Live Streaming: Great Adventure in the Wilderness-Chapter 823 - 819: The Limits of Humans

Valuable?

The audience tensed up, having initially thought it was just a piece of glass. Even though its formation was somewhat rare, it didn't seem very valuable. But now, could it be otherwise?

[If we're talking about that, I'm definitely not sleepy anymore]

[Spill it, just how valuable is it?]

"Well, I'm not entirely sure myself. This piece, maybe around a thousand, ten thousand of that order?"

Bi Fang sounded uncertain.

He held the glass meteorite up to the sunlight for a close examination and could see that it had a good quality.

Meteorites striking the desert was an extremely violent process involving a series of complex events such as high-impact collisions, high-temperature ablation, and turbulent environmental airflows.

After a violent meteorite impact, the massive sand thrown up would collide with each other, and under the high temperature of ablation, the rudimentary form of the glass meteorite would be shaped by multiple impacts and strong air currents, resulting in complex textures due to meteorite impacts, other materials such as sand, and the combined effect of airflow.

And these air and sand impacts on the ablated crystals were not one-time occurrences; they formed patterns that looked simple from the outside but were, in fact, intricately intersected layers.

Making forgeries of such patterns was extremely difficult, which further increased the value of the glass meteorite.

The piece in Bi Fang's hand didn't have too many noticeable bubbles or impurities inside and was quite clear; perhaps it could fetch a high price of tens of thousands on the market.

Of course, its value was probably limited to that and cannot be compared to the giant emerald Bi Fang found last time.

[Inflation really is getting more and more serious. Now, when I hear thousands, tens of thousands, it feels like it's not that much (covers face)]

[I bought breakfast this morning and found out that the potato pancakes downstairs went up by two bucks. It really broke my heart, wuwuwu]

[Keep looking; there might be more. Since it's all-natural, there shouldn't be just one piece, right?]

Bi Fang, finding the audience's comments to make sense, began searching nearby to see if there were any similar natural glasses.

Even though the value of the glass itself wasn't high for Bi Fang at present, finding them was a unique pleasure, like discovering treasure in the wilderness.

"In 1932, the explorer from Central Country, Patrick Clayton, decided to venture deep into the Sahara Desert in search of treasure."

Bi Fang stuffed the yellow meteorite glass into his backpack and began searching for gemstones near the Oasis, while also providing some simple historical facts.

By the mid-nineteenth century, with the completion of the Industrial Revolution, the major capitalist countries of the world entered the stage of monopoly capitalism and embarked on aggressive expansion abroad, which led to a wave of exploration fervor.

Perhaps more precisely, since the sixteenth century, the craze for exploration never ceased and continued to escalate until before the twenty-first century.

People were craving more wealth, and in pursuit of it, the rich and nobility made substantial investments, thus driving waves of navigators to emerge.

Columbus and Magellan were among the best of that era.

This was a more primitive and rough form of exploration, which cost many lives, but undeniably brought about tremendous value, as humans saw the whole picture of Earth for the first time.

By the nineteenth century, humans had developed a concrete and detailed understanding of the world but that was limited to the surface. They could point out any location on a globe but knew nothing of certain dangerous areas, and with the completion of the Industrial Revolution, the basic conditions were provided for exploring these hazardous zones.

Amundsen and Scott were prominent figures from that period.

The Polar Regions, deserts, and rainforests became the desired destinations of people during that time.

If Polar Regions were about extending exploration of the Earth from the 16th century, with people trying to discover what the extreme north and south were truly like, then the Sahara and rainforests represented a quest to find something different.

Ancient temples, magnificent Pyramids, mysterious totems, beautiful natural mineral crystals...

"Ha, another piece, still yellow, but the quality isn't as good as the one before,"

Bi Fang unearthed another angular piece of glass meteorite from the sand and, after wiping it off, stowed it away.

"The vastness of the deep desert might pose any danger, and few have tried to venture in. What drew people like Clayton into the heart of it was the lure of treasure hunting."

"Clayton had heard of an oasis city in the desert that hid plentiful treasures. However, the expedition failed to find this city of legend; instead, they found something special."

"As I've already said once, and you all know by now, it was Libyan Desert Glass."

