Chapter 226: Chapter 225: The Airlift Team

“Little Grey, could you ask Vulture Brother and his family to airlift a batch of materials for me?”

Xu Ying was planning in her mind on how to fill the underground water fissure: “There’s a small river to the north that has dried up. We need to repair this underground water layer fissure as soon as possible.”

“In storage cabinet No. 1, there’s a barrel of resin, the one with the sapling pattern on it. Ask Fox Boss to show it to Vulture Brother; Fox Boss knows…”

…

Gray Tail quickly took notes, flapping its wings as it flew out of the rescue station, using its unique call to summon the vultures.

At this time, Fox Boss was playing a flying chess game with Little Sand Cat in the backyard sandbox of the rescue station. The chessboard, made from old wooden planks, had been polished smooth, and the pieces were made from bottle caps of different colors.

[It’s my turn now!]

Fox Boss threw the dice, eyes gleaming, [Six steps!]

With that, it moved the piece forward six spaces but secretly used the tip of its tail to push the piece one extra space forward, making it seven. Its furry ears shook with pride, thinking it had done it flawlessly.

[Wait a minute, did you move too far?] Little Sand Cat tilted its head, its amber eyes full of suspicion, and began counting seriously: [One, two, three…] Its small paw awkwardly pointed at the squares, its tail swaying nervously from side to side.

As Little Sand Cat lowered its head to count, Fox Boss quietly used its paw to push Little Sand Cat’s piece back one square and then whistled nonchalantly.

[…five, six, huh?] Little Sand Cat looked up in confusion, its ears drooping, [I think it was on this square…] It scratched its head with its paw, feeling something was not right.

Fox Boss put on an innocent face, its eyes wide: [Really? Maybe my hand slipped; I’ll put it back then.]

It pretended to move its piece back one square but deliberately did not put Little Sand Cat’s piece back in place, and slyly winked at Fox Xiao Wu, who was watching from the sidelines.

Little Sand Cat stared at its piece, about to erupt when suddenly—

[Fox Boss!] Gray Tail dived down, its claws accurately grabbing the round, fluffy behind of Fox Boss.

Fox Boss was startled, thinking it was caught for bullying Little Sand Cat and quickly kicked its legs to beg for forgiveness: [I’m wrong, I’m wrong, I won’t cheat anymore.] It pitifully curled up into a ball, its tail tightly tucked between its hind legs.

Gray Tail looked at this guilty little fox, helplessly tilting its head: [Who cares if you’re cheating or not! Little Xu Station Chief needs your help to guide the vultures to pick up goods!]

In the distance, a few black dots appeared in the sky, and the vulture transport team began to land one after another. Their broad wings cast long shadows in the sunset, the powerful flapping sounds drawing near from afar.

The leading vulture let out a long cry, as if greeting.

Fox Boss quickly jumped up, shaking the sand off its body: [I’m coming, I’m coming~] It dashed back to the rescue station, adeptly using its front paw to press the door open button. The rescue station’s door creaked open, revealing a neat arrangement of storage cabinets inside.

Under Fox Boss’s guidance, the vultures cooperated seamlessly: one used its hooked beak to accurately open the cabinet door, while another carefully lifted out the resin barrel. Their movements were surprisingly gentle, completely unlike their usual fierce hunting demeanor. Fox Boss stood by directing, occasionally pointing with a paw at the items that needed moving: [That bag of red soil solidifying agent too, yes, that one!]

Before long, all materials were sorted, and the vultures securely grasped the goods with their claws, taking off with a flap of their wings.

Their broad wings stirred up a gust of wind, raising Fox Boss’s fur all over. In an instant, this special transport team disappeared into the desert’s golden-red sky.

The vultures’ claws can bear loads of five to ten kilograms, making transporting these small barrels a breeze for them. Xu Ying had calculated before that this transport team of eight vultures could carry nearly fifty kilograms of materials at once, a capacity more impressive than a desert motorcycle.

Meanwhile, by the dried-up riverbed.

While waiting for the materials, Xu Ying was busy taking care of the fragile fish eggs. She knelt on the riverbed, carefully using a dropper to moisten each egg. These translucent eggs glimmered with a pearly luster in the sunlight, with tiny life forms faintly visible inside.

With the help of sand rats and jumping mice, all the fish eggs were covered with moist tissues to avoid direct sunlight.

The sand rats formed a line, passing the wet tissues with their tiny paws like a furry assembly line. The jumping mice were on alert, their large ears perked up, ever watchful of the surroundings.

Xu Ying also performed a simple disinfection on the tailless desert lizard. The wound where the lizard’s tail had broken was fresh, and Xu Ying gently said, “Hang in there.”

She spoke softly, “It’ll heal soon.”

The lizard lay trustingly in her palm, its bead-like black eyes gazing steadily at her.

Lizard tail shedding is a survival strategy they employ to distract predators, and the lost tail can naturally regenerate. Xu Ying didn’t intervene much and just applied some antibacterial ointment.

“Hello, is this the Underground Water Management Office?” Xu Ying dialed the phone, reporting the fracture’s location in detail, “The coordinates are at north latitude… The fissure is about 15 meters long, with the widest part being 3 centimeters…” Her voice was particularly clear in the empty desert, “Please send someone to reinforce it as soon as possible.”

As the vulture transport team roared in with the materials, Xu Ying was already prepared with repair tools.

She put on specially designed protective goggles, used a micro endoscope to detect the depth of the fissure, an infrared moisture meter to pinpoint leakage points, and an animal ultrasonic instrument to depict the formation structure.

She opened her backpack and released a small centipede from a jar.

This entirely golden centipede was her specially cultivated “engineer,” capable of probing the smallest cracks to assess conditions.

The sand mixed with resin glue was slowly filled into the fissure under her skillful hands, while the small centipede crawled back and forth in the gap, acting as the most responsible “inspector,” occasionally tapping Xu Ying’s finger with its antennae, as if reporting work progress.

[Little Xu Station Chief!] Sand Rat Boss came rushing over, its small belly heaving, [Found out, those poachers came to catch the lizards five days ago!]

[There are four of them in total, without any guns or such now; they’re still in the desert looking for lizards. I’ve already sent out notifications for my lads to track them down.]

“Well done!”

Xu Ying smiled and high-fived with the sand rat, taking out a specially made camel milk date energy bar from a can.

These energy bars were specially crafted by her using local specialties, both nutritious and delicious.

The Sand Rat Boss munched happily on the snack, crumbs all over its whiskers: [Little Xu Station Chief always changes things up to give us delicious food! This king is with you for life!]

Hearing this, Xu Ying felt a pang—sand rats live only about three years, and this “boss” was already a year and a half old.

She gently petted the sand rat’s little head but said nothing.

Repair work continued until the sun began to set.

Xu Ying stood up, rubbing her aching knees, as the Tusun curiously watched from the side.

Tusun seemed to suddenly realize that Xu Ying’s series of actions were to save this dried river: [Will water really come back like this?]

It tilted its head and asked, its golden eyes full of expectation.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep