Navigator: I have a double six-story house

There was plenty of food around the campfire, placed on coconut leaves.

A pile of berries, a few coconuts, and a bunch of shellfish that looked like oysters.

Selena picked the berries; if she hadn't been eating them as she picked them, there would probably have been even more.

Wang Yao and the man picked the coconuts together. They didn't encounter any lizards while picking them, which is hard to say whether it was good luck or bad luck.

These shellfish were naturally the result of Wang Yao's hard work over half a day, and Su Qing was using a deadly dagger to pry them open one by one.

The man stood by the campfire, his eyes gleaming as he looked at the dagger in Su Qing's hand.

Selena built a makeshift stove out of stones.

Whether it's the spacing between the stones or the direction the ventilation openings face, it's clear they've practiced.

The clam meat inside the shell sizzled as it was roasted, the coconut had already been split open, and the berries needed no further processing.

Wang Yao sat cross-legged next to the stove, holding half a coconut shell, and shoveling grilled clam meat into his mouth.

To be honest, the taste was just average.

The clam meat was fishy and salty, the berries were so bitter they made my mouth ache, and the coconut juice was sweet, but there was too little of it.

But Wang Yao ate very seriously, even wolfing down his food.

After all, he was really hungry.

He sat there, his plate armor covered in dried, flaky mud, looking just like a savage eating.

"Is it good?" Selena took a picture of him when he wasn't looking.

"...It would taste even better if you didn't take pictures."

Su Qing ate a few pieces of clam meat and drank half a coconut's worth of water.

The feeling of hunger subsided, but only to the point where I was no longer hungry.

I felt completely empty, as if everything I ate had been digested and nothing was left.

The fight with that rabbit was clearly a loss; it seems this instance is trying its best to limit combat.

Night fell, and a cool sea breeze blew.

The distant woods resembled a terrifying abyss in the twilight, with occasional low chirps emanating from within, the source of which was unidentifiable.

The night shift assignments were: Su Qing on the first shift, Wang Yao on the second shift, and Selena on the third shift.

Su Qing did not assign that man to be on duty.

It's not about giving him any special treatment; he even arranged for Selena to stay on night duty, so how could he possibly give this man any special treatment?

He needs to ensure that someone is always watching this man.

The dangers of the night don't just come from the forest.

Su Qing intentionally controlled the bonfire to burn just enough to illuminate a radius of five meters.

Too much fire can attract bad things.

Wang Yao lay down and fell asleep, his snoring coming through his mask.

Wang Yao has never had any problems sleeping; he can fall asleep anytime, anywhere.

Selena leaned against her handbag, her eyes closed, her breathing steady.

The man huddled in the corner furthest from the campfire.

He had his back to the firelight, hugged his knees, and curled up in a ball.

Su Qing sat by the campfire on guard, his right hand always resting on the handle of the musket.

Then he noticed a detail: the man wasn't asleep.

His eyelids would occasionally open a crack, only to close again very quickly.

The frequency is about once every three to four minutes, and each time it opens its eyes, its gaze is directed in the same direction.

It wasn't the sea, it wasn't the forest, and it wasn't three people by a campfire.

Instead, it's towards the center of the island.

Su Qing looked in that direction.

The night was deep, and beyond the woods lay an even deeper darkness—the path leading to the heart of the island.

At first, I couldn't see anything.

Then Su Qing's pupils contracted slightly.

In the deepest darkness, there is a glimmer of light.

It was a faint, pale blue light, like a firefly buried in the soil. But it wasn't constantly lit; it was flickering.

There is a fixed rhythm between the flashing lights, like a heartbeat.

Once, twice, three times.

Those are not the eyes of any living being.

Su Qing watched for a long time until the blue light dimmed during the next pulse interval and was swallowed up by darkness again.

He looked away and stared at the man pretending to be asleep.

The man rolled over in the corner, his back to the center of the island, his shoulders trembling.

He was afraid of that thing.

But every few minutes, he still couldn't help but steal a glance.

Su Qing understood: the secret of this island lay in its center.

There was something there that both frightened and concerned the man.

Su Qing woke up naturally at daybreak.

To be precise, he barely slept at all.

After his night shift last night, he just closed his eyes and pretended to sleep, his mind constantly calculating the current situation.

Now he has a guess that needs to be verified.

He looked at the man who had also barely slept all night.

"I plan to explore towards the center of the island, what about you?"

The man's eyes darted around, and a kind smile appeared on his face.

"I'm with you all. We're all human, and if we're trapped here, of course we should stick together."

Su Qing glanced at the man twice.

"Okay, but you have to follow my instructions."

The man patted his thin, bony chest.

"As long as I can make a living, I'll listen to you."

"My name is Lin An. You can call me by my name from now on."

"Su Qing".

After Su Qing gave her name, she didn't say anything more because Wang Yao came closer.

"What do you mean, Su-zai? Are you going to fight your way in?"

Su Qing gave him a disgruntled look.

"If you don't want to starve to death, then you should avoid fighting. Today's mission is exploration."

Upon hearing that it was an exploration, Wang Yao instantly lost interest.

However, he still obediently chose to follow orders, after all, this was a deadly hellish difficulty dungeon.

And it was Su Qing who made him do this.

Selena distributed the leftover grilled clams from last night to everyone for breakfast. The portions were pitifully small, three pieces per person, plus half a coconut.

Lin An squatted in the corner and ate his portion, chewing very carefully and forcefully.

After finishing her meal, Su Qing got up.

"Follow me, push along the edge of the bushes inwards, not too deep."

The four of them lined up in a single file. Wang Yao was at the very front as usual, Selena brought up the rear, and Su Qing and Lin An were in the middle.

After leaving the beach area, Su Qing deliberately slowed down.

He would stop after walking 100 steps and stand still for one minute.

The first time I stopped, I felt no abnormalities in my body, and my stomach was calm.

I stopped for the second time, about two hundred steps, and felt a slight emptiness in my stomach, but it wasn't very noticeable.

The third time, after three hundred steps, Su Qing's brow twitched. She stood still, her stomach churning, a feeling of hunger rising within her.

He waved his hand, signaling to continue forward.

When they reached four hundred paces, Wang Yao turned back to look at Su Qing, his expression not good. "Su Qing, that's strange. I clearly ate something this morning, but I'm hungry again now."

Su Qing didn't answer, but instead carefully observed her surroundings.

The bushes have thinned out noticeably, and the ground color is changing.

Previously, the soil was a brownish-brown mixed with gravel; now, the soil has darkened, taking on a burnt grayish-black hue.

Su Qing stopped. He stood still and could clearly feel his stomach contracting. The food he had just eaten felt like it had been stolen.

He suddenly noticed something, squatted down, and used his fingers to brush away the pebbles on the ground.

The surface of the gray-black rock was exposed, with several shallow scratches on it.

These cannot be naturally formed scratches; they must be man-made.

His fingers slid along the edge of the engraving; the lines were straight and evenly spaced, clearly not naturally formed, but rather like some kind of mark.

Su Qing withdrew her hand, stood up, and looked at Lin An.

"You know more than you say."