“Who the hell did this!”
At that moment, Qin Tian’s voice echoed across the entire beach, unlike before when he was just pretending, this time his anger was completely genuine.
Right in front of Qin Tian and Ye Lin, where seven or eight coconuts should have been, there were now only empty coconut shells scattered about.
To think these were coconuts Qin Tian had risked his life to gather, and now they were in such a state—it was like someone had stolen the hard-earned money he had painstakingly saved up. Anyone would be furious.
But after that outburst, Qin Tian quickly calmed down.
It was just coconuts after all; the island wasn’t short of them. There were plenty more coconut palms not far away. What mattered now was figuring out exactly who had taken them.
“Could it be someone else stranded on this Deserted Island?” Ye Lin’s heart stirred with a hint of excitement. Having another person on the island meant more safety.
“Probably not.” After a moment’s observation, Qin Tian gave his opinion. “Judging by all the coconut fibers scattered around, these coconuts weren’t opened by human hands.”
If a person had done it, they would have used a knife or made a small opening with a stone. Nobody would split the entire coconut shell open like this—it would take too much effort.
At that, Ye Lin’s expression changed as an image of a fierce beast flashed through her mind. “Could it be a large Wild Beast?”
“Have you ever heard of a Wild Beast that eats coconuts?” Qin Tian was speechless. Ye Lin’s imagination was way too wild.
Ye Lin paused, then shook her head after thinking it over carefully.
***
“While there are no Wild Beasts that eat coconuts, there are creatures that do.” Qin Tian smiled and stood up.
“Creatures that eat coconuts…” Ye Lin searched her mind, and a figure gradually became clear. Excitedly, she said, “You mean the Coconut Crab?!”
“That’s right!” Qin Tian pointed toward the sand nearby, where a faint scratch mark lay. “Look here.”
***
The scratch started from the base of a Coconut Palm and stretched far into the distance. Unless mistaken, it should be the trail left by a Coconut Crab as it moved.
Realizing this, the two instantly perked up.
It was known that adult Coconut Crabs could grow up to one meter long and weigh around six kilograms. If they could find one, it would be enough to fill both of them.
Following the trail, the two arrived at a Coconut Palm not far away.
Here, the marks abruptly stopped, and there were no other Coconut Palms nearby. Ye Lin looked puzzled. “Why do the tracks just end here?”
“Look up.” Qin Tian glanced toward the treetop as information about the Coconut Crab appeared in his mind.
Coconut Crab: a type of hermit crab living near coastal tropical forests, reaching up to 1 meter in length. It is not only the largest terrestrial crab but also the largest terrestrial arthropod. It has a massive, hard shell and two powerful claws strong enough to crack open coconuts. An expert climber…
Hearing this, Ye Lin looked up and indeed spotted the Coconut Crab at the top of the Coconut Palm.
At that moment, the crab stretched its massive pincers toward a coconut. Realizing they were there, Qin Tian and Ye Lin quickly stepped back.
The next moment, a coconut fell from above with a thud!
The Coconut Crab then slowly descended.
“Look, it’s coming down!” Ye Lin was excited. She had just been wondering how they could get the Coconut Crab down from such a tall tree, but unexpectedly, it came down on its own.
Compared to her excitement, Qin Tian remained calm and watched with interest as the crab climbed down.
Just as the System described, the Coconut Crab was an expert climber on the nearly vertical Coconut Palm, moving as steadily as if it were walking on flat ground.
Soon, it reached the base of the tree, and if they wanted, they could easily reach out and grab it.
But Qin Tian showed no reaction at all. Seeing this, Ye Lin hurriedly warned, “Qin Tian, don’t let it escape!”
This Coconut Crab was clearly an adult, huge in size—about as big as a human face—and with four pairs of legs, it looked like a giant spider. Even though Ye Lin could reach it, she wouldn’t dare just grab it impulsively.
***
“What’s there to be afraid of? It won’t run away!” Qin Tian had no intention of acting. He picked up a coconut from the ground and turned to leave, leaving Ye Lin dumbfounded.
He was just going to leave such a big Coconut Crab behind?
Not daring to grab it herself, Ye Lin reluctantly followed Qin Tian.
Under the shade of the tree, Qin Tian and Ye Lin sat cross-legged. Meanwhile, the Coconut Crab had returned to the ground and was circling the Coconut Palm, searching for the coconut it had just dropped.
After searching for a long time without finding it, the crab reluctantly climbed back up the tree.
“If you eat my coconuts, you better work hard for me!” Seeing this, a mischievous grin spread across Qin Tian’s face, making him look like a villain straight out of a drama.
Hearing this, Ye Lin finally understood: Qin Tian intended to have the Coconut Crab harvest all the coconuts from the tree, while he sat back and collected the yield.
