After a simple lunch, he clapped his hands, dug a hole nearby, and buried all the plastic waste underground.
Next, he took out a book from his briefcase, pulled the thin rope tied to the Shell Lady, and dragged her over.
He planned to continue practicing his spoken language during this digestion break.
"Hello!"
The Shell Lady looked unwilling, not saying a word, not cooperating at all.
"Gem!"
This word was more effective than anything else; the Shell Lady immediately straightened up and sat respectfully.
Chen Shouyi was speechless inside, feeling that the Shell Lady was becoming increasingly uncontrollable, downright greedy for money, refusing to cooperate unless given a glass bead. Fortunately, the small glass beads were cheap, only a few cents each.
Otherwise, if this continued, he would go bankrupt.
"Hello!"
"Kalodo Ye, you too!"
Chen Shouyi listened carefully for a while and immediately looked up unfamiliar syllables.
Kalodo means respectful and great holy.
And Do Ye means giant, mountain peak, giant.
Combined, it means great giant or respectful giant.
Chen Shouyi was delighted at heart, thinking this title was really... too embarrassing.
He decisively took out a glass bead as a reward, which the Shell Lady gleefully grasped in her hand, becoming even more focused.
"Where are your parents?"
"I have no parents; I was born from the 'Yaqiao' flower," the Shell Lady said nonchalantly, not feeling sad at all about not having parents.
Chen Shouyi chuckled upon hearing this.
Is this a joke?
Mammals are supposed to be born live, aren't they?
If people could grow from flowers, wouldn't your female primary and secondary characteristics be redundant?
"Really?" Chen Shouyi asked skeptically.
"Really, I was born from the Yaqiao flower," the Shell Lady blinked, saying with a serious face, showing no signs of lying.
Chen Shouyi felt that asking further wouldn't yield anything.
He speculated in his heart that the Shell Lady probably suspected she was born from a flower because she hadn't seen her parents since she was little.
This was normal; as a kid, he used to believe he was picked up from a garbage pile.
However, he still looked up the word "Yaqiao flower", but even after flipping through the entire dictionary, he couldn't find it.
But thinking about it, it made sense; exploration of alternate worlds by various countries was still quite limited.
Not only because of the unpredictable dangers of alternate worlds but also because gravity alone severely limits human movement, making them like Chen Shouyi, restricted to limited activities near passage areas.
Plus, the unique slang and dialects that developed over long periods in different regions make this universal language dictionary less comprehensive.
"Then what about the Yaqiao flower?"
"Ate it!" The Shell Lady, or rather Flower Girl, said with a simple face.
Ate it?
Chen Shouyi couldn't help looking at her more.
Didn't you say you were born from the Yaqiao flower? That flower was your mother, and you just ate it!
She's still just a kid after all!
He snapped out of it and decisively changed the topic: "How old are you?"
The Shell Lady tilted her head, thought for a moment, and then started gesturing: "Many, many sunrises and sunsets; I can't remember. The first time I opened my eyes, the largest tree on the island was only this tall."
She pointed to the large tree where Chen Shouyi practiced swordsmanship, then flew up a meter off the ground to indicate the height to him.
Chen Shouyi wasn't sure if this tree was a fast-growing or slow-growing species, so he couldn't judge.
"Do you have a name?"
The Shell Lady shook her head indifferently.
...
After the conversation ended, Chen Shouyi rewarded the Shell Lady with another glass bead, and she happily flew away.
After the break, he picked up the war bow, used the tree as a target, and began practicing archery.
A 500-pound war bow was quite heavy, and with three times gravity, it was even more challenging than on Earth.
Chen Shouyi exerted all his strength to finally draw the bow fully.
He released the string, and the arrow let out a sharp whistle as if piercing the air, vanishing in the blink of an eye.
He didn't pay much attention, retrieving another arrow to continue shooting.
...
Three consecutive days passed.
The small island in the alternate world never showed signs of barbarians, so Chen Shouyi gradually set his mind at ease.
Every day he followed a routine, practicing swordsmanship and archery according to the alternate world's day-night cycle. Though life was dull, it was fulfilling. Watching the constant changes in swordsmanship and archery skills on his attribute panel, he felt himself growing stronger day by day.
During this period, he sold another batch of gold, earning a total of 250,000, instantly replenishing his quickly depleting account.
However, since last time, he hadn't asked Zhang Xiaoyue out in the evening.
The workload of senior year increasingly heavy, with small tests every three days, major tests every five days.
More frustratingly, the school had also started night self-study, lasting until nine o'clock.
And worried about safety, her father picked her up at night.
There was simply no opportunity to meet!
Which made Chen Shouyi deeply frustrated.
...
The dark clouds above rolled violently like ink, and the strong low-pressure felt like a boulder pressing on his chest, making it hard to breathe.
Suddenly, lightning flashed across the sky, lighting up the entire world.
A deafening thunder sounded.
Chen Shouyi, holding a wooden stick, monotonously and tediously pierced the small ball repeatedly, completely immersed, sweating profusely. He only snapped out of it upon hearing the lightning sound.
He looked up at the sky, and a raindrop fell on his face. He touched it and remarked in surprise:
"It's going to rain."
This was the first time he'd seen it rain in the alternate world.
The rain came quickly, falling before Chen Shouyi could react.
The raindrops, under three times gravity, hit his face like hail, causing him actual pain. He quickly took off his clothes, covered his head, and ran towards the passage entrance.
He was becoming more and more accustomed to the gravity here.
In the past few days, his strength attribute finally increased by another 0.1, reaching 12.7, the standard for martial artists, though just the lowest standard.
In this alternate world with triple gravity, such strength allowed him to move around freely.
But like a weak, physically frail person, basic activities were fine, but running a hundred meters or lifting heavy weights was beyond him, not even comparable to ordinary barbarians living here.
The rain poured down harder; after just a few steps, he was soaked to the skin.
"This rain is lethal!"
At that moment, he saw the Shell Lady flying in the distance through the rain, the rope behind her pulled taut.
Was she trying to escape again?
The thought crossed his mind, but he realized she was clearly coming toward him.
She seemed to be shouting something at him.
Unfortunately, her weak voice, combined with the interference of the heavy rain, made it impossible to hear.
Raindrops kept hitting the Shell Lady, making her body rise and fall unpredictably, looking extremely battered.
Chen Shouyi was perplexed by her unusual behavior: "What's going on, what's gotten into her?"
"Go back, hurry back," he shouted loudly, wiping the rain and quickening his pace.
Half a minute later, the Shell Lady, looking like a drenched chicken, finally landed quickly on Chen Shouyi's shoulder, her face pale and body trembling. Just as she steadied herself, she leaned into his ear and screamed:
"Sea... over the sea!"
"The same giant as last time is coming!"
PS: Sorry, a bit late, had something come up in the afternoon.