From Robinson Crusoe

Chapter 144 There is still gain
The tide is surging, but the sea breeze is still gentle.

The sunlight shone brightly on the beach. The strong smell of blood attracted seabirds. They spread their wings and circled in the air, casting their shadows on the sand and crying impatiently.

There was one last bullet left in the long-barreled flintlock.

It was originally prepared for the Aboriginal boy who escaped into the woods, but now the boy has disappeared.

Holding the gun and looking at the corpses scattered all over the beach which he had created with his own hands, Chen Zhou pointed the barrel of the gun towards the sky.

The frequent firing had caused the flintlock to emit a strong smell of gunpowder, which mixed with the smell of fish and internal organs from the seaside, and was particularly pungent.

Turning his head slightly and glancing at the young prisoner with his hands and feet tied beside him, Chen Zhou pulled the trigger and shot the last bullet into the sky.

Bang!
An unfortunate seabird was hit by a lead bullet, its fragile body exploded from the chest, and its feathers flew all over the sky like a blooming firework.

The aboriginal boy didn't dare to look Chen Zhou in the eye. He was always avoiding the gaze of this scary devil.

When the gunshots rang out, he subconsciously flashed through his mind the scene of the brave warriors of the enemy tribe falling one by one. All the fear accumulated in his heart finally surged up, and his body trembled like a sieve.

This boy, who was not even twenty years old, did not have a deep concept of life and death. Even when facing the butcher's bloody wooden sword, he did not scream for mercy. Instead, he was frightened by Chen Zhou's musket.

Ambiguous things are not scary, familiar beasts are not scary, even man-eating fellow human beings are not scary. What is scary is the unknown.

……

The escaping boy ran faster than a rabbit, looking as if he only regretted that his parents had not given him two more legs. In addition, the distance between them was already far, so Chen Zhou gave up the idea of continuing to chase him.

He was wearing armor and could not run at all. Even if he chased, it would be extremely difficult to find a native in the vast primeval forest.

Now, all we need to do is destroy the canoe so that the boy cannot return to the indigenous tribe.

As long as he is on the island, even if he survives tenaciously in the lack of food and clothing, he will be caught and killed sooner or later.

Moreover, Chen Zhou did not think that this "Monkey King" could escape from his palm.

The natives had no idea how much he knew about the island, let alone the technology he possessed.

Based on his understanding of the psychology of these natives, he didn't need to take the initiative to pursue them. He just needed to deal with the scene, leave the beach, and return to the top of the mountain to wait.

When the sun goes down, the desperate boy will secretly return to the beach and try to take a canoe to leave the island that has made him sleepless and uneasy.

At that time, only one bullet would be needed to take his life and end this potential hidden danger.

……

Glancing at the still trembling native captive, Chen Zhou did not rush to untie the straw rope that bound him.

Otherwise, this guy would most likely attack him or run away directly due to extreme fear. He was wearing armor and his movement speed and flexibility were poor. It was not certain that he could catch this native who was more agile than a monkey.

By then, he will neither be able to catch up with him nor be able to kill him, and he will become a clown.

……

He gathered all the long-barreled flintlock rifles that were dropped on the sand, placed them together with the two short-barreled flintlock rifles on a large shield, and placed them on a clean ground that was not stained with blood, so that they could be taken back to the cave later.

Carrying a spear, Chen Zhou walked from the foot of the mountain to the sand pit where the cannibal feast was held, and killed several indigenous warriors who were seriously injured but not dead yet.

Then he patiently dragged all the bodies to the side of the sand pit, piled them into a small hill, and lit the fire with the firewood thrown on the ground by the natives who were collecting firewood.

During this time, the young captive finally stopped trembling, and watched in an extremely uncomfortable posture as flames suddenly emerged from the devil's hands and burned the warriors of the hostile tribe. He was even more shocked in his heart.

Due to the angle, he didn't see the lighter in Chen Zhou's hand.

And even if he saw the lighter, he couldn't understand why a small cube could emit flames. The gap in cognition was too big. To him, Chen Zhou was like a god.

From a certain perspective, the sense of oppression that Chen Zhou brought to him was even greater than that of the gods.

After all, the warriors blessed by the gods and the priests who were closest to the gods and could lead everyone into the immortal kingdom of God were all easily killed by this monster.

However, their invincible and omnipotent gods played no role in this process.

“Can God be afraid?”

A very rebellious idea suddenly popped up in the boy's mind, and he was so scared that he quickly lowered his head, not daring to look again, let alone think about it.

……

This was the first time Chen Zhou smelled the smell of a burning person.

The flames burned fiercely, and human tissues were deformed and melted in the flames.