***
The Coconut Palm was about sixteen meters tall. The crab’s movements were slow, taking roughly six minutes to climb up and down the tree.
After a few trips, this time extended to about ten minutes.
It wasn’t because the crab was tired, but after a few coconuts disappeared mysteriously, it began to cut down several coconuts each time it climbed up, which increased the time spent.
Gradually, the coconuts around Qin Tian and Ye Lin piled up, numbering at least a dozen.
An hour later, the last coconut fell from the tree, and the two slowly stood up.
When they returned to the base of the tree, the Coconut Crab was already back on the ground, surrounded by three or four scattered coconuts.
The crab showed no fear of Qin Tian and Ye Lin’s approach and casually crawled toward a nearby coconut.
This time, Qin Tian didn’t take any coconuts but chose to stand aside.
Under their watchful eyes, the Coconut Crab used its powerful pincers to easily tear open a coconut’s shell, splitting it into two halves as effortlessly as peeling a banana.
Ye Lin was amazed. Although she knew Coconut Crabs could open coconuts, seeing it firsthand was hard to believe.
“Awesome! Awesome!” Qin Tian was equally stunned.
Ignoring Qin Tian and Ye Lin, the crab took a piece of coconut meat and brought it toward its mouth—but just as it was about to eat, Qin Tian swiftly snatched the opened coconut away.
Ye Lin was dumbfounded by the sudden move.
The moment the coconut was taken, the crab froze, dropping the coconut meat from its pincers.
But soon after, it crawled toward another coconut.
“Awesome, awesome.”
The scene repeated, accompanied by Qin Tian’s voice, as each opened coconut was taken away by him.
At this moment, the Coconut Crab seemed to gain sentience and stared straight at Qin Tian.
If the Coconut Crab could speak human language, it would probably say, “Awesome, awesome, your grandpa! Damn you!”
“What are you looking at? Mind your own business.” Qin Tian held a coconut in each hand, feigning innocence.
Ye Lin was petrified on the spot—this man’s personality was simply awful.
***
They had set out in the afternoon, spent an hour on the way, and lingered on the beach so long that now the Sun was already setting.
Although it hadn’t yet fully set, considering the time needed to return, it was getting late.
There were morning and evening tides, early and late tides. On the way here, Qin Tian had thought about catching the evening tide, but after finding the Coconut Crab, he gave up on that idea.
He didn’t know the timing of the evening tide. If the tide receded only after nightfall, waiting here would be a complete waste, as they couldn’t stay on the beach until dark.
Looking at the setting Sun, Qin Tian thought that if only he had a clock, he could calculate the timing of the rising and falling tides to make a plan and not waste time waiting for the tide to recede.
With this in mind, Qin Tian already had an idea brewing, though it was too difficult to act on right now.
After letting the Coconut Crab eat its fill, Qin Tian finally raised his Stone Axe and killed it with a blow.
This was probably what it meant to show respect and gratitude to one’s food.
The Coconut Crab’s pincers were incredibly strong; one careless move and he might lose some flesh. Qin Tian didn’t want to risk bringing it back alive.
As for the coconuts, Qin Tian tied the stalks with String and dragged them all back, leaving none behind.
***
When the two returned to their Camp, the Sun was just setting. The Forest was dim, with the buzz of Mosquitoes audible, but the scent of Mint kept the entire Camp free of even a single Mosquito.
After a brief rest, the two began preparing dinner.
The Coconut Crab was easy to handle. Qin Tian used his Survival Knife to cut off all eight legs, then the tail, and finally sliced the body in half, removing the innards.
Having finished this, Ye Lin took the crab to the creek to wash it, while Qin Tian checked their Trapping Trap.
As soon as he picked it up, Qin Tian felt movement inside. Looking in, he found three Cao Fish, each about two fingers wide.
Qin Tian was pleasantly surprised.
This was his first time making a Trapping Trap, and he wasn’t even sure it would work. Limited by the trap’s size, he only hoped to catch one or two small fish.
But to his amazement, he caught so many, which showed the creek was rich in fish resources.
If the Trapping Trap were bigger, maybe he could catch even more next time.
Looking at the three fish nearly filling the bottle, Qin Tian felt a pang of regret, but he was already very satisfied with the unexpected haul.
“Ding—Host has completed the Fishing Master Mission and earned 500 Points.”
Amidst his joy, the System’s voice rang out, causing Qin Tian to blink in surprise.
He never expected to complete a mission so randomly—and to get 500 Points for it.
Including his previous Points, Qin Tian now had two thousand Points, enough to exchange for items in the Mall.
Good things come in pairs, and Qin Tian’s mood soared. He wanted to summon the System right away but restrained the impulse.
Two thousand Points could only buy one item, so he had to choose carefully.