"It might just be that we're too far out, and the weather's terrible, so the rescue is taking longer…" He Yanghui said, holding a plastic cup full of fish soup, trying to comfort everyone.
But even as he said it, the excuse didn't sound convincing.
At least not to Su Mandong, who knew a bit about this kind of situation she didn't believe it for a second.
In the past decade, maritime accidents were usually resolved within a few hours.
In their case, sure, the bad weather could explain some delays it was just after a typhoon, after all.
But they'd been stranded for so long already. They even built a fire and set up signals.
Still no rescue. It wasn't impossible the authorities weren't even looking for them.
Maybe… they didn't want them to return alive.
Unlike the others, who were clearly anxious or depressed, Lin Qianyi looked relaxed while sipping his fish soup.
Although he had started at full health, the past few days had taken their toll. With the effort of setting everything up, he was starving.
This soup wasn't exactly a gourmet meal, but hunger made everything taste better. His body didn't reject it anymore.
To make the most of it, he even chewed and swallowed the fish bones.
Zhou Yun also started eating.
Seeing this, Su Mandong began eating too like venting her frustrations.
Rena, meanwhile, still sat in a daze, struggling to accept reality.
"If things really don't work out, we could build a big wooden raft from the trees here and sail back to land," Lin Qianyi suddenly said.
The others turned to him.
"You know how to build boats?" Su Mandong asked, a flicker of hope in her voice.
"College students can do anything. Isn't it just tying a bunch of logs together?" Lin Qianyi joked.
"It's not that simple," Su Mandong muttered.
She didn't even have the strength to mock him. Her confidence had been shattered by harsh reality.
"No, Xiao Yi is right. It really is that simple," He Yanghui said, catching on to Lin Qianyi's intentions. "As long as we have the materials, making a large raft is doable. With the ocean currents, we stand a good chance of drifting back to land or maybe getting spotted by a passing ship. But if we want to survive at sea, we'll need plenty of food. So we need to start stockpiling now if we want to make it through…"
With He Yanghui backing it up, it suddenly sounded much more credible.
"How long would it take?" Zhou Yun asked.
"Depends on our luck," He Yanghui replied. "Without proper tools, building the raft will take longer. And collecting food is time-consuming. We're lucky this island has resources, but making food last will also take time. Freshwater too… Still, even being pessimistic, I'd say we have a good shot at getting out within six months."
He deliberately underestimated the timeline to lift morale.
The truth was: even just finding food was a challenge.
Working while underfed, facing vitamin deficiency, reduced immunity, and the risk of disease there were plenty of obstacles ahead.
But the most dangerous one was the collapse of their will.
If their spirits broke and conflict erupted, that would be the real end.
"Six months?" Su Mandong laughed bitterly, her face caught between a smile and a grimace. "You mean we have to stay in this godforsaken place for six months?"
"That's not even long," He Yanghui said. "We're lucky this island is resource-rich. If we landed on a barren one, even years wouldn't help lack of food and water would kill us in days."
Suddenly, Su Mandong stood up and screamed into the distance part venting, part breakdown.
But she quickly calmed down, sat back, and resumed eating.
It was clear she'd accepted the reality.
Lin Qianyi sighed in relief.
Thank goodness despite her temper, she was still rational. Once she realized the situation, she adjusted quickly and refocused.
Rena, too, finally picked up her cup and started eating.
This girl barely existed in the group shy and quiet, only ever talking to Su Mandong. But Lin Qianyi always kept an eye on her.
After all, he had a mission to ensure everyone's survival.
He paid close attention to everyone's personalities anyone might become a threat.
So far, the biggest liabilities were Su Mandong and Zhou Yun.
One was emotional, the other was unreadable maybe even violent and misogynistic.
Thankfully, Zhou Yun, when not provoked, acted normal even like an ideal teammate. He followed orders, did his tasks well, and never complained.
Su Mandong, though, was borderline giving up.
But she seemed to have come around. With that, the chances of internal conflict dropped significantly.
Lin Qianyi figured he could almost coast through this trial mission.
After all, it was a beginner-level test.
He had a top-tier teammate carrying the team and even gave out bread at the start. All he needed to do was adapt.
That night, they slept better with a simple shelter.
Just a layer of dry grass to keep off the cold ground made all the difference.
Day Three.
Early in the morning, Lin Qianyi saw Rena sewing something using lifeboat material.
She used a wooden needle and thread salvaged from the boat.
