Neither Lin nor Sakura were bad cooks, but with no tools—only primitive roasting and bitter-tasting sea salt—the roasted fish weren't exactly gourmet.
Coincidentally, both were people who could endure harsh environments. Furthermore, since Lin had no sense of taste, eating was merely a matter of chewing and the sound of swallowing.
"Mm... there's a problem." Lin had just swallowed a bite of juice-splattered fish when he stared at the tender meat. "I can't feel the bones right now."
In the past, he wouldn't specifically pick out bones before putting fish in his mouth; he would use his lips and tongue to feel them out. But now, with no sense of touch, that last bite had likely left a bone stuck in his throat.
"Sakura, check for me."
Sakura, who was taking small bites of her fish, turned her head in confusion. She saw Lin nonchalantly open his mouth wide, displaying the interior for her. It was filled with a sense of bizarre intimacy. The distance between them seemed to have closed significantly. Sakura stood on her tiptoes to peer into his mouth.
"None."
"Good, thanks."
After that, Lin patiently picked the bones out of the meat before eating. By the time Sakura had finished three fish, he had only just finished picking the bones from his second.
Still, it wasn't bad. They were always rushing out for missions and rushing back to base to wait for more. Now, in a rare moment of leisure, they could even enjoy the sunset.
"ROOOOAR—"
At that moment, the terrifying roar echoed again from deep within the island. Birds were startled out of the forest, and the branches trembled. Lin and Sakura instantly stood up, their hair on end, entering a state of combat readiness.
Silence—
After that strange cry, the island fell quiet again, as if that sound was just some monster's morning grumpiness. They relaxed after a moment of alertness because the sound was very distant, at least a significant way off.
But Lin had a suspicion. "The position of the Honkai Beast hasn't changed."
The location of the sound was exactly the same as the direction he had heard the previous night; he even felt the distance hadn't changed. But they had moved a significant distance today. Would a Honkai Beast stay in the exact same spot without moving?
...
"Waaaa! I want to go on a beach vacation too! Sun, sand, waves..." Nuwa sat by the bed of an embarrassed Erwin, tearfully eating his lunch. "I could even go exploring on the island!"
"But Nuwa, didn't you say you were happy Dr. Mobius went on vacation?"
"I was happy! But now that I think about it, the Doctor is having much more fun than me! And she has so many people to play with—even Lin went! He's usually the 'I'll die if I don't do missions' type, yet he went to play on an island with the Doctor."
Erwin gave a dry laugh. "I think Adjutant Lin was probably just tricked by the Captain..."
"What are they doing right now? Building sandcastles?"
"Would they... be that unambitious?"
...
"Starting today, we'll take turns keeping watch. We don't know the traits of that Honkai Beast yet, but it's likely not an ordinary one." Lin set up simple tripwires around the area. He spoke to Sakura, whose face was bright by the fire. "You didn't rest well yesterday. I'll take the first watch."
"Alright."
Sakura watched Lin nimbly leap to the top of a nearby tree to survey the distance. He was likely observing the movements of birds in the forest to judge if any creatures were moving nearby. She truly hadn't rested well, and this was no time for carelessness. She leaned against a tree, closed her eyes, and began to rest.
Once Lin was certain Sakura was asleep, he leapt lightly down from the treetop to a branch on another tree. He still felt things were fishy. They go on vacation, happen to have a shipwreck, he and Sakura happen to drift to this island, and this island happens to have a Honkai Beast.
Furthermore, the variety of species on this island was bizarre. There's a saying: when there are enough coincidences, you have to consider if they were artificially manufactured.
"The West..." Lin jumped to the highest tree. This vantage point was enough to see most of the area ahead, but when he looked West, he saw only a mountain range that blocked out the sky.
Another... coincidence.
And since there was a mountain range in the way, how was the roar reaching the East? Too many puzzles. Most importantly... where were Kevin and the others?
...
The first rays of morning sun fell on Sakura face. She woke up dizzily to see Lin profile as he roasted fish.
"Lin..."
"Good morning." Lin handed over a skewer of roasted fish. Logically, one shouldn't eat such oily food in the morning, but they didn't have much choice.
Sakura nodded and took the fish, marveling at how quickly she had accepted life on this island.
"Let's move after eating."
"Aren't you going to rest?" Lin face hadn't changed much from the watch, but Sakura felt that a night of high-intensity alertness would inevitably consume too much energy.
"No need." Lin shook his head, taking two air-cooled roasted fish for later. They then headed West.
"The area of this island is a bit large..." Sakura carefully stepped over thorns. The surroundings looked the same as an hour ago—identical forest. "Are we actually moving forward?"
"You have a point."
Lin sudden words gave Sakura a start. She watched as he walked to a tree trunk and carved an 'X' with a stone.
"Our position is changing, but the sun's position hasn't." Lin pointed to the sun above. "Its trajectory is changing based on our position."
In other words, the sun's movement over the last hour followed them as if they hadn't moved at all. It was like... being trapped in the same place?
"It's unlikely we'd get lost. Following our route toward the mountains, as long as there's no terrain that loops us back, we shouldn't get lost."
Lin jumped onto a branch again to look at the mountains. Their distance hadn't changed since the morning; it was still just as far. In two days, they hadn't even reached the middle of the island.
It was too abnormal. From the moment they stepped onto this island, things had been abnormal to the extreme.
After Lin made the mark, they began moving toward the mountains again. Lin kept his eye on the sun's position. When the sun was directly overhead...
Lin stopped in front of a tree. He stared at the 'X' he had carved several hours ago, unmoving.
"Hello, hello! May I ask, did you drop this golden saber, or this silver saber?"
Then, a grinning dwarf emerged from the ground, appearing before them.