Chapter 640: City and Wilderness (Part I) (Patreon)

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Modern people living in the heart of Steel Jungle seemed to have difficulty grasping the ferocity of Nature. However, if they found themselves in the midst of a primeval rainforest, much like an era untouched by time, they would come to deeply understand that Nature possessed an unparalleled power. While nurturing all life, it could also bring about destruction.

From the gathering of dark clouds to the torrential raindrops the size of beans, the entire process did not exceed a minute. Just a few seconds later, fierce winds began to rise, and the entire rainforest transformed into something resembling a green hell. The shadows and reflections of the plants resembled the minions and eyes of a devil. After the disappearance of the adorable little animals, a sense of impending storm and unease lingered.

The three of them swiftly ascended along the stream. As they walked, the man with a bow introduced himself, "I'm Oliver Queen, from Star City. I ended up here about three months ago..."

Arthur and Schiller also briefly introduced themselves, but there wasn't much more to say. At this point, the wind had picked up significantly, and even just walking with their heads down consumed a considerable amount of their strength.

"No matter where you came from, as long as you're not those drug traffickers, we can cooperate. I've set up a shelter in a cave upstream of the creek. We need to get there to escape the storm."

From that point on, none of the three spoke. They continued to trudge forward, but even with their best efforts, when the tropical storm finally arrived, they hadn't reached the cave that Oliver mentioned.

The strong winds accompanied by heavy rain blew in their faces. Both Oliver and Arthur were struggling to maintain their footing. Schiller raised his head, squinting at the distance, and asked, "Are you referring to that cave?"

At the source of the stream, at the base of a cliff formed by a mountain's fracture, there appeared to be signs of human habitation, as seen through Grey Mist's long-range vision provided by Schiller.

"Correct!" Oliver shouted, although his voice was almost lost in the howling wind.

"Hurry, let's go!" Arthur created a water shield and forged ahead, but it struggled against the powerful gusts.

In the final stretch of the journey, Oliver finally fell. He was already injured, fatigued from multiple failed hunting attempts, and their food supplies had run out. The wind that blew over rapidly sapped his remaining strength, making him even weaker.

Just as Arthur rushed to help him up, Schiller transformed into Grey Mist, grabbed both of them, and flew them into the cave.

The two people who were thrown to the ground cried out in pain. Arthur breathed a sigh of relief, while Oliver looked at Schiller, who was slowly solidifying, cursed, and said, "I might be on the verge of death; I'm having hallucinations..."

"You're not hallucinating, but you are in critical condition," Schiller said as he approached Oliver, who was lying on the ground. He removed the leaves that were wrapped around him and examined the wound on his shoulder.

After removing the makeshift bandage, Schiller saw a gruesome wound. A large section of skin on Oliver's left shoulder and part of his chest was missing, revealing the underlying muscle tissue. It appeared to have been burned as well, with irregular pockmarked indentations, likely from where steel pellets had embedded themselves. The scorch marks, Schiller guessed, were probably self-inflicted by Oliver to prevent further infection.

Schiller thought for a moment, then retrieved a medical kit stored in Grey Mist, which contained supplies for wound treatment. However, the current conditions didn't allow for proper hygiene, and performing surgery could rapidly deteriorate Oliver's physiological condition due to his weakened state.

Schiller took a deep breath and decided to set the medical kit aside. He turned to Arthur and said, "His condition is too critical for me to treat the wound right now. It could lead to fainting or shock. After the storm passes, we need to find him some food and clean water to replenish his energy before attempting the surgery."

Arthur sighed and looked at the pale Oliver. He hadn't anticipated the situation would escalate to this extent.

"I thought we could simply sail here, pick up the people, and leave. But now, even if the boat arrives, we can't take him with us like this. He'll die on the road," Arthur sighed deeply, realizing he had underestimated the situation.

When he lived in his familiar environment, he felt invincible and capable of anything, from sailing to fishing to predicting the weather. However, once the environment changed, things didn't go as smoothly. He had overestimated his abilities, placing himself and the person he was trying to save in jeopardy.

Arthur appeared frustrated, but Schiller remained calm. He said, "Listen, there's a problem you've probably already noticed. His body temperature is dropping."

"He needs to replenish his heat urgently. However, the humidity inside this cave is too high, and the tree branches he prepared may not ignite. Arthur, you need to come up with a solution, or he may not make it."

"But what can I do? I... I can't make those tree branches ignite in this humid air. I can control water, but I can't control fire..." Arthur seemed anxious, but Schiller remained composed and said, "Correct. You can't make the tree branches ignite in the humid air, but you can make the air less humid."

