Lee So-yeon's final ripple had indeed worked, and Chuck had promised that he wouldn't touch Lee Na-eun without her consent from now on.
This was undoubtedly the reason why the two sisters were currently in such low spirits and the atmosphere was so stiff.
After Tang Yumo's phone call... or perhaps even before that, Lee Na-eun, having learned of all this, would never have agreed to her sister paying such a resolute price for her sake, but Lee So-yeon had clearly made up her mind this time.
So during the time Chuck was absent, the two of them had very likely gone through one argument after another.
To the point where now, they looked so exhausted that they didn't even bother to put up a polite front before Chuck.
However, this worked out perfectly.
Because Chuck was also pretty much tired of playing along with this negotiation game that was no different from playing house. After accepting the "final trade" from Lee So-yeon and the other women, there was no longer any need for them to play mind games with each other.
Lee So-yeon wanted to protect her sister from harm, while Lee Na-eun refused to accept that protection, and Chuck was dissatisfied with Lee So-yeon's attempt to exploit his morality this time.
All three of them had their own thoughts, and now that they happened to gather together, it was the perfect time to bring all this to a conclusion.
"You want to use your own proactive submission and that of the remaining companions to exchange for your sister's safety? No problem."
Under the completely stunned gazes of the Lee sisters, Chuck looked at Lee So-yeon and repeated his words, pausing for emphasis on every syllable.
"Since you are so determined, when the time comes, I'm going to fuck you right in front of your sister."
"I'm not just going to fuck you; I'm going to fuck you ruthlessly. I'll fuck you until you scream so crazily your vocal cords tear, fuck you until your pussy can never close again, and then you'll cry bitterly while spraying your juices all over the floor, finally turning into a puddle of twitching meat, rolling your eyes and sticking your tongue out."
"This is the price you pay for trading your own and all your companions' bodies for your sister's purity. You wanted to protect her? Then I'll let her take a good look—let her see exactly how her sister is turned into the most pathetic, filthiest submissive cum-dump just for her."
Chuck sat by the fire, staring at Lee So-yeon as he delivered that spine-chilling declaration word by word. Then, his gaze slowly shifted to the pale, trembling Lee Na-eun beside her.
His voice suddenly turned gentle.
But to Lee Na-eun's ears, it sounded more like the whispers of a demon.
"Lee Na-eun, don't worry. Since I promised your sister, I won't touch you from now on."
"But I want you to remember every single word I just said, every minute and every second until that moment arrives, and then thoroughly imagine the scenes I described."
As his words fell, the stone cave fell into a deathly silence.
Lee So-yeon's fingernails dug deep into her palms, her knuckles and face turning equally white, her eyes filled with despair, yet she couldn't utter a single word.
Lee Na-eun just stared blankly at Chuck. Her messy pink short hair beside her thin cheeks trembled in unison with her shoulders. Tears instantly welled up in her eyes, but she could only bite her lower lip tightly until it bled.
Behind Chuck, the women who had been chattering around him just moments ago were now looking at each other in dismay, unable to hide the unease on their faces.
The scenes Chuck had just described were far too specific. It sounded as if he wasn't just talking, but truly intended to turn her sister into that broken state right in front of Lee Na-eun the moment he took them back.
However, this "final trade," while Lee So-yeon's idea, involved more than just her alone.
Everyone present, except Lee Na-eun, had a share in this "credit."
If Chuck was serious about those words, did that also mean that, apart from Lee So-yeon, they would all be turned into that state by him when the time came?
Thinking of this, the smiles vanished from all the women's faces—including Sofia, who had already slept with Chuck once. The fear in their eyes as they looked at Chuck grew increasingly thick.
Sensing the change in the surrounding atmosphere, Chuck acted as if nothing had happened, continuing to sit quietly by the fire to enjoy this momentary peace.
A display of dominance—often, it is absolutely necessary.
In all fairness, though these women in the northern deserted island settlement had superficially decided to rely on him and even offer their bodies to him, Chuck knew they still had the potential to be restless.
Whether it was the Lee sisters who had constantly been playing their little mind games, Tang Yumo who had never been stable from the very beginning, or the highly opportunistic He Xiaoyu and Sofia—among this group, the only girl who could truly be called honest was probably the simple girl from Henan, Wang Xinrui.
So, rather than showing them warmth and care from the start, making them fear him from the bottom of their hearts was the more convenient and trouble-saving choice.
The situation unfolded smoothly exactly as he had planned. As he took a short rest by the fire, neither the Lee sisters opposite him, nor Tang Yumo hiding in the corner, nor the women behind him dared to make a sound. It wasn't until he patted his pants, stood up, looked around, and bid farewell to the women that hesitant responses finally rose from the group.
Chuck looked at the remaining eight females in the northern settlement, glanced at the two bamboo baskets of food he had brought placed in the corner, and after a moment of thought, reached his hand toward his waist and pulled out a special item.
The moment they saw that thing, even the deathly-pale Lee So-yeon's eyes widened slightly.
It was a well-crafted axe that gleamed with a cold metallic luster!
Chuck took two steps forward and, amidst Wang Xinrui's dazed expression, placed the iron axe into her hands just like that.
"Brother Chuck?? What is... this for?"
Chuck looked into Wang Xinrui's simple eyes, which were round with shock. His voice remained calm but carried an unquestionable authority.
