101: Chapter 101 I have shown my sincerity, and I have set the rules.

"Supervisor Wang, do you see reality clearly now?" Chen Jian said in a low voice, yet it exuded an absolute sense of control. "On this island, positions don't matter. Whoever can secure a way out for everyone is the one people will listen to."

Wang Qiang let out a wheezing sound in his throat, lacking even the strength to retort.

Chen Jian turned around, his gaze falling upon Song Ya, who was tied to the tree trunk.

Song Ya was already awake; due to the intense pain, her whole person presented a gray and withered sense of weakness.

"Go, take Song Ya down to the slope," Chen Jian ordered, a glint of shrewdness flashing in his eyes. "Doesn't Lin Fan want people? Make him bring all the remaining supplies down himself to trade. Person and goods delivered at the same time."

Several people went to pull Song Ya up, but her legs were so weak that she couldn't stand at all.

Two people each propped up one of her arms, dragging her toward the slope leading to the cliff like pulling an animal about to be sacrificed.

Song Ya's toes drooped powerlessly against the ground. Chen Jian followed behind, leading everyone on the beach as they marched imposingly to the bottom of the slope.

The waves beat against the reefs.

Chen Jian stopped in his tracks, raised his head, and locked his gaze tightly through the blinding sunlight onto the faintly visible platform above the cliff.

"Lin Fan!"

Chen Jian took a deep breath and roared with all his might, his voice tearing across the empty beach.

"The person is right here! Do you want her to live!" Chen Jian pointed at the dying Song Ya at his feet. "Bring the supplies you promised! Get your ass down here and trade for her yourself!"

Chen Jian's hoarse roar echoed at the bottom of the empty cliff.

The sound of the waves beating against the reefs overrode the echo, and more than a dozen pairs of eyes on the beach stared fixedly at the protruding platform above.

The scorching sun was directly overhead, and the sand was baked until it burned hot.

Above the cliff, Lin Fan leaned his back against the cool rock wall, turning a deaf ear to the clamor below.

"Brother Fan." Zhou Kai lay flat against the edge, glanced at the dark crowd below, turned his head, and lowered his voice. "They're challenging us down there. What should we do?"

"Go tell them," Lin Fan's voice was devoid of fluctuation. "I have already given my sincerity, and I have set the rules."

He pointed the tip of his knife outside the cliff.

"If you want to trade, do it by my rules. Find three people, bring Song Ya up, and they can carry the supplies away. If you don't want to trade, or think this deal is a loss, then don't trade at all."

"By the way, remind them of this," Lin Fan glanced at Zhou Kai. "Only living tools are somewhat useful. If that woman dies, or is beaten crippled and disabled by them, this deal is directly voided."

"When the time comes, if they are starving, they might as well slice her up and roast her to eat. Anyway, there are people in their group who harbor that intention."

A chill ran down Zhou Kai's back. He swallowed a mouthful of saliva, immediately turned around, walked to the edge of the cliff, and stuck out half his body.

"Listen up, people below!" Zhou Kai cupped his hands around his mouth, gathered his inner breath, and passed Lin Fan's words down verbatim, without missing a single word.

On the beach.

Hearing what Zhou Kai conveyed, the crowd that had just been filled with righteous indignation instantly fell into a dead silence.

Chen Jian's high-raised hand stiffened in mid-air.

He thought he had guessed Lin Fan's mind, thinking Lin Fan would panic and figure out a new way. As a result, the other party didn't even have the interest to talk.

Once the other party didn't care about the bargaining chips, they were utterly worthless.

"This… Engineer Chen, this scum simply doesn't accept threats!"

Xiao Liang, who had taken the lead in beating Wang Qiang earlier, grew anxious, blood seeping from his cracked lips. "If he doesn't come down, are we just going to watch?"

"Right, are we just going to leave all that food and drink up there like this?" someone chimed in.

Chen Jian gritted his teeth, sweat rolling down his forehead in large drops.

