Dennis, who was standing beside Xia Chuan, gasped in shock at his actions. After thinking for a moment, he held his breath and nervously moved closer to the phone.

After the call connected, Xia Chuan didn't make a sound. He just listened to the phone with a cold, expressionless face--

At first, there was a deathly silence on the other end of the line, as if challenging one's psychological endurance, so quiet that it made people feel uneasy.

Fortunately it was Xia Chuan holding the phone. If it were Dennis, he probably would have dropped the phone from trembling before the other party made a sound.

After about ten seconds of silence, a strange electric current noise suddenly started, buzzing and chirping, somewhat shrill, grating on the ears uncomfortably, making Xia Chuan frown.

The electric current noise fluctuated, seemingly affected by the intermittently strong and weak signal, stuttering on and off.

Xia Chuan patiently endured this ear-scraping noise and listened for a good while without saying a word. Then the electric current noise suddenly stopped as if a pause button had been pressed. After a one-second pause, a "beep beep" busy tone started.

He took the phone away from his ear without even lifting an eyelid, and slapped it back into Dennis's arms, telling him, "Stop shaking, it's already hung up."

Dennis fumbled to hold the phone, finally stopping his sieve-like shaking. He took a deep breath to calm himself a little, then opened the recent call log again.

Staring at the name at the very top, he patted his chest with one hand and muttered to himself like a lunatic for a long time, "Horror movies are all fake, horror movies are all fake..." Then he straightened his expression, and said to Xia Chuan with a serious face, "I think there's a problem."

Xia Chuan: "What problem? Explain."

"This place is very strange. Whether it's the randomly jumping phone signal or that weird phone call just now, it makes me feel... that this place may not be as simple as just a prehistoric world." Dennis explained slowly, seemingly unable to find the right words to express his thoughts.

In fact, after hearing this, Xia Chuan was silent for several seconds before resisting the urge to roll his eyes at him, thinking this was simply nonsense.

As long as one has eyes and a brain, one can notice that something is wrong. Does this really need to be stated with a serious face saying "I think"?

People's minds can easily short-circuit in tense situations, and Dennis was probably in this state right now. He gestured with both hands many times but just couldn't express what he wanted to say. In the end, he could only give up and shrug, "Alright, there's too little information. Let me observe some more."

With that said, he put down the phone, spread the wet pile of clothes and backpack on the rocks by the fire, stuffed the items he took out back into the waterproof bag one by one, then picked up that strange-looking, crudely made black box and started fiddling with it.

Watching him move back and forth, accompanied by the light crackling of the burning fire, Xia Chuan felt that the pain medication and anti-inflammatory drugs he swallowed seemed to be taking effect at the same time. The crushing pain all over his body eased quite a bit, gradually becoming not too hard to bear.

The events that happened on this day were complex and bizarre, not something that could be figured out in an instant. As for what kind of situation the world they were in now was exactly in, that was even more impossible to fully understand so quickly. Drawing conclusions now was really a bit too rash.

But one thing was certain - although this stone cave could serve as a shelter, it was only temporary. They couldn't possibly stay put here, huddling in the cave all day long.

Maybe tomorrow, maybe the day after... they would have to return to the shore eventually. After all, humans are creatures who feel at ease with their feet on the ground.

And before facing more unknown dangers, Xia Chuan decided to seize the temporary safety to rest up and recharge. Most importantly, he needed to heal his lower back as soon as possible -- in this kind of world, relying on someone like Dennis who barely had any muscle was no different from courting death.

Due to the special nature of his profession, Xia Chuan had maxed out his skill points in sleeping -- once he decided to sleep to recharge, he could quickly put himself into a sleep state within two to three minutes, then wake up at the appropriate time.

Therefore, even though the pain in his body had only eased a little, far from relaxed and comfortable, he still closed his eyes and quickly fell asleep.

From the time he suffered the shipwreck and sank into the deep sea, whether in a coma or asleep, Xia Chuan kept dreaming of the same scene -- several ghastly pale faces gradually floated up from the depths of the sea. Then, when they were about to reach the surface, allowing Xia Chuan to see their features clearly, they would suddenly scatter cleanly like bubbles in the water, leaving no trace to be found.

