After winding the fishing lines, He Yanghui drank the warm tea in one go and chewed and swallowed the mango pulp inside, which had become less astringent after steeping.
Then he whittled some wooden hooks, threaded the fishing lines from the net through them, tied them to wooden sticks, and made simple fishing rods.
"All done. Now I just need to find good spots to set them," He Yanghui said.
"We'll go together," Lin Qianyi said.
"Sure," He Yanghui replied.
Then, Lin Qianyi and He Yanghui set off together to place the hooks by the seaside.
The process wasn't complicated.
He Yanghui chose small channels carved by water places that held a bit of water but not too much, areas that would be covered when the tide came in.
On the hooks, he placed bits of shellfish meat the ones Lin Qianyi and Rena had gathered on the shore. There wasn't much meat inside each; the largest one was only slightly bigger than a thumb.
He Yanghui didn't use the metal fishing hook and best fishing line in his belt.
He intended to save those to make a separate, more durable rod.
These makeshift rods could break and be remade, but that line and hook were too important to risk.
Lin Qianyi observed the whole process carefully, trying to learn. Gaining some survival knowledge would help in the days to come.
Soon, they finished placing the hooks and returned to the campfire.
Zhou Yun and Su Mandong seemed off clearly, they had had a disagreement.
But it didn't look like it had escalated into a fight.
"He, we're all starving. Shellfish and half-raw fruit just aren't enough. Let's open another loaf of bread!" Su Mandong said.
Clearly, that argument had been about food.
"Hold on a bit longer. The situation is still unclear. We don't have much food. If we don't ration it, we won't last," He Yanghui said.
"We'll be out of here by tomorrow at the latest. What are you so worried about?" Su Mandong replied, annoyed. "You think this is some kind of deserted island survival scenario? In this day and age? A satellite's probably already spotted our bonfire. Rescue might arrive tonight…"
In this world, the tech was quite modern not as advanced as Lin Qianyi's home, the Taiyi Realm, but satellites certainly existed.
So Su Mandong's reasoning was sound if their disappearance followed normal logic.
"Miss Su, please hang in there a bit longer," He Yanghui simply said.
Su Mandong huffed, turned over, and closed her eyes beside Rena.
Zhou Yun also leaned against a tree and closed his eyes to rest.
Rena hugged her knees, staring blankly into the fire.
Meanwhile, Lin Qianyi and He Yanghui were adding wood to the flames.
Though it wasn't terribly cold at night, the fire kept the chill at bay.
"Qianyi, you should rest. I'll wake you when it's your turn," He Yanghui said.
"You too, Uncle He. Don't overwork yourself," Lin Qianyi replied.
"Mm," He Yanghui responded.
After their conversation, Lin Qianyi, exhausted, leaned beside He Yanghui and closed his eyes.
It wasn't comfortable at all, but hunger and fatigue were overwhelming even if he wasn't sleepy, he'd fall asleep anyway.
He Yanghui gazed at the fire, his expression grave.
He could already sense that something was wrong.
This incident had come too suddenly, too illogically.
He'd been at sea for years and had never seen anything like it.
And before it happened, he received no warnings at all.
Normally, the company was extremely cautious. If anything happened at sea, information was immediately relayed to every worker.
But not this time. From the moment it began to the end, he hadn't heard a single thing from the radio.
He strongly suspected that this incident wasn't an accident it was man-made.
Even if that was true, though, he couldn't figure out the motive. He could only hope that they wouldn't be dragged into something bigger.
As dawn approached, Zhou Yun woke Lin Qianyi to take over the watch.
He Yanghui had Zhou Yun watch the fire for 2–3 hours before having him wake Lin.
Lin had gotten a solid five to six hours of sleep.
He Yanghui didn't ask the two women to take a shift.
Their gender gave them a slight advantage or perhaps he was worried they'd cause trouble.
Given Su Mandong's emotional state, she'd likely stir up problems if left unmonitored.
As daylight broke, the group woke one by one.
