trout would be wasted here. I pulled a gap in the bottom of the stone pile surrounding the pool, allowing the water to pour out quickly.

If any trout accidentally emerged in the current, I would squat down beside it and smash its head with a stick, half-killing it, then pick it up and set it aside for the next one.

These trout's fate was the opposite of ours. After the sun rose high in the sky, I would leave with Yi Liang and the others, so I would take as much as I could.

Several trout had their shiny black heads struck too hard with the stick; blood seeped from their bright black eyes and brown gills, and their mouths, half-open, refused to close, like smiling puppets.

I knew it wasn't a smile, but the pain of suffering, just like the wound on my shoulder. To prevent the trout from suffering too much before dying, I struck them a few more times with the stick until they were unconscious.

After I lit a fire in the cave, Chi Chun and the others had already woken up on the cave ceiling.

"Come down now, I've blocked the courtyard, the wild animals can't get in." The women upstairs were very happy to see that I had recovered so quickly. After hearing my words, Chi Chun first tied the baby down with a rope, and then she and Yi Liang tied Lu Ya down as well.

Chi Chun was the last to come down. When she reached the cave entrance, she suddenly slipped and fell into my arms. My strong arms supported her plump, soft buttocks, feeling their infinite warmth and softness. How wonderful, a living beauty.

Startled and flustered, Chi Chun clung tightly to my neck with her jade-like arms, reluctantly placing her feet on the rock. Seeing that the two little girls had already entered the cave, she suddenly lunged at my mouth, forcing her tongue inside.

During my absence, Chi Chun had clearly been under a lot of pressure. Now that I, a strong, grown man, was safely standing before her, she couldn't contain her excitement and joy, hence her eagerness to release her boundless tenderness.

The taste of herbs still lingered in Chi Chun's mouth, and the moment her hot tongue touched mine, it released a lot of moisture, making me feel dizzy. Knowing I was weak, she didn't linger too long, gently pushing me away and wriggling her soft body as she ran into the cave.

Chapter Sixty-Four: The Pregnant Mother

"Grill some of these trout, everyone fill your stomachs, and then we'll all go to the big boat together. Take the rest of the trout with you." As soon as I finished speaking, Lu Ya jumped and clapped her hands, laughing and shouting, like a child celebrating the Spring Festival.

"Yes, when we were at the top of the valley, we found you hanging on the hemp vines, and we knew you had won and captured that big ship. We were so happy!" Chi Chun smiled, her eyes squinting, as she urged Yi Liang to quickly skewer the fresh trout onto the wooden stick and grill it.

"Yes, it's time to say goodbye to cave life and lose the chance to be a savage. Hehe." After saying that, I laughed happily myself. It turns out that a man's joy is most fulfilling when shared with the woman he loves.

"Here, eat up, I'll grill another one for you." Yi Liang said, holding a tender, golden-brown, and fragrant trout in front of me. The aroma of the fish wafted into my nose, and my stomach could no longer bear the hunger, rumbling loudly. Looking into Yi Liang's gentle eyes, I took the grilled fish and bit off half of its head, chewing it vigorously.

They were amused by my greedy eating and giggled. "Eat slowly, be careful not to choke." Yi Liang smiled sweetly, looking at me with deep affection.

"You should grill one quickly, and eat some yourself. Everyone's been hungry all day, otherwise you'll be too hungry to run when we cross the woods later." My words made everyone laugh again.

"Oh! I want two, hehe." Lu Ya shouted excitedly again. "Why does the trout smell so good today? It's so delicious, so delicious, heheha."

"Eat up, you little rascal, you can't even shut up while eating fish. When you see a leopard later, remember to shoot, or Yi Liang will cry again." As soon as I teased her, Yi Liang immediately covered her pretty little mouth and smiled sweetly.

"You're teasing me again, hmph." Hearing my words, Lu Ya realized her boasting at the valley top had been exposed, and blushed slightly, focusing only on eating the fish in her hand, no longer speaking.

“Hehe, everyone should eat more. It’s almost noon now, so let’s eat breakfast and dinner together. By the time we get to the big ship, it will probably be dark.” Chi Chun finished speaking, gazing at me with her captivating bright eyes, waiting for my answer.

“Hmm, after passing through the woods, we’ll reach the edge of the big mudflat. We can follow that stream down to the sea, and then circle back to the place at the top of the valley where the vines hang. There’s a rubber raft there that can take us to the big ship.”

After saying this, I hesitated a bit. What worried me wasn’t the long journey, but whether there were still ghost monkeys active near the mudflat. If we encountered those things, no matter how fast the three women ran, it wouldn’t matter.

So, before each leg of the journey, we had to observe the area beforehand to minimize the possibility of encountering ghost monkeys. This would inevitably delay us on the way, and by the time we reached the big ship, it would probably be very dark.

After we finished eating, I told the women to pack up what they could take in the cave, and I took the M25 and went up to the top of the cave. Now, with this weapon in my hand and a green bearskin draped over my back, I felt like a ghostly sniper, ready to take down targets from afar.

