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!
【Prologue: The Beginning of It All – Use holy water to heal the saintess tainted by demonic energy, then converse with her.】 Shen Nian stared at his older sister sipping yogurt, lost in thought. So you’re telling me my sister is the saintess, and yogurt is the holy water? 【Main Quest 1: Brave Youth, Become an Adventurer! Reward: Rookie Adventurer Title.】 【Side Quest 1: Find the Adorable Kitty! Reward: 1000 Gold Coins.】 Shen Nian: "Wait, I’m a high school senior here—did some guy who got isekai’d accidentally bind his system to me?" Hold on, completing quests gives gold rewards? Titles even boost stats? Is this for real? (A lighthearted, absurd campus comedy—not a revenge power fantasy.)
] [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!"
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?"
he colors of other people’s emotions. Light red meant anxiety. Gray meant exhaustion. Orange meant excitement. Yellow... meant repression. At the same time, he could gain unlimited control over one of those colors. Pale cyan: relaxation. Using this ability, he started offering “two-yuan hugs,” spending an afternoon exchanging emotional-color experiences with others. Then came his final female customer of the day— a girl whose emotional color was pure black... —— A week later, Xu Chuan had become skilled at using pale cyan—Relaxation—treating it like a bottle of menthol balm whenever he needed it. That was when he discovered he had unlocked another unlimited emotional color: Purple, the color of fear. So these emotional colors refresh every week? Fine, I take it back—I’ll never call you useless again... —— Much later, after Xu Chuan had accumulated countless emotional abilities, one night, he suddenly found himself inside someone else’s dream. There, he could use the emotional colors he possessed to paint. And in her dream, he painted her a shower of pink shooting stars, spreading across the depths of the night sky...
