Culinary God in Wilderness

"Let’s call it a day. Time to enjoy our short vacation. If I don’t get some sun, I’m afraid I’ll get so damp in the forest that I’ll start growing moldy green fuzz."

"Which of you two is going to help me with my sunscreen?"

"Count me out."

Andre waved his hand without a second thought. Ariana then offered the sunscreen to Lin Chen, her face as expressionless as ever.

For some reason, whenever Lin Chen saw her ice-cold face, he felt the urge to tease her.

"Don’t look at me either. I’m worried about starting rumors. It wouldn’t be good if people said I got ahead by pulling strings."

"That’s true. Although the filming location hasn’t been announced, some clever people can always figure it out. There might even be viewers on vacation just like us, watching us right now."

She nodded and offered the sunscreen to Robert.

She didn’t say a word, but she said everything.

"?"

Robert’s eyes widened as he pointed to himself. "Are you asking your boss to put sunscreen on you right now?"

"Is work over?"

"It’s over for now."

"If we’re not working, how are you my boss?"

"..."

Hei shamelessly sidled up to her. "Let me help you, Aili. Old Robert has been married for over twenty years, so it wouldn’t be good if rumors started about him. I’m single!"

"Yeah," Daniel chimed in. "He’s single. He’s not afraid."

"I am."

Without looking back, Ariana walked toward the beach.

’You’re afraid?’

Lin Chen rolled his eyes, speechless.

’Afraid my ass! Who was it that was just squeezing someone’s pecs earlier?’

He hadn’t expected this ice queen to be so emotionally stable. She had no reaction to being rejected by several people in a row. In the end, she just went to the beach, found a spot, and buried herself in the sand. She only put sunscreen on from the neck up, then covered her head completely with a straw hat, avoiding the sun altogether.

...

「Three days later.」

8:00 AM sharp.

All fifty contestants gathered at the seaside ferry dock.

Several drones were flying back and forth overhead, capturing aerial shots. All the VJs were out in full force, documenting the grand scene from every angle.

"Welcome to the survival site for the fifteenth season of Wild Survival! Hello to all our viewers! I bet you didn’t expect us to be back so soon!"

Robert wore a microphone by his ear, his tone having switched to a broadcast voice. Facing the camera, he chattered on, introducing the format of the competition and various details about Panama.

Lin Chen already knew all this information by heart and had no intention of listening. Instead, he started looking around, wanting to see what kind of contestants had shown up.

As soon as he did, he noticed something was off.

Besides the uniform sea of white faces, this time there were also black and Asian faces.

He couldn’t tell where the black contestants were from, but the few Asians he saw looked like they might be from the Philippines or Vietnam, with relatively dark skin and features typical of that region.

Whether they were outsiders like him or locals was impossible to know.

’With so many people, I can’t just tell who the potential rivals are by looking. Is it all down to luck?’

While he was sizing up the other contestants, nearly all of them recognized him and Andre.

Anyone who signed up for the competition would have definitely seen the show—most likely without missing a single episode—to pick up useful knowledge.

Combined with the posters the production team had previously released, the two of them were now practically public enemy number one. Everyone knew their strength was not to be underestimated and would certainly be on guard against them.

No one wanted two championship-caliber contestants to reach the finals. So, if anyone encountered them in the early stages, they would inevitably team up to some extent to squeeze their living space.

After quickly running through a few possibilities in his head, Lin Chen came to a conclusion.

Choosing a good starting position was more important than anything else!

First, it had to be near a source of fresh water. Second, it would be best if there was a bamboo forest. And if possible, it should be as close to the sea as it could be.

The forest was too dangerous. The seaside would be relatively safer and make it easier to find food.

The low tide in the morning and the middle of the night, in particular, were crucial times that would determine whether or not he could get food.

As he was thinking, Robert’s opening speech seemed to be wrapping up. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

At his command, the fifty contestants scrambled toward the ten speedboats docked at the shore.

Lin Chen only started strolling over after most of the others were already on the speedboats.

A glance from the corner of his eye revealed that Andre was doing much the same. A few others also weren’t in a hurry to board.

’These people... are a bit suspicious!’

Lin Chen couldn’t help but take a few extra glances, but he couldn’t be bothered to memorize their features.

This season’s competition might look like it had a lot of people, but its essence was no different. It was still the Wild Survival challenge.

The real opponent wasn’t anyone else, but himself.

All he had to do was get through each day and last as long as possible. He didn’t need to worry about what the other contestants were doing.

"Is everyone on board?"

Andre sat in a helicopter, looking down at the dense specks below. He waved his hand forcefully, and a deafening voice boomed from above.

"Depart!"

At his command, the engines of the ten speedboats roared to life simultaneously. They carried the crowd in a wide circle on the sea before heading straight for the entrance of the Panama Canal.

After entering this crucial waterway, hailed as the ’Bridge of the World’, the speedboats raced along the canal. If nothing unexpected happened, they were likely heading toward Cologne.

Along the way, the dense jungles on both banks would inexplicably rustle from time to time, with occasional black shadows flashing past.

There were no terrifying giant crocodiles to be seen on the river’s surface; instead, they saw quite a few super-massive cargo ships coming and going.

"Where are we going?" someone asked, confused.

"Cologne is one of Panama’s major cities. We can’t be competing on the outskirts of a city, can we?"