Chapter 1 In the Middle of Nowhere

It was 9:40 AM, somewhere in the center of Cannibal Island.

Five lithe figures cut through the jungle, arriving at the edge of a steep ravine.

These five were: Stephen Carbon, played by Feng Bujue; Justin Bieber; Bill Gates; and Bear Grylls.

What happened in the previous hour or so will not be detailed here; let's talk about the present...

Right now, the sun was steadily climbing higher in the sky. The muddy ground had been baked dry by the fierce sun before noon, as if the torrential rain of last night had never happened. They were all drenched in sweat from their high-speed trek through the forest; even Grylls, who was in exceptional physical condition, had sweat stains under his arms.

"Okay, we're here, just ahead." After descending to the bottom of the ravine and traveling another ten meters or so, Grylls, who was leading the way, raised his arm to signal and turned back to speak.

"You guys go on ahead. I'll be responsible for the perimeter until you take care of that 'door'." * stood up Ak at the rear and volunteered to take on the task of keeping watch.

"Don't worry, this won't take long." Gates spoke as he walked to the front, carrying a device that looked like a typewriter.

"I hope this works..." Bieber muttered as he wiped the sweat from his brow and gazed at the stone wall ahead.

"Of course, it'll work." Gates glanced back at Bieber. "Who do you think I am?"

"Okay~ okay... I know... you're one of the most brilliant software engineers in the world, an IQ of over 160... you don't need to keep emphasizing that..." Bieber replied weakly.

"If you know that, then stop saying stupid things like 'I hope it works'." As Gates spoke, he crouched down in front of the stone wall and pressed his palm against it.

Buzz—

A sound like electronic equipment starting up rang out instantly, and the next second, the "stone wall" became translucent, revealing a metal door behind it.

"Hmm... optical camouflage, huh..." Feng Bujue, who had been watching from the side, finally spoke, and he looked at Grylls and said, "No wonder you didn't find this place when you were setting up cameras on the island."

"Yeah... the terrain here is treacherous and extremely difficult to conceal. Even if someone accidentally came here, they might not be able to find the door because of the optical camouflage." Grylls continued, "If that pirate I captured hadn't revealed this secret before he died, I'm afraid we never would have found this place."

"Even if we find the entrance, or rather... even if Mr. Gates manages to open that door, we can't let our guard down..." Bieber interjected, "If those two pirates were telling the truth, and this place really contains a 'Prime Opium Stone' (a unique mineral specific to the Fourth Earth, which can be refined into various drugs; a brick-sized piece of Prime Opium Stone is worth hundreds of pounds of high-purity hallucinogens) mine, then... there must be very strict defenses behind that door."

"Ha!" Gates, who was busy in front of the metal door, laughed and said without turning his head, "You're saying stupid things again... as long as I successfully decode it, the system connected to the door will treat this as a normal opening procedure and won't trigger any defense systems."

"Alright, go for it, genius," Bieber replied, shrugging.

"Oh, right." After a few more seconds, Feng Bujue seemed to have suddenly thought of something, and he immediately took out the notebook that Grylls had given him earlier. "Since we have some time, take a look at this..."

Grylls looked over with a puzzled expression, and what he saw was...

"Uh... this is... a map?" He hesitated for a moment and said that.

The system prompt rang in Jue-ge's ears along with Grylls' words.

"Yes." Feng Bujue said, "Before you met me and Uncle Deng, we ambushed at that high point for twenty minutes. Because it was a little boring, I took the time to draw this map." He pointed to the pattern in the notebook. "Actually, I used to have some knowledge of military maps and could understand them, but I wasn't very good at drawing them. Fortunately, Uncle Deng is very good at this, and with his guidance, I quickly drew it."

"Uh... Stephen, putting aside the fact that you're using military standards to draw..." Grylls continued, "...don't you think it's strange to continue doing 'challenges' now?" He chuckled dryly. "The filming of the show has already been canceled, right?"

"Oh, is that so..." Feng Bujue replied calmly, "Sorry, I'm a bit of a completionist. I like to finish what I start. It might be a habit left over from writing..." He casually made up an excuse.

In fact, Jue-ge's purpose had already been achieved. Of the three challenges he had not yet completed, only the "draw a map" one needed Grylls to see it after it was done, while the other two only needed the system to acknowledge them.

"Aha! Got it!" Before long, the decryption work of the strongest techie, Mr. Gates, was also completed. He stood up holding the device and waved to signal everyone to come over.

A few seconds later, the translucent "stone wall" quickly disappeared.

With another buzzing sound, the several-meter-wide metal door opened with a bang, and a tunnel appeared in everyone's sight...

............

At the same time, the Dolphin cruise ship, the captain's cabin.

"Is that all?" Max asked, holding a tablet and looking at Hai Mei Long, "Eighteen staff members, four contestants, and referee Grylls, a total of twenty-three people?"

"Anyway... that's all I know," Hai Mei Long said coldly.

"You should understand... if you lie about the numbers or fabricate information, I'll find out sooner or later." Max said, "So, Mr. Hai Mei Long, I'll give you one more chance..." He paused. "Really... is that all? Is there anything else you need to add?"

