On this island was a large area of reef.
Tall reefs were arranged irregularly, forming small gaps that barely allowed a single person to pass through.
The examinees however never went there.
Firstly, the sharp stones and frozen ground made it a very dangerous place.
And secondly, the wind passing through these small gaps was enough to make their brains freeze. Not only that, it would also whistle and make it sound like it was haunted.
Those who are on the timider side would probably wet themselves.
But at this moment, two tall figures squeezed out through the reef———
It was Di Li and his companion Brother Li.
These two just happened to be a little OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder), and this trait of theirs was particularly obvious when they searched for someone——–
They must ensure that they have walked through every single path at least once. If they missed any, they would feel uncomfortable all over.
And so, they ended up in a damned place like this.
In order to find them as soon as possible, they split up to search.
Each went through a narrow gap and squeezed into the reef.
.
Di Li just happened to be walking against the sea breeze. He squinted his eyes as he struggled on.
As he walked, he suddenly heard strange noises behind him.
At first, he thought it was the whistling sounds made by the wind but after taking a few more steps, he felt that something wasn't quite right.
The whistling sound was indeed rather loud. It dragged on for a long time and it followed the rhythm of the wind but, in addition to that, there was also another sound....
It sounded like....footsteps coming from behind.
Echo?
Di Li comforted himself.
He deliberately lightened his footsteps. Supporting himself using the reef walls on both sides, he walked on slowly…..
But the footsteps from behind started to increase its pace.
Di Li: "...…."
Could it be Brother Li coming over?
He again comforted himself.
To verify this, he shouted out boldly: "BROTHER LI—–"
"Ah, goddammit. You scared me!" Brother Li's voice came from a gap diagonally ahead of him: "What's the matter?"
Di Li: "...…"
He immediately stopped his footsteps and turned around.
The flame in the oil lamp he held flickered.
There was no one behind him.
...…..
.
In the gap between the reefs nearby, Brother Li waited for a while, but he didn't receive any response.
Di Li who had shouted his name earlier had suddenly stopped talking. It worried him a little.
"Xiao Di——–" Brother Li again raised his voice: "What's wrong——-"
Still no answer.
Only the sea breeze could be heard.
Brother Li's heart fell. He supported himself with the reef wall and walked a few steps: "Xiao Di you...."
Before he could finish speaking, there was finally movement from the other end.
Di Li's passionate voice carried over with the wind: "Prosperity! Democracy! Civility! Harmony! Freedom! Equality! Justice! Rule of Law!"(KKnotes: LOL here Di Li is reciting the core values of Chinese socialism.)
Brother Li: "...…"
What the hell is this?
He was so startled; he slipped and fell. He slid across the ice for about half a metre.
He only managed to stop when his pant leg got caught onto something.
Brother Li was both angry and amused. He quietly cursed: "Little brat playing around and scaring me….."
He supported himself using the thing that stopped him from slipping and intended on standing back up.
But the moment his hand came into contact with it, his scalp suddenly turned numb.
This oil lamp that had falling to the ground rolled around a few times before the flame inside went out.
But just that short moment was enough to see what he was holding.....
It was a hand.
A frostbitten hand stuck out from under the ice and snow. Because it was so cold, it even stuck to the skin of his palm.
Brother Li: "...."
Soon afterwards, two passionate voices could be heard coming from the reefs: "Patriotism! Dedication! Integrity! Friendship!"
.
Di Li and Brother Li rushed back to their nest.
Before they had even entered the cave, they had already started shouting.
"We found them! Hurry! Take a long a few more fire torches and we will also need a shovel or knife! We need to dig——-"
Before they could finish, the two rushed into the cave one after the other and came face to face with You Huo and Qin Jiu.
Di Li: ".....The fuck?"
"Dig what grass?" Qin Jiu's eyes moved back and forth between the two. (KKnotes: Di Li's curse earlier was 操 (Cao) and it also sounds like grass 草 (Cao) hence Qin Jiu's comment.)