"From now on, you will temporarily manage everyone here for me. Every evening between six and seven o'clock, report the situation to me over the phone."
Wang Xinrui held the heavy iron axe in both hands, completely stunned.
"Brother Chuck, why me?"
"There is no 'why.' Just do as you're told."
Hearing Chuck's non-negotiable tone, although Wang Xinrui felt somewhat terrified in her heart, she could only nod obediently. Because of her fear of Chuck, that originally enthusiastic Henan accent carried a slight tremor: "I... I understand, Brother Chuck."
Chuck nodded with satisfaction, then reached out to pat her slightly trembling shoulder due to nervousness, his voice softening a bit:
"After the next storm ends, I will come and bring all of you to my residence in the southern jungle of the deserted island. But until then, you need to hold on in this cave for a while. Take this and prepare plenty of firewood. I don't want to find anyone frozen to death in this cave after the next storm is over."
Once he finished speaking, the eyes of the surrounding women also focused on the iron axe one after another, and their expressions turned into joy.
That's right... this was an axe!
Having struggled in this deserted island jungle for so many days, how could these women not understand exactly how important this tool was.
With this thing, chopping wood and gathering food would become much easier. Even those bananas and wild fruits nearby that were hard to reach because they grew too high could finally be easily gathered from now on.
With this thing, their living conditions were almost certain to undergo a massive, qualitative improvement!
Wang Xinrui gripped the axe handle tightly, the expression on her face turning increasingly serious. Finally, she nodded vigorously, her voice carrying determination:
"I understand, Brother Chuck. I'll definitely do a good job."
Chuck gave a slight nod, said nothing more, patted his pant legs, turned around, and walked toward the cave entrance.
As his figure disappeared outside the cave once more, the women inside remained in their places, falling into a long silence once again.
Gratitude and fear toward Chuck, along with panic and unease about the future, intertwined in their hearts.
Because of this man's arrival, their originally peaceful but hopeless lives had undergone earth-shattering changes, and this change was finally nearing its conclusion.
Lee Na-eun bit her lower lip with her pearly white teeth so hard that a trace of blood seeped from the corner of her mouth.
Although everyone present had complicated feelings at this moment, no one's feelings could be more tortured than hers.
But even the Lee Na-eun who had once not hesitated to use a hunger strike to protest her sister's decision, at this stage, ultimately could only accept this cruel reality.
Just as Chuck had just said, until the day he took them back, Lee Na-eun would repeatedly replay in her mind what would happen when that time came. Then, looking at her sister beside her, full of resolve yet still retaining her chaste body, she would agonizingly wait for that destined, unchangeable conclusion.
Similarly, Lee So-yeon also had to spend this time waiting for the fate she had chosen to descend upon her, while watching her sister suffer because of her choice, and then asking herself over and over again in her heart:
"Did I... really do the wrong thing?"
...
To be honest, Jiang Qi's suggestion to Chuck that day couldn't be considered completely useless, but for Chuck, compared to whether he could fuck a specific woman, he cared much more about whether his own mood was smooth and unimpeded.
So, this level of retaliation was absolutely necessary. He wanted Lee So-yeon to understand that in this chess game where he held an absolute advantage and controlled everything, even the slightest bit of resistance was something he could not tolerate.
After all, objectively speaking, given Chuck's current situation, being willing to give the Lee sisters a chance to sit by the chessboard was already considered an act of mercy.
With the supply provisions he offered on this trip, plus an iron axe that far exceeded their current technology tree, at least for the next period of time, Chuck wouldn't need to worry about these women and could focus his energy entirely on the major event he was about to face.
Upgrading the Advanced Furnace into a Forging Furnace would not only allow him to smelt the steel beams needed for the house upgrade but also create sturdy and durable training equipment for his workout plan.
Next, before the stormy days officially arrived, he had to raise his base physical stats as much as possible through training.
Finally, just like in the past, he had to discuss a detailed hunting plan in advance with Valentina, and simulate specific scenarios to conduct some simple drills.
In a life-and-death struggle of this magnitude, there is no such thing as too much preparation.
With more and more important people by his side, Chuck was already different from that hot-blooded youth who could gamble his life at any moment. What he wanted now was no longer some bloody slaughter, but a guaranteed victory.
So upon returning home, Chuck continued without stopping to prepare the materials for upgrading the furnace.
Collecting and cutting stone bricks, firing iron pipes in the furnace, synthesizing concrete from clay and lime...
As each material was prepared, it also meant time was ticking away bit by bit.
Ultimately, preparing the materials to upgrade the Forging Furnace cost Chuck a whole day's time, mobilizing the strength of the entire family.
The following evening, when the final piece of material was added to the blueprint by Chuck, the progress bar filled completely. The familiar blue light flickered, and the successful upgrade light screen finally appeared.
[Forging Furnace — Upgrade Complete!]
[Prompt: Detected matching facility 'Forging Table' near the 'Forging Furnace'. Facilities automatically integrated into a composite facility — Blacksmith Shop!]
[Congratulations! You have progressed from a Kiln to a Furnace, then to a Forging Furnace, and finally combined it with a Forging Table to create your very own deserted island Blacksmith Shop!]
[From now on, how your Blacksmith Shop should be upgraded, and what crafting conditions to add, will be completely designed and decided by you. The Blueprint System will provide evaluations and suggestions regarding quality and layout based on your design. Please freely explore the possibilities of fire and metal!]