From Robinson Crusoe

The reason why extreme sports are called "extreme" is not only because they challenge the limits of human physiology and psychology, but also because they symbolize the belief that humanity will never give up and dare to move towards more distant goals.

Among the many extreme sports, diving is one of the most dangerous.

The famous Dahab Blue Hole in Egypt has claimed the lives of more than 200 divers, including the world record holder for freediving at 40 meters, and is known as the "Divers' Graveyard".

The Jacob Bury deep well in Texas, USA, has caused at least eight deaths.

During deep-sea diving, divers face nitrogen drowsiness at a critical depth of 40m. At this point, nitrogen dissolves the blood, causing confusion and, in severe cases, even coma. This prevents divers from accurately assessing their oxygen reserves, leading to oxygen depletion and death.

Other complex underwater caves, such as the Jacob Well, appear to be only 10 meters deep on the surface, but their tunnels lead to an underwater cave system that is 40 meters deep. When divers descend to 15 meters, they are sucked into the depths of the cave by the water pressure and lose their way.

Mexico's Devil's Cave is famous for its vertical entrance without steps and its dark and intricate passageways, earning it the nickname "Temple of Destruction" among divers.

The darkness, pressure, chaotic sense of space, dwindling oxygen, and ever-increasing pressure of the deep sea are like the whispers of a demon. Its danger creates a unique allure that draws divers from all over the world.

As a wealthy man who frequently engages in various extreme sports in search of thrills, Chen Zhou naturally wouldn't miss these "diving hotspots."

His name is known to all the "high-end players" in the industry.

After all, it is extremely rare for people to emerge alive from places like the "Diver's Tomb," "Jacob's Well," "Temple of Destruction," and "Same Island Cave," let alone "Chen," who is one of the very few people who successfully escaped after diving to depths of 40 meters or more.

All the professional and amateur enthusiasts in the field of deep diving are amazed by Chen's physical abilities, and what puzzles them even more is Chen's sense of direction and memory.

If the "archway" passage 56 meters underwater in the Dahab Blue Hole is the gate to hell where nitrogen drowsiness is frequent, then it tests the willpower of divers in their struggle against death.

The Jacob's Well and the Mexican Magic Cave are tests of one's sense of direction and memory.

When a person stays in deep water for a long time, they can no longer distinguish up from down, left from right, east from west, south from north.

Being in deep water, the vertical rock walls and stalactite formations in the cave can confuse even the most experienced divers, while the constant depletion of oxygen adds to their psychological stress.

The caves in the deep water are extremely dark, and the interior of the Mexican Magic Cave is even pitch black, with cave openings everywhere. Even divers who have brushed with death several times dare not go too deep.

But Chen Zhou can—

His red blood cells can hold more oxygen, and his body can adjust to a "low-power mode," which means he can stay in the water longer than the average person.

The world record holder for breath-holding has achieved a record of 24 minutes and 03 seconds, but this is contingent on inhaling a large amount of pure oxygen before holding one's breath and keeping the body still.

Chen Zhou can hold his breath for 20 minutes while fully engaged in the activity, without needing to inhale pure oxygen.

In addition, his exceptional physical abilities allow him to carry heavier oxygen tanks, which gives him more room for error.

Once underwater, his night vision ability acts like a headlamp, helping him see the structure inside the cave.

As for why he never gets lost, it's because he can memorize every corner, cave entrance, and fork in the road he passes.

His mechanical engineering background had long cultivated his exceptional spatial reasoning abilities, and after returning to the modern world and experiencing changes in his physical condition, his ability to quickly sketch and model was significantly enhanced.

As he swims through the side paths, he can visualize the entire structure of the cave in his mind with an error of no more than 20cm.

……

The Japanese ninja's intentions were very clear: they advanced towards the river several times, and even in their hasty dodges, they never forgot to adjust their direction.

Chen Zhou wasn't stupid; he had already seen through the treacherous Japanese soldier's attempt to swim into the river, but he didn't deliberately stop him because he was confident in his swimming skills.

As he predicted, what happened next was exactly what happened. The Japanese were indeed good swimmers, but they were still far behind professional freedivers, let alone competing with him, an outlier.

The rushing water could not shake his body, and the muddy silt could not obstruct his vision;

In the river, Chen Zhou could even detect the fishy, ​​pungent smell emanating from the Japanese ninjas—

The underwater world is his domain.

