If an ordinary person were truly stranded in the wilderness, trying to make fire by drilling wood would be quite difficult. Not only are the materials hard to find, but the act itself is extremely challenging, demanding a high level of hand strength, explosive power, and endurance.
However, for someone experienced in wilderness survival who can make a wooden bow and use a bow drill, the success rate increases dramatically.
The now-deceased curly-haired man was such a person.
When starting the fire on the first night, he had used his shoelaces to make a simple wooden bow, successfully igniting the tinder through the friction of the bow drill to start the flames.
This practical wilderness experience was one of the reasons Fumiya Jin had initially wanted to keep him alive.
And after the curly-haired man's death, the bow drill set he left behind was still proving useful.
Yesterday, the black man and the chubby guy had started the fire by mimicking what the curly-haired man had done, using this very set of tools.
It was worth noting that the black man was clearly physically strong, or perhaps possessed some skill that enhanced his physical abilities... The force and speed he applied when drilling were far greater than the curly-haired man's. So, even though he lacked experience, his fire-starting speed wasn't much slower.
Therefore, when it came to the simple act of starting a fire, Fumiya Jin himself was not as skilled as the black man at this moment.
Thus, he was naturally more willing to let the black man do it than to expend his own energy.
And that's exactly what he did.
But...
Although the black man and the chubby guy had agreed readily, their actual execution was somewhat sluggish.
Fumiya Jin had witnessed their fire-starting process yesterday, so he quickly noticed that the man with the dreadlocks was clearly dragging his feet this time, not using his full strength.
Seeing that a third of the sun had already sunk below the horizon... the fire still wasn't lit, and the tinder had only smoked twice before extinguishing.
Fumiya Jin raised a hand, and his tachi appeared in his grasp.
"It seems you really think I don't dare to kill," Fumiya Jin sighed.
As soon as he said this, the hairs on the black man and the chubby guy's bodies stood on end.
"No, no! I'm really trying! Boss Doctor, this thing isn't that easy! I'm really not messing around on purpose!"
"Two minutes left," Fumiya Jin said indifferently. "If the fire isn't lit in two minutes, I'll have no choice but to draw my blade."
Hearing this, the expressions on the black man and the chubby guy turned extremely grim.
The two of them looked up at the setting sun...
The sun had not yet completely set.
If it had been earlier, or simply during the day, they might have considered just fighting Fumiya Jin right then and there when faced with such an uncompromising threat. After all, they weren't certain they could win, but it wasn't an absolute impossibility—Fumiya Jin was ultimately the only strong combatant on his side.
But it just had to be at this moment...
At this awkward time when the sun was about to set...
If they started a fight now, not only would they have no advantage, but it would feel like "downloading a movie for hours, only to have your internet cut out from lack of payment at 99%"—a total waste!
So, in this exact situation, they were extremely reluctant to just go all out.
Just a little longer, stalling for just a bit more would guarantee their victory!
"Splash—"
Suddenly, the sound of liquid sloshing lightly inside a bottle was heard.
The conflicted duo of the black man and the chubby guy subconsciously glanced over... it was the fleshy-faced woman.
The fleshy-faced woman gave them a look and gently shook the laundry detergent bottle in her hand.
The chubby guy was a bit bewildered, not understanding what she meant.
But the black man understood instantly, his eyes lighting up.
He then immediately assured Fumiya Jin, "Boss Doctor, just give me one more chance, I... I'll get it started right away!"
After speaking, he straightened his back, held down the hearth board with his left hand, gripped the wooden bow tightly with his right, and began pulling it back and forth frantically—this time, he was truly giving it his all.
"Shhh!—Shhh!—Shh-shh-shh—"
Under the constant pull of the shoelace bowstring, the wooden drill spun wildly in the hole of the board lined with tinder, and it quickly began to smoke.
In less than half a minute... the tinder ignited.
The black man quickly blew on the tinder gently to make the flame a little bigger, then began to light the dry leaves and twigs.
Just like that, only a minute later, the dry branches were lit and placed in the bonfire area... Now they could start burning the firewood.
The chubby guy and the black man finally breathed a sigh of relief.
The black man turned his head, glanced at Fumiya Jin before quickly averting his gaze, then put on a fawning smile and said, "Doctor, look, the fire's started!"
