Making a slingshot, calculating their location

He compared it-the length and thickness were just right!

Once he stripped off the bark, the wood underneath was smooth, thick at one end and thin at the other. He smoothed away the splinters at both ends, and it felt excellent in his hand!

Next, Lu Zhe used Ning Shu's pencil to draw a small rectangle on the thicker end of the stick, then spent over an hour hammering the chisel with a rock to gouge a slot all the way through it!

Then he pushed the stone axe head into it!

When it would not fit, he widened the slot a little more. Once it seemed about right, he stuffed glowing charcoal inside, charring the inside of the slot while using thermal expansion and contraction to widen the opening, then wedged the stone axe head firmly into the stick!

To make the stone axe sturdier, Lu Zhe melted some plastic bottles, poured the plastic into the gaps around the axe head, and packed it tightly while it was still soft!

Finally, he bound everything tightly with bark cord, top to bottom.

With that, a perfectly sturdy stone axe was finished!

Making this one axe had taken Lu Zhe a little over two hours!

Even with his strength boosted to 2.8 times normal, he was nearly worn out like a dog!

Under normal circumstances, making this stone axe alone would probably have kept him busy all day!

Although it took time and effort and offered little in rewards, it was well worth it!

Gripping the stone axe's handle, Lu Zhe felt as though he held the entire world.

When he went back to chop up that little tree, it was as easy as slicing melons and vegetables. Chop, chop, chop-in less than twenty minutes, its branches had become firewood!

Now they would not have to worry about running out of firewood tonight!

He kept the trunk; they could consider using it to build a shelter!

"Huh? This little forked branch looks pretty good!"

Lu Zhe found a forked branch whose main stem was about 2.5 centimeters in diameter. The two forks were slightly thinner, but still thicker than a thumb.

It was excellent material for a slingshot!

Why not make one out of it?

With the pebbles scattered all over the ground as ammunition, he could defend himself and shoot seagulls and boobies.

First, he needed the materials!

The forked branch would form the slingshot's frame!

Next came finding rubber bands!

Right, he remembered Ning Shu had a pack of very high-end hair ties, twenty to a pack. She had used a few, but plenty remained. He just did not know whether they were suitable as slingshot bands.

Lu Zhe took one out and sliced open its decorative covering with the small round blade. Inside was a loop of rubber tubing similar to bicycle valve tubing, but much thicker and far more elastic.

The loop fit perfectly around a girl's slender wrist. Cut open, it was fifteen centimeters long, and when stretched, it could reach forty to fifty centimeters!

Its recoil was also excellent. This was the best material for making a slingshot!

The pouch!

He would use the sole of the flip-flop he had picked up!

That was everything!

Next, he ground the broken ends round against a rock, then slit the bark on the little upright forks with the small round blade and peeled it off, leaving them smooth.

For greater power, Lu Zhe took apart eight hair ties, fastening four to each side, then punched holes in the pouch and tied it to the bands.

With that, a perfect slingshot was finished.

Lu Zhe gave it a pull. Good grief, it really packed some force.

He picked up a round pebble, drew the slingshot, and aimed at a tree twenty meters away.

He let go. Snap!

The projectile struck the trunk with a crack, leaving a large white mark.

Lu Zhe ran over to look and discovered that even the bark had been smashed apart. A hit like that on a bird would definitely be painfully satisfying.

Lu Zhe tried a few more shots. Unfortunately, there were too few perfectly round pebbles, which affected his accuracy. His hit rate was only around thirty percent.

Still, that was pretty good!

He had earned another Potential Point!

The girls had not been idle either. During that time, they had washed everyone's dirty clothes, socks, and other things!

With seawater, of course!

They hung the washed clothes and pants on makeshift racks built from branches, leaving them to bake in the sun!

Once the moisture dried, the salt deposits made the clothes stiff. Rubbing and shaking them by hand sent large amounts of dry salt grains falling off.

Although they still felt rough to wear, that was better than having poop stuck to them all the time!

