When Lin Qianyi returned to the camp with the folding sword, Rena and Su Mandong were both surprised.
"Where did you get that?" Su Mandong asked curiously.
"A delivery box drifted by. I opened it and found this sword. No idea who ordered it, but hey lucky us," Lin Qianyi replied with a smile.
As he spoke, he weakly swung it a couple of times.
Though it was a defective product of modern craftsmanship, it was still made with the Deep Space Federation's metallurgical technology.
It would more than suffice for chopping wood definitely better than He Yanghui's multi-purpose knife.
From time to time, Lin Qianyi would check if the fishing rod had caught anything. He'd also explore the surrounding area, collect firewood, and try to get a better grasp of the environment.
Food was still the biggest issue at the moment.
Fishing had low efficiency. Using wooden spears directly was difficult too.
It was mostly down to luck.
For now, their main food source came from shellfish picked off the rocks along the shore.
But even that was scarce. They were counting on He Yanghui's team to find something during their exploration.
By midday, He Yanghui and Zhou Yun returned their pockets full.
They had a handful of red seaweed, some coconuts, and more shellfish.
"We found a pebble beach with richer biodiversity maybe some crustaceans or sea turtles live there. It's a bit far, though. There's a high slope, so we'll need to circle around. I'll go again in the afternoon," said He Yanghui.
Lin Qianyi showed off his own find the folding sword.
He Yanghui was thrilled. He tapped it with his knuckle, producing a dull metallic clang.
"Qianyi, your luck's amazing. I've never seen craftsmanship like this. This metal feels like some kind of high-carbon steel, but it's probably tougher. Is it military-grade?"
He was a military enthusiast and recognized many materials, but no one else present had any relevant knowledge.
Still, he didn't dwell on it just happy to have a better tool than his tiny knife and stone axe.
The coconuts He Yanghui brought were the first to be processed.
The clear, sweet coconut water instantly refreshed Lin Qianyi.
He didn't know if coconuts in this world were the same as those in Taiyi Realm, but the climate here clearly supported tropical vegetation.
If it was indeed a tropical island, they wouldn't have to worry about cold weather.
Plus, tropical islands usually meant rich ecosystems.
Thank you, Great God of the Main System. I'm moved to tears!
They boiled the seaweed and shellfish with filtered water and a few fish. Everyone sat silently by the pot, eyes fixed on it.
Hunger made it hard to even talk their minds slowed, and speech was a struggle.
After eating a little, He Yanghui and Zhou Yun headed back out in the afternoon.
With Lin Qianyi's folding sword, they began clearing a path, but still couldn't reach the beach. The cliffs nearby were too steep about 50 meters high.
They returned with more coconuts, hoping to try again tomorrow.
Back at camp, Lin Qianyi made some rope.
Using stones to grind tree bark fibers, he twisted them into basic cords.
Of course, these were temporary solutions. For durable ropes or building a raft, more processing was needed, or they'd snap easily.
After working all afternoon, they only made four two-meter ropes very inefficient.
That night, by the fire, Su Mandong said, "Lao He, can you take out another piece of bread?"
"Xiao Su, hold on a bit longer. Tomorrow we'll have more food. That bread's for emergencies only," He Yanghui replied.
To be honest, those nine palm-sized loaves wouldn't last long anyway.
One person could finish one in a day.
But right now, they served as morale boosters a symbol of hope, a reminder that food still existed.
He Yanghui didn't plan to let anyone eat them yet just remember they were there.
Su Mandong couldn't argue, so she kept chewing the red seaweed.
Lin Qianyi ate some too. It looked like red hair, clumped together He Yanghui called it "sea hair vegetable," picked along the shore.
Clearly, the difficulty of finding food here had eased slightly.
Once He Yanghui mapped out the area tomorrow, they might find a more stable food source.
---
Day Four
At this point, most of the group had given up hope of rescue.
Early in the morning, He Yanghui and his team set out again, bringing the ropes Lin Qianyi had helped make.
From the beginning, He Yanghui had been thinking strategically.
Survival through cooperation was easier than solo if resources were abundant.
If resources were scarce, group survival became harder than going solo.
Lin Qianyi wanted to join the exploration, but He Yanghui was deliberate with team assignments.
He avoided letting Zhou Yun a misogynistic, emotionally unstable guy be alone with Su Mandong or Rena. Instead, he left Lin Qianyi the "harmless good guy" with them to keep spirits calm and avoid emotional blowups.
