Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Zhang Zian looked where Galaxy was looking and saw that the surfer did not plan on leaving the water and coming ashore, but he did not seem to be meeting any danger.
“Galaxy, you said that that person could meet with danger?” he asked.
Galaxy stared at the wave-splitting figure with burning eyes and nodded. “Meow. He will be washed away by the water and sink forever, and people will never find him again…”
It turned its head to look towards him. “You will be detained and questioned by the police because you called the police. The police will suspect that you killed that person, and you will lose the chance to go into the desert with the professor…”
Saying that, Galaxy looked towards the rental car that was far away.
Zhang Zian felt cold in his heart. He knew that Galaxy would not make jokes, let alone make jokes about such things. Since it had said that the surfer would be in danger of his life, it must be something that is about to happen.
Based on Galaxy’s description, the surfer would be washed away by the seawater, and even his body would not be able to be found.
As no other witnesses could be found here, he would be detained by Egyptian police as a homicide suspect because he reported the case to them. He did not know how long he would be detained. But it was obvious that Wei Kang’s scientific research team couldn’t miss the opportunity to wait for him, a non-staff member, so they would go into the desert by themselves.
That was very possible. Egyptian law enforcement was already rotten to the core. They could not hope that they would be very good at their jobs.
It also seemed like Galaxy had not finished saying everything. It had kept some things to itself and didn’t say them out loud.
Since it did not say, there must be some reason why it did not say, and he did not ask, because he knew it very well. The things that Galaxy did not say out were definitely even worse and scarier—could the science investigation team walk safely out of the desert after leaving him behind?
Galaxy took another look at the car. Who was it looking at?
These days, Fina seemed to be interested in the investigation team’s itinerary for some reason. Other elfins would certainly not, but would it follow the team into the vast desert, and then would it be that it had gone but could not return?
A whole series of bad things in his imagination started here and now.
Of course, Zhang Zian had a choice. He could choose to turn around and leave, pretending that he did not see the surfer. Anyway, the surfer was in good shape now and was not in danger for the time being.
As long as he did not report it to the police, then that series of things would not happen after.
When the surfer’s family and friends found him or her missing and called the police, and after the police found his or her car here, ten days to half a month would likely have passed. After all, Egypt had no surveillance cameras over the streets and alleys, and there are only a few traffic lights. By that time, Zhang Zian may have already left Egypt and returned to China.
A situation that was even more likely was that the Egyptian police would not take the disappearance of the surfer as something major after receiving the police report from the surfer’s family members, and they would try to find some excuse to explain that the surfer had left home. After all, they had more important things to do, such as collecting protection fees and blackmailing tourists for their own pockets. The surfer would disappear forever just like that. When a rock sunk into the sea, not even a ripple would appear.
In 2013, a mother and daughter pair from China who’d traveled to Egypt disappeared in Dahab, a famous diving tourist spot in the Red Sea. In order not to affect tourism, the local government of Egypt said at first that they had secretly gone over to Israel. It was not until 2017, four years later, that the real culprits were found. Their ashes were long cold, and it was even a case solved under the supervision of the Chinese Embassy.
A missing local young man—besides his family members, who would care?
However, if Zhang Zian had not known that the surfer was going to encounter danger, that was one thing, but since Galaxy had already told him, if he watched the surfer be swept away by the sea without taking any action, he would be condemned by his conscience in the future.
Galaxy had told him about what was going to happen beforehand, and so he had other choices besides calling the police.
“Galaxy, wait for me. I’ll call him back.”
Before he had finished saying the last word, Zhang Zian had already run near the sea, stepping on the slippery rocks and walking into the slightly deeper water. He let the sea wet his trousers, gathered his hands around his mouth and shouted to the surfer, “Hello! Come back here quickly!”
Under the loud sounds of the wind and the waves, his voice was weak and lacking in energy.
Zhang Zian yelled quite a few times, but the surfer did not hear at all and lay on the surfboard, rowing in another direction.
Why was he rowing in that direction?
Zhang Zian did not understand what the surfer was thinking, and he could only continue to wave his hand and yell, hoping the other party would turn his head and look in that direction.
The storm further reduced vision and blurred the surfer’s figure. It was as if he was tired and resting on the surfboard.
At this time, Zhang Zian noticed an unusual scene—the surfboard was carrying the surfer away from the coast at an unusual speed.
What was going on? Was the wind that strong?
As a child growing up by the seaside, Zhang Zian knew nothing about the desert but much about the sea. He knew that there were many unknown dangers hidden in the sea. So there was a proverb, “Bully the mountain, but don’t bully the water,” meaning that the danger in the water was much greater than that in the mountains.
He observed more before it finally dawned on him.
It was a rip current!
Rip currents, also known as offshore currents, were responsible for 80 to 90 percent of coastal drowning.
As the name implied, offshore currents were undercurrents flowing in the direction of the sea. They were often hidden beneath the surface of the water and could hardly be seen from the surface.
However, the offshore currents were not without characteristics. On the coast, if most areas were surging and one area was unusually calm, there might be fierce offshore currents hidden beneath the water in this area.
But people often instinctively felt safe when they saw calm waters. Swimming in that area could lead to tragedy because of inadequate preparation.
Offshore currents were formed by topography, and most of them were funnel-shaped. When a large amount of seawater was poured into one, the flow back from the funnel mouth would be accelerated.
No matter how strong the swimmer was, once he was pulled into the offshore current, it was like he’d had his legs pinched by a water ghost. If he did not use swimming props such as fins, if he wanted to resist the offshore current by his own strength, it would be a fool’s errand.
What was worse was that offshore currents were affected by weather and other currents, and they carried a lot of sediment. When sediment was deposited, the position and direction of offshore currents would even change, making them unpredictable.
If one was unfortunately involved in an offshore current, the most important thing was to keep calm and not try to swim back to the shore out of panic. It was impossible. One would only sink into the sea because they’d exhausted all their physical strength. The only way to survive was to swim sideways and try to escape in the direction perpendicular to the offshore current, but the chance was still quite slim because sometimes the offshore current would be hundreds of meters wide, which made it very difficult to understand the direction it was going in.
Zhang Zian did not have any plans to go into the water and swim this time when he came to the Port of Mersa Matruh, and he definitely had not brought flippers. If he were too rash and jumped into the sea, he would probably also meet the same fate.
