The blue waves, blue sky and white clouds print their reflections on the surface of the lake, and then they are not distorted, broken and restored under the fine ripples, like a dynamic GIF picture, and like a landscape painting that comes to life.

A strange float of walnuts and wood streaked across the lake, quite peaceful, destroying the flowing GIF.

The fleet of walnut boats that sailed away from the shore of the lake sailed northeast for half a day downwind, and at this moment they had penetrated into the center of the great lake.

This lake is not big in the eyes of humans, but in the field of vision of ants, it is as wide as the sea, and the fleet is like the lifeboat in "Life of Pi", drifting lonely between the sky and water.

While the water waves are still calm, the protagonist simply climbs to the top along the mast, where you can still see the shore, and even vaguely see the big poplar trees in [Dongyang City], which is the homeland.

In fact, this move of the protagonist is still quite dangerous, and the physiological structure of the ants determines that they are destined to be unable to swim, and once they fall into the water, they will be more than lucky.

Humans and other animals have noses on their heads, and as long as they keep their nostrils on the surface of the water, they can breathe and breathe without drowning, which is a species suitable for swimming.

In fact, compared with other mammals, the physiological structure of human beings is not suitable for swimming: when the nostrils of the human are facing downward, when the head is kept on the water in a floating position, the nostrils are very close to the water surface, and it is easier to choke on water. Pigs and dogs, on the other hand, can keep their nostrils facing the sky as long as they raise their heads.

But the shortcomings of humans are not a problem at all compared to the shortcomings of ants. The ant's nostrils, that is, the stomata are in the abdomen, and as soon as they enter the water, they will inevitably be soaked in water. And ants breathe passively, and once they drown, they can't even hold their breath.

When the ants fall into the water, they can only rely on the tension of the water film to ensure that they can float on the water as much as possible, and then rely on luck to get ashore as soon as possible, otherwise there will be no life or death.

So most of the ants, although they got on the ship on order, kept hiding in the cabin and did not dare to come out, even the bravest warriors. So the protagonist's bold move, no other ants noticed and persuaded him.

The protagonist is not a casual adventure, he has a lot of strength, grabbing the arthropods of the mast and hooking the rough surface of the mast, fixing himself tightly, even if the wind blows, he will not want to blow himself away.

After staying on the mast for a while, it feels like the wind is really getting stronger, and the protagonist stops taking risks and climbs down.

The original southwest wind has now become a southerly wind, with a warm and humid comfort from the south. However, the protagonist does not like the wind, if the wind is too strong and the walnut ship is too fast, it may not be conducive to turning at the mouth of the stream, and the bee riders will not be able to fight the wind even if they try their best to pull the fiber.

At that time, the fleet can only choose the opportunity to dock, wait until the wind and waves have passed, and then re-correct the course and set sail, which is very delayed. The fleet only has enough food for a week, and the most feared thing is the delay on the road.

The protagonist observes the sky for a while and realizes that something is wrong, not only is the wind from the south getting stronger and stronger, but through the backbone of the hills on the horizon, a wave of dark clouds emerges from the sky and sweeps in at great speed.

This is another sign of a rainstorm to come!

It's the rainy season, and violent thundershowers are common and fast, and sometimes the ants have no time to spill down.

Storms are a great danger for navigation. In the past, the sailing time of the walnut fleet was mainly concentrated in autumn, and such thundershowers were not encountered.

Now, the fleet is about to go through a test, a test from nature, an enemy a hundred times more vicious than the destroyer.

The protagonist didn't expect that he would catch the storm when he sailed on a boat this time, but now the fleet, which has no maneuverability, has no way to avoid it, so he can only carry it through.

The good thing is that natural walnuts are strong enough to stay intact in the most violent storms. The connection between walnut boats relies on wooden sticks and ropes, which are an elastic structure that can buffer external forces well.

The only things to worry about are fragile structures like masts, sails, and bee mounts that can't be accessed outside the cabin.

The protagonist immediately orders the sails to be lowered, and the sailors climb the ropes between the masts of the ships to deliver the commands, and then untie the ropes that hold the sails in place, and the sails fall down with gravity, and are restrained by the ropes and landed on the boat, and then tied to the crossbars and then secured. The sails could only be placed in the open air, there was no space in the cabin, and the size of the entrance could not fit into the crossbar on the sail.

As for the bees, they can't get into the cramped walnut boat, but fortunately, in the previous voyages, the flying knights who pulled the fiber have encountered similar situations a few times and know how to deal with them.

The male and worker ant flying riders emerge from the cabin, climb onto their mounts, untie the ropes and take off. They gathered together and flew toward the shore, ready to take shelter from the rain in a tree or rock cave before the storm. The Flying Riders are familiar with the surrounding terrain and know several alternative locations. When the storm has passed, the Flying Knights will set off again to find the fleet and then continue their work.

After arranging everything, the ant sailors also burrowed back into the cabin, blocked the hatch with the door panel, and waited quietly for the storm to come.

The protagonist's boat is in the middle of the flotilla, and he also gets inside, staying in the crowded and dark cabin.

The fleet was crammed with more people and cargo, and on average, each walnut ship was crammed with more than a hundred ants or corresponding cargo. Even the protagonist's boat ride is only a little more relaxed, with fifty Praetorian Guard fighters huddled together, surrounded by some goods such as food, pottery, and mystery balls.

The inside of the walnut boat is divided into two halves by a natural diaphragm, and each half is roughly divided into several parts.

The protagonist has chosen a position that is only enough for him to lie down as a living room, which is already much better than the treatment of other ants, even if they are males, can only huddle with everyone.

The other ants in the boat are all on the other half, and the only thing that is with the protagonist is a variety of food and supplies, which the protagonist specifically requests, and he likes to be alone.

The protagonist in front of him was pitch black, only to feel that the boat under him was shaking with the water waves, and the sound of the rushing waves was like a lullaby, which made him fall asleep quickly.

I don't know how long it took, maybe a short time later, the protagonist was woken up.

It's like the weightlessness of suddenly stepping on the air in a dream, which makes the protagonist wake up. But this feeling is not an illusion in a dream, but the whole walnut ship is really like a runaway elevator falling suddenly, and a strong sense of weightlessness and discomfort grips the protagonist's heart.

The protagonist knows that the storm is coming, and although he can't see it, the whole fleet is already struggling in the stormy seas.