The next morning, a highly skilled squad regrouped.
Lin Feng rode White Moonlight, Li Xiangbin rode White Emerald, and Pang Dahai was assigned to a muscular blue warhorse.
Xiao Mei rode on the same horse as Li Xiangbin to give directions.
"Come on, let's find you a wife!" Lin Feng was in a good mood, shaking his head as he joked with Pang Dahai.
Pang Dahai gripped the saddle with a distressed expression, almost bursting into tears: "Boss, please don't joke with me. With my looks and physique, what woman would want me?"
Li Xiangbin, who was standing to the side, patted him on the shoulder with a smile and comforted him, "Dahai, don't be discouraged! You're a five-star chef, your skills are amazing! Why would you worry about not having a woman who likes you?"
"Sigh, no!" Pang Dahai sighed helplessly. "My parents gave me this appearance. From childhood to adulthood, let alone dating, girls would find me too greasy if they talked to me for more than a few words. If it weren't for my cooking skills, I probably would have starved to death long ago."
"Don't worry, women are just women," Lin Feng's voice came from ahead, carrying a hint of nonchalant arrogance: "As long as we build the shelter better and better, we'll have plenty of women in the future, as many as we want."
Pang Dahai nodded dejectedly. He had originally held onto a sliver of hope that Lin Feng would generously bestow one of the six women, including Qin Lan, upon him.
But now it seems like pure wishful thinking. The women in the shelter are all like tigresses, filled with contempt and disdain for him.
He shuddered as he recalled what had happened the previous night.
Last night, he was put to sleep in a cabin.
Just as he was sound asleep, the door was quietly pushed open, and then a huge blanket with a strong smell of animal hides was suddenly smothered over his head. Immediately afterwards, a rain of fists and feet came down on him.
The force wasn't enough to seriously injure him, but each blow was filled with humiliation. He could hear Qian Xiaoxiao and Shen Jiaqi cursing in hushed tones.
"You fatso! A toad trying to eat swan meat!"
"Don't you even know your own limitations? How dare you try to take advantage of us?"
"Today is going to teach you a lesson!"
He was covered on the head and had no chance to resist before he was thoroughly beaten. Then the group of women left quietly.
Looking at his comical appearance with a bruised and swollen face and dark circles under his eyes, Lin Feng couldn't help but laugh and scold, "You can't even beat a few women, you're really useless."
Pang Dahai lowered his head in shame, feeling extremely wronged: those weren't just a few ordinary women, they were clearly six Tyrannosaurus Rex!
Guided by Xiaomei, the group continued deeper into the forest. After traveling for about half a day, they finally arrived at their destination.
It was an extremely rudimentary shelter hidden in the crevice between several huge rocks.
The so-called shelter was nothing more than a haphazardly constructed cave made of fallen trees and mud, with the entrance blocked by tattered animal hides. Scattered around were some gnawed animal bones, and the air was thick with an aura of despair and decay.
Before Lin Feng and his group could get close, the animal skin curtain of the cave was suddenly thrown open, and several figures staggered out.
There were four women.
They were dressed in rags, reeked of foul odor, their exposed skin covered in frostbite and filth, and their hair was matted together like dry straw.
Their bodies were so thin they were just bones, but their eyes burned with an almost insane, beastly light from long-term hunger and fear.
When they saw Lin Feng and his group, and their magnificent warhorses and the food carried on their backs, they went completely mad.
"Food! It's food!"
"Quick, give me something to eat! Please!"
"I'll do anything you want! Just give me something to eat!"
They rushed over in a frenzy, even trying to snatch the supplies from the horse's back.
Wangcai let out a deep roar, baring its sharp teeth, which frightened them so much that they retreated.
Lin Feng coldly watched this scene, then pointed at the women with his riding crop and smiled at Pang Dahai beside him: "Wife, here we come, aren't we?"
Pang Dahai looked at the several emaciated women in front of him, who resembled living skeletons, and subconsciously frowned, muttering under his breath, "Boss... these... these are too thin..."
"It's alright, as long as the person is alive." Lin Feng said nonchalantly, "Take him back and use your cooking skills to raise him well, and he'll be plump and healthy soon."
He turned his head, his gaze sweeping coldly over the four women, and said in an unquestionable tone, "If you want to live and have enough to eat, then come with us obediently. I can give you warm shelter and endless food, but if you dare to scheme against each other, form cliques, or play any tricks like you did in your old place... you'll bear the consequences!"
The four women trembled with fear at his cold gaze and powerful aura.
They had been ravaged by hunger and cold, losing all dignity and the ability to think. Faced with the absolute temptation of survival, they hastily knelt down and kowtowed repeatedly, not daring to utter another word.
Lin Feng nodded in satisfaction. Li Xiangbin immediately unloaded a simple sled from the spare horse and let the four women, who were almost unable to walk, sit on it.
And so, the team, with their new "harvest," embarked on their journey home.
Back at the shelter, everything proceeded smoothly.
The four new women were even more shocked when they saw the steel fortress than they had been by the vast ocean.
When they were taken to a warm bathroom, washed away the filth, changed into clean and soft animal skin clothes, and then enjoyed a steaming bowl of meat soup and roast meat cooked by Pang Dahai himself.
They were so excited that they cried uncontrollably, and they wolfed down their food as if they were swallowing their tongues.
Pang Dahai felt a little displeased by their unseemly eating habits, even thinking it made them look bad.
But there was nothing he could do; in this sanctuary where the strong were respected, his status was simply not high.
After dinner, Lin Feng arranged for all four women to stay in the wooden cabin where Pang Dahai lived.
This wooden house used to be the main house, but with the construction of the three-story villa, it came to belong to Pang Dahai.
He patted Pang Dahai on the shoulder and said earnestly, "Dahai, as I just said, I can't just distribute women to you like resources. That's not a wife, that's a slave, and it's not good for the long-term development of the shelter."
"but."
He changed the subject, a mysterious smile appearing on his face. "I've already created the opportunity for you. Four women are living here with you, so you're in a prime position. Whether you can seize the opportunity and make them willingly follow you depends on your own abilities. You'd better cherish it."
Upon hearing this, Pang Dahai's face lit up with excitement. He nodded vigorously, his fat cheeks jiggling, "I understand! Boss! I'll definitely do my best!"
That evening, a warm fireplace burned in the room, and a thick, soft animal skin carpet covered the floor.
The four women lay on the warm carpet, feeling a long-lost sense of security and comfort. They were all extremely excited and unable to fall asleep.
Pang Dahai slept on the only wooden bed in the room.
In the darkness, he cleared his throat and began chatting with them. To demonstrate his value and status, he started to boast wildly.
"Sisters, now that you've come to our shelter, you can settle down here with peace of mind."
He said in what he thought was a very charming voice, "You don't need to worry about food and drink at all. See me? I, Pang Dahai, am the only head chef in our shelter! Whatever Mr. Lin wants to eat, it all has to go through my hands!"
"From now on, if you want barbecue, I'll grill the tenderest meat for you! Want meat soup? I'll stew the freshest soup for you! Here, in the kitchen, I'm in charge! If you serve me well, even a little bit of it between my fingers will be enough for you to eat and drink well every day!"
He had thought these words would garner the women's admiration and flattery.
However, he was completely unaware that these women, who had struggled to survive in the wilderness for months and whose humanity had been eroded, thought about problems in a way that was completely different from that of the well-protected women in the shelter.
What they heard was not a man's advances, but a food "controller" flaunting his power.
In the darkness, the four women exchanged glances. Their eyes held no trace of allure or shyness; instead, a cold, greedy glint flashed across them simultaneously.
In their eyes, this fat, ugly man who looked utterly incapable of fighting was not a potential husband, but rather... a mobile, talking key to a granary.
If we can control him, wouldn't that be the same as controlling the food?
