Storm Approaching

"Yo, yo," Poliwag obediently came to wait by Yu Hai's feet after finishing the fish meat, without rushing off to train.

The wait was far too long, and Poliwag was exhausted. It let out a huge yawn, leaned against Yu Hai's feet, and fell asleep.

Yu Hai simply laid Poliwag down and let it rest without disturbing it, continuing to wait quietly for a fish to bite.

Yet for some reason today, the float did not move at all. The sea was also completely calm, without even a hint of wind.

Until an incomparably huge shadow enveloped Yu Hai...

Noticing that it had suddenly grown dark before his eyes, he abruptly looked up. Only then did he realize something was wrong with the sky above him. The blue sky and white clouds were gone, replaced by endless black clouds.

"Clouds? Dark clouds?" Yu Hai looked up at the dark clouds overhead, then gazed into the distance. There were still dark clouds, endless dark clouds.

Sunny Day had vanished, and even the sky had darkened. The gloomy sky felt oppressive and stifling, making even breathing difficult.

Staring at that vast expanse of dark clouds, Yu Hai seemed to realize something. His expression immediately darkened. The thing he least wanted to see was about to happen.

But he had only been talking big. Who did not like clear skies stretching for miles? Even if it was a little hot, that was fine, but please do not let it rain, and definitely do not let there be wind.

Whoosh, whoosh—

Well then, the weather had changed. It had finally changed. Whatever he feared came true.

The once calm sea began to churn with wind and waves, and they showed signs of growing fiercer.

He hurriedly reeled in his fishing rod. His fishing trip was forced to end. No wonder the float had not moved at all today—the fish were not home. They had all gone out to take shelter.

After putting away the fishing rod, he woke Poliwag. "Poliwag, wake up. It's going to rain..."

"Yo?" Poliwag had been sleeping soundly when Yu Hai suddenly woke it.

Seeing that it was Yu Hai, Poliwag merely yawned. It had not heard what Yu Hai said clearly, but seeing Yu Hai head back, it followed him to the shelter.

After returning to the shelter, Poliwag saw Yu Hai digging a pit. Curious, it followed him and watched his strange actions.

In fact, Yu Hai was digging pits to bury plastic buckets and foam boxes.

He buried them in the sand far from the shore, hoping to collect and store some rainwater after the rain.

He also dug pits and buried the shelter's freshwater. Foam board covered them, weighed down with stones. Hopefully, it would not be blown away.

After burying the water containers, Yu Hai dismantled the crude shelter. Judging by the scale of the dark clouds, the flimsy shelter definitely would not withstand the coming storm.

Since it could not withstand it, he might as well take it apart to keep the materials from being lost. Once the heavy rain ended, he could rebuild the shelter.

To ensure he would have dry wood to make a fire after the rain, he used the shelter's sunshade to wrap up some dry firewood.

To prevent any accidents, he wrapped several layers of waterproof plastic around the outside, ensuring the wood at the center would not get soaked by the rain.

To keep it from being blown away by strong winds, he carried over rocks and pressed them over the wood from end to end, securing it firmly.

Then, beside the wood he had weighed down, he dug another pit and buried his old companion, the fishing rod.

He also wrapped the lighter in waterproof plastic and buried it.

There was also that pack of Huazi he had not had the heart to smoke, only taking one out now and then to smell. He wrapped it in waterproof plastic as well and buried it at the bottom of the pit.

Finally, he buried the keychain and Folding Knife too. The keychain was already rusty anyway, and it was not much use. Rust was rust.

The Folding Knife was stainless steel, so it did not need waterproof plastic. He simply buried it directly.

The iron cup, frying pan, and the stew pot he had picked up today were also buried in the pit.

The hourglass, hammock, and plastic basin were buried as well.

Finally, Yu Hai looked around. Everything of use had been buried in the pits. Then he filled them in, covered the packed earth with the wooden table he had found, and placed rocks on top of the table.

Only after finishing all that did he clap his hands and prepare to sit down for a brief rest.

But he could not stop moving yet, because strong winds had started blowing. That was truly rare; this was the first time strong winds had blown in all these days.

But when he looked up, the mass of black clouds over the sea had already completely covered the Deserted Island where he was.

Rumble, rumble—

The darkest cluster of clouds was drifting toward him, getting closer and closer. The clouds grew darker and darker, and he could see lightning within them, along with dull thunder rumbling overhead. These were signs that a storm was coming.

Do not think he was being overly cautious. It was only a heavy rain, yet he acted as though he were facing an army of thousands and could die at any moment.

He could not be blamed for being too cautious. This downpour would definitely be the greatest crisis of his life on the Deserted Island.

His grave expression was not unwarranted. This was a coastal storm, after all. Without any preparation, people could truly die.

As the dark clouds drew nearer, he still could not stop. He had to make use of everything around him, such as waterproof plastic and rags.

These things concerned whether he would suffer hypothermia in the storm—a matter of life and death.

Though he was a complete survival novice, he knew what hypothermia was.

He knew that continuous exposure to rain could bring the danger of hypothermia.

He did not know how long the storm would last. With nowhere to shelter from the rain, he had to make sure he would not become hypothermic in the downpour. It was an invisible, cold-blooded killer that could take lives.

He picked up the rags he had found today. Instead of using them to reinforce the shelter, he wore them as clothing, wrapping them around his body, hands, legs, and feet.

He wrapped on as many rags as he could until he had used them all, then tied them in place with thin rope to keep them from slipping off. He twisted the rags tightly around himself.

Next came the waterproof plastic, which he wrapped around himself as well. The rags were for warmth, while the waterproof plastic kept out moisture.

After tying the waterproof plastic in place with rope, he even made himself a waterproof hood that exposed only his eyes, nostrils, and mouth.

Only once his entire body was tightly wrapped in waterproof plastic could his insulation be considered complete.

Just as he finished wrapping himself to prevent body heat from escaping, pattering sounds came from the waterproof plastic covering him...

Drip, drip, drip, drip—

At that moment, a light rain began to fall from the sky. Raindrops pattered onto the leaves before falling to the ground.

But his preparations were not yet complete.

He picked up the lifebuoy beside him and slipped it over his body, slung the thick rope he had found this morning over his back, and lifted the hot water he had boiled in the stew pot earlier. It had been poured into a large plastic bottle, and the lukewarm water inside concerned his drinking supply for what came next.

Rumble, rumble—

There was thunder again. The rain grew heavier, and the thunder grew louder...