The bamboo raft drifted aimlessly across the vast expanse of the sea!
Looking for debris from the plane while also searching for a reef where the raft could be secured.
They were lucky. After half an hour of drifting in this area of ocean, they found a reef.
Lu Zhe thought it was the temporary foothold they had used previously.
But it wasn't!
This reef was over three times the size of the previous one.
Roughly 300 square meters or so, with uneven terrain, some parts protruding half a meter above the water's surface. Lu Zhe estimated at high tide it would likely be completely submerged.
In any case, it was a foothold, which was fortunate.
Tang Xiaoguo got off the raft and was immediately drenched in sweat by the scorching heat. She ducked back under the canopy.
Ning Shu ran down to the water to splash some on her face.
Fortunately the seawater wasn't as hot.
Lu Zhe repositioned the raft so that the breeze could flow in through the wide mouth of the bottles, lowering the temperature somewhat inside the canopy.
Everyone waved their palm leaf fans continuously.
The only box of baking soda was used repeatedly to make relatively cool lemonade.
If not for all their heat-relief preparations, some of the girls definitely would have fainted from heatstroke by now.
Tang Xiaoguo asked, "What kind of island is this?"
Lu Zhe said, "It's a coral reef. Coral polyps live on it, expanding the area over time, eventually forming a coral island. Later, sea birds and sea turtles bring seeds from other islands, gradually turning it into a thriving island."
He looked around, "I'll go check the perimeter. You guys stay here."
"Okay, be careful Lu Zhe!"
Lu Zhe nodded. He went to the edge of the reef and looked down.
The seawater was crystal clear. Colorful fish could be seen swimming freely below.
It seemed the El Niño phenomenon didn't impact all fish.
The underwater scenery looked deceptively close, as if it were only a meter deep, but Lu Zhe knew the actual depth was much greater than it appeared.
He dove in and found the depth was over twenty meters.
But for him now, that depth was child's play.
His aquatic abilities allowed him to handle underwater conditions with ease.
Finally, he saw a long lost friend.
A two meter long requiem shark!
It swam past Lu Zhe, shaking its big head, glancing at him before quickly swimming away.
This made Lu Zhe feel a bit disappointed.
Lu Zhe circled the entire reef underwater, gathering some sea cucumbers and scallops in a plastic bag before swimming back ashore.
Ning Shu handed Lu Zhe half a bottle of icy water, "Find anything?"
"Just saw a shark and got these things." He emptied out the sea cucumbers and scallops.
"Didn't find any solid clues. After the sun's not so intense, I'll go explore farther away."
Shen Bing nodded, "Lu Zhe, could it be the water's too deep, visibility too low to find anything?"
"Twenty meters of water has clear visibility to the seabed. Even fifty meters, while deeper, shouldn't obstruct all sight!"
After a simple meal, they endured until afternoon.
The temperature had returned to the low nineties by noon.
Lu Zhe searched the vicinity again but still couldn't find the plane.
The girls were all somewhat discouraged!
Even Lu Zhe was starting to want to give up!
At four in the afternoon, Shen Bing suggested searching one more time.
They stuck a long bamboo pole in the reef and tied a piece of plastic cloth to it as a flag marker. For the third time they set out on the raft to search.
This time, they found the plane.
But...
It wasn't theirs!
Yes!
They discovered another plane.
This plane was much smaller than the commercial airliner.
The nose was shattered, the fuselage broken, and one wing completely missing.
There was damage throughout the body, clearly having already sustained severe impacts before hitting the water.
The friends were shocked speechless.
Tang Xiaoguo exclaimed, "What is this?"
"Unclear!"
Lu Zhe said, "Let me go down and take a look before it gets dark."
Ning Shu urged, "Be careful Lu Zhe!"
"Got it!"
Lu Zhe dove into the water and swam downward.
When he got to the plane, Lu Zhe realized it was very small.
It looked somewhat like a reconnaissance plane, but was only three meters long and had no cockpit.
Lu Zhe understood - this was a military drone.
He noticed there were no identifiable words or markings on the aircraft.
Lu Zhe immediately thought of one possibility!
Could this be what collided with their plane?
Based on the algae growth, it was very likely!
