When Suming's spiritual power barely made contact with the dolphin mother, he immediately realized that she was severely injured and on the brink of death.
If she were human, a critical condition notice would have been issued, preparing for what comes after life. Suming had just appeared when she suddenly woke up, wanting to protect her calf—purely a brief return to a more conscious state before death.
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After a reassuring dose of spiritual power was transferred into her body, the dolphin mother slowly fell back into a deep sleep.
"This isn't going to be easy!"
Frowning, Suming continuously channeled spiritual power into the dolphin mother. From the feedback, it was clear that her injuries were too serious for ordinary medical methods to cure. First she was chased by an alligator gar, then she injured her head, and finally, she broke through a fishing net and was bleeding out, waiting for death here; her life force was almost completely drained. Even if she was brought to the world's most advanced medical facility right now, it would be difficult to save her—it would only delay the inevitable.
As the saying goes, medicine can't cure a dying patient; whether it's humans or other creatures, if the life force is exhausted, no treatment, no matter how powerful, will work.
The two small dolphins lay pitifully on either side of their mother, their large, dark eyes looking at Suming with both curiosity and expectation.
"Don't worry, little guys," Suming said, releasing two streams of spiritual energy to soothe the youngsters' emotions, then gently touched their heads.
Now, the most important thing was to use spiritual power to help the dolphin mother recover her life force little by little. Once her life force began to grow stronger, conventional treatments would become effective.
Suming decided not to notify Mr. Song and the others just yet. Their presence wouldn't help, and they might even cause harm in their rush to 'treat' the dolphin, potentially making things worse.
With that in mind, Suming gestured towards the sky.
As a loyal guardian, Er Gouzi was incredibly dutiful and had been working very hard. Wherever Suming went, it followed, even if Suming was in the water, it had to follow from above, never straying more than a few steps away.
At one call, Er Gouzi made a shining entrance, buzzing out and diving to kill several flies circling the dolphin mother's wound, invigorated by the meal.
"Stop eating for now, we have serious work to do! Go to the bees and bring back some honey! If you can manage it, bring back some food as well. Remember, it's food for me to eat, not flies or mosquitoes!"
Treating the dolphin mother was going to be a massive task, likely not a short-term endeavor. Suming needed honey to replenish his spiritual power and had to eat as well.
Suming gave detailed instructions several times, specifically stating 'human food'. He didn't want Er Gouzi naively bringing back a bunch of dead bees and dragonflies. It would be a disaster if he starved before the dolphin mother was healed.
"Buzz... buzz... buzz..." Er Gouzi left, visibly tired.
"People are gone again! What's going on here!"
Professor Chu was frantic, pacing back and forth in the temporary command center with such speed that his few remaining strands of hair swayed as if he were an immortal about to ascend to the heavens.
After a day's search, when it came time to count heads, they realized that Suming was missing once again!
As the highest-ranking leader, Wang Jian She showed his face on the first day but didn't come after that. Therefore, the actual leader in charge now was Professor Chu, with Mr. Song assisting. If they failed to find the river dolphins and instead lost a person, nobody could escape the responsibility.
The underwater communicator had a limited range; it didn't work beyond three hundred meters, making it impossible to contact Suming.
As for cell phones... who on earth brings a cell phone while diving...
Mr. Song, having learned from yesterday's experience, was reasonably calm and not too worried. He gave a few students a look, signaling them to keep quiet for the moment, but stood up and waved to Professor Chu, "Chu, Chu, don't panic. I know Su, he's quite skilled at fieldwork and shouldn't have run into any big trouble. Besides, he sent a safety message earlier today."
Professor Chu was already on the edge, and none of the students dared to speak up. Only Liang Shi, who was an honest and straightforward person, said, "Hey, the last safety confirmation was four or five hours ago! If something really happened, the oxygen in his tank would have been depleted long ago!"
Professor Chu, with nowhere to vent his anger, found a target in Liang Shi's remarks and pointed at him shouting, "You, you—look at you! You're the one who got him lost yesterday, and you still haven't learned your lesson today. You should've kept an eye on him! Damn it, such a tall man but with a head full of mush! Get out and stand guard!"
"I..." Liang Shi's mouth fell open, full of grievance. He did want to keep an eye on Suming, but with Suming's swift swimming speed, who could keep up? Besides, they weren't even in the same group today...
Disheartened as he was, with a signal from Mr. Song, Liang Shi obediently went outside the tent to stand guard.
To say Mr. Song wasn't anxious at all would be false, but Suming was his man. He couldn't add fuel to the fire at this point but could only try to soothe the situation, scooping up a bowl of steaming soup from the big pot and handing it to Professor Chu, "Chu, have some food first. Maybe Su has found some clues about the river dolphins and that's why he's delayed."
Professor Chu put the soup bowl aside. With so much on his mind, he had no appetite for soup. He combed the few sparse hairs on his head to one side, slapped his forehead with his hands, and lamented, "Ah, how can I even think about river dolphins now. I'll be fortunate if there's been no accident, this is killing me!"
"Let's eat first, and then we'll all go look for him," Mr. Song called out.
Exhausted from the day, everyone started eating noisily.
Just as they were halfway through their meal, Liang Shi, who was standing guard outside, suddenly shouted excitedly:
"River dolphins!"
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