Their internal organs were roasted and burst, and the natives' meager fat reserves could hardly fuel the flames. Only a strange fragrance mixed with a disgusting stench drifted on the beach in the wind.

……

The young prisoner was lying not far from the fire, and the flames had already burned his cheeks red.

Chen Zhou stood on the other side of the fire, observing his expression.

In Robinson Crusoe, Friday still had an appetite for human flesh for some time after being rescued, and only changed his mind after being severely reprimanded by Robinson.

Chen Zhou wanted to know whether this young captive had also participated in a cannibal feast somewhere else and tasted human flesh like Friday.

……

Perhaps because he was too frightened, the young captive who smelled the fragrance had no intention of enjoying the food.

At this moment, he didn't even feel hungry. He didn't know why the monster didn't kill him, nor did he know what to do next.

The high temperature of the flames baked his brain and made him feel the urge to urinate.

Keeping his neck raised for a long time made him more and more tired, but he didn't dare to look at the ground - he was very afraid of Chen Zhou, but he was curious about the monster in armor, and he couldn't help but want to see what would happen next.

……

The performance of the young captive was quite satisfactory.

Looking at his extremely awkward posture and his face that was burned red by the campfire, Chen Zhou decided to untie the straw rope on his legs first, let him stand up and get some blood.

The dagger was in the pocket of his clothes and could only be taken out by removing the rattan armor. Chen Zhou found it troublesome, so he picked up the wooden sword thrown away by the native warrior and walked to the side of the young prisoner.

Seeing the monster approaching, the young captive, who had always seemed very calm, finally couldn't suppress his inner fear and started shouting loudly.

Chen Zhou couldn't understand the native's language, so he could only judge from his tone that he was probably begging for mercy.

"Relax, I don't want to kill you."

He lowered his voice and spoke to the boy in as gentle a tone as possible.

At the same time, he put his big hands wearing metal gloves on the boy's skinny shoulders, and with the other hand he cut the straw rope on his ankles.

The captured boy naturally didn't understand Chinese. He could only feel the coolness of the metal finger cuffs. He subconsciously stopped shouting, his mind went blank, and he didn't even realize that the restraints on his legs had been untied.

"You can stand up now."

After Chen Zhou finished speaking, he felt that his voice was strange and weird.

He hadn't communicated with his own kind for more than two years, and now he even felt uncomfortable talking to humans.

The young prisoner didn't understand what he said and still lay on the ground, not daring to move.

Seeing this, Chen Zhou grabbed his shoulders and with a little effort, lifted up this little guy who was about 160cm tall and weighed less than 80kg. …

There was a feeling of flying like riding on clouds, and before the native boy could figure out what was happening, he stepped on the sand.

He opened his eyes wide, with an indescribable feeling, and looked carefully at the monster that had untied the rope on his legs but did not kill him.

The perspective when lying on the ground is completely different from the view after standing up.

Only when he stood next to Chen Zhou did the boy truly feel how huge the monster was.

Chen Zhou's height without shoes is 184cm, which is close to 186cm when he puts on leather boots, and he looks to be 190cm when he wears a helmet.

Coupled with Chen Zhou's exaggerated shoulder breadth, coupled with the metal shoulder armor inlaid with iron sheets, when standing next to the indigenous boy, he is not only more than a head taller than him, but his body width is more than twice as much as his.

There has never been a giant of such a huge size in the primitive tribe.

Just by taking a look at him, the young man, whose vision was strongly shocked, was certain that he was either a devil or a god.

……

"Come with me."

Fearing that the native boy would run away, Chen Zhou kept his hand on his shoulder and half pushed and half pulled him to the canoe.

The tide had begun to recede, and the canoe, which had just been partially submerged in the seawater, was now completely stranded on the beach.

Chen Zhou didn't bring a hatchet when he went down the mountain, so he planned to first see how thick the bottom of the canoe was.

If possible, he would poke a few holes in the bottom of the boat with his spear. If not, he would try to set fire to the two canoes to cut off the escape route of the native warrior.

However, the noise of the fire was so loud that the blackened canoe could be seen from a distance.

If they were burned directly, the two canoes would most likely not be able to attract the native warriors to approach and serve as bait.

……

Pushing the native boy to the front of the canoe, Chen Zhou discovered that this large craft was large enough to carry more than a dozen people. Although it looked rough on the outside, the inside had been burned as delicately as possible by the natives.

They had no carpenter's tools, not even metal, so they used stones and fire to shape the canoes.

The interior of the canoe was burned black, with some wooden swords and arrows scattered around.

Chen Zhou tried to poke the bottom of the boat with his spear.

The results showed that the bottom of the canoe was very thick and the spear could not penetrate it at all. If you wanted to destroy it directly, the most convenient way, besides using an axe or chisel, was to use explosives.

