Chapter 152 - 149 Migratory Birds
[Ding! New task activated, you can check it in the task column.]
He opened the task column.
Task Name: Conqueror
Task Location: Pacific Uninhabited Island (coordinates available)
Task Mode: Wilderness survival
Task Difficulty: S5
Task Requirements: Do not bring any tools except for essential clothing.
Main Task One: Start live streaming with a consistent online audience of over two hundred thousand people.
Main Task Two: Maintain good physical health while conducting a thirty-day wilderness broadcast and survive successfully.
Side Task: Please explore on your own.
Guaranteed Reward: Advanced Skill Upgrade Coupon*!.
Time Limit: Forty days.
“There are ten days left.”
Bi Fang narrowed his eyes and picked up his smartphone to casually check the coordinates marked in the task column, only to discover that this island wasn’t even recorded in any record; it truly was a deserted island.
Not surprising, though.
The Pacific Ocean is the ocean with the most islands on Earth, totaling over 20,000 islands with an area of 4.4 million square kilometers, accounting for 45% of the world’s total island area. The number of undiscovered islands among them is countless, so it’s not strange for there to be no records.
After all, it is an S-level task, and it should reflect some differences.
Having no records means no data to reference, and the situation on the island is difficult to predict. Compared to previous tasks where he understood the local environment before executing his plan, the difficulty has to be notched up significantly.
Moreover, this task is unlike the previous ones; it’s not about survival but living through the challenge.
Living and surviving are significantly different. Surviving focuses on getting out of danger with many emergency measures that can be adopted. For instance, eating raw food, which, despite the risks, is a risk worth taking in necessary situations.
Those viewers who always babble in front of the screen about how eating raw can lead to parasitic infections, saying you can’t eat that or you’re doomed, wouldn’t survive a day if thrown into the wilderness.
Living, however, is different. It requires more consideration and higher standards: you must make choices based on the overall situation of your body in order to adapt to the environment. But once you get used to it, it becomes much easier; it’s far simpler than the continuously changing environments of survival scenarios.
The key difference between the two lies in whether one can build a stable living environment in the first week.
But not being allowed to bring any tools, it seems I need to learn from Grandpa De.
Bi Fang was not too happy about the prospect of live streaming in the nude; he always felt awkward about it, but thankfully the system mentioned that essential clothing was allowed. So, underwear is fine, right?
As for the difficulty of the task, Bi Fang figured it out; after R Level should be S Level, and then there would likely be S4, S3, Si…
It escalated with each step, the smaller the number, the greater the difficulty.
With no tools allowed and the store lacking skill coupons and upgrade coupons, Bi Fang decided to spend all of his points on the lottery.
The day before yesterday, Wolf Fang had transferred the profits from the live broadcast after tax deductions, which got converted into points, totaling over three hundred. There were also additions from B Island, which added around a hundred more. Altogether, Bi Fang now had 1842 Wilderness Points.
With another two days’ earnings, he would have enough for four ten-spin draws.
Just as Bi Fang thought about spinning the wheel, his phone rang.
Bi Fang answered the call, “Professor Gu? Is there a problem? Is the name I thought up not working?”
Recognizing the caller, Bi Fang immediately wondered if there was a problem with the name he had submitted the day before yesterday.
Bi’s Pseudo-Crocodile.
Simple yet profound, anyone interested in studying this creature would immediately think of its discoverer.
Was it being rejected?
Gu Qjngyuan scratched his head, “Ah, it’s not about the name. The name is quite good, and we’ve already been referring to it as such privately.”
“Then what’s the issue?”
“Well, I have a French friend who wants to talk to you about something. I’m not sure what it’s about, but he insists on meeting you. If it’s convenient for you, could you share your address so he can come and visit in person?”
“Professor Gu’s friend?”
“Yes, he is also a professor who studies birds. Of course, if you’re busy, I’ll reject him right now.”
Gu Qjngyuan had made the introduction with good intentions. Since he still owed Bi Fang a favor, he could do nothing if Bi Fang was unwilling.
Similarly, Bi Fang was puzzled. Why were all these professors, one by one, coming to me?
When did I become so sought after?
Nevertheless, since he was free these couple of days, it wouldn’t hurt to spare some time to meet.
“No need, just let him come to me.”
After giving his address and agreeing to meet the next day, Bi Fang hung up the phone and looked at the revolving wheel in front of him, waving his hand to dissipate it.
He’d meet the person first; the lottery could wait.
The next day, Bi Fang met Professor Gu’s old friend-a disheveled middle-aged man. To his surprise, the man began to speak in fluent Chinese!
“Hello, Mr. Bi. I am Elvan Mendy, a visiting professor from the University of Paris. You can just call me Elvan.”
The disheveled Elvan took off his hat and bowed respectfully to Bi Fang.
Bi Fang was about to compliment Elvan on his impressive Chinese when, without any pleasantries, Elvan rushed to state his business right after introducing himself.
“Mr. Bi, time is urgent, so I’ll get straight to the point. There’s a flock of migratory birds that need you to perform acupuncture!”
Elvan spoke so quickly and urgently that Bi Fang had trouble understanding him.
He was stunned for two seconds, puzzled.
Acupuncture? What does this have to do with me?
If it’s about business, let’s talk business. Why the insult?
I m not Wu Qian. What would I use for acupuncture?
I don’t even know how to perform real acupuncture!
“Wait a minute, Mr. Elvan, what acupuncture? I don’t do acupuncture. Have you got the wrong person? If you’re looking for an old Chinese medicine practitioner, you can find one outside. There might be a contact number on a utility pole.”
Elvan was just as confused. His Chinese had been learned from Gu Qjngyuan, and since the professor was getting on in years, he inevitably had a bit of an accent, which led Elvan astray. It took him quite some time to understand what Bi Fang was saying.
“Ah, it’s not acupuncture, it’s rescue! The rescue of life! There’s a flock of migratory birds that need your rescue!”
Oh, I see.
Bi Fang got it, but not entirely.
What did bird migration have to do with him?
But out of politeness, Bi Fang still stepped aside and invited Elvan inside to discuss in detail.
Once inside, Bi Fang poured a glass of water for Elvan.
Elvan was so thirsty from the long journey that he gulped down the glass in two swallows. Then he opened his backpack, took out a large map full of marks, and a stack of photos, ready to get down to business.
“Mr. Bi, do you know the White-fronted Goose?” Elvan unfolded the photos and handed them to Bi Fang, pointing at the creature, “This animal is a second-class protected species in your country.”
Bi Fang flipped through the photos, each depicting birds that looked like swans.
Pure white cheeks, dark grey-brown feathers-it was indeed the White- fronted Goose.
As a former investigator, Bi Fang was certainly familiar with the species and had even studied their migration, traveling from south to north across the whole of Huaxia, just to research the population changes of the White-fronted Goose.
This bird is a winter migratory species in Huaxia.
Leaving their breeding grounds at the end of August or early September to head to their wintering grounds, they usually arrive in Huaxia at the end of September or early October. The bulk of the migration occurs in mid-to-late October, with the latest arriving by early November.
The migration mainly takes place at night, and during the day they rest and feed.
But due to human hunting and habitat destruction, they have become a second-class protected animal.
“So, Mr. Elvan, what exactly are you here for?” Bi Fang put away the photos and looked at Elvan.
Elvan rolled out the map, pointing at the dense markings and the especially clear red line, his tone serious.
“I’m here to ask for your help with their migration!”