Hundreds of milky white, two-haired small fish stand tall in the sea sand, swaying their bodies with the current, like a lock of white thatch flower spikes perpendicular to the sea sand; The sun shines through the clear water as if it were through the air, and it looks like it has no fins, no eyes, and it is difficult for the unwary to find their mouths.

"Two-tipped." The girl cried out in delight, and she crouched on the hot side of the ship, and then without hesitation, she plunged her whole head into the warm water, so that she could observe the rare creatures in more detail.

Two minutes later she scooped herself out contentedly, her fluffy flaxen hair clinging to her face in small curls, and she sat back on the warm plank and pulled away from the part that covered her eyes and nose.

A dry and hard bath towel landed on the girl's head, it quickly absorbed the water, and then drooped softly, the girl grabbed the ends of the bath towel and raised her face: "Thanks, Daddy." ”

"The people here call them sea spears." "But they don't count as fish, and although they may seem like fish or worms, their pedigree is a far cry from the latter." To be precise, they are chordates somewhere between invertebrates and vertebral ones - even though they have visual apparatus, tendrils, branchial slits, caudal and anal anterior fins, and a dorsal fold on their backs, the biggest problem is that the burly man winked at his beloved daughter and pointed to his head, "but not a real head and a brain." With no feelings, no memories, no desires, they don't actively hunt - so, my dear, it can't be counted as a fish, it's not that high-level. Although people always call it that. He grabbed the towel and took over the work, the girl's hair was fine and dense, and the knot was terrible, "They are very picky about the water and the temperature, and such a dense scene can only be seen on a few islands." ”

"Private island." The girl said smugly.

"It is for this," John said forgivingly, "that they are best protected." "Human greed is almost endless, and the only way to make them less urgent is to divide what is common to all and stuff it under the belly of the private in various ways. Ironically, they guard their "things" like dragons guarding their treasures, spewing angry flames at everyone and everything that tries to touch or destroy them, even if they were in the same queue a minute ago.

Environmentalists are not happy that uninhabited islands, which are small units of an independent and closed ecosystem, have become someone's own. This ecosystem is fragile, vulnerable, and difficult to recover from – no matter how enlightened and generous its new owners may have been – as long as modern humans can inhabit it, it means that the island's original environment may have been damaged in a way that can only be undone in hundreds or thousands of years, which cannot be easily offset by one or two renewable energy sources (wind, solar, ocean) and rainwater harvesting, desalination, and wastewater recycling technologies – for environmentalists. The best way to deal with it is to stay away from the ...... that is close to forgetting There is no utilization, no development, and no tourism.

But they also have to admit that the small islands that have not been fortunate enough to be privately sheltered have suffered much worse than their kind: first of all, the beaches and woods – if they did, tourists of all stripes would flock to them, and to feed them, dozens of piers would be erected along the seashore, and reefs that might have injured ships and humans were blown up; Some of the trees are torn down, beautiful little white hotels are built on their cemeteries, and cables from the mainland are connected to the depths of the islands, so that children can eat ice cream and surf the Internet anytime, anywhere; Mushroom-like umbrellas and small tents are set up day after day on the wide sandy beach, where hordes of humans enjoy their rare leisure moments, drinking, dancing, swimming, barbecuing over campfires in the evening, and harassing, catching or eating all living things...... Insects, small beasts, fish, seabirds, shells, corals and even sandworms. A few days later, they returned with a mountain of empty beer cans, food bags and scattered plastic slippers.

Such a good life will not last long, and in a few years, people can only look for photos to find and remember its former beauty. As a result, what little vegetation remained was further destroyed, the sand was removed for building materials, shallow areas were filled, thousands of tons of cement smoothed out the uneven coral reefs, gray-white warehouses were erected, and cargo ships with dirty oil trails approached the docks one after another, and the surrounding waters were filthy and lifeless.

It will be used for a while, but who can not predict the length of this time, the life of the docks and warehouses is closely related to the route, the route of a large passenger and cargo ship may be rare in a hundred years, it is difficult to say about these small ships, and some routes may just change a big change because of the sudden excitement of a few pirates.

In the end, all you get is a staggering chunk of cement.

"Poseidon Island is not a private island." The young man standing steadily beside them suddenly interjected.

John was slightly taken aback - in addition to John on this ship. Carson and his daughter, as well as his four colleagues and friends, were the only natives of Poseidon Island, and at Don's request, Chegalle allowed a scholar of good standing in all respects to bring his children and assistants to do some research and investigation here, but only if they did not cross the invisible but clear warning line that marked "danger" and "death," Don said, not allowing his friends and children to be harmed by his momentary generosity. The intermediary relayed.

They can understand and speak the lingua franca, but they are almost mute unless they have to.

"But it also has a king." The girl said.

John immediately tightened his arms and hugged her little shoulders hard: "I'm sorry. He looked nervously at the dark-skinned, muscular young man.