"At first, Clayton just thought the glass interesting and pretty, so he collected it and brought it back to Europe."

"But how could one be an explorer without some real skills? This wasn't a job one could do with just courage and boldness. Relying on his keen geological expertise, Clayton sensed something odd, which was how such exquisite glass could appear on the barren desert sands?"

"Yet, due to the limits of the era's development, he was never able to find the answer. He just spent the next two years traveling back and forth between the Sahara Desert and Europe, collecting many samples of such glass."

"Two years later, Clayton carefully sealed the collected glass in a whisky bottle. Along with the glass, there was a small note inside the bottle with a record of the glass's collection."

"The bottle containing Libyan Desert Glass sat untouched for a full 50 years until 1984, when an Italian archaeologist, Giancarlo Caniro, discovered the bottle."

"He, too, marveled at the beauty of the glass and the mysteriousness of its unknown origin, and the detailed collection note on the paper inspired him to form a bold idea."

"A year later, Caniro organized an expedition team to retrace Clayton's path. He wasn't out to find the treasure Clayton had missed, but specifically to seek out the desert glass."

"Then came 1996, which I've already mentioned when it was discovered that the gemstone on the Pharaoh's head was also glass. From that time on, the reputation of Libyan Desert Glass began to rise, and it gradually became valuable."

After searching the area extensively, Bi Fang had found only three pieces, the first of which was the best quality; the others were not so great.

Altogether, maybe they were worth about thirty thousand?

"The glass's formation dates back too far, and the dunes of the Sahara Desert are constantly shifting, not to mention the meteorite glass hidden within; it wouldn't surprise me to find them anywhere in this desert."

Bi Fang happily put the three pieces of glass into his backpack, carefully separating them to prevent scratches or chips from friction.

Thirty thousand, in the past, would have been a significant sum for him, and moreover, their commemorative value far exceeded their actual worth.

After being disappointed with the emerald last time, this time, he could finally return with some valuable minerals, fulfilling his treasure-hunting dream.

After distilling some fresh water, Bi Fang continued forward with Alpha.

"After Libya comes Chad, which is the trip I've been looking forward to the most, the 'heart of death' in Africa."

Chad, a landlocked country in central Africa, boasts over 200 ethnic groups, a staggering number.

It is mainly divided into three geographical areas: the northern desert, the central arid Sahel Region, and the southern Sudanian Savannah.

Due to its vast desert area, detachment from the sea, and consistently high temperatures year-round, it is also known as the "Heart of Death in Africa."

Many places here, apart from the usual camels and herders, are sparsely populated, making it one of the least visited countries in the world for tourism.

The Ennedi Plateau, located in the central Sahara Desert in northeastern Chad, is not only one of the most remote and beautiful deserts in the world but also an untouched gem on Earth, not yet overrun by tourists and crowds, almost perfectly preserved.

After taking a sip of water, Bi Fang reassessed his direction.

Before heading to Chad, there was another place in Libya he wanted to "check in" at.

That was Lake Oummai in Libya.

Oummai means "Mother of Water," and it's one of the largest oasis lakes, deeply set among the dunes deep in the Sahara.

But for those brave adventurers, these weren't reasons to stop them, they could even be seen as prerequisites for a reward, with the ultimate prize being the Sahara Desert's oldest oasis, a surreal landscape.

"The Sahara has only two permanent rivers and a few lakes, but it has a large number of underground reservoirs or aquifers."

"Its permanent rivers are the Nile River and the Niger River. The Nile River originates from Central Africa, south of the Sahara, flows north through Sudan and Egypt, and finally into the Mediterranean."

"The Niger River originates in West Africa, in the southwestern part of the Sahara Desert, flows northeast into Mali, then turns southeast, passes through Nigeria, and flows into the Gulf of Guinea."

"It also doesn't have many permanent lakes, only about 20 or so, and only one of them contains drinkable water, the vast and shallow Lake Chad—by the name, you can tell it's within our next destination, a lake that keeps expanding and shrinking. The other lakes are filled with undrinkable salt water."

"Oummai is a standout among them, and it's right along my route, something I have to see no matter what."