"Very good," Fumiya Jin nodded, finally showing a hint of a smile. With a slight movement of his hand, the tachi in his grip vanished into thin air.
He walked up to the black man.
The black man's whole body tensed slightly.
Fumiya Jin raised his hand and patted his shoulder.
"As long as you do your job well, you're a good comrade," Fumiya Jin said. "By the way, how's the safe zone delineation coming along?"
Hearing this, the black man actually relaxed a bit. "The chubby guy and I worked for several hours and practically scooped out all the black fluid from those corpses. We used it to mark out a large area in the forest. Doctor, you can go check it."
"Oh? You did a good job then," Fumiya Jin smiled, pulling his hand back from the black man's shoulder and slowly reaching towards his pants pocket. "I'll reward you with a handful of blueberries."
Hearing this, the black man naturally assumed he had blueberries in his pocket. Although he couldn't care less about blueberries, he still put on a pleasantly surprised expression. "That's great! I was just about to say I'm dying of thirst!"
However, Fumiya Jin's hand lowered to his waist but didn't go into his pocket. Instead, it moved to the side with his left hand...
The pure white tachi suddenly appeared.
"Swoosh—"
Cherry blossoms fluttered in the air.
The blade, emitting a faint red glow, carved a deadly arc through the air!
The black man's eyes widened. His body suddenly twisted like rubber, erupting with astonishing speed as he took a step back with extreme quickness...
"CRACK—"
Something flew into the air.
Like a spinning bowling pin, it tumbled twice in the air, and then...
Thump. It landed on the ground.
Splattering a patch of blackish-red on the sand.
It was... an entire black-skinned arm.
The black man glanced at the arm, stunned. He turned to look at his own left shoulder... the arm below it was gone.
And that wasn't all...
A thin line of blood had appeared on his stomach.
Now, the line slowly opened... and blood gurgled out.
As the gash gradually widened, one could faintly see his intestines inside.
Moreover, the blood that flowed out was a blackish-red... not the usual dark red, but a deep shade that was more black than red... and even had a bluish tint.
"He actually dodged..." Fumiya Jin frowned slightly, dissatisfied with the result of his attack. "Is it a special ability, as I thought... For his body to twist and burst with speed like that... It's pretty strong."
When the black man heard this, he felt like he'd been screwed over—you call this dodging?
I guess it only counts as being hit if you slice me in two!
And you say it's "pretty strong"...
Dammit, we're all players in our first official game, and you nearly one-shotted me with a casual swing, then you say my ability is pretty strong?
"Doctor, have you gone mad?" the black man gritted his teeth and said. "Are you trying to kill me?!"
"I don't really kill people," Fumiya Jin retracted his blade and pointed its tip at the severed arm on the ground. "But are you still human?"
The madam and Nijika looked at the dark blood flowing from the severed arm, a mix of red, black, and cyan, and instantly understood.
Nijika immediately summoned her drumsticks.
As for the madam, she immediately... took a few steps back, retreating behind Nijika.
Nijika was slightly taken aback and looked at the madam in surprise.
She thought to herself that in a decisive battle like this, it was time to play whatever hidden cards one had.
The madam wore a slightly embarrassed expression. "My abilities have absolutely nothing to do with fighting, so... I'm very sorry I can't be of help."
Meanwhile, the black man and the chubby guy also realized their cover was completely blown.
And so, they no longer needed to act.
Cyan scales gradually emerged on the surface of their skin.
After the wound on the black man's abdomen was covered by the scales, a thick, blackish-red blood oozed out, temporarily sealing the wound like glue. It actually stopped the bleeding. The cross-section of his severed arm also gradually stopped bleeding as scales covered it and the black blood emerged.
But this was clearly not a true recovery.
The black man's expression was still pained.
He gritted his teeth, no longer needing to hide his fury as he glared at Fumiya Jin and said in a cold voice, "The blood you made me spill, I will drink it back from you, drop by drop, mouthful by mouthful, and eat it back from your flesh!"
The chubby guy also silently moved to his side. He gave Nijika a look of obsessive, fanatical, and utterly twisted desire, then glared at Fumiya Jin with immense anger and disgust... From somewhere, he pulled out a crumpled, white wad of something.
It was...
A wad of toilet paper.
______
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