Bright Sword Chapter - Action

.The First Night on the Deserted Island.

After most people had fallen asleep, the boy arrived at the spot where he had hidden his equipment to begin his first operation: establishing a secret shelter. If something were to happen, no matter how capable he was, he would be helpless without a place to hide.

First, he had to determine the location. Only a place that no one would notice was suitable for hiding. To avoid detection by any potential equipment, the boy chose a spot beneath a small thicket. Following his design, he began digging next to a relatively concealed tree to build an underground burrow. He prepared a pile of grass to cover the entrance, while the interior of the burrow required an air vent and a design to maintain structural balance.

These tasks were relatively simple, and the boy could easily complete all the preparations before dawn. However, there was one part he hadn't fully considered: the props for support. What if someone walked over it? Since there were no reliable support pillars on the deserted island, the boy decided to solve this problem in two other ways.

The first was to make others consciously avoid walking over the burrow. As long as he set something up on top, people would naturally stay away—for instance, poisonous plants. However, poisonous plants were hard to find, and he feared the others might not recognize them, so the feasibility of this was low.

The other method was to subconsciously guide others to take a different path by creating a trail near the burrow. This way, people would naturally avoid walking directly over it. Although it was troublesome, the feasibility was much higher than the first, and it was definitely not a task that could be completed in one night...

"What if some damn animal runs over it? Damn it!!!" the boy suddenly shouted. This burrow had a fatal weakness: animals. Humans could be guided, but some animals liked to run around aimlessly. If one happened to run over it, everything would be for nothing.

The boy paused for only a few dozen seconds before he began to continue digging his burrow.

Six hours later, around five in the morning, the boy sneaked back to his sleeping spot. Since many people were awake and walking around, he did not arouse any suspicion. Next, he needed to get some good rest; six-plus hours of manual labor had left his hands red, swollen, and aching...

Although the boy had intended to rest for eight hours, the noise forced him to climb up after only four. Rubbing his still-painful hands, he shook his head. This wouldn't do; he had to find a quieter place to rest tomorrow.

The boy got up, intending to wander around, when the American girl who had sat next to him on the plane ran over. Having introduced herself on the flight, she called out the boy's name in relatively standard Chinese: "Zhi, wait! I brought you some food!"

Zhi smiled and thanked her as he took the food. Although it looked substantial, it was actually very little: a piece of bread, a bottle of water, a bag of unknown compressed biscuits, and a small can of drink. This was everyone's food under the equal distribution. By normal supply standards, this wouldn't last a day, but the boy wasn't worried about food.

The American girl's name was Josen Ellis. She had been traveling to Japan for the same purpose as the boy. Unlucky enough to have overslept and missed her original flight, she had ended up on the same plane as him. Perhaps due to a different upbringing, Ellis didn't look nervous at all; she even seemed quite relaxed, appearing more composed than the adults. Zhi didn't know what to say after taking the items.

Ellis smiled and asked, "Do you think anyone will come to rescue us?"

Zhi was honestly surprised to hear this question. It turned out there was someone else besides him who had considered this. Zhi replied very, very calmly, "In the short term, no one is coming to rescue us. You heard them, too: the crew vanished, the fuel was completely drained, the instruments failed, and all communication equipment is useless. With such obvious facts staring us in the face, if anyone thinks we can be rescued in the short term, then I can only say their thinking ability is flawed."

Ellis listened intently to every word Zhi said. She had been learning Chinese for over three years, and it was finally coming in handy. If there was anyone she could trust with her thoughts, it was the person in front of her. Ellis whispered, "Let's go somewhere else to talk. There are too many people here; we can't rule out the possibility that others understand Chinese."

Following Ellis's suggestion, the two went to the other side of the beach, where there were few people. They sat on the rocks by the shore, and Zhi started the conversation: "What do you think is going on?"

Ellis smiled and then said steadily, "I have a hereditary nightmare disorder. Whenever I sleep too much, I have long, terrible nightmares, so I took anti-sleep neurological medication when I boarded the plane..." As Ellis said this, Zhi chuckled and said, "I see. So you saw things we didn't? What exactly did you see? Tell me in detail."

Ellis gave a soft "Mm" and continued, "I saw everything. The crew checked everyone's seats, then spoke in a strange language, and suddenly, they just vanished. I watched them disappear with my own eyes, and the plane was the same. Shortly after they vanished, the plane suddenly stopped on this beach. That's all. I haven't told anyone else besides you because I'm afraid of being misunderstood. In this situation, if I told them this, they would definitely think I'm crazy."

Zhi smiled and stood up. "Since that's the case, you can join my plan. Ellis, as you've seen, this incident isn't a plane crash at all, but purely man-made—or rather, those things aren't human. But for now, we don't know what their goal is; we can only wait quietly for what happens next. I have a plan that might allow us to survive, but I'm currently missing a few helpers. You fit the criteria perfectly. How about it? Will you join?"

Ellis didn't answer immediately. Zhi continued, "You can think about it for now. I still need other companions. If it's just the two of us, I'm afraid we can't complete the operation I've planned. We need at least four people. Of course, one or two more is fine, but any more than that is unnecessary. Sometimes, too many people just get in the way."

Ellis understood a little of what Zhi meant. She asked, "Do you mean you want me to find other companions? Including the two of us, we're still short three people? But I hope to hear your plan first so I can follow you with peace of mind."

Zhi smiled and said, "Of course. As my companion, you naturally have the right to know my plan."

"Based on what you said, I've made some changes to my original plan. If this were the work of a government, we would only need to escape human sight. But now the situation has changed; we might be facing beings other than humans—monsters, demons, or even aliens. Therefore, we must combine the information we have to build a base that can completely hide us, and the base must have certain defensive facilities. Of course, it can't be too complex, but traps and the like shouldn't be difficult, right? We have to live with the others normally and not let anyone suspect us; operations will only be conducted at night."

"The goal of the operation is very clear: first, confirm a location suitable for building a base; second, build the base; third, construct defensive installations. If five people work together, I think it would only take about a week. In one week, the task can be completed. After that, we can adapt to the situation as it develops. If the base method doesn't work, we could even fake our own deaths; that would certainly deceive the others."

"You can think of it this way: if demons or aliens brought us here for a purpose, they would naturally arrange their own kind among the crowd, and those are the ones we must deceive. Furthermore, right now, both you and I could be undercover agents, so we must test each other before every operation. Humans should be easy enough to distinguish..."

Ellis heard this and asked curiously, "How do we distinguish them? Have you thought of a good way?"

Zhi nodded and said, "Come here, I'll tell you." Ellis approached Zhi without any guard. Zhi smiled and reached his hand toward the area near Ellis's chest. Ellis suddenly reacted and quickly covered her chest with both hands. At this moment, Zhi pulled his hand back and said, "You're still human, then."