After the death incident on that previous rainy night, Chuck had already accepted the "rules" that existed on this deserted island. This was exactly why he didn't formulate a meticulous and detailed battle plan this time like he had before.
Facing the challenge head-on, using strength to overcome a powerful enemy—this was what the deserted island wanted, or rather, the correct way to solve the puzzle.
It was just that the difficulty and success rate of this method were much lower.
"Don't forget, absolutely do not clash with it head-on. If things go south, climb a tree. A brown bear is very heavy, and its climbing speed is far slower than a black bear's. But don't count on it too much, because once it realizes it can't climb up, it will just knock the tree down."
"I understand. Don't worry, just do your job."
Walking onto the volcano and entering the cave one after another with Valentina, Chuck responded calmly and pulled out a torch he had prepared in advance.
They went all the way into the depths of the volcanic cave, arriving at the eerie stone platform inlaid with orange gems and that heavy, massive stone door. By the light of the fire, the silver-haired Russian woman's expression instantly became extremely colorful.
"This is that door you mentioned?"
"Yeah."
"What's behind it?"
"Don't know. The island's secrets, the goddamn reason why we're here... basically, we'll only know after we open it."
"Suka... what the hell is going on with this island?"
Valentina raised a hand to rub the back of her snowy-white neck, her fingertips touching a patch of fine goosebumps.
The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.
Even years ago on the outskirts of Bakhmut, seeing the corpses strewn across trenches and ruins, she had never felt this way, because she at least knew where those bodies came from.
"Stop staring, let's go."
Chuck waved his hand, cutting off her messy thoughts, and continued forward with the torch.
It wasn't until they crossed the volcano and reached the northern side of the island, looking at the vast river valley jungle before them, that Valentina's expression returned to calm.
The two followed the slope all the way down, finally arriving at the edge of the jungle.
Without needing Chuck's reminder, Valentina lightened her footsteps, and her pair of green eyes became sharp and cautious, staring fixedly into the depths of the jungle.
"I feel it... it's a big one."
Although the brown bear's figure hadn't appeared in their sight, Chuck understood where her "feeling" came from. It was a combination of the surrounding environment and scent, footprints hidden in dead leaves and mud, marks on trees, and a series of visual and olfactory information processed in the brain to produce that "feeling."
It was a sensation that only those with perception far exceeding ordinary people, or those with rich hunting experience, could have.
"Let's split up here. Act according to the situation."
"Fine. Don't try to be a hero."
The two conversed in low voices. Valentina nodded and, accompanied by a rustling sound behind her, vanished into the jungle.
Chuck took note of her position. Even with his perception, it took him some time to vaguely detect where she was hiding. He smiled with satisfaction, then took his giant steel halberd off his back and gripped it firmly.
He walked slowly toward the depths of the jungle.
Another bloody battle was on the verge of breaking out.
Despite the massive gap in physical attributes, Valentina still held an overwhelming advantage in terms of experience. Therefore, regarding her side, Chuck's task ended after he finished making the sniper crossbow. Rather than giving too many redundant commands, it was better to let Valentina improvise on her own.
As for safety, thanks to the taunt effect provided by Valentina's exclusive bonus "Natural Wildness" for Chuck, there was also no need to worry.
Chuck himself could also concentrate more fully on facing the powerful enemy.
The brown bear. A terrifying predator weighing over half a ton, with a body size nearly double that of a black bear.
Omnivorous, cunning, and moody. Most importantly, it possessed what could be called the greatest strength among land animals and the thickest HP bar. High attack and high defense were insufficient descriptions; it was practically a flesh-and-blood tank.
Against such a fellow, the tricks Chuck had used before—including digging traps, long-range ambushes, fire, or any fancy schemes—had become useless. Aside from provoking this flesh tank, they would likely have no substantial effect.
The only thing that could be truly effective, or rather, the only method Chuck could choose, was to turn himself into a "Clouded Leopard" once again.
