Listening to Jun Qi's occasional nagging and watching his nimble tail, Xu Qiaoqiao looked up at the sun in the sky, bright and radiant, making one feel warm inside.

That's great.

Xu Qiaoqiao couldn't help but sigh. Jun Qi kept complaining about how loud the humans were, especially when they screamed. These humans smelled like males, and male humans were really too noisy.

He mentally defined those guys and launched a sweeping attack.

He'd been holding that thing called a drone in his mouth for so long, and those people were still yelling and shouting, not even looking at him, and laughing like idiots.

Perhaps, it's just pure happiness?

Listening to Jun Qi's complaints, Xu Qiaoqiao felt like her stomach was about to hurt from laughing. It seemed that this guy had learned a lot from following her around.

Watching Jun and Qiao turn around in the sea and disappear into the distance, everyone touched their noses in unison, feeling a little guilty but also very happy. As for Jun, well, they never thought of getting close to such a cool and aloof fish.

But things are completely different now.

After all, this drone was personally delivered back by the King.

Everyone was very happy. What does this mean? It means that Jun and Qiao still recognized them after so long. It means that the intelligence and memory of the two whale sharks, Jun and Qiao, are much higher than previously thought.

Moreover, the two of them recognized the drone as theirs.

Although the Arctic Ocean has a harsh climate and difficult conditions, it is not uninhabited by people. There are ships sailing on the sea every day. I wonder when these two little guys saw the drone.

If it happened during the blizzard, it means that the two of them remembered the location of the drone and had some memory of it; otherwise, they wouldn't have made these moves.

As Vic thought about these things, he suddenly became even more excited. His breathing became rapid, and his eyes shone, as if he had discovered something extraordinary.

Afterwards, they returned to the cabin, immediately turned on the heating, and took off their wet clothes, which made them feel much better.

Vic then told everyone what he had said.

After hearing this, their reaction was the same as Vic's: they were breathing rapidly, their faces were flushed, and even though their upper bodies were soaked, they still felt hot.

“Indeed, now that you mention it, many years have passed, and these two little ones still remember us, and recognize us very accurately. This shows that their memory and intelligence are even higher than we imagined.” One of them was writing and drawing on a piece of paper, trying his best to suppress his excitement.

"That's right, but what surprised me most was you, Jun."

They turned on the screen, which showed footage that Jun and Qiao had taken earlier, exactly the footage of their first meeting, where Qiao was being mischievous, splashing water at them and getting them completely wet.

“You see, last time, Jun always stood far away. He basically never strayed too far from Qiao’s position. But this time, it’s different.” Vic pointed to Jun Qi’s position on the screen and calmly analyzed.

His hair was still dripping wet, and the water droplets slid down his neck and slowly into his chest, making his face look a little pale, but he was in good spirits.

"This time, Jun not only took the initiative to do these things, but he was also very happy." One person recalled the scene he had just witnessed and murmured to himself.

“Yes, I was very happy, and it felt like I was intentionally trying to show it off in front of Joe. It was like—”

"Like a peacock spreading its tail!"

Vic paused halfway through his sentence, and his colleague immediately chimed in.

After he said that, everyone was silent for three seconds, then burst into laughter.

Indeed, and the way Jun wags his tail, isn't that exactly how he tries to put on a show?

That word is so apt.

Now that we've found the drone, we can go back.

After everyone had finished laughing, one of them suddenly remembered something, his laughter stopped, and his expression looked a little strange. He tremblingly stretched out his hands, making a gesture to stop.

"So, with the drone outside here, have Jun and Qiao lost track of it?"

Upon hearing this, everyone's laughter seemed to freeze.

Then they all fell silent.

Oh right, we lost them.

...

When we came, we crossed the strait. Xu Qiaoqiao still remembers how scared Jun Qi was. So this time, we won't go that way. It's not like there's only one place we can go.

However, it was clear that Jun Qi was swimming towards the Bering Strait.

Xu Qiaoqiao rushed forward and bit his tail, stopping his babbling and telling him not to swim any further, as he was going the wrong way.

Jun Qi stopped abruptly. His tail tip moved uncomfortably in Xu Qiaoqiao's mouth, and she immediately released his mouth.

Qiaoqiao, what's wrong?

Jun Qi turned around, leaned in, and kissed Xu Qiaoqiao on the lips, his eyes filled with doubt.

Hsu Chiao-chiao said: Let's not go through that strait, let's go in another direction.

Jun Qi: Where?

Xu Qiaoqiao pointed in the opposite direction: "We swim out from the Barents Sea, which is right next to the European continent. If we swim further ahead, we'll reach the Norwegian Sea, and then we'll be completely out of the Arctic Circle."

Jun Qi blinked and agreed without much thought. What Xu Qiaoqiao didn't mention was that there were many sardines living in the waters around the European continent, so they could have a good meal as soon as they went out.

Their body length has increased significantly recently.

As time passed, it was soon the end of April in the Arctic. Although they were supposed to swim across from the other side, Xu Qiaoqiao and Jun Qi still bickered and teased each other along the way, which took up a lot of time.

Moreover, Jun Qi is different from his aloof appearance. He asks questions about everything he sees, from polar bears and seals to beluga whales and Greenland sharks. He is bursting with curiosity.

As they approached a huge ice sheet, Junqi saw those small, white-furred creatures with pointed snouts. They looked tiny, probably not even as big as his own pectoral fins: "Qiaoqiao, what kind of animals are those?"

Xu Qiaoqiao glanced at it and lazily replied: Arctic fox.

If the polar bears don't remember, the Arctic foxes probably don't either.

Arctic fox?

Jun Qi stared blankly at the Arctic fox for several minutes before suddenly turning to Xu Qiaoqiao and excitedly exclaiming, "Qiaoqiao, they're so cute!"

Xu Qiaoqiao's heart stirred, and she mischievously asked: "Compared to me, who is cuter?"

Without hesitation, Jun Qi replied: Of course, Qiao Qiao is the cutest.

He didn't like those furry things.

— Waaah, this is so hard for me. I just took a nap and I started to feel a bit feverish, but thankfully it's just a low-grade fever.

Luckily I made it today, but it felt a bit watery, so please bear with it. My head was buzzing the whole time.