Compared to upgrading the tech tree, solving basic life support issues was more critical.
As the Simple Kiln was upgraded to an Advanced Kiln, its internal space almost doubled.
Chuck eagerly placed the pre-prepared water vat inside; it fit just perfectly.
[Facility "Advanced Kiln" detected materials added—Unfired Water Vat] [Kiln temperature has reached firing standard. Estimated firing time: 6 hours. Start production?]
Six hours meant waiting another afternoon, with the firing completing around evening.
This was a perfect time for Chuck to head back to the Swamp Wetland and bring back a Sago palm log.
If all went well, he might be eating the long-anticipated meat patty sandwich tonight!
Chuck, as usual, brought his axe and secured a bone knife to his waist, intending to travel light.
Before leaving, however, Chuck instructed Julia to use the afternoon while he was away to take Gu Yitong and continue digging for clay with the bamboo tubes.
Chuck planned to fire at least two large-capacity water vats so that water storage and starch washing could be done without interfering with each other. Afterward, he still needed to prepare utensils (a dog bowl) for the Gu mother and daughter, and the materials for upgrading the smelter also required clay and clay bricks.
So, taking the opportunity to dig for more clay was always a good idea.
It was also a chance for Julia to get used to directing Gu Yitong, and for Gu Yitong to get used to obeying the former's commands.
After all, as the Mistress, she occasionally needed to help discipline the doggy.
Chuck stepped lightly up the steep slope, traversed the stone beach, crossed the Redwood Forest, and arrived once again at the Swamp Wetland.
The python's corpse had completely decomposed. Fortunately, Chuck had deliberately dumped it deep in the swamp, far from their route, but getting close still brought a sickening smell of rot.
The ground was still muddy. Chuck passed through large patches of reeds and finally found the small cluster of short, stout Sago palm trees again.
Although these trees weren't tall, their trunks were exceptionally thick, containing a large amount of starch-rich sap.
Chuck located the one he had previously marked with a small handprint. It was relatively short among this cluster of Sago palms, about 1.5 meters tall, but nearly half a meter in diameter.
Chuck made a rough estimate and realized with a headache that even this smaller Sago palm trunk likely weighed close to 150 kilograms…
That was almost double his body weight!
Although the redwoods Chuck had previously cut down were not much different in weight, the problem was that this was a swamp. Moreover, the Sago palm trunk was naturally soft and fragile. Rolling it on the ground would likely result in the loss of a large amount of sap, and he would also have to clean the mud stuck to it later.
Therefore, the best way was to cut it down and carry it on his shoulder all the way back to their home base.
This would be an unprecedented test of Chuck's physical endurance.
However, upon realizing this, Chuck did not look troubled. Instead, he seemed eager to try.
Before being stranded, Chuck maintained a habit of exercising, but mostly outdoor cardio like running, cycling, and swimming. He didn't frequent the gym, but he had attempted some heavy-weight strength training with friends.
Based on Chuck's original physical fitness, his maximum squat weight was around 120 kilograms. While this might be nothing to gym veterans, it was excellent for an average person focused on outdoor sports.
Now, Chuck's physical attributes had improved by 40% across the board, so the calculated weight he could handle was just over 150 kilograms.
Carrying a 150 kg barbell for a squat was one thing, and carrying a 150 kg log for a long journey was another. However, both required powerful core muscles—in other words, body stability.
Simply put, as long as Chuck could lift it and stand steady, even if he rested a few times in between, he was confident he could carry the log back.
But regardless, he wouldn't know until he tried.
So, Chuck took out the flint axe, preparing to chop down the tree.
But at that moment, his body froze. His gaze sharply turned towards the reeds beside him, his eyes suddenly filled with alertness.
Chuck's perception, enhanced by the Blue Elixir, was far superior to before, allowing him to easily catch the slightest movement in the surroundings.
Just now, he clearly felt something slowly approaching him from behind that patch of reeds…
Could it be another python??
At that moment, Chuck had no mind for chopping trees. He gripped the axe tightly, his concentration soaring. His muscles tensed, and he instantly entered a state of combat readiness.
The last time, that big snake made him look so pathetic. This time, he must—
But just as Chuck was thinking this, a slender hand suddenly emerged from the reeds.
The hand parted the reeds, and the next moment, a voice that was both unfamiliar and strangely nostalgic suddenly rang out.
"…Is that Chuck?"
Chuck slowly straightened up, the expression on his face shifting from icy to stunned in a very short moment.
He tucked the flint axe behind his back, staring wide-eyed at the figure slowly emerging from the reeds.
"Ms. Tang?!"
Chuck rarely spoke of his family to others, but strictly speaking, his parents were decent guardians.
Although they were traditional Chinese parents with stable jobs and income, providing Chuck with an environment where he was sufficiently fed and clothed, it was precisely because of this that Chuck's youth, like many children from such ordinary families, was spent growing up under extreme pressure to succeed.
To be honest, if a person had no great expectations for their own life, why push their child to achieve extraordinary success?
Unfortunately, his parents didn't understand this, and even believed everything they did was for his own good. Consequently, Chuck was extremely introverted until university, so much so that he dared not speak loudly when facing strangers.
In the crucial summer before his last year of high school, Chuck's mother hired a tutor for him, supposedly a student from a nearby prestigious normal university, to tutor him in his weak subject: English.
Chuck soon met her.
Her features were delicate, and she was entirely unlike the heavily made-up university girls he had imagined. She wore no makeup, just like a high school girl, with her hair tied in a ponytail. She was slender, dressed plainly, and exuded an intellectual yet gentle older sister aura.
