Crisis Approaches

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

Next, he took a book from his briefcase, grabbed the thin string tied around Shell Girl, and pulled her over.

He planned to keep practicing his speaking during the lull while his lunch settled.

"Hello!"

Shell Girl looked thoroughly unwilling and didn't say a word, refusing to cooperate in the slightest.

"Jewels!"

Those words worked better than anything else. Shell Girl immediately straightened up and sat down respectfully.

Chen Shouyi was speechless. Shell Girl was getting harder and harder to control. She was downright obsessed with money: without a glass bead, he could forget about getting her to cooperate willingly. Fortunately, the little glass beads were cheap, only a few cents apiece.

Otherwise, if this kept up, he'd go bankrupt.

"Hello!"

"Karoduye, hello to you too!"

Chen Shouyi listened carefully for a while, then immediately looked up the unfamiliar syllables.

Karodu meant revered, great, and sacred.

Duye meant huge, mountain, or giant.

Together, they meant "great giant" or "revered giant."

Chen Shouyi was delighted. This form of address was just... too embarrassing.

He promptly took out a glass bead as a reward. Shell Girl happily clutched it in her hands and became even more attentive.

"Where are your parents?"

"I don't have parents. I was born from a 'Yata Flower.'" Shell Girl answered nonchalantly, not the least bit sad about having no parents.

Chen Shouyi snorted with laughter.

Are you kidding me?

Aren't mammals supposed to be born live?

If people can grow out of flowers, then what's the point of your female secondary sex characteristics?

"Really?" Chen Shouyi asked, looking doubtful.

"Really. I was born from a Yata Flower." Shell Girl blinked and answered seriously. There wasn't the slightest sign that she was lying.

Chen Shouyi figured there was no point asking more; he wouldn't get anything else out of her.

He guessed Shell Girl had never seen her parents as a child, so she'd come to believe she was born from a flower. It made sense. When he was little, he'd always thought he'd been picked up from a garbage dump.

Still, he looked up "Yata Flower," but searched the entire dictionary without finding the word.

But then again, exploration of the other world by various countries was still quite limited.

It wasn't just the other world's unpredictable dangers. The gravity alone severely restricted human movement. Like Chen Shouyi, most people could only move about within a limited area near the passage.

On top of that, each region had its own slang and dialect, shaped over a long time. Under the circumstances, there was no way this Common Tongue dictionary could be very complete.

"Then what about the Yata Flower?"

"I ate it!" Shell Girl—or perhaps he should call her Flower Girl—said with an innocent look on her little face.

Ate it?

Chen Shouyi couldn't help giving her another look.

You said you were born from a Yata Flower. Wouldn't that flower be your mother? And you ate it?

Kids really are kids!

He came back to himself and promptly changed the subject. "How old are you?"

Shell Girl tilted her head and thought for a moment, then gestured animatedly as if trying to explain with her hands. "So many, many sunrises and sunsets. I can't remember. When I first opened my eyes, the biggest tree on the island was only this tall."

First she pointed to the tree Chen Shouyi had practiced swordsmanship beside earlier, then she flew up a meter from the ground to show him how tall it had been.

Chen Shouyi didn't know whether the tree was a fast-growing or slow-growing species, so he couldn't make a judgment.

"Do you have a name?"

Shell Girl shook her head indifferently.

Their conversation over, Chen Shouyi rewarded Shell Girl with another glass bead, and she immediately flew off, overjoyed.

After resting, he picked up his War Bow, used a tree as his target, and began practicing archery.

The five-hundred-pound War Bow was extremely heavy. And with the threefold gravity, it was much harder to use than on Earth.

Chen Shouyi used all his strength and finally managed to draw the bow fully.

He released the bowstring. The arrow let out a sharp whistle, seeming to pierce the air before vanishing in the blink of an eye.

He paid it no mind, took out another arrow, and continued drawing and shooting.

Three days passed in a row.

No barbarians appeared on the other world's Small Island, and Chen Shouyi gradually stopped worrying about them.

Every day, he followed his routine, practicing swordsmanship and archery according to the other world's day-night cycle. Life was monotonous, yet fulfilling. Watching the swordsmanship and archery skills on his Status Panel change steadily, he could feel himself growing stronger with every passing day.

During this time, he sold another batch of gold and made a total of 250,000 yuan. His account, which had nearly run dry, was suddenly flush again.

The only regret was that since last time, he hadn't managed to ask Zhang Xiaoyue out again in the evening.

Senior year coursework had grown ever more demanding: a small test every three days and a major one every five. Even more maddeningly, the school had started evening study sessions that ran until nine.

And, worried about her safety, her father picked her up every night.

There wasn't even the tiniest crack he could slip through.

Chen Shouyi hated it with a passion.

Dark clouds churned violently overhead, black as ink. The oppressive air hung over his heart like a massive boulder, making it hard to breathe.

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

A deafening thunderclap followed.

With a wooden stick in hand, Chen Shouyi thrust at the little ball again and again, mechanically and monotonously, completely absorbed in the task. Sweat poured down him. Only when he heard the thunder did he come back to himself.

He looked up at the sky. A raindrop landed on his face. He touched it and exclaimed in surprise:

"It's going to rain!"

This was the first time he'd seen it rain in the other world.

The rain came quickly. Before Chen Shouyi could react, it was already pounding down.

Under threefold gravity, the raindrops smacked his face like hail, stinging so badly that he hurriedly took off his clothes, held them over his head, and ran toward the passage.

He was getting more and more used to the gravity here.

Over the past few days, his Strength attribute had finally increased by another 0.1, reaching 12.7. That was the standard for a martial artist, though only the bare minimum.

In this other world, with its threefold gravity, that much strength was just enough to let him move around freely.

It was like a weak, sickly person who could handle ordinary activities about as well as anyone else, but couldn't run a hundred-meter sprint or carry something heavy—and was even less capable than an ordinary barbarian living here.

The rain grew heavier. He was soaked through after only a few steps.

"This rain is really something!"

Just then, through the downpour, he spotted Shell Girl flying in the distance, the string behind her pulled taut.

Was she trying to escape again?

The thought crossed his mind, but then he realized she wasn't. She was clearly heading toward him.

She seemed to be shouting something at him.

Unfortunately, her voice was faint, and the storm made it impossible to hear her.

The raindrops kept slamming into Shell Girl, making her bob up and down as she flew. She was in a sorry state.

Baffled by her strange behavior, Chen Shouyi said, "What's going on? What's gotten into you?"

"Go back! Hurry back!" he shouted. He wiped the rain from his face and quickened his pace.

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

"The sea... the sea!"

"The same giant as last time is here!"