Pchh!
Accompanied by a bone-jarring, grating sound, the sharp wooden spear in Chuck's hand plunged directly into the wild boar's eye!
A shriek of agony, louder than any before, instantly erupted, only to be abruptly cut short as Chuck put his full weight behind the spear, skewering the head completely.
Seeing the boar collapse lifelessly, Chuck sat down on the ground, his body shaking with exhaustion.
I killed it!
I killed a wild boar!
The feeling of successfully executing a detailed, step-by-step plan—something his former self couldn't even have imagined—and seeing everything play out perfectly to achieve the desired result…
It was exhilarating!
Chuck took deep, ragged breaths, slowly pulling himself upright.
He looked at the boar's carcass, his mind racing.
The boar was dead, but the battle wasn't over.
This was a tropical island; the temperature was high and the air was humid. A boar carcass left here would start to spoil within half a day.
This was a wild boar! Every inch of its hide, every ounce of fat, was an extremely precious resource for people stranded on a deserted island.
Chuck couldn't tolerate wasting even a little bit!
Therefore, every second now was critical!
Should I drag the boar back to the cave first?
The thought appeared, only to be instantly dismissed by Chuck.
Though not enormous, this was an adult wild boar, weighing at least two hundred pounds—more than 1.5 times Chuck's own weight!
Even if he managed to carry it back, he would be too exhausted to handle the subsequent processing work.
So, the best choice was clear:
Process it right here!
Fortunately, Chuck had anticipated this possibility and had previously used the Workbench to create an extra stone knife, which now came in handy.
Chuck wasn't afraid of gore, but he had barely ever cleaned a fish, let alone processed an entire wild boar. He had always asked the butcher at the market to kill the chickens.
As a result, he lacked all skill and had to rely purely on brute force.
Just the skinning process took Chuck a full hour.
When he was thoroughly covered in blood and sweat, he finally had a complete wild boar hide!
It was tough, waterproof, covered with bristles, and provided excellent defense. It would also be incredibly warm to wear.
He hung the hide on a nearby branch to air dry. Chuck took only a quick breath before preparing to continue cutting immediately.
The next step was the main event.
But just as he prepared to start butchering, a familiar voice called out from behind.
"...Chuck!"
Chuck turned around, startled, and a golden figure suddenly rushed into his view.
Julia clung to Chuck like an octopus, throwing herself onto him. Her voice was choked with tears.
"Why didn't you come back and tell me you were okay?! I thought you were dead!!"
Chuck was jolted by her cry and realized his mistake.
Feeling guilty, he wanted to stroke her head, but his hands and body were covered in blood. He could only say helplessly, "I'm sorry, Julia. I was so focused on how to process this thing. I'm filthy, let go for a moment."
"…"
Julia wiped her tears and obediently let go of Chuck. She gave him an exasperated stare, then looked at the skinned boar carcass at her feet. Her anger and fear quickly turned into delight.
"Holy shit… you actually killed a wild boar."
Her mouth dropped open in shock. She looked back at Chuck, who was covered in blood and sweat, and her heart immediately started racing.
Over the past thousand years, the pace of human technological development has far exceeded the pace of genetic evolution. Modern humans are genetically not much different from their primitive ancestors.
In ancient patriarchal societies, the primitive females stayed in the tribe to be responsible for reproduction and gathering, while the males were the hunters.
As it happened, this perfectly mirrored Chuck and the foreign woman's division of labor now.
So, when the foreign woman saw Chuck single-handedly charge into the jungle and successfully slay a wild boar…
This stunning reality hit her feminine genes like a heavy hammer.
It immediately sent a hot rush to her lower abdomen and caused a slight dampness between her thighs.
In her innate feminine urge, she instinctively longed to be possessed by a powerful male and bear his offspring.
"Chuck, I'm dying over you!"
Her pupils flashed with hearts again. She stepped forward, cupped Chuck's cheeks with her small hands, stood on her tiptoes, and passionately kissed him.
[Julia's Trust Level in you has increased by 8 points! Current Trust Level: 48 (Intimate)]
Forty-eight!
He was only two points away from unlocking the extra queue!
Chuck was thrilled. He went along with the kiss, briefly tasting the foreign woman's tongue, but quickly pulled back slightly.
