6: Chapter 6: There's no Brother Qiang here, and no company either.

"Water... Why haven't you found water yet?" Wang Qiang irritably kicked the male subordinate beside him. "Are you pigs? Such a big island, and you can't even find a single drop of water?"

The subordinate was named Zhang Tao, and he was still wearing that newly snatched Green Submariner on his wrist, but at this moment, his face was ashen. "Brother Qiang, there really isn't any. Everything nearby is saltwater, and anything drinkable was already cleaned out by that kid long ago..."

"Useless trash!" Wang Qiang cursed, his sinister gaze sweeping across the beach.

Suddenly, his gaze locked firmly onto the halfway point of the mountain.

Lin Fan was just moving the last box of mineral water into the Karst Cave.

Under the setting sun, those transparent plastic bottles made Wang Qiang's eyes turn green with envy.

"What the hell are you searching for? Isn't there ready-made stuff right up there?" Wang Qiang pointed at the mountainside and sneered. "That kid has hoarded so much, why didn't you go take a few boxes?"

Zhang Tao hesitated slightly. "But... the way Lin Fan looked just now, he didn't seem very easy to talk to..."

"Not easy to talk to?" Wang Qiang slapped the back of Zhang Tao's head. "He's just a bottom-tier intern! Back at the company, my words were imperial decrees! It's the same on this lousy island! I'm the supervisor, and coordinating resources is my right!"

He turned his head to look at the other bespectacled male colleague, Li Bin. "You two go and tell him to move the water down. Just say it's for unified distribution among everyone, and President Su is watching from below as well. If he dares to hide supplies privately, I'll fire him directly when we get back!"

Zhang Tao and Li Bin looked at each other, and greed ultimately overcame reason.

Thirsty, they were far too thirsty.

With Wang Qiang acting as their banner at the front, the misgivings in the two men's hearts instantly vanished into thin air.

"Let's go! Go get the water!" The two men bolstered each other's courage and stumbled their way up the mountainside.

Lin Fan had just finished camouflaging the vines at the cave entrance when he turned around and saw two uninvited guests panting as they climbed up.

He looked at the two of them expressionlessly.

[Zhang Tao (Sales Department): Extremely dehydrated, stamina remaining 40%. Combat power: 0.5 geese. Inner thoughts: Drink all your water, then snatch your luncheon meat.]

[Li Bin (Personnel Department): Extremely dehydrated, mild heatstroke. Combat power: 0.3 geese. Inner thoughts: This kid is usually honest and obedient, he should cave once we scare him.]

Less than one goose's worth of combat power. Pure battle-scum of the fifth rank.

Lin Fan sneered.

"Lin Fan!" Zhang Tao put his hands on his hips, trying hard to put on the airs of a senior. "Brother Qiang told you to move the water down! Everyone is about to die of thirst, and you're monopolizing so many resources all by yourself. Do you have any collective awareness at all?"

Li Bin also adjusted his glasses and chimed in sarcastically. "Exactly, President Su is still watching down below. This behavior of yours is a serious act of selfishness. If you know what's good for you, hurry up and move it down. Brother Qiang can still put in a good word for you in front of President Su."

If this were still civilized society, Lin Fan might have feigned civility. But now, he couldn't even be bothered to give them a direct look, coldly spitting out just a single word.

"Scram."

The two of them froze at the same time.

Lin Fan, who was always timid and submissive at the company and never hesitated when told to pour tea and water, actually dared to tell them to scram?

"What the fuck did you say?" Zhang Tao felt he was losing face, stiffened his neck, and stepped forward. "Lin Fan, don't refuse a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeiture! Do you believe that when we get back, I'll have Brother Qiang blacklist you across the entire industry!"

"There is no Brother Qiang here, nor is there a company." Lin Fan's gaze turned abruptly cold. "Want water? Go find it yourself. Take another step forward and I'll break your legs."

Zhang Tao was stared back half a step by that gaze, but on second thought, there were two people on his side, while the opponent was just a frail intern. What was there to be afraid of?

"Refusing a toast only to drink a forfeiture! I'll get it myself!"

Zhang Tao gave Li Bin a look, and the two of them, one on the left and one on the right, reached out to push Lin Fan, intending to forcefully break into the cave and grab the water.

Lin Fan stood in place, not moving a single inch.

Just as Zhang Tao's hand was about to touch his shoulder, Lin Fan suddenly raised his leg.

"Bang!"

This kick landed solidly on Zhang Tao's lower abdomen. Without any fancy moves, it was all about sheer brute force and true damage.

"Aah—!"

Zhang Tao let out a miserable scream like a slaughtered pig, his entire body rolling down the slope like a tumbling gourd.

He rolled seven or eight meters before crashing into a tree and stopping. Clutching his stomach, he retched frantically, almost vomiting out his very gallbladder.

Li Bin was scared silly on the spot, his hand suspended in mid-air freezing stiffly; going forward wouldn't work, and retreating wouldn't work either.