"......."
Di Li was stunned for a moment.
He stared at them with his already big eyes and said: "You....Weren't you...…."
He then pointed outside the cave and then looked at the completely fine You Huo and Qin Jiu. He finally realised how bit of an idiot he and Brother Li was.
When he had touched that hand earlier, Brother Li didn't dare look at it too carefully.
He just thought that the monster was a lot more efficient than he expected. It had only been an hour, yet the body was already hardened and buried under the ice.
They had planned to rush back to get more manpower and tools to retrieve the bodies of their companions.
But they didn't expect that they had already returned.
Not only did they come back completely fine, they had also brought back a bunch of gifts.
Di Li closed his mouth and was amazed.
He patted off the ice and snow from his clothes and squatted near a fire.
After warming himself up slightly, he suddenly wondered: "Ss———-Since you two are back, then who's hand did Brother Li hold?"
"What hand?" You Huo asked.
Di Li and Brother Li recounted their experience earlier.
Qin Jiu raised his chin and indicated outside the cave: "Did you forget? The crew members here have also buried people."
"Oh yeah!" Di Li knocked on his head: "Look at this head of mine. As soon as its frozen by the sea breeze, my IQ immediately plummets."
The others also echoed: "That's right, the question also mentioned it before. The first officer would hide the bodies of the dead crew members."
Perhaps it was because he was afraid of them being eaten by the monster, he had them buried under the ice allowing them to merge together into one. This way, it would be difficult for the monster to consume.
But, wasn't the place where Di Li and the others went not that well-hidden? Afterall, they ended up holding hands only after tripping over.
You Huo didn't quite understand the first officer's thoughts.
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But since this was after all a matter between the crew members, they had their own preferences. Perhaps they not only hid the bodies, they also took into consideration the ships customs.
.
The items brought back by the two great masters aroused everyone's interest.
The compass probably came from an examinee, and it appeared to still be functional.
"But knowing north, south, east, west on an island like this is meaningless for now." An examinee sighed.
"Why is it meaningless? Wasn't the final requirement of this exam to send the crew safely back on their journey?" Classmate Di Li believed that there was a reason for its existence and he also had a little hamster disease where he would hoard everything that he felt might be useful, "If the compass is useless, are you going to rely on your finger to direct you home?"
After reprimanding the other person, he then felt that he went overboard so he added: ".....I'm not trying to argue with you."
The examinee: "I meant temporarily. It is meaningless for now. It's not like they're going to set sail tomorrow."
No one refuted.
He wasn't wrong. There are still more than ten days until the ice melted so they would still need to stay here for a while.
Thinking this, everyone's mood turned for the worse.
But they quickly became excited again. It was because of the pair of ponytails.
They were both scared and curious. Staring at the two bundles, they asked: "This....why did you bring something like this back?"
Di Li wasn't lacking in his gaming experience. He commented: "The tentacles of the boss. For clearance? For medicine?"
Qin Jiu rummaged through the pile of wood. He picked up two pointed wooden sticks and said dully: "For seafood."
"?????"
Everyone retreated.
They still vividly remember the monster hiding above the stone cave staring down at them just an hour ago.
Who are you trying to scare?!
This reaction of theirs wasn't unexpected. Qin Jiu didn't even move his eyebrows.
He bored a wooden stick through each of the two bundles and then smoothly set up a stand above a fire pit before beginning to roast it.
The tip of the flames occasionally licked the surface of the tentacles.
Gradually, the cave was filled with faint sounds of roasting. Just the sound alone was very enticing…..
The will of the people there were being tested.
.
You Huo had already had a light meal at the invigilator's quarter so he was not very hungry.
Besides, he had also brought along canned beef and instant noodles this time. Although it couldn't be compared to 922's cooking, it was still edible.
So, when Qin Jiu started roasting the tentacles above the fire, he was completely unmoved.