After reaching the top of the valley, I didn't dare get up. Instead, I first observed the large ship through my sniper scope from behind a clump of weeds. Finding everything normal, I stood up and walked to the highest rock face on the other side. There, I found wooden cages used to lure leopard cats.

The women on the ship must be starving, and several were injured. My unconsciousness had delayed things. Fortunately, the women on the ship were all bound with ropes, and even if they lost patience, they couldn't break free unless someone with open arms helped them. This way, I didn't have to worry about that old fox Cang Gui playing tricks.

Standing at the highest point of the rock, I opened the sniper scope and began searching for leopards within a few hundred meters. I had to use my high-end weapon now to eliminate as many as possible. If I waited until I entered the woods and was followed and attacked by these lurking leopards, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Through the pale blue sniper scope, the T-shaped crosshair began to probe the distant branches for scattered colors. In the dense foliage, spotting the leopards hidden behind the trees was difficult.

There wasn't enough time to survey the entire forest. I searched as much as possible towards suspicious locations, hoping to quickly ascertain the leopard pack's movements.

The intelligence of these leopards was beyond my expectations. Just 500 meters from the yard, in the heart of the forest, I spotted a large, glossy black leopard, its coppery eyes half-closed as it yawned. Its dark, wet lips were everted, revealing sharp, saber-like teeth on its upper and lower jaws, its purple gums bulging high, like braces soaked in blood.

I couldn't shoot it immediately, even though a single shot could shatter half its head, sending it crashing down the tree. But that would alert the other leopards lurking nearby.

I guessed this blackish-blue leopard was the leader of the pack, and it had climbed the tree to act as a sentry. I then used my sniper scope to observe its surroundings and was surprised to find that the pack of leopards had formed a circle around the black leopard, extending about 100 meters in all directions.

Whenever prey appeared in the woods, regardless of its direction of origin or destination, it would be easily encircled and surrounded by the leopards. The "sentinel" in the tree was the one issuing signals and giving commands.

I really wanted to shoot the one in the tree, but it was acting as a signal, attracting the attention of the surrounding leopards. If I shot it, it would inevitably alert the other leopards, and I couldn't afford to be reckless.

My priority now was to find the leopards hiding nearby and kill as many as I could before disturbing the large black leopard in the tree.

About 120 meters from the black leopard in the tree was a patch of green bushes, with dense, intertwined branches and leaves. A closer look revealed a golden leopard pacing back and forth. It seemed impatient and wanted to attack the enclosure again, but was forced to wait anxiously by the pressure from the black leopard.

Shooting this leopard first seemed to be the best option. The sound of the sniper rifle was 500 meters away from the leopard pack. Although these wild animals had a very keen sense of smell, their superior hearing was useless at this moment. "God, open the door of forgiveness and accept the lost spirit..." I chanted the Bible as I focused my aim on the neck of the agitated leopard.

This large, golden creature looked very much like a female leopard; its hindquarters were strong, and beneath its bright yellow fur, massive muscles rippled. However, its belly was remarkably round, likely from consuming a carcass downstream.

The beasts on this primitive, deserted island possessed peculiar habits unlike those of traditional wild animals, as leopards rarely attack prey when they are well-fed. I suspected it was pregnant.

Chapter Sixty-Five: Sniping the Lurker.

Among butchers, there's a principle: "one cut, no two lives." For example, with large livestock like cattle, if a pregnant animal is discovered, the butcher usually doesn't cut it further, waiting until after the birth to kill and sell it for more profit.

I couldn't afford to consider such things now; in this environment, showing any mercy or trust to my opponent would only increase my own chances of death. If the leopard pack injured me, it would be equivalent to injuring three women and an infant.

The golden mother leopard moved back and forth with even precision, allowing me to easily calculate the point of impact with the bullet. With a "bang," a bronze-colored shell casing jumped from the barrel and rolled down the rock face. "Did I hit it?" I didn't know when Luya had appeared below, but she looked up, waiting for my answer.

I began searching for a second suitable leopard to shoot, ignoring what was happening below. Seeing that I didn't react, she stopped bothering me, squatted down, picked up the shell casing, and examined it carefully.

I had already hit the mother leopard; the bullet, like a shooting star streaking across the night sky, recklessly pierced through the dense bushes and burrowed into its neck. The golden mother leopard's four strong, spotted paws immediately trembled, and she collapsed to the ground, her entire body beginning to convulse violently.

The cubs inside the mother leopard's womb, seemingly also suffering from oxygen deprivation due to the mother's injury, kicked and struggled inside, causing the golden spots on the mother leopard's round belly to writhe.

Knowing the hunting formation of a leopard pack makes it easy to find them. The second one was also golden, not very big, like a newly adult, having only recently joined the hunt.

This male golden leopard cub was very beautiful, with brand-new teeth and exceptionally sharp claws. It kept sticking out its fleshy red tongue, licking the fur on its front paws. It was clear that it was somewhat uneasy.

