"See, this is what I always say—make the best of everything." Graybeard smiled contentedly, watching the blood bloom on the sea.

He was standing on the deck of his submarine, happily enjoying a "shark show."

The stars of this show... besides the several sharks drawn in by the scent of blood, were naturally none other than Riven Pus.

The rock star never dreamed... that his death would be caused by... a pirate shooting him full of holes with a blunderbuss and then tossing him into the sea for the fish.

"I hate hippies." After Riven Pus was reduced to nothing and the sharks had dispersed, Graybeard shook the hook on his right hand and said, "I'd rather trade a dozen hippies for a dog that can swab the deck."

"But I recall you saying... you hate dogs..." A crewman standing nearby replied.

"Huh?" Graybeard tilted his head slightly, glaring at the man. "Boy... what's your name?"

"Uh... my name is Butchie, Captain." Butchie's expression suddenly turned serious. "Please don't kill me, Captain."

"Bah!" Graybeard spat, turning his head. "Do I look like the kind of person who kills people indiscriminately?"

Before he had finished speaking, a scream rang out from not far away.

Graybeard and Butchie looked over at the sound and saw a crewman who was scrubbing the deck with a sponge mop. He had been hit in the eye by the spittle and had fallen flat on his back.

"See that? Butchie." Graybeard paused for two seconds, composed himself, and turned to Butchie. "Getting a dog to swab the deck is definitely a good idea."

"Yes, yes... Captain is wise." Butchie nodded repeatedly.

"Hmph..." Graybeard snorted and continued, "Alright, Butchie, go get the first mate. I have something to discuss with him."

"Aye aye, sir!" Butchie responded loudly and ran off.

After the other man had gone, Graybeard shook his head and muttered, shrugging, "Hmm... which bastard was in charge of recruiting sailors the last time we docked..." He raised his left hand and counted on his fingers. "Tom, Jerry, Butchie (all three names are characters from *Tom and Jerry*)... what's next? Tyke? I'm a drug lord, not a seller of children's products..."

As he was muttering to himself, First Mate Max Gray arrived on deck.

"Pops, you wanted to see me?" Max walked quickly to Graybeard's side, asking in his childish voice.

"Yes, son." Graybeard replied. "Tom and the others have finished scouting and returned."

"What? That fast?" Max hadn't been on deck when Tom and the others returned earlier, so he asked this question.

"Yeah..." Graybeard continued, "After they crossed the beach and entered the forest, they immediately discovered a person and... many surveillance cameras." He paused. "So they caught the person and returned."

"Oh..." Max nodded and then asked, "Where's the person?"

"I threw him into the sea for the fish." Graybeard replied.

"Ah?" Max's expression changed slightly. "Then... did you get anything out of him?"

"I did." Graybeard stroked his beard. "His name is John Winston Riven Pus."

"Huh?" Max tilted his head. "That's the same name as the lead singer of The Prickly Heads?"

"The Prickly Heads?" Graybeard paused for two seconds. "Oh~ You mean those hippies?" Then, he subconsciously turned his head to look at the sea. "Hmm... now that you mention it... the Riven Pus I just threw in the sea was a hippie too..."

Hearing this, an ominous feeling arose in Max's heart. "Pops, what did the person look like... can you describe him?"

"Around thirty-something, I guess. A white guy; light brown eyes, brown hair, hairstyle and clothes... I don't remember, he was just a hippie." Graybeard replied.

"Heh heh..." Max chuckled drily. "No way..." His eyes flickered, his brain spun, and after ten seconds or so, his eyes suddenly widened. "Pops! You just said... Tom and the others found a lot of cameras on the island?"

"Yeah, so?" Graybeard asked, puzzled. "What's wrong?"

Max didn't answer, or rather... he didn't have time to answer.

The next second, Max turned and ran wildly back into the submarine, leaving his confused father standing alone on the deck in a daze.

About five minutes later, Max returned, holding a tablet computer in his hands.

"See for yourself." He turned the computer screen around and held it in front of his father.

Graybeard took the computer with one hand, looked at it for a few seconds, and then looked down and asked, "So that hippie was this famous?" He clicked his tongue in annoyance. "If I'd known... I should have kept him and demanded some ransom money or something."

"Don't worry, Pops, there are plenty of celebrities on this island that you can use as hostages." Max turned away, looking towards Cannabis Island. "I already know what's going on on this island..."

***

Now let's turn to Feng Bujue's side.

