Chapter 9: Coco's Luck Factor

"Number 12, eliminated."

Those who are asleep cannot hear this voice. The alert from the livestream is only directed at those who are awake. It is, one might say, quite advanced technology.

He glanced at the scrolling comments and, as expected, found people discussing the situation of contestant number 12. Number 12 was a girl who had been sleeping in a tree. Just a few minutes ago, she was bitten by a venomous spider and had passed away. However, since she was still in her sleep, she likely felt no pain; in a way, she was quite fortunate.

This development made Xu Yi even more anxious. This parallel world was far more dangerous than he had anticipated. He even doubted whether there would be 100 people left by the 100-day mark. Of course, he also knew that the highest number of eliminations would occur in the early stages. Those who could persist for more than seven days generally possessed a certain level of survival ability. As long as such individuals did not encounter wild beasts, survival would not be a major problem.

As everyone crafted more tools and weapons, their survival capabilities would only grow stronger. Humans became the masters of Earth precisely because they mastered the creation of tools and weapons. If one could not make bows and arrows, one could at least fashion spears. In close-quarters combat against animals, humans would certainly have little chance of winning. But with distance, using spears, bows, arrows, and traps, wild beasts were no match for mankind.

Furthermore, everyone could set up fire barriers around their shelters. No living creature could ignore the harm caused by fire. For someone surviving alone, if there were wild beasts active in the vicinity, using fire for defense was an excellent choice. Of course, one could also make their shelter very sturdy to ward off predators. If he could, Xu Yi would also choose a fire barrier. That way, he could sleep soundly through the night.

Naturally, this required a massive amount of wood. You would need to burn piles of firewood in a circle around the camp, and the distance had to be sufficient—you couldn't be too close. If you were too close, the heat of the bonfires alone could kill you, not to mention the various toxic gases they might emit. The amount of wood consumed in a single night would be staggering. Unless, of course, you could find energy sources like coal or oil. These existed, but they were rarely found on the surface.

Therefore, setting up a fire barrier was very difficult. However, its defensive power was the strongest. No beast dared to approach fire. Even a dinosaur, upon encountering a large blaze, would turn and flee. Of course, using such a campfire barrier required an environment with little wind, so the smoke wouldn't drift everywhere. You could also combine the two: light three or four fires around the camp and fortify the shelter itself. In this way, generally, no animal would dare to approach.

The scorching heat of a bonfire is very intuitive; even without getting too close, animals can sense it. Unlike humans, animals will choose to flee the moment they feel threatened. Therefore, as long as you can hold your ground against an animal long enough to make it feel that it cannot overcome you, it will decisively leave. Very few animals will fight you to the death.

Xu Yi had intended to sleep a little longer, but after closing his eyes, his mind was a chaotic mess, and he couldn't fall asleep. Today would be even harder because they had yet to find a water source. Water and shelter were the two things they urgently needed to secure today. As for lighting a fire, Xu Yi felt that with his flint, it wouldn't be much of a problem. Once he found better tinder, starting a fire would be even easier.

After lying there until past six o'clock, Su Keke, who was beside him, woke up. She sat up and rubbed her eyes. Looking at the surrounding environment, she showed no signs of fear. She simply glanced at Xu Yi and stood up. She walked to the campfire and added a small amount of wood, then looked around. She needed to relieve herself but didn't want to wake Xu Yi.

"You need to go to the bathroom, don't you?"

Xu Yi hadn't been sleeping; he hadn't sat up earlier because he wanted to see Su Keke's reaction and whether she would be afraid. Upon hearing Xu Yi's voice, Su Keke blushed and nodded. Xu Yi got up, hopped down to the ground, and helped Su Keke down as well. "Go behind the rock; it won't hurt you."

Su Keke nodded and went behind the boulder to take care of her business. Xu Yi noticed that the camera ball had shifted its focus toward the sky. The audience in the chat was also reacting to this.

"Daddy, look, doesn't this rock look like a knife?" When Su Keke returned, she was holding a black stone.

"It does. Let Daddy see." Xu Yi hadn't expected that while Su Keke was away, she would find a stone knife. Its shape was indeed very similar to a kitchen knife used in rural areas, though slightly longer. Additionally, it had a short tang; if it were attached to a wooden handle, it would be much easier to grip.

"Although it's blunt, it's already quite thin. If we grind it for a while, it can become a very useful stone knife." Xu Yi took it and examined it, feeling quite happy. This was flint, the stone material most favored by ancient people. Because its hardness is extremely high—reaching 7.5 on the Mohs scale—it is harder than steel. By grinding it daily, it could become very sharp.

[Keke's luck is just too good! How did she find a stone that looks so much like a kitchen knife?]
[Found flint yesterday, a stone knife today. What will our Keke find tomorrow?]
[Doesn't this stone look like flint?]
[It really does look like flint. If it is, that's amazing; it's the best material ancient people had for making stone tools.]

"It is indeed flint, though the edge of this piece isn't sharp yet; it will take time to grind." Xu Yi was surprised that quite a few people in the chat recognized the stone knife as flint.

"Let's look around to see if there are any more stones like this."

"You mean these black stones?" Su Keke asked happily, knowing the stone knife she found was useful to Xu Yi.

"Yes, and not just this color. Other colors are fine too, as long as they are elongated or very sharp." Xu Yi explained, then followed Su Keke behind the giant boulder. It was then that Xu Yi realized this piece of flint had originally been buried in the soil, and Su Keke had dug it out. After searching for a while, Xu Yi and Su Keke had no further luck.

"There aren't any more. Just these rocks, not the kind Daddy mentioned." Moreover, what they found weren't flint, but ordinary mountain rock. Such rock had no great utility unless its shape was suitable for making tools.

"Oh, here's one."