"Turn it on?"
These few words were so obvious for a cell phone.
But for some reason, since being stranded on the deserted island, Aya Yamagiwa had never thought about it.
After all…
"It's… already broken, right?"
Yes, a phone that has been waterlogged and has a cracked screen—how could it still work normally?
Wasn't that obvious?
But upon hearing Chuck's words, Aya Yamagiwa pressed the power button, almost against her will.
One second, two seconds.
See? No response, as expected.
But in the third second, the phone she thought was waterlogged and "broken" suddenly vibrated!
Then, to her disbelief, a familiar phone startup screen slowly appeared in the center of the display.
Accompanied by a short startup sound, her familiar phone wallpaper appeared.
It was a photo taken outside the Musashino Forest Sports Plaza with her graduated seniors after the National High School Spring Tournament last year.
She was standing in the center row of the photo, and next to her was a figure whose tall frame was partially obscured by other club members, only showing a small patch of blonde hair—that was Kaoru Kawano, who had specially come to cheer her on that day.
Aya Yamagiwa, who was used to seeing this photo every day, had subconsciously ignored this background image for a long time. But looking at the picture now, a sense of nostalgia surfaced in her heart.
It was then that she belatedly realized that she hadn't turned on her phone for days.
It actually… still worked.
She snapped out of it, a sudden surge of joy in her heart. She abruptly looked up at Chuck and bowed to him again, this time much more solemnly.
"Thank you for reminding me, Mr. Chuck."
The significance of having a usable phone on a deserted island was immense. Having believed her phone was useless, she felt as if she had suddenly found a treasure. Therefore, this thanks was completely heartfelt, and her bow was deeper.
Her tanned, upright double peaks naturally hung down, and the dark cleavage earned another nod of appreciation from Chuck.
This girl, though seemingly a tomboy, was undeniably too big… Oh no, too polite.
Seeing the screen suddenly light up, Chuck smiled and waved his hand. Then, he also pulled out his phone from his pocket.
"Don't be too happy yet. I have some bad news for you."
"…"
As Aya Yamagiwa's smile slowly froze, Chuck roughly explained the strange phenomena concerning cell phones on this island, including the rules about the battery not draining and the ability to communicate freely within the island.
Clearly, this explanation was like a bucket of cold water poured over Aya Yamagiwa's head.
The smile on her face solidified. She initially couldn't believe Chuck's astonishing words, but when he called her number with his phone, and they mutually connected face-to-face, the call lasted for five minutes from startup, yet the phone battery still remained at 100%…
No matter how shocking, Aya Yamagiwa had no choice but to believe.
Her eyes were glazed over. She slowly put the phone back into her pocket, her mind blank.
Chuck didn't find her reaction strange; he simply waited quietly for her to recover.
After all, this was the first time she had encountered a supernatural phenomenon in eighteen years. The fact that a high school girl could react so calmly, without screaming, was already commendable.
The jungle remained stiflingly hot. Chuck waited. Finally, after a long while, Aya Yamagiwa, whose forehead and collar were now drenched in sweat, slowly looked up, her gaze complex as she looked at Chuck.
She suddenly asked a profound question.
"Mr. Chuck, so the rescue team… is definitely not coming?"
Aya Yamagiwa was indeed clumsy, or bukiyō. In Kaoru Kawano's words, she was a volleyball idiot. But her mind was not slow; in fact, she possessed observational and judgmental skills far surpassing the average person.
In critical moments, she could always timely and accurately grasp the situation. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been the setter—the team's perceived field general—in the girls' volleyball club at school, the publicly acknowledged core player who led the team all the way to the national tournament.
Upon hearing her question, even Chuck was somewhat surprised. He once again appraised the seemingly honest, tall, busty, short-haired athletic girl in front of him.
She developed excellent observation and judgment skills because she was bad at social interaction?
Chuck rubbed his chin and smiled slightly.
This girl seemed more capable than he had imagined. And… perhaps she would get along well with Gu Mòmo?
He paused for a moment, not answering directly, but simply shaking his head gently.
"I don't know either."
Although Chuck knew more about the bizarre and baffling situation—he was practically certain that this place was completely cut off from the outside world—Chuck still had no idea why.
