Ling Hao and Annie got on the deck. It was already four o'clock in the afternoon, and the sky was much darker than at noon. However, the coconut trees and buildings on the atoll in the distance could still be seen clearly, and there were also some faint voices and voices. The music was playing, and there were two small yachts parked on the sea nearby. They looked like the kind used by tourists for diving. There must be tourists underwater experiencing the most famous "shark feeding" project here. A large group of large and small sharks were swimming in the water, almost covering the seabed. It made people's scalp numb when they saw it, and they didn't know how nervous tourists were to dare to go into this sea of sharks. Jump.
Anne lamented: "Fakarava Atoll is now a diving resort. Although the 'shark feeding' diving tourism project has attracted criticism from many scientists, it is still flocked to by tourists from all over the world. The economy of this atoll has also been driven by tourism. Now the population has reached more than 800, and a small airport has been built. If we didn't have to transport equipment, big planes couldn't take off and land here, so we would have landed directly here."
Ling Hao looked at the group of sharks in the water and asked Annie, "How's it going? Should we go into the water and have a look?"
Annie looked at Ling Hao in shock: "What are you looking at? A shark?"
"Yes, this is basically the same sea area as our destination. Let's see what species of sharks there are and whether any are particularly dangerous. Is the shark repellent product we brought effective? After trying it here, we feel somewhat confident. It counts."
"Okay, I'll go down with you."
Half an hour later, a small boat was put down on the "Marian". Ling Hao, Annie and Tian Yong all wore a set of "snorkeling" equipment, wearing flippers, masks and a breathing tube. There was a speargun and a diving bag hanging on his waist, and a "dragon arc" was tied to Ling Hao's leg. Everyone has several shark repellent products in their carrying bags, ready to try them out one by one underwater to see which one is the most effective.
After the boat left a certain distance from the "Marian", the three of them turned over into the water and swam slowly to the bottom of the sea. The water here is very shallow, about 5 to 6 meters, and the sandy seabed is very flat. As soon as the three people landed on the bottom of the sea, six or seven half-meter-long "cat sharks" surrounded them and searched randomly on the sand around the three people. Apparently they thought that the three people came down to feed them food.
Immediately afterwards, a large group of about thirty "black tip reef sharks" over one meter long swam toward them quickly. The momentum really made people feel a little nervous. Anne subconsciously wanted to retreat, but Ling Hao did. He grabbed her. In the blink of an eye, the "black tip reef sharks" had already arrived and were swimming around them. Some actually swam up to them and rubbed against them like house cats, and some were swimming around them. They looked around and even looked at the hands of the three of them with their noses. They looked like puppies asking for food from their owners, just wagging their tails and barking "bark".
The last ones to arrive were the two-meter-long "grey reef sharks" and "head sharks", which instantly scared away the first small "cat sharks". These larger sharks were obviously more cautious. They won't get too close to Ling Hao and the others, they will just circle around two or three meters away.
Tian Yong patted Ling Hao lightly, and then pointed to the distance. About twenty meters away, there was a huge figure nearly 5 meters long that was moving slowly. It had tiger-like stripes on its body. Even from such a long distance, people can still clearly identify it. It is an adult tiger shark, one of the most ferocious predators in the sea and the shark that poses the greatest threat to humans. Every year, people are attacked by tiger sharks. They are cruel and greedy. They are known as the ocean trash can. They want to take a bite of anything and they will eat everything they can swallow. People have found plastic bottles, cans, rubber toys, and sports shoes in the stomach of tiger sharks. , and even the car’s license plate. Shark experts have said they are confident swimming with great whites, but studying tiger and bull sharks requires staying in shark-proof cages.
I really don’t know what the local tourism department thinks, but they actually allow tourists to dive in waters where tiger sharks are found, and they still engage in the dangerous activity of “feeding sharks.” No wonder tourists are injured or even killed by sharks in Fakarava Atoll every year. But it still can't stop crazy tourists from seeking excitement. Looking at the appearance of the sharks here, you can tell how many tourists there usually are here. They are used to this kind of life of being fed. Perhaps many years from now, once the government bans tourists from feeding sharks, these sharks will all starve to death because they have lost their ability to hunt.
Ling Hao and the others had business to do. Tian Yong took out a can of shark repellent from his carrying bag. After unscrewing the lid, the shark next to him suddenly trembled and moved away from Tian Yong. However, Within half a minute, driven by curiosity, he moved closer, as if he wanted to see what this human was holding in his hand. It smelled so bad.
Tian Yong was stunned, put away the can of shark repellent, and replaced it with another one. Just like this, the three people tried all the shark repellent products, and finally decided that an electronic shark repellent was the best. This is a shark repellent product that relies on releasing electric fields to confuse the shark's senses. It needs electric energy to drive, and there is a battery the size of a student's pencil case inside, so the weight reaches 1.5 kilograms, and the size is as big as a lunch bag. Although it is a bit cumbersome, the shark repelling effect is really good. As long as it is opened, it can reach more than two meters. Even the longest "grey reef sharks" dare not get closer than 5 meters.
After the test mission was completed and the shark repellent was turned off, a group of "black tip reef sharks" gathered around them like little pugs, naughtyly rubbing against Ling Hao and the others for food, causing the three of them to be confused. They were all a little embarrassed, so they could only touch this and scratch that one very apologetically, then "farewell" to the group of sharks and return to the "Marian".
"How's the situation?" Shi Si led everyone to meet Ling Hao and the others who were taking off their diving suits.
"Don't mention it. The sharks have been raised as puppies. It's so enthusiastic. I just picked it up and licked it twice on the face. I didn't bring any fish food with me, which made the three of us a little embarrassed." Ling Hao laughed.
