From Robinson Crusoe

As they set off towards the beacon high in the sky, Chen Zhou discussed with Paul whether they should avoid another group of challengers ahead.

Considering that the other party had a mount, and that the road to the beacon was exceptionally flat and suitable for the Great Deer to run, the two ultimately decided to take a detour to avoid being harassed by the other party.

……

Considering that the appearance of the beacon would inevitably attract challengers from all directions, Chen Zhou couldn't help but feel a little anxious.

He always took care of the three little saw-toothed tigers' feelings, and when he saw that they were uncomfortable being held, he would put them on the ground and let them walk on their own.

This time, ignoring the little ones' struggles and discontent, he tied them, along with his army cooking pot, deerskin blanket, hand axe, and other heavy items, to his back and then ran off at full speed.

Paul unloaded his burdens, carrying only his military knife and dressed lightly, thinking that this would allow him to keep up with Chen Zhou's pace. However, even so, Chen Zhou's speed and endurance were still far beyond his reach.

……

Chen Zhou is tall with long legs, takes big strides, and walks quickly; it's more like a jog than a walk.

He led the way with his head held high, while Paul simply followed behind.

For the first ten kilometers, Paul, who had received professional training, could barely keep up. But for the next ten kilometers, Paul struggled to keep up.

During this process, Chen Zhou slowed down many times to take care of Paul, and even helped Paul carry the military knife to minimize his burden.

By observing the position of the sun, Paul roughly estimated his speed of travel—

They walked twenty kilometers toward the beacon in less than an hour and a half.

It's worth noting that the world record for the 20km race walk is only 1 hour and 16 minutes, and the race walkers' course is flat and unloaded, which is incomparable to the uneven grasslands they walk on.

Chen Zhou's ability to maintain this speed while carrying tens of kilograms of weight, and to stop and wait for him multiple times, could easily break the world record.

Previously, Paul only felt that Chen Zhou's strength, speed, and sensory acuity were different from ordinary people. Now he realized that this guy's endurance was also far superior to that of ordinary people.

During his training in the reserve force, through the materials in the textbooks and the "secrets" told by the instructors, Paul heard that heroes who had completed a challenge could all demonstrate superhuman talents in different aspects.

Some people have exceptional jumping ability; some have amazing strength; some can hold their breath underwater for up to half an hour...

Each of them had their own strengths. Medical schools only needed to study their body structure, analyze their cells and unique DNA to break through many medical mysteries, manufacture some generic injections, and greatly improve the physical fitness of Soviet soldiers.

However, only one type of injection can be administered at a time, and even the most resilient soldiers can only tolerate two at most.

Soviet authorities had been trying to rationally combine all the injections to create a "simplified version of super soldier serum".

In retrospect, Chen Zhou is very likely the serum progenitor that the Soviet authorities have been dreaming of, and he is also an enhanced version of a super soldier, with physical abilities so strong that they can influence the overwhelming physical dominance of modern firepower.

Especially in combat zones where electronic equipment is susceptible to jamming, such soldiers can easily break in alone to carry out decapitation strikes, and even turn the tide of a small-scale conflict.

"Unfortunately, after this challenge ended, Chen Zhou returned to his own world, and we may never meet again..."

……

The forced march continued until dusk.

When the wild animals on the grasslands became active, dire wolves gathered, and predators such as giant hyenas, cave hyenas, and sawtooth tigers left their habitats, Chen Zhou and Paul finally stopped.

By this time they had traveled about 50 kilometers, but had not yet left the grassland; they were just closer to the distant mountains.

It is unknown what materials or technology were used in the beacon launched by the Time and Space Administration.

As the sun gradually sank below the horizon, the beacon hanging in the sky remained bright and dazzling, preventing the entire earth from entering darkness because of its presence.

Because of this unusual change, the animals on the grasslands seemed more irritable than usual, and even the usually calm mammoth herds were unusually uneasy.

Chen Zhou noticed that about 500 meters away from them, a male mammoth was using its trunk to wrap around the branch of a large tree, then pulling it down forcefully, breaking off the entire branch until the whole tree was stripped bare. Only then did it get close to the tree and use its tusks to push it down.

Realizing something was wrong with the elephant herd, Chen Zhou and Paul, who had originally planned to stay put, moved their camp to a higher mound.

Normally, to avoid the wind, the two would light a fire on the side of the mound, but this time, to make it easier to see the movements of wild animals around them, Chen Zhou set up the campfire on top of the mound.

There has been no rain on the grassland in recent days, and the wild grasses are all entering the end of their life. The entire grassland is particularly dry. Chen Zhou has to be especially careful when starting a fire, and he also has to dig a firebreak around the campfire to prevent it from starting a wildfire.

Whether the fire could harm him and Paul was another matter, but once it started, it would surely spread to most of the steppe and hinder their progress.

……

Even if it's only two or three meters higher, the wind speed on the grassland increases significantly.

The flames were bent over by the wind, providing only a little warmth, and even the water was boiling more slowly than usual.

As for lighting—

Tonight, and for the next two weeks, we probably won't need to worry about nighttime lighting anymore.

Although the "new sun" hanging in the sky does not radiate warmth, it is not much less bright than the sun.

The grassland after nightfall is not exactly as bright as day, but visibility within two or three hundred meters is not affected at all, which seems to provide convenience for all challengers to travel through the night.

Paul had been traveling all day, and his 2.3-meter height was not an advantage at this time, but rather a burden.

Tall and heavy people put a lot of strain on their joints when traveling, and the uneven terrain also puts pressure on their ankles.

During his rest, Paul looked visibly exhausted.

When he took off his shoes and poured out the sweat from his boots, Chen Zhou noticed that Paul's socks had holes in them and there was some blood on the soles of his feet, as if the soles of his feet had been rubbed raw.

Even so, Paul did not utter a single complaint, and even took the initiative to ask Chen Zhou if they could advance under the cover of night after resting for a while.

Without mounts, they were at a significant disadvantage compared to the other group of challengers in terms of long-distance travel, and would have to put in much more effort to be among the first to reach the airdrop location.

……

Looking at the chaos on the grassland, although he was tempted by the suggestion to travel through the night, Chen Zhou ultimately rejected Paul's proposal.

This is not a short sprint, but a long trail race. It is useless to gain a slight lead in the early stages by exhausting their bodies. They must maintain their condition in order to approach the airdrop at a steady speed.

As the saying goes, haste makes waste. Paul's foot is injured, and if he continues to walk, the injury will only get worse. If he delays, it will not only affect his speed, but the wound may also become infected and endanger his life. Taking a break is a good choice.

Moreover, the situation on the grassland was unstable at night, especially tonight, when wild beasts were particularly active. Chen Zhou could vaguely sense that a storm was brewing.

...The leftover antelope leg from the morning was stewing in the marching pot. Thanks to the cool autumn climate of the grassland, the meat had not spoiled after a day's march, only having a slightly rotten smell.

However, for the two burly men who were starving and whose eyes were practically glowing green, a little bit of strange smell was nothing.

As for the three baby saw-toothed tigers, they had no food yet and could only hope that Chen Zhou would catch any unsuspecting wild animals wandering around the mound at night.

After finishing the stew, Chen Zhou reminded Paul to disinfect his wound with alcohol to prevent infection.

Not wanting to hear this, Paul gave an awkward laugh.

He slowly pulled an alcohol bottle from his pocket, held it up slightly, and showed Chen Zhou the remaining alcohol. There was only a thin layer left, indicating that he had been drinking secretly again these past two days.

Shaking his head helplessly, Chen Zhou really didn't know how to advise his partner.

Alcohol is a life-saving substance, yet he treated it like a beverage, drinking it all down to satisfy his craving.

The key point is that this bottle of alcohol was a survival tool distributed to Paul by the Time and Space Administration, and he had no right to tell others how to use his things.

Looking back now, giving a Slavic drunkard a small bottle of strong "liquor" might just be the Time and Space Administration's twisted sense of humor.

Whether on a deserted island or in this brutal battle for survival, this unique sense of morbid humor is everywhere, sometimes like a test of humanity, and sometimes like simply watching for fun.

Even though Chen Zhou prided himself on knowing enough about the Time and Space Administration, he still couldn't understand why they did this.

"Is the pleasure of higher-dimensional beings really so low-level?"

……

Sensing that something unexpected might happen tonight, Chen Zhou again told Paul to go to sleep first, while he would take the lead in keeping watch.

Paul had been walking non-stop since he got up in the morning, and after finishing his meal, he was so sleepy that his eyelids were drooping. Knowing that he wouldn't be traveling tonight, he lay down on the deerskin blanket and fell asleep within ten seconds.

The three little sawtooth tigers were still hungry. When Chen Zhou was stewing the antelope leg, he took out the leg bone, broke it, and exposed the marrow to give the three little guys a treat.

