Since Fina had agreed to go back to the camp with them, everything else could be discussed. As for how to find a reason with Professor Weikang, they could slowly think about it on the way.
"These cats are …" Zhang Zian pointed at the few cats that were curled up on the side, as if they were ready to escape at any time.
"They have always lived here, always …" Fina's eyes were filled with a rare sense of loss and nostalgia. "I also lived here in the beginning. At that time, it was still a beautiful oasis with lush water and grass. Inside and outside the lake, there were all kinds of giant creatures with scales and armor. In the swaying date palm forest and bushes, there were all kinds of small animals. Travelers who got lost in the desert would occasionally come here. Before drinking the clear lake water, they were so desperate that they always thought it was a mirage-like illusion …"
It was an idyllic era, at least for Fina.
"What happened after that?" he asked. In fact, he had already vaguely guessed some clues.
"Later, people found gold here. The cause seemed to be that a traveler found a fist-sized piece of gold sand in the lake." Fina looked sad.
It was actually a gold mine?
Regardless of whether it was ancient Egyptians or modern Egyptians, they all had an unusual obsession with gold. After the discovery of gold, it was obvious that this place was classified as the Pharaoh's forbidden land, and no one else was allowed to touch it.
Thus, the idyllic era ended.
The rest could be imagined.
The mining of gold caused the deterioration of the environment. The area of the lake and the oasis rapidly shrank, and in the future, it became a barren Gobi.
Large animals and wild beasts that could not tolerate hunger and thirst had all disappeared. Only the cats and other small animals that had adapted to the harsh environment survived.
If that was the case … The honeycomb-like sand dunes might not have originally been formed naturally, but the sand accumulated by mining and digging.
"Can we let them follow us back to the camp? Professor Weikang must really want to see them. Regardless of whether this is what he is looking for, at least there will be an explanation for this scientific expedition. "Zhang Zian interceded for Weikang.
There were successes and failures in scientific research, and most of them were failures. This was normal, but not everyone could view success and failure with a normal mindset. For example, the leaders of Binhai University were not necessarily promoted from frontline teachers. Most of them were promoted from administrative departments or simply parachuted in. They paid more attention to the results than the process.
If Wei Kang's expensive expedition didn't produce any decent results, it would be difficult for him to get a research budget in the future. If he couldn't get a budget for natural science research, it would be even more difficult for him to publish a paper with enough influence. He wouldn't be able to expect a promotion, and he might not be able to get rid of the "deputy" title for the rest of his life.
Although this had nothing to do with Zhang Zian, he owed Wei Kang several favors. If he could help, he wanted to try his best to help.
With Wei Kang's previous attitude towards fennec foxes as a reference, Fina felt that Wei Kang was a very principled person. After a little thought, she agreed.
"Alright, they're always following me anyway. I can't get rid of them even if I want to," she snorted and said indifferently.
On the way back, the cats fell far behind. Zhang Zian thought they had run away several times, but after a while, he saw their bright eyes.
Before returning to the camp, he made the elfins invisible and thought about what to say to Wei Kang.
"Meow meow meow! Your majesty! I missed you so much! Let me lick your fur to calm you down! "
As soon as he saw the light of the camping lights, a white shadow flashed in front of him. Snowy Lionet rushed up with its tongue out, desperately trying to stick to Fina's body. However, Fina raised a front paw to block its face. Snowy Lionet's legs were too short, so it couldn't even touch Fina.
Zhang Zian glanced at the camp. It was still quiet, no different from when he left. Only Xiao Tianyu's tent could be heard snoring.
Looking at the time, he had been gone for almost an hour.
A few stray cats seemed to be afraid of the light of the camping lights. They only dared to wander around the periphery of the camp.
If he was going to put on a show, he had to go all the way.
He asked Fina to instruct the stray cats to go to the infrared camera set up by the scientific research team and leave some images in the camera. This way, it would be easier to win the trust of other scientists when they published papers in international journals in the future.
After finishing his preparations, he hurriedly ran to Wei Kang's tent, knocked on the tent door a few times, and said eagerly, "Professor Wei, wake up! It's urgent! "
Wei Kang's response came almost immediately from the tent. "What's wrong? What happened? "
Before he finished speaking, Wei Kang stumbled out of the tent while putting on his glasses. He didn't even have time to put on his coat.
Wei Kang thought that something had happened. His heart was beating very fast, and his face was as white as paper. He had brought these children to a foreign country thousands of miles away, deep in the wilderness. If something really happened, how could he explain it to the children's parents?
Zhang Zian shook his head and pointed to the darkness. "I was just keeping watch. I seemed to see a few animals running towards the infrared camera with my night vision binoculars, so I woke you up to ask if you wanted to go over and take a look."
"Oh? Really? That was close. It scared me … "
Wei Kang first put his heart back into his stomach, and then he was pleasantly surprised. "Did you see what animal it was?"
"No, it was furry. I could only see some kind of small animal," Zhang Zian answered vaguely.
"Let's go! Let's go and take a look! "
Wei Kang went back to the tent and took out the camera, waving his hand decisively.
The sound of their conversation woke Nabari up.
Nabari didn't dare to sleep soundly. He was afraid that the devils in the Devil's Sea would come out, so he had been sleeping with his clothes on.
He got out of the tent and asked, "What's wrong?"
Zhang Zian explained briefly.
Nabari was also relieved and decided to go with them to take a look.
Many years ago, he had encountered some kind of stray cat nearby. On his last trip into the desert as a guide, if he could see those elf-like phantoms again, it would be a perfect ending for his career as a guide.
As for the other team members, they were probably sleeping soundly. Only He He's tent had some noise. She might have been awakened, but she also chose to stay in the tent. After all, she was the only woman left.
The three of them passed through the camp and ran to the place where the infrared camera was set up.
Wei Kang ran at the front anxiously. He couldn't wait to get there in one step, but he was afraid of scaring away the small animals.
When he was close, he gestured to the two people behind him, indicating that they should walk lightly.
They saw Fina first, and then saw a few pairs of bright eyes playing around it.
Wei Kang squatted on the ground, raised the camera, and observed the cats through the camera's telephoto lens.
His heartbeat suddenly increased because he recognized that it was an extremely rare sand cat, and it was a subspecies that had not been discovered before.
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