Hearing this, Aya Yamagiwa slowly lowered her head, and a look of sadness suddenly appeared on her neat features.
Her shoulders suddenly shook. She squatted on the spot, burying her face in her knees, and began to sob uncontrollably.
Seeing this, Chuck remained silent.
After she had cried enough, Aya Yamagiwa finally raised her head. The hair at her temples was soaked with sweat. Her nose and eyes were red-rimmed. She wiped away her tears and slowly stood up.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Chuck, I…"
"It's alright, no need to explain."
Chuck smiled, waving his hand to interrupt her.
"In any case, you have my phone number now."
As he spoke, he raised his hand and pointed in the direction of the distant swamp.
"My companions and I are settled in the eastern part of the island, not too far from here. I'll send you the exact location by text message later."
"If you need any help in the future, feel free to contact me anytime."
With that, Chuck smiled, nodded, and turned to leave without any fuss.
For those who were abrasive, he would hit hard. For those with ill intentions, he would keep his distance.
Likewise, for those who made him feel comfortable after just a few words, and those he genuinely admired, Chuck would not be stingy with his goodwill.
This wasn't a double standard; it was the composure of the strong.
"…"
Aya Yamagiwa looked at Chuck's retreating figure. She opened her mouth but ultimately didn't have time to say another thank you.
After his figure disappeared into the jungle, she slowly lowered her head, looking at the number she had just saved on her phone screen, and a slight smile curved her lips.
She then gently tapped the screen, changing the contact name to—Mr. Chuck.
It wasn't until the noon sun rose high in the sky again that Chuck finally traversed the rocky beach and descended toward the stone slope platform.
It was worth noting that before leaving Southwest Bay, Chuck had also found the stream of running water, quietly and slowly flowing through the jungle.
Chuck followed the flow upstream and, sure enough, found that it flowed down from the cliff face on the northwest side of the bay.
And above that cliff, about ten meters high, was the area Chuck currently could not reach—the tropical dense forest.
This time, he spent the entire morning exploring almost every corner of Southwest Bay. The only valuable resources he found were a few oil palm trees and one tall Dipterocarp tree.
Although Southwest Bay was indeed rich in natural resources, these resources mainly consisted of coconut trees, banana trees, and various wild fruits and edible root plants. It was certainly easy for beginners like Jasmine Tang to survive here.
But for Chuck, he no longer had much need for wild fruits and vegetables.
Conversely, when Chuck followed the stream to the base of the cliff, the effect of the Master Botanist talent was triggered again.
Several unfamiliar and new signals were all coming from the dense forest above the cliff!
This meant that, unlike the resource-rich bay, that vast tropical dense forest likely contained countless resources that were truly valuable to Chuck!
Thus, his desire to increase his strength and defeat the black bear grew even stronger. Fortunately, with the end of this exploration trip, Chuck had finally taken the first step in his new, long-term plan.
He had the resin. Now, it was time to officially start making Molotov cocktails!
His pace naturally quickened. It was just around lunchtime. Chuck traversed the steep slope of the cliff and returned to the stone slope platform.
As soon as he stepped off the ramp, Chuck saw tendrils of steam rising from outside the wooden cabin. He raised an eyebrow and quickly walked over.
"Ah! Darling is back~"
Julia, the bombshell, was only wearing her underwear and denim shorts. Her whole body was glistening with sweat, making her even hotter and more alluring. She rose from the steaming pot, a look of delight on her flushed face. She ran over with her long, pale legs.
Then, as always, she rammed him with her breasts, diving into Chuck's arms, wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist, and kissing him passionately.
Their relationship had long passed the point of being formal, so Chuck certainly didn't hold back. With both hands cradling her round, tender buttocks tightly encased in the shorts, he indulged in savoring the bombshell's soft, fragrant tongue. After a long, lingering moment, they reluctantly separated, their foreheads touching, smiling at each other.
"Busy?"
"Of course~"
Julia's long golden eyelashes fluttered. A smug smile curved her red lips. Then, as always, she leaned into his ear, her voice one-third teasing and seven-tenths tender.
