Chapter 736 - 41: Spoils of War (Part 2)
The good news is that so far, Tiger Third’s condition hasn’t deteriorated, and its breathing and heartbeat remain stable.
The bad news is that it hasn’t worsened or improved; it still can’t move, looks lethargic, and doesn’t even have the strength to tear at the meat offered to its mouth. It must be torn into small pieces and fed to it for it to barely swallow.
The splint made of wooden boards is ready. Paul’s leg was secured first, and then Tiger Third’s spine was carefully fixed.
The little guy now lies in the black robe, with eyes slightly open, looking at the sky and the "Clan Leader" beside it, eyes filled with both pain and a desire to live.
...
While waiting for the broth to finish simmering, Chen Zhou kept an eye on Tiger Third’s physical condition while playing with the blue bottle.
Just now, he discovered that when the blue bottle was rotated to a certain angle against the light, a line of complex and constantly changing patterns appeared inside the bottle wall. However, due to the unstable lighting in the Black Forest, he couldn’t clearly see what the pattern looked like before it disappeared.
Holding the small blue bottle and rotating it repeatedly over his head, Chen Zhou soon reproduced the phenomenon.
The pattern was like countless intertwined lines of light, rapidly flowing. As the light continued to pass through the bottle wall, the pattern gradually simplified and quickly took on a familiar shape to Chen Zhou—
Chinese characters.
Standard bold type, saying "Weak Regeneration Capsules," and if you kept looking, the pattern would further form into text resembling instructions, explaining the main effects and side effects of this bottle of capsules.
At this moment, Chen Zhou came to a sudden realization.
No wonder the Black-robed Man was able to endure a gunshot from him and still escape while injured; it was thanks to this capsule.
Suspecting that the small blue bottle, like his blue cube, was a storage tool with hidden mysteries, Chen Zhou opened the bottle cap, attempting to pour things out or even to fill the bottle with water, even trying to "communicate" with the bottle through thought, hoping it would release the contents within.
But the results were disappointing. Whatever trick he used, the small blue bottle behaved no differently than an ordinary glass bottle.
Besides showing different language instructions to different observers when transparent, it couldn’t even hold a few grams of water.
"Also, if there were a few capsules left, he wouldn’t have left them for me. He probably consumed them already..."
Though thinking this, Chen Zhou still couldn’t help but meticulously search the black robe, light armor, sheath, boots, pants, and even the Black-robed Man’s socks and underwear, hoping he had hidden the life-saving capsules there.
The search yielded nothing, and the flicker of hope Chen Zhou had just felt was extinguished.
...
However, although no medicine for treating Paul and Tiger Third was found on the Black-robed Man, Chen Zhou still saw the most promising path—
Airdropped supplies.
The preciousness of the supplies is bound to increase with the challenge level.
Chen Zhou is certain that the supplies in the Prehistoric World are definitely not small potatoes like the ones from lonely island blind boxes.
The challengers competing for supplies are just starting to arrive. He has already witnessed two deaths and one injury.
As more challengers arrive, the battle for supplies will intensify. It is entirely possible for several, even a dozen people, to die over supplies.
With so many lives and so many highly-skilled challengers, their deaths are sure to equate valuable items.
Chen Zhou speculates that the kind of regeneration capsule owned by the Black-robed Man is very likely to appear in the supplies.
Even before reaching the Black Forest, he was already filled with a possessive desire for the supplies.
Now with Paul and Tiger Third injured, although he lost some backup, Chen Zhou’s desire for competing for supplies has not lessened but grown even stronger.
Moreover, Paul’s inability to fight might not be a bad thing. Compared to other challengers, Paul’s combat power is significantly weaker. Letting Paul care for the Three-headed Saw-toothed Tiger while he acts solo might be more effective.
Additionally, having killed the Black-robed Man, he has acquired the Black-robed Man’s light armor and long saber, further boosting his combat power.
Unfortunately, that long bow was hardly used a few times since he got it, only to be rendered useless by the Black-robed Man.
Chen Zhou pondered to himself that if he encountered those Rangers again, and if they had already tamed their mounts, he might just return the long bow to them.
Perhaps the Brown Armored Man has a way to fix the long bow and if there’s a chance later, he could "borrow" the repaired long bow.
