Wasteland Survivalist: A Scientific Guide to Post-Apocalyptic Survival

When he finished relieving himself and came out, Zhao Xun was already sitting in the driver's seat eating compressed biscuits.

She was biting her lip so hard it was making a "click" sound, and her eyes were full of disdain as she looked at him.

Gu Lang felt uncomfortable under his gaze, scratched the back of his head, and said awkwardly, "I just wanted to save some fresh water."

Zhao Xun sneered: "I think you're addicted to 'free flight,' no wonder you got bitten on the butt by a poisonous snake in the wild before."

Gu Lang was speechless, but Zhao Xun had no intention of letting him off the hook.

He stood up, pointed towards the toilet with compressed biscuits, and began his explanation of science.

"The toilet flushing equipment on the Type 022 submarine can directly draw seawater. Please use the toilet in a civilized manner in the future."

"Damn it, why didn't you say so earlier?" Gu Lang nodded, though he was still unconvinced.

So stop sticking your butt out of the ship's side and trying to find your sword by marking the boat.

If you slip and fall into the sea, I might not be able to pull you out in time.

Upon hearing this idiom, Gu Lang's eyes lit up, and he immediately put on a mischievous grin: "Tell me what 'carving a mark on a boat to find a lost sword' means."

Zhao Xun gave him a look that said, "Stop pretending," but still patiently explained the idiom according to conventional interpretation.

"A man from Chu was on a boat when the boat rocked, and his sword accidentally fell into the river."

Instead of jumping in to retrieve it, he calmly carved a mark on the side of the boat, saying that he would go into the water to search along the mark after the boat docked.

Later generations used this to mock those who were inflexible and rigidly adhered to dogma. After Zhao Xun finished speaking, he waited to see Gu Lang's reaction.

Gu Lang leaned against the dashboard, arms crossed over his chest, and shook his head: "I don't find this story funny at all."

Zhao Xun raised an eyebrow, signaling Gu Lang to begin his performance.

"You have to think about it from a different perspective. In ancient times, eight out of ten boatmen were also part-time bandits."

As the old saying goes, even innocent people like drivers, boatmen, shopkeepers, and peddlers should be killed.

The boat reached the middle of the river, surrounded by water on all sides, and the passengers had no way to escape.

At this point, the boatman should ask you whether you want wonton noodles or sliced ​​noodles.

Whether he throws you in to drown you or just chops you up with a knife depends entirely on his mood.

Zhao Xun listened without saying anything, but simply changed his sitting posture.

Gu Lang got more and more excited as he spoke: "So, in those days, when you were on a boat, you had to let the boatman know you weren't someone to mess with."

The passenger in the story wore a long sword at his waist, a symbol of status and martial prowess.

If a sword is accidentally dropped into the water, it's equivalent to losing all of his fighting skills.

The boatman saw this man and thought, "Isn't this a pushover?" The thought of murder and robbery immediately took hold.

This passenger was no pushover either; in desperation, he pulled out a short knife from his pocket.

He slashed at the side of the boat, leaving a mark.

What does this mean? This is a warning to the boatman.

Although my sword fell into the water, look closely, I still have a knife in my hand.

Don't think I'm unarmed. If you want to fight, think twice.

He paused for a moment, looked into Zhao Xun's eyes, and gave his final conclusion.

"So later, when other passengers saw the knife mark on the side of the ship before boarding, they couldn't help but ask, what does it mean?"

What could the boatman say? He couldn't very well say that the man last time suspected he was going to hijack the boat, so he slashed me with a mark to scare me, could he?

That's why he made up the silly story of "marking the boat to find the sword," and told it in a very convincing way.

They turned a show of force into a pedantic and rigid joke.

The most crucial information in this idiom story was concealed from the boatman from the very beginning.

It's less about "marking the boat to find the sword" and more about "marking the boat to survive."

Zhao Xun listened in silence.

He thought about it carefully for a while before speaking.

"I've never heard this explanation before; it's quite novel."