At times like these, food wasn't the biggest danger interpersonal conflict was.
Even with just five people, tension was inevitable.
And under stress, people could mentally break. In a lawless wilderness, that could end in disaster.
Lin Qianyi admired He Yanghui deeply a true righteous leader.
If Zhou Yun had been the one with strength or weapons, he might've gone full dictator. If Su Mandong snapped from pressure, the team would've splintered…
Lin wasn't sure he could've lasted even three days in that scenario.
Fortunately, this time He Yanghui brought back a few turtle eggs and seven or eight crabs.
Still not enough to feed everyone, but morale improved.
"There's definitely more food out there. Once we confirm it's stable, maybe we can relocate there," He Yanghui said.
Lin Qianyi crunched down on the crab, shell and all.
It filled his belly more, and he figured the calcium might help. He did the same with fish bones.
Around sunset, Lin excused himself to check the fishing rod heading to an isolated spot.
Inside his farming space, a gray-white mushroom the size of a large steamed bun about 34–35 cm in diameter had grown.
It was [Rockstone No. 3], now in an edible state. If he waited a day, it would sprout spores and become inedible.
Now was the best time to eat it.
With a thought, a prompt appeared:
> [Prompt: Harvest this plant?]
"Harvest!"
In an instant, the giant mushroom was added to his storage.
> [Rockstone No. 3 (Common): A large edible fungus. [Satiation]]
[Satiation: Restores greater fullness and nutrients when eaten.]
Luckily, it wasn't the 30% chance of being a defective product just a normal 70% one.
And it came with the valuable [Satiation] trait.
Lin had seen that tag before often on staple crops like potatoes.
Such traits were based on human perception. If a plant was thought of as food, it had a higher chance of getting tags like [Delicious], [Satiation], or [Nutritious].
He wasn't sure whether that perception came from himself or the general public of the crop's place of origin.
He'd only explored this much for now.
After harvesting, Lin replanted a bit of the mycelium in the soil of his farming space. In four days, he could harvest again.
He pulled out the mushroom, broke off a small piece, and returned to the campfire.
Without drawing attention, he added it to his cup with coconut bits and began boiling.
After a short while, he eagerly took a bite.
Boiled for a minute or two, it was ready. It was non-toxic even raw just rubbery and unpleasant.
Cooked, it had a chewy, abalone-like texture.
A single 2 cm chunk felt like eating half a bowl of rice way better than the bread.
With this one mushroom and some side food, Lin estimated he could survive ten days easily.
Even if future mushrooms were low-quality, he'd be fine.
While on night watch, he placed another chunk on a hot stone by the fire to grill stone-roasted style.
He avoided open flame grilling to keep the smell from alerting others not because of guilt, but because one mushroom wasn't enough for everyone.
He'd wait until he had more before telling the group.
---
Day Five
Su Mandong looked completely drained.
She thought she could tough it out, but it was harder than expected.
She couldn't muster any strength.
She kept waking up from hunger throughout the night, and they barely had any food.
At one point, she even considered shoving grass into her mouth.
That dry, hollow feeling in her chest made her nauseous and miserable.
When Rena woke her, she muttered, "Lao He… I don't want to move…"
"Just hold on a bit longer. We'll find more food today," He Yanghui replied.
He had enough body fat to last. Su Mandong, a city girl focused on fitness, had no fat reserves. Missing a few meals had already drained her.
Even in this situation, He Yanghui could probably survive another five days without serious health issues he'd just slim down a bit.
"I really can't move. I want to rest…" Su Mandong whispered.
The others didn't react, but Zhou Yun snapped.
"Useless!" he growled. "Everyone's doing their part, and you just lie there? Leech! If you won't work, don't eat our precious food!"
He stormed over and grabbed her by the collar.
Normally, Su Mandong would have fought back, but now she was too weak. She opened her mouth but couldn't speak, body limp.
"Don't do that, Zhou!" He Yanghui intervened. "We're all struggling. Let's be understanding. Su, if you're not feeling well, just rest for now. Help out slowly."
Zhou Yun took a deep breath and let go, reluctantly calming down.
But none of them noticed Lin Qianyi staring at Zhou Yun's right ankle.
There was a pale mark like he'd worn a leg ring for a long time.
Or was it… a shackle?