[Host's background modified to underground world mercenary, hired by Dr. Jack Byron, head of the rainforest expedition science team for Byron Mecha Biotech, to protect him while he travels to Borneo to collect Blood Orchids.]
[Current time point: One hour before the rainforest expedition science team boards the plane.]
[Note: During all mission periods, the host gains proficiency in the world's major languages and scripts.]
"Hey, man, that outfit is really cool."
Just as Uchiha Kazuhiko finished receiving this information, a young black guy pushed the door open and walked in, looking surprised at his ninja attire, then asked very enthusiastically: "We're about to leave. Are you ready?"
Uchiha Kazuhiko recognized him as the lucky guy from the movie who managed to survive until the end.
He stood up and replied with a light laugh, "Of course, ready anytime."
"Then let's go. Dr. Jack is almost impatient."
Led by the young black man, Uchiha Kazuhiko met up with the members of the rainforest expedition science team and headed to the airport to catch a flight to Borneo.
Along the way, thanks to introductions from the outgoing black guy, Cole, Uchiha Kazuhiko got information on all the team members.
The excellent scientist Dr. Jack Byron and his beautiful assistant, Sam Rogers.
The brawny black man in charge of finances, Jordan Mitchell.
The monitor overseeing the expedition's work, Gail Stern.
The team doctor, Ben Douglas.
And the young black guy responsible for route planning, Cole Burris.
Aside from Cole, everyone else looked at Uchiha Kazuhiko with distrust.
Even Dr. Jack Byron, who had posted the task on the black market, suspected he might have been scammed.
After all, from his appearance, Uchiha Kazuhiko just looked like a very ordinary middle school boy.
Uchiha Kazuhiko didn't bother to explain.
He would have plenty of opportunities to prove his strength later.
He spent the journey continuing his training by himself.
A day later, the group arrived in Parang Province, Borneo, ready to board a chartered passenger boat to the rainforest where the Blood Orchids grew.
Unexpectedly for the expedition team, the rainy season had arrived early this year.
The water levels of all the rivers had swollen dramatically, submerging the originally safe routes.
Because of this, all passenger boat companies had suspended their services.
Even the boat they had reserved in advance had returned the deposit and compensation.
"Damn it, the Blood Orchids' flowering period only has one week left."
Upon hearing the news, Dr. Jack punched the wall.
Finding the Blood Orchids was an opportunity he had fought hard for from the company; he couldn't just give up so easily.
Fortunately, his beautiful assistant Sam came over and relayed news she had gathered from the locals: "There's a local captain named Jing Song. I heard he's willing to take anyone upstream, as long as they pay enough US dollars."
"Then let's find him immediately."
To catch the final flowering period, Dr. Jack decided on the spot.
Accompanied by Uchiha Kazuhiko, he went to a rowdy bar and found the private captain the locals called 'Jing Song' actually named Bill Johnson.
After some haggling, Dr. Jack hired Bill's boat for fifty thousand dollars.
The next day, Uchiha Kazuhiko followed the team and boarded Bill's boat, the Bloody Mary, setting off towards the upstream rainforest area.
The Bloody Mary the name sounded like a luxurious cruise ship, but in reality, it was a small, rundown boat with even the cabin patched with sheet metal.
The interior was cramped and became very crowded after everyone boarded.
Coupled with the hot and humid environment of the tropics, Uchiha Kazuhiko, who was used to living in a dry temperate zone, felt somewhat uncomfortable, though it had a minimal impact on his combat effectiveness.
As soon as the weather cleared, Uchiha Kazuhiko jumped onto the boat's roof.
He collected some leaves that had fallen onto the deck and practiced his control over Primordial Energy by separating the leaf veins from the pulp.
Primordial Energy was a benefit obtained after activating the system.
It replaced the host's original energy attribute with a primitive chaos attribute capable of merging with and simulating the energies of all myriad worlds.
This facilitated the host's use of items from different space-times to enhance their strength.
Although the energy's attribute changed to Primordial Energy, the energy quality and total amount did not change.
Uchiha Kazuhiko's energy quality was still that of chakra.