He neither said it was right nor wrong.

He simply chewed those words, along with the remaining compressed biscuits, over and over again.

"It's getting late, let's get ready to leave."

After saying that, Zhao Xun pulled down the control lever.

After hearing Gu Lang's description of himself as a "vehicle killer" yesterday, he decided to try his best to be the driver himself.

The Type 022 submarine does not have a rudder; it achieves steering by adjusting four waterjet propulsion units.

By pushing the left thruster forward and the right thruster backward, the ship can be made to rotate in place.

The propeller on the bow side pushes forward or pulls backward, while the propeller on the stern side does the opposite.

It can also generate lateral force, causing the ship to shift to the left or right, making it very flexible at sea.

After a series of maneuvers, the bow of the boat quickly pointed south.

Gu Lang stood next to Zhao Xun, opened the electronic nautical chart, and together they planned the route.

The two carefully avoided potential blockade zones, using the reefs and complex coastline for cover.

It will stay close to the edge of the coastline and advance southward at a low speed of 14 knots.

The process went more smoothly than expected, but it wasn't exactly easy either.

On several occasions, the shadows of unidentified ships appeared on the distant sea.

Zhao Xun would immediately adjust his course and take a large detour to avoid it.

The stealth capabilities of the Type 022 submarine gave them enough confidence, but Zhao Xun clearly did not intend to rely on this too much, preferring to take a longer route rather than gamble.

Gu Lang used his binoculars to look at the fishing port on his right. When he saw an abandoned fishing boat with the character "闽" (Min) on its name, he realized that he had finally left Zhejiang Province.

Zhao Xun slowed down the speedboat and moved closer, while Gu Lang boarded it to collect diesel fuel.

The speedboat was a gas guzzler, and the two of them kept a close eye on collecting and refueling along the way.

"We've entered Fujian waters." Zhao Xun threw the cable over.

"Based on the voyage estimate, we've probably reached the waters off Ningde." Gu Lang took the rope and tied it to the fishing boat's bollard.

After the search operation concluded, Gu Lang returned to the cockpit and removed his protective suit.

I opened my notebook and recorded the supplies I had just acquired.

After the radiation levels dropped, the abandoned ship could finally be searched safely.

After resting, he checked the nuclear strike list as usual.

"10 from Huzhou, 9 from Xiamen."

Gu Lang closed his notebook and turned his gaze to the gray sea outside the porthole.

After organizing his thoughts, he spoke to Zhao Xun after a few seconds.

"Xiamen is a key nuclear strike target, and Zhangzhou is right next to it. Finding someone in a place like this is extremely difficult."

Zhao Xun held a joystick in each hand, occasionally checking the display screen of the optoelectronic equipment.

"You're right. And the place I'm going to is Zhangzhou Port in Longhai District, which is the closest to Xiamen Island."

Gu Lang glanced at the map and found that the straight-line distance from there to Xiamen Island was less than 4 kilometers.

"I still remember that the Xiazhang Intercity Railway R3 line was included in the plan back then."

Across the sea, Zhangzhou Port has witnessed a real estate boom.

Zhao Xun began telling Gu Lang his story on his own.

"At its most insane, the housing prices in that area directly broke through 20,000 yuan per square meter."

Developers are acquiring land like madmen, and huge new buildings are springing up everywhere, with tower cranes denser than roadside trees.

Later, the R3 project was suspended, and the bubble burst overnight.

With housing prices plummeting to 5,000, there are simply no buyers for secondhand homes, and sales offices are deserted.

In the newly completed residential complex, less than 20% of the lights were on, leading some to dub it "Southern Crane Harbor" online.

He paused, a hint of self-deprecation in his voice.

"I think that although the place has become a 'ghost town,' the supporting infrastructure and living environment are actually quite well maintained."

The roads are wide, the greenery is lush, and water, electricity, and gas are all available. Schools and hospitals are also readily available.

So I bought a house at a low price and settled my parents, wife, and children there.