"Ha, even if you're wet, we have to work first."
Chuck smiled and stood up, walking out of the house first.
The old version of the ballista had been damaged in the battle with the tiger. Only most of the animal sinews were recovered. The remaining badly broken ballista bed and body had already been burned as firewood by Chuck.
Regardless, he had to follow his previous experience, first cut and make a ballista bed, before he could start the so-called "improvement."
Chuck's planned improvement for this new ballista had a clear direction—sacrificing range to maximize power. Naturally, the focus of the improvement still had to start with the ballista bolts.
Chuck had previously lightened the head of the javelin to balance the center of gravity, added tail fins at the back, and maximized the kinetic energy upon launch. This resulted in a shot reaching over four hundred meters away that day. But the result was also obvious: the insufficient power led to the tiger being hit several times, bearing several arrow wounds, yet still pushing Chuck to the brink of despair and almost taking his life.
But this time, Chuck wanted to maximize power. The brunt of it was to increase the size of the ballista bolts and the weight of the arrowheads. At the same time, the focus of improving the ballista bed shifted from enhancing kinetic energy to simply increasing the initial velocity upon launch.
This time, Chuck didn't need a range of several hundred meters, not even one hundred meters. But the power... had to be at least more than twice as strong as the previous ballista.
Within fifty meters, aim for a vital spot, inflict a severe wound with one strike, or even kill on the spot!
This was the effect Chuck wanted, and the direction of his subsequent efforts.
Going out with Valentina, after making two round trips to the mangrove forest, Chuck first simply processed these hardwoods. Then he put the hardwoods and the saw together into the workbench and started synthesizing.
With Jiang Qi joining the family bucket meal, unlocking the unique exclusive bonus that could store idle time for the workbench, up to today, the time Chuck had accumulated that could be used to accelerate the queue had exceeded fifty hours. So much so that every time he needed to rush work, he no longer needed to wait for the countdown to end like in the past, but directly consumed the stored time to accelerate.
Therefore, taking less than two hours from start to finish, a ballista almost identical to the previous one appeared on the flat ground behind the house.
Chuck installed the already prepared bows onto it, still a two-forward one-reverse structure, then connected them with thin ropes. A brand new ballista, almost completely replicated, was thus completed.
As the saying goes, the first time is raw, the second time is cooked. Chuck had long figured out the method of making a ballista. Right now, what he needed to do was nothing more than follow his previous experience to do some repetitive work, which Chuck had anticipated in his heart.
But in Valentina's eyes, this peerless weapon forged from three bows—which previously took days of painstaking effort from creation to improvement and testing, and was finally used successfully to kill that tiger occupying a territory—was actually made by him again in less than two hours, with just some casual tinkering by Chuck now...
"I don't understand..."
"Made in China. You're a Russian, you don't need to understand. Come over and help me fire up the furnace."
Setting the ballista aside, Chuck took the previously recovered ballista arrowheads, and the newly made, large-sized arrowhead molds, placing them all by the forging table. Then he bent down and started adding firewood and lighting the furnace.
With the ballista done, next was the main event—making the ballista bolts, and the subsequent shooting tests.
It wasn't until this step that parts requiring him to feel his way around again appeared. But since he had a direction, reaching the final result was nothing more than slowly searching through trial and error until finding the best answer.
For Chuck, who awakened the workbench cheat at the start and groped his way until now, to some extent, this was already commonplace.
...
On the first day after the rain stopped, the survivor settlement in the north of the deserted island, which already lacked resources, became busy again. Through the women's efforts, until dinner time in the evening, they finally managed to slightly recover their previously depleted firewood and food reserves.
But Lee Na-eun, who had always been responsible for managing and inventorying supplies, discovered that the firewood stored in the cave today was a bit less than usual.
The people responsible for gathering firewood today were her and Sofia. Even though she just recovered from her illness, Lee Na-eun asked herself, the firewood she gathered today was only more, not less.
Therefore, where the shortage came from needed no further explanation.
However, despite having a relatively tough view on men, or rather on Chuck, towards the female companions around her, Lee Na-eun's attitude was similar to her sister Lee So-yeon's: patient, tolerant, and considering only the whole, without half a bit of selfishness.
Walking out from deep in the cave to the fire and straw mats, looking at Sofia squatting in front of her, Lee Na-eun hesitated for a moment, then took two steps forward.
"Sofia."
"...Sofia?"
"Sofia!"
"Ah?"
