To be fair, the modeling is excellent, which indeed gives a huge advantage in boosting favorability.
Humans are truly too easily deceived by appearances.
In just over a day, the bamboo basket was finished.
Although it hadn't been dried or treated, which means it might deform significantly once dehydrated and have a much shorter usable lifespan, for now, it was the best loading tool available.
Of course, Lin Qianyi's warehouse space doesn't count.
In fact, he didn't have much space left in his warehouse either.
At most, he could still fit two more rolls of toilet paper.
The rest was entirely filled with various plant seeds he had collected.
He had initially stored some daily necessities in there, but as the number of seeds increased, space became tighter, and he eventually cleared out the daily necessities. Now, the reserved space only held a foldable sword and two self-heating meals.
The meals were newly bought.
After strapping on the bamboo basket, Lin Qianyi moved around and asked, "The rope won't snap easily, right?"
"As long as you don't load it with stones, carrying around thirty pounds while running shouldn't be a problem," He Yanghui explained. "I made the rope from coconut fiber and soaked it in wood ash solution for an hour. The toughness should be way better than tree bark fibers."
Lin Qianyi didn't fully understand He Yanghui's explanation, but it sounded impressive.
That day, he and Zhou Hong set off to explore.
The foldable sword was still sharp. In the thorn-covered jungle of the island, the blade cut through easily, carving a path ahead.
Though it was just a toy in the Federation, in this world, it counted as somewhat high-tech.
The thorny thicket wasn't too long about twenty or thirty meters. After passing through, it opened into dense forest.
The plants here grew vigorously. The further they went, the more lush it became.
Suddenly, Lin Qianyi caught a glimpse of a figure dashing in the distance.
"A rabbit?" Zhou Hong wondered.
"No, a predator. Felt feline..." Lin Qianyi replied.
He had seen its face it looked like a spotted cat, but was much bigger, about the size of a small dog.
This was the first time since arriving on the island that he had seen such a creature.
Lin Qianyi was curious what kind of animals did this island actually have?
They continued moving forward cautiously.
As they walked, Lin Qianyi also noted the surrounding terrain and checked for fruit-bearing trees.
They found two more coconut trees, one mango tree, and a cluster of banana trees. Two of the banana trees had large flowers, and above them were green bananas about the size of three fingers. One had yellowing bananas, half of which had been eaten by birds.
"We'll cut them down on the way back. Let's head in deeper first," Lin Qianyi said.
After walking a bit more, they took out their bamboo canteens and drank some diluted coconut juice. Suddenly, Lin Qianyi caught sight of a slithering black shape heading directly toward Zhou Hong.
There was no time to explain. Lin Qianyi drew his sword and leapt forward, slashing down.
"Squelch~!"
The snake's head was severed, and its body writhed violently. The head landed nearby, still snapping as if trying to bite something.
Zhou Hong, startled by Lin Qianyi's sudden attack, quickly realized what happened and said, "Thanks."
"No need. What kind of snake is this?"
Lin Qianyi poked the snake's mouth with his blade. It instinctively clamped down. With a flick of the sword, he tossed the head aside.
"I don't know either. We can take it back and have Brother He check it see if it's poisonous or edible," Zhou Hong suggested.
Lin Qianyi lifted the body with his sword it was still squirming as if alive.
He casually tossed it into the basket, closed the lid, tied it up, and moved on.
Besides that snake, they didn't encounter any more threats.
But the deeper they went, the richer the ecosystem became. Near the center, there were tons of birds, nests all over the trees. Lin Qianyi even spotted some goats in the distance.
There were about a dozen. It was unclear if this was the whole herd or just a part.
Unfortunately, the goats quickly climbed the steep paths and vanished. Lin Qianyi and Zhou Hong had no method of catching them.
"Xiao Yi, didn't Brother He give you a gun? Just shoot one," Zhou Hong suggested.
"That was a fake gun," Lin Qianyi replied flatly.
Zhou Hong was stunned. He recalled the earlier struggle over the gun and looked conflicted.
"What's this?"
Lin Qianyi found something bizarre.
The skeleton of a wild boar, picked almost clean. The skin was rotten and the stench overwhelming. Scavenging birds scattered when they approached.
"Should we take the bones?" Zhou Hong asked.
"No, too disgusting. We don't need them. Wood will do..." Lin Qianyi answered.
If it were fresh, he might've taken it. But in this state, it was pointless.
Still, the biodiversity on this island was really something.
Lin Qianyi took out the wooden map with charcoal markings. It showed roughly where they were.