[Wait a minute, if there are only about twenty, what about the oasis that Master Fang encountered before? That one didn't seem to have a salt lake.]

[Wouldn't that be considered just a pond?]

[You could only call it a pond.]

"A lake is defined as a body of water surrounded by land. Although no one has ever defined how big it has to be to be considered a lake, those little oases we encountered obviously don't count."

Bi Fang explained with a smile.

It's the end of July, and the sand temperature in the Sahara Desert can exceed 70 degrees. There's absolutely no trace of water left on the surface of the sand.

Just the thought of seeing a vast lake is inevitably exciting.

That night, Bi Fang made the rare choice to travel through the night.

Under the starry sky, billions of tons of sand grains slid, accompanied by a buzzing sound, echoing for kilometers.

Singing sand dunes, one of the characteristics of the Sahara, with endless sand collapses year after year.

With some terrifying "background music," Bi Fang spotted his destination early the next morning.

It was indeed vast, completely dwarfing the ones Bi Fang had encountered before.

Contrary to expectations, while there was green grass around Lake Oummai, there weren't many animals there. It wasn't a vibrant scene; all that existed were endless flies.

[Damn... What's so good about this...]

[I'm gonna throw up, this is disgusting.]

[Are there always this many flies?]

[This is the Mother of Water? I'm starting to question life.]

"Hahaha, I never said Oummai was full of life. Maybe it used to be long ago, but it's not anymore."

Bi Fang rode his camel, looking out over the vast lake, his heart undecided between reflection and something more.

"Oummai is a very special dead lake. Its lake water, after tens of thousands of years of high-temperature evaporation, contains high amounts of salt, plus the decaying carcasses of various animals, imbuing the lake water with a lot of toxins, making it completely undrinkable."

"Most of the animals that die near this lake do so from dehydration or from being poisoned by drinking the lake water, which in turn further increases the toxicity of the lake water."

"There are also 16 lakes around it, some of which occasionally dry up and disappear, while others persist in the embrace of the desert. This salt lake used to be a famous trading center for the local residents."

"However, as the lake water gradually became dirtier, it was gradually abandoned."

"One interesting fact is that the salt concentration in the water here is very high, even comparable to that of the Dead Sea, which makes swimming here remarkably easy."

[I'm gonna be sick, who would swim in here?]

[Going down to eat flies, huh?]

[Since when did Master Fang become so disgusting?]

The audience couldn't handle Bi Fang's taste for the grotesque.

"Just kidding, I don't want to eat flies either."

Bi Fang shrugged and then pointed to the lake.

"What a pity it's not October, or we could see a lot of swallows here."

[Swallows?]

[I remember now, there were birds at the oasis Master Fang mentioned earlier.]

"Yes."

"All migratory birds in the world migrate at specific times each year, and their migration routes have remained unchanged for thousands of years."

"Just like some fish that migrate to their birthplaces to spawn each year, no matter how long the journey or how dangerous the path, they still insist on migrating."

"Swallows are one of these migratory flocks, and Europe's swallows fly thousands of miles south to cross the Sahara Desert and spend the cold winter in Africa."

"Crossing the vast desert, the biggest problem is the supply along the way. Although they have strong stamina and light bodies, the long journey of thousands of miles consumes a lot, and they need adequate food and water to replenish their energy for the successful migration."

"Though there are not a few water sources in the desert, as I said, birds do not easily change their migration routes, and on their route, there is only one water source, Lake Oummai."

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"Direct drinking is obviously impossible; it poisoning them in minutes, and they would end up like the corpse of nearby animals."

[Damn, now I know.]

[Don't say anymore, give the swallows some dignity.]

[We've had enough tasting already.]

"But we can't overlook an important creature, and that is the omnipresent flies."

"Let me enlighten you a bit here, as natural decomposers; flies filter out the toxins contained in the lake water. So, flies can replenish the swallows' hydration and energy, as even the smallest fly leg is still meat."

"After hundreds of flies are downed, the swallows fill up with energy and take off again, continuing their migration southward to their destination."

The audience felt nauseated, and Bi Fang wore a mischievous smile.

"If you really can't hold on in the desert, and you can't drink saltwater, maybe you could also try pushing human limits?"