Unable to proceed, Lu Zhe had to return to the camp.
Fortunately, the stream in the camp had not reduced its flow despite the rising temperature.
It continued to flow, creating a soothing sound.
Lu Zhe believed that one of the best decisions he made here was diverting the stream.
With an ample supply of fresh water, even in the sweltering heat, people wouldn't succumb to dehydration.
Now, a few girls were eager to divert the water into the pool and take a refreshing bath.
Initially, Lu Zhe planned to wait until waterproofing was in place. However, after testing the pine resin, he encountered another issue.
After heating, the resin emitted a strong pine fragrance, and the lead content was too high. While it could be used as a coating for the swimming pool, it was unsuitable for a water pool meant for long-term drinking.
Hence, the pine resin waterproofing plan failed.
A more reliable waterproofing material needed to be found.
But the pine resin wasn't useless; it had other purposes!
For example, it could be used for medicinal herbs, mosquito repellent, and fire starters.
So, Lu Zhe decided to skip waterproofing for now, directly divert the water into the ant nests and pits made of clay. Ant nest materials wouldn't collapse when wet. Once a suitable waterproofing material was found, they could empty and dry the pool before applying waterproofing.
The girls were touched.
"See, Lu Zhe does care about us."
"Of course, he has to take responsibility as our beloved prince!"
"Quick, let's get started!"
"Can we finally have freshwater baths at the camp?"
Lu Zhe chopped a thick bamboo, split it in two, removed the bamboo divider, forming two bamboo troughs.
Fixing the two troughs, one high and one low, head to tail, he created a simple water channel.
Spring water flowed into the channel, then into the water reservoir.
Since the water seeping out of the reservoir was much less than what was pouring in, it wouldn't take long to fill up.
Shen Bing wiped her body with a vest and used a large palm fan to cool herself, but sweat still dripped down.
Not only that, but the camp's animals were also affected.
Ning Shu aimed a water gun at the trees, and the fist-sized spectacled monkeys emerged, enjoying the human gift.
Seagulls, including Yongqiang, drank their fill, then lay motionless in the shade of a banyan tree.
"It's still too hot!"
"I can't imagine; this weather might last a month or even longer."
"Now I understand how wonderful air conditioning is."
"I really wish I could have an iced cola, Sprite, and Häagen-Dazs!"
"Forget Häagen-Dazs, just give me a big chunk of sugar, and I'll be grateful."
"Dear little Zhe student, any way to have ice cream in this heat?"
Lu Zhe lazily shook his head, "Clearly, your demands are too high. The earth refrigerator can only cool down about 20 degrees at most, and it needs constant water replenishment. Ice cream and the like, don't even think about it!"
"Ah... Do we still have to brave the high temperatures to dive into the sea to find the plane?"
"Yes, without enduring the heat, we'd have to expend a lot of energy and struggle against ocean currents. Enduring the heat allows us to leverage warm currents to reach our destination; we have to choose one side."
"Ah, I've got it!" Ning Shu suddenly sat up. "Do you think anyone from our country has brought a refrigerator? If we're lucky, we could get one and chill our drinks by charging it."
Tang Xiaoguo remarked, "That would be quite a feat!"
Ning Shu pondered, "What about generating power through alternative means? Or perhaps dismantling the generator from the airplane?"
Lu Zhe firmly stated, "That's not something I can do. Whoever knows about planes should handle that."
With Lu Zhe's remark, Ning Shu sighed in resignation.
"Nevertheless, although getting an electric refrigerator might not be practical, we can still think of ways to cool down using what we have!"
Lin Qianqian sighed, "We've been brainstorming for a while now and still haven't come up with a reliable solution."
Tang Xiaoguo said, "Lu Zhe, you're as clever as I am. You must have a solution!"
"If we're equally smart, then you should have the answer too!"
Tang Xiaoguo replied, "Using crocodile skin for the roof was my idea. Cooling down is your task."
Lu Zhe nodded, "I do have a few ideas."
Shen Bing urged, "Tell us quickly."
Lu Zhe thought for a moment, "Currently, I have three options, and given our current state of mind, we can only choose one."
Taking a sip of water, Lu Zhe continued, "First, we could utilize bicycle wheels, foot pedals, and water flow to create a waterwheel. By harnessing the power of the water flow to drive the waterwheel, we could attach banana leaves to it to make a fan, thus creating an automatic fan."
"That sounds promising, but also quite cumbersome, doesn't it?"
Lu Zhe nodded, "Indeed, it's troublesome, and the failure rate would be quite high. Moreover, the wind power generated wouldn't be substantial, and we'd have to dismantle the fan box. Despite these factors, it would make for a perfect fan."
Jiang Yao nodded, "I once had a thermos flask, aside from not keeping the heat well and leaking a bit, it performed perfectly in other aspects."
Tang Xiaoguo puzzled, "What else could it do?"
"Plant flowers."
Ning Shu nodded, "If it's a choice between three options, this one doesn't seem very worthwhile."
Lu Zhe agreed, "For a fan with not so great efficiency, going through such trouble indeed seems impractical. Frankly speaking, I'm not entirely in favor of this plan either."
Shen Bing asked, "What about the second idea?"
"Creating an air-conditioned hut!"
Lu Zhe picked up a bottle and shook it. "The specific method involves removing the bottoms of dozens of bottles, inserting them into the wind-facing wall of the hut with the mouths facing inward and the bottoms facing outward. This can significantly lower the indoor temperature."
Tang Xiaoguo puzzled, "What's the principle behind this?"
Lu Zhe smiled, "Think about it, the breath you exhale is warm, but the air blown out is cool."
Tang Xiaoguo tested it out, "It really works like that, huh!"
Shen Bing explained, "As the air passes through the bottles, it gets compressed, increasing its speed, which results in higher wind speed indoors, naturally making it cooler."
"However, this also has its drawbacks. It consumes a large number of bottles, and the effect is almost zero when there's no wind!"
Tang Xiaoguo lifted a strand of Jiang Yao's hair, "Indeed, there's no wind at all!"
"Go ahead, use your own."
Lin Qianqian asked, "What about the third plan?"
Lu Zhe picked up a ceramic brick he had fired earlier, "Practical experience has proven that the clay refrigerator has good cooling effects. I want to use this brick to make a few larger clay refrigerators. When it's too hot, we can lie inside to escape the heat."
On that day, although the clay refrigerator produced only a small amount of cold water, it did bring them a very comfortable experience.
If the clay refrigerator could be made larger, people might actually be able to escape the heat inside.
Several girls looked at each other and unanimously agreed, "Let's make clay refrigerators!"
Lu Zhe nodded, "Alright, then let's act together! I need a lot of materials—clay, wood charcoal, all of which you'll have to help me collect. In addition, I need help building a furnace to fire more bricks. This way, it will be convenient for constructing the refrigerator and better prepare us for the days ahead."
"I like discussing survival matters together. Let's get moving!"