Crisis Arrives

After a simple lunch, he clapped his hands, dug a pit nearby, and buried all the plastic trash underground.

Next, he took out books from his briefcase, pulled the rope binding the Shell Girl, and dragged her over.

He planned to continue practicing his spoken language during his digestion break.

"Hello!"

The Shell Girl looked extremely reluctant, not saying a word and completely uncooperative.

"Gemstones!"

This word was more effective than anything else. The Shell Girl immediately straightened up and sat respectfully.

Chen Shouyi felt speechless. He thought the Shell Girl was becoming harder and harder to manage, practically obsessed with money. If he didn't give her glass beads, she wouldn't cooperate willingly. Fortunately, small glass beads were cheap, costing only a few cents each.

Otherwise, if this continued, he would go bankrupt.

"Hello!"

"Great Giant, hello to you too!"

Chen Shouyi listened carefully for a moment and immediately looked up the unfamiliar syllables.

'Kalō' meant respected, great, and holy.

And 'dūyē' meant huge, a mountain peak, or a giant.

Combined, it meant a great giant or a respected giant.

Chen Shouyi's heart filled with joy. This title was truly... too embarrassing.

He decisively took out a glass bead as a reward. The Shell Girl happily clutched it in her hand, becoming even more focused.

"Where are your parents?"

"I don't have parents. I was born from a 'Yata Flower'," the Shell Girl said indifferently, showing no sadness about not having parents.

Chen Shouyi chuckled.

"Are you kidding me?

Aren't mammals supposed to be born live?

If people could grow from flowers, wouldn't your primary and secondary female characteristics be redundant?

"Really?" Chen Shouyi asked skeptically.

"Really, I was born from a Yata Flower," the Shell Girl said, blinking her eyes, looking completely serious, with no trace of lying.

Chen Shouyi felt he wouldn't get any more information by asking.

He guessed that the Shell Girl probably doubted she had parents because she never saw them since she was young, so she thought she was born from a flower. That was normal; when he was little, he always thought he was picked up from a trash heap.

However, he still looked up the term "Yata Flower," but after flipping through the entire dictionary, he couldn't find it.

But it made sense. Exploration of the Otherworld was still quite limited in various countries.

It wasn't just because the Otherworld was unpredictable and dangerous; gravity alone severely restricted human movement. Most people, like Chen Shouyi, only operated in limited areas near the passage.

Coupled with the unique slang and dialects formed in different regions over a long period, it was natural that this universal language dictionary wouldn't be very comprehensive.

"What about the Yata Flower?"

"I ate it!" The Shell Girl, or perhaps she should be called Flower Girl, said with a pure look on her small face.

Ate it?

Chen Shouyi couldn't help but look at her again.

Didn't you just say you were born from a Yata Flower? Wasn't that flower your mother, and you ate it?

She really is just a child!

He came back to his senses and decisively changed the subject: "How old are you?"

The Shell Girl tilted her head and thought, then gesticulated excitedly, seemingly making hand gestures: "Many, many sunrises and sunsets. I can't remember. When I first opened my eyes, the largest tree on the island was only this tall."

She first pointed to the large tree where Chen Shouyi had practiced his sword earlier, then floated up one meter from the ground to show Chen Shouyi the height.

Chen Shouyi didn't know if the tree was a fast-growing or slow-growing species, so it was hard to judge.

"Do you have a name?"

The Shell Girl shook her head indifferently.

The conversation ended. Chen Shouyi rewarded the Shell Girl with another glass bead, and she happily flew away.

After resting, he picked up the War Bow and began practicing archery, using trees as targets.

The 500-pound War Bow was quite heavy, and in an environment with triple gravity, it was far more difficult than on Earth.

Chen Shouyi used all his strength to finally draw the bowstring full.

He released the string, and the arrow let out a sharp whistle, as if piercing the air, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

He didn't pay attention and took out another arrow, continuing to draw and shoot.

Three days passed in this manner.

On the small island in the Otherworld, there had been no sign of Barbarians, and Chen Shouyi had gradually stopped worrying about it.

He followed a routine, training his swordsmanship and archery according to the sun and moon cycles of the Otherworld. Though his days were monotonous, they were also fulfilling. Watching the skills for Swordsmanship and Archery in his Status Panel constantly change, he could feel himself growing stronger day by day.

During this time, he sold another batch of gold, earning two hundred and fifty thousand. His account, which had been nearly empty, was instantly replenished.

His only regret was that since their last encounter, he hadn't managed to ask Zhang Xiaoyue out at night again.

The workload for his senior year of high school became increasingly heavy, with minor exams every three days and major ones every five. To make matters worse, the school had started evening classes that lasted until nine o'clock.

Furthermore, due to safety concerns, her father now picked her up and dropped her off every night.

There wasn't even a sliver of an opportunity to get close.

Chen Shouyi found it utterly detestable.

The dark clouds overhead churned violently like ink, and the intense low pressure felt like a massive boulder pressing down on his heart, making it hard to breathe.

Suddenly, lightning flashed across the sky, illuminating the entire world.

A deafening thunderclap followed.

Chen Shouyi, holding his Wooden Stick, repeatedly poked at the small ball in a mechanical and monotonous fashion, completely absorbed. Sweat poured down his body. It was only when he heard the thunder that he snapped back to reality.

He looked up at the sky. A raindrop landed on his face. He touched it, surprised, and said:

"It's going to rain."

This was the first time he had seen it rain in the Otherworld.

The rain came quickly, falling down in a pat-pat-pat rhythm before Chen Shouyi could even react.

The raindrops, falling with three times the gravity, hit his face like hailstones, causing a stinging sensation. He quickly took off his shirt, used it to shield his head, and ran towards the passage entrance.

He was adapting to the gravity here better and better.

In the past few days, his Strength attribute had finally increased by another 0.1, reaching 127. This attribute was the standard for a Martial Artist, albeit the minimum standard.

In this Otherworld with triple gravity, this level of Strength was generally sufficient for moving around freely.

However, it was like a person with a weak constitution. Basic activities were no different from a normal person, but if you wanted to run a hundred-meter sprint or lift heavy objects, you wouldn't be able to. You'd be worse off than the ordinary Barbarians living here.

The rain grew heavier. After only a few steps, he was completely soaked.

"This rain is going to kill me!"

At that moment, through the curtain of rain, he saw Shell Girl still flying in the air in the distance, the rope behind her taut.

Did she want to escape again?

A thought crossed his mind, but he quickly dismissed it. Her direction clearly indicated she was coming towards him.

She seemed to be shouting something at him.

Unfortunately, her voice was faint, and with the interference of the downpour, he couldn't hear anything clearly.

Raindrops continuously battered Shell Girl's body, causing her to sway unstably, looking extremely dishevelled.

Chen Shouyi was baffled by her unusual behavior: "What's going on? Is she crazy?"

"Go back, go back quickly," he shouted loudly, wiping the rain from his face and quickening his pace.

Half a minute later, Shell Girl, drenched like a drowned rat, finally landed swiftly on Chen Shouyi's shoulder. Her face was pale, and she shivered uncontrollably. As soon as she steadied herself, she leaned close to his ear and shouted:

"The sea... the sea!"

"The same giants from last time are here!"