During this time, Lu Zhe began to prepare other materials for iron smelting.
Naturally, the more charcoal that could be produced, the better. This task was left to Ning Shu and Qian Qian.
Yao Yao and Guo Er were responsible for the three meals.
Lu Zhe and Shen Bing continued to advance the iron smelting process.
Some other tools were still needed for the iron smelting process!
Such as hammers, tongs, bellows and molding sand, etc!
There was no river sand on the beach, so sea sand washed with fresh water and dried had to be used instead!
Hammers were easy to make too, using rocks and wooden handles to make stone hammers.
A ready-made pair of steel tongs was also needed to grip the red-hot iron blocks.
But where do you get steel tongs when there's no iron yet?
After thinking hard for half a day, Lu Zhe and Shen Bing decided to bend the bicycle handlebars into two sections.
They used rocks to bend the fracture point, and then flattened the place 8 cm from the fracture point with rocks.
They pried a nail and bent it, and a rickety makeshift tongs was made.
Lu Zhe tried it and found it very awkward, but it was at least usable, so he gave it a potential point!
Just make do with it for now!
The most critical thing was the bellows.
This was also the most difficult.
Lu Zhe finally decided to still use the bicycle!
His arm strength now was comparable to Mr. Katō's, and he could easily tighten a screw.
He simply upturned the bicycle frame, reinstalled the rear wheel, freewheel, pedals, and reconnected the chain!
The chain, which had been pickled in acid and lubricated with animal oil, was barely usable.
Using the pedals as a crank, rocking it made the rear wheel spin quickly.
Then he cut dried bulrush leaves into blades and carefully tied them to the spokes of the wheel. When he turned it, it did bring strong gusts of wind.
Finally, he used bamboo tubes and clay to shape the air funneling into the furnace 30 cm away. The hand-cranked bellows were also ready, earning him a potential point.
It seemed simple but took a whole day.
July 26, the 47th day stranded on the island.
It rained all day again, but at noon on this day, the first batch of bricks and small amounts of pottery had been successfully fired, two bricks tapped lightly together made a clear and pleasant "dang dang" sound.
Very successful.
Lu Zhe took out a pot-sized clay pot, mixed the dried sand and clay together and put it inside.
Silicon dioxide, kaolin and sea sand had much higher melting points than iron, so they could be used to shape the ax.
Then, Lu Zhe began building the iron furnace, using brick-built kilns that could reach higher temperatures and produce higher quality iron than mud and bamboo ones!
"Can we start now?"
"Before smelting iron, we need to do a sintering first. The purpose is to melt the iron elements in the ore and then condense them into iron blocks!
In addition, carbon and ferric oxide can be reduced to iron and carbon monoxide at high temperatures, and the generated carbon monoxide can also reduce ferric oxide and iron oxide to iron!
In this process, I will keep adding oxygen to the furnace, and you add charcoal and tree oil to continuously increase the temperature inside the furnace."
Shen Bing nodded: "Got it."
"Mm."
Lu Zhe put lots of charcoal and ore into the furnace.
Then lit it.
After the charcoal in the furnace was burning, he covered it with a lid. Lu Zhe started pedaling the bicycle bellows, blowing large amounts of air into the furnace. Through the cracks he could see the blinding glow of the burning charcoal inside.
After two hours of continually adding charcoal and oxygen, the temperature kept rising. In the evening of July 26, the first step was finally completed.
Opening the furnace, there were indeed some metallic clumps among the slag.
Rough estimate, nearly ten catties.
Lu Zhe was very happy to see this first step had been quite successful!
On July 27, they started the second step!
Rebuild the furnace, put these iron blocks in clay pots, add plenty of charcoal for forging.
More air pumping for a considerable time!
When Lu Zhe used the tongs to pull out a lump of iron, it had turned red-hot!
Put it on the rock and hammer it into shape!
After countless hammer strikes, the shape of an ax head gradually emerged. After another hour, an ugly ax head was finished. Quench it in water.
Although the surface was pitted and as ugly as scrap,
Although you couldn't tell it was an ax head at all.
But it was solid and sturdy, unlike any stone tool.
Shen Bing weighed it in his hand: "Good gracious, this thing must be over ten catties heavy!"
Lu Zhe nodded: "No problem, I'm strong!"
Finally, he found a sturdy wooden stick, drilled a hole in it, inserted the iron ax head and nailed in wedges to secure it. The great task was accomplished!
It took Lu Zhe three full days for just this one ax, earning only one potential point.
But from a practical point of view, it was so worth it!
With it, Lu Zhe's logging efficiency increased several fold!
With ample timber, construction became simpler.
In an afternoon's time, Lu Zhe extended the fence, the shelter area expanded to 100 square meters, almost covering the entire banyan tree, and built cattle pens and woodsheds near the camp.
In recent days, in addition to helping out, the girls had also picked up a lot of garbage on the crescent moon bay beach.
