The roar of a boat's engine cut through the sound of the crashing waves, drawing every eye toward the island's small, makeshift wooden dock. On the deck stood a man who looked entirely out of place in this rugged, tropical wilderness.
Chen Shao, the young and formidable CEO of the Chen Group, stepped onto the sand in a perfectly tailored navy blue suit. His face was a mask of cold professionalism, but to an observer as sharp as Chen Ying, there was a faint, unnatural twitch in his right brow—the physical manifestation of the heavy mental suggestions and "fog" he had lived under for nearly a decade.
Beside him, Director Zhao was practically bowing, his voice full of flattery. "President Chen! We didn't expect the primary sponsor to arrive so early. The contestants have only just finished their first morning of survival."
"I'm here to evaluate the progress and ensure the 'fairness' of the competition," Chen Shao said, with a polite but distant voice. His eyes drifted instinctively toward the Lowland camp, where Wang Bai was already stumbling toward him, her white dress artfully stained with just enough dirt to look like a broken, tragic bird.
"Brother Shao!" Wang Bai cried out, her voice had the perfect practiced amount of grievance. She threw herself toward him, stopping just short of a hug, looking like a victim seeking sanctuary. "You're finally here! It's been so hard... Yingying, she... she's changed so much."
Chen Shao's eyes softened, The artifact's pull on his subconscious was a heavy chain. "What did she do now, Xiao Bai? Did she refuse to cooperate with the production team again?"
[System: Warning! Target Wang Bai is actively siphoning the Guest Judge's 'Protective Affection' to boost her own status. Current Brainwashing Level: Critical.]
"She won the map and took all the men to the Highland," Wang Bai sobbed, leaning her head down to hide a smirk that only the cameras missed. "She has fresh water and meat... and we haven't eaten a single thing since we landed. She wouldn't even let us come near the spring to wash our faces. Rui-ge is so sick from the flies, and she just... she just laughed at us."
Chen Shao's jaw tightened, a familiar disappointment filling his chest. The "Chen Ying" in his mind was a selfish, volatile girl who bullied the "innocent" daughter of the woman who had served their family. He looked towards Chen Ying's camp, his heart hardening.
"I'll handle this personally," he said, his voice cold.
Followed by a swarm of camera drones and the sweating production crew, Chen Shao began the trek up the steep, winding hill. In his mind, he expected to find Chen Ying lounging in some sort of makeshift luxury, perhaps barking orders at a tired Yang Zixuan or complaining about the lack of air conditioning.
Instead, when he reached the clearing, the sight made him stop dead in his tracks.
The smell of woodsmoke and roasting wild pork was thick and savory in the air. But it wasn't the food that paralyzed him. It was the sight of his sister.
Chen Ying was crouched by a makeshift tanning rack made of branches. Her oversized, gaudy tracksuit sleeves were rolled up past her elbows, revealing thin arms covered in soot and dozens of small, angry scratches. She was currently showing the idol Zhou Yaya how to properly sharpen a piece of flint.
Her face was smudged with ash, her hair was a mess, and she looked physically exhausted—but her eyes were sharp, clear, and utterly devoid of the "bratty" desperation he had come to expect.
"Yingying," Chen Shao said, his voice booming through the quiet camp.
Chen Ying didn't jump. She didn't run to him to complain about the heat or beg for a ride back to the city on his boat. She slowly stood up, wiped her soot-stained hands on a large, clean leaf, and looked at him with a gaze so detached it was as if he were a complete stranger who had accidentally wandered into her private garden.
"President Chen," she said, her voice formal and steady. "I wasn't told the sponsors were conducting a field inspection today."
Chen Shao flinched as if he had been slapped. *President Chen?* Not 'Brother Shao'? Not even 'Eldest Brother'?
"I heard you refused to share your supplies with the rest of the group," Chen Shao said, struggling to regain his authoritative footing despite the strange hollow feeling in his chest. "This show is a team effort, Yingying. You cannot simply hoard the spring and the food because you are throwing another one of your tantrums. It reflects poorly on the family."
Chen Ying didn't argue. She didn't scream. She simply stepped aside with a graceful, fluid motion and pointed toward the massive, expertly butchered boar carcass and the rows of salted meat drying by the fire.
"The spring is at the top of a public trail, President Chen. It is open to anyone who has the physical strength and the will to climb the hill," she said calmly, her voice echoing in the silent clearing. "As for the meat, it belongs to those who risked their safety to kill and process it. Wu Haoran and Yang Zixuan worked for four hours in the heat. Zhou Yaya gathered the water and managed the smoke to keep the predators away."
She stepped closer to him, her eyes locking onto his with an intensity that made the CEO want to look away. The Heart-Protecting Pendant hidden beneath her shirt pulsed with a soft, silver light, sending an invisible ripple of 'Clarity' toward her brother's clouded mind.
"Tell me, President Chen," she whispered, her voice calm, "did Wang Bai tell you that she spent her morning sitting under a tarp while the rest of us were cornered by a three-hundred-pound beast? Or did she just tell you that I was being 'mean' again to hide the fact that she has contributed nothing to this team but tears?"
For a split second, the unnatural twitch in Chen Shao's brow stopped. The "fog" in his mind flickered like a dying lightbulb. He looked at the massive, dangerous beast his sister had somehow conquered, then at her blood-stained socks, and then back down the hill at the pristine, tear-streaked Wang Bai waiting for him to play the hero.
The reality before his eyes didn't match the "script" that had been written in his head for years.
[System: Ding! First Crack in Brainwashing Detected! Chen Shao's Confusion Level: 15%.]
[Points Earned: 40. Account Balance: 92 Points.]