Chapter 18 Fake

Chu Qiao climbed gently onto the lifeboat. She didn't dare to move too much, fearing that jumping up would bring in more seawater and cause the waterline to drop.

The remaining clouds in the sky were floating, and Dabai was circling and trying to fall.

Chu Qiao threw a fish, and Dabai was attracted by the fish, grabbed it in one bite, and swallowed it whole.

"The air chambers around us are now almost parallel to the sea surface. If there is a slight wind or wave, water may flow in. We can't let Dabai fall."

"Master Chu, Dabai is so pitiful."

"What are you talking about? Master Chu's life is more important."

"There are no warm feathers to surround Master Chu at night."

Everyone sighed in the live broadcast room.

Chu Qiao waved his hand and comforted everyone: "Although albatrosses have difficulty taking off, once they take off, they are the most powerful flying birds in the world. Legend has it that they can fly in the sky for months without landing, but this is just a legend. However, they can definitely fly for several hours without landing."

The sun was setting and dusk was falling. Dabai had been circling the lifeboat for more than three hours.

Chu Qiao shouted into the air, "Dabai, come down."

Everyone in the live broadcast room was wondering, if the lifeboat could no longer hold, would they dare to let Dabai, who weighed nearly half an adult, fall down?

At the moment when Dabai swooped down, Chu Qiao jumped into the sea. She clung to the side of the lifeboat and floated on the water with the help of the buoyancy of the air chamber.

"If Dabai keeps flying, she'll be exhausted. I need to let her rest and replenish her supplies."

Dabai bent his legs and rested on the boat like a hen incubating chicks. He held a fish in his mouth and gnawed on it anxiously but weakly.

Chu Qiao leaned out and touched its feathers.

The moonlight shone on Chu Qiao's half-wet hair and face, making him look vaguely lively.

The sea water was freezing cold, and the sea breeze blew the lifeboat, carrying Chu Qiao from one cold place to another.

In half an hour, more people came to the live broadcast room and there were many voices of persuasion.

Chu Qiao gritted his teeth and continued to hold on for more than ten minutes.

The cold wind was fierce, and Dabai seemed to understand Chu Qiao's difficulty and flapped its wings to glide.

Chu Qiao shook his legs that were numb from the cold.

He supported the lifeboat with both hands and jumped on.

The man and the bird spent the entire night taking turns resting like this.

…

The next morning, there were not many people jumping around in the live broadcast room.

Chu Qiao did not introduce himself as usual.

The sea surface in tropical regions has a large temperature difference between day and night. Although the temperature can reach 30 degrees during the day, it is less than 5 degrees at night.

Generally, half of the people can survive for one hour in water with a temperature of 5 to 10 degrees.

Chu Qiao belongs to that half.

She alternated with Dabai every time, with an interval of about an hour.

If it were an ordinary person, he would have died long ago.

Although this body is not strong enough, Chu Qiao's will is extremely firm.

Everyone in the live broadcast room could see that Chu Qiao was tired, even more tired than after staying up all night skating.

Some sharp-eyed people noticed that the half of Chu Qiao's leg that was exposed had become swollen and peeling due to the difference in osmotic pressure between seawater and cells.

"I feel sorry for Master Chu."

"I want to take Master Chu back to my house, lock her up, and not let her go out."

"Master Chu is not a canary."

"But it's not an indestructible body!"

Chu Qiao comforted everyone: "Don't worry, when God wants to give a person a great responsibility, he must first make his heart and mind suffer and his body and bones work hard. Maybe I am the one chosen by God to save the working people and save them from dire straits."

After Chu Qiao finished speaking, he looked into the messy boat.

Chu Qiao and Dabai went up and down the lifeboat alternately, and a lot of seawater accumulated in it.

There is no comfort in survival. Comfort is for the dead.

She took apart the vest that was originally made into an anchor and threw it into the lifeboat to absorb water. She then screwed it into the sea, sucking out all the sea water in the lifeboat bit by bit.

There were only three fish left on the lifeboat, their fresh water having been completely consumed in the battle with the sharks. Chu Qiao's lips were dry with thirst, and he wished for another storm.

"Ah-ah ...

There was a cry coming from the front. Chu Qiao looked closely and saw that it was a flock of red-billed seagulls. There were also tall buildings vaguely visible in the distance.

The red one is lower, the blue one has a hemispherical roof, and there is a tower-like building that is much taller than the other buildings.

The high-definition camera also captured this scene.

"Here we are, here we are."

"Master Chu, I've made it through."

“Finally succeeded.”

"Master Chu, stop rowing and jump into the sea and swim across."

"Success, 666"

Chu Qiao's mouth was grinning from ear to ear. She had always been in the wind and rain, carrying out missions in the sky and on the sea, but for the first time she longed for the feeling of being down to earth.

She increased her paddling speed and moved quickly towards the buildings.

The red-billed gulls were startled and flew up in groups. Some of the brave ones approached the lifeboat and tested the edge of the lifeboat, intending to take away the dead fish on the boat.

Every time one flew over, it was scared away by the swooping white one.

Compared with large seabirds like albatrosses, the seagull's small 20-centimeter-long body is not worth mentioning at all.

Chu Qiao didn't care about it. He thought, since we're almost there, we might as well eat. He scolded Dabai, "Dabai, don't be so stingy. I'll buy you a basket of fish when we get ashore."

Dabai was reluctant to leave and continued to chase the seagull.

The frightened seagulls screamed in groups.

Chu Qiao's arms were sore, but she was in a very happy mood. She looked into the distance happily again, and the relief on her face was self-evident.

Suddenly, the corners of her cracked mouth slowly drooped and the smile froze on her face.

"What happened to Master Chu?"

"Seems stunned."

"Master Chu, what's wrong? It's leaking again?"

Chu Qiao looked at the city in the distance, its skyscrapers rising. She suppressed her smile. Kyushu Island was a remote, desolate fishing village. How could there be buildings there? Let alone such a dazzling tower.

"There are no buildings on Kyushu Island. In a place with typhoons every day, buildings won't be too tall."

Only then did netizens realize that everything was unusual.

Chu Qiao: "We were careless. What we saw was a mirage."

"I actually lived to see a mirage."

"Following Master Chu is really an eye-opener."

"Master Chu, tell me about the mirage."

"Don't make trouble, Master Chu is worried now."

Chu Qiao sat down and took a breath. In just a few minutes, she had adjusted her mindset and tried not to think about negative things.

“Mirages are not self-illusions.”

"It's an optical illusion. The sea surface is cold after a night of low temperatures, and when the sun comes out, the air in the sky is warm. Air of different temperatures has different densities, and air of different densities has different refractive indices. Mirages are caused by the refraction of light, reflecting scenery from elsewhere right before our eyes."

After Chu Qiao finished speaking, she looked up at the sun. As expected, she went in the wrong direction and all her efforts for an hour were wasted.

Fortunately, there are flocks of red-billed seagulls here, and they should be not far from the shore.