Before setting foot on this island, Shiller had observed it from a distance. This island in the vicinity of Mexico was of moderate size, but it couldn't be compared to the larger islands nearby.
But this island has one very significant feature: it is far away from all other islands, at least not within swimming distance for any human.
This could truly be called a solitary island in the sea, possessing the white sandy beaches, coconut trees, and seabirds flying around, common to other tropical islands. And of course, the ubiquitous blistering sun was also a staple.
The tropics hardly have four distinct seasons, so even though it was only April, the scorching sun was already high in the sky, bringing an excessively warm temperature to all the lifeforms here. As Arthur stepped off the beach and into the tropical jungle, he glanced enviously at Shiller, who was holding a black umbrella.
He now understood why the professor always carried an umbrella. It served not only as a shield against the rain but also a cover against the sun.
However, it was clear that Shiller's umbrella was only big enough for one person. Even if Shiller was willing to share, it wouldn't cover both of them. Therefore, Arthur paused and said, "Professor, wait for me a moment. I'll make an umbrella.
Shiller paused, puzzled by what he meant. Arthur quickly ran to the side of a tree.
This tree looked unusual. It was not very tall, but its base was quite thick, sporting many fan-like leaves. The overall shape was round. Each leaf consisted of several green bars. As he climbed the tree, Arthur said, "This should be a type of palm, but I don't know the specific species."
He ascended the tree, plucked a few leaves, straightened the green bars, and then started weaving.
Arthur, despite his towering stature, displayed delicate weaving skill as he quickly tied three fan leaves together, forming a rather odd-looking straw hat. He said, "All of Bruce Haiwen's children knew how to do this. In addition to palm leaves, dried seaweed and tree bark that can be cut into fibers can also be used."
Arthur put the hat on his head, and they continued their journey, straying further from the beach. The landscape here began to resemble a tropical rainforest more with densely packed plants and tall trees. Many leafy trees almost completely shielded the sunlight, somewhat tempering the heat, but the increased humidity made their skin feel extremely uncomfortable.
Fortunately, after arriving here for a vacation, Shiller had swapped his conservative suit for a practical outfit of shorts, t-shirt, and short-sleeved jacket, which was quite adaptable to the environment here.
As for Arthur, he had taken it a step further by removing his top altogether, resuming the pose he struck while fishing on the boat earlier. He nonchalantly broke off a piece of a fern-like plant, using its root as an improvised trekking pole, and began to stride deliberately into the wilderness.
At the highest point of the island terrain, there was a cliff, and going down the gentle slope along the cliff, one could see a crystal clear babbling brook running along. Countless plants, not commonly seen in horticultural flora, thrived incredibly well in small crevices between rocks.
Among the branches of the shrubs, a small bird with colorful feathers flapped its wings, hopping onto another shrub, pecking at the lower part of the stamen, seemingly in search of fruit.
Suddenly, with a "whoosh", a streak of light flew by, startling the birds and butterflies in the shrubs. With a "thud", an arrow embedded itself into the ground. A not-so-small lizard at the side instantly fled into the shrubs, disappearing without a trace.
A sigh echoed from a distance, apparently expressing disappointment over an unsuccessful hunt.
A foot covered by a leaf-shod shoe stepped into the brook. A hand reached for the arrow, attempting to pull it out from the soft dirt. Alas, a slight exertion of force and the poorly secured stone arrowhead detached from the shaft.
The person holding the arrow stood up, his upper body clothed in an unusual garment. It was primarily made of palm leaves, held together by white fabric. The fabric was very delicately woven, much like materials used in shirt-making. Judging by its softness, it was likely a piece of expensive clothing.
His lower half was covered by a pair of shorts, seemingly cut from suit trousers. His shoes and lower legs were wrapped with palm leaves, with thick green strips wound tightly around the soles. These strips were from the same plant that Arthur used to make his hat.
Moving up, this man sported a somewhat wild, bearded look, his eyes concealed behind a leaf.
He wore a rather coarse hat made from banana leaves on his head. Although half of his face was hidden under the leaves, one could still see sunburns on his lips and neck, with clear signs of skin peeling.
He tried to break the arrow shaft, but he couldn't due to his extreme weakness.
Under the cloth made from palm leaves and coconut leaves, white cloth strips could be seen, bandaged from his left shoulder to the armpit, and then wrapped around his chest several times. Blood stains were evident on the cloth. Clearly, he had recently suffered an injury and was now in a state of weakness.
Suddenly, he perked up his ears and quickly hunched down, diving into the shrubs. He crouched beside some particularly vibrant plants and through the leaves, saw two shadowy figures approaching.
He opened his mouth in surprise, ready to rush out, but hesitated, crouched back down, and squinted at the approaching pair.
Arthur dipped his foot in the clear stream, washing off the sand and gravel brought from the beach. He said, "The man would need a water source to survive this long here. If we follow the stream up, we should be able to find his trace."
Shiller didn't refute him but maintained a considerable distance from the stream, looking up at the landscape ahead.
