From Robinson Crusoe

The withered yellow grass still stood upright with its sturdy stems, densely packed among the snow.

The sky was overcast with many dark clouds, making it appear gray and gloomy.

The wind never stops, passing through mountains and forests and across wilderness.

Tiger Cub's spotted fur fluttered in the wind, drifting backward.

It stood upright, gazing into the distance from a rock half-buried in the ground.

Tiger Two and Tiger Three followed closely behind Chen Zhou.

They lit a bonfire on the riverbank.

……

In early winter, the river was not yet frozen, but it was already bone-chillingly cold.

The monitor lizards, giant turtles, and moa birds that used to frequent the riverbanks have all disappeared. Chen Zhou discovered many "unfinished" nests on the frozen soil of the riverbank.

Those burrows, about 1 meter in diameter and extending downwards, were all dug by turtles.

They naively thought they could survive the cold climate in these caves, but those from Australia, Madagascar, or other Pacific islands could not have imagined that the rapidly dropping temperatures were just the beginning.

The soil quickly froze and became as hard as stone.

However, before that, the giant tortoises were either frozen into shock or died early from predator attacks. On both sides of the river, even their shells were gnawed open by beasts with amazing bite force.

……

Chen Zhou strolled around the riverbank, picked out a large enough rock, and dug a hole in the ground.

Although it had snowed a few times, the amount of snowfall was not heavy enough. There was some snow accumulation, but it was mostly concentrated in shady areas, especially in the mountain gullies.

The grassland faces the sun, and even though the winter sunlight is insufficient, it is enough to melt the thin layer of snow.

Therefore, the wild grass at this time is relatively dry and easier to ignite.

Having been away for almost four days, Chen Zhou now has only one day's journey left to reach the rock face. He plans to rest well for one night and set off early tomorrow morning.

They added several handfuls of grass stalks to the campfire and broke off some willow branches to drape over it.

Once the grass stalks are ignited, they will collapse downwards, allowing the willow branches to fall onto the fire.

The grass stalks and river willows covered in snow inevitably became damp, and when heated, they billowed thick smoke.

Tiger Two and Tiger Three had suffered from the smoke before, so as soon as they saw the campfire start to smoke, they immediately jumped away and ran to the other side against the wind.

While waiting for the fire to intensify, Chen Zhou walked to the riverbank.

The water temperature has plummeted, and the aquatic plants and moss in the river have long since died out. The noisy croaking of frogs in late autumn and the dragonflies that used to flutter on the water's surface have also disappeared. As far as the eye can see, there is only withered barrenness.

The shallow water near the shore was exceptionally clear, and you could see right to the bottom, but there was no trace of any fish activity in it.

Looking into the distance, the deep water area appears almost black, with a calm surface reflected in the shimmering water.

The river was not yet frozen, but the upper water was cold enough that fish would not swim upstream and would all remain in the warm, deep water.

Fishing is most difficult at this time of year. Without a boat, you can't cast your net, and fishing with a rod is out of the question. Affected by the temperature, the fish's appetite is greatly reduced. Even if food is brought to their mouths, they are too lazy to bite, not to mention that the hook can't even reach deep water.

The bleak scene was not only reflected in the river, but also throughout the entire grassland.

Cave hyenas all retreated into their caves, using the natural barrier to protect themselves from the cold wind, maintain their body temperature, and reduce energy consumption.

If there are cave dwellers in the challenge area, from this time until deep winter, it is the period when cave hyenas and cave dwellers frequently fight for caves. Although the cave hyenas usually lose in the end, the cave dwellers will also pay a heavy price for it.

However, even without primitive humans, cave hyenas were not without competition—

Native creatures, as well as other creatures brought here by the Time and Space Administration, including giant hyenas, glyptodonts, cave lions, and cave bears, will engage in fierce battles with the cave hyenas.

In order to survive and reproduce, these struggles are naturally unreserved, and each side has its victories and defeats.

Along his journey, Chen Zhou witnessed many fights between cave hyenas and other animals, sometimes for food, sometimes for caves.

The colder it is, the fiercer the wild animals in the North become. For the sake of their species' reproduction, for the continuation of life, for survival, and for filling their stomachs, they will summon more courage and shed more blood.

Not to mention cave hyenas and dire wolves that grew up in the cold winds of the grasslands, even the three-headed sawtooth tiger that grew up with humans is becoming more and more like a wild animal.

Perhaps they grew bigger and bolder, or perhaps their repeated successful hunts boosted their confidence.

Under the leadership of Tiger Big Brother, Tiger Second Brother and Tiger Third Brother displayed the prowess of the sawtooth tiger, often chasing and intercepting a giant rat at the edge of the forest.

The rats like to gnaw on grass roots, look somewhat like otters, weigh over 1.5 kilograms and are over 1.1 meters long. They are large rodents that Chen Zhou recently discovered.

These rats live on the outskirts of forests. Their forelimbs and hindlimbs have almost identical claws, with the hindlimbs being slightly longer than the forelimbs. They are adept at both digging and climbing.

For the sawtooth tiger, these agile rats were just the right size. They posed little threat, provided plenty of meat, were good at escaping, and were alert enough to fully hone their hunting skills.

However, after leaving the forest and reaching the depths of the grassland, these rats have never been seen again.

In winter, the grasslands are home to large herbivores such as woolly rhinoceros, giant deer, camels, bison, and moose, and occasionally mammoths can be seen in herds crossing the forest.

Faced with these enormous creatures, the saw-toothed tigers were eager to try, but powerless to do so.

While herbivores may fear adult predators, they are not at all afraid of these little guys. If they encounter a short-tempered one, they may even launch a preemptive attack, especially fierce animals like the American bison.

Without Chen Zhou, if the three immature saw-toothed tiger cubs encountered a herd of cattle, they would most likely have been stabbed with bloody holes by the angry bulls, and then kicked into pieces.

However, there are not so many ifs in the world.

The bison were clearly unaware of how terrifying the creature following the little saw-toothed tiger was. In a moment of impulsiveness, they charged forward and were quickly killed by Chen Zhou. They were then skewered and roasted over the campfire.

The nutritious beef heart and liver will become a delicacy that the three little ones will fight over.

For the sawtooth tiger, this could be considered a case of "using someone else to kill you," but given their intelligence, or rather, their limited experience, they couldn't fully grasp this.

Therefore, there would be no deliberate attempt to lure American bison towards Chen Zhou, or any similar behavior that would provoke herbivores such as great elk and woolly rhinoceros.

……

Gazing at the rushing river, Chen Zhou couldn't help but think of the Halha River in Arxan, Inner Mongolia.

The Halha River has twelve tributaries, one of which is a small tributary that flows through an area rich in geothermal resources, so the river does not freeze even when the temperature is below minus forty degrees Celsius.

While the banks of the river are frozen, the unfrozen river basin is warm and the water flows gently. Sometimes, even in the depths of winter, you can see wild grasses that have not yet died on the riverbank.

At that moment, he wondered if there were any rivers in the challenge area that didn't freeze.

If a challenger discovers a similar area rich in geothermal resources and builds a shelter nearby, could it negate the advantages of genetically modified injections, or even outlast him and Paul?

It's important to know that similar rivers aren't only found in Arxan; similar ice-free rivers also exist in the Greater Khingan Mountains, Ergun River, and Changbai Mountains. Although Chen Zhou hadn't heard of similar natural phenomena in Siberia, he figured the probability of such an event occurring wasn't particularly low.

Not being very familiar with Russia's geography, Chen Zhou planned to ask Paul when he got back.

Paul was clearly very familiar with the terrain of Siberia. If rivers like the unfrozen river, which are relatively rare and could be developed into tourist attractions, were located within the Soviet Union, they would certainly be quite famous.

However, a time span of 10,000 years could also cause prehistoric rivers to dry up or open up new channels.

The real answer to this question is probably not even certain enough to ask Paul.

As Chen Zhou was pondering this, he heard the saw-toothed tigers behind him roaring.

Turning around, sure enough, Tiger Brother, having had his fill of wind, jumped off the rock and started fighting with his two younger brothers.

Playing around is a common practice for felines, helping them to rehearse combat scenarios in advance.

Unlike in actual combat, they don't deliberately extend their claws or bite forcefully when playing around.

Despite their sharp teeth and claws, felines are very careful with their strength when playing with other felines, and they generally won't kill each other, even when competing for mates.

Before Tiger Cub was injured, it was the weakest of the three brothers in terms of fighting ability.

Although Tiger Cub is large, it is no match for Tiger Cub in a fight. In animal fights, if there is no significant difference in size, ferocity and fighting spirit are the most important factors.

Tiger Two perfectly embodies these two qualities: it is both warlike and unwilling to admit defeat easily, and it is also full of energy.

Tiger Cub is stronger than it, but it cannot subdue it instantly and render it unable to resist. Instead, it will entangle the tiger, slowly exhaust its strength, and eventually be defeated.

However, this situation changed after Tiger Three Brothers narrowly escaped death and received the injection.

It could be due to an overdose of the drug, or perhaps the potent regenerative injection had some unexpected effect. In any case, Tiger Three's stamina suddenly surged, making him the most enduring little tyrant among the three sawtooth tigers.