Just as he was thinking about how to take the native boy to a place where he would feel safe and detain him temporarily, the boy who was being held on the shoulders suddenly ignored his cold palms, pointed at another canoe and shouted excitedly.

There was a kind of reserved joy in his expression, and also a hint of fear of Chen Zhou that was difficult to conceal.

He kept repeating incomprehensible words, and even took a step forward, as if trying to break free from Chen Zhou's control and escape.

The biggest worry is that the natives will escape.

Sensing the abnormal behavior of the indigenous boy, Chen Zhou immediately increased his strength and pressed his strong arms on the boy's shoulders, making it difficult for him to move. He was forced to lower his body and stop shouting and struggling.

……

“What’s on that boat?
Why did he suddenly react so strongly? "

Chen Zhou was extremely puzzled. He picked up the native boy again and took him to another canoe.

As he got closer, the native boy suddenly became excited again, but this time he didn't dare to try to break free from Chen Zhou's hand. He just kept repeating a sentence in a low voice, which sounded like a person's name.

Chen Zhou looked into the canoe and found that there was an indigenous captive lying inside.

The native captive was so thin that his bones were visible. The joints of his legs and feet were covered with dark brown skin, and his ribs on his chest were clearly visible.

He looked a little older than the native boy next to Chen Zhou. His body was like a painful shrimp, curled up in the boat, with his eyes closed, and he seemed to have been dead for a long time.

Chen Zhou tried to feel the breath of the native captive with his ungained hand and found that he was still breathing weakly, so he pulled him out of the canoe and brought him to the sand.

……

While Chen Zhou was dragging the native captive, the native boy behaved very well.

His eyes were fixed on the unconscious native captive. He was still repeating those words in an almost crying tone, and the expression on his face seemed extremely sad.

Chen Zhou had been observing the behavior of the indigenous boy. Seeing his appearance, he immediately realized that this prisoner who was as thin as a skeleton seemed to be someone very close to him, so he let go of his hand with confidence and prepared to see if the prisoner could be saved.

……

The natives were all malnourished, but malnutrition to the extent of this captive was particularly rare.

There was no sign of food on his lower abdomen, which was completely shriveled. He was nearly 165cm tall and weighed no more than 50kg. He was just a skeleton.

He was already thin, and was crammed in a canoe, unable to breathe much air, and exposed to the scorching sun. He looked like he was fainting from heat stroke.

No wonder the native warriors who held the cannibal feast did not bring him ashore—

Such low-quality food has very little meat on it, and it looks half dead. It is unhealthy in any way. Even if it is offered as a sacrifice to the gods, it is afraid that the gods will not praise it.

……

Chen Zhou tried pinching his philtrum, but seeing that he had no reaction, he scooped up some sea water and sprinkled it on him to cool him down.

But this method only treats the symptoms and not the root cause. Chen Zhou knew that sprinkling water was only a temporary solution, so he put down his spear and picked up the native captive.

He had to take the native captives to a cool place as quickly as possible, then give them some salt water and wipe their bodies with cool water to improve the symptoms of heatstroke.

……

The native boy didn't know what Chen Zhou's actions meant. He did not seize the opportunity to get rid of the big hands and escape. He always followed behind Chen Zhou, paying attention to the condition of the native captives.

When Chen Zhou pinched the Ren Zhong point and sprinkled water on the native captive and the captive still did not respond, the native boy concluded in his heart that his fellow tribesman friend was dead. He could not suppress his grief and burst into tears.

The social classes of the indigenous people are clear, their language is not so complicated, their interpersonal relationships are clear, and their emotions are easy to judge.

Chen Zhou could feel the sadness of the indigenous boy, but he couldn't tell him - this person can still be saved, why are you crying.

Keeping silent, he carried the native captive to the nearest shade, then took off his gauntlets and untied the straw ropes on the captive's hands and feet to facilitate normal circulation of his blood.

There is no freshwater river or salt on this side of the beach, so if you want to save the lives of the native captives, you must return to the cave.

Chen Zhou didn't dare to leave the native boy here.

First, he might take the opportunity to escape into the woods.

Secondly, even if he stayed where he was and waited obediently, the native warrior who escaped into the forest might turn back and kill him.

Therefore, he must be taken back to the cave.

Before starting the plan to rescue the captives, Chen Zhou never thought that he would bring the natives to his shelter so early.

But time waits for no one now, the lives of the indigenous captives are disappearing bit by bit, and there is no time to hesitate.

Considering that saving his life would not only gain the loyalty of the indigenous boy but also provide an extra helper, Chen Zhou decided to make an exception.

(End of this chapter)