Only after he obtained higher-level energy acquisition methods in the future, such as Natural Energy or Immortal Realm immortal power, could he raise the quality of his Primordial Energy to the corresponding level.
Before long, the other members of the expedition team also gradually came out to the front deck awning for fresh air, discussing the upcoming itinerary.
(T/N: itinerary means 1. a planned route or journey or 2. a travel document recording a route or journey)
"From here, we go through the main channel, enter the Man River channel, and finally turn at this fork point, arriving directly at the destination. Haha, I'm such a genius."
The chatterbox youth Cole took out his notebook and proudly explained the route he had planned.
"Then let's choose this route," Dr. Jack trusted Cole's ability quite a bit. He turned to Captain Bill and asked, "Can you get us there within three days?"
"Don't worry, I'll get you there."
Captain Bill, who spent years on the river, was full of confidence.
Unfortunately, he didn't know what kind of terrifying existence awaited them at their destination.
Just as Uchiha Kazuhiko used up all the leaves and was about to start his taijutsu training, a scream suddenly came from the cabin.
Uchiha Kazuhiko, not knowing the reason, instantly jumped down from the roof and positioned himself protectively in front of Dr. Jack.
Everyone nervously looked towards the cabin. The brawny black man Jordan shouted inside, "What happened?"
The monitor, Gail, ran out and threw herself into Jordan's chest, panickingly pointing towards the cabin and shouting, "Something attacked me! There's something in there!"
Uchiha Kazuhiko's mission was only to protect Dr. Jack's safety, so he didn't leave his employer to check the cabin.
The boat's owner, Captain Bill, didn't believe anything could have sneaked onto his small boat. Despite others' objections, he walked into the cabin alone.
However, Uchiha Kazuhiko quickly recalled what happened in the plot.
He glanced speechlessly at the nearly crying Gail and jumped back onto the roof to begin basic taijutsu training.
Soon, Captain Bill walked out carrying a white-throated capuchin monkey with a white head and black body, joking teasingly, "Hey, beautiful, my little Kong was scared to death by you."
Seeing that the 'attacker' was a cute pet, everyone relaxed after the false alarm and looked mockingly at the still shaken Gail.
Under everyone's gaze, Gail grew increasingly embarrassed.
Her face slightly red, she left Jordan's embrace, glared fiercely at Captain Bill and the monkey, Kong, then angrily and shamefully hid back in the cabin.
Captain Bill shrugged, put down the monkey Kong, and returned to the front deck to rest.
However, thinking about Uchiha Kazuhiko's clean and efficient actions earlier, he became curious.
In the evening, Captain Bill used some large fish he had caught during the day's voyage to prepare a lavish all-fish feast for everyone.
Uchiha Kazuhiko, however, did not eat the meal prepared by Captain Bill.
He took out some packaged food he had personally bought from a city store before boarding from his [system space], ate a little, and then returned to the cabin to rest with his eyes closed.
Late at night, Uchiha Kazuhiko, in a light sleep, opened his eyes. Without alerting anyone, he silently jumped onto the roof.
Looking at the pitch-black forest on the riverbank, Uchiha Kazuhiko frowned slightly and murmured to himself,
"I didn't expect to encounter a giant snake here already. It seems the number of giant snakes in the rainforest is considerably higher than in the movie."
Thinking about it carefully, Uchiha Kazuhiko found this quite normal.
After all, the movie from his previous life was made with special effects.
With the technology at the time, creating too many giant snakes would have made the cost prohibitively high, something few investors would accept.
But here, it was a real world.
After years of survival and reproduction, the number of giant snakes was probably dozens of times greater than in the movie.
Even so, Uchiha Kazuhiko was confident he could guarantee Dr. Jack's safety alone provided Dr. Jack didn't do anything stupid himself.
He stood guard on the roof a while longer.
After the mutated giant snake in the forest moved away, Uchiha Kazuhiko reassuredly returned to the cabin to rest.
The night passed without incident.
Until the next morning, an urgent cry for help once again broke the tranquility of the Bloody Mary.