Starting from Robinson Crusoe

Imagine, with no partner to help, this nearly sixty-year-old man, stubbornly survived in this forest for several months, the amount of effort he put in and the hardships he endured.

Chen Zhou and Paul collected all of Gromov’s belongings, confirming that his survival items lacked fire-making tools, and there were no medical supplies.

Inside the old man’s military uniform was a bottle of water purification tablets and a bottle of salt.

Perhaps due to frugality, or not expecting to die so soon, the bottle of water purification tablets they found was barely used, and there was still more than half a bottle of salt left.

...

They had thought they could "meet an old friend in a foreign land", but unexpectedly, they found the dead body of the old general.

Paul was very downcast, and at the same time, many questions arose in his heart—

Why were he and Gromov, both from the same world, not assigned together?

Being from the same country and participating in the "Corrosion" experiment together, the chances of them being arranged in the same group should reasonably have been higher.

Even if it was to balance Chen Zhou’s strength and make him a burden, why didn’t Gromov have a partner, could it be that his partner abandoned him?

Thinking of this, the image of the Black-robed Man surfaced in Paul’s mind.

Previously, like Chen Zhou, he thought that the Black-robed Man might have killed his partner and taken away the survival tools, which led him to wander alone.

But now he believes it is not impossible for the Black-robed Man to have abandoned his partner to go alone.

However, this creates another problem: why did the Black-robed Man have so many powerful survival tools? Did his partner willingly hand over their tools?

The more he speculated, the more doubts emerged.

Yet even so, Paul still did not doubt that he and Chen Zhou were not a team from the start, nor did he think Chen Zhou’s protective suit was undeserving as a survival tool.

...

As the initiator, Chen Zhou of course knew everything clearly.

Of course, when the challenge began, these things weren’t clear in his mind, at the time he only thought he had "accidentally stumbled" into the challenge, hence lacking survival tools.

Having Paul assigned as his partner was to balance the strength of each group of challengers, which was his initial hypothesis.

As for why he and Paul did not arrive at the same location simultaneously, resulting in nearly half an hour delay, he also thought it was caused by a bug he created.

This assumption only started to waver a few days ago, after witnessing the makeup of multiple groups of challengers.

Now, having discovered Gromov’s body from this location, and without finding modern fire-making tools on him or inside the treehouse, Chen Zhou can basically conclude that Gromov was actually Paul’s partner.

Aside from them being from the same world and using the same language, the "complementarity" of their survival tools was one of the reasons.

The initial survival tools of each group of challengers varied, but some tools were essential—

such as fire-making tools, knives, cooking tools, particularly fire-making tools.

The situation is now clear, Gromov was one of the rare challengers without fire-making tools, forcing him to make fire using a primitive Fire Bow, and attempt to preserve the embers.

If not so, his physical state might have been better, and he might not have died so prematurely.

And Paul had a fire-making tool among his survival tools, but lacked water purification tablets and salt, which is difficult to explain as mere coincidence.

...

Upon seeing General Gromov’s dead body with his own eyes and learning of his death, Paul’s spirits, previously high due to their nearing arrival at the shelter, became particularly low.

Chen Zhou did not comfort him much, nor did he share the "truth" he knew with Paul—

He did not know how Paul would feel knowing the general was his partner, nor whether this would create a rift in their relationship.

With winter approaching, the most crucial thing now was to cooperate and survive to the end.

As for what the truth actually was, it wasn’t actually important, because only the living have the privilege to write the truth.

...

After collecting all of Gromov’s leftover survival tools, they dug a pit to bury his body and torn clothing, found suitable trees for making gunstocks...

After a brief stop at the edge of the woodland, Chen Zhou and Paul once again set off on their path home.

...

After the first snowfall, the drop in temperature became more pronounced.

On their return journey to the snow-covered mountains, Chen Zhou and Paul encountered a second and a third snowfall.

Every morning, frost would cover the prairie, the sky and earth would appear almost white.

At this point, the campfire effects after night fall were negligible, the severe cold had crept onto their limbs like a bone-eating worm, especially in the morning after a long sleep, whether Chen Zhou or Paul felt their limbs freeze stiff.

Animals with hibernation habits had long found their caves, and only a few giant beasts moved across the desolate land.

On the way, Chen Zhou and Paul no longer saw any traces of other challengers, it was as if they had all been swallowed by the howling winds and snow.

Before the temperature during the day dropped below freezing, Chen Zhou and Paul finally arrived at the Baihar Mountain Range, returning to the shelter they had crafted with great effort.

Above the mountainside, the snow from previous fall had not melted, standing amidst the pines and cypresses, the earth was already white.

Perhaps due to the harsh environment here, from the time Chen Zhou and Paul began climbing, to the point they reached the mountainside, they saw no human footprints in the snow.

In the early stages of the challenge, except for Chen Zhou who wholeheartedly wanted to find the drop location early and eliminate other challengers, no one would choose to settle in the mountains.

Having been abandoned for over a month, the shelter built from stones and wood was covered in a layer of snow and ice, with no windows, the pitch-black interior was like an ice cellar, bitterly cold.

...

The Serrated Tiger Cubs were in a cold environment for the first time, unharnessed their packs, and gleefully dashed through the snow.

Chen Zhou and Paul, however, could not afford to be so carefree.

They first had to clear the snow, sweep out a clearing, and then repair the damaged makeshift stove, to start a fire and cook as soon as possible.

Besides, their plan to use rock salt was postponed due to the rush of travel.

In addition to inventorying pine nuts, chopping firewood, further improving the shelter, injecting gene-modification serum, and firing pottery furnaces, they also needed to prepare enough food for the Three-headed Saw-toothed Tiger.

All these tasks combined were enough to keep the two of them overwhelmed.

Especially obtaining more pine nuts from the squirrel dens and chopping and storing firewood, although not technically demanding, these tasks were extremely tedious and required a considerable amount of time to complete.

Paul’s leg was not yet healed, so he couldn’t hunt down the mountain at the moment, leaving all the tasks requiring travel outside on Chen Zhou’s shoulders.

...

On their first day back, the two of them cleaned the shelter and checked the storage of pine nuts.

Evidence showed that squirrels indeed were not very intelligent, after having their food taken, they’d only faint with anger and wouldn’t try to trace back their food by scent.

As the cold on the mountain was sufficient, the pine nuts and berries previously stored by Chen Zhou and Paul were all kept in excellent condition, and the berries even retained moisture, just that the long storage or extreme cold made them especially sour.

Yet, because seasonings were impossible to find in the Prehistoric World, they added the berries to their meat soup for some sour flavor, making for a refreshing taste.

On their first day back, the two of them cleaned the shelter and checked the storage of pine nuts.

Evidence showed that squirrels indeed were not very intelligent, after having their food taken, they’d only faint with anger and wouldn’t try to trace back their food by scent.

As the cold on the mountain was sufficient, the pine nuts and berries previously stored by Chen Zhou and Paul were all kept in excellent condition, and the berries even retained moisture, just that the long storage or extreme cold made them especially sour.

Yet, because seasonings were impossible to find in the Prehistoric World, they added the berries to their meat soup for some sour flavor, making for a refreshing taste.