The Coconut Trap

He excitedly swung it a few times. His freshly made spear handled quite well, and its point was impressively sharp.

If he used it against a human body, one thrust would leave a bloody hole.

Then Zhang Ming sat on a rock and began thinking of a safer way to fight.

"Charging in recklessly like yesterday isn't safe, and it's inefficient too. That really won't do."

He simulated a few fights in his head, but methods like stabbing its eyes or splashing it with boiling water all seemed far too impractical.

"What if I fail..."

"The crab would lose a leg, but I'd lose my life."

Gray-white fragments of memory flashed through his mind as Zhang Ming tried hard to recall survival videos featuring Bear Grylls, Uncle De, and that Australian guy. When he watched those videos, he had only thought those people were entertaining and exceptionally good at going hungry. Who could have imagined that he would someday need that knowledge himself?

Gradually, one crucial word surfaced in his mind-

Traps!

Face-to-face combat left far too little room for error. Out in the wilderness with no one to look after him, getting injured meant death.

"But I can make traps!"

"I can adjust my stats to boost my strength like crazy. All I need to do is push a few giant coconuts onto the boulder, wait for the crabs to chase me up there, then shove the coconuts down hard."

"With hundreds of kilograms of coconut coming down on them, they'll be crushed!"

This plan left plenty of room for error and required no close-range fighting.

Only a genius like me could come up with a plan like this!

After thinking the whole plan through, Zhang Ming took several deep breaths, picked up his spear, and marched off with his head held high.

An hour later.

The coconut trap was complete!

To be on the safe side, he had hauled three giant coconuts onto the boulder, each weighing between 150 and 200 kilograms!

Zhang Ming rested for half an hour to recover some strength, then cautiously crept toward his "crab harvesting grounds."

Huge groups of crabs happily blew bubbles and dug in the mudflats. He could hear their bubbling and crackling from far away.

"Your master has arrived!" Zhang Ming desperately wanted to stand before the swarm of crabs and roar those words with swaggering confidence.

But he did not dare.

All he could do was lie low in the grass and quietly build himself up.

Back on Earth.

The giant sea turtle in Mirage No. 16 had actually run away. The narrow escape left many viewers in Great Xia breathing sighs of relief.

Next, the young man stranded on the island chose the approach he knew best: hunting crabs!

The crabs might have been monstrous in size, but practice made perfect. As long as he prepared his traps, hunting them should not be too difficult.

"I hope he manages to catch something... Please stop putting me through this. My heart nearly jumped out of my chest just now."

"My mom said she's going to the temple to chant sutras for him and ask the Buddha to keep him safe. Honestly, I don't know what to say."

"A little peace of mind isn't a bad thing. If your heart can't take it, stop staring up at the sky."

Compared with the relaxed mood in Great Xia, commentary abroad was mostly filled with disappointment and frustration.

People only wanted to see rivers of blood. With public opinion beyond the firewall consistently hostile, even more people held that attitude.

"Let's watch the other Mirages. The guy in No. 16 probably won't die anytime soon."

"I didn't expect that turtle to be such a coward. What a waste of its size."

"What a shame!"

The person who handed out cash gifts whenever a natural disaster struck Great Xia had vanished. Apparently, a flood of reports had gotten the account muted outright.

But the trolls soon found a new angle-his superpower was low-tier!

"Have you noticed how strong he is? I don't know exactly how much those coconuts weigh, but surely they aren't hollow foam props. They could weigh hundreds of kilograms."

"I think he might have some kind of strength-related superpower."

"Physical abilities are relatively low-tier powers."

People with superpowers had appeared on Earth as well, making up roughly one millionth of the population, or a thousand out of every billion people. Across the globe, that was a considerable number.

Almost all of those several thousand people had physical abilities, manifesting as immense strength, rapid sprinting, heightened senses, limb regeneration, extraordinary immunity, and so on.

Compared with powers such as levitation, invisibility, and flame manipulation that had appeared in the Mysterious Zones, physical abilities did indeed seem somewhat low-tier.

The army of online debaters arrived, late but inevitable.

"That guy from Japan with the supposedly high-tier invisibility power already died in Mysterious Zone No. 7. What good did his fancy ability do him?"

"Superpowers are secondary. A smart brain, calm decisions, and a talent for enduring hunger matter more."

"I think the guy in No. 16 is just a coward. He doesn't even dare leave familiar surroundings!"

"He's a gutless loser!"

"You'll even bash him for that? You think this is some big reality show? Fuck off. If you're so capable, go do it yourself."

Whether superpowers were high-tier became a major point of contention. Some believed they demonstrated "God's favor," while a smaller group felt that usefulness was all that mattered. What difference did a power's tier make?

The so-called "high tiers" were nothing more than labels netizens entertained themselves with. There were no actual standards for judging them.

Amid the clamor, Professor Peter Greer, who had attracted the attention of tens of millions, posted a new tweet: "My friends, physical abilities are relatively widespread, but judging the quality of superpowers by their prevalence is unscientific. Humans vastly outnumber tigers. Does that make humans inferior to tigers?"

"An ability should be judged by how much it contributes to survival. The gentleman in Mysterious Zone 16 has chosen a familiar means of survival within the limits of his abilities. That is an appropriate choice."

"Even if he eats crabs every day from now on while waiting for rescue from the outside world, I would not find it strange. On the contrary, I would applaud his resourcefulness."

"Understanding one's own capabilities and enduring solitude are admirable qualities."

"Also, I hope everyone will pay more attention to reality. Following the eruption of Mount Fuji, living conditions in Fusang are deeply concerning. Over a hundred million refugees need assistance. Pay attention to reality and to the world beneath your feet."

Once that topic came up, the trolls multiplied until they were practically impossible to count.

Everyone was struggling with life at the moment. They only went online for a little entertainment and to vent their frustrations.

Even the famous professor himself came under fire. Many people told him to donate more money instead of playing morality police online.

"A nearby chemical plant is leaking. Why hasn't the government dealt with it yet? Where are the rescue teams? Are they trying to poison us all to death?"

"The railways are paralyzed, and I'm still on a train. Fuck, it's already been two days and two nights. Everyone on this train has run out of food. You're all off rescuing people from Japan, but who's going to rescue me?"

People were constantly at one another's throats. Life beyond the firewall was just that simple and unadorned.