Starting from Robinson Crusoe

Two days before the heavy snowfall arrived, Chen Zhou finally finished making the wooden door, installing it in the doorframe to block the wide-open entrance.

Of course, the wooden hinges didn’t fit tightly, and in strong winds, it would shake back and forth, remaining unsteady even with the latch on.

Two square small windows were reserved on the door, covered by animal skin curtains, which could be rolled up to air out the room if the smell inside became overwhelming.

Ever since completing the bear hunting action, too many tanned pelts were brought back to the cave, and even when hung on the side farthest from the bed, the stench was unmistakable.

Besides the stinking skins, there were also some animal organs stored in the cave.

Chen Zhou baked several clay pots with mud, placing many animal hearts and livers inside, sprinkling a sufficient amount of salt to marinate them, and these things continuously emitted a foul odor.

...

In the morning, the cave was pitch black.

Chen Zhou frowned, habitually waking up first.

A cold breeze was blowing in from the entrance—

He couldn’t stand the smell inside last night, so he opened the door in the middle of the night to ventilate a bit, forgetting to latch it upon returning to bed, which allowed the wind to blow it open.

Fortunately, a new stove and heated brick bed were set up in the cave, and Paul and Bi Kai, covered with thick animal skin blankets, hadn’t woken up all night even though the fire in the stove was maintained continuously, their snoring now louder, as if competing with the wind.

Chen Zhou wrapped an animal skin coat over his back and got up slowly, pulling a fire striker out from under his pillow, and lit an oil lamp beside the wooden stump "nightstand."

The oil lamp burned with beaver fat.

The fat was held in a small clay bowl, with an animal hair wick standing in the middle, giving off a smell like rendered lard when burned.

Compared to seal oil, burning beaver fat was far less pure, emitting not only an odor but also black smoke, and its flame would flicker unstably, sometimes bright, sometimes dim.

But given the circumstances, having light was already fortunate enough; luxury was not an option.

After completing most of the indoor and outdoor duties, Chen Zhou injected the genetic modification injection.

In fact, even though his physique greatly surpassed Paul’s, he couldn’t escape the torment of side effects.

In recent days, Chen Zhou often felt as if he returned to the time of re-entering modern life, struggling even to control his body, let alone fight, feeling dizzy all day, and staggering when he walked.

What was more troublesome was that although his physical condition was affected, his sharp sense of smell retained its function, becoming even more sensitive.

For someone who detested the stench, living in this cave was already a torment, and now it was worsening.

Previously, Chen Zhou could always manage his biological clock, sleeping until dawn.

Now, he was often awakened by the stench of pelts and offal; if not for the absence of a mouth-breathing habit, he would have wanted to plug his nostrils with two wooden stoppers to avoid enduring this hardship.

Glancing at the two snoring on the brick bed, Chen Zhou shook his head helplessly, shuffled towards the entrance quietly.

The wind blowing in from outside could dispel the stench, and he sat by the entrance for long stretches each day.

The three-headed sawtoothed tiger, seeing Chen Zhou awake, came over one by one to ingratiate themselves.

Animals can determine whether a creature is male or female, its age, whether it’s sick, and even understand its mood by the scents it emits.

All three sawtoothed tigers sensed Chen Zhou’s low spirits, concerned for their leader’s health as pack animals.

For a long time, whether in hunting or processing food, they relied heavily on Chen Zhou’s assistance. If the leader fell ill, the little ones felt as if the sky would collapse, especially the smartest Tiger Third.

Whenever Chen Zhou woke up and moved around, this little guy never strayed an inch from his side, its eyes wide and staring intently, as if afraid he might suddenly drop dead, making Chen Zhou both amused and exasperated.

...

After moving the chair to the entrance, tightening the animal skin coat around him, Chen Zhou stirred the embers in the stove with a fire poker.

Seeing some sparks, he quickly broke off some tiny dry twigs and stuffed them into the stove, then sat silently on the low stool gazing blankly at the sky light shining in from above the cave entrance.

Tiger Third lay beside Chen Zhou, lazily exposing its belly, placing a plush, wide paw over Chen Zhou’s foot.

The weather was indeed cold, with the entrance open, the cold wind howling into the cave.

Before the injections, even if Chen Zhou were physically extraordinary, he couldn’t have sat here barefoot on the shoes.

But after the injections, though he endured the side effects, his cold resistance indeed improved, as if a small stove was roasting inside his body; let alone sitting in the doorway with an animal skin coat, he could even last some time in the snow wearing only a thin garment.

"Don’t fool around."

Feeling a bit cooler with his feet exposed, yet Tiger Third mischievously covered them with its big paw.

The sawtoothed tiger’s body temperature was naturally higher than a human’s, so when its paw covered him, Chen Zhou felt his feet turn hot and itchy, making him scold Tiger Third before reaching out to grab its belly.

Rawr~

With a whimper of protest after the assault, Tiger Third shamelessly turned over, dodging Chen Zhou’s hand, then with a leap pounced into Chen Zhou’s arms.

The adolescent sawtoothed tiger was nearly 120 pounds now, and caught off guard, Chen Zhou almost got toppled over, primarily as the wooden stump chair beneath him was notably unstable.

Holding onto Tiger Third tightly, before Chen Zhou could reprimand it, it placed its big paws on Chen Zhou’s shoulders, extending its tongue to lick his head, turning Chen Zhou’s greasy long hair into something resembling a bird’s nest.