"Bang!" Another shot was fired, the bullet hitting the male leopard cub squarely in the forehead, blasting a vortex-shaped hole in the flesh, like a half-shattered watermelon. Red and white brain matter splattered on the withered yellow leaves and green branches, a swift and decisive death.

Perhaps the leopard's dying howl alerted the black leopard in the large tree in the center of the forest. It immediately stood up, pacing back and forth on the branches, constantly looking in my direction through the thin foliage.

Its shiny black head kept rising and falling, like a man enjoying his illicit affair, suddenly hearing someone knocking on the window and feeling uneasy.

It was clear the black panther was about to leap from the tree. Quick as a flash, with a "thud," I fired another bullet. Blood gushed from the panther's glossy, muscular rump, and its entire body, as if electrocuted, slumped to the ground.

After the panther fell from the tall tree, I could no longer see it through my sniper scope, as the low bushes beneath obstructed my view. Even if I couldn't see the panther, it didn't matter much. The sniper rifle's penetrating power was immense; the bullet wouldn't merely remain between the panther's skin and flesh, but would pierce its body, damaging its nerve tissue for walking and running.

This startled the leopards lying in ambush nearby. Seeing the sentry panther suddenly fall from the tree, they assumed it was about to attack the yard and swarmed out of the hidden bushes, rushing straight towards me.

I counted carefully; there were about thirteen or fourteen leopards, all with similar colors and uniform golden spots. The leopard pack charged towards us from the dense forest with astonishing speed. The gnarled tree roots and sprawling vines offered little resistance to these sprinters; in just twenty seconds, the pack appeared one after another at the edge of the woods, less than fifty meters from the gate.

They were also puzzled; having reached this point, they hesitated, not seeing their leader, a black leopard. These weren't humans, after all, and their intelligence was far below that of monkeys.

Two or three ferocious male leopards had noticed me perched on the rocky peak and began roaring at me from a distance, constantly scanning the surroundings, trying to climb up and attack me. I remained firmly in control of my sniper rifle. Only I knew that this powerful weapon far surpassed claws and fangs in lethality.

If these wild leopards were actually those thugs, unarmed and running towards me, only to find me holding a sniper rifle, they would probably be terrified, fleeing into the grass, fearing the first shot would be aimed at them.

But now, these beasts, oblivious to the opportune moment and their numerical superiority, are trying to force me into becoming their prey. It's utterly absurd and laughable.

Even African and Australian leopards would scatter at the sound of firecrackers, but these wild creatures will likely only understand life after experiencing the pain of bullets.

All around are steep, vertical rock walls; the only way to get close is through this section blocked by a wooden wall. Several fierce male leopards, eager to show off in front of the pregnant and expectant females, are restlessly leaping and barking, occasionally roaring at me or ramming and biting at the gaps in the wooden door. But they can't do anything to me.

Now, from this high vantage point, shooting a leopard would be easy, like hitting a trout in a pond with a stick. My only worry is that the gunshots might easily scare away the leopard pack, leaving us vulnerable to being followed and attacked as we enter the woods. If my sniper rifle had a silencer, these guys would definitely think their wounded comrade had suddenly fallen asleep.

I, lying prone on the rock top, suddenly stood up, a movement that startled the leopards below. They all trembled and tucked their tails between their legs, almost like they were about to run away. Luya was still in the yard, using a wooden basket to scoop up the remaining trout from the pond, unaware that more than ten leopards were already crouching seventy or eighty meters away.

To avoid frightening the little girl, I didn't tell her what was happening outside. If I could get closer to the leopards, I would use my submachine gun, which is effective at area-of-effect damage, to mow down these wild creatures.

Even if they heard the gunfire and tried to escape, I could kill as many of them as possible in the shortest amount of time.

Below the rock face, there were many lush trees. Several leopards had already climbed to the treetops, pressing their front paws against the rock face, trying to climb up and attack me. I could also use the advantage of the trees to attack them. Just ten meters from the top of the cliff, a crooked tree grows horizontally on the rock face. If I am careful, I can slowly descend there, sit on the trunk, and provoke the hungry and ferocious leopards below.

The rock face has been baked dry by the morning sun, and a few wild grasses grow sparsely on it, evenly distributed in patches, which is just right for me to grab onto and slowly lower myself down.

The military boots provided excellent grip, and the rock face had many grooves, making it easy to use my hands and feet for leverage. In just ten minutes, I reached the large, crooked tree.

As I climbed, a chill ran down my spine; one wrong step and I would plummet to the bottom, first half-dead, then instantly torn apart by the swarming leopards. They weren't tiny leopard cats that could be easily intimidated with a stick or something.

Chapter Sixty-Six: Bloodstained Bodies

The leopards were collectively stunned as I approached, staring at me with bewildered eyes. Perhaps, on this primitive, deserted island, apart from giant bears and crocodiles, few other species dared to approach them like I had.

