Chen Mo woke up in the morning and sensed that there was one less heartbeat in the survivors' camp.
When he arrived, he discovered the old man had already passed away. Looking at the expression on his face, he didn't appear to be in pain—it seemed he had left unknowingly in his sleep.
After Chen Mo's arrival, the survivors gradually woke up. Upon learning of the old man's death, everyone was extremely saddened.
They had been lucky enough to survive the plane crash together, struggling to stay alive on this deserted island. Only recently, with Chen Mo's help, had their lives improved. Even if rescue never came, they could live well on the island.
Just when life finally had hope, the old man hadn't been able to hold on to the end.
Looking at the old man's body, everyone's eyes reddened. The two young girls were so heartbroken they shed tears.
Although the old man's poor health meant he rarely acted with them and they hadn't interacted much with him, he was still their companion whom they depended on. For death and separation, the two young girls weren't psychologically prepared and didn't know how to face it.
Su Wan, who had been the old man's secretary, also shed tears of sadness, her almond eyes crying until they were red. But she didn't seem to have that sense of being unable to accept the sudden loss of someone close—the feeling Chen Mo got from her was relatively calm.
As it turned out, the old man's physical condition had actually been very poor all along. Even with medication, according to the doctor, he could have a sudden attack and pass away at any time.
The doctor's original recommendation had been hospitalization for recuperation, which could have extended his life for a while longer. But the old man hadn't wanted to spend the last moments of his life in a hospital bed.
So, after transferring all company matters to his son, the old man had begun the final journey of his life with Su Wan and his bodyguard.
What they hadn't expected was that fate would play a joke on them—their planned Hawaiian island vacation had turned into a thrilling survival ordeal on a deserted island.
The old man had been very philosophical about this, believing it was fate's arrangement. Being able to experience a near-death escape from a plane crash and surviving, experiencing real and dangerous survival on a deserted island at the end of his life—it could be considered a life well-lived.
At least it was much more interesting than his originally planned island vacation.
At life's end, having come to terms with everything with nothing left to hold onto, the old man had passed peacefully.
Although Su Wan was sad, she had already prepared herself to see the old man off when they left on this trip. Though his passing was sudden, it wasn't unacceptable to her.
However, Su Wan felt somewhat lost about what came next. Since graduation, she had been working at the old man's company. Over the years she had worked diligently, and the old man had valued her highly, making efforts to cultivate her. In her eyes, the old man wasn't just her boss but also a close elder.
Now that the old man had passed, she didn't know what she should do in the future. But then she immediately realized—given her current situation, she didn't even know if she could return. What meaning was there in thinking about such things?
Regardless, the elder who had always guided her direction and led her growth was gone. The remaining path she would have to walk herself.
Having come with the intention of completing his life's final journey, the old man had naturally explained his funeral arrangements to Su Wan long ago. Following the old man's previous decision, everyone cremated his body and scattered his ashes into the ocean.
Thus, including Chen Mo, only seven plane crash survivors remained on the island.
After the grief, life had to continue.
Life on the island returned to its previous calm. The survivors fished and gathered every day, busy yet fulfilled. When the catch was good, they could even leisurely rest at camp in the afternoon. Without the threat of hunger and cold, life on the island wasn't so unbearable anymore.
Another week passed, and Chen Mo's space finally changed again.
Today, the survivors who had good catches returned to camp early.
While the survivors were processing food at camp, preparing dinner in advance, at another camp, Chen Mo stood fully equipped on the clearing in front of his tent, slowly projecting his consciousness into his spatial storage.
The cubic space, whose sides had grown to five meters, saw its originally void boundaries gradually become transparent. Through the spatial boundary, that familiar starry sky appeared before Chen Mo's eyes once again.
Like last time, what appeared outside the space were still two bright light spheres. They represented two spaces he could traverse to.
Chen Mo skillfully and methodically projected his consciousness onto the first light sphere.
In the Underworld world, Chen Mo's mental power had improved considerably. The images received in his mind were now much clearer than last time, though still very fragmented and chaotic—he could only see brief flashing scenes.
But this was already enough, because among these numerous fragmented images, what appeared most frequently were groups of ragged, staggering figures. The much clearer images allowed Chen Mo to recognize them at a glance—the living dead, or rather, zombies!
Cities, suburbs, roads, houses—their figures could be seen almost everywhere. It seemed the entire world had been completely occupied by them.
Possessing an immortal body and perfect blood, Chen Mo wasn't afraid of the zombie virus. But he didn't know this world's level of technological development or the time period he would traverse to.