Sofia, who was lighting the fire for dinner, was inexplicably spacing out for some reason. So much so that Lee Na-eun's call had to be repeated three times before it finally reached her ears.
The Spanish woman, with a somewhat dazed gaze, looked up at the delicate and gaunt face in front of her, blinking in confusion.
"Are you feeling unwell today? I just checked, the firewood at home is a bit less than expected."
After all, it concerned survival, so in this kind of matter, even if Lee Na-eun could not mind, she still had to speak directly. She just wouldn't arbitrarily speculate that her companion was slacking off, but instead cared about her health.
Hearing this, Sofia was stunned at first, then her face turned red with shame, and she repeatedly apologized.
"¡Joder!... Sorry Na-eun, it's all my fault, I'll go gather another trip right now."
After Sofia finished speaking, she was about to get up and head deep into the jungle, but her wrist was grabbed in time by Lee Na-eun.
"Hey! It's so late, what if you get lost after dark? Let's just leave it at this, tonight's firewood is definitely enough."
"Sorry..."
Sofia turned her head ashamedly, but the expression on her face was quite complicated.
Since Chuck left and left her that sentence two days ago, her desire for survival, which had lingered in her heart for so long, became unprecedentedly strong. But also because she was afraid Chuck would change his mind, she inevitably felt anxious in her heart. Thinking back and forth, she was somewhat absent-minded all day, naturally her working state was greatly discounted.
Even though she was a Spanish woman, passionate and straightforward, letting one's imagination run wild in this kind of matter could be said to be a common flaw of women worldwide.
Lee Na-eun looked at her expression, her brows gradually furrowing tightly, and she also roughly guessed in her heart. So she was silent for a moment, and ultimately still reminded her in a low voice.
"Sister said it before, even if you want to leave, at least in the time before leaving, everyone is still companions..."
"I understand, Na-eun. I will pull myself together tomorrow!"
Sofia nodded heavily, raising her hands and slapping her cheeks hard, almost leaving two red handprints.
"Mmh... don't take it too much to heart, just be like usual. Thanks for your hard work today too."
After speaking, Lee Na-eun nodded, then turned around. Her pink short hair swaying slightly, she strode on her long legs and walked out of the cave.
Five minutes later, by the beach.
Lee So-yeon, who was carrying a basket on her arm, bending over to pick up shells in the shallow reef area taking advantage of the sunset glow, slowly straightened her body. Looking at her sister beside her, she sighed helplessly.
"I understand everything you said, but even if you know this is his tactic, what can we do?"
"..."
Lee Na-eun clenched her fists tightly, looking at the waves by the reef near her feet. Gritting her teeth, the expression on her face grew increasingly unwilling.
To be honest, over the past two days, especially today when normal work resumed after the rain stopped, she could clearly feel that not only Sofia, but all the companions were somewhat absent-minded compared to normal days.
The food Chuck brought, although not much, made them all enjoy it and reminisce. They enjoyed the rare supplementation of high-quality nutrition they had lacked for a long time, and reminisced about their extremely abundant yet accustomed life when they were in modern society.
"It's just like those male trainees in the company who secretly dated in the past. A girl debuts, catches the eye of some big shot in the industry, and the company blatantly offers her opportunities. Even if the boy knows the other party has impure motives, how can he stop it?"
Lee So-yeon looked at her sister, giving an example she felt was somewhat similar. Then she looked up at the sky, realizing night was about to fall, so she put away the palm basket in her hand and gently grabbed her sister's slender wrist.
With their backs to the sea breeze, the two sisters walked side by side towards the flickering firelight not far away.
"Na-eun, this is reality. You and I were lucky enough to stand on the side of controlling resources since birth. But now on this deserted island, everything in the past has become history. The only thing we can control now is ourselves."
"From now on, you must force yourself to learn how to survive like a weak person, understand?"
"..."
Lee Na-eun fell silent again. It wasn't until the two were about to reach outside the cave that she finally spoke, asking a question she had held in her heart for a long time.
"Sister, although the thing I was worried about before was brushed off by Tang Yumo with one sentence, looking at it now, that man simply has no interest in her at all. So..."
"If in the future, a situation where we have no other choice really arises, could it be that you, or even I, have to be like Sofia, to proactively... undress for that man just for this food and drink??"
This question finally made Lee So-yeon's expression change slightly.
The two sisters' initial dispute regarding this matter had returned to square one once again.
Only this time, Lee So-yeon could hear from Lee Na-eun's tone that her sister's attitude towards this matter had changed from the previous toughness to the current resistance, mixed with a bit of confusion.