My heart trembled, not because of the slowly gathering leopards, but because the large tree supporting me seemed about to collapse. I tried to slowly crouch down, then straddle the thickest tree trunk, squeezing tightly with my thighs, afraid that the swaying of my center of gravity would cause the tree's roots to detach from their grip on the rock face.

The leopards below, seemingly noticing my pitiful clumsiness on the tree and finding it somewhat comical, far less agile than themselves, swarmed around me even more eagerly. Their heads resembled those of leopard cats, but the ferocity they exuded was menacing.

Leopards have an incredibly keen sense of smell, and the strong scent of blood on my body drew them closer.

A gray-faced leopard with a curled tail stood on the canopy of the tallest tree below me, its neck raised, constantly sniffing me with its wet, black nose, as if I had become its prey.

This filled me with fear and anger. I grabbed the submachine gun slung over my back and forcefully pulled back the safety.

These creatures, clearly having been starved for a long time and having feasted on human flesh, had drool overflowing from their open, fanged mouths. Especially the young, round ears, which were tightly tucked back before the attack, and the half-open eyes gleamed with a sinister light.

I counted them; there were fifteen leopards rushing towards us, now anxiously huddled together, forming a fan shape, circling back and forth below.

"Rat-a-tat-tat, rat-a-tat-tat, rat-a-tat-tat..." The submachine gun bullets didn't stop from the first shot until the magazine was empty.

The first to be hit was the old gray-faced leopard. After a volley of bullets flew diagonally, seven or eight bloody holes immediately appeared on its entire black-spotted back, while black blood gushed out, sticking together the yellow fur around the wounds into small, scarlet clumps, much like pebbles thrown into a thin layer of mud, splashing out several craters.

The gray-faced leopard, which had climbed the highest, was also the one that fell the hardest. The moment it lost its balance and fell from the high tree, its vertebrae were already fractured by the bullets, and then, upon hitting the rocky ground, they were completely severed.

This old leopard shouldn't have rushed so far ahead. My real target was the youngest and strongest member of the pack. A predator that can chase and bite prey quickly is even faster at escaping. If we had let a highly aggressive leopard escape, the danger of traversing the forest would still be immense.

Unlike hyenas, leopards don't howl in pain, nor do they tuck their tails between their legs to express fear.

The old grey-faced leopard's dying expression was indescribable; it didn't even utter a mournful cry, like an old man who had been sleeping in a tree and remained asleep after falling.

Yet, I knew it would never stand again. This athletic giant's spine, like a collapsed bridge, caved in deeply. Its four spotted legs were tightly curled up, unlike other leopards that desperately kick and straighten themselves before death.

Fear, pain, and death are three unrelated concepts. Unlike humans, leopards don't connect these; their will to survive is relatively easier. But I and the three women are the ones most unable to let go of these feelings, and the ones who should most abandon them.

No creature in the world can outrun a bullet. Even those leopards in their prime, with their agile gait, were still riddled with bullets, their bellies and rumps pierced by the sheer number of bullets. A

leopard cub, less than ten months old, was hit in the ear by a bullet, howling like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. It raised one front paw and frantically scratched its bleeding ear, completely losing the imposing presence it had shown while following the pack. I didn't actually intend to shoot it; it looked no bigger than a farm dog.

Those fierce and powerful leopards were all dead, their stiff bodies crisscrossed with blood, their once distinct spots now merged into lines, like blood-red constellations in the night sky.

But four or five leopards, by some miracle, darted into the woods. I quickly raised my submachine gun, letting the last few dozen bullets in the magazine fire after them. One spotted leopard, nearing its due date, had a belly swollen like a gave birth mallet. From beneath its high-held tail, the fleshy, purplish organs from before labor were clearly visible.

One of the mother leopard's hind legs had been hit by a bullet; the fur at the cartilage joint had burst open, revealing the white bone. This injured hind leg was beyond saving. When the mother leopard ran, she could only use her two front paws and one hind leg, while the severed half of her other hind leg was held together by only a small piece of skin and flesh, dangling like an empty sleeve.

I had already switched to a sniper rifle and aimed it at the slow-moving mother leopard. With just a slight pull of the trigger, the hard metal bullet would carve a white line and penetrate its belly. However, my purpose was not to slaughter the leopard, but to drive away the danger.

One should show mercy where possible. Even though the leopard's animalistic nature isn't like that of a finger-severing sniper who absolutely must kill, it's far less evil and insidious than such a person. After all, the leopard's nature is to eat meat; without food, it cannot raise

its offspring, just as I caught trout for Chi Chun to eat to produce milk—it's the same principle. To indiscriminately kill simply because one has a gun is something I've hated all these years. So I abandoned the idea of shooting it, using the remaining bullets to protect myself and eradicate evil.

The leopard pack was severely damaged and dared not harbor its previous mindset of recklessly plotting to devour us.

I put away my two rifles, then slowly stood up on the tree trunk, following the trail back to the top of the rock.