Su Mandong and Rena went off to handle personal hygiene matters. When they returned, they whispered together, their bond seemingly closer.
On the men's side, things were quieter.
Zhou Yun spoke little introverted, it seemed.
Lin Qianyi could chat with He Yanghui despite the age gap, but the topics were mostly about survival skills.
When he asked about He's family, He avoided the subject. Maybe there were problems. His hobbies seemed to be limited to TV dramas and military sports shows.
Lin didn't know enough about those to hold a good conversation.
For breakfast, He Yanghui handed out a piece of bread to everyone, some warm fruit tea, and a few shellfish.
Except for the bread, everything else was barely edible especially the shellfish meat.
Lin had tried some the night before most had been eaten by He.
But today, hunger gnawed at him. He tried eating more shellfish.
The fruit tea helped mask the stench. He managed to swallow a bit.
Then, sipping the tea, he ate the bread.
After the meal, He Yanghui reignited the smoke signal pile and checked the fishing lines with Lin.
No luck. No fish, though two hooks had their bait eaten.
He didn't get discouraged just reset the traps and returned to camp.
"Today, we need to gather materials and build a proper shelter. At the very least, we can't be exposed to rain," He Yanghui said.
"Can't we stop all this?" Su Mandong complained. "We'll be rescued by the afternoon."
"Miss Su, we must plan for the worst. What if things don't go that way?" He said seriously.
"Why all the what-ifs? An incident this big would cause an international stir!" she snapped.
She was certain rescue was imminent and found all the prep unnecessary.
"But we can't ignore the possibility. If officials are delayed or can't find us, we need to survive longer to be rescued," He said.
Su Mandong didn't reply her body language said "You do you."
He Yanghui then began assigning tasks: gathering materials and food, crafting tools, and building a shelter.
Their best current tool was his multi-function knife.
It could chop, shave, saw even fish.
Lin Qianyi had a folding sword in his space ring too.
Though technically a factory reject, it was still formidable in this environment.
Unfortunately, pulling it out now would raise questions he needed a better excuse, like while gathering shells or wood.
Meanwhile, He Yanghui had Zhou Yun and Lin crafting a stone axe the most practical tool in a no-metal situation.
In less than 30 minutes, He crafted a basic axe from bark rope, a wooden shaft, and a stone blade.
"It needs a gentle hand, but it'll do for small branches," he said, swinging it twice before handing it to Lin.
Holding the stone axe, Lin Qianyi felt sentimental.
This "Training Space's" god was nothing like the merciless deities he imagined far too benevolent.
This trial felt more like an immersive adventure.
If he could adapt to the environment, work hard, and rely on his space gear, food and shelter would be manageable. And with others around, loneliness wasn't even an issue.
To him, it was more of a life experience than a test.
But for the other four, with no end in sight, hunger and hardship were real. Physically and mentally, it was overwhelming.
By noon, they were exhausted. With little food found, He Yanghui gave out another round of bread.
Now only nine loaves remained.
Enough for just two more meals.
And those loaves weren't much palm-sized, maybe 3 cm thick if compacted.
By then, the shelter's foundation was laid wood planks and sticks raised the floor off the ground. Once the roof was added, they'd be safe from rain.
Progress was steady, but everyone except Lin Qianyi looked grim.
Especially Su Mandong. She had been certain rescue would come last night satellites would spot their fire, ships and helicopters would be dispatched.
Even a fighter jet airdrop wasn't out of the question, in her mind.
But nothing.
Not a single sound.
The ocean was still just… ocean.
It was as if they had been forgotten.
An eerie hopelessness crept over her.
She had believed the most and so now, she despaired first.
By dusk, everyone gathered around fish soup.
Yes they had caught two small fish, three fingers wide and half a palm long.
But no one smiled.
Only silence remained.
Because they all seemed to realize
He Yanghui's worst-case scenario had come true.
They might be stuck here for a long, long time.
And perhaps… they might never return.