Chapter 162: Chapter 162: The Delirious Man
Jiang Si shook her head. "No, thank you. We’ve already eaten." Then she added to the group, "There should be kelp and other seaweed in the ocean. The ice has melted, so waves will probably start picking up soon and wash some ashore. If your chicks and ducklings are still alive, you can feed it to them."
Zhang Aihua’s eyes lit up, and Brother Qiu, standing beside her, had an even brighter glint in his. He was an expert freediver and had even competed in abalone diving challenges before. Getting some seaweed from the water would be no problem for him.
The only problem was the lack of diving equipment and the freezing weather.
However, kelp growth followed a predictable pattern. If they could just pinpoint the right spots and get a small boat, they could harvest it directly and bring it ashore.
With seaweed and fish to eat, life would be quite comfortable.
Hoping for calm and peaceful days ahead, Zhang Aihua thanked Jiang Si and Qin Shen, then immediately set her people to work building a boat.
As Jiang Si and Qin Shen walked back, she gazed at the distant sheet of ice, which had cracked like a mirror. "If the temperature suddenly spikes," she worried, "do you think the sea level could rise abruptly and trigger a massive tsunami?"
It wasn’t that she was overthinking things. In her past life, a tsunami really had happened.
Qin Shen thought for a moment. "We have our ship, we have you, and we have the Vultures."
Jiang Si smiled. "That’s true. You have me. If one ship is lost, I can just whip up another. If the ship is gone, there are still lifeboats and life rings. We don’t need to be afraid."
Speaking of the Vultures, with the "anxiety bugs" running rampant the past couple of days, they hadn’t had a chance to check on them closely.
When they got back to the Icebreaker, they went to the sauna to get a closer look. They could already see the faint outlines of the small Vulture chicks through the shells of the four eggs.
Jiang Si estimated, "It should be another two or three days before they hatch, right?"
Qin Shen nodded. "Most likely."
"They say hatching is the hardest part. I wonder if these four little ones will be strong enough to make it through."
Shen Baoying had also come to look at the Vulture Eggs. Hearing Jiang Si, she smiled. "Even if they survive and we raise them, we’ll still have to worry about them flying off with other Vultures."
Jiang Si nodded. "That’s a good point."
Vultures were more intelligent than moose and were self-aware. Domesticating them would be quite a challenge.
But since they were being raised from birth, it wasn’t impossible.
A little while later, Jiang Linhai found Jiang Si. "Sisi, should we build some stone walls and carve out a few caves?"
Jiang Si was taken aback. "Why would we do that?"
’They didn’t have houses right now, and living on the Icebreaker was perfectly fine. She really couldn’t be bothered with the extra work.’
Jiang Linhai ticked off the points on his fingers. "These bugs eat anything. They might evolve into a species that isn’t afraid of salt water. We have to be prepared. Caves are actually a great idea—they’re sturdy!"
Jiang Si laughed. "You just can’t sit still, can you?"
"It’s not that I can’t sit still," Jiang Linhai retorted. "It’s the monkeys who do nothing all day but eat and pop out babies. They’re going to get obese if they don’t get some exercise. Building a few stone caves won’t hurt us. Besides, we have explosives, right? A few blasts and the job’s done."
Jiang Si shook her head. "Zhang Aihua’s group is carving out caves, too. What if we use explosives and cause a collapse? Let’s just forget it. We’ll wait and see. I have a feeling things are about to change again."
Since everyone else was reluctant to do the work, Jiang Linhai nodded. "All right, then."
Zhang Qingfang then asked, "Sisi, the monkeys are reproducing pretty quickly. Should we do something to control their population?"
Jiang Si looked at Qin Shen. "Can you sterilize them?"
’Sterilization is a type of surgery, isn’t it?’
Jiang Chengwu was fascinated by the idea of the surgery. "I’ve seen pigs being castrated," he said with a grin. "It should be about the same, right?"
Jiang Si chuckled. "Sterilization and castration aren’t the same thing at all. With sterilization, you stop them from reproducing, but it doesn’t affect their... function. They can still use it. Castration means they can forget about using it for anything."
Shen Baoying laughed. "Does that mean the monkeys won’t hold a grudge?"
Jiang Si raised an eyebrow at Qin Shen. "That’ll depend on his handiwork."
Qin Shen had never imagined a day would come when he’d be sterilizing monkeys. A flicker of conflict crossed his face before he nodded in agreement. "I should be able to do it."
Jiang Si nodded. "Then we can get it on the schedule. We’ll leave a few of the stronger ones unsterilized."
That way, the troop’s reproductive rate could be brought under control.
While Qin Shen prepared to operate on the entire troop of monkeys at once, Jiang Linhai and Lu Zhifeng were busy hauling in a large amount of fresh kelp.
Each frond was over ten meters long, thick and healthy. It was a mystery how they had grown so well, shielded from the sun by the sheet of ice.
Shen Baoying smiled. "I wonder if the moose will eat ’sea vegetables’?"
"The chickens and ducks eat it," said Zhang Qingfang. "The moose definitely will too."
"Drying and grinding it into feed or boiling it into a broth for them should work well."
Shen Baoying nodded, then picked up a whistle and blew. ’Number One’ and ’Number Two’ immediately led a few male monkeys over, leaping across the gap.
Shen Baoying ordered them, "Carry the kelp over there to be cut."
They could now understand all her commands. Without them, the day’s chores would be endless.
Now, feeding the moose, collecting eggs, cleaning up droppings, weeding, tidying the ship’s cabins, and clearing ice were all jobs they did together.
The male monkeys did most of the heavy lifting, though the females also handled some simple tasks. The nursing mothers, however, only had to stay with their babies in their designated room and enjoy the food their mates brought back for them.
The kelp and pig’s trotter soup was incredibly savory. Shen Baoying stewed a huge pot of it, enough for the hardworking monkeys to enjoy as well.
After all, the freezer was packed with pig’s trotters, so there was no need to be stingy.
Just as they were enjoying their meal, a strange scent once again wafted into Qin Shen’s nostrils.
His expression tensed, and he set down his chopsticks. Jiang Si immediately sensed something was wrong. She pulled him back into their room and asked, "What is it? What’s happening?"
Qin Shen said, "Another person has arrived."
Since it was just one person, Jiang Si didn’t find it too alarming.
After all, when they allowed Zhang Aihua’s group to stay, they had already mentally prepared themselves for the possibility of more people entering their territory.
Still, just to be safe, Jiang Si decided to go check it out with Qin Shen.
By the time they finished eating and left the Icebreaker, the person had just entered the hot spring area and been spotted by Zhang Aihua’s group.
He was a tall man, dressed in clothes that seemed sealed up tight against the elements. Yet he seemed to cower, frequently glancing up at the sky. His every move was strange, as if he weren’t in his right mind.
Zhang Aihua assumed he was just traumatized and afraid to trust anyone. Keeping a distance of several dozen meters, she called out, "Friend, do you need help?"
She spoke in English, since his build suggested he was a foreigner.
The man saw them. After a moment of hesitation, he finally summoned his courage and started walking toward them.
But just then, a Vulture swooped down from the sky, diving straight for the man. Zhang Aihua, who hadn’t been attacked by the Vultures at all in recent days, paled in shock. She frantically drew her gun. BANG—
