Navigator: I have a double six-story house

The morning sea breeze carried a salty, fishy smell as it blew across the neatly arranged supplies on the beach.

Four wicker baskets were stacked together, filled with smoked dried fish, roasted scallops, dried berries, and split coconut pieces.

Two days' worth of mobile phone purchases, all my belongings are here.

Su Qing squatted down beside the wicker basket, went through all the food, and made a mental estimate.

Based on the rate of consumption during yesterday's tentative advance, this food should last until we reach the center of the island.

The straight-line distance from the outer perimeter to the center of the island is less than 800 meters, but with detours and battles involved, the actual distance is at least doubled.

"Once we set off, there's no turning back." Su Qing stuffed the last smoked dried fish into the wicker basket and stood up. "The food won't sustain us if we turn back."

Wang Yao took a big bite of coconut meat and mumbled, "Then don't look back."

Selena slung her pink handbag over her shoulder and patted the sand off her hands.

"Let's confirm this before we set off." Su Qing looked at the three of them. "The marching formation will remain the same. Wang Yao will lead the way, Selena will bring up the rear, and Lin An and I will be in the middle."

"If you encounter a battle, resolve it within 30 seconds. If it takes longer, disengage. After the battle ends, eat and replenish your energy immediately without delay."

His gaze fell on Lin An.

"You're in charge of carrying two baskets of food, just stay close."

Without saying a word, Lin An bent down, picked up the two wicker baskets, and slung them over his shoulder.

Su Qing noticed his bending over; the way he used his waist and back muscles was unlike that of an ordinary person.

My footsteps rustled as I stepped on the fallen leaves of the first layer of bushes.

The four of them ventured into the dense forest.

The tree canopy blocked out most of the sunlight, leaving only scattered rays that shone on the gray-black ground.

The air was hot and humid, with the smell of decaying leaves mixed with an indescribable fishy stench.

Not long after they started walking, Su Qing began to feel hungry.

He took out a piece of grilled clam meat from his backpack and ate it as he walked.

"Eat as you walk, don't wait until you're hungry to eat," he reminded everyone.

Wang Yao grabbed a handful of berries from the vine basket, stuffed them into his mouth, chewed a couple of times, and then frowned.

"It's gone as soon as you eat it, like pouring it into a bottomless pit."

Ten minutes later, the first wave of combat broke out.

Three mutated lizards swooped down from the treetop overhead.

It was a size larger than the others on the outside, its scales had a dark golden sheen, and its limbs had forked ends with three-toed claws.

They moved extremely fast, but their target wasn't the crowd; instead, it was the two wicker baskets on Lin An's back.

"Save the food!" Su Qing roared.

Wang Yao reacted faster than his voice could register, swinging his shield horizontally and striking the nearest lizard in the waist with a swift and decisive motion.

Snapped!

The lizard was slapped away and bounced off a tree trunk.

The second lizard pounced into the air and was suddenly split in two.

Selena appeared from the side, her serrated blade slicing through the enemy in one clean and swift motion.

Su Qing aimed his musket at the third one.

It was lunging at Lin An's wicker basket, its mouth already open.

"Eat your food, then switch!"

Wang Yao and Selena immediately started stuffing food into their mouths.

At the same time, Su Qing pulled the trigger, and the bullet pierced the lizard's lower jaw and exited from the back of its head.

Its body remained in a pouncing posture, and with inertia, it slammed against the edge of the wicker basket, knocking over several pieces of dried fish.

The battle was over, and hunger immediately surged up, causing Su Qing's stomach to contract sharply.

"Substitute!"

The four of them walked briskly, stuffing food into their mouths as they went.

Su Qing stuffed two pieces of dried fish into her mouth, which only reduced her hunger from "intense" to "tolerable".

He glanced at the amount of food remaining in the wicker basket.

Consumption was 20 percent faster than expected.

Keep going.

The ground grew darker and darker, the soil gradually being replaced by gray-black rocks.

Cracks spread from the rock, and occasionally a sliver of blue light seeped out, like some kind of glowing blood buried beneath the earth.

Just then, a mutated giant crocodile lay across the passage ahead.

It is over five meters long, with overlapping and interwoven scales, as if it were wearing a suit of armor. Its tail is draped between two trees, its head is resting on a protruding rock, and its half-open vertical pupils emit a murky yellow light.

Wang Yao stopped and looked back at Su Qing.

Su Qing didn't speak, her eyes scanning the terrain.

To the left is a dense thicket of bushes that cannot be bypassed, and to the right is a rock wall about waist-high that is difficult to climb over and would make too much noise.

Only the front side.

He quickly calculated the cost of a frontal assault in his mind.

Given the size and thickness of this giant crocodile's armor, the sawing motion would last at least a minute.

A minute of fighting would consume at least one-third of the food stored in the wicker basket.

But there was no other way; we had to finish this quickly.

"Wang Yao," Su Qing said in a low voice.

Wang Yao was in the front, his shield striking the rocks to draw the giant crocodile's attention.

Su Qing went around to the back of the giant crocodile.

Wang Yao's shield struck the rock with two loud thuds.

The giant crocodile opened its eyes, its vertical pupils locking onto Wang Yao. Its tail emerged from between the two trees, and its heavy body slowly turned.

enough.

As it turned to the side, its left eye socket was exposed from the shadow of its scales.

Su Qing pulled the trigger.

The bullet traveled twelve meters and precisely pierced the crocodile's eye socket.

The five-meter-long behemoth froze, its limbs twitched and spasmed, and then it collapsed to its side like a wall.

Su Qing didn't even glance at it; her fingers were already loading the next bullet.

"Walk."

The feeling of hunger surged up violently again.

Su Qing pressed her hand to her abdomen, cold sweat beading on her forehead.

Although this shot consumes far less energy than a close-quarters battle, the physical depletion is real.

He grabbed a piece of dried fish from the wicker basket, put it in his mouth, chewed it twice, and swallowed it.

The hunger pangs in my stomach went from "deadly" to "uncomfortable".

He handed the remaining half of his dried fish to Wang Yao.

"You're expending the most energy, so eat."

"Aren't you going to eat it yourself?"

"I still have berries."

Wang Yao glanced at him, did not refuse, and swallowed it in one gulp.

He knew that Su Qing didn't have many berries left.

But the front-line tanks do indeed suffer the most damage, and being overly cautious at this time will only harm everyone.

Su Qing continued forward on an empty stomach.

Behind him, Lin An carried two wicker baskets, his steps steady and even.

Selena, positioned at the rear, glanced at Lin An's footsteps a couple of times.

Two days ago, a person who almost fainted from hunger is now carrying a 20-pound wicker basket and walking in the area where the hunger effect is strongest, yet his steps are becoming more and more steady.

She quickened her pace, moved closer to Su Qing, and lowered her voice.

"Captain..."

Su Qing replied with a single word.

"Um."

Ahead, the last patch of charred bushes was cleared away by Wang Yao's shield.

The field of vision suddenly opened up.

At the very center of the island is a circular open space, about thirty meters in diameter.

The ground is pure black basalt, its surface smooth as a mirror, reflecting the gray-white sky.

Intricate cracks spread outwards from the center, with blue light pulsating rhythmically within them.

In the very center of the open space, a fist-sized, deep blue crystal was half-embedded in a crack in the rock, emitting a cold glow.

That is the root of all hunger.