The fact that Batman is the beloved child of the DC editorial department is undeniable - no matter what the environment or condition, Batman always finds a way.
Handing over the prepared fish traps to Arthur, Bruce started to make rope ladders using the leftover fibrous ropes and sticks. The ladder could be lowered from the cave platform, meaning they no longer had to navigate down the rocky cliff.
After completing the rope ladder, Bruce crafted a set of metal tools. These were significantly superior to Arthur's stone-hammered metal pieces. The metal parts were ground to a sharp edge, with perfect shapes and sizes. The handles were carefully measured to ensure they facilitated effective force application, and were polished for smooth handling.
With tools ready, it was time to use them to improve their survival conditions. Seeing Bruce busy with his work, Hal approached him, asking, "How did you get here? Did you fly? Where is your airplane?"
"What are you up to?" Batman eyed Hal with a wary gaze. "The crash log of the Batplane I loaned you shows you crashed my plane…"
"Impossible! Shiller was the one who hit the button!" Hal exclaimed, but saw a "just as I thought" expression on Bruce's face, and sighed, knowing he had blurted out the truth without intending to.
"So, did you really come here by plane? Then why are you staying here?" Hal questioned.
"And why are you staying here?" Bruce retorted.
Hal glanced at Shiller, who was still tending to Oliver's wounds, sighed, and asked: "If I said that I don't want to stay here, could you take me back with you?"
Bruce paused, the dreadful screams of Aisha echoing in his ears again. After preliminary language learning, Aisha had started forming sentences.
When she first started learning vocabulary and grammar, there was an inevitable question. If she were to understand what a word meant, she needed to use a corresponding picture card. Whenever she realized that something on a picture card could be expressed in words, she would point to everything she saw, asking, "What is this?"
The greatest mercy of human infants to their parents is their need to rest after causing chaos for a few hours. But Aisha was different. She never got tired.
As probably the first person to truly defeat Batman in a real sense, Aisha felt no pride, as she soon provided a new challenge for Batman: how to teach a Chaotic Creature correct grammar?
Grammar, as the most important component of a language, confuses many adults, even after decades of using the language.
And Aisha? She had some quite creative views on English grammar. After failed attempts at corrections, Bruce felt he needed some free time to revaluate what he had learned in all his years of studying English.
So, even though the Batplane was parked in a corner of the isolated island, Bruce threw himself wholeheartedly into survival, focusing on a piece of cord that could not make any noise.
Bruce ignored Hal, turned around, kicked the finished rope ladder down from the platform, and began to anchor it with stone pegs.
Once the rope ladder was sturdy and ready for use, Bruce started to ponder over an idea for transportation.
Firstly, the cave upstream from the creek was quite a distance from the beach. According to his estimate of the efficiency of the fish traps, they would need to go to the beach every six hours to carry fish back.
If the salt drying field was also set up by the beach, that meant they would need to haul salt from the beach as well. With the round trip taking about half an hour, several hours per day could be wasted in transit.
As a diehard efficiency fanatic, Batman was here to survive on the deserted island, and his mind was filled with ideas on improving productivity and efficiency.
Observing the stripped palm bark, Bruce fell into deep thought. After a while, he called Hal over and instructed, "We need to shred this bark."
"Why?" Hal asked, puzzled. But Bruce started working without offering much explanation. Though Hal did not understand, he had nothing better to do. He too took out a metal piece and started slicing the bark along its fiber lines.
Using the metal shards to scrape off the inner fibers of the bark resulted in a bunch of fibres that looked like a messy muddle of hair.
Armed with these bunches of fibres, Bruce and Hal descended the rope ladder to the stream below, soaked the fibres in water and started kneading.
When most of the fibres were evenly distributed, Bruce sliced them further using the metal piece, soaked them again, and sliced yet again.
After several such rounds, there was hardly any fibrous thread left. What remained was turned into a solid sphere by Bruce, which he flattened completely on a stone by the creek. He continued to press and flatten the tangled fibres until they formed a fabric-like sheet.
Hal followed his lead, but due to his superhuman strength, created thinner sheets.
Once these were spread out, Bruce left them to dry on the flat rock. Hal placed his handiwork next to Bruce's and asked, "Now, could you finally tell me what we're doing?"
"I'm planning to build a glider," Bruce responded.
