Qinghe River, in human eyes, is a medium-sized river with a width of more than 100 meters and less than 200 meters, which is very common. Compared with the Yangtze River, which is several kilometers wide downstream, the Qinghe River is a little brother, not to mention the 300 kilometers wide La Plata River.
But in the eyes of ants, this river is almost endless, just like the sea.
At this time, the walnut fleet was rushed to the middle of the river and went down the river. Ant, who was half leaning out of the cabin, looked around and could only see water in all directions except the sky.
The edge of the water is connected to the sky far away. Except for the occasional dark shadows of a few distant mountains and giant trees emerging from the mist, no other colors other than the sky and water can be seen.
The sky is clear blue, without a few clouds, and the water surface also reflects the background color of the sky. The junction between the horizontal plane and the sky is blurred in this dark blue, and it is almost impossible to tell where the sky is and where the water is. In the past, the scene of water and sky that could only appear at the seaside reappeared in this Qinghe River.
The weather is nice and calm, and it doesn't look like there will be any rain in the short term. The protagonist climbed up to the highest point of the mast with confidence, stood on the crossbar of the sail, held on to the mast, and looked out.
Although it is the top of the mast, it is only a dozen centimeters higher than at the hatch, which does not allow the protagonist to fully climb up and see far. But fortunately, he could see the grass and trees on the south bank here, while the north bank was vaguely invisible in the river mist.
The protagonist was initially shocked by the majesty of the Qinghe River, but after watching it for a long time, he soon became bored with the unchanging scenery and climbed down from the mast.
This afternoon, the protagonist noticed a good phenomenon.
The river made a big turn. Judging the direction by the sun, Qinghe made a big turn to the south.
There was a false alarm during the turn. The Walnut fleet was almost washed to the northeastern bank by the current. It was a steep river bank with rocks everywhere in the water. The water flow slammed against the smooth rocks there. Then it bounces back. If the fleet collides with the rugged Stonehenge on the river bank, it will definitely be in danger.
At this time, the wind direction was not suitable, and the fleet could not raise the sails and change directions to avoid it, and could only wait helplessly for the judgment of fate.
Fortunately, the scene of shipwreck and ant death did not happen. When they were still more than ten meters away from the river bank, the rapids rebounding from the river bank pushed the fleet back to the middle of the river.
Now, the fleet is moving along the river in a direction south-west. Before, the river flowed east-north, but before the Qinghe River turned, it flowed roughly due east. According to the protagonist's calculation, if the river continues to flow south-west, the fleet will drift closer to the swamp.
Therefore, the fleet is not in a hurry to dock. The protagonist prepares the fleet to sail for another day or two before docking. By then, it will sail all the way to the west. Sooner or later, it will be able to see familiar scenery, and then it will be able to find a way to reach the swamp.
——I am the dividing line——
May 23, morning.
Today's protagonist is bored. Sometimes he stays in the cabin eating and sleeping, and sometimes he runs outside the cabin and stares at the unchanged scenery in a daze. When your stomach becomes bloated, you defecate in the cabin for a while, and the ants will be responsible for throwing the feces into the river outside.
These are boring days, drifting and doing nothing
But at this moment, something happened. Messengers came from other ships and reported that several ropes in the fleet were damaged, and one even broke directly.
The protagonist didn't pay attention. Such wear and tear was normal. Rope damage had occurred sporadically before. Anyway, there was a lot of ant silk and hemp fiber stored in the cabin. The weather was calm these days, so just send sailor ants to repair it.
But in the afternoon, things started to go wrong. Ants came one after another to report that the rope was damaged. This frequency was abnormally high.
The main damage was to some ropes soaked in water. Although the soaking in water will slowly corrode these ropes, these ropes are made of tough hemp and ant silk and can last for at least a few months. Last year, the fleet going to the swamp did not have such serious rope damage all year long, so something was obviously wrong.
The protagonist started to take it seriously. In addition to letting the ants continue to repair it, he planned to go over and take a look in person.
The broken ropes were concentrated on several ships in the middle left wing of the fleet. The protagonist got out of the cabin and climbed from one ship to another along the rope bridge fixed between the masts.
Most of the time, the protagonist must hold on to the rope firmly, otherwise if he accidentally falls, he will be exposed to the microwaved water of Qinghe River. If he fails to climb back on the boat in time, with the body structure of an ant, he will definitely survive if he falls into the water for a long time. No more.
But in fact, climbing the rope bridge is not that dangerous. The rope bridge is specially made thicker and rougher, which is very suitable for the ants' hooked toes to hold firmly, and the ants will not risk going out when the wind is strong and the waves are high.
Therefore, so far, there has only been one accidental fall into the water on the Walnut fleet. After the unlucky ant fell into the water, he climbed onto the nearby wooden stick in time and returned to the cabin on his own. However, he eventually died two days later due to injuries to his internal organs due to the water.
The protagonist finally arrives on the ship with the most damaged ropes. At this time, more than a dozen sailor ants were working. Some were standing on wooden sticks floating on the water around the ship, and some were hanging on the outer walls of the ship. They were all holding some fibers in their mouths to repair the damaged ropes.
Some ropes are soaked in water and have to be pulled up first, repaired and then put back and tightened.
The protagonist looked at the damaged rope and noticed something strange. These ropes do not look like they have been corroded due to long-term immersion. The damaged surfaces have smooth sections, but rather they look like they were cut by something.
Did the fleet hit a rock or a sharp shell, causing some of the ropes to be cut?
However, although the cross-sections of these rope fibers are smooth, the cross-sections of different fibers are not neat, and it does not look like they were cut at the same time.
What caused the rope damage? The protagonist has a big head and cannot let the ropes be damaged like this. If the culprit cannot be found, sooner or later the rope reserve on the ship will be exhausted. Without the binding and restraint of the ropes, the walnut boats connected together will fall apart, and the fleet will not be able to survive. Exist again.
This crisis is no less than the time when he almost ran into the rocks on the river bank, and the protagonist has no clue where the danger comes from.
The protagonist observed it for a long time and found nothing, so he simply stayed on the ship.
This is a ship where food and supplies are stacked. With the consumption of food, there is already some space. The protagonist found a corner and lay down without caring about whether it was comfortable or not.
His wait did not disappoint. In the afternoon, the ants discovered something strange attached to the rope!
If you like The World of Ants, please collect it: () The World of Ants is updated the fastest.