Arthur suddenly froze in place, then he "suddenly" stood up and began pacing in the same spot, saying, "Yes, correct, I can control water, so the moisture in the air should be manageable too. Let me try..."

Arthur closed his eyes, focusing his attention, trying to recall the sensation he had when controlling water in the creek. After a short while, small water droplets began to appear in the air. These droplets gathered into a large water sphere, which Arthur then controlled to move slowly out of the cave.

He let out a breath and looked down at his hands, displaying a joyful expression. With a gleam in his eyes, he looked at Schiller and said, "Oh my goodness, Professor, I never thought I could do this..."

However, to their surprise, Schiller furrowed his brow. He extended a hand, seemingly sensing the air, then shook his head and said, "No, it won't work. Just removing the moisture inside the cave won't help. The external storm is unrelenting, and the humid air will keep pouring in."

This rocky crevice couldn't exactly be called a true cave because caves typically have inward depth. This location appeared to be a narrow gap formed by the shifting and fracturing of rock layers during geological processes. Although it was not large for a mountain, it could barely accommodate three people – two standing and one lying down. If they tried to squeeze five people inside, one of them might end up getting soaked.

In this open space, it was impossible to completely isolate moisture from the air. The entrance and the deepest part of this crevice had almost the same width, with no possibility of creating a door to block the entrance. They didn't have the materials, and the available materials wouldn't have good waterproofing.

Schiller contemplated for a moment and decided to widen the cave a bit, creating a space behind it larger than the entrance. To achieve this, he would need to use Grey Mist.

Although Grey Mist didn't have a preference for eating stones, it could consume the mountain, break it down, and permeate every crack in the wall. In almost an instant, the rocky wall of the half-spherical area behind them disappeared, transforming the location into a true cave with a relatively smaller entrance and a larger internal space.

Arthur moved the weakened Oliver to the space behind.

But there was still one problem: they needed to find something to seal the entrance. Schiller thought for a moment, then transformed into Grey Mist once more. Hovering behind the entrance, a green crystalline substance began to spread over the opening, sealing it entirely, leaving only a door on the right side.

Yes, this was the Kryptonite Crystal left over from Grey Mist's consumption. Although there wasn't much of it, the Crystal wall Schiller created wasn't thick. It was just very secure where it connected to the cave, despite the storm's assault.

Now, Arthur could use his water control ability to move the humidity out of the cave entirely, allowing them to use some tree branches to ignite a fire.

Once the fire was lit, Oliver instinctively moved closer to it. After feeling a bit warmer, his spirits lifted slightly, and in a hoarse voice, he said, "Thank you for saving me..."

Arthur shook his head and said, "We're not out of the woods yet. We need to get you out of here and back to the normal city."

Schiller stood in front of the Crystal wall, looking out through the transparent Crystal. At that moment, the tropical storm reached its maximum destructive force. The once towering trees and thick underbrush now lay prostrated on the ground, as if they were paying homage to the boundless power of nature.

He heard Oliver and Arthur conversing behind him. Oliver said, "My arrogance and overconfidence brought all this upon us. I'm completely responsible..."

"After taking over my parents' conglomerate, I thought I had great business acumen. I didn't listen to anyone and accepted orders that were beyond our capabilities..."

"I continued to live a lavish lifestyle even as the company struggled, laying off employees and cutting salaries..."

"Then I was pushed off the ship by a disgruntled employee..."

Oliver's voice, weakened by his condition, sounded distant, like a faint sigh from deep within the cave. He continued, "If I have to live in this agony right here, I'd rather drown in the sea..."

Schiller turned around and saw Oliver's expression. He knew that Oliver's will to survive wasn't very strong, in stark contrast to when he had dealt with the Shotgun wound by himself.

Back then, perhaps due to the pain, he had no time to think about anything else. His mind was focused on one thing—surviving. As a result, he could overcome the pain and bleeding, struggling to manage his wound.

But once he relaxed and had nothing to do, he would start to think irrationally, feeling that the suffering was suffocating him and that it would be better to end these hopeless days sooner.

Schiller approached and crouched beside Oliver. He said, "I have to tell you some bad news. Before we came to this island, we encountered a group of drug traffickers who damaged our boat."

"So, now both of us are trapped here as well. You don't need to look at me with that eye contact. I can tell you, neither of us has powers strong enough to fly back to the U.S. from here."

"As you can see, both of us come from big cities, and we have no wilderness survival experience. If you die now, the two of us might die here too."

Oliver widened his eyes, and after a long moment, he sighed deeply and slowly began to move, saying, "That's really bad news."

"So, if you're rested enough, can you tell us how you managed to survive here for these past three months?"

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Next Chapter>>Chapter 641: City and the Wilderness (Part Two)