28: Chapter 28 My stuff, whoever touches it dies.

Lin Fan didn't waste any words.

He raised his right hand, the blade pressing directly against the right side of Zhou Dahai's neck.

The icy metal touch penetrated his skin straight into his blood vessels, and every hair on Zhou Dahai's body stood on end instantly.

He could even sense the faint, elusive scent of blood on the blade.

The entire scene fell into dead silence.

The wind blew across the beach, with only the sound of waves crashing against the reefs.

"Gulp." Zhou Dahai swallowed a mouthful of saliva, his Adam's apple moving up and down, brushing against the blade and scratching out a very shallow streak of blood.

"Where are the things?" Lin Fan repeated his previous question, his tone still calm.

Zhou Dahai's legs began to tremble, but having worked in legal affairs for over a decade, he understood the rules of modern society far too well.

This might be a Deserted Island, yes, but they would be rescued sooner or later.

Su Qingxue had already said it, the satellite phone had gone through, and rescue was already on the way.

As long as they returned to Jiangcheng, murder was a capital offense, and intentional assault started at three years in prison.

Lin Fan was just a newly graduated intern with no money and no background; did he dare take on the charge of intentional murder?

Did he dare brandish a knife in front of dozens of eyes?

Impossible, he absolutely wouldn't dare; he was just holding a knife to scare people.

As long as he stubbornly refused to admit it, Lin Fan could do nothing to him.

If he confessed where the biscuits were hidden, not only would Lin Fan take them, but Wang Qiang would tear him limb from limb, and Su Qingxue's promises would cease to exist.

Thinking of this, Zhou Dahai regained a bit of his confidence.

"Lin Fan, don't try to scare me with this thing." Zhou Dahai forced himself to stay calm, his voice even taking on a hint of a lecturing tone, "I am the group's legal specialist, and right now you brandishing a knife at me is called provoking trouble and is the crime of intimidation."

The more he spoke, the smoother it became, and he even looked straight into Lin Fan's eyes.

"Dozens of people on this island are watching. Once rescue comes and the helicopter arrives, we'll go back to Jiangcheng. If you dare harm a single hair on my head today, I'll call the police to arrest you as soon as we go back. Your whole life will be ruined, understand?"

"Put down the knife. If there's an issue, let's follow the company's rules and find President Su to solve it."

Zhou Dahai brought out the rhetoric he was most skilled at.

The law, the police, the bottom line of civilized society.

While saying these words, Zhou Dahai's gaze uncontrollably glanced to the right.

That was a pile of rubble at the edge of the Mangrove Forest.

This subtle movement fell into Lin Fan's eyes.

At the same time, a golden prompt box emerged on Lin Fan's retina.

[Target: Zhou Dahai]

[Psychological state: Extreme panic, forcing calm, harboring fantasies of being rescued by civilized society.]

[Hidden information: In the direction of his gaze (the pile of rubble at the edge of the Mangrove Forest on the right, coordinate azimuth 115 degrees), inside a shallow pit beneath a moss-covered stone, 3 packs of Type 900 military compressed biscuits are buried.]

Lin Fan finished reading the contents of the prompt box.

He knew the location of the biscuits.

But he didn't turn his head to look in that direction, nor did he expose him on the spot.

He looked at the middle-aged man in front of him who was still chattering endlessly and using legal provisions to build up his own courage.

The rules of a civilized society?

Call the police?

Ruined for a lifetime?

Lin Fan suddenly laughed.

He laughed out loud, his shoulders shaking slightly.

Zhou Dahai felt his hair stand on end from his laughter.

"You... what are you laughing at?"

"I'm laughing because you're an idiot."

Lin Fan stopped laughing, his gaze instantly turning extremely icy, "You think I'm going to talk to you about evidence?"

Before his voice faded, Lin Fan's wrist abruptly flipped.

The blade left Zhou Dahai's neck and swept downward in one fluid motion.

Lin Fan's right hand darted out, grabbing Zhou Dahai's right wrist hanging by his side and yanking it outward fiercely.

Zhou Dahai's right hand was pulled straight and suspended in mid-air.

The black tactical straight knife carried the sound of wind as it slashed down fiercely from above.

"Pfft!"

The sound of the blade slicing through skin, severing tendons and bones, and crushing cartilage was magnified infinitely on the quiet beach.