After all, a bow and arrow need to be used by someone.
...
The sky in the Black Forest darkens exceptionally quickly.
Before sunset, Chen Zhou and Paul finished eating the stewed camel meat, then poured the salty broth into a water pouch, reserving it for evening consumption.
To confuse other challengers entering the Black Forest, Chen Zhou used the long saber to further dismember the camel’s carcass, deliberately leaving the Black-robed Man’s footprints at the scene, erasing any traces of the battle that had occurred here.
After creating an illusion that the Black-robed Man had stayed here, killed a camel, and left after a solo barbecue, Chen Zhou didn’t spare the effort to go outside the Black Forest, dig a pit, and bury the Black-robed Man’s body in the dirt.
This way, latecomers would think that the first to enter the Black Forest was only the Black-robed Man, thus overlooking his and Paul’s existence, which would not let down Paul’s painstaking efforts—
While eating, Chen Zhou asked Paul why he didn’t call out loudly.
In fact, he had already tracked down to a position not far from the Black-robed Man. If Paul had made a sound sooner, he could have arrived faster, perhaps preventing Paul’s injury and Tiger Third’s paralysis.
Paul only said he hadn’t thought that far at the time, not even considering his survival. He just hoped the advantage they built together wouldn’t be lost because of him, or he would feel guilty.
As for Tiger Third, or should we say, the Three-headed Saw-toothed Tiger cub standing up, it was beyond Paul’s expectations too.
An adult beast would indeed help fight off enemies for clan members, but a Three-headed Saw-toothed Tiger cub is still young. At this stage, they are quite timid; they wouldn’t help upfront even if their mom was attacked, let alone humans who look different from them.
Thinking back, without the Three-headed Saw-toothed Tiger, Paul might have already died.
Of course, perhaps Tiger Third being seriously injured and Paul being slightly injured is the best outcome among many possibilities.
Given the Black-robed Man’s personality, if he first killed Paul, the Three-headed Saw-toothed Tiger might not have survived, leading to a massacre scene.
This is the consensus between Chen Zhou and Paul.
...
After camouflaging the scene, Chen Zhou and Paul moved the Three-headed Saw-toothed Tiger to the deep forest.
They luckily found a small "L"-shaped pit; the whole shallow pit was slightly recessed inwards, made entirely of semi-jade stone, shielding against wind and blocking light, preventing the campfire’s glow from being noticed by others.
After settling Paul and the Three-headed Saw-toothed Tiger in the pit and lighting a campfire, Chen Zhou left with a long saber and two shurikens.
Today’s fighting has delayed a lot of time, and now he knows nothing about the movements of other challengers. He must quickly find out if any new challengers have arrived and if anyone has entered the Black Forest.
Most importantly, he still left something in the forest—
A long bow and quiver.
If someone discovered these items, their presence would be exposed.
Now that it’s already dark, with visibility greatly reduced in the Black Forest, ordinary challengers won’t be able to move without torches unless they have night vision.
Taking advantage of this, he needs to retrieve the long bow and quiver quickly and explore the outskirts of the forest for the whereabouts of the other three challengers.
The situation has developed to the point where he can no longer allow too many people into the Black Forest.
Paul is in the forest; if discovered, his immobility would cost him his life.
Chen Zhou plans to drive back, severely injure, or kill anyone who enters the Black Forest outskirts, meanwhile moving Paul out from the other end of the Black Forest, to receive him outside the forest—
That place is far from the beacon. Other challengers entering the Black Forest wouldn’t deliberately detour a great deal to enter from the farthest point, making there the safest for Paul.
Once Paul is relocated, Chen Zhou would head directly below where the supplies would drop, trying his best to get the supplies first and leave here as fast as possible, escaping with Paul.
As long as he’s fast enough and can stop other challengers from approaching before the supplies land, leveraging their accumulated advantage as forerunners, they can fully accomplish this plan.
Once Paul is relocated, Chen Zhou would head directly below where the supplies would drop, trying his best to get the supplies first and leave here as fast as possible, escaping with Paul.
As long as he’s fast enough and can stop other challengers from approaching before the supplies land, leveraging their accumulated advantage as forerunners, they can fully accomplish this plan.