"I'm not afraid of you... you... don't come any closer, I'm not afraid of you! No, don't come any closer, ah..."
Under the pitch-black night sky, a five-story building stood tall, surrounded by nothing but emptiness, making it appear even higher.
"Roar..."
A tiger's head.
In the air was a tiger's head, but instead of the familiar body of a tiger, there was a yellow light extending all the way to the horizon.
"I'm not afraid of you, don't come any closer!"
A seemingly fragile child, his eyes bloodshot, shouted loudly.
The golden tiger seemed to sense that its authority was being challenged and quickly charged at the child.
"Boom..." A loud crash, and the building collapsed...
The entire world suddenly turned golden, then blood red, and finally fell into darkness.
"Ah..."
"Phew, phew, phew, another nightmare..."
Chen Zheng wiped the sweat from his face, feeling the sea breeze hit his face. His complexion was pale as he stared blankly at the fire in front of him.
"Phew... it's been two or three days already. I wonder if the rescue team has found anything. This place should be along the flight route, they should find me soon, right?"
Chen Zheng sighed.
"Fortunately, it's summer. If it were winter, I'd probably freeze to death here. How lucky I am... but still, I wish I could just die here and end all my troubles!"
Now, he understood why survival shows always say that in wilderness survival, the biggest enemy is loneliness. It's yourself.
Two or three days without seeing anyone, even for Chen Zheng, it was beginning to wear him down.
However, thanks to years of diligent study, he had grown accustomed to living alone, accustomed to solitude, accustomed to silence. Even with his classmates, he rarely spoke. From middle school to graduate school, this personality inevitably left his classmates with the impression that he was introverted, solitary, and out of sync. However, his advisor really liked him.
This was because Chen Zheng had majored in history, specifically ancient history, which was the type of major that required the most patience and dedication.
An industry expert once said about this field: "The bench must be cold for ten years, or else the writing will be empty!"
Without more than ten years of hard knowledge accumulation, one couldn't engage in real research in this field.
So even though he had only graduated with a master's degree, Chen Zheng's research abilities were quite strong. His advisor had hoped he would continue to a PhD, but due to personal reasons, Chen Zheng didn't want to continue, so after his master's, his advisor recommended him to become a history teacher at Zhonghai Normal University.
Having experienced that event as a child, Chen Zheng had grown used to being alone, accustomed to working hard, and he poured all his energy into his studies. By the time he was twenty-two, he had already completed his master's degree.
After arriving at the university, before the semester started, for some unknown reason, he was offered an opportunity to exchange in Singapore. After spending six months there, he was finally ready to return home.
But on his way back to the country, he encountered a plane crash. At first, Chen Zheng thought his life was over, that he would finally be reunited with his family. But when he woke up again, he was lying on a beach, clutching a piece of wood.
Clearly, he had survived, though the reason remained unknown. Perhaps it was fate, knowing that he still had unfinished business.
Chen Zheng knew that after such an incident, a rescue team would surely be searching along the flight route, so his task was to survive until they arrived.
Although he was empty-handed, with only the clothes on his back, Chen Zheng had found a lot of useful junk on the island, which became crucial tools for his survival.
The hammock he was sleeping in was made from a fishing net he had found on the beach, reinforced with two tree vines, which kept him off the ground.
The fire in front of him was also made from junk he had gathered.
Though Chen Zheng studied history and knew ancient methods of fire-starting through friction, he himself didn't know how to do it. Fortunately, he had found a wine bottle.
The bottom of the bottle had a convex lens. After smashing it, he used the magnifying glass principle to start the fire.
That was when he understood why fire was often called the "fire of life." When the fire started, the joy he felt was just as intense as when he completed his master's thesis.
In that moment, he suddenly felt that life still held hope.
Afterward, using shells, crabs, and coconuts he found along the beach, Chen Zheng managed to survive. The only problem was the lack of fresh water.
Without a clock, Chen Zheng had no idea what time it was. After that nightmare, he couldn't sleep, and after staring at the moon for a long time, the sun finally rose.
"Practice brings true knowledge!" Chen Zheng sighed as he walked along the beach.
Whoever said that islands must have coconut trees was wrong. The island where Chen Zheng was stranded had no coconut trees. The coconuts he had been eating had all drifted from the sea.
However, the water from the coconuts could only maintain the most basic level of survival. Chen Zheng was now showing signs of dehydration.
"How ironic, surrounded by water on all sides, but not a drop to drink!"
Today, Chen Zheng planned to use distillation to see if he could get some drinkable fresh water. But before that, it was essential to patrol the beach early in the morning, while the sun wasn't too strong.
On one hand, he was looking for anything useful, and on the other hand, he was collecting plastic products to eventually use to light a signal fire. The black smoke from burning plastic would stand out against the surrounding environment.
This small island wasn't big; it took about an hour to walk around it. Although it didn't have many resources, it didn't have many threats either. He hadn't seen any snakes or rats.
"What's this?"
Chen Zheng discovered a glass bottle. This wasn't unusual, but what was strange was that the bottle was sealed with a wooden cork. The bottle was airtight, and there was something inside.
He tried to pull out the cork, but it wouldn't budge. This piqued his curiosity, and after smashing the bottle neck with a rock, he poured out the contents.
It was already a bit damp inside.
"This is... a drift bottle!"
A rolled-up piece of paper fell out of the bottle, wrapped tightly in plastic to ensure the paper wouldn't get wet. Curious, Chen Zheng tore open the plastic.
Inside was something that looked like a ticket and a hundred-dollar bill—a very odd combination.
"Didn't expect to find money here, this is ridiculous!" Chen Zheng laughed as he looked at the bill.
The bill didn't show any date. Originally, Chen Zheng wanted to check the time on the ticket, which was a habit from studying history. He always had the urge to check dates. But upon closer inspection, he found that the ticket was useless—it had no time, no destination, only a starting point: "Earth Island."
"Probably some prank... but why put a dollar bill inside? Is it a rich prankster just being whimsical?"