The plane cockpit's unique streamlined silhouette and mottled white paint job stood out conspicuously against the green jungle background.
Although it was broken and deformed, and the windshield had shattered into shards, it stood there like a great totem of hope.
Seeing this, Banner subconsciously let out a long sigh of relief, his tense nerves finally relaxing.
Hughes was even more overcome with excitement and joy, tears welling up in his eyes.
For him, finding the cockpit meant finding the transmitter, meant finding the way home, and it also partially proved that he was not a complete waste and coward.
Ignoring their fatigue, everyone scrambled toward the wreckage.
Entering the cockpit, a stench of decay and mold rushed toward them.
The two pilots in the cockpit seats were still in their operating positions, but they had been dead for a long time, their bodies beginning to decompose in the hot and humid environment.
The atmosphere instantly became somewhat oppressive and solemn.
"May God bless their souls." Strange made the sign of the cross on his chest, then, enduring the foul stench, began searching under the instrument panel.
"Found it, here!"
Banner shouted in surprise.
He pulled a small orange box from the side of the co-pilot's seat.
That was the emergency locator transmitter.
After getting the transmitter, everyone dared not linger in the cockpit, hastily leaving this place filled with the scent of death and coming out to the open ground.
"Quick, try it and see if it works!" Hughes urged anxiously.
Banner, covered in sweat, turned on the switch.
Silence.
The indicator light did not light up; there was no reaction at all.
"Is it broken?" Hughes's voice was filled with despair.
"Don't panic, don't panic." Although Banner's hands were also shaking, he was a professional after all.
He quickly opened the casing to check the circuits inside.
"It's just a poor battery connection, and a few capacitors came loose during the impact."
Banner took out a Swiss Army knife from his pocket and began emergency repairs.
"Give me ten minutes."
Ten minutes later.
"Beep—"
A crisp electronic sound rang out, the green indicator light on the transmitter lit up and began to flash rhythmically.
"Success, it's alive!" Banner excitedly held up the transmitter as if he were holding the World Cup trophy.
After the transmitter rebooted, the next step was naturally to get it working and send out a distress signal to the outside world.
Before setting off, Barton had already taught Banner the detailed operating procedures.
Just follow the steps: pull out the antenna and tune to the emergency frequency, and it would automatically cycle through sending an SOS signal.
However, Banner glanced at the surrounding environment, and his brows furrowed again.
"There's a key problem."
Banner pointed at the trees towering into the clouds all around and the steep mountain walls on both sides.
"Radio waves travel in straight lines. When using a transmitter on land, there shouldn't be any tall obstacles around. We are at the bottom of a valley, surrounded by mountains on all sides, and the altitude is pitifully low. This terrain is like a deep well; the signal simply won't get out, or it will be severely weakened."
"Then what do we do?"
"If there are no obstacles blocking the signal, it's best to go to a high place." Banner pointed to a mountain peak not far away, "We must carry the transmitter and climb to the top of that mountain. The view there is wide and unobstructed, and the signal can cover a range of several hundred kilometers."
"Climb the mountain, now?" Strange looked at the sky.
Because the urgent priority was to send out the distress signal, even being one minute earlier could mean the difference between life and death.
So, after a brief discussion, everyone decided to grit their teeth and push through, climbing the mountain with the transmitter in one go.
On this island, except for the seaside, generally the higher the altitude, the safer it is, as there are relatively fewer wild Beasts.
Alice once again acted as the laborer, using her experience to carve out a small path through the dense forest leading to the nearest mountain peak.
However, just as they were about to leave the wreckage and head toward the mountain peak, Alice, who had always been the most sensitive to environmental changes, suddenly stopped in her tracks.
She noticed that the previously bright sunlight had disappeared at some point.
Looking up, she saw the sky covered in dark clouds, the black clouds like a huge lead plate pressing low overhead.
The whole world had turned gloomy, and the air was filled with a heavy smell of moisture and damp earth.
The salty sea breeze blew in gusts, making the leaves rustle loudly.
This was a tropical storm, a sign that heavy rain was coming.
"Not good, the weather is turning." Alice said with a solemn expression, "There's no time to climb the mountain. Climbing in this weather is suicide, and besides, the transmitter cannot be used during a thunderstorm."
"Then what do we do?"
"Take shelter from the rain first." Alice pointed to a natural shelter formed by a giant rock not far away, "We'll leave after the rain stops."
As soon as she finished speaking.
"Crack!"
A blinding flash of lightning tore through the sky, followed immediately by deafening thunder.
Raindrops as big as beans poured down in torrents.
Once it rained on this island, it was often accompanied by terrifying lightning strikes and violent gales.
If you don't want to die, it's best to find a place to hide, even if it's like a rat.
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