Chap­ter 20 – The beasts of Tarzan unfolds with grow­ing des­per­a­tion as Tarzan and his group remain marooned on Jun­gle Island. The focus turns to build­ing a means of escape—a sea­wor­thy ves­sel to return to civ­i­liza­tion. This project, while essen­tial, begins to test the uni­ty and dis­ci­pline of the group. Tarzan’s lead­er­ship is firm, yet cracks appear among the crew. Lazi­ness, com­plaints, and veiled resis­tance rise, par­tic­u­lar­ly from Kincaid’s men, who no longer con­ceal their reluc­tance to work. Jane’s safe­ty becomes Tarzan’s fore­most con­cern, espe­cial­ly as trust in their allies weak­ens. The lack of order and grow­ing insub­or­di­na­tion mir­ror the jungle’s unpre­dictabil­i­ty, remind­ing Tarzan that sur­vival depends not just on strength, but on loy­al­ty and focus.

Else­where on the island, the muti­neers of the schooner Cowrie—Gust, Momul­la, and Kai Shang—are entan­gled in their own chaos. They bick­er over stolen pearls, reveal­ing the greed and mis­trust poi­son­ing their alliance. Gust, cal­cu­lat­ing and cow­ard­ly, plants a false sto­ry about a war­ship spot­ted days ear­li­er. He warns that its wire­less could be lis­ten­ing, claim­ing they must remain hid­den for a few more days. His lie is strategic—buying time so he can lat­er escape with the Cowrie alone. The ruse suc­ceeds tem­porar­i­ly, sow­ing doubt and hes­i­ta­tion among the oth­ers. How­ev­er, his manip­u­la­tion fur­ther divides the group, as ten­sions esca­late and trust erodes. Jun­gle Island is no longer a mere trap—it has become a bat­tle­ground of ambi­tion and betray­al.

While Gust schemes, new alliances form. On a sep­a­rate part of the island, two famil­iar faces—Schneider and Schmidt from the Kin­caid—reap­pear. They encounter Momul­la and quick­ly pro­pose a self-serv­ing plan: help them cap­ture Jane in exchange for safe pas­sage. Jane is no longer just a captive—she is viewed as lever­age, a bar­gain­ing chip to secure free­dom and for­tune. Momul­la, who sees oppor­tu­ni­ty in betray­al, agrees. Kai Shang, drawn by greed and prac­ti­cal need, also sup­ports the plot. What fol­lows is the begin­ning of a treach­er­ous pact, one stitched togeth­er by fear, ambi­tion, and mutu­al gain. With Jane at the cen­ter, the stakes are no longer about escape alone—they are about con­trol.

Back at the beach, Gust’s para­noia turns real. He over­hears Kai Shang and Momul­la whis­per­ing about elim­i­nat­ing him once the ship is ready to sail. Despite being the only skilled nav­i­ga­tor among them, Gust real­izes his life is a lia­bil­i­ty. Pan­ic grips him. His clev­er­ness, which once bought him pow­er, now paints a tar­get on his back. Rather than con­front them, he flees into the thick jun­gle, aban­don­ing his post and his allies. The very wilder­ness he feared becomes his refuge. This sud­den retreat dis­rupts the muti­neers’ plan and intro­duces a new variable—one that could tilt the bal­ance again. The jun­gle, silent and vast, hides him, but it also tests his endurance.

Gust’s flight marks a key turn­ing point. His dis­ap­pear­ance not only foils the vil­lains’ time­line, but also demon­strates how dis­loy­al­ty undoes even the strongest con­spir­a­cies. With­out a nav­i­ga­tor, the Cowrie becomes a float­ing prison rather than a means of escape. Pan­ic begins to stir among Kai Shang’s group. Mean­while, Tarzan, ever obser­vant and attuned to the island’s rhythms, sens­es a shift in move­ment and ten­sion. The jun­gle speaks in qui­et signs—broken branch­es, odd silences, dis­turbed trails—and Tarzan lis­tens. With Jane’s safe­ty at risk and ene­mies regroup­ing, he pre­pares to take deci­sive action.

As fac­tions frac­ture and betray­als deep­en, the chap­ter sets the scene for con­fronta­tion. Jun­gle Island, once a place of exile, becomes a chess­board where every move car­ries life-or-death con­se­quences. Tarzan remains the calm force at the cen­ter, but even he knows that wild instinct must now be matched with cal­cu­lat­ed strat­e­gy. The jun­gle has no patience for weak­ness, and Tarzan’s ene­mies have begun to unrav­el under their own treach­ery. This chap­ter bridges sus­pense with mount­ing con­flict, draw­ing all char­ac­ters clos­er to a cli­max that will test not only sur­vival but the strength of every alliance, whether forged in fear or trust. In the end, it is not strength that wins—but clar­i­ty, courage, and the will to act before oth­ers do.