Chapter - 15 Scouting and the Boat
I stood atop the mountain, the wind threading through my hair, arms crossed, gazing out at the world sprawled endlessly before me.
Valleys dipped and rose like a sleeping dragon's back, rivers snaked lazily in silver threads, and dense patches of forest huddled together in the distance like whispering secrets. It was beautiful. The kind of beautiful that presses silence into your chest and makes you forget to breathe.
But I wasn't here to admire.
I unfolded the map and held up the compass, glancing between the paper and the real-world terrain below.
River bends left… double fork downstream…
My eyes narrowed. I was trying to pin down our exact location.
The problem?
This map.
This cursed, uneducated, likely half-drunk village idiot's scribble of a map.
"Damn," I muttered under my breath. "Who the hell drew this piece of shit? A monkey with a broken quill?" I turned it upside down and then back again, squinting. "I miss GPS, bro. At least satellites don't lie to your face."
My eyes, though--those weren't ordinary anymore.
Back when I rebuilt this body, when I opened my meridians…
I had a stupid idea.
Run two meridians per eye. Double the flow. Dangerous, painful, insane.
But it worked.
Now? My vision wasn't just sharp--it was analytical.
I could trace Qi lines, see through fog, and spot elevation shifts at a glance. Everything was data. Everything was useful.
It wasn't x-ray vision, but it was close enough for a world with no damn Google Maps.
I tilted my head, spotting a ridge pattern that matched one of the vague squiggles on the map. "Gotcha," I whispered.
Behind me, the squad--ishita and the overfed, arrogant cultivation pets--were playing with pebbles and sniffing grass like they were on a school picnic.
Time to move.
"Lil bros," I called, turning around and pointing south. "March. We go that way. And no, Chicken, you don't get to sit on my head like a crown again."
He puffed his chest proudly in protest, but hopped down anyway.
As we descended the mountain, I slid the map back into my robe and chuckled to myself.
I didn't know if this land would be the one.
But I'd make it work.
With my eyes, my brain, and a little bit of reckless ambition--
I'd carve out a paradise with my own hands.
—
The wind was warmer now. Summer was creeping in like a thief, stealing spring's subtle chill. We had been moving south for a while, and something in my gut told me we were getting close. That intuition--the kind only a former gamer turned cultivator would understand--started pinging louder the further we walked.
I climbed a small hill, brushing aside overgrown grass, and as I reached the crest, the view hit me like a divine revelation.
There it was.
A massive lake. So wide I could barely see the other side even with my eyes enhanced by two meridians. The sun glinted off the surface, making the water shimmer like a sheet of polished obsidian. The breeze carried the faint scent of minerals, life, and opportunity.
But it wasn't the lake that had my heart pounding in excitement.
It was the island.
Right smack in the middle.
A chunk of land, huge and untouched, like nature itself had placed it there just for me.
Judging by the size, the lake had to stretch at least 20 to 30 kilometers in radius. And the island? Easily 5 to 10 square kilometers wide. Perfect for what I had in mind. Isolated, defensible, naturally protected by the water, and blessed by its own ecosystem.
"Yes sirrr," I whispered, grinning like an idiot. "Let's goooooo."
I was so hyped I completely forgot about the rest of the crew trailing behind me. It wasn't until I heard a soft gasp that I turned around.
Ishita had just reached the top. The wind caught her hair and made it dance around her face. Her eyes, wide in awe, reflected the lake's brilliance. For a second, she looked like she belonged in that view--part of it. Untouchable, ethereal.
I caught myself staring.
She noticed.
"What?" she asked, cheeks coloring slightly. "Why're you looking at me like that?"
I straightened up and took a deep breath, putting on the most serious expression I could muster.
"Ishita," I said solemnly.
"We forgot something really important."
Her brows furrowed. "What?"
"…Bikini."
She blinked.
"…Huh?"
I sighed dramatically. "Alas. Such a majestic lake… such a picturesque island… and yet, no swimsuit. Fate is cruel. I've been robbed of the opportunity to see you in a bikini today."
Her face turned crimson.
"You idiot!" she hissed, swatting my arm, but she couldn't hide the flustered smile creeping onto her lips. "You had me thinking we left behind food or a weapon or something!"
The chicken cackled in the background. The pig squealed. The bunny flopped onto the grass like this was the best romcom they'd ever witnessed.
But me? I just smiled, turning back toward the lake.
"Mark my words," I said, lifting the compass again and locking onto the direction of the island. "That place right there… it's gonna be home."
—
As we approached the lake shore, the air shifted. That cool, earthy scent of freshwater brushed against my face, refreshing and grounding. I inhaled deep. Not many things felt pure in this world--but this moment, this lake, did.
"Alright," I said, surveying the wide expanse of water and the soft muddy shore. "We need a boat."
I glanced at the surrounding trees. Thick trunks. Lightweight logs. Just what I needed.
Truth be told, I had this planned out way back in Kaalguda. The moment I saw that island on the map, the idea started brewing in my head. That's why I bought ropes. Not for tying up animals. Not for climbing. But for this.
Boat engineering, baby.
I pulled the ropes from my bag and got to work. My hands moved with muscle memory from a thousand late-night survival games and half-finished real-life projects back on Earth. Using my special eyes and good ol' common sense, I began stacking and aligning logs. Then I tied them down with tight knots, checked for balance, estimated buoyancy, and even added some spacing to reduce drag.
It was ugly, but she floated.
I shoved it into the water for a test run. It bobbed gently. Not bad. Good enough for two people, a pig, a chicken, and a rabbit. Not exactly the Titanic, but definitely better than dying on the shore staring at paradise.
We boarded.
Ishita looked down at the still raft, then raised an eyebrow.
"So… how's this going to move? Don't tell me you're gonna pray and hope it magically floats us to the island."
I turned to her slowly, a smirk pulling at the corner of my lips.
"Baaaaakaaaaa," I said in a mock-mysterious tone. "Watch me, the Engineering Immortal, at work."
I pressed my fingers together and raised my hand like I was about to cast a jutsu straight out of a shounen anime.
"Heavenly Veinnnnnnn!!" I shouted dramatically, channeling my Qi.
A ripple pulsed out from my hand, and glowing ethereal veins started to form beneath my palm. They spread, etching themselves into the wood of the raft like living tattoos. On both ends of the raft, the wood twisted, morphed, and reshaped into two hollow tube-like structures--just like twin boosters on a jet engine.
The whole raft glowed briefly… and then stabilized.
"Done," I said with a proud grin, like I had just solved nuclear fusion using chewing gum and ambition.
Ishita was staring at the raft like it had just spoken Latin.
"…The hell was that?" she muttered. "Did you get hit by lightning and awaken black magic or something?"
I leaned forward slightly and tapped the front booster. "You see this? These are Qi-pipes. Hollow directional flow channels. The idea is simple: You or I just pour in some Qi from this end… and the pressure will push water out from the other end, propelling us forward. Like a reverse exhaust jet."
Ishita blinked. "turbo jets…?"
I just smiled, eyes glinting with satisfaction.
"Welcome aboard the SS Heavenly Thrust," I said. "Next stop--The Island."
—
End Of Chapter 15