Chapter 241: 338
What are the logs placed on either side of the life raft for?
The audience, with puzzled expressions, only a few had a faint guess.
It was only after Bi Fang carried other shorter logs and laid them on top of the longer ones that the audience had a sudden realization!
Master Fang is combining the two and securing them together!
“Exactly, that’s my intention. I can hide inside the life raft normally, and if the life raft gets a leak, I can move onto the wooden raft,”
Bi Fang smiled. His plan was to use the two longest and thickest logs as rails, then place the other slightly shorter ones as sleepers side by side, leaving one-third of the end to embed and fit in the life raft.
There were also plenty of nylon rope loops on the side of the life raft, originally for securing buckles, which were perfect for threading through hemp ropes and tying to the wooden raft. Securing all three sides would make the structure solid enough to prevent them from easily separating.
A perfect solution.
[Brilliant!]
[Damn, Old Fang has a talent for design, and it even looks damn good!]
[It looks stronger than the original life raft!]
Even though Bi Fang hadn’t tied it up with ropes yet, just setting up the outline made the audience feel far safer than before.
After determining the correct distances, Bi Fang tied all the logs tightly with ropes, wrapping each log at least three times to ensure they wouldn’t fall apart in stormy seas.
Then, Bi Fang did not secure the life raft first, but instead pushed the wooden raft into the water.
As the wooden raft slowly moved into the water, everyone held their breath, especially when they saw it floating on the surface, their excitement was uncontrollable.
“It’s not over yet. Putting the raft in the water is just a test. We still need to see its load-bearing ability. Although the raft is large, over three meters long and nearly two meters wide, theoretically it has great buoyancy, but whether it can truly carry a person remains to be seen,”
Bi Fang did not take it lightly but stepped into the chilly sea water, standing on the wooden raft under the nervous gaze of the audience, placing one foot on the raft.
The raft dipped slightly but remained stable.
It worked!
Bi Fang was thrilled, knowing he had succeeded greatly, then stepped on the raft, slowly placing his other foot on it.
The raft immediately tilted.
Watching this, the viewers held their breath, especially as Bi Fang stood up from the water, their tension reaching its peak, even Bi Fang himself felt a little anxious.
Although he lacked neither experience nor skill, this was still his first time building a raft, and accidents were not impossible.
If merely stepping on the edge could overturn the raft, it would undoubtedly be deemed a failure.
Unable to shake off his apprehension, Bi Fang closed his eyes without hesitation and leaped onto the raft.
The tide rippled as he stood on the raft. There was a slight wobble, but it did not tilt as he had feared, and he excitedly opened his eyes.
Although the other end of the raft lifted slightly, it did not leave the surface of the water!
Very stable.
The raft was a success!
The live stream room was immediately filled with a tide of cheers, Master Fang had succeeded!
[giaogiaogiao, go for it!]
[That had me on the edge!]
[Hurry up and go!]
[From poverty to modest wealth, the people finally have hope!]
Bi Fang, in good spirits, quickly pulled the raft back to shore, then secured the life raft in the empty spot. With the two combined, he even found it a bit difficult to pull.
Fortunately, it was eventually successfully put in water. This time, when Bi Fang stepped on the edge of the wooden raft, with the increased buoyancy from the life raft, the raft didn’t even sway, extremely stable, both in terms of feel and safety, it was a hundred times better than the original life raft!
The following task was even simpler: collect as much food and tools as possible and then set out to find the mainland!
With a clear goal in mind, Bi Fang got busy with preparations. He first searched the shore for any small fish or crabs, and to his surprise, he actually found a few crabs. However, they were very small, only about the size of a hawthorn.
Bi Fang didn’t mind the size, catching over a dozen of them and putting them in a bark container he had made that morning. It was simply a loop of bark with a bottom, not capable of holding water but more than sufficient for other items.
Besides these small crabs, there was nothing else to be found. Bi Fang shook his head in disappointment. Just as he was about to leave, a gleam caught his eye.
A jar?
Bi Fang approached, curious about the object buried in the sand and mud that was sparkling, revealing just a corner. When he got close and scraped away the mud, his surprise was evident.
“Hey! It’s actually obsidian!”
Bi Fang carefully unearthed a large chunk of black stone, surprised to find such a thing.
[Obsidian? I think I have a necklace made of obsidian…]
[Old Fang seems incredibly happy. Is this like flint? Can it start a big fire?]
[It looks pretty cool, kind of like a black magnet]
[Isn’t obsidian just another name for flint?]
“Of course not,” Bi Fang shook his head. “Flint is flint, obsidian is obsidian. Their formation conditions are different. Obsidian is natural glass formed by the sudden cooling of volcanic lava. It’s slightly less hard than flint, so it can’t start a fire, but it shares one characteristic: once sharpened, it’s incredibly sharp.”
Holding the glass-like obsidian, Bi Fang was excited. He suspected that this obsidian might have been washed ashore following an undersea volcanic eruption. He hadn’t expected to find such a treasure just as he was about to leave the island—it was the perfect material for making weapons!
“You should know, the sharpness of an obsidian fracture is 300 to 500 times sharper than a surgical scalpel!”
This revelation shocked the viewers. What was a scalpel? It was a knife that could easily slice through human tissue, and obsidian was supposed to be hundreds of times sharper?
Are you kidding me?
[!!!]
[400 times? Is Old Fang serious?]
“Of course, I’m serious. Not only that, but there’s evidence that wounds separated by an obsidian blade heal faster and with fewer scars,” said Master Fang, unable to wait, as he picked up another stone, ready to shape the obsidian into a dagger that would significantly increase his hunting ability. If he encountered a large fish that was hard to handle, he would tie the obsidian knife to the tree stick. One thrust with that, and it would definitely pierce right through.
“However, obsidian has its drawbacks; it’s very brittle. If you use it for high-intensity actions, it mostly won’t work. It’s only capable of cutting through biological tissues and the like.”
Bi Fang, holding a stone in his hand, gently tapped on the obsidian, even more carefully than he had with flint, for fear that one wrong hit could just break the stone entirely.
With a series of clinking sounds, tiny fragments were struck off, and the shape of a sharp-pointed dagger gradually became visible. Because it resembled glass, it looked even more attractive than the previously made flint knife, especially as it glittered in the sunlight.
[Cool!]
[Does this mean we can have another draw? Hehehe]
[Hundreds of thousands of people, and you’re telling me the odds are lower than winning the lottery?]
[I heard someone sold Master Fang’s Wolf Fang for over ten thousand…]
[Seriously? Are you sure it’s legit for that price? What if it’s a fake? Wolf Fangs aren’t that hard to come by]
[This is beyond my area of expertise]
Bi Fang furrowed his brow slightly upon seeing the comments, not so much angry that someone sold an item he gave away but concerned that someone might be using it as a gimmick to scam money.
He also planned to change the lottery system, to make only certain levels of followers eligible for prizes. This would naturally reduce the pool of people.
Ah well, these concerns could wait until he got back. The priority was to make as many tools as possible.
Bi Fang shook his head, clearing his thoughts, and picked up a few more tree sticks. He also searched for more obsidian but soon realized that there was only that one piece.
With everything ready, Bi Fang looked back at the island without a hint of nostalgia and pushed the raft into the sea.
On the eighth day of sea survival, Bi Fang had acquired one raft, various tools, and a small amount of food.