1332 The Eagle Spreads its Wings (1/2)
Although Vladimir understood Zhang Zian's concerns, he did not think it was something to worry overmuch about.
In recent years, perhaps due to the rapid changes in climate, there were plagues in many cities across China. These disasters were caused by caterpillar outbreaks and happened in cities such as Guangzhou, Chengdu, and Huizhou. Guangzhou was the hardest hit. It was the epicenter of the caterpillar outbreak, with cases happening every one-to-two years.
The outbreak of insects often had no warning. During the summer and autumn, a common torrential rain could trigger it.
Unlike insect pests in the general farmland areas, the insect pests in the city did not greatly affect grain production. In addition, it was rarely prioritized by city officials. Even if it was reported, it was also in the corner of the news page and was often ignored.
However, because the city was a highly populated place, insect pests could cause great inconvenience to people's daily lives.
At its most severe, trees were covered with insects and worms crawling all over the ground. The leaves were all gone, having been eaten by all those insects, much like a locust storm invading the area. Pedestrians tried their best to avoid walking under these trees. Those whose occupations did not offer them this luxury, such as those cleaning the streets, traffic wardens, and delivery drivers, were simply unlucky.
At present, according to the information observed and learned by Zhang Zian, the coastal city ticked all the pre-requisites for an impending outbreak of insects. When the next rain fell, it will be hard to predict what happened next...
He thought about it silently. As he saw the pedestrians and vehicles around him getting sparse, he found a place to park before getting out of the car to assemble the drone.
He did not dare let the drone fly freely in the urban area because it might mistakenly enter some sort of restricted area, such as the location of a government agency, and then he might be mistaken for a terrorist. Thus, it was better for him to only assemble the drone once outside the city.
The drone was needed because Vladimir was not aware of the specific location of the stray dog army, and the southern suburb was a large, sprawling area. The stray cats' line of sight was completely outdone by the taller stray dogs, meaning that they would not be effective in finding them. Thus, to speed things up, they needed to go higher. If not, they would probably have to search until at least the Year of the Monkey.
During his trip to Egypt, Vladimir understood how big the drone was. It was like an eagle flying over a large area. It could see everything within the scope of its camera. Whether it was used to find enemies or to flee from one, it was a trustworthy tool, completely irreplaceable. Thus, Vladimir waited patiently by its side.
”All right, all done.”
Zhang Zian completed the assembly with ease and started the drone with the remote control. He set it to ”follow” mode so that the drone always hovered over the Wuling Hong Guang MPV whilst in the air.
The drone roared as it soared into the sky.
The human and the cat re-entered the car, and Zhang Zian fixed the remote control on the dashboard like a navigation phone. This made it convenient for viewing at any time. The Wuling Hong Guang MPV continued its journey south.
A slightly damp and hot wind blew in from the open window. It messed up Zhang Zian's hair, and Vladimir's fur fluttered in the wind.
After leaving the city of high-rise concrete structures, the flat and vast suburbs provided a welcome alternative. Their vastness had a similar effect on one's world view. The wind managed to somewhat lighten the tightness that had built up in Vladimir's chest over the last two days.
Vladimir poked his head out the window, squinted, and glanced at the drone in the air. The loyal drone, named after the falcon god Nahkbet, followed them, and its silver shell shone against the sunlight.
From the screen of the remote control, the already large Wuling Hong Guang MPV had become a slow-moving millet grain.
Vladimir sighed and sang softly whilst giving himself a beat:
”Travelling through the city in a small car—”
”The river flows eastward—”
”The eagle spreads its wings—”
”Accompany me to fight—”
”The Meow Meow generation will surge forward—”
”Going forward along with me—”
”Going forward along with me—”
”To smash the leaders of the stinky dogs -”