Lu Ya was standing at the entrance to the cave in the courtyard, covering her ears with her hands, looking at me. She frowned, like a little girl afraid of firecrackers, her delicate face filled with annoyance.

Standing behind a large tree at the top of the valley, I observed the movement on the ship again through my sniper scope. The deck remained quiet, the dazzling sunlight spilling across the vast sea, causing the rocking ship to reflect endless light.

Reaching the cave entrance, Chi Chun and Yi Liang had already prepared everything.

"The leopard threat has been neutralized. Now we'll set off. I'll carry the heavy loads, and each of you will take a weapon. Lu Ya can take the pistol. When we travel through the forest, stay close to me to avoid getting lost." I said, loading bullets into the empty magazines.

Chapter 67: A Tropical Forest Full of Life .

"Hmm, I'm carrying the baby, so it's inconvenient for me to shoot. Give me the pistol instead." Chi Chun said, gently squeezing the baby strapped to her back, her eyes filled with tenderness as she looked at me, waiting for me to give her the weapon.

I handed Yi Liang a fully loaded submachine gun, put on the safety, and gave her a magazine in case we got separated in case of danger on the road and she didn't have enough ammunition to protect herself.

Yi Liang pursed her pretty lips, took the weapon, and slung it over her shoulder without even looking at it. In this world, the man she trusted most was me. "Carry the rest of your belongings on your back, and make sure you hold the gun in your hand, ready to fire at any moment." After saying that, I patted Yi Liang's shoulder to encourage her.

"No, I want a submachine gun too, not a pistol. I'm better at it than Yi Liang." Lu Ya, on the other hand, had put away her worried look, pouted playfully, and stretched out a small, white hand, asking me for the submachine gun.

"Are you sure you won't panic in a dangerous situation, and will be able to shoot at the enemy with a clear head, instead of just firing randomly?" I looked at her with a determined gaze, waiting for her answer. "I'm not stupid, why would I fire randomly!" Lu Ya's little mouth pouted even more.

"Okay, here's a submachine gun. But always remember, the muzzle must not be pointed at us or yourself. When you sling it over your shoulder, hold the neck of the gun with your right hand and press it down, so that if it accidentally discharges, it will hit the ground. If this kind of submachine gun hits the ground after firing, it may spin and fire randomly until it runs out of bullets before it stops. At that time, the bullets will not distinguish between friend and foe."

"Okay, I know." She said, blinking her big eyes as she came over to take the gun from my hand.

Lu Ya's pouty little mouth disappeared, her thin lips trembled twice, and suddenly she hugged my waist without saying a word. I didn't know what was wrong with her, so I gently lifted her cute little face with both hands and looked at her.

“Don’t worry, we’ll soon have a comfortable bed, and there are lots of interesting things on the ship. You can sit on the gunwale and fish.” Lu Ya didn’t seem particularly happy, just nodded and hummed in agreement.

“Alright, let’s go. We’ve already been delayed for too long.” After saying that, I pulled a pistol from my back and placed it in Chi Chun’s hand.

The group looked at each other, then around the cave that had protected us for so many days, and couldn’t help but feel a little reluctant to leave. “Let’s leave. Staying here will only lead to danger sooner or later. Just take the memories with you.”

The women didn’t speak, their faces losing the excitement they had shown when they thought about leaving. Perhaps what they truly missed was the time they had shared joys and sorrows.

I was the first to leave the courtyard, dragging the seven or eight leopards I had shot by their tails back to the cave entrance. Each one was extremely heavy, the largest weighing around 160 or 170 pounds, the smallest around 100 pounds.

Lu Ya seemed uneasy when she saw the dead leopards, and quickly hid behind Yi Liang, peeking out furtively. “They’re all dead leopards, they won’t hurt anyone. Look how scared you are. When we get into the forest and see live leopards attacking us, you can’t do that. You have to angrily shoot them. Understand?” Reminding the timid Luya, I had already tied up the dead leopards, climbed to the top of the valley, and then used hemp ropes to pull them up one by one before finally throwing them down into the valley.

Because the leopards’ bellies and backs were riddled with bullet holes, blood gushed from the wounds as the ropes were pulled up, flowing down the rock face.

After dealing with the leopard carcasses, we, fully armed, officially stepped into the forest.

The scorching sun hadn’t yet wilted the sap-laden leaves; as we hurried through the woods, our hair and shoulders were soaked with the remaining water from the plants. The leopards had certainly learned their lesson and disappeared into the distance.

We tried to stay close to the valley, and every kilometer or so, I would grab my sniper rifle and run up the valley slope to check for any ghost monkeys within the next kilometer. Through the blue sniper scope, I could still see the lush trees steaming with white vapor.

Whenever I went to the valley side to observe, Yi Liang and Lu Ya would crouch back to back, forming a human-shaped formation, ready to fire at any danger that might pounce from any direction.

