Chapter 646: Survival in the Wild — Failure (Part 2)

After Haerdeyingyongxianshen ， Huaxiangyizhongyuzuochengle ， Danyaseduizhezhongjiaotonggongjumeishenmexingqu ， Taningyuanzhijiezoulu ， Shuangjiaolidihuirangtagandaobuan 。

Danduiyufeixingyuanhaerlaishuoquebuyiyang ， Congzuichudeshibaizhihou ， Tajiuaishanglezhezhongaoxiangtianjideganjue 。

Hezuozaifeijijiashicangbutong ， Chuansuozaidazirandefengzhong ， Tingzhexiliuyuhailangdeshengyin ， Yumantianhainiaobingjianerxing ， Ruyipianqingyingdeyumao ， Meicihuaxiangdouranghaerchenzuiqizhong 。

Buguo ， Zhezhuyaoshiweilejiejueganluwenti ， Suoyizaihuaxiangjicihou ， Haerbianchengdanqileyunsongwuzidezhize 。

The fish traps proved extremely efficient, and soon several plump sea fish were caught—perfect for stewing into soup.

Zaihaer 、 Bulusiheyasesanrendenulixia ， Shaiyanchangyechubujianchengle 。

The salt evaporation site was ultimately chosen beside a flat sandy area downstream of the stream, where both fresh and seawater were relatively accessible.

The salt crystals formed by simply evaporating seawater are coarse salt, extremely bitter and rich in chemical substances hard for the human body to absorb, making them inedible—but ancient salt-making methods had long solved this problem.

The coarse salt produced was dissolved again in fresh water to make a saturated brine, then filtered through Bruce's dense fiber fabric—originally used for the glider's wings—to remove most insoluble impurities.

1200ksw.

Next, the saturated brine was boiled in the stone cooking pot; as the water evaporated, salt crystallized and adhered to the inner walls of the pot.

Scrape off this portion of salt, repeat the process multiple times; at this point, the salt is edible.

However, seawater salt still contained some soluble impurities that caused bitterness, and removing these required plant ash.

Plant ash contains potassium carbonate, which can be used directly as a potassium fertilizer in farming, or to break down the bitter-tasting components in table salt.

Bruce gathered some relatively dry plants, burned them to ash, added the ash to the large pot of brine, and continued high-temperature boiling; the crystals forming on the surface became non-toxic, edible salt with only a salty taste.

Of course, this salt is still called coarse salt in modern society and cannot compare to factory-produced refined salt, but many regions still use this coarse salt for meat preservation, believing its minerals benefit health.

Thus, at this stage, the salt could be used directly; if stranded on a desert island and skipping later purification and plant ash steps, repeatedly boiling the salt would yield a barely usable product—but Bruce, in his pursuit of perfection, ultimately produced a fine white salt nearly identical to modern table salt.

Zuowanzheyiqie ， Tianyiheitou ， Sanrenmangleyizhenggexiawu ， Cishidoujichanglulu ， Quedouhenmanzu ， Youqishiyasehehaer ， Doujuededakaiyanjie ， Wanquanmeixiangdaojingnengzheyangconghaishuizhongzhiyan 。

The next step was to take the salt back and begin processing the meat, but when they returned to the cave, Schiller and Oliver were both asleep, having skipped dinner.

The reason might be: the sparks that flew between a doctor who wasn't incompetent but whose surgical skills were hardly impressive, and a completely disobedient patient.

First, Schiller wasn't a surgeon—he'd only worked in a hospital and could barely handle minor wounds; his only advantage over ordinary people was that even if he messed up, he could use the gray mist to fix it.

Moreover, DC Shiler has always been relatively aggressive in his medical approach, and in trauma treatment, he inherited this aggressive style, rarely caring about others' struggles.

And Oliver, despite having struggled to survive on this island for three months, could not erase the fact that he had once been a pampered, delicate rich boy.

Initially, driven by the will to survive, he could ignore all pain; but now, full and drowsy, he had slipped back into his former illusion of luxury and comfort.

Thus, he was hypersensitive to pain, and combined with Schiller's extremely rough methods, their relationship wasn't doctor-patient harmony—it was more like a constant brawl.

If he could use his special ability, Schiller would surely pin Oliver down, but the problem was he couldn't—he couldn't use the gray mist to knock Oliver unconscious.

Due to the gray mist, Schiller's body possessed immense physical strength, but without using gray mist tendrils, he only had two arms and two legs; while one hand was occupied with treating the wound, he had only one hand left to restrain Oliver.

It proved that even with immense strength, it was nearly impossible to fully restrain an adult writhing in pain with just one hand; in the end, Schiller nearly strangled Oliver before finally finishing the wound treatment.

