Chapter 313: The Silly Bird

Essentially, Vice Commander Lin was asking Yun Jiao to use her connection with sea life to help with the search and rescue efforts.

This typhoon had come too suddenly. The detection equipment wasn’t that advanced yet, so yesterday’s storm went undetected. The island suffered heavy losses—not only were many buildings destroyed, but some villagers were also swept away by the typhoon and waves.

This included some of their rescue personnel. He estimated that villages along the coast had probably suffered as well.

They had to rescue anyone they could find now. And even if they only found bodies, it was their duty to bring them back.

"So, I’m counting on you."

Even though he was speaking to a child, Vice Commander Lin was completely serious when he made his request.

Yun Jiao nodded. "It’s fine. I was already looking for people anyway."

"Thank you."

Vice Commander Lin gave her a military salute.

Yun Jiao’s eyes curved into a smile.

After eating a little, she asked to go into the sea.

The sea had calmed by now, but Vice Commander Lin couldn’t help worrying about a child as young as Yun Jiao going in.

Yun Jiao puffed out her chest, her little face full of confidence.

"I’m a great swimmer! I can hold my breath underwater for half an hour."

Hearing this, Vice Commander Lin and the others stared with wide eyes.

Half an hour!

The soldiers of the island garrison were stationed by the sea, so naturally, they had to learn to swim and dive. Everyone practiced holding their breath underwater, but the longest anyone could manage was about ten minutes.

Half an hour was simply unthinkable.

But the little girl didn’t look like she was lying.

"Besides, I have them,"

Yun Jiao stood on the bow of the boat and blew her whistle.

Soon, everyone witnessed a breathtaking scene.

Several Humpback Whales slowly surfaced. Surrounding them were killer whales, as well as pink and greyish-white dolphins.

Yun Jiao turned and waved to them. "I’m going to take them to get something to eat, then I’ll come find you. See you later, Uncle Lin!"

With that, she turned her back to the ocean and fell straight backward, plunging into the water.

Everyone on the boat crowded the railing to look down.

After a moment, a Humpback Whale slowly swam out from under the boat. As it surfaced, everyone could clearly see the tiny figure of the girl standing on its head.

She turned back to look at them, and just then, a ray of sunlight broke through the clouds, landing on her. Her delicate, pretty features were bathed in a warm, golden light. For such a small person, she inexplicably radiated an aura of divinity.

It wasn’t until Yun Jiao and her aquatic entourage had swum far away that the group of people on the boat finally snapped out of their stupor.

"Vice Commander Lin... is she really human?"

Vice Commander Lin gazed into the distance. "Does it matter? What matters is that she’s a kind-hearted child."

He said with a smile, "Alright, everyone, go get something to eat and restore your energy. She’s helping us out, so we can’t be the ones to fall behind."

"Yes, sir!"

Yun Jiao led the Humpback Whales, killer whales, and dolphins, picking up a Whale Shark and some small Manta Rays along the way to go hunting.

They set their sights on a sizable school of sardines.

These lords of the ocean were already expert hunters. Without a word from Yun Jiao, they quickly worked together to herd the school of sardines into an encirclement.

The Humpback Whales coordinated, blowing out bubbles in a spiral to corral the fish. The killer whales and dolphins assisted with their sonar, and Yun Jiao positioned herself outside the school, aiding them with her song.

Once the vast school of sardines was packed tightly together, a Humpback Whale opened its mouth like a giant fishing net, scooping up a massive swarm of them.

The killer whales and dolphins also rushed in and began to feast.

Even though it was the first time these three groups had hunted together, the results were outstanding.

There were so many sardines in the area that the massive commotion attracted numerous other oceanic predators.

It even drew in a great number of seabirds from the sky.

Yun Jiao casually nabbed a sizable tuna. ’It’s a yellowfin, but it should still fetch a good price.’

She was holding the tuna, floating on the surface not far away and watching the others eat, when a dark shadow suddenly fell from the sky, accompanied by the sound of rushing, flapping wings.

Yun Jiao turned her head and her eyes met with those of a certain big, dopey bird whose talons were now gripping her tuna.

Yun Jiao: ’This damned fate.’

"Well now, you’ve gotten bold, you silly bird," she teased, raising an eyebrow. "It used to be me stealing your fish, and now you think you can steal mine?"

She rolled her eyes at the silly bird in exasperation.

"Can you even carry this thing? I swear, is there something wrong with your eyes, or are they just too good? Why do you always go for the biggest catch you can find?"

The familiar sea eagle tried to lift its talons, only to find it couldn’t budge the fish at all.

It flapped its wings, then stood on the fish, cocked its head, and began to preen its feathers.

People do things to look busy when they’re embarrassed.

This sea eagle was no different.

Yun Jiao shook the tuna she was holding, causing the sea eagle on top of it to wobble. The bird quickly spread its wings to keep its balance.

An idea struck Yun Jiao, and she enthusiastically called out to the sea eagle.

"Come on, come on! You can’t eat this big one, but there are plenty of others!"

She pointed toward the school of sardines.

"I’ll go get you one you can actually eat."

’The sardines are too small,’ she figured. ’This sea eagle probably wouldn’t even give them a second glance.’

’Even though this sea eagle looks a bit dopey, its luck is bizarrely good.’

’You could tell just from how big it had gotten, how glossy and smooth its feathers were, and the fact that every time she ran into it, it was always carrying a ridiculously large fish.’

’So there was no way it would be interested in tiny sardines.’

As Yun Jiao started to move, the sea eagle spread its wings and took flight.

It didn’t leave, though, just circled in the sky above.

This sea eagle was an old acquaintance of Yun Jiao’s, so to speak.

Yun Jiao dove back into the water. After a quick search, she resurfaced holding a rather large filefish.

"This one’s for you."

Yun Jiao whistled, holding up the fish in her hand.

The sea eagle swooped down and grabbed the fish, but Yun Jiao didn’t let go.

And just like that, an eight-pound sea eagle was standing steadily on her hand.

The sea eagle shifted its weight, and once steady, cocked its head at Yun Jiao, as if wondering why she wasn’t letting go.

Yun Jiao set the tuna aside and took the opportunity to stroke the big bird’s head.

"If you’re going to take my food, you have to help me out a little, right?"

The sea eagle let out a hungry squawk, lowered its head, and pecked at the fish. Its sharp, hooked beak instantly tore away a piece of flesh.

It began to eat without ceremony.

It seemed to be truly famished.

Yun Jiao continued to bargain with it. "After you eat, help me look for some people out on the ocean, okay? If you do, I’ll catch you another fish next time we meet. Deal?"

Even while floating in the sea, Yun Jiao held the sea eagle steady with one hand.

The creature simply treated her hand like a perch. It didn’t even need to use its talons to pin down the food while tearing at it; it just went right ahead, eating with great gusto.

"Did you hear me? If you don’t, next time we meet, I’ll go right back to stealing your fish, you hear?"

After threatening the sea eagle, Yun Jiao reflected that her ability to converse with birds wasn’t as clear as with sea life; she could only vaguely sense their emotions.

This sea eagle was a relatively intelligent one.

She couldn’t communicate with most other birds at all.