We walked six or seven kilometers from the cave to the center of the forest, already far from the courtyard. During this time, we didn't encounter any threatening dangers.

Since I had a sharp broadsword hanging from my waistband, I could easily cut through the tangled vines blocking our path, saving us a lot of trouble by taking detours.

The snakes slithering on the branches seemed to have had little food due to the recent rain. When they hunt, they use their tips to detect heat sources and track prey. Once the cold rain lowers the body temperature of animals like squirrels, heat sources become extremely indistinct. Snakes become like blind men, unable to catch any food. This is why they hibernate in winter.

Now it's breeding season, and it's normal to see many small snakes of various colors coiled on the dripping green leaves.

Whenever I use a long wooden pole to pry them apart, these creatures shake their little heads and, like screws tightening, climb up the pole onto my arm, treating me like their mother.

Many of the colorful snakes are ones I've never seen before. For safety's sake, regardless of the snake's size, I pry them apart before approaching. Snake venom is a snake's innate survival weapon. I can't be like the leopard pack, waiting until they suffer before taking it seriously—that would be too late.

On the way, Luya looked up, her face flushed with sweat, and licked her dry tongue, asking, "What did you see on the valley floor?" I wiped the sweat from my forehead and told her, "Big trees, green ones." As soon as I finished speaking, all three women laughed. Along the way, everyone was sweltering and irritated by the dense, crisscrossing forest.

I was the one who had arranged the formation. I led the way, with Yi Liang bringing up the rear. Chi Chun and Lu Ya, carrying children, were sandwiched in between. I kept glancing back, afraid Yi Liang wouldn't notice the danger following us. If a leopard pounced from behind, and Yi Liang was slow to fire, she would be seriously injured. Biting her would be like biting my heart.

"Oh, by the way, Lu Ya, I just saw a group of playful lemurs." To keep everyone going, I deliberately brought up a topic to lighten the mood. Lu Ya was a girl who loved animals; you could tell from the happy expression on her face when we caught trout together.

Upon hearing me bring up this topic, Lu Ya became genuinely interested and eagerly asked, "What are lemurs like? I've seen pygmy marmosets; my brothers used to play with them." The baby on Chi Chun's back was very well-behaved, not crying the whole way, but now, also feeling the heat, it was making intermittent grunts.

Chapter Sixty-Eight: Blood in the Steamer

Chi Chun stretched out her wet fingers and grabbed one of my arms. "Help me untie the baby; I think he's feeling the heat too." I forcefully planted the wooden pole in the ground, making it stand upright, and freed my hand to untangle the rope wrapped around Chi Chun's plump upper body.

The cloth wrapped around the little guy was already very damp. Chi Chun peeled back the layers of the baby, pulling out her full, white breasts from her oversized shirt, and stuffed her brown nipples, glistening with milky white juice, into the baby's mouth.

Actually, all three women were feeling the heat and wanted to stop and rest for a while, but I was so eager to get back to the ship that I overlooked this. Chi Chun herself was drenched in sweat, the warm perspiration soaking her clothes and accentuating her mature curves.

Because she had tied the ropes too tightly for fear of the baby falling off, and with the bumpy ride, her two swollen breasts were even more prominent, as if they were about to spill out. Before the baby even cried, a glistening white fluid was already seeping through her clothes from where her nipples were wrapped.

Chi Chun showing me her breasts, overflowing with milk, was already a common occurrence. I could easily reach out and grasp either of her soft, white breasts. No matter how beautiful a woman is, as long as the man she loves touches her body as he pleases, it won't cause any aversion.

"You still haven't told me what lemurs are like!" Lu Ya's question interrupted the allure of Chi Chun's fair, full breasts. I turned my gaze away from the baby's suckling mouth and saw Lu Ya fanning herself with a broken banana leaf. Beads of sweat glistened on her delicate, rosy face, trickling down her cheeks. Her brows, furrowed in the heat, made her large eyes squint. Yet, she still stared at me curiously, wanting to know the answer.

Lu Ya's handsome features possessed a unique beauty that could dispel a man's desires, allowing one to appreciate feminine beauty on a deeper level. The snow-white silhouette of Chi Chun suddenly faded from my consciousness. That feeling that tugged at a man's heart, like a spell broken, vanished from my body, bringing me back to the sweltering reality.

"Oh! Lemurs have faces that resemble foxes, with two bulging eyes like sparkling rubies. And their tails are very similar to raccoon tails, with zebra-striped hairs and long, stiff bristles sticking up." Luya was captivated by my words. She used a large banana leaf to shield her head from the scorching sunlight and began looking around, hoping a lemur might appear nearby to satisfy her curiosity.

Seeing Luya's determined look, Yi Liang couldn't help but secretly smile. As we walked, every time I looked back to check for any movement, Yi Liang would follow my gaze and look behind her. Finding no danger of being followed, she would look into my eyes with tender affection. She knew I was worried about her safety, so there was always a knowing, unspoken understanding in her bright, sparkling eyes.

