In the rainforest, a chase was unfolding.
Jiang Fan was being dragged by a black panther towards an unknown destination, the turn of events too sudden.
Yet, he managed to grasp the fur on the panther's back at the first opportunity and clambered onto it.
The panther's rocking gait as it ran induced a nauseating, churning sensation in his stomach.
Jiang Fan felt so jostled he thought he would throw up.
Despite having Jiang Fan on its back, the panther didn't get angry, instead accelerating forward with him.
The scenery blurred past at an incredible speed, branches leaving streaks across Jiang Fan's body.
Apart from the whistling wind, the only sounds were those of crushed dry leaves and twigs underfoot.
This abduction was too sudden, and the panther's actions were unfathomable.
In such an emergency, even thinking felt difficult. He could only rely on his instincts, clinging tightly to the panther's fur, riding it like a horse.
"Where are you taking me?"
Jiang Fan shouted, simultaneously coordinating with the panther's movements, crouching low to dodge a branch directly in front of him.
The panther did not answer.
Seeing that he seemed to have adapted, it let out a roar as if to communicate.
The next second, it leaped from the ground.
Jiang Fan felt a strong sense of weightlessness, as if he were being thrown into the air, his body nearly slipping off the panther.
Time seemed to freeze, infinitely magnified.
A single water droplet fell, a fallen leaf drifted.
The swirling currents of air flowing backward.
The laws of nature seemed to be laid bare before Jiang Fan's eyes.
He appeared to have entered a remarkably strange environment, his whole being encompassing everything around him.
The next moment, gravity pulled him back onto the panther's body.
Landing on a branch.
The panther began to dart and leap nimbly between different trees.
Its target was too clear. Jiang Fan guessed it must have a destination. Amidst this peculiar sensation, a word suddenly surfaced in his mind:
Hukaro.
Behind them, the wooden sphere 'Observer' demonstrated the superiority of its advanced civilization.
No matter how fast the black panther ran, it followed closely behind, weaving through the rainforest without losing track.
Many viewers watching this scene through the cameras held their breath, their hearts in their throats.
This was more thrilling than any blockbuster movie, but this was a matter of life and death!
Lin Yang watched the computer screen without interruption, no longer able to spare a glance at the live chat.
"It's just a wilderness survival competition, why is it so dangerous? Where is Jiang Shen being taken?"
"I don't know."
Zhou Ye looked at the woman still in pursuit on the other side of the screen and fell silent.
Even though Jiang Fan had been taken away, there was little they could do with just two newcomers, yet Zhou Niannian and Dai Xiaomei had unhesitatingly followed to rescue their teammate. This surprised him.
But for a woman with a poor sense of direction to try and chase after a companion was a fantasy.
As he had predicted, after running through the rainforest for a while, the two lost sight of Jiang Fan and the black panther.
They had intended to follow the footprints, but after a short while, the tracks simply vanished.
For Zhou Niannian and Dai Xiaomei, the clues had completely run out.
"Damn it! I'm so angry!"
Zhou Niannian clenched her fists and kicked a nearby tree, her brows furrowed.
Having spent six days with Jiang Fan, she had already come to consider him a teammate.
With some unspoken feelings, Zhou Niannian especially wanted to get closer and closer to Jiang Fan.
Yet, during a trip to find food after a rain, this accident occurred.
Zhou Niannian was furious, biting her lower lip and pacing anxiously, thinking of a plan.
"What should we do, what should we do..."
The sky gradually darkened, and night descended.
The danger level in the rainforest escalated sharply at night.
If they stayed here any longer, the risks would be even greater.
"Let's search a bit further ahead!"
Zhou Niannian made up her mind and looked at Dai Xiaomei.
However, she saw that the latter was looking at her back with a look of sheer terror, holding her breath, her entire body rigid.
"Sister Zhou, you, you behind you... that, there's, there's..."
Under extreme fear, Dai Xiaomei couldn't even speak properly, her eyes wide, looking as if she were about to cry.
Zhou Niannian, however, didn't think much of it and turned around without hesitation.
In the dim light of night, she saw a giant python, seven meters long, hanging from a tree, its head facing their direction.
The sounds she had ignored due to intense concentration now reached Zhou Niannian's ears.
"Hiss~ Hiss~"
It sounded like a death knell.
Zhou Niannian's entire body instantly turned cold, her mind going blank.
She instinctively pulled Dai Xiaomei along.
"Run! Run!!!"
The two immediately started running through the rainforest, faster than they had when chasing the black panther.
The Burmese python slithered behind them, in pursuit.
It followed their scent, deliberately herding the two towards a certain location.
The two small spheres behind them faithfully recorded this scene.
Some astute viewers noticed that the direction the black panther had taken Jiang Fan was similar to this scene.
With the thrilling, perilous rainforest as the stage and the contestants' lives as the stakes.
This grand 'performance' of gambling with lives seemed to have truly begun before the audience.
"Damn it! These three people have such terrible luck! At this moment, someone should say, 'I have no Sugus candies, gagaga~'"
"This deserted island feels weird. These animals are too intelligent, as if this was all planned."
"Could this be a large laboratory from some research institute, using these streamers for experiments?"
"The one before, this is a life-threatening situation, and you tell me it's an experiment? You're an idiot?"
"Be serious, this is a matter of life and death! Where's the official Shark team? Hurry up and go save them! Do they really want someone to die before they act?"
The live chat was in chaos, some still treating this turn of events as a game.
But some clever individuals had already realized the strangeness of this deserted island.
Especially since the strangeness seemed to be concentrated on Jiang Fan and Zhou Niannian's group.
Behind the scenes, arrangements were also being made urgently. Rescue teams closely followed Zhou Niannian and Dai Xiaomei, with tranquilizer guns ready to fire at any moment.
As for Jiang Fan, they had already dispatched personnel, but they didn't know if they would arrive in time.
In the dormitory, Zhou Ye, who was anxiously watching the situation for the three of them, was about to switch the live stream to full screen when he felt a violent shaking.
Simultaneously, alarms sounded outside.
"Emergency notice, emergency notice! We are experiencing a sudden earthquake. Please take shelter quickly and evacuate to the open field on the sports ground for assembly after the shaking stops."
The alarm blared in their ears, and the broadcast outside continued to play.
Their faces changed drastically.
They quickly locked their computers to the desks and then hid beneath them.
The intense shaking felt akin to the 'earth dragon turning over' described by ancient people.
The sudden turn of events made Lin Yang's face turn pale.
He shouted,
"This is the second time in two days! We're clearly not on a fault line! What's going on? Is the apocalypse coming?"
"How should I know!"
Zhou Ye responded loudly.
After the strong tremors subsided, they, along with other students, went down to the sports ground to wait.
On campus, students milled about, confused, with somber expressions.
At the same time, earthquakes of varying intensity occurred in different parts of the world.
Despite not being on fault lines, earthquakes happened.
Netizens engaged in heated discussions about this.
Some called it the apocalypse, while others suggested changes in the Earth's continental plates.
No one connected this event to the competition currently underway in China.
Nor did anyone know that beneath the areas where these earthquakes occurred,
There were collapses of varying degrees, revealing corners emitting a faint purplish glow.
The sky was about to change.