Aha!
When Chuck saw the crafting hint align with the idea in his mind, an unspeakable excitement surged through him.
It felt genuinely like playing a crafting and survival game!
He quickly searched the vicinity and soon found what he needed: a wooden stick about the length of his forearm.
But when Chuck excitedly placed the stick on the Workbench, the anticipated sight of the 'Craft' button lighting up didn't occur.
[Workbench input: Stone Knife x 1, Wooden Stick x 1]
[Crafting Hint: If you want to give it a handle, you'll need something to secure it.]
Seeing the new hint, Chuck couldn't help but scratch his head.
He needed something to fix it? This Workbench was strict.
But it made sense; the stone blade wasn't going to magically stick to the wood on its own.
His eyes scanned the surroundings again, and he quickly found a suitable material: a vine suspended between two tree branches.
Chuck spent some effort pulling the vine down, cut a segment of approximate length with the stone knife, and placed it on the Workbench.
It has to work this time, right?
Indeed, perseverance paid off. The 'Craft' button immediately lit up, and the screen displayed the prompt.
[Workbench input: Stone Knife x 1, Wooden Stick x 1, Vine x 1]
[Craftable Item – Stone Axe!]
[Estimated Crafting Time: 10 minutes. Start crafting?]
Chuck pressed the button, and the three materials he had placed instantly merged into a ball of light, floating on the Workbench, with a countdown timer in the center, just like when he crafted the stone knife.
[Crafting Queue: Stone Axe (Remaining 9 minutes 59 seconds)]
Success!
Now he just had to wait for the countdown in the ball of light to finish, and his stone knife would be transformed into a stone axe!
Next up would be cutting the bamboo to make the containers.
Chuck simply sat down on a large stone, conserving his energy for the hard work ahead.
His gaze, however, was gradually drawn to the blonde woman in the distance, who was repeatedly jumping up, trying to pluck bananas from a plant.
With every leap, her rounded, firm breasts and large, tight buttocks seemed to come alive, flaunting their presence and causing mesmerizing ripples.
Chuck judiciously looked away, feeling a rising sense of pleasure at the thought of having such a beautiful companion for the rest of his island survival adventure.
Ten minutes later, the countdown in the ball of light ended.
A stone axe materialized in Chuck's hand.
It was exactly as he had imagined: the original stone knife was bound to the end of the stick with the vine, but the details were impeccable.
For instance, the stone blade wasn't fixed right in the middle but was deliberately offset—one side longer than the other—and the handle of the wooden stick had been cleanly trimmed, making it feel very comfortable to hold.
Testing the feel, Chuck was even more impressed.
This second use of the Super Workbench reinforced its sheer power.
It was as if there were a skilled master craftsman behind the ball of light, ready to create all sorts of items for him, provided he gave the correct formula and materials…
"Hey, Chuck, I think I've collected enough. Should I take these back to the cave first?"
Just then, Julia, who had finished gathering wild fruits, returned, holding a large palm leaf loaded with various fruits and bananas. It looked like a substantial amount, enough to get them through the day.
A look of pride crossed her beautiful, chiseled face; she was clearly expecting a word of praise from Chuck. But then she spotted the finely crafted stone axe in his hand. Her blue eyes froze, and her mouth slightly dropped open.
"Oh my god, Chuck, did you make that axe yourself?!"
Chuck turned around and saw the foreign woman carrying a large bundle of fruits. He was immediately satisfied with her efficiency. He grabbed a handful of the fruit, popped it into his mouth, and nodded with a smile.
"That's right. I plan to use it to cut some bamboo for water containers. This looks like enough food for the two of us. Good job, Julia."
Chuck gave her a thumbs-up, then excitedly moved towards the bamboo to gauge where to start cutting.
Julia looked at him, blinked her big eyes, wanting to say something, but hesitated.
In the end, she didn't speak. She just offered a slight smile, picked up the fruit, and headed back the way she came.
Immediately afterward, a screen unexpectedly appeared before Chuck, who was about to start chopping the bamboo.
[Julia's Trust Level in you has increased by 2 points. Current Trust Level: 18 (Stranger)]
Huh??
What did I do?
Why did her Trust Level increase?
Chuck, the man in question, was completely baffled. He turned around blankly to look.
However, the foreign woman was no longer in sight.
He could only shake his head, finding the foreign thought process utterly strange, and then swung the stone axe down onto the bamboo in front of him.
Half an hour later.
The sweltering heat gradually subsided, and the light filtering through the canopy became increasingly slanted.
It was probably not far from evening.
Chuck put away the stone axe, grabbed the hem of his shirt to wipe the sweat from his forehead, and decided to call it quits.
"Is this enough?"
Julia, who had returned, asked him softly.
"Yes, this should be fine for now. We still need time to figure out how to start a fire, and it would be dangerous to stay in the jungle after dark."
As he spoke, over a dozen bamboo tubes of various sizes were neatly lined up next to the puddle, ready to be filled with water.
"Let's get started then!"
Chuck said, and he and Julia each took one of the pre-prepared coconut shells as a scoop and began collecting water from the surrounding puddles.
Until only a shallow layer of muddy water remained in each puddle, they had filled eight bamboo tubes.
Chuck estimated roughly four liters of water!
Unfortunately, all four liters were unsafe stagnant water and had to be boiled before drinking.
"We need to go back and figure out how to start a fire."
Chuck licked his dry lips, his voice slightly hoarse.
He had been working hard since noon, sweating profusely, yet hadn't had a single sip of water, only eating some wild fruits. His throat was, predictably, burning again.
Julia's face was pale; she clearly wasn't doing much better.
The two didn't waste time. Rushing back and forth, it took another half hour to move all eight water-filled bamboo tubes to the cave.
However, on the last trip before leaving, Chuck did something that Julia found quite unexpected.
He picked up another empty bamboo tube, knelt down next to a puddle that had already been scooped clean, and scooped a handful of sludge into the tube with his hand…