Tang Xiaoguo's formal dress was clean too!

But she said Qianqian's vest and Lu Zhe's shorts were still more comfortable!

Although she exposed herself from time to time, occasionally even showing a little of her bottom, she did not seem to care at all. Comfort was king.

Looking at the time, it was almost noon already!

In the distance lay blue skies, white clouds, and a sea of azure waves, but there was still no sign of a rescue team!

It seemed rescue might not arrive today either!

Just then, he came up with a new plan!

Calculate their location!

For that, he needed a compass!

Making a compass sounded a little difficult, but after thinking it through calmly, he felt it might not be impossible!

To make a compass, he needed a magnetic needle!

What did they have on hand that was magnetic?!

Ning Shu's magnetic key card, the magnetic stripe on Lin Qianqian's bank card, and there were things like magnets inside their phones too!

It seemed there was more than one way to make a compass!

Then he would use the simplest one!

Lu Zhe took out a bank card and used a ruler and pencil to draw two lines across the magnetic strip, about three millimeters apart!

Then he scored along those two lines over and over with the small round blade!

After roughly fifty passes along each line, he cut through the card, obtaining a thin plastic strip fifty-four millimeters long and three millimeters wide, with a piece of magnetic strip in the middle!

Then he cut off the excess plastic at the other end of the magnetic strip, leaving a plastic magnetic needle about thirty-five millimeters long!

Finally, he took half a bottle, filled it with water, and gently laid this "magnetic needle" on the surface. Before long, it pointed in one direction!

Ding! Congratulations, host, on obtaining a basic compass. Potential Points +1!

Meanwhile, the girls were sitting in the shade, escaping the heat and chatting.

Tang Xiaoguo said resentfully, "Looks like the rescue team won't come today either! They must think we're dead and refuse to spend time looking for us!"

Jiang Yao said, "Only half the day has passed. Maybe they won't search our area until this afternoon."

Ning Shu listened for a while, then suddenly said, "Listen, I think I hear a helicopter!"

Her words excited everyone, and they all strained their ears to listen.

Finally, Lin Qianqian let out a long sigh. "What helicopter? Isn't that your stomach growling, class monitor?"

They listened again, and sure enough, that was it!

"Ugh, eating that tiny bit of food barely did anything..."

Tang Xiaoguo rubbed Ning Shu's stomach and said, "Class monitor, class monitor, hurry up and let the helicopter out so it can take us home!"

Ning Shu said helplessly, "Get lost..."

Just then, however, everyone noticed that Lu Zhe had not joined their conversation at all. He was off by himself, drawing something in the diary.

Ning Shu asked curiously, "Hey, our great sports representative, what are you doing?"

Lu Zhe said, "I'm calculating our location!"

"Our location? Can you calculate that?"

"Although it won't be very precise, in theory, I should be able to!"

Lu Zhe's words caught the others' interest, and they all gathered around.

Ning Shu hurriedly said, "Come on, tell us! Where are we?"

"Let me explain the reasoning first!"

Lu Zhe pondered for a moment, then continued:

"In the Northern Hemisphere's summer, the days are much longer than the nights, but here, the difference between day and night is less than half an hour. Do you know what that means?!"

Tang Xiaoguo looked utterly bewildered. "We're in the Southern Hemisphere?"

"No!"

Lin Qianqian thought for a moment. "The closer you are to the poles, the greater the difference between day and night. The closer you are to the equator, the smaller the difference!"

"Exactly!"

Lu Zhe nodded approvingly and opened the notebook to a hand-drawn map. "It's June eleventh, around the summer solstice. The difference between day and night here is about two hours, which means we're at a very low latitude. We should be somewhere between the equator and the Tropic of Cancer!"

As he spoke, he drew a horizontal line across the hand-drawn map with a flourish!

The girls were practically ready to prostrate themselves in admiration at this hand-drawn map!

Yes, although it was a little rough, the countries' locations were marked in great detail and very accurately.