Carl actually had no idea why Saitama wasn't the least bit afraid of setting foot on this island.
Aside from that, when Saitama had first boarded the ship, he'd already received a mission: stop King Kong from entering the human world. To complete it, all he had to do was beat King Kong into submission, then lay down a few ground rules with it—so it wouldn't break into human society.
On top of that, there was another reason he was so eager to land.
The system showed that King Kong's combat power was extremely high—so high it even surpassed the Transformers.
That felt downright surreal.
So Saitama wanted to compare fists with King Kong himself, to see who was really stronger.
On the other side, when Carl heard that Saitama wanted him up front, he was confused.
Was Saitama planning to make him the cameraman?
But when he hurried to the front, he discovered Saitama was already standing on the natives' island, waiting for him.
Beside Saitama stood several local islanders.
"%￥%#..."
"￥@#￥..."
At their calls, the natives who'd been hiding along the edges of the island came running out one after another.
Native number one pointed at Saitama, then up at the sky, and dropped to his knees in a worshipful pose.
In the eyes of the natives, Saitama's previous feat had been nothing short of a god descending from the heavens.
Saitama, for his part, didn't think that description was all that exaggerated—he had just finished beating the living daylights out of Cybertronian robots, after all.
If he weren't sticking to the three principles of peace, mutual assistance, and friendship, he would've already walked straight past the natives and into the rainforest behind them alone.
But even though Saitama had convinced the majority of the natives, there were still a few who hadn't taken part in the earlier "battle" and thought everyone else was lying.
So one native with iron needles stuck all over his face—looking particularly terrifying—stepped forward toward Saitama.
He wanted to challenge him.
Whoosh.
In that native's eyes, Saitama's figure flashed, and he suddenly appeared behind him.
Saitama had been strengthened by the system to an absurd degree. When he dodged, he moved so fast that an afterimage was left behind.
"True Afterimage Fist!"
The native froze. After he hacked Saitama's afterimage to pieces, he raised his weapon and boasted, "Hey, look! I killed him!"
But then he realized that on the entire island, he was the only one who believed he'd defeated Saitama.
Huh? Where was everyone?
Hadn't they just witnessed him slay a mighty warrior?
The native turned around—and his face instantly went pale.
Hadn't he just chopped Saitama in half? Why was there still one standing right behind him?
Panicking, he swung again.
And the same bizarre scene played out. He cut down another afterimage and cheered, but the island remained utterly silent.
Only then did the native warrior truly grasp Saitama's power.
"Oh heavens, you really are a god descended to earth!"
In an instant, every native on the island dropped to their knees and worshiped Saitama.
Saitama watched as the reverence-values on his system interface climbed higher and higher.
Not just from the natives, but from the tourists back on the ship as well.
A gust of golden light surged through him.
Saitama grew even stronger.
At that point, he turned to Carl at his side.
"Did you get all those fight scenes?" Saitama asked.
Carl nodded quickly. "I filmed everything!"
"Good," Saitama said with a nod.
He then turned to stand among the natives, asking them about the surrounding area and how to enter the rainforest.
The sight left Carl stunned.
Only now did he realize the truth:
Saitama had known this place was dangerous from the start.
He was a god.
If Saitama had announced Carl's scheme in front of everyone, Carl's reputation would have been ruined on the spot.
Thinking of that, Carl was deeply moved, and one thought settled firmly in his heart.
Since Saitama had given him so much face, he had to seize this chance to repay him.
He would capture Saitama's heroic figure on film, no matter what.
Saitama, meanwhile, hadn't thought that far.
He was just using this situation as a convenient chance to rack up more system rewards.
When he saw Vivian, the blue-eyed Ann Darrow, and the others disembark and step onto the island, he led everyone onward.
They entered the rainforest and soon came to a sheer cliff. Across the chasm, the distant roars of some enormous beast echoed faintly.
Carl and the others were shaken.
"My god… what kind of place is this?" someone gasped.
"This is where you wanted to come before, Carl," Saitama said. "I just spoke with the natives. They say that on this side, hidden in the Jurassic beach zone, there are Tyrannosaurus left over from the Jurassic era. You still want to go in and film?"
Everyone was stunned all over again.
"What, Tyrannosaurus from the Jurassic era? Those are dinosaurs!"
Saitama was right.
Once they crossed the rope bridge spanning the canyon, they would be able to see everything the rainforest contained—
But in exchange, they would be walking straight into extreme danger.
Granted, with Saitama around, that "danger" was hardly worth mentioning anymore.
"So," Saitama asked, "are you going or not, Carl?"
He was testing Carl's ambition. If Carl truly wanted to become a top Hollywood director, ambition was something he absolutely needed.
Saitama didn't want his presence to derail Carl's entire life trajectory.
Besides, Carl had said he wanted to shoot a film starring Saitama and Vivian. This was the perfect place to do it—he could wrap up an entire superhero blockbuster here.
As for Ann Darrow's career prospects… well, that was a problem for another day.
Carl hesitated for a moment, then clenched his fists.
"I'll go!"
"Good," Saitama said. "Then you come with me into the rainforest to film. Everyone else, stay in line and don't cause a stampede."
Soon, the group set foot on this strange land.
Saitama's goal was very clear.
Just now, he'd received another mission from the island natives: "Have a talk with King Kong."
The point of the conversation was to negotiate with King Kong and confirm whether it needed their help dealing with some leadership issue.
Honestly, the mission was more symbolic than anything.
Given how enormous King Kong was, even eating bananas meant chomping them down by the treeful.
How could a creature like that possibly care about the meager offerings the natives brought?
But the islanders believed in it wholeheartedly, so Saitama could only "reluctantly" agree to have a chat with King Kong on their behalf.
Led by Saitama, the group plunged deeper into the rainforest that lay behind King Kong's territory.
That was when Saitama noticed something odd.
The blue-eyed beauty Ann Darrow hadn't followed the main group. Instead, she'd stopped at the edge of the cliff.
Saitama turned back and asked, "Miss Ann Darrow, aren't you coming along to explore with everyone?"
Ann Darrow shook her head. "No. This place is filled with fear. I think I'd rather go back to the cruise ship."
Saitama didn't see it that way.
If Miss Ann Darrow just left now… what would happen later?
No.
He would have to persuade her to come with them into this strange rainforest.
(End of Chapter)
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