"Ah? It's so cute. I want to go play there too!" Shi Si immediately became excited, shouting with eyes full of stars, and even the lollipop in his mouth fell to the ground.
"Pull it down. We saw a tiger shark down there. It's an adult, almost 5 meters long. It's not as cute as a puppy. We tested it again and found that the largest electronic shark repellent works best. Be prepared. A few, check the power and prepare enough spare batteries, we should set off." Ling Hao immediately put an end to Shi Si's unrealistic thoughts.
It was almost dark now, but the "Marian" started the engine again and continued to drive towards its destination.
After dinner, everyone went back to their rooms to rest. Ling Hao had just finished washing and was lying on the bed. When he turned over, he saw a mermaid lying enchantingly next to him with his head in one hand. He was immediately frightened. He quickly wrapped himself in the quilt and glared at Shui Lingxing: "How many times have I told you this? , you are not allowed to go to my bed casually, do you not understand or remember?"
"Why are you so mean? I didn't touch you." Shui Lingxing said aggrievedly as he smoked and drank.
"You scared me. Can you say hello before you come out next time?"
"What are you afraid of? As long as I'm here, I'm the only one in this world who can suddenly appear next to you. Don't worry, what's something about you that I haven't seen before? It's like I care less about you." Shui Lingxing said fiercely. He gave Ling Hao a blank look.
Ling Hao was also speechless. No wonder some people said that there is no reason to talk to a woman. It seems that even a female mermaid is the same.
"Okay, that's up to you." Ling Hao gave in decisively. "You just came out, and I just have a question to ask you. How much do you know about this Mu continent?"
"Damn it! We're almost here, and you just remembered to ask me? Why did you go there earlier? Why didn't you ask me before you promised that little vixen?" It was okay if he didn't ask, but Shui Lingxing became angry when he asked.
Ling Hao blinked in surprise: "Is there any danger? Why did you react so strongly?"
Shui Lingxing glared at Ling Hao again, then calmed down and said: "Of course I know this Mu continent, as long as the intelligent races living in the sea know it, do you think the birthplace of your 'Zhenhai Longhu' is in where?"
"What? Do you mean that?"
"Yes, congratulations, you're almost home." Shui Lingxing's understatement made Ling Hao freeze as if struck by lightning.
"Although it's a little early to tell you now, since you're already here, I can't say anything, but I still have to explain some things clearly to you." Shui Lingxing straightened up and leaned on the bedside, and began to tell a story that completely refreshed Ling Hao's knowledge.
"If I were to say that the reason why human civilization has developed to this level is due to the acceleration of marine civilization, you probably wouldn't believe it, right? Some things are so ancient that when they happened, modern humans were still in a period of ignorance. So there are no documents or legends left. However, the intelligent life in the ocean is different. Our inheritance is old enough and has a long life. Many ancient memories have been passed down. Some may have been lost, but they will not be fabricated." Shui Lingxing His eyes were filled with memories, and he said flatly: "300,000 years ago, the earth was still in a period of relatively active crustal movement. At that time, there were volcanic eruptions everywhere in the Pacific, and there was a period of ice age in the Quaternary. During the 'Subglacial Age', sea levels dropped, and a huge piece of land emerged from the South Pacific, which was called 'Mu' by the residents who later lived on it. The earliest marine intelligent groups, including us, came from the south The human race that evolved from the ancient apes was the earliest inhabitants of this continent."
"Wait, let me interrupt first." Ling Hao suddenly interjected: "Since you talked about our history last time, I have also studied the 'evolutionary tree' of human beings. I really can't tell the difference between us. When did the two races and the current human race start to 'divide'? I know you are also studying with a bunch of books, can you tell me about it?"
Shui Lingxing was not angry, and explained patiently: "Based on my research and the stories of our ancestors, I will help you enrich this evolutionary tree. 1.8 million years ago, various species developed from Australopithecus apes. All subfamilies are basically extinct. According to human research, only the subfamily Homo erectus remains in the 'Hominidae' during this period. This inference is based on fossils, but in fact it is not comprehensive. Australopithecus has also divided into another subfamily, which I will call "Coastal Australopithecus", which is our ancestor. 1.6 million years ago, the subfamily "Zhuang Homo" was divided into Homo erectus , and during this period, 'Coastal Homo' also divided into two subfamilies, 'humanoid' and 'fish-man'. The former is your ancestor, and the latter is the ancestor of our family. 'Homo erectus' until It disappeared completely 200,000 years ago, and 'Homo sapiens' was divided into branches such as 'Homo sapiens', 'Homo heidelbergensis', and 'Neanderthal man'. As we all know, 'Homo heidelbergensis' became extinct 800,000 years ago. , the 'Neanderthals' persisted until 27,000 years ago, and were also eliminated by 'Homo sapiens'. Modern humans evolved from Homo sapiens and were considered by themselves to be the only species of the human family. But the fact is On the evolutionary tree, the subfamily of 'humanoids' that separated as early as 1.6 million years ago, that is, your ancestors, made a big circle on the evolutionary tree and almost evolved together along the path of Homo sapiens. Apart from a slight difference in genes, they are probably not much different from modern humans. Moreover, due to years of intermarriage, the two subfamilies have basically been completely integrated. But the 'fish-men' branch has Still groping on the road of evolution, the two lines of 'mermaid' and 'mermaid' were split 800,000 years ago, but the ancient 'murloc' eventually became extinct."
Ling Hao let out a long sigh. What he was most confused about was whether he was still a human being from a scientific point of view. But after listening to what Shui Lingxing said, it was obvious that he could definitely reproduce with human women, so what was he if he wasn't a human? Even if he wasn't human, it didn't matter to him.
