Chapter 259 The Glowing Island

Song Xingmian opened her mouth, looking down at the bowl of rice. "For me?"

"Of course. This is the last bowl, so naturally, I saved it for you."

Chen Yu smiled slightly; his harmless appearance seemed quite bright and warm.

The deck fell silent for a moment.

Song Xingmian did not refuse again.

She lowered her eyelashes, picked up a small mouthful of rice with her chopsticks, and put it in her mouth.

The rice melted on the tip of her tongue.

Her eyelashes trembled slightly.

It was clear that she approved of the rice.

Chen Yu narrowed his eyes; she really was a passionate eater...

Song Xingmian took another bite, pushed the lunch box toward Chen Yu, and said softly, "You eat half. An injured person needs carbohydrates."

Chen Yu shook his head. "I'm not hungry. If you insist on giving the rice back to me, then I'll just have to feed it to the fish."

Song Xingmian: "..."

Han Cheng swallowed his saliva.

With a dark expression, he pulled a lunch box from his personal backpack and placed it heavily beside Song Xingmian.

"Mianmian, I specifically traded for this before we set out."

His tone carried a hint of forced casualness. "These are cooked large shrimp, a good six or seven of them. I couldn't bring myself to eat them, so I saved them for you..."

The lunch box indeed contained large shrimp with bright red shells. To be able to obtain such a plate of perfectly presented shrimp on the highway was truly something an ordinary person could not achieve.

Song Xingmian shook her head politely. "Thank you, Captain Han, I appreciate the gesture. You should eat these shrimp yourself. We’re relying on you to lead the team next, so these high-protein foods should be prioritized for replenishing your strength."

Han Cheng was stunned. "Mianmian, there's no need to be so polite with me!"

Thinking of something, he suddenly said, "If you insist on giving the shrimp back to me, then I'll just have to feed it to the fish."

Song Xingmian frowned. "Then feed them to the fish."

Han Cheng: "?"

This is fucking wrong, isn't it?

The same tactic, so why the double standard?

Han Cheng's anger grew, but he had nowhere to vent it!

He could only pick up a shrimp and put it in his mouth without peeling it, chewing forcefully!

The shrimp shells made a sharp crunching sound between his teeth!

Then he picked up another shrimp and continued to chew, staring straight at Lu Heng!

Chen Yu felt uncomfortable under his gaze.

Is this guy showing off his shrimp?

Unscathed, Chen Yu pulled two huge Boston Lobsters from his personal backpack. The claws were massive, the bodies bright red, and the shells gleamed with an oily luster under the lights.

Beside them was a small dish of dipping sauce.

The aroma of garlic and soy sauce, mixed with the unique fresh sweetness of steamed lobster, drifted through the sea breeze.

"?"

The sound of Han Cheng dry-chewing shrimp shells stopped.

Song Xingmian was also dazed.

What exactly was going on with this Lu Heng?

Was his personal backpack filled with nothing but food?

In fact, Chen Yu's backpack could be described as all-encompassing...

After all, while others only had 10 slots, Chen Yu enjoyed 25 slots because of the Item Leaderboard!

This dinner passed amidst everyone's astonishment!

...

...

The next morning, at dawn.

The iron-gray sea surface shimmered with a faint silver-white luster in the morning light. The sea mist was much thinner than yesterday, and the outline of a lighthouse flickered on the distant horizon.

After awakening, everyone's stamina far exceeded that of ordinary people, so almost no one slept that night.

Just then, a massive silhouette appeared on the horizon ahead.

It was an island, and it was incredibly bright.

Stretches of cold white fluorescence extended all the way to the low hills in the island's interior.

"So many needles?"

"My god!"

Ding Shouchang rubbed his eyes and leaned over the ship's railing. "How many sea beasts must be nesting on there? The entire island is lit up?! Dozens? Hundreds?!"

Zhang Lieyang stood on the other side of the railing, his gaze sweeping across the island's coastline...

'Too clean.'

That was his evaluation of this island.

Chen Muqing's face also looked grim. "Captain Han, the magnetic field distribution of this island is very abnormal. My Talent's detection range has been compressed by half, and there are multiple signal blind spots in the core area. I can't rule out the possibility that other teams have landed ahead of us. I suggest..."

"Prepare to land!"

Han Cheng didn't even listen to the end. He stared at that brilliantly fluorescent coastline.

His tone carried a natural confidence.

"Quickly veer left and find the side with fewer reefs to land! Damn, this is what I call hitting the jackpot!"

The hull scraped against the edge of the reef beach as it slowly docked, letting out a low, muffled thud.

Han Cheng was the first to step off, and the others followed closely behind...

Walking along the reef beach toward the Lookout Station, the journey was not quiet.

From time to time, silver-white Mutated Electric Eels darted out of the reef tide pools, lunging at the nearest living person.

Mutated Barnacles attached to the rocks would also suddenly snap open, whipping out slimy tentacles.

But these scattered ambushes...

To Han Cheng, they didn't even count as a warm-up.

"Just small fry."

Han Cheng flicked the residue off his blade. "Not even a single tide needle..."

Before he could finish his sentence, the cluster of reefs ahead suddenly trembled violently.

Immediately after,

A massive pincer emerged from a crack between two reefs. The surface of the pincer was covered in a thick layer of calcified dark green hard shell, making a heavy sound as it opened and closed.

Then came the second pincer, followed by a slowly rising conch shell. The shell's diameter was estimated to be over three meters, its surface densely embedded with glowing bone spikes.

The cold white fluorescence illuminated the entire reef area.

"A tide needle?!"

Every single needle grew out from within its shell, brightening and dimming with the rhythm of the conch's breathing.

"Now we're talking."

Han Cheng's lips curled up. Instead of retreating, he advanced, holding his ghost head blade with both hands and slashing down from a height.

Dark purple Blade Energy slammed heavily onto the surface of the conch shell, carving a deep groove into the calcified layer, but the shell was too thick for the strike to penetrate completely.

"Hiss—!"

The conch let out a low hiss, and green mucus gushing from the shell's opening quickly condensed into translucent, gel-like tentacles that coiled toward Han Cheng's legs.

"Whoosh—"

Zhang Lieyang cut in from the side, slamming his palms together!

"Boom!!!!"

The conch shell instantly cracked!

Taking advantage of the crack, Han Cheng slaughtered it!

"At least a dozen tide needles!"

Han Cheng's lips curled up. "As long as we wash this island in blood, we will definitely make the top three!"

Just as Han Cheng was about to go and collect the needles,

"Clang!"

"Clang!"

"Clang!"

Three daggers were nailed into the ground less than a foot in front of his feet!

Han Cheng retreated sharply. "?"

From behind the reef cover, several figures stepped out...

The leader wore a white shirt with sleeves rolled up to his forearms. He was young and handsome, but his grey-blue eyes held none of the fickleness of youth.

"China Haicheng Team, the undisputed number one of the first stage."

"29,847 points is a very beautiful number."

Han Cheng gripped his hilt tighter, the purple aura on the blade thickening slightly. "Who are you?"

The man tilted his head slightly. "We are from... the Federal Houston Team!"