Unfortunately, the leg bone was broken in two, leaving only two sections. The largest tiger cub, Big Brother, had one section all to himself, while Little Brother and Little Brother Three fought fiercely for the remaining section, howling in pain. Little Brother Three even scratched Little Brother Two's fur with his claws.

Seeing that his "third brother" showed no mercy, Tiger Second Brother also acted without hesitation, biting Tiger Third Brother's paw and refusing to let go. Tiger Third Brother cried out for mercy in pain, which alerted Chen Zhou, who then separated the two little ones.

Just then, Tiger Cub, having devoured the marrow from that bone segment, moved on to the remaining half of the leg bone.

As usual, the second and third tiger cubs didn't try to steal their eldest brother's food. Instead, they could only lick his saliva and savor the last bit of bone marrow. They looked as pitiful as could be.

Tiger Big Brother was much more carefree than his two younger brothers, as the bone marrow from his cooked leg bones was rich in fat.

After eating the marrow from a whole leg bone, its hunger was greatly relieved. Sniffing the cooking pot and realizing there was no food inside, the guy simply lay down next to Paul, not minding the noise of his snoring, and immediately closed his eyes and dozed off.

"Not very old, but full of bad intentions."

Seeing how comfortable Tiger Dawa was, Chen Zhou grabbed it by the scruff of its neck and lifted it up.

Facing Chen Zhou, Hu Da Wa was very obedient, knowing that it was useless to resist. He didn't even open his slightly closed eyes, looking like he was letting Chen Zhou rub him.

Just as Chen Zhou picked up the mischievous little creature and before he could even properly rub its fluffy belly, he suddenly heard a long roar like that of a mammoth.

The cry was exceptionally loud, coming from a place out of sight, yet it could resound across most of the grassland.

After the first elephant's call, a series of high-pitched calls from the herd followed, and then, two familiar figures appeared on the grassland illuminated by the cold light of the beacon—

It was that team of challengers who resembled ancient wandering knights!
Unlike their first meeting, this time the great antlered deer beneath them appeared unusually panicked, to the point that the two of them were somewhat unable to control it.

As the two appeared, three angry mammoths emerged on the night-shrouded grassland, one male and two females, striding closely behind the great elk.

The several giant beasts together weighed over ten tons, and when they trampled on the grass, Chen Zhou could clearly feel the earth tremble even from nearly two kilometers away.

"Damn it, are they crazy? They dare to mess with a mammoth?"

Just as Chen Zhou was marveling at the fearless spirit of this group of ancient people, he suddenly realized that they seemed to be heading towards him.

He couldn't help but turn and glance at the campfire beside him, cursing inwardly at how wicked those two were—

The firelight and the cold light of the beacon are not the same color. On the grassland at night, the bright yellow campfire can be seen from a distance.

The challengers headed straight for the mound, clearly intending to divert the trouble by luring the mammoth to their vicinity.

He and Paul didn't have mounts, so they couldn't ride deer like the others. If they were surrounded by three mammoths, no matter how capable he was, he would be crushed into mincemeat by the angry giants.

The problem is that even if he and Paul start dodging immediately, they might not be able to escape the challengers.

If he were alone, he could easily outrun the two men with his speed, but Paul didn't have his speed and stamina, and with his injured foot, it would be difficult for him to run.

……

After much deliberation, Chen Zhou put down Tiger Baby, his gaze becoming increasingly sharp.

"Since you are so ruthless, don't blame me for being ruthless in return."

He turned around, picked up the spear, and then took out the hand axe, the saber, and another kunai, hanging them on his belt.

Can't avoid it? Then take the initiative.

Chen Zhou intended to use his speed advantage to rush straight at the two challengers, then throw his spear, using both his kunai and saber as throwing weapons to kill their mounts.

With the death of the great stag, these two men, without his abilities, would certainly not have been able to escape the mammoth's pursuit.

The battle will then take place on the grassland far from the hill.

Although he was fighting two against one, his fighting ability actually increased after Paul was gone.

Moreover, this time there were mammoths "supporting" them. These huge creatures are not stupid. They recognize the humans who have angered them and will definitely target the other two during the battle.

In terms of combat effectiveness, mammoths are far superior to Paul. Not to mention their hard tusks, even a slight graze from their four- or five-ton bodies would be fatal or crippling.

……

Unable to find a foolproof plan in a short time, and worried that the two might lure the mammoths too close to the campfire, Chen Zhou immediately moved forward, advancing instead of retreating to meet the two large elk. (End of Chapter)