Culinary God in Wilderness

Chapter 249: Chapter 182: Live Squid, The Second Release

Instantly, the twenty small deer inside the iron cage retreated in unison, huddling in the corner closest to the cockpit to stay as far away from the light source as possible.

Their round, black pupils were filled with wariness, and their large ears stood erect.

"Ten white-tailed deer and ten black-tailed deer. They’re all farm-raised, so they’re not very wild. However, the farm is massive, so it’s practically free-range, and they’ve maintained a decent level of wariness."

A staff member handed over a brochure about the deer. Robert didn’t look at it, instead passing it directly to Daniel.

Daniel quickly flipped through a few pages and nodded at him.

"It’s about what the brochure says. These are all juvenile deer, with an average weight of no more than 40 kilograms. Some of the does are even just a little over 30 kilograms."

They had deliberately chosen this age range. Due to the unique habits of white-tailed deer, adults are extremely cautious and difficult to hunt without long-range weapons.

Black-tailed deer are comparatively less cautious and grow larger, but both species are expert runners and swimmers adept at navigating through the woods.

To lower the hunting difficulty for the contestants, juvenile deer were the most suitable choice. Plus, being farm-raised reduced their wariness even more; they wouldn’t necessarily choose to flee the moment they spotted a person.

These twenty deer also had white tags on their ears. They looked like plastic but were actually made of a biodegradable, all-natural, and non-polluting corn fiber product.

"Where should we take them to be released?"

"Let’s just release them here," Robert said, waving his hand dismissively.

"Right now, most of the contestants are gathered around the Lake Lagobaiano area, and a few others are over by the Dalian Mountain Range. Our current position is just northwest of the center of that lake cluster."

"If we release them here, no matter which way they run, there’s a good chance the contestants will spot them."

"Besides, since most contestants are by the lake, they’ll likely drive the deer toward the Dalian Mountain Range for us. We won’t have to do a thing."

The staff member nodded, pulled off the entire camouflage tarp, opened the cage door, and gave an "OK" sign toward the cockpit.

The staffer in the cockpit nodded back, casually pressed a button, and the entire cargo bed jolted as it began to slowly tilt upward.

Just like a dump truck unloading sand, as the angle of the bed gradually increased, the small deer finally lost their footing and slid out one after another.

The startled animals struggled, hooves flailing. The moment they landed, they shot forward several meters and, with a WHOOSH, vanished into the darkness.

Both of these deer species are naturally solitary. Even though they were juveniles, they would at most gather in groups of two or three; most would likely split off to find their own hiding spots.

"Robert, what’s the situation on your end? Are the points set?"

"Of course they are. I have it all in my notebook. For the released prey: 10 points for a grouse, 30 points for a deer. For native prey, a Green Iguana is worth 1 point, and so are most sea fish. There are bonus points based on size, difficulty to catch, and rarity."

"For example, a palm-sized squid is worth 1 point. If they’re too small, it’s two for 1 point. Blue crabs are so abundant that it’s three for 1 point. A Lobster is worth 5 points..."

"Sounds reasonable enough," Daniel said, nodding thoughtfully. "What about shellfish like American Oysters or Green Mussels?"

"Ten for 1 point. After all, they’re incredibly easy to gather. The coast is littered with them."

"And coconut crabs?"

...

The corner of Robert’s mouth twitched, and he rolled his eyes.

’So after all that, this is what you were getting at, huh?’

"Coconut crabs are a rare species, and they’re very large. After a discussion with the planning department, we decided to set their point value in the 30-point tier."

"See? Lin doesn’t even need to participate in the hunt. As long as he’s living by the coast, just eating his daily meals is a way of racking up points. Meanwhile, the contestants in the forest have no other way to score."

"Sure they do. Wild mushrooms, wild plants, wild fruits... all that can be converted into points."

He said as much, but even Robert himself wasn’t confident comparing those options to life on the coast.

’We designed this season wanting to see the contestants showcase their skills in a dangerous forest. How did it turn into another vacation for Lin?’

’Last time he was vacationing near the Arctic Circle, and this time he’s vacationing by the sea. Can’t the kid feel a little more pressure?’

Perhaps influenced by Lin Chen and Andre, the remaining 41 contestants were clearly starting to move north after the heavy rain of the past two days.

More than twenty of them, having already built decent shelters, were hesitant to take the risk and hadn’t moved yet.

The remaining dozen or so contestants only had simple, temporary shelters, so moving didn’t make much difference to them. After hearing from the audience that the two strongest contestants from the previous season had both gone to the coast and were thriving, they too decided to head for the sea.

The fastest-moving contestant had already reached the summit of the Dalian Mountain Range and would be able to descend into the river valley at its base by today or tomorrow.

While this wasn’t what the production team had hoped for, looking at it from another perspective, the second batch of released prey wasn’t very large to begin with—only twenty animals.

Fewer competitors meant the contestants who stayed behind in the forest had a better chance of capturing this prey and scoring a huge number of points in one go.

A coconut crab was, after all, a rare prize. To earn 30 points under normal circumstances, a contestant would have to collect at least three hundred shells or catch ninety crabs.

Even if the coast was teeming with such seafood, once more competitors arrived, there still wouldn’t be enough to go around.