It was currently noon, and the vicious sunlight shone directly onto the beach without a single shelter.

The temperature of the sand surface was extremely high, and even standing still made the soles of one's feet burn.

Everyone had just fought a mass brawl to grab those few flatbreads and water, and their physical strength was exhausted to the extreme.

Coupled with the fact that half a bottle of water was simply not enough to squander, once the sweat came out, their throats were so dry they felt like smoking.

If they didn't retreat and continued to waste time here, in less than half a day, this group of people would suffer from dehydration and shock.

What was even more fatal was that the woven bag Liu Gang was holding in his hand continuously dripped turbid bloody water downwards.

Under the high-temperature exposure, those ten catties of raw meat would soon spoil and stink.

Chen Jian pushed his glasses up and took a deep breath.

"Take the person back first," Chen Jian turned and ordered, pointing to a reef crevice in the distance. "The sun is too vicious. Song Ya is in our hands now, so the initiative is on our side. Even if we trade, how to trade is up to us. Let's go back, discuss a countermeasure well, and then handle it."

Although the crowd was unwilling, no one was willing to stand here under the sun waiting to die.

Moreover, the attraction of those ten catties of raw meat was far more direct than illusory negotiations.

"Drag her away." Xiao Liang kicked Song Ya.

The two stepped forward, propped up Song Ya on the left and right, and dragged her across the sandy ground, leaving a deep trace.

The group marched back imposingly to the rock crevice Chen Jian had found earlier.

Sunlight could not be seen here, and the temperature dropped quite a bit.

As soon as they sat down, everyone's gazes all focused on the bleeding bag beside Liu Gang's hand.

"Engineer Chen," someone spoke eagerly, their Adam's apple rolling violently. "This meat... how should we handle it?"

"Those few dry flatbreads are utterly useless. This meat cannot be left any longer; in such hot weather, it will stink by afternoon."

Pairs of green-glowing eyes stared at Chen Jian.

Having been hungry for four or five days, the gastric juices had already corroded their intestines with a raw pain, and this bit of raw meat was their only thought at this moment.

Chen Jian did not decline.

He knew that now he had to distribute this meat in order to re-establish his leadership position in this group.

"Start a fire." Chen Jian only uttered two words.

Several male employees immediately took action. People who usually procrastinated when working suddenly burst out with extremely high efficiency at this moment.

Finding dry leaves, picking up dead branches, and piling up stones.

A few minutes later, a wisp of blue smoke rose, and flames leaped out.

There were no pots or pans, nor any grilling racks.

They simply used a tree branch pierced through that piece of fresh meat with a stone, and placed it over the fire to roast.

"Hiss…"

The intense sound emitted by the fat coming into contact with the high temperature, accompanied by an extremely rich aroma of meat, instantly exploded within the cramped rock crevice.

This was the lowest-quality fat smell of civilized society, yet placed at this moment, it became a fatal poison.

Everyone's breathing stagnated at this moment.

They tightly surrounded the campfire, their eyes bloodshot, staring at the gradually changing color of the meat chunks.

Some people had saliva dripping from their chins onto their clothes, and even unconsciously crawled forward a couple of steps.

Wang Qiang shrank in the corner, bruised and battered. Smelling this scent, his fingers frantically dug into the sand on the ground.

The sense of satisfaction of eating alone up there earlier was long gone. Now smelling the roast meat, his gastric juices secreted wildly once again, and the cramping pain was even worse than before.

Half an hour later, Chen Jian flipped the meat chunks. He scraped out some dried sea salt crystals from a reef pit and sprinkled them roughly over the meat.

The saltiness stimulated the deliciousness of the meat.

The fat dripped into the campfire, sending up a small puff of white smoke.

The meat wasn't fully cooked; the outer layer had just been roasted to a charred brown, while the inside still carried blood streaks, yet Chen Jian took it down.

"One piece per person." Chen Jian began to distribute.