Chapter 18: The Crocodile’s Revenge.

“We have the fire, so we should build a shelter next, right?”

“That’s right, but just build a simple one; we haven’t surveyed this island yet, so there’s no need to go to great lengths to construct a house.”

Li Chenfeng disassembled the raft, used several tree trunks as supports and tied them into a semicircular frame, cut some banana leaves nearby to lay on the ground, and fixed the plastic sheet they had brought onto the frame as a roof and walls.

He checked his watch; it was 5:00 p.m., and the three of them were a little exhausted and wanted to rest for a while.

“Chenfeng, don’t you need to lie down for a while?”

“My right eyelid keeps twitching; Senior, you two rest first, I have a feeling something is going to happen.”

“That won’t do; whatever happens I’ll stay with you.”

Li Chenfeng was somewhat moved; after a few days together the three of them had grown closer and had come to rely on one another, because on a deserted island loneliness was more terrifying than hunger.

Li Chenfeng was whittling the wooden fork with a stone axe, and the clash with the crocodile had already flattened the tip, so it was no longer very lethal.

“My eyelid is twitching more and more!”

“Nothing bad will happen, right?”

“Don’t be afraid; when friends arrive there’s fine wine, and when enemies come there’s a shotgun.”

Lu Xinyao looked at Li Chenfeng’s serious profile, and that simple sentence gave her a strong sense of security (Maybe this was what people called boyfriend power overflowing.)

A crocodile stared coldly in the direction of the shelter; it did not choose to attack directly but instead hid in the grass waiting for an opportunity.

“Didn’t we scrape a lot of barnacles off the whale? I’ll go get them and cook them tonight!”

The crocodile fixed one eye on the isolated Lu Xinyao and its gaze was full of killing intent.

Who would have thought crocodiles could be so clever; they even knew how to pick off lone targets.

Lu Xinyao kept her head down picking barnacles off the raft and did not notice the danger behind her, and the crocodile was only 4 or 5 meters away from her at that moment.

『Please light a fire before sunset to ward off the cold.: Danger! Danger!』

“Oh no!”

With the fork in his left hand and the axe in his right, Li Chenfeng rushed toward the beach as fast as he could.

If only he could activate a sprint function right now!

The crocodile opened its gaping, bloodstained maw and lunged to bite at the back of Lu Xinyao.

Li Chenfeng arrived just in time and thrust the fork into its mouth once more, and this time he summoned all his strength and the wooden fork drove right through the crocodile’s lower jaw.

Lu Xinyao spun around and found a crocodile right behind her with a hideous face that let out a pitiful shriek.

Lu Xinyao tried to scream but her throat could not make a sound, and she felt warm waves in her lower body.

Li Chenfeng held the wooden fork firmly with his right hand and, with the stone axe in his left, desperately hacked at its eyes because that was the most vulnerable spot on such a beast.

He struck again and again… one blow, two blows, three blows.

Blood splattered onto Li Chenfeng’s face, and his eyes had already been stained red.

He did not mind if it wanted to eat him, but because it had the nerve to target his companion, it would pay with its life.

Li Chenfeng, throwing caution to the wind, chopped wildly with the axe; at first the crocodile still fought desperately, but over time it gradually lost the ability to resist.

Li Chenfeng hacked the crocodile’s head until flesh and blood were a mess, and the air was filled with the nauseating stench of blood.

Lu Xinyao was completely stunned by the scene before her; although HE looked delicate, when he turned vicious he was like a demon, and she did not know whether she was more afraid of the crocodile or of Li Chenfeng.

Li Chenfeng only stopped once the crocodile was completely dead.

“Senior, are you okay?”

After a long moment, Lu Xinyao finally managed to squeeze out a single, “Mm!”

Li Chenfeng wiped the blood from his face and asked, “Did I scare you?”

“Mm… no… I’m fine.”

He went to the seashore to wash the blood from his hands, gently helped Lu Xinyao to her feet, and said, “Sorry for letting you see such a bloody scene, but it was urgent and I was afraid the Senior might get hurt, so I was extra rough.”

Warmth surged through Lu Xinyao’s heart as she realized that he had been so worried about her.

“I know! You did it to protect me… either it dies or I do; thank you for saving me again.”

“Hey, there’s nothing to thank me for; as long as the Senior is okay, that’s what matters.”

Lu Xinyao awkwardly glanced at her lower body and said, “I… I’m too timid, I’m useless.”

Li Chenfeng patted her head and said, “It’s okay, go wash up.”

“Mm!”

As Lu Xinyao walked toward the sea, she covered her mouth and laughed, thinking that Chenfeng probably cared about her a bit more.

Li Chenfeng had no idea about a girl’s little thoughts; he crouched on the ground focusing entirely on the high-quality protein before him.

He picked up the axe and began to gut the crocodile, and an adult crocodile could reach 4 meters in length and weigh over 300 kg.

This crocodile was estimated at about 700–800 jin, and Li Chenfeng shuddered at the thought that if they had been in the water they would likely have been its meal.

After being butchered, the crocodile meat amounted to about 400–500 jin, which should be enough for several people to eat for 1–2 months, but without a refrigerator fresh meat could only be kept for at most a day.

『Please light a fire before sunset to ward off the cold.: Use curing to preserve the crocodile meat.』

They cut the crocodile meat into chunks and evenly rubbed all the salt they had collected on Storm Island onto the pieces.

Back at the shelter, Li Chenfeng specially made a grill to smoke the crocodile meat.

“Done; animal protein is secured for the time being.”

Lu Xinyao was roasting two crocodile legs while a pot of barnacles boiled, and by the time the others woke up dinner would be ready.

The smell of crocodile meat woke Ning Jingjing from her sleep; she sniffed the air eagerly and exclaimed, “Something smells so good! It smells like fried chicken!”

“Jingjing, you’re awake!”

It was 7:30 p.m., night had already fallen, the sky glittered with stars, and the campfire burned bright on the ground.

The woman was also awakened by the aroma of the meat.

“Hey, she’s awake.”

The three of them crowded forward and stared at her eagerly.

When the woman opened her eyes she saw three faces crowded together staring at her.

The woman tried to push herself up and asked, “Am I… am I finally rescued? Has the rescue team finally found me?”

Lu Xinyao hurriedly helped her up and said, “Mm… Li Chenfeng saved you, but we are also survivors, not a rescue team.”

The woman’s eyes, which had been full of hope, dimmed again when she heard that they were not a rescue team.

Ning Jingjing waved her hand in front of the woman and asked, “How are you? Do you feel any discomfort?”

Li Chenfeng handed her a bottle of boiled water and said, “Drink up!”

The woman immediately grabbed the bottle and began gulping it down.

“Slow down, nobody’s going to snatch it from you, don’t choke yourself.”

Lu Xinyao’s eyes were full of concern as she patted the woman’s back to help her burp and said, “Yes, slow down, and there’s more.”

The woman drank half the bottle in one go and asked, “Is there any food? I’m hungry!”

“Yes,” said Li Chenfeng as he cut a crocodile leg in half, wrapped one half in banana leaves, and handed it to her.

The woman pounced like a starving wolf and swallowed each bite without taking the time to savor it.

Ning Jingjing opened her mouth wide and exclaimed, “Even a starving ghost would shout ‘big brother’ when it sees this!”