Chapter 30: Countermeasures

Chapter 30: Countermeasures

He shouldn’t have been so careless!

Chen Shouyi frantically searched everywhere, scouring nearly the entire island before finally spotting her by the beach—a thin thread hanging from the distant sky led him to her.

She was flying over a hundred meters in the air, desperately heading toward the sea. The moment she noticed Chen Shouyi chasing after her, she panicked and soared even higher.

"Come back!" Chen Shouyi shouted anxiously in broken common tongue.

The Shell Woman glanced back at him but continued flying forward without hesitation.

His heart pounding, Chen Shouyi resorted to his old trick, quickly fishing out a glass bead from his pocket.

"Gem!" he yelled.

This was one of the few words he had deliberately memorized to communicate effectively with her.

The Shell Woman paused mid-air, visibly torn. After a few seconds of hesitation, however, she resisted the temptation and stubbornly kept flying.

"More!" he shouted.

He rummaged through his pockets, digging out a few tiny glass beads no larger than mung beans, and held them up in his palm.

Again, the Shell Woman hesitated, hovering motionlessly for a long while.

"Big!" Chen Shouyi pressed on, though he didn’t actually have any large glass beads on him—he’d have to buy them later. For now, an empty promise would have to do.

That final word, "big," shattered the last of her resistance. After a prolonged internal struggle, she slowly descended.

As the end of the nylon rope dangled within reach, Chen Shouyi grabbed it and finally let out a relieved sigh.

The Shell Woman drifted down to the ground, turning her face away from him in silent defiance.

Understanding her unspoken demand, Chen Shouyi crouched and placed the glass beads on the ground.

To his surprise, she didn’t even glance at them. Instead, she repeatedly shrieked, "Big! Big! Big!"

"‘Big’ my ass!" Chen Shouyi snapped—the first word in common tongue, the rest in Chinese.

He snatched her up and strode briskly back toward the camp.

The Shell Woman squirmed violently in his grip, angrily shouting things he couldn’t understand.

Once they reached the tunnel entrance, Chen Shouyi efficiently bound her limbs with rope and tape, gagged her, and stuffed her into his briefcase.

"Who do you think you are?"

Before leaving, he checked his clothes for bloodstains. Finding none, he stepped out of the tunnel.

On the bustling street, surrounded by crowds, Chen Shouyi suddenly felt as if he had crossed into another world. Just moments ago, he had been fighting for his life, yet now everything was peaceful and ordinary.

He exhaled, the lingering tension dissipating swiftly.

His first stop was a store to buy a box of large glass beads before returning to his hotel.

Back in his room, he released the Shell Woman.

She remained motionless as he untied her, her expression blank and sullen.

Her anger was palpable. Soon, silent tears streamed down her face.

And really, who could blame her? She had been so close to freedom, only to foolishly succumb to temptation and walk right back into captivity. Worse, the promised reward hadn’t been delivered—instead, she’d been treated even more harshly.

The heartbreak and regret she felt needed no explanation.

Chen Shouyi looked at the Shell Woman with a bad attitude and pushed her over with his finger.

She lay on her back on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.

Seeing her expression of utter despair, Chen Shouyi found it amusing and decided not to tease her further. He waved his hand in front of her face, then stuffed a flower-patterned glass bead as big as her head into her arms.

The little face that had been tearful and sulking just moments ago immediately brightened. She glanced at Chen Shouyi with extreme delight, tightly hugging the glass bead and refusing to let go.

Chen Shouyi chuckled, picked up the remote, turned on the TV, and switched to the cartoon channel before leaving her to it.

……

Now, he needed some peace and quiet.

All this time, because the island had seemed free of danger, he hadn’t prepared much at all.

To him, the island was just a place for training.

Apart from a wooden stick and a kitchen knife that barely counted as weapons, he had nothing else for self-defense. After all, who would have thought that barbarians would appear on this desolate island?

But the arrival of those two barbarians today shattered his previous illusions.

The island wasn’t safe. The presence of barbarians meant there must be a gathering area for them nearby—perhaps on a neighboring island or even a mainland.

If two barbarians came today, more might pass by tomorrow. No one could guarantee this was the last time.

Chen Shouyi didn’t dare to rely on luck like today every time. He had to prepare.

At least until he was strong enough to face them head-on, he didn’t want to abandon this Otherworld island.

Fortunately, although the country strictly controlled weapons for non-Martial Apprentices, as long as he didn’t carry them in public, no one would interfere.

He immediately took out his phone and logged into Weapon Treasure.

It was a professional B2C e-commerce site for cold weapons.

His old phone loaded the webpage at a snail’s pace, making him impatient.

It took over a full minute for the page to load, freezing only once in the process.

He really needed to buy a new phone.

He quickly searched for war bows over 300 pounds. Among cold weapons, nothing matched the killing efficiency of a bow. No other weapon could compare.

Soon, he realized his money was far less than he thought. War bows were much more expensive than swords—even the cheapest one cost over 30,000 yuan.

And a 300-pound war bow was far too light for him, especially under threefold gravity. It wouldn’t shoot far or hit hard, making it useless beyond practice or the Martial Apprentice Examination.

After some consideration, he decided that instead of buying an apprentice-level 300-pound bow, he might as well get one that truly matched his strength. He immediately filtered for bows over 500 pounds—a range meant for actual martial artists.

As soon as the page loaded, even though he had expected the prices, the string of zeros behind each war bow still left him dizzy.

150,000 yuan!

That was the price of the cheapest war bow—and only because of a National Day discount at 15% off.

As for the mid-range ones, they easily cost five or six hundred thousand, with the most expensive reaching over four million.

After selling the gold, Chen Shouyi had received 110,000 yuan, plus the 18,000 sent by Chen Mu. After deducting his recent expenses, he only had a little over 120,000 left. He had originally thought he was quite wealthy, but to his dismay, he couldn’t even afford a single war bow.

Unable to resist his curiosity, he clicked on the most expensive one. It was a stunning war bow with sleek, sci-fi-inspired curves—a smooth carbon nanofiber body and a tendon string from a mysterious Otherworld creature.

According to the shop’s description, this mysterious tendon string still retained traces of life force, preventing its abilities from dissipating like inanimate objects on Earth. It was merely dormant. If used in the Otherworld, the arrows would condense a light stream, doubling their speed and power.

Chen Shouyi was familiar with this phenomenon. Both he and the Shell Woman were examples—many abilities of Otherworld creatures stemmed from their genes, which remained functional in both worlds, though their powers couldn’t manifest here.

This war bow was not only stylish but also incredibly powerful. Unfortunately, it was far beyond his means, leaving him to silently drool over it. Suppressing the urge to take another look, he resolutely closed the webpage.

Instead, he switched to the second-hand cold weapons market.

The prices here were much more affordable, though the quality was far from guaranteed. But for Chen Shouyi, who was strapped for cash, there was no other choice.

He quickly found a reputable shop and selected a war bow in 80% condition and an alloy sword. After exchanging a few words with the customer service rep and ensuring he could return them if there were quality issues, he placed the order without hesitation.

Looking at the total price of 105,000 yuan, Chen Shouyi couldn’t help but sigh—money really didn’t last long.

Fortunately, his earnings had come easily, so he didn’t feel too much heartache.

Besides, thanks to the Shell Woman’s diligent efforts during this time, she had collected quite a bit more gold grains for him. Though he hadn’t weighed them precisely, he estimated there was already another half-pound.