To Chuck, who was only seventeen at the time and experiencing his first stirrings of romance, this was fatal.
Therefore, the moment he met this tutor, Chuck was smitten.
Of course, Chuck was under the double pressure of his parents and his studies back then. Even if he was smitten, he dared not show it. He could only keep his feelings silently hidden, taking every tutoring session seriously.
As the summer passed, he looked forward more and more to the next session.
Towards the end of summer, with the nightmare of his final year of high school looming, Chuck suddenly realized during the last tutoring session that if he didn't confess now, he might never have the chance to see her again and would regret it for the rest of his life.
He knew his parents often peeked through the door of his bedroom, so Chuck didn't dare speak the words directly. Instead, he used writing, hiding his feelings at the very end of his practice test paper.
As for what happened afterward…
Even now, Chuck didn't want to recall it.
After that incident, Chuck, who had previously been a top student with a chance to get into a top university, completely gave up. His personality gradually changed from an obedient, reserved good student to an outgoing social butterfly. In the end, he just managed to scrape into a mediocre university.
After graduation, Chuck was even more unrestrained, skipping classes, drinking, chasing girls, and fucking around, adopting the philosophy that the main point of living was to be happy. Finally, through an introduction from a friendly senior two years ahead of him, he managed to find a decent job, despite nearly failing to graduate on time.
After starting work, Chuck's relationship with his parents softened, but they still rarely contacted each other, only making occasional calls to check in, maintaining the bare minimum of family ties.
Honestly, from a certain perspective, Chuck was somewhat grateful for that day's experience.
If it hadn't been for that day, which made him feel such an overwhelming humiliation, Chuck wouldn't have figured some things out. He would likely still be that introverted and insecure person. He might have attended a good university and had an impressive degree, but his life might not have been dignified, and he certainly wouldn't have been happy every day.
Of course, these matters were now irrelevant to him, stranded on a deserted island.
Today, Chuck had work to do, pussy to fuck, and had awakened a cheat system, living life like a porn game on an uninhabited island, leveling up and fighting monsters.
In his heart, he had completely cut ties with his former world and his former life.
But he never imagined that after all this, he would actually encounter the woman who had completely changed his life on this deserted island.
Tang Yumò.
Chuck stood his ground. After only a brief moment of staring, he quickly regained his composure.
His gaze swept over her.
Undoubtedly, this was Ms. Tang Yumò, who had once been his English tutor and could be considered the first person he was infatuated with—his so-called "White Moonlight."
After all these years, her appearance and demeanor had barely changed. She looked almost exactly as she did as a university student, except her ponytail was replaced by a neat, chin-length bob, and the intellectual aura around her was even stronger.
She wore a light brown sleeveless cotton linen vest on top and loose, wide-leg trousers below. Her white feet were clad in a pair of straw sandals that looked somewhat worn, suggesting she had been walking in them for a long time.
As for her figure, it was fuller than before. While generally slender, she was well-endowed where it mattered. Although it was hard to tell through the vest, a conservative estimate would put her at a C-cup or higher.
Clearly, this was vacation attire.
No wonder. He didn't expect her to be a passenger on the same flight as him…
Wait, no, that's wrong.
Chuck retracted his gaze, his brow furrowing tightly.
He deliberately chose a university in another province, hundreds of kilometers from his hometown, to distance himself from his parents. After graduation, he found a job locally.
How did Ms. Tang end up on the same plane as him?
"It's you! How did you end up here?"
As Chuck pondered this, Tang Yumò stepped through the muddy ground, inching closer to him. The expression on her face gradually shifted from surprise to delight.
On a deserted island, running into someone you once knew was always better than encountering a stranger.
At the same time, her eyes held deep astonishment.
She looked up, similarly scrutinizing the strong young man in front of her.
His height was definitely over 1.8 meters, and he had a strong, athletic build with healthy, tanned skin.
Although his features were the same as the timid boy she remembered, his physique, build, and the overall aura he projected were entirely different.
Based purely on appearance, he already met her criteria for a partner.
Tang Yumò blinked. Her heart inexplicably beat faster at that moment.
She never expected that little boy to turn out like this…
What had he been through all these years?
"I was sent on an overseas business trip for work and unexpectedly survived a plane crash, drifting here by luck."
Chuck spoke unhurriedly, the emotion in his eyes slowly calming down.
Now, reuniting with the woman who had first made his heart flutter was surprisingly uneventful.
After all, Chuck was currently surrounded by many beauties—an ultimate foreign bombshell, a contrasting mature MILF-doggy, and an obedient little Loli. Compared to the three of them, this suddenly appearing "White Moonlight" held no special attraction, honestly.
If anything, it was just her intellectual aura and the nostalgic filter of Chuck's youthful, innocent memories.
"I see."
Hearing Chuck's words, Tang Yumò nodded, enlightened, and showed an emotional smile.
"What a coincidence…"
She mused for a moment, then took two steps forward and lightly patted Chuck's arm, adopting a relaxed expression. She spoke with the same gentle, senior-like tone as in the past.
"Anyway, come with me, Chuck. Let's find a better place to talk."
As soon as she finished speaking, Tang Yumò turned and walked ahead, heading towards the direction she had appeared from, without giving Chuck a chance to argue.
Chuck raised an eyebrow, did not hesitate, and followed her.
Although his purpose for this trip was to bring back a Sago palm log, it was still early, and the water vat wouldn't be finished until evening.
It was a good time for him to reminisce about the past.