Not to mention Tiger Big Brother, who was already on par with it, even Tiger Second Brother is now far from being its match.

Fortunately, old habits die hard, and Tiger Three is still the same calm and obedient person who almost never provokes trouble.

Therefore, even though it gained physical strength beyond that of its kind, the relationship between the three brothers remained unchanged from the beginning.

……

Woo~
Tiger Two pounced on Tiger Big, which annoyed the older brother so much that he wanted to kick him away.

Hearing his older brother's impatient warning, Tiger Second Brother wisely jumped up and rushed towards Tiger Third Brother.

Their straw-yellow figures ran in the wind and gradually disappeared into the distance as they played, making Chen Zhou smile.

Raising a tiger, especially a prehistoric sawtooth tiger, is truly a unique experience.

Back by the campfire, Chen Zhou took a frozen beef leg from a wicker basket and sliced ​​off the meat diagonally. He then skewered it with two long wooden skewers he had prepared beforehand and put it on the fire. Chen Zhou planned to have dinner first.

When he left, he left the cooking pot with Paul and only took a water bag and a simple fur coat with him.

Among the captured clothes, apart from those of the man in the black robe and the American soldiers, none of them fit his body size. However, even if he put on the American soldiers' clothes, they wouldn't provide much protection against the cold. For real wind protection, a fur coat would be the best option.

As for Paul, he had a cooking pot on the mountain, guarded the shelter, and received injections. Despite not having an overcoat, his cold resistance surpassed Chen Zhou's, so he didn't have to worry about freezing at all.

……

It was cold and windy, so the flames were kept low, and the beef needed to be roasted for a while to cook through.

Unbeknownst to them, the three-headed sawtooth tiger had already left the riverbank.

Chen Zhou turned his head and glanced at it, but he wasn't worried about it.

Sub-adult sawtooth tigers are already very fast, and their endurance is in no way inferior to most predators. If the three of them are together, as long as they don't get separated or accidentally wander into the den of a cave hyena or other predator, it is still easy for them to escape.

Moreover, the little guys never run too far; within a few hundred meters, as long as they roar, he can reach them in an instant.

He was initially worried that the little tigers might encounter some danger while playing on their own, but now he's long since gotten used to it and doesn't care anymore.

The campfire faces the river, and across the river are rolling mountains.

The salt-producing rock face is located at the foot of the mountain, about ten kilometers away.

Thinking back to the past glory, the battles on the grasslands, and that giant bear with slender teeth like a tank, and then looking at the desolate scene now.

The changes brought about by the severe cold are self-evident.

……

As darkness fell, the beef over the fire was finally cooked.

The bison meat wasn't bled thoroughly enough, and the bull wasn't castrated. It not only tasted bloody but also had a faint, unpleasant odor, especially without salt, which made the smell even more pronounced.

Compared to life now, the food conditions on the island are far superior.

Chen Zhou's sense of smell and taste are several times better than the average person's, so this kind of beef is even more unpalatable to him.

He tore at the thick slices of meat with great force, swallowing them almost without chewing.

A cold wind blew in his face. As Chen Zhou got up to continue cutting the beef, he was shocked to find that the distant mountain peaks were shrouded in white, and the scenery there became extremely blurry.

"grass!"

Cursing under his breath, Chen Zhou abandoned his work of cutting meat, sheathed his knife, slung the wicker basket over his shoulder, and hurriedly called to the three-headed sawtooth tiger—

The wind howled, and it seemed as if ice particles were floating in the air.

It was snowing heavily in the direction of that mountain range.

Based on Chen Zhou's experience living in the north, it wouldn't be long before a blizzard swept across the entire riverbank with the wind.

His campfire would be extinguished by the heavy snow in just a few minutes, and the entire world would be swallowed up by the wind and snow, ruled by chaotic, swirling white.

Now, he must set off as soon as possible and find shelter under natural cover, such as boulders, large trees, the leeward side of a hill, or a cave.

Otherwise, when the snowstorm hits, body temperature will drop rapidly and vision will be severely impaired, making it impossible to start a fire. No matter how skilled he is, he will be powerless against the force of nature and might even perish in the snowstorm.

Wet clothes dissipate heat 240 times faster than dry clothes.

Once soaked in snow and rapidly losing heat, even with the injections of genetic modification, the fat stored in his body wouldn't be enough, let alone since he hadn't even received any injections yet.

After all, he had lived on a deserted island at sea for more than 20 years, and after returning to modern times, he focused on extreme sports.

Having frequently dealt with deep sea cliffs and pits, Chen Zhou, though already considered a "superman" among ordinary people, still held a deep reverence for nature and dared not be negligent in the slightest. (End of Chapter)