"Do you want to try too?" Lin Fan asked coldly.

Li Bin let out a strange cry, turned around, and scrambled down the mountain in a panic.

At the foot of the mountain.

Wang Qiang was bragging to several female colleagues about his glorious deeds back in the day, casually using his gaze to frantically leer at Liu Feifei's exposed thighs.

Seeing the two men fleeing back in a pathetic state, the smile on Wang Qiang's face instantly froze.

"What's going on? Where is the water?"

"Brother Qiang... That kid Lin Fan has gone crazy!" Li Bin gasped for breath, pointing up the mountain with a mournful face. "He wouldn't give it to us! He even resorted to violence! Zhang Tao was even kicked until he vomited blood!"

Zhang Tao, who had just crawled back, added fuel to the fire, clutching his stomach and wailing: "Brother Qiang, that kid said... said you're nothing! He also said that even if this water were fed to dogs, he wouldn't let you drink a single drop!"

"Rebellious! This is simply outrageous!"

Wang Qiang was shaking with anger. That soft persimmon that he could knead however he liked on ordinary days actually dared to climb onto his head and shit?

If he couldn't even keep an intern in line at a time like this, how was he going to lead these people in the future? Su Qingxue was watching not far away; if he lost this face, he would completely have no chance of future promotions!

"Damn it, you shameless bastard!"

Wang Qiang picked up a thick wooden stick from the ground and waved it viciously. "All the men, follow me up! I want to see if this kid has eaten leopard gallbladder! If we don't get that water back today, I'll write my name backwards!"

The few male colleagues who had still been watching from the sidelines saw Wang Qiang taking the lead and became eager to make a move. Firstly, they wanted to show off in front of the leader, and secondly, they were truly desperate with thirst.

A group of people aggressively charged toward the rocky slope.

"Supervisor Wang! You can't do this!"

A dainty figure suddenly rushed out, blocking the only path leading to the mountainside. It was Song Ya.

She spread her arms, her eye rims red with anxiety. "Those are supplies that Lin Fan worked hard to find himself! What right do you have to rob them? President Su said everyone should think of a way together, not for you guys to have infighting!"

"Get aside!" Wang Qiang was in the heat of his anger at the moment and cared nothing about cherishing jade and pitying fragrant flowers. He brutally pushed Song Ya down into the sand pile. "When I get the water, I'll come back tonight to properly teach you the rules!"

Not far away, Su Qingxue frowned, wanting to speak up to stop them, but her cracked throat prevented her from making much of a sound.

Furthermore... as she looked at Lin Fan's cold back, there was also a trace of faint dissatisfaction in her heart.

Although it was a special period now, monopolizing freshwater resources like this was indeed going too far. It would be fine to let Wang Qiang teach him a lesson, as long as it didn't cost a life.

"President Su, it seems the management of your company is somewhat lacking!"

"I'll fire him when we get back," Su Qingxue replied coldly.

The mountainside.

Looking at the five or six people charging up aggressively, Lin Fan not only didn't hide, but instead drew that magnesium rod from his tactical leg pouch, wiping it casually against his clothes.

Wang Qiang took the lead, rushing to a spot three meters in front of Lin Fan and coming to a stop. Pointing his stick at Lin Fan's nose, spit flew everywhere.

"Lin Fan! You've grown some spine, haven't you? You dare beat up colleagues? And you want to misappropriate public supplies?"

Severe dehydration coupled with extreme anger made Wang Qiang's entire face look exceptionally ferocious. "I am ordering you now: immediately! Right now! Hand over the water! Then kowtow and apologize to Zhang Tao! Otherwise, don't blame me for not considering our past relationship!"

Lin Fan stopped the movement in his hands and lifted his eyelids.

[Wang Qiang (Sales Supervisor): Anger level MAX, IQ - 50. Extreme dehydration has led to a complete loss of judgment. The withered wooden stick in his hand has an extremely high brittleness and will break the moment force is applied. Threat level: The elite fighter jet among trash.]

"And what if I don't?"

"Not?!" Wang Qiang laughed out of extreme anger, turning back to shout at the crowd at the top of his lungs, "Everyone heard it! This kid is asking for his own death! Get him! Snatch the water back! If anything happens, I'll take responsibility!"

Before his voice faded, he swung the thick wooden stick in his hand and smashed it fiercely toward Lin Fan's head.

The wind howled. If this club struck solidly, it would definitely crack his skull open right on the spot.

Song Ya, who had been pushed to the ground, screamed in fright: "Lin Fan, watch out!"

Lin Fan didn't move.

Just at the moment when the stick was about to descend, he slightly sidestepped. That seemingly thick but actually long-rotten wooden stick smashed heavily against the rock beside them with a "crack" sound, breaking into two halves on the spot.

Wang Qiang couldn't pull back his strength, and his body lunged forward violently using the momentum.

Before he could even steady himself, Lin Fan's hand locked tightly around his throat.

Immediately following that.

A teeth-aching sound of metal friction rang out.

"Clang~!"