When Fang Er returned to the boat, Li Tai looked at his gear with shining eyes and moved closer to feel it curiously.
Fang Er quickly retreated, removed his mask, and looked at him with disdain, "What do you want?"
"Heh heh, Shanzhang, can this prince borrow this gear?"
"This prince also wants to go down and explore~" Li Tai's attitude was sincere with a hint of flattery.
He had been very envious watching Fang Er's fish-like movements underwater just now.
The oxygen tank could last about twenty minutes, but Fang Er had been underwater for less than five minutes, and the seawater here wasn't deep, so Fang Er agreed.
This made Li Tai very excited, but Li Ke and Changle beside him were a bit reluctant.
"Shanzhang~"
"Brother-in-law~"
"Who wouldn't want to experience this kind of thing? Especially Changle, who was innocent and lively, swimming with sea turtles and dancing with fish was simply too tempting for her."
Seeing Changle staring at him with longing eyes, Fang Er was speechless.
"Alright, you guys wait!"
After saying that, he turned and went back to the cabin, retrieving two more sets of diving equipment from his spatial storage.
He opened the cabin door, called Li Tai and Li Ke in, helped them put on the gear, and briefly shared his recent experience.
"Heh heh, Shanzhang, this prince has noted it all!"
After Li Tai finished speaking, he put on his mask and, wearing flippers, ran outside.
Li Ke didn't say a word and followed him out.
When it came to Changle, Fang Er felt a bit awkward.
Girls developed earlier than boys. Although the little girl was only ten, where she should have had some changes, there were indeed changes.
He had explained three times how to wear the diving suit, but she still couldn't put it on by herself, repeatedly calling for Fang Er to come in and help from outside the cabin door.
In the end, he had no choice but to brace himself and go in, helping her put on the diving suit as quickly as possible.
Although it was a bit large, the neckline was elastic and could shrink, so it wouldn't let seawater in.
He tied up the excess fabric at her back with a rope, helped her put on the oxygen tank, and secured the mask.
"There, you're good to go."
Fang Er patted her shoulder and said.
"Brother-in-law is so good!"
Changle smiled sweetly from behind her mask and walked out of the cabin ahead.
Unlike Li Tai and Li Ke, those two were at an age where they were very active. After going to Shenyang, they had done plenty of climbing trees to catch birds and diving into water to catch fish, so their swimming skills were good.
However, Changle was a complete landlubber. Even with the oxygen mask of the diving suit, she became very nervous after entering the water.
After all, watching others do it and doing it yourself were two different things.
There's a saying in later generations: "Easy to learn, hard to do." It could be said that it applied to Changle.
Fortunately, Li Tai and Li Ke brothers hadn't swum too far. Hearing that Changle had entered the water, they quickly rushed over. With their help, Changle quickly adapted to this novel sport.
Splash~
Li Tai, dragging Changle who was reluctant to return, poked her head out of the water.
Fang Er had instructed him not to stay underwater for more than five hundred counts.
This was to prevent the young man from deliberately slowing down to count.
Ah~~
Back on the boat, Changle took off her mask and pouted at Fang Er, "Brother-in-law, I haven't had enough fun yet!"
"Alright, there isn't much oxygen left in this bottle, and we need to reserve some for emergencies. How can we let you play freely!" Fang Er took the oxygen tank off her back and explained, looking at the reading on the pressure gauge.
"Duke, look at the sky, it seems like it's going to get windy. Should we push on?"
Just then, Lu Fei walked over and asked with a worried expression.
"Depart!"
It was noon, and they could still travel a few hundred miles at sea.
The fleet was currently within what would later be Indonesia. If the route was good, they might be able to land on Timor Island by nightfall.
If so, they could reach the northernmost coast of Australia, the location of modern-day Darwin, by tomorrow afternoon at the latest.
He put the diving equipment back into his spatial storage. The large lobster, over a meter long, that he had caught was cut into segments. Half was steamed, and half was served as sashimi. The three children ate heartily, shouting with delight.
"Brother-in-law, when can we go down to play again~~ Those fish are so beautiful, I've never seen them before."
Changle asked, rubbing her small belly, having unknowingly eaten until she was full.
In fact, let alone her, even in later generations, these colorful fish from tropical waters could fetch a considerable price.
"After we complete the purpose of this trip, if there's still oxygen left, I'll let you go down," Fang Er replied casually.
Li Tai's eyes lit up at this: "Shanzhang, you said that water can be electrolyzed to produce hydrogen and oxygen, so why don't we do it ourselves?"
Fang Er gave him a look: "Electrolyzing to produce oxygen is easy, but gas compression is not a simple matter."
"If you really want to do it, find Mo Ming to assist you when we get back to Shenyang."
"As long as you can figure out a method for gas compression, you can come and dive anytime."
Li Tai showed no signs of discouragement upon hearing this. For him, such things were very fun.
In his eyes, all experiments were for fun.
Just like the wireless radio before, piecing together a bunch of unrelated things could transmit sound across thousands of miles. Wasn't that incredibly magical and fun?
In the evening, Lu Fei's voice came from the walkie-talkie: "Duke, an island has been spotted ahead. Shall we land?"
This area was filled with countless islands, large and small. Although they couldn't be sure if it was Timor Island ahead, the sky was already darkening, and they could only head towards it to rest.
The wind had picked up, and the waves on the sea were getting bigger. The fishing boat swayed with the waves.
"Move closer, and we'll spend the night on the island."
A small boat dropped the people ashore. Wang Xuance led a group to scout the area and then reported back.
"Duke, no signs of human habitation were found on this island."
"I did find something fun for Her Highness the Princess."
Saying that, he took a fluffy little thing from a subordinate.
When Fang Er saw the little thing, he immediately perked up.
"Koala!"
Seeing this creature meant they were very close to Australia.
Changle fell in love with the little guy the moment she saw it. Such fluffy creatures were absolutely irresistible to girls.
"Wow, what a cute little thing!"
"What is this? Will it bite?"
She curiously approached Wang Xuance, staring at the koala and asking.
Wang Xuance had no idea what it was. He had only caught it because it didn't move much and didn't run away when it saw people.
"This is a koala, very docile!"
Fang Er walked over, took the koala, grabbed its ear, and gave it a pinch.
"Huh? Doesn't it hurt?" Changle, seeing the koala being pinched, was initially nervous, then asked with great confusion.
"Wait." Fang Er smiled slightly.
Screeech~~~
Only after more than ten seconds did the little koala let out a drawn-out cry.
This creature's nerves were notoriously slow to react!