Ace

Before Carmen could ask why they were running, Big Bear and Second Bear rushed up to her.

A tiger nearly three stories tall appeared from the direction Big Bear and Second Bear had come from, charging straight toward them.

Big Bear and Second Bear did not stop as they rushed over. Each grabbed one of Carmen's arms, intending to flee.

But Carmen used her power to knock their hands away. She directly stretched out one hand toward the tiger, and then the tiger, which had been sprinting at full speed, seemed to crash into a wall and went rolling forward with a thunderous rumble.

At that moment, Carmen had not expected the tiger to be so powerful that it could even shatter the air wall she had set up ahead.

The tiger that had just fallen actually swayed as it got back to its feet.

Annie could not stand by any longer. She flew over, and without any major movement from her, the tiger fell straight down again and did not move.

"Annie, you're amazing!" Seeing the tiger fall again, Big Bear and Second Bear finally let out the breath they had been holding and hurriedly praised Annie.

"Hmph! We were always amazing." Annie proudly lifted her chin and shot Carmen a sidelong glance.

Annie and Carmen had never gotten along, and Locke had noticed that. That was why he had arranged for Annie to accompany Carmen this time, hoping their relationship might improve somewhat.

But now, it seemed completely useless. Carmen barely spoke at all and was nothing like her anime counterpart. As for Annie, aside from being talkative around Locke and occasionally speaking with Yun Zhinnan, who had made this puppet for her, she hardly spoke to anyone else.

As a result, throughout their journey, Annie had only reminded Carmen when they discovered the cabin. Other than that, they barely communicated.

"Tell me, what happened to you two?" After seeing Annie deal with the tiger, Carmen asked Big Bear and Second Bear.

Second Bear scratched his head awkwardly. "We'd been eating fish on the ship the whole time. Since we finally came across an island, we had to find some game, right? But we didn't expect to run into such a huge thing. We couldn't beat it, so we had no choice but to run."

"We ran into Big Brother on the way, but even the two of us together couldn't do anything to it."

Big Bear and Second Bear lowered their heads in shame. The two of them together were no match for a woman and a little girl. It was truly embarrassing.

"Alright, since we've come across it, let's go take a look together." After hearing their explanation, Carmen did not say much. She merely pointed toward the small wooden cabin on the mountain.

The group then headed up the mountain together. As for the huge tiger, after taking Annie's attack, it probably would not wake up anytime soon. When they came back later, they could bring it onto the ship as an extra meal.

As they climbed higher, Carmen became increasingly certain that someone lived up there. The flowers along the hillside had clearly been planted by hand, and the weeds around them had been carefully cleared away.

It seemed the owner of this place lived a very leisurely life.

And so, they slowly made their way up the mountain. Nothing else happened along the way.

Soon, they reached the mountaintop and met the owner of the wooden cabin: an old man sitting on a small stool outside the door. He was plainly dressed, with a head full of gray hair.

The old man seemed completely unaware of their arrival, puffing away at his cigarette on his own.

"Sir!" Seeing that the old man seemed not to have noticed them, Carmen called out in greeting.

But the old man still did not react.

"Sir? Could you tell us where this place is?" Carmen raised her voice and asked again.

This time, the old man finally reacted. However, he merely raised his head slightly to glance at them before saying nothing more.

Carmen was speechless at his attitude. What kind of attitude was that? Did he take them for air?

Just as Carmen was about to lose her temper, a tremendous noise suddenly came from the direction they had climbed up from.

A huge cloud of dust rose as well, swallowing the flower field they had just seen.

"Ha! Ha! Ha! Old man, look what I brought back!" A voice rang out from within the dust as it drew near.

When the figure came to a stop, Carmen and the others finally saw what he looked like.

He wore a cowboy-style hat, no shirt on his upper body, and only a string of prayer beads around his neck. Beneath the beads hung a round smiling-face emblem. He wore knee-length denim shorts, and what he dragged behind him was the tiger Carmen and the others had just defeated.

If Locke had been here, he would have immediately called out his name: Ace!

"Eh? More people came?" Only after stopping did Ace notice Carmen and the others.

"Old man, this prey is big enough this time, right?" Ace merely glanced at Carmen's group before turning to the old man.

The old man looked at the tiger behind Ace and nodded, acknowledging his words.

"Then can you tell me how to get off this island now?" Seeing the old man nod, Ace hurriedly asked.

"I said you had to turn it into delicious food. Only if I'm satisfied will I tell you." The old man finally spoke, his voice somewhat hoarse.

"Ah... ah... Old man, I really can't cook!" Hearing that, Ace looked utterly devastated.

"That isn't my concern. If you don't make me something tasty, don't even think about leaving this place," the old man said calmly.

"How about we discuss this? You tell me how to get out, and I'll find a chef outside to come in and cook for you!" Ace sat directly beside the old man and spoke with a negotiating expression.

"Tch!" The old man slapped away Ace's hand from his shoulder and rolled his eyes at him.

"Old man..."

"Alright, aren't there newcomers over there? Go ask whether they're chefs! Maybe they can do it!" The old man interrupted Ace and pointed at Carmen's group, who were observing the situation from the side.

"Ha! Ha! Ha! Old man, you're brilliant! How did I not think of that?" Ace said boisterously as he patted the old man on the shoulder.

Ace received another disdainful look from the old man, but he did not care at all. He walked over to Carmen and the others and said, "Hello, my name is Ace. Nice to meet you."

Though Ace had been so flamboyant before, he was unexpectedly polite when he came to greet Carmen, to the point that Carmen could not connect him with the man who had just been throwing a tantrum at the old man.