CHAPTER 386: CHAPTER 386: THE SUPPLIES ARE COMPLEMENTARY

Lian Qi slipped into a dense thicket, carefully parted the leaves in front of him, and after waiting for over ten seconds to confirm no one was passing by, he finally relaxed and opened his backpack.

Afraid of making too much noise, Lian Qi held his breath and moved extremely slowly.

When he unzipped a small opening and spotted something seemingly blue and white inside, he sped up and yanked the zipper open all the way to the bottom in one go.

What the heck is this thing?

When the zipper reached the bottom, Lian Qi froze, staring at the plastic item he had pulled out.

It turned out to be a rectangular foldable bathtub.

Heh... Lian Qi’s expression was indescribable.

He couldn’t tell if he was lucky or unlucky—sure, he got a finished product, but could this thing really drift across a river?

If the body couldn’t maintain balance, it tipping over into the water would be completely normal.

At the same time, at other spots in the thicket, people were discovering the supplies the production team had thrown in.

But everyone was dumbfounded—it felt like the production team wasn’t sincerely trying to help them leave the jungle. The supplies provided couldn’t remotely make a complete boat.

Someone found a large bag of plastic bottles, but apart from the bottles, there was nothing else.

Someone else received straps and fixative, but the bag lacked any material that could be used to bond things together.

Another person got their hands on two deflated tires; no matter how strong their lung capacity, it wasn’t possible to inflate both tires by blowing.

However, where there were tires, there were also air pumps.

Initially, everyone was stunned when they opened their supplies.

The production team had already announced the rules: after the second round of supply drops, there would be no further provision of resources.

If everyone failed to use the supplies to cross the jungle after the final drop, they’d be out of luck.

The trainees who found supplies were all cautious—even though the materials didn’t seem very useful for now, at least they had something. Everyone guarded their resources like wolves, fearing their discoveries would attract theft.

But among them, there was one exception: Tan Qianzhi. He didn’t even think about keeping his possessions hidden; he was single-mindedly focused on leaving the jungle as quickly as possible.

He was practically starving and only wanted to return to the training camp for a hot meal.

So, after inspecting the supplies he received, he began yelling loudly in the jungle.

"I’ve got two deflated tires! Anyone kind enough to lend me a pump?"

Afraid others couldn’t hear him, Tan Qianzhi was practically screaming.

Everyone around heard him, but they chose to observe for the time being—no one responded.

Some even secretly mocked Tan Qianzhi: "What a dimwit—being so blatant. What if someone robs him of his supplies later?"

Tan Qianzhi shouted incessantly as he walked, with a kind of persistence that made it seem like he wouldn’t give up unless someone responded.

Finally, just when he felt his voice was about to give out, someone answered loudly.

"I’ve got a pump! Over here, I’ve got a pump!" The speaker was Wu Wei, the guy who shared a dorm room with Tan Qianzhi.

Everyone usually joked around and called him "Whatever."

Upon hearing his roommate’s voice, Tan Qianzhi quickly sprinted toward the source. Wu Wei also ran toward Tan Qianzhi.

In no time, the two met up and began sharing their supplies.

"Perfect! You’ve got tires, and I’ve got a gun—it’s a match made in heaven! And with two tires, we each get one. More than enough!" Wu Wei nearly cried tears of joy when he saw Tan Qianzhi’s deflated tires.

God knows how hopeless he felt when he had received that useless air gun. It’s not like he could pump himself up, shape-shift into a human raft, and float across the water.

"Come on, hand it over!" Wu Wei reached out to grab the tire from Tan Qianzhi.

But Tan Qianzhi, who usually reacted half a beat too slow, suddenly had a rare moment of sharpness. Just as the supply bag was halfway to Wu Wei, he abruptly withdrew it.

"No way! I don’t trust you—what if you take my supplies and bolt?" Tan Qianzhi shook his head furiously, refusing to hand over his stuff.

Wu Wei chuckled, "Well, well, didn’t think you’d get so sharp all of a sudden."

Tan Qianzhi widened his eyes, trying to pull off a tough expression. "Had to learn from you guys!"

His time in the training camp had been full of suffering—more losses than he had experienced in the first twenty years of his life combined.

Especially thanks to Lian Qi, who tricked him often enough that being fooled so many times naturally sharpened his awareness.

If he didn’t learn a thing, he’d really be a fool.

Tan Qianzhi opened his supply bag and handed Wu Wei one of the deflated tires: "Inflate this tire for me first, and then I’ll give you the other one."

"Alright, alright, you’re the boss!" Wu Wei raised his hands in mock surrender, laughing at how dramatic it was, before immediately lowering them and grumbling, "We share a dorm, man. Is this really necessary? Truly hurts my heart!"

Tan Qianzhi wouldn’t fall for Wu Wei’s words—after all, Lian Qi was their roommate too, and that didn’t stop him from scamming Tan Qianzhi daily.

"Hurry up and pump, or I’ll just take my stuff and leave!" Despite Tan Qianzhi’s completely non-intimidating threats, Wu Wei obediently started inflating the tire with the air gun.

The tire’s exterior began to swell inch by inch, and when it was fully inflated and Wu Wei detached the air gun, Tan Qianzhi lunged forward, grabbed the tire, and took off running.

Wu Wei froze on the spot—wait, wasn’t he supposed to be the one holding the tire?

He’d underestimated how much Tan Qianzhi’s training had paid off lately—his reaction time and physical agility had clearly improved substantially.

After gaining a safe distance from Wu Wei, Tan Qianzhi stopped, turned around, and looked at him. "Don’t even think about taking advantage of me, and I won’t take advantage of you either. The other deflated tire is still on the ground—your job is to inflate that one. Shouldn’t take you long."

Wu Wei felt both annoyed and amused—so he’d been tricked into becoming free labor for Tan Qianzhi?

It was the first time he’d been scammed by Tan Qianzhi—it sure was novel.

Wu Wei continued inflating the remaining tire, while Tan Qianzhi ran as if pursued by dogs, clutching his fully inflated tire without stopping for breath.

On the way, someone saw Tan Qianzhi and paused in surprise—wasn’t he just asking for an air gun earlier? How was he already running around with an inflated tire now?

Some trainees quickly noticed a pattern: were the supplies thrown out by the production team all complementary? Did two people need to combine their items to make a boat?

Inspired by Tan Qianzhi, the trainees began shouting while walking through the jungle, trying to see who had complementary supplies.

Word spread quickly, and soon everyone knew the second batch of items consisted of paired complementary supplies.

No longer bothering to hide things, the jungle transformed into a lively marketplace, with people yelling to find partners for pooling their resources.