After receiving [Yi Da] from Clamshells, he embarked on his "challenge journey."

And the first thing he did was to shoot a bird.

Obviously, [Kill a bird of the Aves class with a ranged attack (without the aid of any traps)] was the simplest of the five side quests. All he had to do was raise his hand and fire, and the task would be completed.

However, in actual operation, Feng Bujue quickly discovered a problem.

"Hmm..." Brother Jue raised his head, looking at a broken tree branch that he had shot off, and pondered. "Just because it's not my own body... does that mean my shooting specialization is useless too..."

That's right, that was the problem he was facing...

Although Brother Jue's shooting specialization was only average, it was at least a C-level. He still had some accuracy when using a slingshot to hit something within seven or eight meters.

But now... he was using Stephen Carbon's body. The various abilities of this body naturally could not receive "specialty corrections." So... whether or not he could hit the target depended entirely on Feng Bujue's own actions.

In short... he was now like using a slingshot to hit something in the real world. If he wanted to hit it, he had to aim well, calculate the force, adjust the accuracy... and even consider the target's reaction and the wind direction.

"This is bad... birds are generally small in size, and most of them stay high up..." Feng Bujue muttered as he searched for his next target. "If I get too close, the target might fly away, but if I'm too far away, it'll be extremely difficult to hit..."

"Dodo—dodo—"

Suddenly, two strange cries entered Brother Jue's ears, interrupting his thoughts.

Perhaps it was a coincidence, perhaps it was luck, perhaps it was destiny, perhaps it was the protagonist's halo... in short, at this moment when Feng Bujue was in trouble, a miracle... appeared.

Along with the two cries, a strange, large bird walked out of the forest.

Yes, this bird "walked" out because it couldn't fly at all.

Feng Bujue took a closer look and quickly recognized the animal. He couldn't help but blurt out, "A dodo (arguably one of the most famous extinct animals besides dinosaurs. Dodos were large, sluggish, flightless birds. They lived on the island of Mauritius for millions of years without incident. But in less than a hundred years after being discovered by humans, they became completely extinct due to human hunting and other human activities)?"

The one in front of Brother Jue was indeed a dodo. Its entire body was covered in blue-gray feathers, with a lighter color on its abdomen; its beak was vulture-like, slightly black; its wings were short and unable to fly; its legs were thick and yellow, like two elongated chicken feet. And its most distinctive feature was... a tuft of curled feathers on its rump. Combined with its simple, sluggish image, it was quite cute.

"Dodo—dodo—" The dodo seemed to have heard Brother Jue's words and looked up to call out to him twice.

"This..." Feng Bujue hesitated. "Haven't dodos gone extinct in this universe..."

Brother Jue wasn't an animal rights activist, but he would occasionally show kindness in a random, inexplicable, and erratic way (adopting Arthas should have been one of those times). Moreover... he knew a little about such a famous animal as the dodo. So at this moment, his mood... was about the same as seeing a panda. Even if he knew what he should do, he would consider it before taking action.

"Sigh... there's nothing I can do, it's your fate as a bird..." After nearly ten seconds, Brother Jue's internal struggle ended. He immediately bent down and grabbed a small piece of soil, putting it in the pouch of the slingshot.

After loading the ammunition, Brother Jue stood up straight again. Then he spread his legs slightly, raised his left arm sideways, and pulled the bow with his right arm, tilting the slingshot to a 45-degree angle to the horizontal.

This "slanted straight-arm swing" was an easy-to-master and accurate way to use a slingshot. Of course... a correct posture was just the foundation. It didn't mean that you could hit the target every time just by having a standard posture.

"Whew... such a big target, a distance of about seven meters, I can't miss this opportunity..." Feng Bujue straightened the rubber band, already aimed properly. "This way... one challenge will be con..."

As he said the word "con," his right hand released, firing the pellet. That small piece of mud suddenly changed at the moment it flew out of the pouch, turning into a perfectly round, earth-yellow glowing ball of light in the air.

Two seconds later, there was a bang. The ball of light hit... the ground.

"Dodo?" The dodo turned its head to look at the pit one meter away from it and let out a call in a rising tone. Then, it waddled its fat body and ran back into the forest.

"Tch... I missed..." Feng Bujue's expression didn't show much disappointment. He just calmly put away his slingshot and said, "Forget it... it's fate. Let's do another challenge first." With that, he whistled and set off again...