—Using ultimate perception and reaction speed to dodge every attack with all his might, then using the halberd in his hand combined with Valentina's bolts to leave wound after wound on that flesh tank. As time passed and the enemy bled more, Chuck would, like walking a tightrope, gradually approach and eventually reach the finish line of victory.
It was like fighting a BOSS battle with zero room for error.
Snap.
A branch broke underfoot. Chuck's nerves instantly tightened. The increasingly wild scent of the beast grew pungent, yet there was still no trace of the brown bear.
...Cunning.
The most terrifying thing about a brown bear isn't just its horrifying size and strength; the key is its insidious and crafty nature. To hunt prey, it can even engage in psychological warfare.
The halberd in Chuck's hand was a threat to it, so before it believed it could land a killing blow, it probably wouldn't reveal itself proactively...
Thinking of this, Chuck slowly stopped his steps and stood still. Instead of becoming more vigilant, he slowly closed his eyes.
A cool sensation flowed slowly from his brain, converging into the auditory nerves on both sides of his head. As his ears twitched slightly, the subtle chirping of insects and the sound of the river valley flowing nearby instantly became crystal clear!
Blue Potion Exclusive Transformation—Perception Mastery (LV.4)!
If killing BOSSes followed a set order, then that giant bird, which was unfortunately cornered and slaughtered by Chuck in its own nest, should have likely come after the brown bear. But Chuck paid the price of a life for a sequence skip. The result was that after killing the giant bird, the seven blue potions he obtained boosted his mental attributes far beyond what he should have possessed at this moment.
Deep in the jungle, Chuck keenly captured a faint breathing sound.
His eyes snapped open, looking in that direction.
After seeing that blurred dark shadow, his palm gripping the halberd tightened.
Found you!
Just as he expected, this cunning Lord-class beast was indeed waiting for him to lower his guard before lunging for a killing blow at any moment.
Chuck didn't act rashly. Instead, he slowly reached his hand into his pocket. Relying on memory, he tapped the screen to enter the passcode and unlock it. Then, he precisely typed a short text on the pre-opened interface and clicked send.
[My 3 o'clock, behind the tree about 80 meters away]
On a treetop not far behind him, Valentina, crouching behind the trunk, pulled her phone from her pocket. After confirming the message, her gaze shifted from Chuck to the direction he indicated. She slowly raised the sniper crossbow in her hands.
Her green eyes stared straight through the wooden monocular scope, piercing through layers of leaf cover, finally locking onto an almost imperceptible dark brown texture.
She propped the bipod on her knee with one hand. After adjusting the angle with her elbow, her fingertip decisively pulled the trigger!
Whoosh!
A cold light shot out instantly with a sharp whistling sound. It pierced through the gaps in the leaves and branches at a terrifying speed in the air, eventually hitting that small patch of dark brown object perfectly.
"ROAR!!!!"
A sky-shaking roar followed. A shadow surged up instantly, and birds above the jungle scattered in flight. Valentina expressionlessly pulled the lever. With a click, she quickly reloaded a new bolt, aimed rapidly, and fired again.
Thwack!
The bolt hit again. This time, it even brought out a visible spray of blood!
Thump! Thump! Thump!
The giant beast in the shadows, having been ambushed twice in a row, finally entered a state of complete frenzy. Carrying a terrifying pressure, it charged toward Valentina's direction. Those branches were actually crushed completely as if run over by a tank.
The true face of the behemoth finally appeared fully in Valentina's sight.
"Suka...!"
Even for a silver-haired female warrior who had experienced life and death countless times, her pupils couldn't help but contract for a moment, and a layer of cold sweat instantly broke out on her forehead.
Even on all fours, it stood taller than a human. Its body size was so massive it was heart-shaking to look at. Its fur was covered in scars, yet it was so thick it looked like armor.
This brown bear was at least a size larger than the real wild brown bears in her memory. It probably weighed nearly a thousand kilograms!
This could no longer be called a beast; it was a pure monster!
