From the Heart of the Island

"Lu Zhe, why don't you take a break too!" Ning Shu handed the half bottle of fresh water obtained from the tree to Lu Zhe.

Lu Zhe took it and drank a sip before returning it to Ning Shu, "You guys take a break first, I'll make a fire steel."

Tang Xiaoguo was surprised, "Fire steel? I've seen it in martial arts movies, there's really such a thing?"

"There is, I've seen Sparrow Sister make it before."

Ning Shu didn't understand before why fire steel had to be made.

Now she understood.

It looks easy to see others drill wood to get fire, but it’s extremely difficult to do it yourself.

Skills, materials, weather, strength, physical fitness are all indispensable.

Even Ed Stafford, a master-level character in the field of survival, sometimes goes days without being able to start a fire.

Fire steel, on the other hand, is the most convenient way to preserve fire in the wilderness. Even if you can start a fire, it will help you conserve a lot of energy.

"Lu Zhe, I support you!"

A proper fire steel requires the use of yam or potato vines soaked and ground into powder, but did they have any?

Forget about not having the right conditions, even if they did, Lu Zhe would never waste a vine for the sake of preserving fire.

But now, the mud vine could be used as a substitute.

Smash it with a rock.

A viscous sap is secreted inside and set aside.

Then pick a burning wooden stick from the fire pit and knock off the charred black carbonized part and crush it.

Then crush dried mushrooms, dried fragrant leaves into powder and mix them with the charcoal powder, add a few drops of water, then mix everything together with the sap from the mud vine and knead it like dough.

In a moment, this stuff was kneaded into a ball like dough, dark brown in color, very avant-garde!

Lu Zhe kneaded them into strips as thick as fingers, then strung them on bamboo skewers and placed them next to the fire pit to dry.

Once completely dry, lighting one would make it smoulder slowly like incense all the way to the end.

To make it easier to carry and further slow down the burning rate, Lu Zhe decided to make a "sheath" as well.

He used two sections of bamboo, removed one inner wall while leaving a small hole in the other inner wall. He then whittled down the outside of one section and the inside of the other section. Putting the two sections together formed the sheath.

Once lit, the fire steel could be placed inside the sheath. Oxygen would slowly enter through the small hole, preventing it from burning too fast yet also stopping it from going out.

When needed, take it out and blow on it gently to generate a small flame.

"Ding! Effective production of survival supplies, +1 potential point!"

Just in time. Not a minute wasted—Lu Zhe roasted the fire steels while the others rested and continued extracting fresh water from the big tree.

An hour later, the fire steels were dry and a whole bottle of fresh water had been accumulated.

At 2 o’clock in the afternoon, the three continued climbing up the mountain.

Around 4 o’clock, they finally reached the top.

Although not a tall mountain, it was extremely steep with thorns everywhere and snakes, insects, rats and ants frequently appearing.

Less than 300 meters above sea level, it was more exhausting than the usual climbs of 1000-meter stone steps.

Lu Zhe was fine but it was a real test of self for the two girls.

Upon reaching the top, they sat down, panting heavily and drinking water.

“Lu Zhe, have some water...”

Ning Shu held out the water bottle but saw Lu Zhe walk to the edge of the cliff, gazing north with a strange look on his face.

“What’s wrong?”

Seeing Lu Zhe give no response, the two girls staggered to their feet and went to stand beside him, following his gaze...

At this moment, the two girls simultaneously exclaimed, covering their mouths in surprise.

“Oh my god, is this heaven?”

“This is...too beautiful!”

The small, circular island had tall ridges and forests to the west, south and north. To the east there was a large gap, with seawater and the intermediate flat land forming a huge crescent-shaped bay.

Just over a mile out to sea across from the bay were a dozen or so islands of varying shapes and sizes, separated from the main island by the sea.

This was not an island but a small archipelago.

Lu Zhe estimated the area of the main volcanic island to be around 20-25 square kilometers, almost the same as the world’s smallest island nation, Nauru.

As for why it hadn't been discovered yet, that was still unknown.

The volcano was on the ridge across from them and seemed to be slightly higher than their current position. Faint silhouettes of unknown birds could be seen circling and flying around the top of the volcano.

Clearly, the dormant volcano had become a paradise for birds.

And on one side of the volcano, there was actually a silver mountain stream flowing down, gathering into a mirror-like lake.

Lu Zhe guessed this lake, seemingly the size of two football fields, to have much taller and sturdier trees and vegetation around it compared to other areas. His first reaction was that this was likely a freshwater lake.

Tang Xiaoguo excitedly pointed at the lake, "Oh my god, a lake, there’s actually a lake there!"

Ning Shu asked, "Do you think it's a freshwater lake?"

"Most likely. If it's seawater that has somehow seeped into the volcano, evaporating in large quantities and accumulating in the cracks of the volcano, there would be a continuous formation of fresh water on the volcano. If these waters converge and flow inwards, it becomes a freshwater lake."

Lu Zhe understood what such a lake appearing on this island meant to them.

But while he was happy inside, he also told himself to maintain a calm, ordinary heart so as to make the most sensible judgment. Who knew if the flowing mountain stream wasn't just rainwater stored in the mountain from the heavy rains of the past few days!

And accumulated salts unable to flow out over time meant the possibility of the lake water becoming saline as well.

"It's worth looking forward to, but I dare not completely confirm it to be a freshwater lake until we're in front of it."

"Look there!" Tang Xiaoguo clearly hadn't listened to what Lu Zhe said as she discovered another fun thing!

Following Tang Xiaoguo’s pointed direction, Lu Zhe and Ning Shu saw tidal flats and puddles in the flat lands, looking more like accumulated rainwater from the recent downpours.

A few animals were drinking water around the puddles in groups of two or three.

Lu Zhe stared intently and his pupils suddenly contracted.

He could see clearly that they were goats!

Could you believe that there were actually goats on this island?!

The exact breed was still uncertain, but this added a brilliant stroke to the potential island menu!

Bamboo groves, coconut trees and broad-leaved forests, simply everything imaginable!

Just then, Ning Shu suddenly thought of something.

“That’s right, phone, my phone!”

She quickly took out her phone which had been on ultra power-saving mode all this while, miraculously still having 3 bars of battery left!

Hurry!

She wanted to capture the scene before her eyes!

"Click click click..." She didn't care what it was, as long as she could take a picture she snapped away everywhere.

Ning Shu ran around finding angles to take photos. Within just two minutes she had taken dozens of pictures, draining her phone battery once again.

But this was still fortunate, as the main scenes had basically been captured. As long as there was another chance to charge the phone, Big Sister Bingbing, Yaoyao and the others could see these beautiful sights without having to climb the mountain themselves.

Ning Shu panted as she asked, "Lu Zhe, do we still have to move house?"

Lu Zhe nodded and asked back, "What do you guys think?"

The two girls looked at each other and nodded seriously as well.