"Julia, we have important work to do right now. I'll deal with you savagely tonight."
Hearing the word "savagely," Julia bit her lip, her heart racing as she nodded.
"Okay! I'll help too! Tell me what to do!"
Even though Julia was a woman, Chuck quickly discovered she wasn't a delicate girl who feared gore or avoided butchering.
She showed no aversion to cutting meat or trimming bone. Although her movements were as clumsy as Chuck's, she was at least helpful.
With an assistant joining the effort, the speed of processing the boar increased significantly.
Front legs, hind legs, ribs, tenderloin.
Every piece of meat and every chunk of fat was meticulously separated by the two of them, divided into portions, and laid out on palm leaves gathered from nearby.
They then used the stone knife to cut and tie some vines, creating bundles of fresh wild boar meat!
They could barbecue or stew it, and smoke the leftovers over the fire for preservation!
Finally, Chuck wouldn't waste the bones and organs either.
Except for the digestive tract and head, which they couldn't process and regretfully had to discard, the rest, including the bones, were all gathered up and wrapped neatly in the freshly stripped hide.
But as Chuck was dealing with this final part, his gaze suddenly froze.
Among the boar offal, something was emitting a subtle, barely perceptible red glow!
It looked exactly like the flower he had seen growing in the mud pool before!
Alarmed, he quickly pushed aside the organs.
He found that the source of the red light was the wild boar's heart.
Chuck frowned and carefully wrapped the heart in a small piece of palm leaf.
He didn't know why the heart was glowing, but he had a faint suspicion. Regardless… it was best to keep it safe for now.
The wild boar was completely processed. Chuck and the foreign woman carried the bundles back to the cave together.
After a while, the two of them slumped exhausted next to the fire.
A total of three and a half hours had passed since Chuck killed the wild boar.
Outside the cave, the sun was at its peak, and the temperature had reached the day's maximum.
Fortunately, the most difficult part was over.
But sadly, the work still wasn't finished.
Even though all the boar meat had been cut and brought back to the cave, the two of them couldn't possibly eat over a hundred pounds of pork in one sitting.
Preservation was key.
While cutting the meat, Chuck had already planned the preservation method: the traditional technique of smoking and air-drying.
Once raw meat was transformed into durable jerky, it could naturally be stored long-term.
So, the two of them boiled a bowl of water each, took a quick rest, and then got back to work.
All the boar meat was cut into long strips about one centimeter thick. They then used branches and vines to build two simple drying racks, hanging the strips to be smoked by the fire's smoke.
Unfortunately, the amount they could smoke at once was limited. It would likely take a whole day to smoke this entire batch of pork.
Fortunately, the subsequent work was simple and could be entirely handled by Julia.
Chuck took the bones and offal to the seaside to wash, taking the opportunity to wash the blood off himself. After bringing them back to the cave, the bones were set aside for later, and the offal was all sliced and laid on stones to be grilled over the fire.
These parts couldn't be smoked and wouldn't keep long, so they had to be eaten first. They were also highly nutritious, so they certainly couldn't be wasted.
This, of course, did not include the glowing heart.
What remained were the large chunks of fat cut from the wild boar.
In a normal market, Chuck wouldn't have given it a second glance, but on a deserted island, this was an extremely valuable commodity.
In earlier, less prosperous times, many families only ate pork once a year during the New Year. Most of the meat purchased was fat, which was rendered into lard before New Year's Eve.
Once cooled, this lard had an amazing shelf life, even longer than air-dried jerky. Many families could use it for a whole year if it didn't go rancid. The resulting crispy cracklings could be used in dumplings, making them explosively fragrant.
Chuck took the clay bowls they used for boiling water, placed chunks of fat inside, and set them next to the fire to heat.
Soon, the pieces of fat started bubbling, eventually turning into cracklings submerged in pale yellow hot oil.
The aroma released during this process drove both of them wild.
Chuck's nostrils flared, having not eaten any decent food for two whole days. Even Julia, who was busy making the second drying rack with branches and vines, couldn't help but turn her head and subconsciously swallow.
"Oh… that smells so good."
The process of rendering the lard didn't take long. While they worked, they enjoyed a meal of grilled boar offal.