"Even though I'm your little bitch, I'm also a capable little bitch, you know~ Don't underestimate me!"
"Haha, true indeed."
Chuck laughed. He then set the little blonde goofball down, rubbed her head, and walked over to the steaming, bubbling clay pot.
Inside the pot, a bundle of trunk fibers was slowly turning over and losing color, the individual fibers gradually separating.
Next to the clay pot, on a simple drying rack made of wood sticks and vines, an entire row of clearly boiled fibers was neatly hanging, dripping with water.
Chuck walked up, casually took down a handful of trunk fibers, which felt quite soft to the touch.
He put them into the Workbench, and, as expected, the Synthesis Hint appeared.
[Boiled Fiber x10: Trunk fiber that has been boiled. Tough yet soft. 3 portions of fiber can be woven to synthesize 1 portion of Crude Cord. Synthesis Time: 10 minutes]
Not bad.
Seeing the Synthesis option finally light up, Chuck nodded with satisfaction.
This one handful was a full ten portions of fiber. The total amount on this drying rack was easily in the hundreds. Even at a three-to-one ratio, the number of cords he could get would be substantial.
The only drawback was the sheer quantity. Since each synthesis took ten minutes, completing everything would require a lot of time.
Fortunately, Chuck now had a total of four work queues, allowing him to run multiple processes in parallel. He could even consider leaving one queue free to handle other synthesis needs at any time.
He immediately placed nine portions of fiber into the Workbench, occupying three queues for the first synthesis. Only then did Chuck turn around and smile at Julia.
"Well done."
"Hehe, it's not all my credit."
Julia, praised by Chuck, didn't claim all the credit. She explained with a cheerful laugh.
"Darling was too rough with me this morning, so I only woke up just now. Only what's in the pot right now is what I cooked."
She pointed to the pot, then raised her small hand and pointed to the wooden cabin behind her.
"The ones on that rack are from Gu and the little sister. Of course, most of it is Gu's work."
Chuck nodded, not surprised.
After all, he had entrusted this task to Gu Yitong before he left. He just hadn't expected her efficiency to be quite so surprising.
She truly was a former career woman, capable even on a deserted island.
"Is she inside?"
"M-hm. It's so hot today, and she was probably exhausted, so I let her rest first."
"Oh?"
Hearing Julia's words, Chuck raised an eyebrow, a hint of surprise in his eyes.
"Julia, why do I feel like your attitude towards her has been better lately? You used to treat her like a dog."
"Uh…"
Suddenly called out by Chuck, Julia, who was still sweating profusely as she leaned over the pot, showed a strange look of embarrassment on her small face.
She raised her small hand, smoothing the fine hair damp with sweat at her temples. Her blue eyes looked at Chuck with a slight, playful glare, then she spoke helplessly.
"Alright, you saw right. I didn't like Gu before, but that was because her attitude towards you was so bad. So, setting that aside… honestly, she's not an annoying person."
Julia continued speaking while stirring the pot with a wooden ladle, clearly feeling a little awkward.
There was another reason she couldn't bring herself to say: the dream she had a few nights ago.
But she didn't know that Chuck, who had witnessed that dream from beginning to end, guessed this underlying reason without her having to speak.
His heart stirred. He took two steps forward, wrapped his arms around Julia's exposed white waist, and with the other hand, fiercely squeezed the jade rabbit supported by her bra, once again kissing and ravaging her unrestrainedly.
Being constantly nourished by the energy essence, Julia's skin was even smoother and more delicate than before. Her entire body exuded an alluring female hormone scent. One could say she became more womanly the more they did it.
Chuck continued his ruthless kissing and kneading, quickly leaving the bombshell breathless and panting until he was satisfied and let her go.
"It's very hot today. Don't overexert yourself. Start preparing lunch after you finish boiling this last pot."
"…Darling!"
Chuck was about to step into the wooden cabin when Julia suddenly called out to him.
"You're going to have to use some force later… make her scream louder, okay?"
Chuck turned around, startled, and saw her looking at him with eyes full of desire and a highly suggestive look on her face.
"That way, I won't be bored while I'm cooking outside~"