Rather than roasted tentacles, he was more interested in knowing how far he had to go to make the system deem something as rule violation.
Sizzling sound entered You Huo's ears.
He looked over at Qin Jiu with a frown. He then walked from the inner cave to the outer one and looked at the score wall with his hands in his pockets.
Theoretically, that ugly thing was something the system sent over to punish them so it could probably be considered to be part of the system.
As part of the system was cut up and roasted by them, no, by that person, can the system tolerate it?
Judging from the earlier incident, it's probably....given up.
You Huo: "...…"
He noticed that the score wall wasn't far enough. At the very least, he could still see Qin Jiu from the corner of his eyes.
After a moment of silence, he moved out of the cave.
From this place, that bastard invigilator doing ridiculous things could no longer be seen. Not even his hair was visible.
The sea breeze outside rushed past, slapping his face in the process.
The others wouldn't stand out here for no reason, particularly at night, so there was only You Huo and the frozen dead rabbit by his feet.
He squatted down and looked down at the rabbit.
The rabbit looked back at him in silence.
Qin Jiu had mentioned that, in fact, the system was everywhere. It wasn't just using things like birds and rabbits to watch and listen.
So where could those so-called eyes and ears be? What kind of appearance would it take...…..He could smell the scent of roasted octopus.
You Huo: "....."
.
Qin Jiu sat on one side of the fire with one leg bent. He slowly turned the wooden sticks one after another.
The tentacles had curled up with the heat and it had also changed colour. In some areas, it had a shiny oil sheen and other areas had turned golden brown. The aroma of roasted tentacles was too strong. Very quickly, it filled up the entire cave, breaking down the will of most examinees.
Firstly, it was because they're really hungry.....
And secondly, if they ignored that monster's face, these things here are octopus tentacles!
Examinees came over one after another.
Then came the ship crew.
And last, the captain who was drifting in and out of consciousness also came over.....
It turns out that even if your stomach shrank after starving for so long, it didn't prevent people from experiencing the "joy" of being full.
The atmosphere inside the cave was both joyful and relaxed.
.
You Huo avoided the sight of that ugly food and squatted at the entrance of the cave for half an hour.
Just as he was about to stand back up, the dead rabbit which had been silent until now suddenly spoke up:
[After so many days, the crew members finally managed to have a filling meal. Bonus reward conditions have been met.]
[The melting of the glaciers that was initially set to be in 15 days have been pushed forward to 2 days later. All examinees should make the most of this opportunity to return the crew members back on their journey.]
[Note: The melting of the glaciers will only happen once. It will be at your own risk if you missed it.]
[In addition, the involved team will receive an additional 6 points.]
On the score wall, Qin Jiu and You Huo's points floundered again. It rose from 14.25 points to 20.25.
Chen Fei and Huang Rui returned to the bottom.
The two of them were shocked stiff.
You Huo stared at the rabbit with a frown.
But it once again fell silent after making that report. It no longer made a noise.
This was far from his expectations…..
A shadow fell over him. Qin Jiu walked over: "Are my roasting skills that bad for you to prefer squatting out here for 32 minutes instead of staying inside?"
"Or are you more interested in roasted rabbits than roasted octopus?"
"....."
How much better could a dead rabbit be compared to a fake octopus?
Qin Jiu suddenly stretched his hand out: "Can you stand? I can reluctantly lend you a hand."
You Huo didn't get up. He looked at Qin Jiu's dry palm and suddenly asked: "Would it count violating the rules if we really roasted it?"
Qin Jiu: "...…"
Would it count? Mr. 001 didn't know but he didn't mind giving it a try.
.
Five minutes later, the small white invigilators ship received two new rule violation notices.
Familiar names, familiar people.
922: "...…."
154: "...….."
078: "...Is it too late to apply to be reassigned?"
KK has something to say:
They actually roasted the rabbit!!