Chapter 320 - 209: The Tinder Wager (Part 2)

Chapter 320: Chapter 209: The Tinder Wager (Part 2)

To preserve the venison in his current state, he had to start a fire immediately. The only way to stop it from spoiling was to smoke it into jerky.

But starting a fire required dry firewood. Only a few hours had passed since the storm ended, so it was almost impossible to find completely dry wood in the nearby forest.

Even if there was any, these guys had probably already collected it all.

In other words, if he wanted to start a fire, he either had to get lucky and find some rocks to try striking them together, or he had to go straight to Lin Chen and the others to borrow an ember.

If he didn’t process the meat, he would have to quickly find a banana leaf to wrap it up, then leave the vicinity of their shelter and pull an all-nighter to find a suitable spot to build his own.

Comparing these two options, the choice was obvious.

Only a fool would travel through an unfamiliar forest in the middle of the night, especially while carrying raw meat that reeked of blood.

’How is that any different from asking to be killed?’

While he was quickly analyzing the situation, Lin Chen had already started a fire with his embers. He was continuously adding firewood to it, the fire pit positioned directly over the mound of earth where the deer bones were buried.

Watching the roaring fire, a clear look of envy appeared in Bartel’s eyes.

In the nearly ten days since the competition began, he had only successfully started a fire once, roasting two plump Green Iguanas.

He had thought the good times were about to begin, but he woke up to find his embers extinguished by the downpour, and his shelter had collapsed along with it.

For the next few days, he survived on wild bananas and plantains, searching everywhere for a suitable place for a shelter. Then, he found this unlucky black-tailed deer and tracked it all the way here.

This strange Panama weather... If it weren’t for his years of experience tracking wild deer, and the wealth of emergency survival skills he’d accumulated, he probably wouldn’t have lasted this long without a shelter.

With fire, the difficulty of survival plummets, and your happiness index skyrockets.

"Lin."

He spoke with difficulty. "I know this is weird, since we just met, but I still want to ask... could I borrow an ember from your fire?"

"And the payment?"

Lin Chen didn’t seem surprised at all. He looked up at Bartel as he butchered his share of the venison, separating it into different cuts.

"You should know that in a survival situation, fire is pretty much the number one priority. It’s not comparable to something non-essential like a deerskin."

"I know that," Bartel nodded. "Since this young lady knows my nickname, she must have told you that I know everything there is to know about deer herds."

"If you lend me an ember, how about I help you find the trail of another deer?"

"That sounds like a very tempting offer."

Lin Chen smiled faintly and shrugged, just as a joyful expression appeared on Bartel’s face.

"But!"

"Based on what I know about Robert, he definitely didn’t release a large number of deer. Judging by the number of contestants left at the time, the most likely number is twenty."

"After being released, those twenty deer would have scattered in all directions. The probability of them coming our way is only one in eight. That’s two and a half deer, so let’s round up and say three."

"For those three deer to reach the coast, they’d have to travel through the survival territories of many contestants, dodge attacks from harpy eagles, Jaguars, and American Crocodiles, and cross mountains and ridges. What do you think the odds of that are?"

As he said this, Bartel’s expression slowly changed, turning a bit ugly.

Lin Chen paid him no mind and continued, "Even if we assume they all successfully made it to this area, after accounting for this one, there are only two left."

"Even you, a walking encyclopedia of deer, had to wear this one down in a battle of endurance. Without a bow and arrow, what difference does it make if you find their tracks?"

"Am I supposed to spend days trekking through the wilderness to wear one down, too? I should just abandon my existing shelter and food to go on some adventure in the forest?"

"You’re right. I didn’t think it through."

Bartel laughed bitterly and awkwardly scratched the back of his bald head.

His proudest skill was useless here. For a moment, he really couldn’t think of anything else he could trade for the priceless ember.

’Should I trade this venison for it?’

’But without the meat, an ember is useless to me right now.’

"I suggest you try it yourself first," Lin Chen said kindly, seeing his predicament. "We also had to restart our fire after the storm. If I could do it, surely a human encyclopedia with your wealth of experience can’t fail, right?"

"That’s not a given. Don’t make fun of me. I only specialize in tracking and hunting wild deer. I usually hunt from a car with a sniper rifle. Wilderness survival isn’t hard for me, but that’s only if I have the right tools."

"I came on this show mainly to challenge myself, to cap off my fifteen-year career as a Hunter."

"I never thought a survival competition without any equipment would be this hard. It’s only been nine days, and the thought of giving up has crossed my mind at least five times."

"Without a fire steel and a bow, I really can’t think of a way to light damp firewood."

Perhaps because he’d been holding it in for so long, Bartel rattled off a whole bunch of words like a machine gun.

After getting it all out, the tense aura around him relaxed considerably. He was no longer as stifled as before.

Lin Chen stared at him in thought for a moment, then suddenly asked.

"Since you’re good at tracking deer, your swimming must be pretty good, right?"

"It’s decent. I can swim two or three kilometers in one go, no problem. Any further than that is a bit tough."

’Holy shit, he’s that good?’

It’s worth noting that deer are also excellent swimmers. Since most aren’t aggressive, they often jump into rivers to escape predators.

Swimming in a freshwater river is much more tiring than in the ocean, as there’s less buoyancy.

Someone who can swim that far in a river would find swimming in the ocean much easier.

"Alright, how about this. Make a promise to the audience watching the livestream. If you go to the coast and catch three Lobsters for me—size doesn’t matter—within one week, I’ll lend you an ember."

"And if you can’t?" Erica asked.

"What do you think, Mr. Deer God?"

"Lobsters?"

Bartel stroked his chin and mused for a moment. "The Mangrove Forest is also a habitat for Lobsters, I believe. But if they were that easy to catch, you wouldn’t be making this request."

"Plus, as this young lady just mentioned, there are American Crocodiles in the Mangrove Forest. So, if you want to catch Lobsters, you have to go to the shallow sea."

"And given that you brought up swimming... this wouldn’t happen to require diving, would it?"

"Not necessarily," Lin Chen waved his hand. "I caught a Lobster myself a few days ago, right under a rock. If you’re lucky, you can find them in the shallows."

"Of course, if you can dive, your chances of catching one are much higher."

"But I don’t know how to dive!"

"Then I can’t help you. Or are you saying you want to trade all this venison for a single ember?"

’Just as he’d expected.’

He only had a few paths before him now.

First, he could try to start a fire himself, but he’d risk the venison spoiling. As a chef, Lin Chen would know this, and he might not want meat that’s been sitting out for two or three hours.

Second, he could trade all the venison for an ember, then go off on his own again to find a place for a shelter and a new source of food.

Or third, he could agree to Lin’s terms and catch him three Lobsters within a week.

Of the three paths before him, only the second was relatively safe. The first and third both carried a greater than fifty-percent risk of failure.

But if he chose the second path, he couldn’t stomach the thought of his hard-earned prey being taken away entirely.

’As a Hunter, if I don’t even dare to take this kind of risk, what kind of Hunter am I!’

At this thought, a look of determination flashed in his eyes.

"Fine, I accept your terms. I’ll get you three Lobsters within a week. If I fail, I’ll withdraw from the competition directly."