Hai Mei Long looked directly into the child's eyes, hesitated for a moment, and then said, "There's one more thing... I also find it a little strange. Of course, this may not be useful information."

"Tell me," Max replied quickly.

"Stephen Carbon on the island..." Hai Mei Long said, "...seems a little abnormal."

"Oh? How is he abnormal?" Max pressed.

"I can't explain it, but anyway... he's just abnormal..." Hai Mei Long's answer was vague, as if he hadn't said anything. "Before you guys appeared, he did a lot of unexpected things..." He glanced at Gray Beard beside him. "Compared to those things, provoking you on the walkie-talkie is nothing."

"Is that what you wanted to say?" Max's eyes were a little disappointed. "Hmph... I thought it was something important. Actually... he's just having drug withdrawal or a mental breakdown, right?"

Hai Mei Long replied, "Ah... I thought so too at first, but after carefully analyzing his various actions, I found..."

Squeak—static—

Just as they were talking, the main screen of the console suddenly turned into a flurry of snowflakes and emitted a strange noise similar to signal interference.

"What's going on?" Gray Beard looked at the screen and then turned to look at a pirate sitting in front of the console (there were also several technical personnel among the pirates responsible for communication, observation, and other tasks). "Are you downloading porn again... causing the system to get a virus?"

That pirate really wanted to answer his captain, "Do you think I'm you..."

But he didn't dare to say that after all. He just replied with an innocent expression, "How is that possible..."

"Hi, everyone." Suddenly, the snowflakes on the main screen disappeared, and a large face of Stephen Carbon (Feng Bujue) appeared on the screen.

"Hahahaha... hahahahaha..." The moment he saw that face, Hai Mei Long laughed loudly, as if it was an incredibly amusing thing.

"Oh, are you Gray Beard? Your look is quite retro..." After greeting them, Feng Bujue didn't wait for anyone to respond and said to himself, "That little kid is Max, right? Future generations are to be feared..."

"You... can see us?" Max said with a suspicious expression. At the same time, his gaze quickly swept over the operating table.

"Don't bother looking, kid. The main screen of the captain's cabin is an integrated, double-sided, coreless optical screen (an expensive piece of future technology, and there's only one on the entire luxury cruise ship in the captain's cabin). The entire screen can be used as a camera. If you want to cover it... you'll have to get a bed sheet." Feng Bujue said.

"You can remotely activate the camera on my side..." Max asked calmly, in a deep voice.

"Hehe..." Feng Bujue said, "It wasn't me who activated it." As he spoke, he took two steps back, revealing the scenery behind him.

In that instant, Gray Beard, Max, and the other pirates in the captain's cabin all had drastic changes in expression. Because they discovered... the place where "Stephen Carbon" was at the moment was inside the Prime Opium Stone mine.

"Do you see the bespectacled gentleman behind me? He activated your camera." Feng Bujue said with a smile.

Gates was busy working on a computer in the mine and didn't have time to pay attention to this side at all. He just shouted loudly without turning his head, "Sorry, hacking your system is as easy as taking candy from a baby."

"Thanks, Bill, a very apt analogy." Feng Bujue glanced at Gates and said with a smile. Then he looked at the camera again and said with a teasing expression, "So, I'm sure you've already guessed... how we entered this Prime Opium Stone mine."

"Hey! Bastard! You're the one who cursed at me on the walkie-talkie just now, right?" At this time, Gray Beard suddenly stepped forward and pointed at the screen, "Get out of my 'treasure' right now!"

"Hehehe..." Feng Bujue lowered his head and laughed coldly, "First of all, I didn't curse at you. I just gave you advance notice of your death. The one who was swearing and acting like a shrew... was you yourself."

When Gray Beard heard this, he wanted to curse again, but he couldn't bring himself to do it... If he cursed, it would prove the saying "acting like a shrew," but if he wanted to refute it, he would have nothing to say...

"Secondly, this isn't 'your' treasure." Feng Bujue spread out his hands. "This is nature's treasure... you just discovered this place and then built a base on top of it that's similar in nature to a drug factory."

"Nonsense! In the world of pirates, 'treasure' is... whoever finds it first gets it!" Gray Beard shouted loudly.

"Ha!" Feng Bujue laughed loudly, "I thought you only poked out your eyes when you were picking your eye boogers, but I didn't expect you to injure your brain as well..."

"What do you mean!" Gray Beard replied.

"What I mean is... you're the one talking nonsense!" Feng Bujue shouted back, "In the world of pirates, no matter what it is... it's never 'whoever finds it first gets it,' but—whoever seizes it gets it."

"Damn it! What he said makes so much sense!" Gray Beard thought fiercely in his heart, his expression alternating between green and purple. He was so angry that his beard was almost exploding.

"Okay... let's not waste any more time." After a moment of silence, Max spoke again at this time, "You established communication with us. It shouldn't just be to humiliate my father, right?" His eyes sharpened. "Tell me your purpose..."

"Oh~ You were silently thinking over there for a while, and now you've sorted out your thoughts, huh?" Feng Bujue looked at Max and said, "Okay, let Uncle tell you what we're trying to do..."