The exquisite face of an oriental beauty, paired with the goose-yellow hair of a Western girl. Even the eyelashes and eyeballs were vividly lifelike. Squeezing the cheeks, the texture was 90% similar to real skin. Prying open the little mouth, the baked ceramic teeth and silicone tongue were scarcely different from a real person's.
The key was that her skin would never tan!
At this moment, she was curled up in a cardboard box, evoking a feeling of affection.
In an instant, a strange sense of crisis arose in the girls.
Ning Shu nodded: "Realistic, truly too realistic!"
Lu Zhe said: "Finding an abandoned corpse of a young girl out of the blue."
Jiang Yao lamented: "High-end materials, exquisite workmanship, a set wouldn't be less than 20,000-30,000 yuan!"
Lin Qianqian said: "The details are well done. It definitely wouldn't be cheap."
Tang Xiaoguo's thoughts were rather peculiar: "It seems running a brick-and-mortar clothing store really is difficult nowadays, even the models are so competitive."
Ning Shu was puzzled: "Are you sure this is used as a display model for clothing?!"
"What else?"
Ning Shu smiled: "I feel like this is the kind of weird thing only bored guys would buy!"
Shen Bing nodded: "I really didn't expect dolls to be exported."
Lu Zhe said: "It's normal too. Asia is the global leader in manufacturing dolls like these. Though our neighbour led the trend in the past, it seems our technology is catching up!"
Jiang Yao asked in puzzlement: "Lu Zhe, how do you know so much about this stuff?"
Ning Shu also frowned: "Yeah, why would you know about something so random?"
Lu Zhe smiled: "I don't actually know that much! I have a roommate who is a confirmed bachelor. His dream is to marry a doll - no shopping, no bickering, no need to prepare gifts for every holiday. She wouldn't disturb him when he plays games, and he could save more money for the bride price!"
Tang Xiaoguo said: "Hmm, that person wouldn't happen to be you, would it?"
Lu Zhe shook his head: "Of course not, I'm very traditional! That guy is an international student from a neighbouring country!"
Ning Shu nodded: "Neighbouring country? Hmph, no wonder then."
They took the doll out, completely naked.
"Eek, cover her up quick, too embarrassing!"
The girls hastily covered the important parts with rags.
Just then, Jiang Yao discovered something new. "There are several big and small boxes here."
"Accessories?"
Opening them up, there were several bottles of silicone protectants, fine brushes for orifices, special towels, and even a maid outfit.
Thanks to the multiple layers of protection and decent material quality, although the clothes were also drenched, there were no signs of damage.
Ning Shu said: "We can wear the clothes!"
Imagining Ning Shu wearing a maid outfit, Lu Zhe nodded: "I'm oddly a little expectant!"
"Don't be naughty!"
Jiang Yao pointed at the doll and said: "But what should we do about this thing?"
Not just the girls, even Lu Zhe was at a loss!
In theory, any modern item, whether fabric or mechanical, would be tremendously helpful for survival. But what use was this silicone doll?
Hugging it to sleep?
With five gorgeous beauties around, who would bother hugging this thing?
Then...just throw it away?
Too wasteful!
Take it apart?
Remove the carbon fiber skeleton, collect the silicone?
What use would that be?
It would take great effort just to obtain materials without unique value.
Suddenly, Lu Zhe thought of a use!
A scarecrow!
Mm, it could be placed in the fields to scare birds away.
In the end, it was definitely better than sticking a skeleton in the fields.
Placing it at camp could also make some animals think there were people around.
That was about all the uses he could think of now.
"Let's take it back!"
"Ah, Lu Zhe, you're really planning to use it?!"
"I'm going to use it, but not for anything weird. Just as a scarecrow!"
"Really?" The girls seemed a bit skeptical!
"What else could I do? Keep watch over you five, then go play with a silicone doll myself? I'd have to be crazy to do that!"
Hearing Lu Zhe say this, the girls looked at each other, all feeling he made some sense!
Checking the time, it was past 5 pm already. By the time they returned to the coral reef, it would be 6 pm.
The water level had receded, exposing more reef rocks.
They could proceed to the second step now - building the main frame of the offshore cottage.
Lu Zhe dragged the raft ashore, confirming the highest tide line, then looking for suitable pile driving spots. Unable to dig too deep here, they could either drive the bamboo piles into rock crevices or sand.
Once several bamboo stakes were secured, the rest would be easy.
Stringing rope to lay crossbeams, they could even drill holes to prevent slipping.
In a few hours until noon, the spare bamboo was used up, but the bamboo frame was done.
Without a raised "floor" yet, they couldn't store goods for now, but they could improve it into a proper bamboo hut next time.
Everyone was drenched in sweat from the hard work.
As expected, water consumption soared several times higher with intense labour in the sweltering heat.
Seeing their fresh water reserves running low, it was time to head back!
Lu Zhe stowed the sail, letting the raft drift along the currents. Whenever it deviated from the volcanic island, he manually paddled to steer it back on course.
Around 4 pm, the six successfully arrived at the volcanic island's Moon Bay.
Lu Zhe dragged the raft ashore.
200 meters uphill was their camp.
Just then, Lu Zhe's ears twitched as he keenly perceived the chirping sounds.
No doubt, there were intruders again.
The camp already had ample shade and water sources thanks to Lu Zhe's modifications!
Clearly, it was being coveted by other creatures.
"You guys stay here first. I'll go take a look!"
"Let's just all go over together?"
"I'm worried there are intruders at the camp. Better safe than sorry."
"How could that be? Didn't you set chili peppers around several spots?"
Indeed, Lu Zhe had laid devil's pepper traps before leaving.
But not every single spot!
Like the mountain stream!
The scorching weather emboldened the island's creatures to venture out seeking water sources.
With crocodiles, pythons and other predators at Mirror Lake, and komodo dragons in the wetlands, even monkey troops would battle fiercely over water sources and territory.
"Anyway, let me go scout ahead first. Better safe than sorry."
Shen Bing said: "I'll go with you!"
She passed a pistol to Lu Zhe, smiling slyly: "I'll teach you how to shoot too!"
Lu Zhe gently pushed the gun away, sighing softly: "Violence doesn't solve every problem! For issues that can be resolved peacefully, it's best to be gentle and respect nature - say no to violence!"
Shen Bing was taken aback: "You're quite the merciful one?"
Lu Zhe nodded: "I sure am!"
Saying so, Lu Zhe fished out two bottles of wine from his bag, straightened his clothes and headed towards the camp.