area51novel Chapter 823 819: The Limits of Humans
Chapter 823 819: The Limits of Humans
Valuable?
The audience tensed up, having initially thought it was just a piece of glass. Even though its formation was somewhat rare, it didn't seem very valuable. But now, could it be otherwise?
[If we're talking about that, I'm definitely not sleepy anymore]
[Spill it, just how valuable is it?]
"Well, I'm not entirely sure myself. This piece, maybe around a thousand, ten thousand of that order?"
Bi Fang sounded uncertain.
He held the glass meteorite up to the sunlight for a close examination and could see that it had a good quality.
Meteorites striking the desert was an extremely violent process involving a series of complex events such as high-impact collisions, high-temperature ablation, and turbulent environmental airflows.
After a violent meteorite impact, the massive sand thrown up would collide with each other, and under the high temperature of ablation, the rudimentary form of the glass meteorite would be shaped by multiple impacts and strong air currents, resulting in complex textures due to meteorite impacts, other materials such as sand, and the combined effect of airflow.
And these air and sand impacts on the ablated crystals were not one-time occurrences; they formed patterns that looked simple from the outside but were, in fact, intricately intersected layers.
Making forgeries of such patterns was extremely difficult, which further increased the value of the glass meteorite.
The piece in Bi Fang's hand didn't have too many noticeable bubbles or impurities inside and was quite clear; perhaps it could fetch a high price of tens of thousands on the market.
Of course, its value was probably limited to that and cannot be compared to the giant emerald Bi Fang found last time.
[Inflation really is getting more and more serious. Now, when I hear thousands, tens of thousands, it feels like it's not that much (covers face)]
[I bought breakfast this morning and found out that the potato pancakes downstairs went up by two bucks. It really broke my heart, wuwuwu]
[Keep looking; there might be more. Since it's all-natural, there shouldn't be just one piece, right?]
Bi Fang, finding the audience's comments to make sense, began
[This is the Mother of Water? I'm starting to question life.]
"Hahaha, I never said Oummai was full of life. Maybe it used to be long ago, but it's not anymore."
Bi Fang rode his camel, looking out over the vast lake, his heart undecided between reflection and something more.
"Oummai is a very special dead lake. Its lake water, after tens of thousands of years of high-temperature evaporation, contains high amounts of salt, plus the decaying carcasses of various animals, imbuing the lake water with a lot of toxins, making it completely undrinkable."
"Most of the animals that die near this lake do so from dehydration or from being poisoned by drinking the lake water, which in turn further increases the toxicity of the lake water."
"There are also 16 lakes around it, some of which occasionally dry up and disappear, while others persist in the embrace of the desert. This salt lake used to be a famous trading center for the local residents."
"However, as the lake water gradually became dirtier, it was gradually abandoned."
"One interesting fact is that the salt concentration in the water here is very high, even comparable to that of the Dead Sea, which makes swimming here remarkably easy."
[I'm gonna be sick, who would swim in here?]
[Going down to eat flies, huh?]
[Since when did Master Fang become so disgusting?]
The audience couldn't handle Bi Fang's taste for the grotesque.
"Just kidding, I don't want to eat flies either."
Bi Fang shrugged and then pointed to the lake.
"What a pity it's not October, or we could see a lot of swallows here."
[Swallows?]
[I remember now, there were birds at the oasis Master Fang mentioned earlier.]
"Yes."
"All migratory birds in the world migrate at specific times each year, and their migration routes have remained unchanged for thousands of years."
"Just like some fish that migrate to their birthplaces to spawn each year, no matter how long the journey or how dangerous the path, they still insist on migrating."
"Swallows are one of these migratory flocks, and Europe's swallows fly thousands of miles south to cross the Sahara Desert and spend the cold winter in Africa."
"Crossing the vast desert, the biggest problem is the supply along the way. Although they have strong stamina and light bodies, the long journey of thousands of miles consumes a lot, and they need adequate food and water to replenish their energy for the successful migration."
"Though there are not a few water sources in the desert, as I said, birds do not easily change their migration routes, and on their route, there is only one water source, Lake Oummai."
"Direct drinking is obviously impossible; it poisoning them in minutes, and they would end up like the corpse of nearby animals."
[Damn, now I know.]
[Don't say anymore, give the swallows some dignity.]
[We've had enough tasting already.]
"But we can't overlook an important creature, and that is the omnipresent flies."
"Let me enlighten you a bit here, as natural decomposers; flies filter out the toxins contained in the lake water. So, flies can replenish the swallows' hydration and energy, as even the smallest fly leg is still meat."
"After hundreds of flies are downed, the swallows fill up with energy and take off again, continuing their migration southward to their destination."
The audience felt nauseated, and Bi Fang wore a mischievous smile.
"If you really can't hold on in the desert, and you can't drink saltwater, maybe you could also try pushing human limits?"