The girl swallowed hard and looked up at her, assuming she had come to mock her, and sheepishly held out her hand.

Perhaps the rumors about Ziye had been too harsh before, as Ye sighed helplessly, casually picked up a piece, and put it in her mouth. "The instructor roasted this meat; it's definitely not poisoned. I've eaten, and I'm full. Give me your nutrient pack."

The girl seemed to just register this, let out an "Oh," and handed the bag over. Seeing her take it, the girl, still holding a piece of meat, stood before her, quickly grabbing a piece of meat and shoving it into her mouth.

The sensation of swallowing was too wonderful; she couldn't help but want another piece. Ziye saw she was the first and nodded, allowing her one more, then shouted loudly: "Nutrient packs for meat slices, one pack for one slice."

The other girls saw this and rushed forward to trade.

In less than three minutes, all the meat slices were exchanged.

Ziye, clutching a large pile of nutrient packs, broke into a wide smile. "Thank you, everyone."

Many people had initially thought she was deliberately helping them in this manner, but now it seemed that wasn't the case. However, they were busy preparing food and paid no mind to what she intended to do with the nutrient packs.

Seeing that the two o'clock afternoon sun was perfect, Ziye ran to the sugary sand near the water and began digging pits. When she hit water, she opened a bag and propped it up with a stick. The midday sun was so hot it made one's scalp tingle. The water in the pit was intensely heated by the sun, causing it to evaporate into the bag, quickly forming condensation droplets on the inside surface.

Once collected, these droplets would be natural distilled water!

Ziye dug pits and set up bags alone; she only had a short two hours, and she used her hands and feet for everything. Lingyin saw her crouching on the beach from a distance, worried she might have had a breakdown, and ran over to ask, "Hey, what are you foolishly digging holes for?"

When Ziye explained her idea, Lingyin immediately jumped up: "Distilling water—great idea! I'll help you."

One person digging holes, one person collecting water. Unfortunately, the method was too primitive; they could obtain a little much-needed water, but not large quantities.

Lingyin glanced around. "Let me see who has tools; I'll borrow some." With that, she ran into the crowd, explained the method for distilling fresh water, and pointed out that Ziye had thought of it, and she was merely assisting.

Lingyin was a natural orator.

She described the simple distillation process so vividly that it escalated into a collective effort, elevating it to the prerequisite for continuing their journey today, urging everyone to participate enthusiastically...

Although some girls were hesitant to engage with her because of her earlier actions licking the fruit, they were all moved after listening. They opened their backpacks to search for tools.

Mobilizing the masses was the fastest way to solve problems.

Every student admitted to Ling Si possessed some extraordinary ability, but they were too accustomed to relying on high-tech solutions and temporarily couldn't conceive of using primitive methods.

Once prompted, they all found the knack.

In less than a moment, all sorts of tools were laid out on the sand. Many girls had brought large bags and parcels, producing an abundance of suitable equipment. A girl named Shaxinnie even pulled out a folding pot that resembled a folding fan. As she set up the pot and used the primitive boiling method to collect distilled water, she sighed emotionally: "Thank goodness Mommy stuffed this in for me. I threw a tantrum about it then. Thinking about it now, I really shouldn't have."

With the tools, the speed of water collection increased significantly. In less than two hours, everyone had a bag of distilled water. Ziye returned the nutrient packs to them and excitedly said to Lingyin, "Talking with you really helps solve problems."

Lingyin looked proud. "Well, obviously, hehe. Mostly, you're the amazing one. For someone like me, I can manage going up to the heavens or down to the earth, but if you asked me to devise a distillation method, I truly wouldn't have thought of it."

Whether it was her or anyone else, the way they looked at Ziye now held a measure of admiration.

The instructors, sitting leisurely under a tree drinking water, weren't overly surprised. The students of Ling Si certainly had some tricks up their sleeves, but that student named Ziye was unexpectedly outstanding!

The Major lightly tapped his water bottle and instructed the instructor next to him: "Check Ziye's file."

Two hours later, the assembly horn sounded again.

Everyone had timed their water collection and was mostly finishing up the final tasks. When the assembly horn sounded, they immediately packed everything into their bags and jogged over to line up in front of the Major.

Ziye charged forward quickly. Little Sprout, who had been perched on her head, was startled by her movement and flapped its wings to fly up. When Ziye stood steady, it flew to her waist and hung there.

After two hours of cooperation, most people around them were familiar faces. It didn't matter where they stood; others weren't sure, but they simply lined up roughly, separated by gender.

It was now four o'clock in the afternoon.

It had to be said: those extra two hours yielded significant results. Although Ziye felt a dull ache in her limbs, her spirits were high. Even the people around her had dramatically different demeanors.

Many girls, when they first came ashore, had their long hair stuck to their faces and their bodies bloated, looking like female ghosts. Now, they at least looked human. Those who were hungry had filled their stomachs, those who were thirsty had drunk fresh water, and those lacking sleep had caught up on rest.

The Major didn't call for 'at ease' or 'attention'; he simply said, "Take all your belongings and follow me."

As for where they were going, he didn't mention a word.

However, since they were moving, everyone assumed the destination wouldn't be far, and they followed along, chatting as they went.

Who knew the Major would start walking faster and faster? His height and long strides covered great distances with each step. At first, they tried to maintain a leisurely pace, but they had to switch to a brisk walk just to keep up.

Conversations died down instantly. Everyone focused on following the Major.

One Major and twelve instructors—not a single person explained where they were going or how far—left the group feeling uncertain. The journey seemed endless, increasing their fatigue. What began as a relatively orderly line gradually dragged, with the physically stronger ones leading, the boys in the middle, and most of the girls falling behind. If the other instructors hadn't followed at the rear, looking stern and frightening them into not slowing down, the procession would have stretched into a long dragon.

Most of the boys had little luggage, whereas the girls had considerably more. This difference became more pronounced during the long trek. Many boys ended up moving to the back of the line to help the girls carry their bags. After all, it was thanks to the girls' pile of luggage at noon that they had been able to collect distilled water so quickly.

The instructors nodded in approval, finally seeing some team spirit.

Ziye felt her physical condition was excellent. After the swim, all the latent potential stimulated by Little Sprout had been fully unleashed; mere walking was no issue at all.

She wanted to help carry some luggage, but since she was the youngest of everyone and the last to develop, every girl except the petite Lingyin was taller than her. Thus, even though her swimming was fierce and her idea for distilling water was brilliant, no one dared to hand their backpack over to her.

Instead, a boy named Alsfied even tried to take her backpack.

Ziye smiled and shook her head. "I can manage." (To be continued)