Chapter 1

• Arriving at the research base on the island, Julia Green fell ill with a high fever on her first day. With insufficient supplies yet to arrive, she had to endure in a humble tent.
• "Julia, are feeling any better?"
• At noon, her father returned from outside, still clad in his white lab coat, stained with several marks resembling dried mud, emitting an odd stench.
• The young girl, in a state of high fever, had delicate features slightly furrowed, her cheeks displaying an abnormal crimson color. Clearly, in discomfort, her beautiful eyes brimmed with tears, and with each flutter of her long eyelashes, a misty haze seemed to grow, appearing extremely pitiful.
• "Dad..."
• Julia felt every breath was a struggle, her body burning as if on fire. Clutching the thin blanket tightly, she trembled uncontrollably.
• Evan Green sat on a makeshift bed, reaching out to touch her damp, pale forehead covered in sweat, feeling the scorching heat that made him ache with concern.
• "Dad shouldn't have brought Julia here."
• Professor Evan, now in his middle years, possessed a captivatingly refined appearance. Wearing gold-rimmed glasses, he exuded an air of elegance and grace.
• Since the discovery of unknown creatures on Sicily Island, he had closely followed the news from there. To an ardent scientific researcher, this mission was not to be missed.
• So, when he received the notification, he immediately took Julia with him to join the first group of researchers on their voyage. It wasn't the first time he had involved his daughter in his work. Over the past years, he had taken his only daughter to various places for investigations and research. However, this time, the environment was unusually challenging.
• The high fever persisted, and Julia's ears began to ring faintly. Her weak hand moved slightly, reaching for her father's hand placed on her forehead.
• "Dad, you said...that you would take me wherever you go. Don't worry, I'll get better."
• Feeling the dampness in his daughter's palm, Evan nodded and picked up a glass of water from the nearby table, slowly feeding Julia some.
• "The second batch of people is about to arrive, and the medical team will come along. It will probably take about two or three days. Just wait a little longer, Julia."
• For some reason, lying in bed, Julia stiffened when the second batch of people was mentioned. Evan, who had turned to put the glass back, didn't notice this change. When he turned back, he smiled at Julia and said, "Miss Caroline is making porridge for you. It will be delivered soon. You can rest for a while."
• Watching Evan get up, Julia knew that her father was going to be busy again. In his loving gaze, she nodded slightly, "Dad, have you found them?"
• Julia's sudden curiosity caught Evan off guard, and he shook his head, taking a defeated sigh.
• "Not yet. We don't even know if they can sense our arrival. They are hidden without a trace. But we won't give up. I firmly believe that we will find them!"
• "I believe in you, Dad."
• Evan left with high spirits, leaving Julia alone in the tent, struggling to breathe.
• This research project was classified. Unlike before, when the first group arrived, the military had already been stationed on this small island.
• The first time Julia heard about the subject of this research from her father, she had an intuition that it was a fantasy.
• —Humanoid snake, a creature of half-human and half-snake.
• Yes, a month ago, someone accidentally landed on this mysterious island in the open sea, which had never been explored before. From the transmitted images and intermittent audio, the sensational secret was revealed.
• On this island, there existed an unknown species, the half-human, half-snake. Julia had seen the blurry images sent back, where she could vaguely discern a fast-moving figure in the jungle. Its upper body appeared human, but what was terrifying was that its lower body resembled that of a snake...
• Such a discovery, whether in scientific research or any field, was an undeniable surprise that humans couldn't ignore. The species that had only existed in legends and rumors had revealed itself.
• Of course, for Julia, who had been afraid of snakes since childhood, this decision to follow was a huge mistake. On the first day of arriving on the island, she saw a few soldiers catching a three-meter-long cobra and was scared. She broke into a cold sweat and couldn't get out of bed that night after being hit by a sea breeze.
• Unfortunately, she had to stay in this frightening place until her father, the leader of the research team, achieved results and left.
• The door curtain of the tent was opened again, and this time a woman came in, carrying a thermos and a paper bag.
• "Julia, are you feeling any better?"
• In the backlight, Julia struggled to sit up. The dizzy and needle-like pain all over her body forced her to lie back down.
• "Miss Caroline..."
• The woman in the white coat was only in her thirties, with her long hair neatly tied behind her head, giving her a mature and intellectual appearance.
• "Here, have some hot porridge. Your dad said you couldn't eat anything, but you have to have at least a little bit."
• As soon as the thermos was opened, the aroma of lean meat porridge permeated the air. Unfortunately, Julia couldn't smell it. She only looked at the spoonful of fragile meat paste and glutinous rice that Miss Caroline fed her, and couldn't help but open her lips.
• "Is it delicious? I especially had someone prepare wild boar meat for you. It's so tender. When you feel better, I'll take you to get some grilled meat. I know you love that."
• Rarely having an appetite, Julia was extremely moved that she could eat something.
• "Thank you, Miss Caroline."
• When Julia was nine years old, her parents divorced because her mother couldn't tolerate her father being away from home all the time and the underground laboratory in their house. Her mother, the owner of a billion-dollar company, quickly remarried, and Julia was handed over to her father. Since then, Evan had to take on the responsibility of taking care of Julia. When she was of school age, she was sent to boarding school, but during vacations, Evan had to take her with him.
• Over the years, Julia had accompanied Evan's team to tropical rainforests to study plants and to the Antarctic to investigate unknown fish...
• At first, Evan was at a loss about taking care of a child, but fortunately, their assistant, Miss Caroline, volunteered to take care of her temporarily, and that temporary arrangement lasted for many years.
• Compared to the cold mother in her memory, Julia liked Miss Caroline very much. Gradually, she also understood why Caroline always took such good care of her. The way she looked at her father said it all. But Julia didn't mind at all, on the contrary, she even supported it.
• "Miss Caroline, what's that?" Julia's hand trembled slightly as she pointed at the leather paper bag on the table.
• "Just now, when I was coming over, I ran into some soldiers under Samuel's command. They said it was fruit and asked me to bring it to you. I took a look, they're all wild fruits from the island, very fresh."
• When Samuel was mentioned, Caroline's eyes were filled with laughter and teasing, making Julia's already blushing face even hotter.
• "Miss Caroline!" Julia pouted and looked at Caroline coquettishly.
• Caroline laughed even more and fed Julia a few spoonfuls of porridge, saying, "I heard Samuel personally picked them. Wow, that young man is really impressive. If he could, he would have brought them himself, if he wasn't so busy."
• Julia could only helplessly listen to her words, after all, there were quite a few people who knew about her and Samuel Hill's relationship.
• Childhood sweethearts, inseparable, destined to be married... these words were fitting for the two of them, even Evan was happy to see them together.