"Are those big squirrels? What are they doing? Why are their tails so long?" Luya didn't see any animals resembling what she imagined on the damp, towering green branches around her, so she immediately thought of squirrels. Her innocent, persistent questioning was both amusing and exasperating.

"The long tails are used to maintain balance. When climbing and jumping high branches, they act like sails to control direction. There were two groups of lemurs fighting for territory, or perhaps for mates. A male lemur who had done a great service wanted to mate with a female lemur perched in the tree, but another strong male lemur was hissing at it from below, expressing its dissatisfaction and protest."

Answering Luya's innocent question, I used a broadsword to cut a banana leaf over two meters long from beside me, then shaved it into a fan shape and fanned it for Chi Chun, who was nursing. The baby's tiny mouth sucked and wrapped around Chi Chun's nipple, white milk glistening at the corners of her tender lips.

The fan's breeze wasn't very strong, but for Chi Chun, who was drenched in sweat, it instantly provided much-needed coolness and comfort. A look of pleasure immediately appeared on her flushed face, glistening with sweat. She slightly upturned the corners of her mouth, closing her eyes to enjoy the coolness I offered.

Her intoxicating expression was like that of a beautiful maiden awaiting a lover's kiss. Sweat dripped down her smooth, white cleavage, exuding an extremely alluring sensuality. This captivating scene once again filled my vision, gripping my heart like the roots of a thousand-year-old demon tree, my blood surging, my nerves pumping with excitement.

Chi Chun, a mature woman adept at observing men, noticed that her jade-like breasts were making my gaze somewhat hazy. She smiled sweetly and pushed the now-quiet baby into my arms. "Hold this for a while, I'll fan you a bit,"

I said, taking the child and holding him close. Chi Chun lowered her head, adjusting her exposed collar. The brown nipple on her right breast was slightly flattened from being suckled by an infant. With her slender, white index finger, Chi Chun gently wiped away the sticky saliva and congealed milk, then smeared the scraped-off thick liquid onto my chest.

Those soft, jade-like fingers seemed to carry an electric current, making me involuntarily tremble. "Hehe!" Chi Chun even laughed out loud at her own ambiguous actions, like a mischievous child.

She took out a dry strip of cloth she carried with her and gently wiped the sweat from my forehead, while fanning my face with a leaf in her other hand to dispel the humid heat. Her expressive, bright eyes drew me into boundless tenderness.

I immediately realized that the stifling heat in the woods easily aroused desire in a mature person; this desire was intoxicating, making one lower their guard. "Everyone, stay alert! Let's hurry on our way. The stream leading down to the shore isn't far ahead."

Chi Chun wasn't intentionally trying to arouse my desire, but rather to imply a sense of responsibility. She made me feel that I possessed her, that I shouldn't be overly greedy for the beauty I already had, and that the pleasure of possessing something was more fulfilling than enjoying it. She deliberately gave me this sense of fulfillment, freeing me from the distraction of lust and allowing me to fully concentrate on our journey.

Although Yi Liang was only sixteen, she possessed the instincts of a woman. Even when she saw Chi Chun's ambiguous advances towards me, she still vigilantly observed her surroundings, fulfilling her duty to protect everyone—a truly commendable sense of responsibility.

"Yi Liang, let's get ready to go." I said to Yi Liang as I reattached the sleeping baby to Chi Chun's back. She could hear the encouragement and appreciation in those few words, and she gave me a knowing smile, indicating her understanding.

Chapter Sixty-Nine: The War Drum of Rolling Pebbles

"Yi Liang, let's go." Hearing me call Yi Liang's name, Lu Ya felt ignored and mimicked my tone, echoing me. Seeing the restlessness and fatigue gone from her bright eyes, I happily told her, "Once we get on the big ship, I'll tell you lots of interesting stories, and I'll even teach you how to catch squirrels."

Lu Ya immediately smiled, her big eyes narrowing into slits. "Mmm-hmm," she nodded enthusiastically.

As we approached the large mudflat, I ran to the valley floor one last time, carefully observing the area through my sniper scope. This was the most likely place for the ghost monkeys.

In the pale blue reflection, the large mudflat still bore the scars of a battle; leaves swept away by the running beasts floated in the cratered mud. The crocodile carcasses killed by machine gun fire were nowhere to be seen; they had clearly been dragged back and devoured by the raw-meat-loving ghost monkeys.

Even more chilling was the fact that the bandits, reduced to mere bones by the gnawed flesh, had vanished without a trace. I suspect they also have a habit of collecting and utilizing the skeletons of large animals.

This involuntarily conjured a terrifying image in my mind: white bones hanging from the totems of the ghost monkey tribe, rattling and clanging in the sea breeze like a pair of skeletal wind chimes summoning spirits.

This further spurred my resolve to escape the deserted island as quickly as possible. I figured the ghost monkeys must be feasting on a bountiful crocodile meal these past few days, making them less likely to be out hunting. We could use this opportunity to pass safely. Although the ghost monkeys possessed the attributes of savage animals, they still retained some of the intelligence of human evolution.