Fortunately, the clay was ready, which freed up some containers for Chuck. When all the fat had been rendered into lard, it filled eight whole bamboo tubes!
They also got a bamboo tube full of hot, crispy cracklings.
With this lard, they could add a bit to any meal they cooked, drastically improving the flavor. The cracklings were also highly durable, and the tube full of them could serve as a snack for several days.
Chuck and Julia each picked up a piece of crackling and put it in their mouths. The instant crispness and the fragrant, caramelized fat filled their senses.
"Chuck, this is absolutely delicious!"
Chuck nodded with satisfaction, but then sighed with regret.
If only they had a bowl of rice right now.
They weren't short on meat or fat, and they had wild fruits for vitamins.
The only thing missing was a staple source of carbohydrates.
Long-term lack of carbs would likely cause health problems.
However, Julia had mentioned the island's rich vegetation. It seemed necessary to keep an eye out for wild potatoes or sweet potatoes in the future.
After eating their fill, with enough grilled offal left for a quick reheat tonight, and the meat strips all cut, Chuck finally had some downtime.
He got up and walked to the edge of the cave, bending down to pick up a thick wild boar thigh bone.
Without hesitation, he dropped it into the Workbench.
[Workbench input: Bone x 1]
[Craftable Item: Bone Shard x 3]
[Estimated Crafting Time: 1 minute. Start crafting?]
Does this mean bones are only useful when broken into fragments?
He pressed the 'Craft' button. Moments later, the light cluster vanished, and three bone fragments of similar size but varying shape appeared in Chuck's hand, which he placed back onto the Workbench.
[Workbench input: Bone Shard x 1]
[Crafting Hint: Hard bone shards can be ground into bone knives, which are sharper than stone knives.]
Success!
Seeing the crafting hint this time, Chuck's face lit up with joy.
Sure enough, animal bones were highly useful.
Following the hints, Chuck experimented with various materials he had on hand and finally found a few practical recipes.
[Bone Shard x 1, Stone x 1, Vine] crafts [Bone Knife x 1]
[Wild Boar Tusk x 1, Stone x 1, Long Wooden Spear, Vine] crafts [Tusk Spear x 1]
[Bone Knife x 1, Wild Boar Hide] crafts [Wild Boar Cloak x 1]
With this, every usable part of the wild boar had been thoroughly utilized by Chuck.
The sharp tusks could be ground to reinforce his spear, and a bone knife, sharper than his stone one, could cut the tough boar hide to make a cloak.
Wearing the Boar Cloak and wielding the Tusk Spear, Chuck instantly transformed into a human wild boar.
His defense and offense had both risen linearly.
It genuinely felt a bit like getting gear drops from a boss fight.
"Julia, look, what do you think?"
Chuck brandished the Tusk Spear, standing proudly before the foreign woman draped in the cloak, feeling like an ancient general.
He was just missing a beautiful foreign woman between his legs.
He felt great, though he was sweating profusely.
Julia tried to suppress a smile, but simply nodded in compliance.
"You look very impressive, Chuck. You're handsome!"
"Hahaha."
Chuck knew she was humoring him. He chuckled and took off the boar cloak.
The cloak's defense was excellent, but if he wore it outside, he'd probably suffer heatstroke before he reached the jungle.
It would be useful later when the weather cooled down, or perhaps as a makeshift mattress at night.
"I'm leaving the smoking to you, then. Remember to gather more firewood when you have a moment. I'm off."
After a brief explanation to Julia, Chuck walked out of the cave and into the midday sun.
The wild boar was dealt with, but Chuck still hadn't collected the "Flower of the Other Shore" growing in the mud pool.
Not to mention the new area beyond the rock fissure.
He needed to quickly explore what other resources this island held and what dangers they needed to be aware of.
"Chuck! Wait a minute!"
Just as he was about to leave, Julia called out to him.
Chuck turned back to see the foreign woman, kneeling on the boar hide cloak, looking at him with expressive eyes.
"Listen, come back early this time. Don't make me worry, okay?"
"And don't forget that tonight… I have a 'reward' for you."
With that, the foreign woman raised a slender, white finger and, with a look of extreme seduction, placed it into her mouth.
She sucked on it slowly and provocatively, as if it were a popsicle.
The implication was clear.