……

Grabbing Yokomae Munehiro by the neck, Chen Zhou pushed off the riverbed and leaped out of the water like he was carrying a chick, slamming the cunning Japanese ninja to the ground.

He was thrown face down into the mud by a tremendous force, and in a flash, Hengqian Zongguang only had time to reach out and brace himself.

With two sharp cracks, accompanied by Yokomae Munehiro's scream, his arms, which had been saved by the hand-armor hook, were completely broken.

Chen Zhou showed no pity. Fearing the Japanese ninja would escape, he dislocated the joint at his ankle before helping the critically injured Paul.

……

Chen Zhou had a very clear plan when he formulated the battle plan.

Paul was tall and strong, and could easily deal with Japanese ninjas or 45 yards in close combat.

However, his height of 2.3m also made him clumsy. Although Paul's athletic ability was considered normal compared to ordinary people, Japanese ninjas and size 45 were not ordinary people.

The Japanese ninja's slender physique and habit of always crouching and moving with light steps clearly indicate that he is extremely agile and has undergone specialized training for speed. Considering the ninja's usual use of hidden weapons and physical techniques, Paul's chances of winning a life-or-death battle with him are extremely low, and there is even a possibility that he will be killed quickly by having his throat choked.

While 45 yards may seem battle-hardened, judging from his physique, he is likely more focused on strength and his agility is certainly not comparable to that of a ninja. In a fight against him, Paul would likely have the upper hand.

It was after this consideration that Chen Zhou assigned the 45 yards to Paul.

However, one cannot tell what skills others have mastered by observing them with the naked eye, nor can one know how rich or poor their combat experience is.

Chen Zhou thought that all the participants in the challenge were of similar overall quality, and that he was an anomaly because he had accidentally wandered in. However, he did not expect that Paul was specially assigned to him as a "balance".

Despite his tall stature and military training, Paul is actually the only one among the two challengers who has no experience in life-or-death combat.

Although he received extensive training in the military, he did not possess any special skills or expertise in any particular area. To put it nicely, he was a well-rounded individual; to put it bluntly, he was a mediocre person with no outstanding qualities.

……

After charging aggressively down the hill, Paul's several thrusts all failed.

To be precise, his spear didn't even touch the hem of the American soldier's clothes, but the American soldier used this opportunity to see through his tactics.

In modern times, not everyone is skilled in using cold weapons, and even fewer people have been on the battlefield, killed people, or seen blood.

In the eyes of seasoned veterans, a naive person is like a blank sheet of paper.

Armed with a hand axe, Paul's situation immediately became precarious when American soldier James began to fight back. He struggled to parry the sharp hand axe, his wooden spear first having its tip chopped off, and then soon after being cut in two.

With only two "short sticks" left, Paul lost his advantage of being an inch longer and an inch stronger, and was completely forced into a passive defensive situation.

The wooden spears were far less sturdy than the metal hand axes and could not be used to block attacks head-on. In stark contrast to Chen Zhou's relentless advance, Paul's side was retreating continuously.

On several occasions, James's hand axe even pierced through the gaps in the short stick's defenses and struck Paul's arm guards.

If Chen Zhou hadn't made bone armor for Paul beforehand, these few blows alone would have rendered Paul incapable of fighting and then killed him.

……

Before the war, Paul had considered that he might not be able to defeat his opponent quickly, and that he might be suppressed by his opponent, but he never expected that he would be suppressed so badly by this American soldier who was shorter than him.

Fighting against humans is completely different from fighting against wild beasts.

Wild animals do not understand spears. They mistake these things, which can pierce them from a distance, for human limbs and recklessly retaliate against them, naively believing that this will harm humans.

Humans are far more agile and intelligent than wild beasts. More importantly, humans are well aware of the power of spears and know how to deal with such weapons.

Especially veterans like James, who have fought in piles of corpses, participated in underground boxing matches, and engaged in life-or-death struggles in private arenas.

If he hadn't been wary of Paul's robust physique and unable to find an opportunity to strike the Slavic man's vitals through the gaps in his armor, he would have ended the battle long ago.

Right now, he is using various feints to trick Paul into parrying, thereby exhausting Paul's stamina. During this time, he occasionally strikes the arm armor or belly armor with an axe, not to cause injury, but only to cut the vines securing the bone armor, paving the way for a fatal blow.