Bruce pointed to the cliff behind Hal. Hal turned to see it towered above their cave. It was the highest point on the island— a perfect launching point for a glide down to any beach on the island.
As widely known, a flying tool on a deserted island was a game-changer for mobility. Yet, an airplane is usually only hand-built in literature and art - the island lacked the necessary conditions for establishing machinery above a certain technological level.
However, the most important thing about an airplane is its power. If they removed the power and left only the gliding part, the task would be simpler.
Luckily, they were situated at a high elevation. They could take full advantage of the height to reduce distance. As long as they could land safely, the time taken to reach the beach was negligible.
Hal bent down again, looked at the fibrous material, and asked, "So, are you planning to use this to make the wings for the glider?"
"There are no large animals on this island. We can't get animal skins, or else that would be the best choice. However, animal skins need to be treated before they can be used. I am not sure if there are such raw materials here, so using fibers is a better option."
Hal reached out and touched the fabric, noticing it dried very quickly. He looked up at the tropical storm-ravaged sky and said, "After a storm, there's often intense sunlight. It seems like it'll dry quickly."
By this time, Bruce had risen and was heading for the cave. He said, "While we have time, we need to gather more materials. At least two hang gliders should be made, which would save a lot of time."
On the way back, Bruce said, "This is more like making paper than cloth. We don't need to write on it, so it doesn't need to be very smooth. Instead, we should focus on increasing its toughness and strength ..."
"You seem very experienced?" Hal looked at Bruce's young face and asked, "Where did you learn all this stuff from?"
Bruce didn't speak, only continuing to head towards the cave. Hal shook his head and sighed, following him.
In addition to solving the wing issue, they also needed to build a frame. The two of them had hung all the fibrous fabric to dry on a large rock beside the stream. While waiting for the wing materials to dry, Bruce began to construct the frame.
Since wings made of fiber have lower strength, the frame became the most critical part. Bruce drew a design in the sand with a stick. Hal was puzzled. After a while, he asked, "Can I help with anything?"
"I don't need any help at the moment," Bruce said as he continued his drawing. "When will you need it?" Hal asked.
"You will see."
When the first assembled glider was brought to the top of the cliff, Bruce and Hal looked at each other. Bruce handed the glider to Hal and said, "It's time."
Hal looked at the glider, it wasn't a traditional triangular wing but more of a pentagon and had a very complex frame. When Bruce was making the frame, Hal didn't understand the principle. So, he said, "Can you explain the principle of this thing? I don't feel very reassured ..."
"Do you know how an airplane works?" Bruce replied.
"Uh, not really...", Hal answered awkwardly. Despite understanding different plane models and performing well in combat flying, he would be incapable of making airplane engines. He hadn't studied related subjects and couldn't even understand professional terms.
"Did that prevent you from becoming a pilot?" asked Bruce.
Hal sighed, resignedly strapped the glider onto his back and pulled the woven cord to secure it.
"Relax, if you can't land smoothly, you can fly on your own," Bruce said, sounding somewhat reassuring but more like a threat.
Hal grabbed the handle below, stamped his foot, and sprinted out.
Luckily, he didn't nosedive straight down, the glider ran very smoothly, perhaps a little too smoothly.
It wasn't until he was over the target beach that Hal realized two things.
Firstly, he could trust Bruce's technical level completely, the glider could fly very far.
Secondly, Bruce's technical level was quite unimaginably high, even upon reaching the airspace above the beach, the glider showed no sign of stopping.
At this time, Arthur, who had already set up a fish trap near the white sandy beach, was picking up shells with a woven bamboo basket, occasionally using a stick to flip over rocks in search of little crabs.
Suddenly, he felt a shadow approaching him. He looked up to see the incoming glider and Hal screaming, "Get out of the way!!"
Arthur instantly rolled away to avoid the diving Hal who ended up splashing into the sea with a "thud".
The spray of the sea water soaked Arthur. After wiping his face, he saw a familiar figure appear near the shore. It was a black and white creature, the orca that had ferried Shiller before.
At this point, the orca was shaking its tail as if gathering strength. Arthur quickly raised his hand and yelled, "Oh! No! Wait! Don't ..."
"Thud!"
"Oh!!!!!"
Arthur turned his head and saw Hal, who looked like a drenched rat and was hit onto the beach, then looked at the culprit's tail that hadn't been withdrawn yet. He shook his head and sighed.