The next second, the four women, like four agile female leopards, suddenly pounced on the carpet and rushed directly towards Pang Dahai on the bed!
Pang Dahai was engrossed in his boasting and had no idea that such a turn of events would occur.
He felt a sudden weight on his body as he was pressed down by four emaciated but incredibly strong bodies.
"What...what are you going to do?!" He was terrified and struggled desperately.
One woman pressed her knee firmly against his stomach, while another gagged him with a rag. Their voices, suppressed yet excited, sounded particularly menacing in the darkness.
"Shut up, you fatso!"
"You say you're a chef? That you can feed us every day?"
"From today onwards, you're one of us! Behave yourself, or you'll starve!"
It was only then that Pang Dahai realized with horror that what Lin Feng had given him was not an "opportunity" at all.
He was wrong, terribly wrong.
In the eyes of these already crazed women, he was the trembling prey sent into the wolf's den.
Meanwhile, in the main building at the other end of the shelter, Lin Feng and Li Xiangbin were sitting opposite each other, having a drink.
On the table were several dishes that Pang Dahai had carefully prepared to accompany the drinks, including a plate of cold "ice crystal fern" salad, which was crisp, refreshing, and had a tangy and spicy flavor that whetted the appetite.
A dish of "braised tendon strips" made with animal tendons is chewy, flavorful, and becomes more fragrant the more you chew.
Lin Feng squinted, enjoying this rare moment of leisure. He took a sip of the strong liquor made from alien berries and exclaimed, "This Pang Dahai, although cowardly and timid, has absolutely superb cooking skills. Look at this cold dish, ordinary wild vegetables, but after he mixed it up, it immediately became a delicacy. He's a genius."
Li Xiangbin chuckled sheepishly, stuffing a large piece of braised beef tendon into his mouth, and mumbled, "Yeah, brother, this fat guy's cooking is delicious. But... brother, I don't quite understand why you go to so much trouble to find him a wife?"
Lin Feng laughed, swirling the wine glass in his hand, his deep gaze piercing through the night.
“Xiang Bin, the human heart is the most complex thing.” He said slowly, “Pang Dahai is a capable man, but also a coward. If there is nothing to restrain him, he is prone to having other thoughts once he encounters a greater temptation or feels wronged.”
He paused, his voice becoming deep and magnetic: "But if he has a wife, children, and a home, then it's different. Home is his root, his weakness, and an invisible chain that binds him. With that bond, he will be wholeheartedly devoted to me and to this sanctuary, and he won't easily betray me."
Li Xiangbin listened, stunned. He scratched his head and nodded, seemingly understanding, "Oh...that makes sense. Like me and Xiaomei, this is my home now. If anyone dares to damage this place, I'll be the first to fight them to the death!"
"That makes sense." Lin Feng nodded in satisfaction.
Li Xiangbin looked at Lin Feng, hesitated for a moment, but still couldn't help asking, "But... Brother, look, I already have Xiaomei, and that fat guy Dahai will probably be next... Why don't you... find one too? I think Sister Qin Lan and the others seem... seem to like you quite a bit?"
Lin Feng's hand, holding the wine glass, paused in mid-air for a moment.
His mind flashed back to Qin Lan's cool and capable face, Su Wanqing's intellectual and gentle eyes, and Qian Xiaoxiao and Shen Jiaqi's fiery and adoring gazes...
He paused for a moment, then shook his head with a wry smile and downed the wine in his glass.
"We'll see."
He neither refused nor agreed.
Looking at him, Li Xiangbin suddenly felt that this omnipotent elder brother, who was like a god, was more lonely than anyone else, even though he sat on a throne adored by everyone.
As night deepened, most people in the shelter had fallen asleep. Only from Pang Dahai's wooden house could one faintly hear strange, suppressed sounds, indistinguishable as pain or something else.
The lights of the main building remained lit, like the tireless eyes of a king watching over the kingdom he had built, which was quietly undergoing various changes.
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