……

Faced with mounting pressure, Paul was already drenched in sweat in the dim light of the campfire.

At first, he could still see the trajectory of his opponent's attack and block using the fighting techniques taught by his instructor. However, as he held on for longer and longer, the short stick in his hand was cut shorter and shorter. He completely forgot all the techniques and only knew how to block based on instinct.

This frantic parrying was riddled with errors, and every few seconds, Paul would feel a jolt in his forearm—

That was caused by the axe blade striking the bone armor.

If Paul had time to look closely, he would have noticed that the bone armor strapped to his forearm had been cut with a 1cm deep dent. A few more blows and he would have lost the defense on his arm and would no longer be able to hold on.

Constantly reminding himself to stay calm, Paul wielded the short stick, now only 40cm long, recalling the close-quarters combat techniques his instructors had taught him.

In this emergency, he couldn't think of any brilliant solutions; he only knew that he had to find a way to get the weapon out of the American soldier's hand.

The reason he was able to withstand the attack so easily was that the American soldier's hand axe was made of a material far superior to his spear; as for fighting skills, they were secondary.

As long as he can remove or take away the American's weapon, his larger size and armor will allow him to at least fight to a draw and hold out until Chen Zhou defeats the Japanese ninja.

But the axe was firmly gripped in the other's hand, and the American soldier was very agile. He couldn't even hit the other's wrist, so how could he possibly take the axe away?

Paul was desperately looking for an opportunity.

but no.

The opponent was like a cat toying with a mouse; his every move was seen through, and every swing of his short stick was dodged in advance.

As his physical strength declined more and more, Paul knew he didn't have many more chances to try, so he chose a more risky approach.

With a shout of "Hurrah!", Paul pretended to swing his short baton, and as the American soldier dodged backward, he threw the baton as a throwing weapon, then fearlessly opened his arms and embraced James.

James never expected this big, simple-minded guy to have this trick up his sleeve. Caught off guard, he was grabbed by Paul, and his right hand, which was tightly gripping the axe, fell into Paul's hands.

Paul gripped James's wrist tightly, pressing the hand down to control the American soldier and prevent him from launching any further attacks. Then, using the momentum of his forward charge, he pressed all his weight onto his opponent.

As the saying goes, strength is never a disadvantage. James does have the advantage in terms of skill, but when it comes to close-quarters combat and tearing and grappling, even boxing champion Tyson would be helpless.

Clenching his left fist, James delivered two consecutive punches to Paul's kidneys—

This is a common tactic used by boxers to break through an opponent's guard. The force of the punch, which penetrates the skin and reaches the internal organs, causes severe pain, making it difficult for the opponent to maintain a defensive posture.

However, Paul's lower abdomen was covered by a layer of bone armor, and James's two punches not only failed to work, but also brought Paul even closer to his body.

Paul is 40cm taller than James, and his body width is almost twice that of James.

With their bodies so close, James's view was completely blocked by Paul's upper chest, and he could feel the immense force coming from his wrist, which made it impossible for him to raise his right hand.

"Fuck!"

Cursing inwardly, James only regretted that his previous fighting style was too conservative and that he had failed to quickly defeat this damned Slav, thus giving him an opportunity.

……

Close-quarters combat is a contest of strength, and once dragged into this arena, James could no longer toy with Paul as he had before.

He tried to raise his knee to strike Paul's groin, but Paul's stronger thighs blocked it firmly. The two fell to the ground in the mud and began to fight fiercely.

But no matter what methods James used, and no matter how Paul countered them, he never let go of the axe handle.

Paul never loosened his grip on James's wrist, even as James was running out of energy.

……

After just a few rolls, the two were covered in mud and water, looking like two mud figures.

With a more forward-thinking fighting strategy, James was able to conserve more energy. He could feel that the Slavs pressing down on him were becoming increasingly powerless, and the opportunity to counterattack seemed to be just around the corner.

However, Yokomae Munehiro's scream shattered all his illusions.

As James lay on the ground, he felt a tremendous force gripping his back.

Then, an unbelievable scene unfolded—

He, along with the Slavic man who was pressing down on him, was lifted up by this shorter, less robust-looking Eastern man.

The sudden feeling of weightlessness and the bizarre scene left even the battle-hardened James's mind blank.

He simply couldn't fathom what kind of monster this Eastern man was, or how he could possess such terrifying power that defied biological norms. (End of Chapter)