Chen Mo had seen quite a few zombie films. If it was the "Resident Evil" series, then the T-virus and Umbrella Corporation's technology would have some value. But if it was like "I Am Legend," where after traversing he would be greeted by a world completely occupied by zombies, then this traverse would be meaningless.
Others like "World War Z" or "Train to Busan" had no traversal value whatsoever.
Every traverse was precious to Chen Mo. From the images received, he temporarily couldn't determine which film world this was. But clearly, unless absolutely necessary, Chen Mo wouldn't choose here.
Withdrawing his consciousness, Chen Mo projected it onto the remaining light sphere.
The moment his consciousness touched the light sphere, Chen Mo felt a strange sensation that was unfamiliar yet somewhat familiar emanating from it. As images entered his mind, a smile couldn't help but appear at the corner of Chen Mo's mouth.
Because within them he saw a dazzling gold-and-red figure flying high in the sky.
"Iron Man!"
That distinctive iron suit directly revealed everything to Chen Mo. Clearly, this light sphere connected to the world of Iron Man. As for which specific film, Chen Mo wasn't yet clear. But undoubtedly, that iron suit would be very useful to Chen Mo now.
With it, Chen Mo would possess the ability to leave the deserted island at any time. After all, he couldn't stay on this island forever.
Even if rescue came, he could only hide and couldn't leave with them, because doing so would inevitably expose his identity. And other vehicles that could help him leave the island and reach land were all too large for his current space to contain.
By the time his space expanded to sufficient size, or he obtained other more advanced vehicles, who knew how long that would take.
But with this iron suit it would be different. Setting aside the suit's combat and defensive capabilities, its flight ability alone was no less than the formidable F-22 Raptor fighter jet, with flight speeds exceeding Mach 2. Wearing it, Chen Mo could go anywhere he wanted.
What made Chen Mo happy wasn't just obtaining the powerful, advanced iron suit. More importantly, at the moment he touched the light sphere, that sense of familiarity arose.
Although he hadn't obtained more information from the images received in his mind, Chen Mo felt this world was very likely the continuation of the first world he had gone to—the Captain America world. It was an Iron Man world that had changed through his intervention, not the original film world.
Otherwise there was no way to explain that strange feeling of familiarity mixed with unfamiliarity.
Of course, these were still just Chen Mo's speculations. He would have to enter this world and verify it personally to know for certain.
However, since it was Iron Man's world, Chen Mo's current appearance was somewhat inappropriate.
Withdrawing his consciousness from the space, Chen Mo removed the armor mask on his head, took off the gun holster with the pistol strapped to his thigh, and stored them in his space along with the Sword of Kings and vibranium shield.
This way, Chen Mo looked like just a tall young man wearing black tactical gear. Even appearing in a city wouldn't cause unnecessary trouble.
Although the previous two traversals had placed him in unpopulated areas, Chen Mo didn't dare guarantee this time wouldn't be an exception. Being careful was always right.
After finishing preparations, Chen Mo once again projected his consciousness into his space and couldn't wait to choose to traverse.
A flash of white light passed, and Chen Mo's figure disappeared from the clearing in front of the tent.
When Chen Mo's figure appeared again, he was in a huge office.
Looking at this familiar place, the corners of Chen Mo's mouth couldn't help but curve upward.
This was precisely where he had left the Captain America world—the commander's office of Hydra's top-secret Norwegian base. Everything here wasn't much different from when he left. Even the placement of items on the desk was basically unchanged.
However, from subtle traces one could tell that many things in the room had been replaced with new ones.
Walking around the large desk, Chen Mo sat down in the chair that looked exactly like before.
"Not the same one from before, but more comfortable."
Sitting in the chair, Chen Mo carefully examined this familiar office, couldn't help but feel like he was in another lifetime.
Opening a drawer, Chen Mo took out a document placed on top.
Although the paper had yellowed, the writing on it was still clear. After glancing at it, Chen Mo put it back.
He could now confirm this was his previous office. This document was one he had placed in the drawer after reading. He still remembered the document's content—it was completely correct.
And judging from the degree of yellowing of the paper, a long time must have passed.
It seemed his guess was correct. This world with Iron Man had developed from the original Captain America world. It was no longer the original Iron Man film world. He just didn't know how much it had changed compared to the films.
Temporarily setting aside the doubts in his mind, Chen Mo looked up at the office desk. On the left side of the desk was installed a call communicator, with each button corresponding to the person in charge of a different Hydra department.
And now the indicator light on the communicator was lit, indicating it could be used normally.
Without much hesitation, Chen Mo directly reached out and pressed the leftmost call button.
Below the button, a label bore a name.
"Eddie."