"Poseidon Island has no king." The young man said slowly, as he packed up the ropes and carefully observed the father and daughter, as if to engrave their every move on the retina. "But if you have to find such a chief, it will be 'Don' Chegalle, but we generally call him a good man, and he is indeed a good man, and we respect him and hope that others will respect him. ”

John smiled helplessly, "Yes," he replied calmly, "I have no reason not to respect Mr. Bissandi, who has given us a rare opportunity and great convenience. He shook his daughter, "Isn't that right, Chiz?" ”

Chiz grimaced, then nodded genuinely. She is in the middle stage of girl and girl, her eyes and smile are pure like a fresh pea, and when she stands in front of you, you can feel youth and vitality like the sun and the wind. This charm, which could intoxicate almost everyone, played a role, and the young man's face was no longer so tight.

John waited a little: "Maybe you can ask," he asked gently, "how long do we have to get to the island of Holy Cross?" ”

"It's not far away, Professor, it's only ten minutes or so, and lo and behold, we'll already be able to see it." The young crew politely replied,

"Thanks, that's great." John said.

The crew walked away without saying a word, and John turned around and put his nose on his daughter's forehead, "Look, we have to be careful, but don't be too afraid." ”

A marine biologist, a naturalist and a ten-year veteran environmental group, John Brown. Carson was well aware that at some point the threat from humans could go far beyond fangs and claws, thunder and lightning floods, but he was confident that he could control the situation, and that the much-talked-about "Masoye" was a huge beast in John's eyes, "It still has rules and habits to ponder," John thought, "and my companion and I are cautious and meticulous people, and we will not provoke it—we will not even disturb anything, and our target is the holy water, not the human." ”

***

St. Cross Island is located on the left side of Poseidon Island, and it is so small that even at low tide, there are no more than a dozen people who can stand on it.

It takes its name from the crucifix that stands alone not far away, and the marine biologists certainly don't aim for that, but the group of holy shells beneath the island is drawn to them from far away.

Like coral, the clams have high requirements for the temperature, quality, and nutrients of the seawater, and the largest of all the gill species of the gill is the largest of all the gills - and due to the increasing fishing and pollution by humans, the rare shellfish population that is still alive, often as large as a bathtub and densely numbered, has almost disappeared. It was also by chance that Carson learned that there was such a holy place on Earth.

What made him even happier was that the ruler of Poseidon Island, the king of the mob, a dangerous man who could make tens of millions of people tremble in the dark, "Don" Chegar actually agreed to his request, and for the first time in a hundred years, "outsiders" other than mercenaries and prostitutes set foot on the ground of Poseidon Island.

Several friends were so worried about the operation that they had persuaded him to stay with Chitz, but John had been persuaded to keep Chitz. Carson felt that it would be a shame not to be able to see and touch such a miracle with his own eyes.

"Are you ready?" John shouted, "One, two, three! ”

With a plop, they took oxygen tanks and overturned one after another.

***

"Who is that?"

"A marine biologist, and his daughter," Beelzebub lazily relaxed his limbs and floated on the surface of the sea, the water pouring into his ears, and he listened to everything humming, but could barely make out: "John. Carson. His daughter is named Chiz. Carson. ”

"What are they doing here?"

"As if for the shells," Beelzebub rolled over, plunged into the water, and quickly popped up again. Just as three years ago, there were several children of about the same age floating around him, and of course, the children of the "nails" and a few unfortunate people who were on the wrong side of the line were not among them.

"What's the use of shells?" The child beside him asked incessantly, his father was one of Chegalle's most important thugs lately, and he was also trying to get the position closest to the future leader, and he was very expressive, and sometimes it was a little annoying.

"Our Lady knows." Beelzebub said, "There is no security, and there must be some other hope after a prosperous life, otherwise what else can they do?" He clearly didn't want to continue the conversation: "Chiz is a weird name, but I always think I've seen or heard it somewhere?" He spat out: "Do you think of it?" Sasha? ”

"Job," said Sasha, whose teeth had been replaced, and now his body was troubling, and he was growing rapidly, and his bones and muscles were constantly aching at night because of the rapid growth, so when possible, he chose to immerse himself in the warm water, which provided buoyancy and heat to soothe him.

He swam towards Beelzebub, and the children beside Beelzebub immediately got out of the way.

It is the eighteenth book of the Hebrew Bible, the first book of the Christian Old Testament and the Book of Poetic Wisdom, and one of the oldest books in the entire Bible. As Job had requested, all these things were recorded in the book. "Sasha's hair grew so long that it hung down to his shoulders, smooth and shiny; And even though he's been able to spend time outdoors and read indoors in recent years, his skin hasn't become rough and dark, just a pale shade of gold that makes him look like it's made of cold metal.

Beelzebub grabbed him by the arm.

"Chitz is a giant bird recorded in the book of Job, said to have been created by God to protect other birds—often compared to Beamon and Leviathan, they are three giant beasts representing land, sea and air, respectively, and some say that its prototype is the largest flying creature ever seen in the history of the earth, such as the Jurassic Aeolus pterosaurus and the hatezgot pterosaur. It is considered a clean meal in Judaism, and it is said that when the end of the world comes, it, Behemoth, and Leviathan will be the food of the Holy One. ”

(To be continued)