As a seasoned wilderness survival expert, he knew very well that after just five days in the wild, any semblance of one’s former appearance would vanish, leaving only the look of a filthy vagrant.

This was true for men and women alike.

The program had been filming for a full eighteen days now. It was impossible for anyone to still be walking around the forest looking clean.

’Could he have chosen shampoo as one of his essential items?’

’That’s impossible. You could only choose ten items in total. That wasn’t even enough for all the survival necessities, so how could anyone waste a spot on something as useless as shampoo?’

’But if that wasn’t the case, how was he staying so clean?’

"Hey!"

"Lin Chen," Lin Chen called out without lifting his head. "I have a name. It’s not ’Hey’."

"Sorry, sorry, Lin. You know what I mean. That wasn’t my intention. So, if we were to cooperate, what would I need to contribute?"

The man grinned, chuckling. He showed none of the suffocating pressure of survival seen in previous seasons of the show.

Lin Chen wasn’t surprised by this. After all, this was resource-rich Alaska, right on the banks of the Yukon River. As long as you didn’t go hungry, there naturally wasn’t much pressure.

You could say that the survival difficulty in the early stages of this season was very low. The further it went on, the more the difficulty would skyrocket as the temperature dropped rapidly.

That’s when the wilderness survival challenge would truly reach its climax.

"First, I need to hear what you’re asking for. Is it just for me to cook your food?"

"Yes! And if possible, I’d also like to buy some shampoo from you."

’Shampoo?’

Lin Chen’s eyes narrowed slightly, and the corners of his mouth curved into a small smile.

’As expected of a survival expert who specializes in hunting. He’d noticed what was different about me so quickly.’

"Besides hunting, how much do you know about plants? In other words, can you find various edible berries, plants, or even spices in the forest?"

"I can find berries. As for plants, I recognize some of the more common ones."

"So you’re saying that aside from being a better hunter than me, you don’t have any skills that are superior to mine?"

"Uh... I guess there’s nothing wrong with putting it that way?"

He suddenly remembered that the other man was a chef; his knowledge of plants was bound to be far greater than his own.

The man scratched his head awkwardly. Then, catching a glimpse of his bulging biceps out of the corner of his eye, his eyes lit up.

"Strength! I’m very strong. If you need help carrying firewood..."

"Deal!"

"Huh?"

While they were talking, Lin Chen had already finished butchering the porcupine. He rinsed it clean in the water and placed it in a leaf basket, organs and all.

"Are you coming over now, or after you’ve hunted something?"

"I’ll come over now," the man said, waving excitedly and pointing to the forest nearby. "I just saw what looked like grouse over there, so I’ll just go hunt there."

He adjusted the position of his quiver to make sure it wouldn’t fall off while swimming, then waded into the icy Yukon River without hesitation.

In just a few minutes, the man successfully reached the shore.

Now that he was closer, Lin Chen realized just how powerfully built the man was. He could almost compete with the muscleheads at the gym.

’He even suspected the man’s arms were thicker than his own thighs.’

"It’s great to cooperate with you, Lin. My name is Andre. I’m 38, from Utah."

"Lin. 25. From the southern part of Great Xia."

The two men shook hands on camera, Andre’s dark skin making Lin Chen’s appear even fairer.

’So he’s from Utah. No wonder he has so much wilderness hunting experience.’

As one of America’s most desolate and barren regions, it could be said that outside of its urban areas, almost all of Utah’s residents had at least some experience surviving in the wild.

But a moment later, Lin Chen pulled his hand back, frowning as he pinched his nose and took a few steps back.

"Andre, how many days has it been since you bathed? You almost made me pass out!"

"I’d love to bathe, but there’s no way to," Andre said, throwing his hands up as if it were no big deal. "Isn’t this what surviving in the wild is all about? As long as you stay alive, who’s going to worry about wasting water on something like bathing?"

"Didn’t it rain a couple of days ago?!"

"Oh my God, bathe in the rain? I don’t want to catch a cold and get sick."

’Right. It looked like this guy was a typical American—only concerned with the present, without a single thought for how to get by in the future.’

’It was something you could solve just by drinking some hot water and warming yourself by a fire after getting rained on. Don’t tell me he even forages for firewood fresh every day?’

Lin Chen opened his mouth, but in the end, he forced himself to swallow the lecture he was about to give.

’How the man chose to live is his own business; I have no right to interfere.’

"Now then, let’s talk about the details of our cooperation."

He changed the subject, pointing to the spot where he had just been hiding.

"The grouse probably haven’t gone far. Go see if you can get them. I saw two."

"Just you wait! I’ll definitely bring them back to you!"

At the thought of eating a meal prepared by a professional chef later, Andre couldn’t suppress his excitement. He pounded his chest resoundingly and strode into the forest. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

’With someone else in charge of hunting, at least I won’t have to worry about food for today.’

Lin Chen looked around, preparing to search along the riverbank for any ingredients that could be used to aid his cooking.

This was his first time in this area. Since there were so many signs of animal activity, it meant the nearby food resources must be quite abundant.

Soon, he caught seven or eight palm-sized crabs in the crevices between the rocks by the river.

After tying them up with dried weeds as rope, he used rocks to build a small pool by the river to keep them in.

"This is a method I learned when I went crab catching with the adults as a kid. This way, you can keep the crabs alive and also let them purge any sand and dirt, all without worrying about them escaping. I can safely continue searching the area now."

"NICE!!"

Just as he finished building the pool, Andre’s triumphant cheer rang out from the forest.

Before long, the man emerged from the bushes, proudly holding two grouse and wearing a triumphant smile.

"See, Lin? What did I tell you? No prey I set my sights on can escape!"

Lin Chen glanced at the man’s physique, then at the two grouse, and both nodded and shook his head.

"That’s not even enough for one meal for you, is it? Also, can you get rid of that squirrel on your belt? I’d rather not get eliminated early."

There was a strange curse on this show: contestants who ate squirrels had a high probability of being eliminated for various odd reasons, usually sickness.

"Good point. Since we have better food, there’s no need to eat it," Andre said, pulling the squirrel off his belt. "But it’s still meat, and a waste to just throw away. How about we use it for a trap?"