Salt crystals are naturally vulnerable, and Xi Xi drove her RV through them.
As the vehicle moved forward, the sound of raindrops on the car window grew louder. Chu Zhiqin was clearly frightened by the silence and quickly put on her coat, asking Xi Xi about the current situation.
“It might be salt spray…” Xi Xi said as she drove, her voice a little hoarse and low, “But this salt spray is too bizarre, it actually… ah? How could so many sodium chloride crystals form?!”
Salt spray?
"Yes, salt spray is mainly caused by intense disturbances in the ocean, such as waves crashing against the shore, which produce a lot of foam and bubbles. The bubbles break down and evaporate... eventually becoming a diffuse system composed of salt droplets. Theoretically speaking, it is not uncommon in coastal areas."
As Xi Xi spoke, she walked around a huge block of salt crystals, the wheels kicking up clouds of salt dust.
"This fog is extremely irritating to the respiratory tract! Mom, thank goodness you had the foresight to close all the car windows!"
"I was just worried it was smog, but who would have thought..." Chu Zhiqin's eyes were full of worry. Besides the wisps of fog, the bridge surface was also covered with dazzling crystals.
In this situation, vehicles are completely unable to travel quickly, and it would be extremely difficult to reach the designated area of the escape route within three days.
Xi Xi gripped the steering wheel tightly, the wheels making a slight creaking sound on the crystal-covered bridge surface, each turn accompanied by a hint of uncertainty and tension.
The sea breeze howled past, buzzing against the car windows, making yesterday's leisurely night fishing seem like just a fleeting illusion.
Outside the windshield, the fog was still rapidly crystallizing. Grayish-white particles shimmered in the streetlights, like countless miniature prisms suspended in the air.
Suddenly, Aura, who had been sitting quietly, started meowing without warning. Her meow was loud and piercing.
All I heard was it nimbly leaping down from the cat tree at the rear of the car, then running smoothly up to the center console screen and pressing its paw on the tire pressure monitoring button.
Xi Xi, who was driving, looked at her cow cat with some surprise.
Goodness, it wasn't for nothing that I made you keep watch all night, you've even figured out how to use the central control screen... Before Xi Xi could even complain, she heard the mechanical voice coming from the central control screen.
Tire pressure monitoring complete: A leak was detected in the right rear tire.
"A flat tire!?" Chu Zhiqin couldn't help but exclaim. She picked up Aura and rushed to the back of the car, where she indeed felt an unusual jolt. "Xiao Xi, it looks like we have a flat tire..."
“It’s not a tire blowout.” Xi Xi stared at the curve showing the pressure dropping at a steady rate, seemingly understanding something, a hint of fear in her eyes. “Something is eating the rubber.”
In her panic, she turned on the windshield wipers, only to hear a screeching sound as soon as the telescopic robotic arm extended, revealing that salt crystals were visibly forming on the surface!
The crystals are constantly growing, as if they have their own life! What's even more terrifying is that these crystals exhibit a dendritic fractal structure, like ice flowers blooming on a metal surface.
"Oh no!" In an instant, Xi Xi noticed something and her brows furrowed.
In the rearview mirror, the bridge we had just driven over was rising. The asphalt surface cracked like chocolate shells, and blue-white crystal pillars burst forth from the ground, instantly forming a three-meter-high crystal forest.
The vehicle jolted violently from the unexpected event. Chu Zhiqin had no time to react and instantly lost her balance, tilting straight backward like a kite with a broken string.
With a cry of surprise, Chu Zhiqin fell heavily onto the soft sofa behind her. She felt dizzy, saw stars, and her head was buzzing.
At this moment, Xi Xi in the driver's seat was equally astonished. She never expected that the salt crystals would increase so rapidly without warning!
Xi Xi gripped the steering wheel tightly, cold sweat beading on her forehead, her eyes scanning her surroundings rapidly like a hawk's. In that critical moment, an idea suddenly flashed into her mind.
In the blink of an eye, the vehicle swerved to one side, its tires screeching against the crystal-covered bridge surface. Xi Xi twisted the steering wheel, and the car followed in an elegant arc, narrowly avoiding the falling crystals from the bridge.
At this critical moment, the RV broke through the bridge railing without hesitation and plunged into the endless blue sky.
Chu Zhiqin felt an unprecedented sense of weightlessness, making her heart almost leap out of her throat.
The car window was instantly submerged by the surging seawater, and darkness and cold enveloped her in an instant.
As the RV continued to sink, the machinery turned, and the next second, the window miraculously surfaced again, letting in light through the shimmering sea, like a fleeting and illusory ray of hope.
Chu Zhiqin gasped for breath, only then realizing that Xi Xi had made a decisive move and quickly adjusted the amphibious control system.
The RV steadily drove onto the sea, temporarily moving away from the cross-sea bridge.
Sea salt dissolves instantly in water, and even the crystals that were originally attached to the windshield wipers and car windows disappear without you even noticing.
"But isn't there salt in seawater too?" Chu Zhiqin hurriedly got up from the sofa, put Aura back on the cat tree, and then checked on the little white duck, still shaken.
“The salt in seawater is diluted, so it can’t compare to pure, condensed crystals!” Xi Xi looked at the dark sea ahead and turned on all the headlights. “Also, that salt fog just now was very abnormal!”
"The rate of crystal growth on the bridge surface is much greater than that on the windshield, indicating that the cross-sea bridge is the best petri dish for crystal growth!"
Since we can't stop the crystal growth, let's escape the petri dish!
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