After this scene repeated itself several times, Xia Chuan vaguely heard howling wind in his sleep, one gust after another, continuous and unending.

About a dozen seconds later, Xia Chuan suddenly opened his eyes. His pupils were a bit light, a watery brown color, looking very bright and clear under the dancing firelight, not at all dazed like someone who had just woken up from sleep.

Rather he seemed like someone who had been resting with his eyes closed, pondering over matters.

"You're awake?" Dennis's voice rang out. Xia Chuan looked over and saw the guy crouching at the cave entrance, not knowing what he was looking at. His speech was quite a bit faster than usual, his voice tense, sounding very nervous. "That's good then. Trouble is coming."

"What trouble?" Xia Chuan frowned and listened carefully for a moment, then understood what Dennis meant -- a storm was brewing, it was really unsafe to stay out at sea.

"This cave is too low, the sea surface outside is at a very dangerous distance from the bottom of the cave. If a storm kicks up, triggering giant waves to crash this way, it will only take a few hits before this stone cave is flooded. By then, it will be hard for us to leave. The feeling of drowning to death is really too miserable, I don't want to experience it again in this lifetime."

The weather here was even more capricious than the Bermuda, changing on a whim. Before Dennis spoke, the wind wasn't that strong yet. By the time Dennis finished a sentence, the howling outside had intensified by at least double.

The sea surface was stirred into chaos by the sudden storm, with giant waves one after another. White, foaming waves splashed into the stone cave several times, showing no signs of abating, but instead growing stronger... Soon, the floor of the stone cave was covered in a layer of water.

The water was rising rapidly. What was originally just a thin layer of water had already submerged half of their lower legs after two huge waves crashed in.

It all happened in the blink of an eye. If it continued at this speed, most of the stone cave would be flooded within just three or four minutes.

Xia Chuan was thankful that his waist and back were strong and resilient. Despite being hit by the mosasaurus's tail, his spine wasn't broken. Though it hurt, with the help of medication and gritting his teeth, he could at least stand up.

The blue flame that Shen Lan had ignited in the cave had been extinguished by the incoming waves. The cave was now pitch black. Fortunately, Dennis had already packed his scattered belongings into his half-dry backpack earlier, saving them the trouble of fumbling for things in the water.

But even with everyone awake and their belongings gathered, it was of no use because they couldn't find anything to help them reach the shore.

Watching the water level rise higher and higher, with the huge waves unrelenting and the howling of the storm growing louder, Xia Chuan grabbed a protruding rock at the cave entrance. He stuck his head out to scan the outer cliff face, then turned to Dennis and said decisively, "Let's go, climb out!"

"Cl-climb out? What do you mean?!" Dennis was startled. With his backpack on, he also poked his head out and looked at the outer wall of the stone cave, following Xia Chuan's gaze.

He then said in a near-crying tone, "Do we have to climb? The top of this stone cave is so high, and the outer wall is even taller and shaking so much. What if we accidentally fall halfway?"

If there were any other temporary shelter options, Xia Chuan wouldn't have suggested this. But now, apart from leaving the cave, climbing along the outer wall to reach higher ground, and finding some cover to rely on, there was no second path to choose.

Seeing that the water had already reached their waists and even higher giant waves were still crashing towards them, Xia Chuan was already half out of the cave when suddenly, with a "splash," Shen Lan's handsome face emerged from the water. He stood steadily beside Xia Chuan, wiping the water droplets from his face and shaking his hair. He grabbed Xia Chuan's wrist, stopping his movement.

Xia Chuan was stunned by his sudden appearance and hadn't yet reacted when he heard Shen Lan actually speak, his voice low and slightly hoarse, with a somewhat strange pronunciation, saying, "Come, I'll take you ashore."

"What about... me..." The forgotten Dennis felt like crying at that moment. He held back again and again, but finally couldn't help himself and said to Xia Chuan, "Did you two really not know each other before? Or did I offend him in the past and then lose my memory?"

Xia Chuan: "..."