153: Chapter 153 The Secret on the Island

Then, Qin Mo turned around and returned to the group.

"Everyone hasn't eaten for half a day. Some of you go pick up some firewood nearby, and the rest go look for something to eat!"

"As for me, I'm going to make something!"

Hearing this, everyone began to take action. They had already recognized Qin Mo's abilities and were willing to listen to him.

After speaking, Qin Mo walked into the dense forest, looking around as he went.

He was surrounded by massive trees that would take several people to encircle, and there were several coconut trees scattered nearby.

Regrettably, the coconuts on them had vanished, seemingly swept clean by some animal.

Then, Qin Mo found some flax in the woods, tore it into strands, and wove them into a fine cord.

He found a stick and a sharp stone on the ground, using the stone to sharpen a small wooden root into a long spike.

With everything ready, Qin Mo assembled these simple items into a set of fishing gear.

He then went to the shore, found some small seafood meat to use as bait, and began to fish quietly.

Fortunately, the system had rewarded him with Master-level Fishing and Wilderness Survival skills; otherwise, he really wouldn't have been able to get any fish.

After thinking for a moment, shortly after throwing the line into the sea, he felt some movement on the fishing rod.

Qin Mo knew a fish was on the hook!

The next moment, Qin Mo gave the stick a sharp tug, and a massive force immediately pulled at his hand.

Qin Mo's expression brightened; this fish was not small!

He then forcibly hauled the fish ashore, and fortunately, it didn't come off the hook.

"Holy crap! Such a huge grouper!"

Qin Mo couldn't help but swear as he looked at the grouper he had caught.

No wonder it was such a struggle; this grouper looked to be at least seven or eight pounds. It was the first time he had seen one so big!

After a moment of excitement, Qin Mo placed the fish on the shore and continued fishing.

As time passed minute by minute, Qin Mo, bolstered by his Master-level Fishing skill, seemed to be using a cheat code.

By now, a pile of sea fish lay behind him—the harvest of over an hour's work.

Qin Mo took a rough look; it was just about enough.

He then picked up the fish from the ground, strung them together with flax, and prepared to head back to the others.

The next moment, Qin Mo's eyes inadvertently glanced at the shore nearby, and his expression instantly changed.

Qin Mo quickly finished packing up and left this place of trouble.

...

Coincidentally, the New Recruits responsible for finding food also came over and happened to meet Qin Mo, but their hands were empty.

"Brother Mo! How did you get so many fish? How did you do it?"

Seeing the fish Qin Mo was carrying, everyone immediately grew excited, and even their guilt from returning empty-handed vanished.

Qin Mo didn't answer them but asked curiously, "You didn't get any food?"

Hearing this, everyone lowered their heads.

Shi Hao hesitated and said guiltily, "Brother Mo! I don't know what's going on here. There isn't a single fruit on the fruit-bearing trees around here, as if something has plucked them all clean."

"We searched all over the vicinity. Forget food, there isn't even a single wild vegetable."

"Yeah! It's high tide right now. Forget fish, there isn't even a single lousy crab."

Zheng Xiaohu chimed in from the side.

Qin Mo's brow furrowed upon hearing this.

This is a deserted island with no one to harvest anything; logically, it shouldn't be empty! Could there be monkeys or something similar that cleared out all the food?

After thinking for a moment, Qin Mo shook his head helplessly.

"It's fine! I caught a lot of fish, which should be enough for our lunch. Go and roast them!"

Saying this, Qin Mo handed the sea fish to Zheng Xiaohu.

"You got it!"

Zheng Xiaohu took the fish, his eyes crinkling with a smile.

The others also watched, salivating. They had been hungry for so long; being able to eat roasted fish was a great privilege!

Then, everyone walked to the campfire. The mountain of firewood piled nearby told Qin Mo that the other group hadn't returned empty-handed.

Ye saw Qin Mo and the others approaching, then stood up and dropped the item in his hand onto the ground.

"Qin Mo! Look at this!"

Qin Mo instinctively looked over.

"Isn't this a shoe? But why does it look a bit familiar?"

By now, the others had also gathered around, and they were stunned upon seeing the shoe on the ground.

"Isn't this the shoe issued by our unit?"

A New Recruit pointed at the shoe on the ground in confusion.

Qin Mo scanned the group and asked calmly, "Whose shoe is this?"

At those words, everyone quickly checked themselves and found that they hadn't lost any shoes.

Zheng Xiaohu said with a face full of terror:

"How could an extra shoe appear out of nowhere? There couldn't be ghosts, could there?"

"Get lost! Where would ghosts come from?"

Shi Hao rolled his eyes.

"I bet the unit has come up with another way to mess with us. This shoe was probably accidentally dropped by them!"

As he spoke, Shi Hao began to shout loudly.

"Come out! Tiger Black Face! I see you! Get out here!"

Shi Hao shouted for a long time, but the surroundings remained silent. Forget people, there wasn't even a bird...

"Alright, alright!"

Qin Mo said crossly, "Stop shouting. Forget people, even ghosts would be scared away by you! Go roast the fish! Everyone is hungry!"

"Right, right! Roast fish, roast fish!"

Zheng Xiaohu echoed.

Then, everyone sat around the campfire again.

Qin Mo pulled Ye to the side.

"What did you find?"

Ye looked at Qin Mo calmly.

Qin Mo instinctively scanned the surroundings, then hesitated before saying, "I found a corpse on the shore!"

"What did you say? A corpse?"

Ye's expression immediately turned serious.

"Yes! I was fishing on the shore just now. When I was leaving, I happened to take a look, and it was indeed a corpse. Moreover, it must have died within the last day or two; the body hasn't started to rot yet!"

"It looks like it was dumped there."

At these words, Ye's brow furrowed tightly.

"If what you say is true... this island definitely has a big secret! Our people only scouted the outermost perimeter; we haven't gone inside, so we don't know what's there."

"Besides, this place isn't domestic territory. Even if there's a corpse, it's not our jurisdiction. And then there's that shoe."

Qin Mo looked at Ye. "Are you trying to say that the shoe was dropped by someone from the unit? Doesn't that mean the unit is present on this island?"

"It's very likely! I suspect this is another training exercise from the unit!"

"No!"

Qin Mo shook his head.

"This island shouldn't have anything to do with the unit. First, the corpse here can't be explained. Second, that shoe! If it were people from the unit, they probably wouldn't make such a rookie mistake!"

"You mean..."

Ye looked at Qin Mo in shock.

"You mean... there's someone else on this island?"