Chapter 474

"There she is!" The group had just emerged from the woods when they spotted a small figure huddled by the shore, sobbing uncontrollably. Mina's eyes widened in disbelief. "There really is a little girl crying here?" Frederick frowned slightly. A young child alone on a deserted island's beach—something about this didn't sit right with him. Mina took Jane by the hand and approached the girl, sitting down beside her. "Hey there, why are you crying all by yourself?" Startled by the voices, the girl lifted her head, her frightened eyes darting between Mina and Jane. She flinched back slightly. "Wh-who are you?" "I'm Mina, and this is my little sister, Jane. We're here to film a show," Mina explained honestly. "How did you end up here? Are you alone? Where are your parents?" Mina pressed gently. The girl's lips trembled, and suddenly, she burst into loud, heart-wrenching sobs. In the next moment, she threw herself at Jane, clinging to her tightly. "Waaah... I'm so glad to see you! I thought I was going to die... waaah..." After crying for what felt like ages, the girl finally managed to speak between hiccups. "My name is Aubree Colin... but everyone calls me Aubree." She explained that she had come to the beach with her parents for vacation. While playing in the water, she had wandered too far into the deep. Just as she tried to swim back, a sudden storm had swept over the sea. She had fainted from fright, and when she came to, she found herself on this beach. Mina gave Aubree a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "It's okay now. We'll take you back to shore to find your mom." Director Xing immediately contacted the police and learned that a little girl named Aubree had indeed been swept away by the waves, and a search-and-rescue team was already combing the waters. After informing the authorities that they had found Aubree on the island and could bring her back, Director Xing hung up and reached out to the production crew's logistics team. Given the unexpected situation with Aubree, the show abandoned its original plan of having the young participants search for the production boat on their own. Instead, Director Xing simply asked for the vessel's location and led everyone straight there. To protect Aubree's privacy, the crew also halted the live broadcast. The moment she boarded the ship, WMina flopped onto the deck with a long, satisfied sigh. "Whew, that feels amazing!" Jane sat cross-legged beside her sister. "Sis, Uncle Xing said the three days we filmed on the island will just be edited into a preview—not even the official first episode. So the challenges we faced were the easiest of the whole show. The places we’re going next will be way tougher than this island. If you’re already this exhausted, should we even keep going?" "Of course we’re going! Why wouldn’t we?" Mina scrambled up and sat cross-legged with exaggerated seriousness. "Do I look like the kind of person who backs down at the first sign of difficulty?" "Nope!" With both hands, Mina made a big X over her chest, her expression full of righteous determination. "Your sister is a warrior who only grows stronger with every setback! I’ll never give up so easily!" "Come on, didn’t Uncle Xing say they prepared a feast for us on the ship?" "Let's go in and feast!" Mina grabbed Little Jane's hand and pulled her up, striding confidently toward the cabin with an air of triumph. Inside, the crew had laid out a long banquet table overflowing with all kinds of food and pastries. And unbelievably there was even fried chicken and fries. After three days of nothing but dry bread and fish—not even a taste of seafood—Mina couldn't help but swallow hard, her mouth watering. The other kids were just as entranced, their wide eyes glued to the spread. The entire cabin echoed with the sound of tiny gulps as they fought back drool. Aubree's stomach even let out a loud growl, and she instinctively clutched it with both hands. "Aubree, are you really hungry?" asked Hazel, standing beside her with a puzzled look. Aubree lowered her head and nodded meekly, murmuring, "After I washed up on that beach... I was too scared to look for food." Instantly, the other children turned to her with sympathetic gazes. Though their meals had been repetitive over the past three days, thanks to Mina's fishing skills and Jane's decent cooking—plus the fact that they could trade for extra bread with whatever they scavenged—none of them had gone truly hungry. Right now, their drooling was more about craving than starvation! Meanwhile, Director Xing, who had been riding a wave of inexplicable confidence ever since Jane's approval, stepped forward with a megaphone. "Kids, you've all worked hard these past three days, and you've done an amazing job. To reward you, our crew has prepared a grand feast for dinner!" "Alright everyone, you may now take your seats and dig in!" As soon as the words left his mouth, the children scrambled with their tiny hands and feet, quickly settling into their designated chairs. "Let's eat!" At Director Xing's command, the little ones immediately began eating with cheerful enthusiasm. A staff member from the production team chuckled and teased Director Xing, "With the way these kids are chowing down like little piglets, if we film this and post it online, it’ll definitely go viral—way more popular than those competitive eaters!" Director Xing's eyes lit up, and he promptly signaled the cameramen to start rolling. Even if they couldn’t livestream, they could still capture footage of their tiny guests to use during post-production! Once Aubree had eaten her fill, she patted her round little belly and climbed down from her chair. She then approached a staff member and asked for cups and juice. After pouring juice for everyone, she stood at the head of the long dining table and bowed deeply at a perfect ninety-degree angle. "Thank you all for saving me. I will definitely repay your kindness someday!" Mina waved her hand sheepishly. "Oh, it was nothing, really! Just a small thing!" "Come on, Aubree even poured juice for us—let’s all have a toast! Uncles and aunties, raise your glasses too!" Mina declared, lifting her cup high. The kids adored playing pretend-adult, and they eagerly followed suit, raising their cups with exaggerated seriousness. The production crew, already fond of the children, indulged them with affectionate smiles and raised their glasses as well. Aubree beamed at Mina and lifted her cup. "Thank you, Mina." Thank goodness for an idiot like Mina—she didn't even have to bother with pleasantries to trick these fools into drinking the juice. Inside the cabin, everyone happily downed their glasses of juice. Less than three minutes later, one by one, they all collapsed unconscious. The sweet, innocent expression on Aubree’s face vanished in an instant, replaced by icy ruthlessness. She strode over to Jane, who was slumped face-down on the table, pinched the girl’s chin, and tilted her head up. Her cold, disdainful eyes raked over the child’s milky-white cheeks before she snorted. "Hmph. Some genius. Knocked out by a single glass of juice." With that, she yanked out the earpiece hidden beneath her clothes. "Doctor, they're all unconscious." "Excellent. The extraction team has arrived—they'll board your ship shortly to retrieve you and Jane." "What about the others?" Aubree’s gaze swept over the unconscious figures sprawled around the cabin. "Don’t worry about them. The team will handle it." "Understood." No sooner had she replied than the sound of footsteps echoed across the deck outside.