Chapter 226 Air Transport Team
"Xiao Huihui, please ask the Vulture brothers and sisters to help me airlift some materials."
Xu Ying was formulating a plan to fill the groundwater crack in his mind: "There's a small river in the north that has dried up. We need to repair this groundwater crack as soon as possible."
"There's a bucket of resin in locker number one. It's the one with the sapling pattern on it. Ask Boss Fox to point it out to Big Brother Vulture. Boss Fox knows it."
…
The gray drongo quickly took note, flapped its wings and flew out of the rescue station, calling the vultures with its unique call.
At that moment, Big Fox and Little Sand Cat were playing flying chess on the sand in the backyard of the shelter. The homemade chessboard, made of scrap wood, had been polished to a shine, and the chess pieces were made of bottle caps of different colors.
[It's my turn!]
The Fox Boss rolled the dice, his eyes lit up, [Six steps!]
As he spoke, he pushed the chess piece forward six spaces, but secretly used the tip of his tail to push it one more space, making it seven. His furry ears twitched proudly, thinking that he had done it perfectly.
"Wait, did you walk too much?" The little sand cat tilted its head, its big amber eyes full of suspicion, and began to count seriously: "One, two, three." Its little paws tapped the grid awkwardly, and its tail flicked nervously from side to side.
Just as the little sand cat lowered its head to count, the fox boss quietly used his claws to push the little sand cat's chess piece back one square, and pretended to whistle as if nothing had happened.
[Five, six, huh?] The little sand cat looked up in confusion, its ears drooping. [It seemed to be in this grid.] It scratched its head with its claws, feeling that something was wrong.
The fox boss looked innocent, his eyes wide open: "Really? Maybe my hand slipped. I'll just put it back."
It pretended to move its own chess piece back one square, but deliberately did not move the little sand cat's chess piece back to its original position. It also secretly winked at Fox Xiaowu who was watching the game next to it.
The little sand cat stared at his chess piece and was about to explode when suddenly -
[Fox Boss!] Gray Curly Tail swooped down, its claws precisely grabbing the Fox Boss's round butt fur.
The fox boss was terrified, thinking he had been caught bullying the little sand cat. He kicked his legs and begged for mercy: "I was wrong, I was wrong, I won't cheat again." He curled up pitifully, his tail tucked tightly between his hind legs.
Gray Curly Tail looked at the guilty little fox and tilted his head helplessly: "Who cares if you cheat or not! Station Master Xiao Xu needs your help leading the vultures to pick up the goods!"
A few black dots appeared in the distant sky; a fleet of vultures was descending one after another. Their broad wings cast long shadows in the setting sun, and the sound of their powerful flapping wings came closer and closer.
The leading vulture let out a long cry, as if to say hello.
The fox boss quickly jumped up and shook off the sand on his body. "Here I come!" He ran back to the shelter on all four paws and deftly pressed the door button with his front paw. The door of the shelter creaked, revealing the neatly arranged lockers inside.
Under the guidance of the fox boss, the vultures worked in perfect unison: one precisely hooked open the cabinet door with its curved beak, while another carefully retrieved the resin bucket. Their movements were surprisingly gentle, completely unlike the ferocious predators they usually display. The fox boss stood by, directing the group, occasionally pointing out items that needed to be carried with his claws: "That red bag of sand hardener, too! Yes, that one!"
Soon, all the supplies were sorted, and the vultures grabbed the goods with their claws and flapped their wings to take off.
Their broad wings whipped up a whirlwind that made Fox Boss's fur stand on end. In a blink of an eye, this special transport team disappeared into the golden-red sky of the desert.
Vultures' claws can bear five to ten kilograms, making transporting these small barrels a breeze. Xu Ying once calculated that this fleet of eight vultures could carry nearly fifty kilograms of supplies at a time, a considerable amount greater than the carrying capacity of a desert motorcycle.
Meanwhile, beside the dry riverbed.
While waiting for supplies, Xu Ying was busy tending to the fragile fish eggs. Kneeling on the riverbed, she carefully used a dropper to add water to each egg. The crystal-clear eggs shimmered like pearls in the sunlight, and the tiny lives swimming within could be vaguely seen.
With the help of gerbils and jerboas, all the eggs were covered with moist wipes and kept out of direct sunlight.
The gerbils lined up, passing the wipes with their tiny paws like a furry assembly line, while the jerboas stood guard, their large ears erect, always paying attention to the surrounding movements.
Xu Ying then gave the desert lizard a simple disinfection. The wound on the lizard's tail was fresh, so Xu Ying's movements were gentle. "Bear with it."
She whispered, "It will be fine soon."
The lizard lay trustingly in her palm, staring at her with its black bean-like eyes without blinking.
Lizards break off their tails as part of their survival strategy, using the broken tail to distract predators. The broken part of the tail can recover naturally. Xu Ying did not interfere too much and just applied some antibacterial ointment.
"Hello, is this the Groundwater Management Office?" Xu Ying called and detailed the location of the fracture. "The coordinates are north latitude... The crack is about 15 meters long and 3 centimeters wide at its widest point." Her voice was remarkably clear in the empty desert. "Please send someone to reinforce it as soon as possible."
When the Vulture transport team arrived with supplies, Xu Ying had already prepared the repair tools.
She put on special goggles and used a micro endoscope to detect the depth of the cracks, an infrared humidity meter to accurately locate the leakage point, and an animal ultrasound device to depict the structure of the strata.
She opened her backpack and poured a small centipede out of the jar.
This golden centipede is an "engineer" she specially trained. It can get into the smallest gaps to investigate the situation.
Under her skillful hands, sand mixed with resin glue slowly filled the cracks. The little centipede crawled back and forth in the crevice, acting as the most competent "supervisor", touching Xu Ying's fingers with its tentacles from time to time, as if reporting on the progress of its work.
[Stationmaster Xu!] The gerbil boss came running over, his belly heaving. [We've checked. Those poachers came here to catch lizards five days ago!]
[There are four of them, and they don't have any hunting rifles or anything like that. They're still searching for lizards in the desert. I've already posted a notice and asked my subordinates to look for them.]
“Well done!”
Xu Ying smiled and high-fived the gerbil, then took out a specially made camel milk and sand date energy bar from the can.
These energy bars are specially made by her using local specialties, and they are nutritious and delicious.
The gerbil boss happily munched on the snacks, his whiskers covered in crumbs: "Stationmaster Xu, you always find ways to give us delicious treats! I'll follow you forever!"
Hearing this, Xu Ying felt a pang of sadness - the lifespan of a gerbil is only three years, and this "big brother" is already one and a half years old.
She gently touched the gerbil's little head without saying anything.
The repair work continued until the sun set.
Xu Ying stood up, rubbing his sore knees. The caracal was squatting beside him, watching curiously.
The caracal seemed to have just realized that Xu Ying's actions were intended to save the dried-up river: "Will the water really return like this?"
It asked, tilting its head, its golden eyes filled with anticipation.
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