Swimsuit Party

He took out two black stockings belonging to Lin Qianqian!

Originally, Tang Xiaoguo was going to use one to distill fresh water, but now the business of distilling fresh water had to be put aside for the time being!

Then he used a small round knife to cut the orange T-shirt into strips, tying them to the black stockings every few centimeters!

Finally, he tied the stockings to a rope and pulled them in the water!

You have to admit, it really looked like a sea snake swimming!

He didn't know if it would work, but trying couldn't hurt!

With the task completed, it was time to check on how the girls were doing.

The girls had taken apart the shelter they'd made into a canopy, tree branches, tattered clothing, tarpaulins, and made some simple paddles!

Lu Zhe tried them and although they weren't as good as the ones he'd made himself, at least they could paddle.

By now, the sun had risen high and the temperature was heating up again!

The four shared another bottle of water; now there was only one bottle of fresh water left and a coconut!

They would have to conserve what remained.

"Comrades, although it's hot now, we have no choice but to set off!" said Lu Zhe. "This process will be arduous, but I believe that as long as we grit our teeth and persevere, we will definitely survive!"

The girls all nodded in agreement.

Lin Qianqian asked: "But what if the sharks bite us?!"

"I've already figured out how to deal with them!"

Lu Zhe seemed very confident.

Now!

It was the seventh day stranded on a deserted island.

Lu Zhe and four girls were trapped on a reef shallows in the middle of the Pacific. They needed to break through the sharks' territory and paddle upstream to the place they called Volcano Island, several miles away!

At this moment, the girls were sitting anxiously in the middle of the raft, gripping it for dear life, afraid that carelessly provoking the sharks would get them thrown into the sea!

Lu Zhe picked up a stone axe, steadily supporting the bamboo raft with a fish spear, and left the reef!

And at that instant, a shark rushed over!

Lu Zhe was prepared; he took out a bottle, squirted a white liquid at its nose, and the shark immediately turned away!

This alerted the rest of the sharks not to attack recklessly!

But they still did not give up on the raft, trying to ram it with their bodies!

Lu Zhe paddled, and a row of bags at the stern of the raft spilled into the water!

The bags were all filled with wood ash, instantly dyeing that stretch of sea black!

The sharks were caught off guard and scattered in all directions to make their escape!

Lu Zhe knew his tricks were working and quickly said, "Now, hurry!"

The girls immediately picked up their homemade paddles and started paddling.

With five people paddling at once, despite going against the current, they moved fast!

But although they had left the reef, they were still not out of shark territory!

When the first plume of ash dispersed, the sharks readied themselves to probe again.

But when they drew near the raft, they saw two black and orange sea snakes undulating from the stern!

This made the sharks hesitate.

The bolder ones approached and were driven away by Lu Zhe with blowfish toxin!

The more timid did not dare approach after that!

After a while, it seemed they forgot about the smell of blood from earlier and went back to aimlessly frolicking!

Only then did Lu Zhe heave a sigh of relief and sit down.

"Are we...safe now?" asked Ning Shu.

Lu Zhe wiped the sweat from his brow and nodded, "For now we're safe!"

Lin Qianqian exhaled, "That was close!"

Jiang Yao clasped her chest, "My heart's about to leap out!"

Tang Xiaoguo wiped the tears from her eyes, "I thought we were all going to die here..."

"No one can let their guard down," said Lu Zhe. "We have to paddle at an even speed and not irritate the sharks again!"

The girls nodded, "Got it!"

Having evaded the sharks for now, all they had to do was keep paddling towards Volcano Island until they reached their destination!

But then they started facing another serious problem.

Heat, sunlight, and lack of fresh water!

After paddling the raft for half an hour, the girls were drenched in sweat, their lips were cracked, their foreheads beaded with perspiration!

Lu Zhe understood they needed some shade to reduce sun exposure and fluid loss.

But did they have materials for that now?

The shelter that served as their canopy had been taken apart. The wooden sticks were used to make paddles.

The tarp that could have made an awning was also taken by the girls to make paddles.

So now he had almost nothing that could provide shade.

And if they let the sun bake them for another half hour, they would definitely get dehydrated.

Even if they didn't get dehydrated, it wouldn't look good for those fair-skinned girls to tan dark.

He checked for things that could make an awning―a few tattered garments, punched holes in them with nails, and connected them together with thin rope, propping them up with wooden sticks.

But it wasn't big enough!

To get adequate shade they would need to use everyone's clothes. Tang Xiaoguo took off her party dress; Lu Zhe also took off his T-shirt. But it still wasn't enough!

"Everyone will have to paddle evenly on both sides of the raft, but to provide shade for all, the canopy is clearly not big enough. We'll need everyone's clothes!" said Lu Zhe.

"What should we do then?"

"Take off anything you can!"

"Huh?" The girls were a bit reluctant, but seeing that Lu Zhe was serious.

Lu Zhe first took off his pants as well, stripping to the waist, only wearing boxers.

The four girls shyly covered their eyes.

After a bit they secretly peeked again. Lu Zhe had indeed used their clothing and pants to prop up the canopy, and it was just as he'd said―even with his, it was not enough!

At that point, shade meant more to them than gold.

Tang Xiaoguo spoke up, "I'll...contribute Qianqian's camisole...Qianqian, you don't mind, do you?!"

"No problem!"

Jiang Yao was nonchalant, "I still have a pair of panties!"

"Just wearing a bra and granny panties is fine!"

"Alright, let's just pretend it's a swimsuit party then!"

After some discussion the girls decided to strip down to their innermost layer of clothing, shedding all they could.

And that did end up plugging the final gap in the canopy.

Now they truly looked as if they were at a swimsuit party.

Although embarrassed, there was also a fresh, curious little thrill!

The same for both boys and girls!

"I guess we've bared it all now!"

"Lu Zhe, could you not stare, it feels rude!"

Lu Zhe laughed, "If you're all so cute yet I don't look, that would be the rude thing!"

"Well, when you put it that way..."

"Look look!"

With this canopy and occasional splashes of seawater over their bodies, everyone felt much cooler.

But that only temporarily alleviated the heat on their skin. Their other problems were gradually manifesting.

Paddling nonstop greatly drained everyone's stamina.

Although they were getting closer to Volcano Island, dehydration was setting in for them all.

Lu Zhe split open the coconut; each person got one sip before it was gone.

Then for the last bottle of water, they only got 100 ml each, which barely alleviated their thirst a little.

They would have to think of another way to replenish fluids!