However, even though this terrifying monster was roaring and charging at her, Valentina's hands remained steady. After firing the second bolt, she once again repeated the loading process and then aimed.
This time the target was moving, so the difficulty of aiming rose vertically. Even if she hit, it would be impossible to stop this monster's charge. Yet Valentina remained focused, without even many distracting thoughts in her heart.
Because she knew someone would stop it for her.
Slash!
A cold light cut fiercely across the brown bear's front leg from the side, bringing out a larger spray of blood, then immediately pointed straight at its throat—a vital spot!
The brown bear stopped instantly. It then angrily raised its front paw and slapped away the thing stabbing at it, producing a buzzing sound. Its hideous and cruel eyes looked to the side, letting out another roar of utter rage.
"Fuck..."
Chuck retreated several steps, the halberd in his hand scraping the ground. Only then did he manage to hold onto it without it flying out, but his palm-web was already seeping dots of blood.
He raised his head, looking at the shadow that was slowly straightening its body and becoming almost as massive as a small hill. Feverish excitement surfaced in his eyes once more.
"No matter what, today, between me and you, one of us is going to die."
Thirty seconds later.
Zip—
The fifth bolt hit.
Click, clack.
Valentina remained crouched in the tree, her eyelids barely blinking. Her attention was constantly focused on the giant shadow moving rapidly under the tree not far away, and the familiar figure beside it, several sizes smaller, who was dealing with it with all his might.
So far, she had fired five bolts. Three of them hit the brown bear's back and buttocks; due to the thick fat, they only caused some superficial wounds. The remaining two were effective hits, one in the waist and one in the front leg, both showing obvious signs of bleeding.
She reloaded again, raising the crossbow to aim.
But this time, the duration of her aiming was longer than any previous time. While feeling strange in her heart, she suddenly realized the image in the scope was shaking.
No.
It was her hand that was shaking.
Once upon a time, she fought only for herself and lived only for herself. She was fearless in her heart, steady as a rock as soon as she picked up a gun.
But now, she was afraid.
That figure holding the halberd was like performing a lethal dance before the brown bear's massive body. Just one slight oversight and he could die on the spot. The key factor in whether he could survive was whether her bolts could hit the target effectively and truly damage the brown bear.
The previous five bolts, though all hits, were no different from only two hits to Valentina.
There were 3 bolts left in the current magazine. If she used them all, she would have to open the magazine and reload the spare bolts one by one, which would take at least another half minute...
But all these concerns occurred within just a few seconds of her hesitation. If she wasted half a minute, God knows what would happen.
But suddenly, as if seeing through her concerns and hesitation, a voice full of vigor and even a hint of excitement suddenly rang out!
"Don't be nervous! I'm doing great!!"
Chuck performed a nimble roll, jumping two meters off the ground and dodging a lethal claw swipe and bite. He casually left another halberd scratch on the brown bear's back and then ducked behind another tree trunk.
At the same time, the whistling in the air rose again. The sixth bolt accurately hit the front of the brown bear's neck. Blood immediately began to ooze out. The giant monster let out another angry roar, turning around to look at the silver figure on the distant tree trunk.
Valentina raised her hand again, pulled the lever, and loaded. Her previously trembling hands regained their stability, and a faint smile appeared on the corner of her lips.
To think that in the end, it was this guy who gave her courage...
It seemed that in this lifetime, she would probably only ever be pinned beneath him.
Despite fighting Chuck all along, a brown bear was a brown bear after all. Coupled with the Lord-class beast buff, its IQ could even be said to be comparable to a human's. How could it not be clear by now that compared to the male bipedal animal before it, the female bipedal animal sniping from the tree in the distance was obviously a higher priority to deal with?
But as it was about to change targets and charge off, another burst of sharp pain appeared behind it.
The brown bear swung its claws in rage, but Chuck had already anticipated this move, pulling back the halberd and retreating in time while staring coldly at those blood-red eyes.
"Who the fuck told you to look at my woman?"