Any animal that obtains a large amount of food in a certain area will pay special attention to and gravitate towards that area. If it weren't for those highly lethal firearms that had killed seventy or eighty large crocodiles, it would have been very difficult for those dwarfs who relied on blowing wooden pipes and shooting poison darts to catch crocodiles on ordinary days.

Now they're enjoying their feast, and we're on our own survival journey. It's better for everyone if we don't interfere with each other. If we were to actually encounter them, even if all the women and I were caught, we'd still kill thirty or forty of them before we died.

After observing them, I rushed to the women like a whirlwind and told them, "Everything's safe. Hurry up and head towards the forest entrance 800 meters ahead. Follow the route we used to hunt crocodiles, and quickly move downstream."

Perhaps I sounded a bit too serious, because the three women seemed more nervous than when we were in the middle of the forest. "Shouldn't we camouflage ourselves? We'll be very exposed when we cross that distance without any vegetation," said Yi Liang, a thoughtful girl. Drawing on her past hunting experience with me, she quickly realized how to better protect herself and maximize her chances of survival.

This gave me a feeling of working alongside mercenary teammates. “No need. Those creatures mostly hunt by smell, and their eyesight is exceptionally good. If they're nearby, even if we're wrapped in vines and covered in twigs, no matter how well we're camouflaged, they'll still notice us and chase us if we keep moving. The best way is to rush through as fast as we can.”

“Okay, we'll quicken our pace to catch up with you. Just focus on finding your way.” Chi Chun said firmly, afraid that I would worry too much about them not keeping up and slow down our downstream journey.

"Once you exit the forest, turn right immediately and follow the stream ahead of me so I can cover your retreat. Don't be afraid, in case a troop of monkeys attacks, run for your life towards the shore. I'll climb to the bottom of the cave roof; there's a clump of lush vegetation there, where the rubber raft is hidden. You need to paddle it close to the large ship and climb onto the deck via the anchor chain. Once inside the cabin, shoot the old man who's been tied up. As for the women, they're victims; take care of them. If you can't start the ship, try to reel in the anchor and let it drift until you encounter another rescue vessel. Take a gamble."

After I finished speaking these words, which sounded like my last, the three women, just like when I left the cave for the ship, began to weep in unison. Their three delicate faces were streaked with glistening tears.

"Don't cry. Reality can be cruel sometimes, so you have to be strong. I'm warning you, if the ghost monkeys swarm and attack me, don't come to help, or even stop and fire. That will only cost another life, and I'll die in vain."

Yi Liang's tears fell like raindrops from the day before, streaming down her face. She nodded vigorously, sobbing. This reminded me of the first time we were chased by a pack of crocodiles. She understood the meaning behind my words.

My biggest worry was Lu Ya; I feared she wouldn't understand this and might make a fatal mistake at a crucial moment. "Alright, the chances of that happening are slim. We should be optimistic." I comforted them as I continued onward. Soon, the sound of the flowing stream ahead reached our ears again. Yi Liang and I recognized this sound; we looked at each other and nodded simultaneously.

Yi Liang understood my meaning perfectly. As soon as we emerged from the sweltering, stifling forest, she led Chi Chun and Lu Ya downstream, gun in hand. I, with my sniper rifle, followed them backward, keeping an eye on the distance.

If a menacing monkey's head peeked out from the low bushes beside the large mudflat in the distance, I would smash its head in the instant to prevent it from squawking and inciting the troop to chase us.

Actually, secrets can't stay hidden forever; I was forced to buy time. It was like a rat-swatting machine—smashing down the first head that popped out to keep the machine empty, but there will always be times when you miss, leading to failure. This kind of failure would eventually lead to the monkey troop discovering us and chasing us in a dark, swarming mass.

The stream was swift; it was the result of several days of rainwater accumulating on the island, and the pebbles were being washed away with a loud, rumbling sound, like the drums of war, or perhaps mocking our overly cautious behavior.

After running for forty or fifty minutes straight, Yi Liang finally stopped, her hands on her knees, bending over and panting heavily. Chi Chun, holding Lu Ya's hand, followed behind, also breathless.

"Everyone, breathe slowly. Don't stand in open areas. Keep your backs against the rock face and walk along the coastline at the foot of the valley." I wasn't panting much, but my blood pressure was a little low, and my head was a bit dizzy. Hearing my advice, the three women wearily moved a few more steps and moved closer to the foot of the valley, where they would no longer be easily seen by anyone on the island or the ship.

URL 1:http://localhost:909/htmlBlog/15144.html

URL 2:/Blog.aspx?id=15144&aspx=1

Previous Page : Humanity Forbidden Island [Complete] - 4

Next Page : Humanity Forbidden Island [Full Text] - 7

增加

comment Open a new window to view comments

Contact Information

Humanity Forbidden Island [Complete] - 5

comment Open a new window to view comments