Cheng Haoyue just took a sip of warm water, feeling refreshed, finally coming back to life. So, his mind came alive, too. He stood up with his hands behind his back, eyes sizing up the river before him, about 3 meters wide but with an unknown length, noticing the water was clear. He couldn’t help but wonder, are there any fish in this river?

As soon as this thought emerged, Cheng Haoyue couldn’t stop himself. Without another word, he took off his shoes and socks and went into the water. He searched around for a bit but didn’t find any fish or shrimp, not even a trace of water plants...

He continued to walk into deeper water, at which point his whole body was submerged, with only his head above water.

But!

His luck was terrible, searching for ages and not catching anything. Cheng Haoyue had no choice but to leave the river, returning to solid ground, soaked and sticky. With the sun shining perfectly and nobody around, Cheng Haoyue decided to take off his clothes to dry.

Perhaps the sun was too good, too warm, because he vaguely heard a fine rustling sound. He looked up to see a bird swooping down, picking up his clothes and flapping away!

"Hey!"

"No!"

"Give me back my clothes!" Cheng Haoyue chased after it, but the bird flew farther and farther, disappearing into the sky in a blink.

"Couldn’t catch a fish and lost a set of clothes." Cheng Haoyue felt bitterness rising from his heart.

"What kind of ridiculous competition is this!"

"I’m here for a competition, not for wild survival!" After complaining to Ji You, Cheng Haoyue asked with a frown, "Hey, 4444, do you have any food?"

"Nope." Ji You shrugged, suddenly asking, "Were there any birds here?"

"Birds, my foot!" At this, Cheng Haoyue got annoyed, "I saw it clearly, there was a switch behind the bird’s tail! That wasn’t a bird! It was a drone!"

Ji You: "..."

Cheng Haoyue gritted his teeth: "A drone wrapped in a bird’s skin."

"..." Ji You looked at him with sympathy: "That’s just too much!"

"It’s not just too much—it’s vile, shameless, and sleazy!" Cheng Haoyue gritted his teeth, "It’s one thing to steal my clothes, but it also took my shoes and socks! I have athlete’s foot, those socks smell so bad even I can’t stand it, and it grabbed them with its mouth."

"..." Ji You subconsciously backed away a step. However, the information Cheng Haoyue revealed made Ji You frown slightly, which meant that each contestant might have several drones secretly filming around them. Moreover, they might be secretly punishing them.

Seeing Ji You’s reaction, Cheng Haoyue walked closer to Ji You with his bare feet, feeling dispirited, and casually pulled at the straw coat, saying, "Hey! I don’t know when that drone will return my clothes. Um, could you lend me one of your jackets?"

Ji You looked at him speechlessly, "You don’t even consider your size. My jacket—can you even fit into it?"

Cheng Haoyue thought about it and looked even more miserable, "Damn! Which sicko actually stole my clothes!"

Ji You teased, "Maybe it’s the Cowherd?"

Cheng Haoyue was puzzled, "What do you mean?"

Ji You: "The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl!"

Cheng Haoyue: "..."

Cheng Haoyue felt the situation was suffocating.

Ji You suddenly asked, "Have you considered why your clothes were stolen?"

"Why else? There’s a pervert!" Cheng Haoyue said matter-of-factly.

Ji You was momentarily speechless at this class leader, clearly a typical Iron Fool. Following someone like him into a competition, you’d get tricked without even knowing why.

Thinking about it, Ji You discreetly glanced at Cheng Haoyue, who carried a crossbow arrow behind him, also a cold weapon. Obviously, this was the weapon assigned to him.

Ji You said, "Have you considered that you might have violated some rule and faced a punishment?"

Cheng Haoyue grabbed his hair, "How is that possible? Since entering the grounds, I haven’t even bumped into a shadow, just burned a straw coat to boil water..."

"Burned the straw coat..." Cheng Haoyue muttered to himself, repeating it, "Could it be because of that?"

"Was that a prop you’re not supposed to burn?" Ji You extracted an important point from his ramblings, "You burned the straw coat, and that’s why your clothes were taken?"

"... Is that really the case?" Cheng Haoyue thought for a moment; it seemed quite likely, but...

"What’s the use of this thing?" Cheng Haoyue was bewildered, "Primitive people don’t even use it anymore!"

Ji You said, "You’re using it now, aren’t you?"

Cheng Haoyue was speechless, "But I’m not in the Primitive Era!"

Ji You said, "You are now."

"You don’t understand..." Cheng Haoyue paused abruptly, looking shocked at Ji You, "Are you saying that this competition is simulating an Original Battlefield?"

Ji You said, "I’m guessing."

Otherwise, how can you explain the cold weapons and equipment being allocated?

"However, this Original Battlefield shouldn’t be the hair-and-blood-dripping primitive jungle era, but the era when cold weapons were already invented," Ji You added.

Cheng Haoyue’s face was not looking good, "So, how do we battle?"

He took a step forward, exposing a large patch of pale leg, which was rather Spicy Eye. Ji You said, "You should try to retrieve your own clothes."

"The bird already flew away; where am I supposed to find it?" Cheng Haoyue was full of frustration at the thought.

"If it can fly away, it can fly back," Ji You said indifferently, "Hasn’t it been monitoring us all along? Say a few words to it and ask for your clothes back."

"Eh?" Cheng Haoyue felt inspired, his eyes suddenly brightened, and he shouted into the sky, "Hey, give me my clothes back!"

No response.

Cheng Haoyue was a bit skeptical, "It won’t give them back, maybe it’s not there?"

Ji You goaded him, "It didn’t hear you; be louder and give it a reason it can’t refuse."

Cheng Haoyue is a man of action. Immediately, he shouted loudly, "Hey, I just took a dump without wiping, and the clothes have poop on them."

As soon as he finished speaking, a small black dot suddenly appeared in the sky, with a ’Flying Bird’ swooping down!

Whoosh whoosh—

Flap flap—

Something fell from the sky, right onto Cheng Haoyue’s head.

What’s that if not Cheng Haoyue’s clothes?

Cheng Haoyue haphazardly gathered the clothes off his head and realized they were indeed his. He was overjoyed, "It actually worked."

Ji You looked at him with an indescribably complex expression. After a long while, Ji You cupped his hands, "I, Ji You, salute you as a talent!"

Cheng Haoyue giggled, "Much appreciated."

The ’Flying Bird’ flapped its wings, ready to fly away, but seemed to remember something, pausing slightly, as Ji You saw the Flying Bird drop something.

Whoosh~

It was a pair of shoes and socks.

Its direction was clearly malicious; it aimed at Ji You. Ji You slightly sidestepped, and they ended up hitting Cheng Haoyue’s head.

Cheng Haoyue: "Damn! So smelly!"

Ji You pointed at the Flying Bird, "Shoot it!"