Chapter 1

"Hack... hack... hack! Sun villain! You're just bullying me because I can't move. If you have the guts, tell me where you live, and I'll buy a rocket and blow up your whole house with a nuclear bomb! I'm the guy who has a rocket launch company, do you fear me or not?!" Hong Tao was choked by a mouthful of water, his nose felt like it was on fire, and he was almost dead. How could someone still bully him? Was there any justice in this world?

"Plip... plip..." His curses went unanswered, and the sharp voice from before had disappeared. However, the sound that reached his ears made Hong Tao a bit confused. It sounded very much like the sound of waves hitting objects. When he sailed around the world in a sailboat, he had become extremely familiar with this sound. Could the Super Rat be leaking? That shouldn't be the case. If even Amundsen, who was so reliable, could deceive him, the world would really be over.

"Hisss..." Suddenly, Hong Tao felt something was off. He shivered and gradually felt a bit cold!

Ever since his body became paralyzed, he couldn't feel cold or heat, and even if someone cut him with a knife, he wouldn't feel any pain. But now he could feel the cold, which was completely unscientific! Not only that, he could also feel his arms and legs moving continuously. The heavy sleepiness that had enveloped Hong Tao was instantly dispelled, and he struggled to open his heavy eyelids.

"Damn! This is really a bad end? How did I end up on the sea surface? Where is my Super Rat?" With a blinding ray of sunlight, Hong Tao finally saw clearly. He wasn't in the cabin but was holding onto a piece of broken wood, floating on the sea surface. There was no sign of the Super Rat anywhere.

"Ah... I can move... I can move... hahahaha... cough, cough, cough!" Then, Hong Tao naturally discovered that his arms and legs could move. If they couldn't, how could he hold onto the piece of wood? This huge surprise left him speechless. He had to laugh to the sky, but the situation wasn't quite right. Just as he opened his mouth to laugh, a wave splashed over him, filling his mouth with bitter seawater.

"This doesn't look like the Caribbean Sea, and that thing in the distance doesn't look like Pyramid Island. Where is my pyramid?" After confirming that his body could move, Hong Tao began to observe his surroundings.

This observation immediately revealed many issues. First, the color and temperature of the seawater were very different from the Caribbean Sea. Second, there was a vague outline of a small island in the distance, but its shape and size didn't match Pyramid Island, and there was no pyramid reflecting sunlight. Finally, he noticed a small boat appearing and disappearing on his left. The specific type of boat was unclear, but it was definitely a boat, and it seemed to have a sail.

"Hey... help! Over here... over here..." Hong Tao roughly calculated that he was at least 2 kilometers from the island. With this piece of broken wood, he could swim there, but it would be very tiring. If he could get a ride, wouldn't it be easier? So, he treaded water, trying to stand the two-meter-long piece of wood upright in the water. He shouted and let the wood fall back into the sea, using the sound transmitted through the water, which would travel farther than through the air.

Whether it was Hong Tao's method or the boat's direction, the distance between them gradually decreased, and Hong Tao's heart grew colder. The boat was too small! It was less than 5 meters long, with a short mast and a black sail the size of a quilt. There were only two people on the boat: one holding the mast at the side and another at the stern, holding something that looked like an oar and moving it back and forth. Since the distance was still a bit far, Hong Tao couldn't see their faces clearly, but he knew they were both shirtless.

This attire and the appearance of the boat made Hong Tao a bit puzzled. What era was this? How could someone still sail such a small boat and be shirtless? It might have been acceptable before liberation, but this method of fishing was long gone, at least in the places Hong Tao had been. Could he have ended up in Africa? Hong Tao regretted it a bit. What if they were Somali pirates? It would be better to swim to the island, no matter how tiring it was. If he were killed in the open sea, it would be too unjust.

The people on the boat clearly saw Hong Tao and pointed at him. The person at the stern, who was rowing, increased the speed, and the person at the front adjusted the sail's direction. The small boat headed straight for Hong Tao.

"Southeast Asia?" When the small boat was about a hundred meters away, Hong Tao felt a bit more relieved. He could see that the people on the boat were not black, but not white either. They were short and looked like Southeast Asians. But he still regretted it. Southeast Asians weren't very reliable either. The Malacca Strait was a region with frequent pirate activity. Local fishermen could be fishermen when they encountered fish and pirates when they encountered lone tourists.

"Hey... kid! %￥&&*%￥?" As the small boat approached Hong Tao, the person rowing stopped, and the sail was lowered. The elderly man with gray hair and beard shouted at Hong Tao. This shout made Hong Tao feel a bit more relieved. Although he didn't understand everything, he could tell it was Chinese, similar to Min Nan dialect.

"My name is Hong Tao... the boat capsized, and I'm the only one..." But Hong Tao still wasn't completely at ease. The two men's attire was too strange. They were shirtless, and their pants looked rough and thick. Instead of a belt, they had a cloth strap around their waists, which looked very ancient. Who was Hong Tao? He had already traveled through time twice. If this was another time travel, it would be his third time. He was full of caution. It was best not to reveal his identity until he understood the situation, otherwise, he would have no room to lie later.

"Hold on... hold on!" The two men on the boat didn't immediately pull Hong Tao aboard or let the boat get too close. They huddled together and whispered for a moment. Then the old man raised the sail again, and the middle-aged man at the stern threw a rope to Hong Tao, signaling him to hold on, and started rowing again.

Now Hong Tao was truly relieved because he saw caution and vigilance in the eyes of the man rowing. It wasn't just that he was wary of them; they were also wary of him. This made things easier, indicating that they were not pirates. Hong Tao also noticed that they had no intention of letting him board the boat. They just gave him a rope to hold onto, and the small boat continued to move, dragging him like a dead dog toward the island.