The deeper they went into the rainforest, the more diverse the animal life became – vivid, feathered birds, unnameable frogs, lizards darting past their feet, seabirds soaring in the sky...
The place was teeming with life yet also held a menacing aura. Heat and humidity were not the deadliest aspects of this terrain.
Arthur, standing in the middle of the stream paused, "I hear the call of a whale...," he said.
They squinted their eyes, concentrated their minds, squatted down, and put their hands into the stream, feeling the information coming from the sea.
"Damn, we need to find him quickly, the fishes told me, a storm is coming!" Arthur's tone became somber, he said: "I've read in a fishing magazine, storms happen frequently in the Caribbean Sea Area, this place is close to Mexico, the climate is similar, tropical storms can come at any time..."
Shiller's understanding of a storm would probably be a slightly bigger Gotham night rain, but Arthur denied his idea, he said: "A tropical storm is nothing like a regular storm..."
"Tropical storms have an extremely destructive force, wherever it passes, everything will be in a mess, even if we won't be blown away and die like we were in a tornado, we still need to be cautious about the damage the collapsing plants may bring..."
"In a storm, even a piece of a tornadoed palm leaf could become a killer knife."
Hearing this, Shiller walked a bit faster than Arthur, although he wouldn't be in any life-threatening situations in a storm, anyone could imagine that once the storm strikes without a safe refuge, they would surely be blown away scruffily.
Shiller came to vacation, not to experience the brutality and indifference of nature, he just wanted to hurry up and find that unfortunate guy, then fix the ship and leave.
The truth proved that his idea was good, it's just God did not think it was very good.
Almost within a minute, the sky darkened, the previously strong sun suddenly disappeared, thick rainclouds blocked all sunlight, and thunder blasted from afar, the wind traveled through the tall woods and brought along the unique raw smell of humid soil when it brushed against your face.
Just when Shiller was about to disperse into a gray mist to begin a wide-range investigation, Arthur suddenly stopped and turned his head to the bushes beside him, Shiller heard him say: "Stop hiding, I see you!"
"Don't come over!"
A figure crawled out from behind the bushes, he was holding a self-made bow and arrow, there was a very rudimentary arrow on top, the arrowhead looked like it was at odds with the arrow shaft, ready to run away home at any time.
Shiller examined this person in front of him, even though most of his face was covered under the palm leaf, but you could still tell that the skin of his exposed hands was very delicate, and fingers were very well cared for, he did not look like a fisherman or a similar role, but more like a spoiled rich man.
Arthur was surprised by his appearance, after all, he only got a vague story from the fishes, he had never seen the real Robinson. Suddenly, Arthur realized, he said "No, you calm down, we are here to rescue you..."
But the person facing them did not relax his vigilance, he still pointed the bow at them and said: "You are accomplices of that group from before, right?"
"Relax, don't be nervous." Shiller stepped forward and said.
The man glanced at Shiller but ultimately fixed his gaze upon Arthur, Arthur said: "I am a fisherman, I come from Brude Havens..."
After saying this, he glanced down at himself, his overly buff physique and the tattoos on his arm seemed to be saying that he was not a good person, Arthur sighed, looked at the person and said: "Whether you believe it or not, we are truly here to save you."
"How did you get here?" The man asked.
"I sailed the boat over." Arthur replied, "We first took a plane to California, then we got off the plane at Seashore City, and took the boat over..."
The man appeared even more vigilant, at the same time he scornfully said: "Getting here by boat from California? Do you think I'm a fool? Do you know how far that is?"
"Eh... I'm quite good at sailing a boat, the sea will help me, but, you should put your bow and arrow down first, the storm is coming, we need to find some shelter quicky, otherwise it'll be dangerous!" Arthur was trying to communicate with the man on the other end, but it was clear that he was not very good at it, and the man became more and more vigilant.
Shiller put away his umbrella, poked Arthur with the tip and said: "You mentioned on the airplane before, besides being able to talk with fishes, you have some other abilities, let's see them."
Arthur hesitated for a moment and said: "Actually, I can't control them very well, but... alright, watch carefully..."
After saying this, Arthur held out one hand, closed his eyes, furrowed his brows, and concentrated his mind, the man on the other side was uncertain of what he was planning to do, and slightly retreated a step back.
But shortly, a surprising scene happened, the water in this stream began to gradually float up, a water dragon emerged from the stream and then surrounded Arthur, forming a shield.
Arthur opened his eyes, exhaled a breath, with a flick of his hand, the shield became regular water droplets again and scattered onto the ground.
Feeling the coolness brought by the splashing water droplets, the man finally looked up, took off the palm leaf hat from his head and stared directly at Arthur, asking: "Who are you?"
"I've told you, I'm a fisherman, but I was born with the ability to communicate with sea creatures, it was from the fishes' mouths that I heard about you, I am here to save you..."
However, Shiller interrupted their conversation, he looked up at the sky, it was covered with dark clouds and flashes of lightning, he said:
"We should get moving, the storm is coming."