Drone into the Volcano Project

"Crackle... crackle..."

The footsteps were very slow, but the sound was clear.

Lu Zhe had no way of discerning whether the footsteps belonged to a human or some kind of crawling creature.

He immediately took Tang Xiaoguo and hid in the bushes.

"What's the situation?!"

"Shhh..."

In the darkness, the silhouettes of two young girls supported each other as they walked over.

"Class monitor, have we...haven't we been to this place before?"

"Um..."

"This is...isn't this where you peed?!"

"Damn, how did we end up going in circles again, what exactly is going on here..." There was fear in Ning Shu's voice.

At this moment, Lu Zhe was overjoyed.

Tang Xiaoguo happily shouted: "Class monitor, Qian Qian..."

"Xiaoguo??"

"Oh my god, it's Xiaoguo, where are you?!"

"Over here!" Lu Zhe said, pulling Tang Xiaoguo over to Ning Shu and Qian Qian!

In that moment, the two girls could no longer contain the emotions in their hearts. They rushed over and broke down in tears.

"We were going in circles..."

A shadow disappeared with a "whoosh" sound in the darkness.

Ning Shu, Qian Qian and Tang Xiaoguo did not notice anything, but Lu Zhe keenly perceived it!

That fellow had been following them all this time.

If they had not run into Lu Zhe here, who knows what kind of danger could have happened next!

A clouded leopard?

Or some other creature?

In order to avoid unnecessary panic, Lu Zhe did not mention this.

"Don't worry, I guessed you all would be here so I waited!"

"The class monitor is injured!"

Lu Zhe examined her arm, which had been slashed by the cassowary's claws, leaving a gash. Fortunately, the wound was not very long or deep!

Qian Qian had already cleaned and dressed it as best she could.

She had used her own urine to rinse Ning Shu's injury, and wrapped it with strips of cloth torn from their clothes.

Only now did Lu Zhe realize that the lingering smell on their path was not from the girls wetting themselves, but rather the urine used to cleanse the wound.

The few of them briefly shared what had happened. As Lu Zhe guessed, they had been chased by another cassowary, panicked, and ran straight into the woods before getting lost.

Lu Zhe collected some sticks and rekindled the torch.

The firelight illuminated each of their faces, and Lu Zhe noticed that Ning Shu and Qian Qian were as dirty as stray cats.

Tang Xiaoguo took out two bottles of water for them to wash up with. Ning Shu and Qian Qian hurriedly grabbed them and guzzled them down.

On this trip out, they did not bring any drinking water. Traversing the steamy jungle at night greatly depleted the water reserves in their bodies.

After the girls had drank their fill, Lu Zhe led them back to base camp.

By the time they returned to base camp, it was already midnight. Shen Bing and Jiang Yao were overjoyed to see Lu Zhe had really brought everybody back.

The girls showered and sat by the fire pit, sipping chicken soup and recounting their harrowing nighttime adventures. All felt a lingering chill down their spines.

At the same time, only by Lu Zhe's side were they able to truly feel a sense of security.

Just then, Qian Qian noticed the bound sun bear tied to the roots of a banyan tree. At this very moment, its eyes never left the jar of honey!

"Lu Zhe, what should we do about this little bear?"

Lu Zhe considered: "It doesn't look like it poses much danger. And it could also be dragged over to help out when needed. Although a bit useless, it can still serve some purpose! We'll keep it at basecamp for now and train it to be a dog someday!"

"Train a bear to be a dog??"

"Yeah, I was hoping to raise a dog! But on deserted islands around 50 square kilometers, you usually won't find canids like wolves or dogs that could be tamed into a loyal companion. Looks like I'll have to settle for second best with this guy!"

"That's way worse though!"

"True, who knows if this slowpoke could even outrun a panda when it comes to speed!"

"Hmm...it could still be useful as a lookout!" Lu Zhe raised his cup of tea and pointed to the sun bear, "Work hard now, prove with your actions that your abilities are no worse than a dog's!"

The sun bear grunted twice in response.

Ning Shu asked again: "So did you manage to enter the bottom of the volcano?"

Lu Zhe shook his head: "The water temperature hasn't dropped at all, in fact it keeps getting hotter! I've already thought of every possible way, but it looks like there's no chance of getting in until the heavy rains arrive!"

"What?!" Ning Shu exclaimed, "Won't our sweet potato vines dry up and die?!"

"Usually they won't, but if they really do shrivel up and die then there's nothing we can do!"

Tang Xiaoguo sighed, "Why does the volcano have to be so tall? Can't we just tie a rope from the top and rappel down?"

Ning Shu shook her head: "Over 300 meters, the slightest slip with the ropes means a disastrous fall leading to certain death!"

Just then, inspiration struck Lu Zhe. "Not necessarily impossible!"

Ning Shu said, "What are you thinking Lu Zhe? It's too dangerous to secure ropes over the crater!"

"Who said anything about safety lines!"

Jiang Yao frowned, "You can't mean to free climb down..."

"Even more dangerous!"

But Lu Zhe just shook his head again: "Don't forget, we hauled a lot of stuff back from the plane. Something might come in handy!"

"No climbing gear?"

"Can you stop fixating on the climbing thing? Isn't there any other feasible way we could think of?"

"What other feasible way?"

"For example, drones!"

In an instant, all the girls were struck with realization!

Of course, it was such an ingenious method.

"That's right, it's an observation drone. Naturally it can fly over the crater!"

"It has surveying and spraying capabilities. The wings are durable enough to even carry water weight!"

"Using drones to water the sweet potatoes, just imagining it feels awesome!"

"But wait..." Shen Bing thought of something: "Great idea, but there's an issue - how to charge the drones?"

True, even if the drones could be utilized on the deserted island, there would still need to be a steady supply of electricity to keep charging them. Otherwise after a use or two they'd be depleted and rendered useless, making the whole endeavor rather meaningless!

So in the minds of the girls, an entire solar power charging setup would probably be even more precious than everything salvaged from the plane wreckage itself!

Unfortunately, they simply didn't have the means.

"Let's go catch crocodiles tomorrow?"

"Too cruel, should we make a dirt battery?"

"Saltwater battery?"

"Lead acid battery?"

"None of those!" Lu Zhe shook his head. "Like I said before, generating electricity on a deserted island really isn't that hard. Even seawater and charcoal can be used to produce power.

The truly difficult part is obtaining a steady voltage."

Shen Bing nodded. "Unstable voltages could easily damage the batteries inside the electrical devices. Lu Zhe, do you know how we can make batteries?"

"Too difficult!" Lu Zhe pondered hard for a while. "Rather than make our own, it'd be better if we take another trip into the plane to see if we can remove the aircraft battery and voltage regulation equipment!"

Shen Bing said, "I wouldn't know where those are located though, could you find them?"

Lu Zhe shook his head again. "Not sure, we'd have to dismantle parts of the plane."

"Wouldn't those components be damaged after sitting submerged in water for so long though?"

"Don't know, but do you all think it's worth trying out?"

The girls looked at each other, then finally nodded together.