Both were exhausted, so while the other three were busy with wilderness survival, they had already fallen asleep in the cave.

Oliver was truly asleep; Schiller was merely pretending to sleep to calm his fury at the thought of strangling the future Green Arrow right there.

Seeing the two asleep, the other three decided against the effort of cooking a full meal; instead, they set up a fish grill, cleaned the freshly caught fish, skewered them, and began roasting.

Zhongwushihaerzuodehaixianjianghaimeiyongwan ， Liangtiaoyushuajiangliao ， Yitiaoyusayan ， Haiyouyitiaoyuchaichengyuroufangjinyezi ， Liantongyezhiyiqidunyutang 。

The scent of roasting fish wafted from the cave's platform; the night breeze off the island carried a chill, and the deep blue sky met the coastline, dotted with twinkling stars.

" Nimenzhidaoma ？ Zheciwohuijia ， Wofumuxiangwodaoqianle ……" Haeryaoleyikouyu ， Beitangdao ， Zuilibutinghuqi ， Yankuangyouxiefahong ， Huoxushishiwutaire ， Yefengtaileng 。

"They no longer oppose my becoming a pilot, nor do they insist I stay near Seaside City anymore; they even spoke to me in a conciliatory tone, saying it would be wonderful if I could come home once a month…"

" Ruguotamenjinianqianjiuzhemeshuo ， Woyidinghuixinxiruokuang ， Gaoxingdetiaoqilai ， Juedetamenzhongyutongqingdalile ……" Haerduanguoyutang ， Heleyikou ， Shijinchoulexiabizi ， Shuiyemeikanchutashifouyintangdaoerliulei 。

"But I feel they've grown old. I thought I'd been away for decades, but they've really aged so much…"

"Parents are like that—if you're gone a long time and return, you'll realize they've aged tremendously," Arthur said, taking a bite of roasted fish, spitting out a bone, and continuing: "I was out at sea with a fishing vessel for just over three months, and when I returned, my father looked thirty years older…"

"You know what? In Broodhaven, there's a legend…" Arthur sneezed from the hot fish soup, sniffed hard, and said: "If a child sets out to sea on a large vessel, and the parents pray to God at church, then when the child faces a maritime disaster and is in mortal danger, God takes some of the parents' lifespan so the child may return safely…"

"Nonsense," Bruce commented.

"The point of this story is that in Broodhaven, every young sailor's parents pray for him before he sails—even knowing it might shorten their own lives, they still do it, including my father."

Bulusichenmole ， Haerpieletayiyan ， Budongshengsedichakaihuati ：" Buludehaiwenhehaibinchengzhenyoudianxiang ， Zhezuochengshibengaiyougenghaodefazhan 。"

"I read about Seabreeze City's history in a fishing magazine," Arthur said, swallowing his last bite of roasted fish: "You got lucky—you caught the gold rush, and that's what made the city grow. But I don't envy you; Broodhaven is truly peaceful. If outsiders came to mine for gold, they'd cause chaos—I wouldn't want that."

Haerdiantoudao ：" Dique ， Dachengshiyoudachengshidehao ， Danxiaozhenhexiangcunyeweibibuhao ， Meigerenzuiaidedoushizijidejiaxiang ， Buguannashichengshihaishixiangcun ……"

This remark plunged Bruce into deep thought: among the many reasons he became Batman, "he loved Gotham" was never one—at least, that's what he'd always believed.

This damned city of crime had nothing worth clinging to; instead, it gave him his heaviest scars.

Yet when he saw even a glimmer of Gotham improving, he still felt a flicker of excitement and hope.

Only when far away, beyond thousands of miles, do people realize they have an eternal homeland—and Bruce was no exception.

When he thought of words like "hometown" or "native land," the first place that came to mind was still that dark city.

All its residents think it's inadequate, yet they'd rather admit how rotten it is than abandon its bizarre, dark depths, indulging in the wildest nightmares—even Batman.

The surge of emotion made Bruce feel tense and anxious; he was utterly unaccustomed to such sentimentality, so he wanted to do something to escape it.

He tossed aside his fish skewer, stood up, and clapped his hands: "I think you've rested enough—there's still plenty to do. We must invest more time and effort into surviving on this island…"

Yijingchibaofankundehaerheyaseduishiyiyan ， Wunaitanlekouqi 。

The next morning, Schiller woke up, blinded by sunlight outside the cave; he raised his hand to shield his eyes and slowly walked out, seeking fresh air.

Then, slowly, his eyes widened as he stared at the dense network of pulley systems outside the cave, and the spiderweb-like zip lines stretching across the rainforest.