Fresh blood instantly spurted out, splashing onto the sand, onto Lin Fan's trouser legs, and also onto Wang Qiang's face nearby.

Four severed fingers.

Index finger, middle finger, ring finger, pinky.

Neatly detached from Zhou Dahai's palm, they fell into the sandy soil, twitching slightly due to nerve reflexes.

Zhou Dahai froze.

He looked at his bare right palm, which was crazily spurting blood outward.

His brain crashed in that instant, and it took a full two seconds before the intense pain surged into his mind like an explosion along the nerve endings.

"Ahahahaha—!!"

The soul-piercing, shrill scream tore apart the sky over the island.

Zhou Dahai's knees went soft, and he collapsed directly onto the sandy ground.

He used his left hand to tightly cover his bleeding right hand, curled up into a ball, and rolled crazily on the sand, wailing like a slaughtered pig.

"My hand! My hand, ahhhhhh!!!"

The entire scene fell into dead silence.

Only Zhou Dahai's screams echoed.

Everyone froze in place.

Little Zhou from the Administrative Department rolled his eyes and fainted on the spot.

Wang Qiang wiped the warm liquid on his face, looked down, and saw his hands covered in blood.

His legs went soft, and with a thud, he collapsed to the ground, his crotch instantly soaking through as he pissed himself in fright once again.

Su Qingxue stood on the flat reef, her face as pale as paper.

She looked at the severed fingers on the ground, the blood all over the place, and the man holding the blood-stained short knife.

She had always thought that she could control the situation.

She thought that by using money, positions, and empty promises, she could boss these people around like tools.

She thought that Wang Qiang slapping Chen Jian and kicking Chen Jian was already the limit of violence on this island.

Until this moment did she truly understand what it meant to lose all bottom lines.

Lin Fan didn't care about any laws, didn't care about any rescue, and didn't care what would happen after returning to Jiangcheng.

With four fingers, he forcefully smashed the tiny shred of "confidence of a civilized society" remaining in everyone's hearts.

Lin Fan shook off the blood droplets on the blade.

He didn't look at Zhou Dahai rolling on the ground, but instead turned his head to look at Su Qingxue.

Their gazes collided.

Su Qingxue instinctively took a step back, almost falling over.

On that face worth tens of billions, there was now only undisguised terror.

Lin Fan didn't speak; he turned around and walked toward the edge of the Mangrove Forest on the right.

Without hesitation, he walked straight up to the moss-covered stone and kicked it away with one foot.

The tip of the knife poked around in the mud and sand twice.

Three packs of silver aluminum foil bags were revealed.

Lin Fan bent down, picked up the three packs of compressed biscuits, and patted off the mud and sand on them.

The people on the beach watched this scene, their breathing completely stagnating.

There really were three packs.

Zhou Dahai had really hidden food.

And Lin Fan actually found the place without even asking.

This nearly prophetic ability instilled a deep sense of awe toward Lin Fan in the already terrified crowd.

Holding the biscuits, Lin Fan walked back to Song Ya's side.

Song Ya stared blankly at the severed fingers on the ground, entirely in a state of extreme shock.

When Lin Fan said "establish authority" earlier, she thought it was just harsh talk.

She hadn't expected that he would really cut off Zhou Dahai's fingers.

"Hold these." Lin Fan threw the three packs of biscuits into Song Ya's arms.

Song Ya caught them in a fluster and hugged them against her chest.

Lin Fan turned around and swept a final glance across the group of people on the beach.

"Listen clearly."

Lin Fan's voice carried through the ocean breeze, every single word hammering into everyone's hearts.

"You and I are not on the same side."

"If you want to wait for rescue, huddle together for warmth, or listen to President Su's empty promises, suit yourselves."

"Just don't mess with me."

"What belongs to me—whoever touches it dies. My people—whoever moves them pays with their life."

"Don't try to pressure me with your labor laws and police. Here, the knife in my hand is the only rule."

After saying this, Lin Fan didn't look at anyone else.

He turned around, strode forward, and walked toward the Karst Cave halfway up the mountain.

Holding the biscuits, Song Ya closely followed behind Lin Fan. She didn't look back at her former colleagues on the beach.

She knew that starting today, she had completely broken away from that hypocritical group.

She belonged solely to the man ahead holding the knife.

"Wait a minute..."