They were now about midway up the left side of the U-shaped island. It would take another 7–8 kilometers to reach the very center, but the terrain ahead looked rough. The plants were dense enough to obscure their entire bodies. There were also lots of mosquitoes they'd been bitten all over.
Lin Qianyi had a feeling there were more bizarre creatures deeper in.
The quest from the Main God didn't seem so easy after all.
This definitely wasn't just a relaxing stroll.
If a tiger popped out, Lin Qianyi wouldn't be surprised.
"That's it for today. Let's head back," Lin Qianyi said.
Zhou Hong had no objections. Lin Qianyi was clearly the team leader now.
They had to be cautious on the way in, but not so much on the way back.
They took the bananas they had found and some unripe mangoes, then returned to camp.
Back at camp, Lin Qianyi shared the map and exploration info with everyone.
He Yanghui and the others examined the snake.
"Doesn't seem poisonous, but don't eat it. We're not short on food no need to take risks. The tendons and skin could be useful though..." He Yanghui said.
"Can we make a bow from the tendons? Those goats today were only 20–30 meters away, but we couldn't catch up," Lin Qianyi asked.
"Not worth it. Without proper processing, a bow won't have much range. You'd be better off using a bamboo spear," He Yanghui replied.
Lin Qianyi realized he'd been dreaming a bit.
Too bad his storage was still at its starting level. If he unlocked a pasture or fish pond, maybe he could've gotten some black-tech bowstring from the snake's loot.
Or if his farmland was higher level, with faster growth, he could plant bamboo and farm tags until he got what he needed.
But all that was wishful thinking. He could only watch the goats vanish and regret missing his chance.
"If only a camera crew tied them up and brought them over," Lin Qianyi sighed.
"Camera crew?" He Yanghui asked.
"Like the ones on those survival reality shows," Lin Qianyi joked.
"We're not on some survival reality show..." muttered Su Mandong, rolling her eyes as she cleaned fish.
...
The next day, Lin Qianyi resumed exploring with Zhou Hong.
They didn't find much and failed to open up more paths.
After returning, He Yanghui suggested they stop exploring further.
The risks were unknown, and the returns didn't justify the effort.
Right now, the focus should be on gathering food and chopping wood to prepare for building their raft.
He Yanghui made a good point, but driven by his quest, Lin Qianyi insisted on continuing to explore, hoping to find other food sources.
Unable to dissuade him, He Yanghui let it go.
After all, he couldn't take on much himself. Though his injury was healing, Zhou Hong hadn't held back he had slashed straight across He Yanghui's palm. It would take at least a month to fully recover.
He couldn't get it wet or sweat too much, so he could only do light tasks with his left hand each day.
Day 15.
Lin Qianyi and Zhou Hong discovered a rocky beach near the middle front of the U-shaped island's left side. It was full of shellfish and algae large patches clung to the rocks, resembling seaweed.
They didn't overthink it and collected a lot to diversify their food.
Day 16.
Lin Qianyi harvested his fourth Stonecap Mushroom.
It was finally a "bad" one.
No special traits. It was about the same size as the others. Tasted like an ordinary mushroom neither delicious nor terrible.
After carefully separating and replanting the fungus, Lin Qianyi wondered if he should start growing something else, now that food wasn't scarce.
Day 18.
They were now extremely close to the island's center less than two kilometers from the U-shaped island's central ridge.
The vegetation was even more lush. Tall trees, dozens of meters high, were common. Animal activity was visible.
One thing was certain: there were no large predators on the island.
No tigers, but likely some feline creatures maybe lynxes.
But those were nocturnal and hadn't interacted with the group. Not a big threat.
The path ahead was rough but still passable.
Lin Qianyi was fine, but Zhou Hong was exhausted. They would explore more tomorrow.
Day 19.
Lin Qianyi finally reached the very bottom of the U-shaped island the island's highest ridge.
Vegetation surrounded the ridge, and in the center was a giant sinkhole.
A massive circular pit, at least 300 meters in diameter.
At the bottom was a lake, and on a large raised landmass in the middle, countless glowing green plants grew densely possibly ferns.
They pulsed with light in a rhythmic way, like they were alive.
Most fascinating of all: countless fish were circling around the plants. None tried to eat them. Instead, it seemed like they were basking in the glowing radiation.
"Meteor crater? Is that chunk of land a meteorite? And those glowing things what kind of plants are they?"
Lin Qianyi was intrigued. He wanted to collect some seeds, but couldn't reach them. The pit was at least 50–60 meters deep. Even combining all their ropes wouldn't be enough to get down. They'd probably need a raft to get closer by water.
"Forget it. I'll figure it out later…"