It goes without saying that there were broken clothes, bottles, plastic bags, etc.
There were also discarded buoys, broken umbrellas, glass bottles, fenders from fishing boats, nylon ropes, fruit crates, fishing nets and lines, and even fish hooks.
These items were carefully washed and neatly arranged in the camp by the girls, to be used when needed.
They also used collected plastic sheets to build a "swing" not far from the camp, no need to explain what that was for.
Next is land reclamation and farming!
"To improve efficiency, it's best we still work in two groups, I'll go with one partner to reclaim land at the foot of the volcano, the other four stay at the camp and weave protective nets. Remember the mesh has to be tight, or birds may still sneak in and steal our crops."
Tang Xiaoguo volunteered: "I'll go with Zhe Bro this time!"
Lu Zhe nodded: "Let me be clear first! I have a lot to do, so you'll need to help me build fires, cook food..."
"And make babies?"
"No need for that! Also give me massages when I'm tired, don't annoy me, and keep me in a cheerful mood and good working condition at all times."
"That's all trivial, when I'm bored I can even sing for you. You keep working and I'll sing about the power of the working class, you'll work harder the more you go on!"
"Thanks but no need to sing, just be quiet!"
Seeing Xiaoguo so enthusiastic, Lu Zhe didn't want to discourage her: "No singing please, just stay quiet!"
Jiang Yao urged: "Listen to him on the way, don't covet everything you see!"
"I won't!" Tang Xiaoguo said helplessly.
It felt like a dad taking his daughter out to play, with the mom urging her to behave.
"Because the mountain roads are difficult, we may stay at the foot of the volcano for two to three days, don't worry about us."
Shen Bing nodded: "I won't let them hold memorial services for no reason."
Ning Shu sighed: "More than worrying about danger, I feel more worried about Xiaoguo!"
Jiang Yao nodded: "Same feeling!"
On July 28, Lu Zhe took Xiaoguo and some necessary tools and food, and once again entered the jungle, heading straight for the foot of the volcano.
ions, keeping it grounded and realistic】 After quitting his job, office worker Su Yang accidentally binds with the "Enjoy Life System." As the name suggests, simply by indulging in life's pleasures, he can earn random rewards from the system—no need to spend money on beautiful women or grovel before anyone. Just enjoy, and the money follows, making it all about effortless fun. The system comes with a scanning feature, allowing him to establish a favorability bond with women rated 85 points or above. Every 20-point increase in favorability unlocks additional rewards. After suffering through over twenty years of hardship, Su Yang trembles with excitement, his dull eyes suddenly gleaming with newfound hope. "Enjoy life? How hard could that be?"
] [Lone Wolf, No Male Gaze] [Protagonist is pursued early on; extreme protagonist-stans, stay away!] The "Carnival Paradise" descends and slowly devours the real world in the form of a game. By chance, Zhu Yan awakens the talent [Roleplay], becoming one of the first beta players. He thought he could develop safely, but after clearing the first instance, he is branded by humanity as the chief culprit behind the game's spread—a traitorous villain. A villain? Who would ever... become one! He'll be the villain! From then on, Zhu Yan is not only a player but also a lackey for the Carnival Paradise. Between the straight path and the crooked path, he chooses the con. With his left hand, he dons the villain's mantle, staging scenes within instances, infuriating players who decry him as a despicable traitor, all while the game happily promotes him. With his right hand, he joins the non-human organization "Fangcun Mountain," which opposes the Carnival Paradise, transforming into a mysterious player who slaughters game bosses, earning cheers of "Long live the expert!" from fellow players. Gradually, Zhu Yan rises to become an S-rank human player in Fangcun Mountain's archives, while also being the Carnival Paradise's certified top game Boss. But when the final war erupts and both major factions place their hopes in him— Players tag his various aliases: "Experts, this offensive depends on you." The Carnival Paradise's supreme Boss throws an arm around his neck: "Bro, you're the iron, I'm the steel; you can't let me down again!"
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
villain is the number one simp for the book's leading female protagonist, Shen Wan'er. As expected, he later becomes a tool for the main character to show off and slap faces, ultimately meeting a tragic end with his family ruined and his life in shambles. Fortunately, he awakens the [Universal Pure Love System], which allows him to earn points by performing acts of pure love. To change his fate, Gu Yan makes a decisive choice to seek warmth and companionship with the book's biggest villain—Cold Qingqiu. ........... My name is Leng Qingqiu. To find the murderer who killed my parents years ago, I deliberately blinded myself so that everyone would lower their guard around me. Just as I was secretly accumulating power and capital according to my initial plan, a man walked into my world. "Lengleng, Qingqing, Qiuqiu, which nickname do you prefer?" I don't like any of them. You'd better leave quickly! "Why aren't you saying anything? How about I call you my baby wife?" Leng Qingqiu thinks to herself, this man is truly annoying! (Stubborn pure love warrior + single female lead + true pure love + 1v1)