He wanted to examine the plane to see if there were any usable parts.
The plane wasn't very heavy. He tied ropes to it and had the girls haul it up.
Ning Shu lamented, "Can't believe we actually salvaged a whole plane."
Jiang Yao frowned, "This must be what hit our plane!"
Shen Bing nodded gravely, "Very possible!"
Lu Zhe also nodded, "That's what I think too."
Shen Bing understood. She murmured, "Looks like they weren't trying to rescue that person, just simply wanted to kill him."
"He must've had too much inside information on the drug dealers."
"Definitely more than usual! Look, this drone isn't an ordinary drone."
Shen Bing nodded, "Military drone, can't identify the model. But clearly, they succeeded."
"Can it serve as evidence?"
Shen Bing shook her head, "The criminals erased all the aircraft's information. Even if we take it back it can't be used as evidence."
"They were ruthlessly thorough."
Now, whether they succeeded or not no longer mattered to Lu Zhe and Shen Bing. What's done is done.
All they could do was make the most of any resources they could find to survive as best they could.
"Lu Zhe, can this plane be used?"
Lu Zhe thought for a moment, "Can't say it's completely useless. It still has some parts. But the damage is too severe. The motors and fuel tanks took on water. It's basically scrap now."
Ning Shu said, "But if we can't find our plane, it's not a complete waste coming here."
"True!"
"And more importantly!" Lu Zhe had a thought, "Finding this plane means our plane didn't go down far from here!"
"That makes sense!"
"Keep looking. With some luck we may really find it."
Where there's a will there's a way. Finally, at four-thirty in the afternoon, they found the shallow shoal they had stayed on previously.
Based on that shoal, Lu Zhe recalculated where their plane must have gone down.
By now it was past five o'clock.
The water was murky grey below. If not for Lu Zhe deducing the crash site, it would have been very difficult to locate.
Lu Zhe jumped in, felt around for a bit, then popped back up, excitedly giving a thumbs up!
"Found it!"
"My god, really found it!"
The girls hugged excitedly!
e, Immortal Body, Transmigration, System, Progression Fantasy, Academy Setting, Third-Person Perspective. Alternate Title: Transmigrating into a High Martial World and Reading Live Comments. Bad news: I transmigrated. This is a terrifying high-martial world, and my original, pathetically weak body fell into a coma and never woke up. Good news: I got a Popularity Points system upon arrival. I can see live comments and even create an unkillable alternate identity. Starting out, the alternate identity has all stats at 1. The system tells me that to grow stronger, I must participate in the plot, gain popularity points to allocate stats and grow stronger, and ultimately awaken my original body. And so, carrying my original body on my back, I officially entered Huaqing Academy, where the story's protagonist resides. From that moment on, Chen Guan kicked the original plot to pieces. Live Comments: [Doesn't anyone find this mysterious coffin guy creepy? He can summon indescribable grey misty hands.] [Is this guy a hero or a villain? What kind of onion became a spirit?] [By the way, does anyone know who's in the coffin? Shouldn't the debt for saving his life be repaid by now?] [According to unofficial histories, the person in the coffin was Chen Guan's first love. Their love was once passionate and earth-shattering, but they were separated by life and death due to worldly circumstances. What a star-crossed pair.] ... Years later, the world knew of a demon god born from a coffin, shrouded in grey mist, impossible to gaze upon directly. His foremost divine emissary often wielded a scythe, reaping lives like the god of death. As war approached, facing former friends and a boundless sea of enemies, Chen Guan merely raised his scythe. "Would you like to dance as well?"
e school belle recognized by the whole school, a genius girl from the kendo club. She also has a hidden identity, the youngest legendary demon hunter. Chen Shuo just transmigrated and found himself turned into a weak, helpless little vampire. He was caught by Su Xiyen and taken home at the very beginning. Since then, Chen Shuo's life creed only had two items. "First, classmate Su Xiyen is always right." "Second, if classmate Su Xiyen is wrong, please refer back to item one." Many years later, Chen Shuo, who had turned back into a human, led a pair of twins to appear in front of all the vampires to share the secret of how he turned back into a human. "It's simple, I tricked a female demon hunter into becoming my wife!"
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?"
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.