"What are you making?" he asked.
"Shoes for Sister Su," Rena replied.
Su Mandong still didn't have a proper pair of shoes.
Everyone else had brought shoes at the start, but not her her high heels had been lost, and she'd been walking with rags wrapped around her feet.
There was fish again this morning.
But food was still scarce. Everyone remained in a semi-starving state.
He Yanghui had nine loaves of bread left, but he refused to hand them out. He planned to save them for emergencies. For now, they had to eat whatever they could find.
"Today, we'll expand the search area," He Yanghui announced. "Rena and Su, stay here and help make tree fiber ropes, and sharpen those sticks as I explained. Xiao Yi, you're with us to fetch water. Later, try spear-fishing along the shallow shore and bring back any usable wooden boards from wrecks…"
He started delegating work.
He and Zhou Yun had already tried spear-fishing earlier but hadn't caught anything.
This time, assigning it to Lin Qianyi was more of a shot in the dark. But if it worked food.
After giving orders, the group split up.
Lin Qianyi followed He Yanghui and the others into the jungle it wasn't far, less than a kilometer. Their water source was a small pool near a mossy stone wall, with fresh water trickling out.
Running water.
Starting the survival scenario here basically reduced the difficulty by one level.
Lin Qianyi's task: fetch water and fill their battered wooden bucket.
It wasn't leak-proof, but He Yanghui had lined it with boat material, so it held water.
To be fair, the boat though wrecked had become their treasure trove. Even Zhou Yun's clothes were now made from its fabric.
"Just scoop gently without stirring up mud, like this…" He Yanghui demonstrated, filling a bottle.
"Got it," Lin Qianyi nodded.
"We'll leave it to you," He Yanghui said.
"Uncle He, Brother Zhou please be careful," Lin Qianyi replied.
"Don't worry, we'll be fine," He Yanghui smiled.
Then they left, carrying a large bag also made from lifeboat material.
Fetching water was dull work. Lin Qianyi carried ten or so large plastic bottles and made multiple trips until he was exhausted.
His body was struggling.
The lack of food these days meant that even with occasional bites, his energy was always low.
And the others were likely even worse off.
That's why He Yanghui was determined to expand the search area they had clearly given up on any rescue.
Once the water bottles and bucket were full, Lin Qianyi collapsed near their shelter.
Rena and Su Mandong were weaving ropes from tree bark fibers a time-consuming task involving grinding and twisting fibers.
These would later be used to build shelters, tools, and maybe even their raft.
Lin Qianyi tried to speak but lacked the strength.
The two women were too focused to talk just mechanically working.
After a rest and a few sips of water, he headed back to the beach to check the fishhooks.
One had caught a tiny fish just two fingers wide.
He almost ate it raw but decided to cook it first.
Food was that scarce.
He re-baited the hook and tossed it back in. Then, with a thought, he summoned two self-heating meals from his warehouse space.
One was pickled beef rice, the other shredded pork with green peppers.
He stared at them, drooling… then reluctantly put them back.
Can't eat them not yet.
He popped a peanut from the warehouse into his mouth instead.
It didn't satisfy hunger, but at least it helped mentally.
Even if he ate all the seeds in storage, it wouldn't fill two meals. Right now, he was just indulging a craving.
The mushroom in his plot had grown to palm-size. It needed one more day to reach the size of a washbasin.
By tomorrow evening, it would be fully grown and ready to eat one full kilogram of mushroom.
After checking it, Lin Qianyi picked up his wooden spear and went to poke at some fish. None came close, and the few that did, he missed. It left him frustrated.
Tired and annoyed, he sat in a shady spot.
Then, with a flick of his hand, he summoned the folding sword from his warehouse.
In his palm, a 30cm matte-black hilt appeared unadorned, with a folding blade guard.
He removed the guard, unfolded the blade using its internal mechanism, and locked it into place now it was a short sword about 60cm long.
Sharpened on both sides, perfect for slashing or thrusting.
He'd originally bought it just for fun, tossing it into storage for a sense of security.
Who'd have thought it would become a critical survival tool?
He planned to bring it back to camp. If anyone asked, he'd say he found a plastic shipping box that washed ashore and this was inside.
As for the packaging?
Lost to the sea, of course.
Suspicious? Maybe. But unless they started thinking in supernatural terms, this excuse would hold up.
With this folding sword, their team's survival odds just got a serious upgrade.