Apocalypse: Last Traveler

Lu Xi'an thought of another method: carving a stress groove in the mast, plugging it with a wooden peg, and then, at a critical moment, pulling it out and giving it a forceful slap to break the mast.

In this way, the entire sail could be discarded instantly, saving the ship and their lives.

In theory, accomplishing all this wasn't easy, but fortunately, Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei were both Neo-Humans, allowing one to do the work and the other to assist, finishing it quickly.

For some damaged areas on the sail, Lu Xi'an tried placing blocks of "resin" over a pot, steaming them to melt, and then spreading and sticking it onto the "sail."

Surprisingly, this method worked quite well. The strange resin-like secretion from the tree not only sealed the damaged areas but also reinforced the mast, the two crossbars, and the sail.

After using up the resin, Lu Xi'an tested the sail and found that it couldn't be pulled off the mast without considerable force.

He poured some remaining water from the pot over the areas on the sail coated with "resin" to test them, and seeing that the water wasn't absorbed by the sail, he was relieved.

With that, he could gather more "resin" to apply to the animal hide, ensuring the sail could withstand one or two uses.

He got up to collect more "resin" but turned to see Yao Wei coming from afar, holding a Blade in one hand and a slab of stone with a lot of resin in the other.

It turned out that while he was busy, Yao Wei had already helped him gather some.

Did she sense that this thing might be useful?

"Thank you."

He smiled at Yao Wei and said it, and Yao Wei also smiled brightly, looking radiant in the clear moonlight.

Lu Xi'an took the resin, as usual, steamed it to melt, and applied it to the animal hide.

After applying and letting it dry slightly, a simple and rough sail was completed.

Looking at the final product, Yao Wei couldn't help but feel a bit of distrust and skepticism for the first time and questioned: "This... can it really work?!"

Lu Xi'an sighed helplessly, "I don't know either, I'm just giving it a shot. If it works, great; if not, it's not a big deal."

Anyway, he had already made the product, and despite its chaotic, simple, and rough appearance, he oddly felt a sense of achievement.

He thought to himself, no wonder people in the past relished assembling models—it indeed brings a sense of accomplishment.

"Let's go, we're heading down the mountain."

Lu Xi'an hoisted the sail on his shoulder, and with a pole on the other shoulder, first accompanied Yao Wei to the pool of water to fetch water for the two people at the foot of the mountain before continuing downhill.

Upon reaching the base of the mountain—or to be precise, the coastline halfway down—they saw a wooden boat lying across the shore, with two men, one large and one small, curled up inside, asleep just like that.

However, the two men slept lightly, waking immediately at the sound. They sat up in the boat, saw Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei, and hurriedly said, "You two have arrived!" while quickly getting off the boat.

Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei had already unloaded everything from their shoulders, and Hu Dong's eyes were wide open at the sight of the water buckets, surprised that these two Neo-Humans had fetched water before dawn.

Neo-Humans are truly impressive!

Meanwhile, Hu Xiaodong hadn't had time to look at the water buckets; his gaze fell on another item: "Is this... a sail?!"

"You recognize it?"

Lu Xi'an asked.

If he recognized it but didn't use it for his boat due to instability concerns, then Lu Xi'an's efforts would have been in vain.

However, Hu Xiaodong shook his head and replied, "I don't know it! I only heard my grandpa mention it.

"My grandpa said that my grandpa's grandpa often wished they had a sail on their family's boat, and my grandpa also described what sails looked like to me, and I feel it's similar to this.

"You two are really amazing to even have a sail!"

Hu Dong also nodded repeatedly, feeling that these two Neo-Humans truly were remarkable.

Lu Xi'an said, "Enough with the flattery, whether this thing works or not is uncertain. I'd like to install it on your boat and give it a try. Do you agree?"

Hu Xiaodong quickly pulled Hu Dong aside, saying, "No problem!" He wasn't afraid that Lu Xi'an might mess up his boat.

Or maybe he had an inexplicable confidence in these two Neo-Humans, believing they would certainly make it work.

Hearing Hu Xiaodong say this, Lu Xi'an boarded the boat to give it a try.

He had already roughly examined it, and the boat's bottom was deep enough for him to carve a cross-shaped groove in the central area without piercing through the bottom and causing leaks.

After carving, he trimmed a matching protrusion at the base of the mast and inserted it into the groove. Then he contributed two nails he had found earlier, nailing them in to laterally pierce and secure the mast in place on the boat.

He had brought some resin down, and the melted resin hadn't dried yet, so he applied it to the juncture of the groove and the protrusion, firmly sticking them together and adding another round of reinforcement.

"Come on, let's see if it can be operated."

After completing everything, Lu Xi'an called Hu Xiaodong and Hu Dong over to teach them how to use the sail.

Of course, teaching was more exploratory, as Lu Xi'an himself was figuring it out while instructing.

Unexpectedly, Hu Xiaodong and Hu Dong seemed to be naturally adept at sailing, quickly understanding the sail's operation, sensing the wind direction, and adjusting the crossbar and sail direction, doing it more skillfully than Lu Xi'an, the Neo-Human and creator.

The small boat hadn't even touched the water yet on the mountain, but it swayed back and forth with the wind.