Thinking of this, Lee So-yeon couldn't help but laugh self-deprecatingly.
Wasn't she herself also confused?
Over this past period of time, every trade with Chuck, the time he stayed briefly, every word he said, and even his existence itself, were like an invisible, intangible, yet constantly heartstring-plucking poisonous incense, quietly eroding everyone's state of mind.
Lee So-yeon understood that her previous analogy was actually not appropriate. Because even if rare, there are always people in the world who can completely resist the temptation of wealth, but no one can resist the desire to survive.
Staying alive is the most important need carved into the genes of every creature.
So no matter how much she struggled, the final result would probably ultimately be...
Thinking of this, Lee So-yeon's gaze trembled rarely due to pain.
Even in front of Chuck, in order to make her companions' lives a bit better as much as possible, she had always been making helpless compromises step by step. But no matter how much she compromised, there was ultimately an untouchable bottom line in her heart.
Only this bottom line, she absolutely could not yield.
"Don't worry, Na-eun."
Facing her sister's questioning, Lee So-yeon bent down and placed the palm basket in her hand by the fire. Finally, she turned to look at Lee Na-eun, promising word by word, in an incredibly firm tone.
"No matter what price I have to pay, Sister will absolutely not let you suffer even the slightest bit of harm."
...
...
Nearing evening, Chuck finally completed the first version of the improved ballista bolt, producing two test samples.
The most main modification was lengthening and enlarging the most important arrowhead part, and adding barbs and blood grooves on it, to increase sustained lethality.
But in doing so, the center of gravity of the entire ballista bolt inevitably shifted forward. Therefore, in order to match this larger and longer arrowhead, the shaft part was also thickened and slightly shortened by Chuck. The originally slender, lightweight ballista bolt now became short, thick, and massive, like a howitzer shell.
It was just a pity that it was late, the lethality of this improved ballista bolt paired with the ballista could only be seen tomorrow.
Night fell, Chuck started his nightly routine pile-driving activities as usual.
Only different from before, today Chuck obtained the buff of an external technology...
The sudden thought last night made Chuck briefly describe it to Julia in the early morning. Regarding his view that the time for sex shouldn't be too long, the blonde mare, who was dry-fucked into a coma first all day long, couldn't agree more. So she impatiently began searching for herbs that could increase sensitivity or had similar effects for Chuck right away.
After Chuck conducted an experiment based on the workbench synthesis prompts, he actually really found the corresponding one-time potion recipe!
The materials required were ginger, sandalwood grass, tropical nettle, and a small amount of the classic "precious material"—Chuck's energy essence.
The "Nettle Potion" made in this way, according to the synthesis prompt's description, could be mashed and applied externally, or directly taken internally. The former could increase the sensitivity of nerve endings at the application site, the latter could enhance the body's blood circulation and metabolism, indirectly increasing the senses and excitement of the whole body.
The first to be used as a guinea pig by Chuck was Valentina, who had been "wet" since daytime.
"Chuck? What is... this thing?"
Looking at Chuck, who was looking down and smearing some weird white ointment on his dragon head, the silver-haired muscular girl lying completely naked on the bed actually revealed a wary expression for the first time.
So much so that her sturdy long legs, originally spread wide open towards Chuck out of impatience, subconsciously closed back together.
"Nothing, my dick is a bit dry, applying something lubricating."
Regarding the efficacy of this thing, Chuck didn't plan to describe it with words, but intended to let the woman directly feel it with her own body.
The ointment was made by mixing mashed potion powder, a small amount of solid fat, and water. Applied to the dragon head, a cool, tingling sensation indeed began to appear.
It seemed not only the arrow, tonight, his little brother also received an "improvement."
After feeling it slightly, Chuck was very satisfied with this in his heart. So he impatiently came to the bed, grabbed Valentina's ankles with one hand each, and forcefully spread her closed legs apart once again.
"Wait! You..."
Valentina was worthy of being a warrior. Her powerful intuition made her keenly aware that something was not quite right tonight. But unfortunately, under Chuck's brute force, it was ultimately futile.
The giant dragon aimed at the muscular girl's contrasting smooth, hairless crotch and the pink, tender cave in between. Chuck looked up at Valentina's bewildered and somewhat resistant pupils, the corners of his lips curling up slightly.
An already sensitive muscular small fry, under the buff of this Nettle Potion... what would she turn into?
He really couldn't wait to see.