Heat and humidity.

When these two brothers separate, it’s already quite uncomfortable.

Once they merge, the degree of discomfort multiplies.

The situation has worsened, just as Chen Wen and his team had anticipated.

Today might be the payday for the sun god; he’s especially showcasing his might, grilling the Kimberley Plateau of Australia.

For Chen Wen and his companions walking on the plateau, it’s been sheer torment.

Direct sun exposure, 100% humidity, the transpiration effect of plants...

All these unfavorable factors combined have completely crushed this team that has been relatively smooth sailing till now. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Fred, who isn’t accustomed to such humid and hot environments, is the first to falter.

As he walks, Fred’s body wavers, instinctively lurching forward to fall.

Dennis, quick-eyed and fast-handed, rushes to support Fred’s body.

But he too has reached his limit.

Fred’s body presses against him, carrying a significant amount of heat. Dennis uses his strength, exhausting more energy and generating more heat.

As Dennis holds onto Fred, his vision blackens.

He too tumbles forward, straight and stiff.

"Hey! Playing domino without inviting me, huh!"

Chen Wen shoulders Fred and pulls Dennis, supporting both of their bodies.

His condition is much better; although the hot weather is hard for Chen Wen to bear, it’s far from causing sunstroke.

Thus, he even has the leisure to crack a joke.

But Hua Yun, standing beside, can’t endure it either.

Her steps falter, her body trembles.

Luckily, Hua Yun perceives her body’s anomaly, stops directly, bends her knees, puts her hands on her thighs, bending forward barely avoiding a fall.

Dennis awakens from his faint momentarily and regains consciousness.

Chen Wen gently puts him down while Dennis slumps on the ground, wearing an expression of losing all will to live.

"Can’t take it anymore! Even me, a genuine Australian native, can’t withstand this!"

Dennis pants: "A bunch of bastards! Insisting to put the last stretch of the journey in this hellish place!"

Upon hearing this, Adam standing beside chuckles.

He and Chen Wen are quite similar, having grown up in Mississippi and possessing ample rainfall survival experience, he is somewhat more resistant to the wet heat.

"Let’s go, find somewhere to rest for a while; this weather is not fit for human travel."

Adam speaks and helps Chen Wen lift Fred.

This big fellow has completely fainted.

About fifty meters ahead of everyone, there’s conveniently a baobab tree.

Chen Wen and Adam support Fred, placing him in the shade beneath the tree.

Hua Yun and Dennis follow.

Upon reaching the shade, they too can’t hold out and slump directly on the ground.

"Tch, your heatstroke isn’t too severe, rest up, drink some water. I have to revive Fred first."

Chen Wen looks at them, his head tingling too.

But now, there’s no time for more words.

He and Adam unbutton Fred’s shirt, taking it off, and use the clothes to wipe away the sweat from his body as much as possible.

Adam uses a large unknown plant leaf, fanning Fred, creating some slight breeze.

After around three minutes or so, Fred finally regains consciousness.

He looks around somewhat confused, lips moving, murmuring unintelligible words.

Clearly, he’s not yet fully recovered.

After a while more, Fred finally comes to his senses, gratefully glancing at Chen Wen and Adam.

"Looks like your constitution isn’t well-suited for such hot places, rest well."

Chen Wen speaks, then looks towards Dennis and Hua Yun: "How are you two feeling?"

Dennis gives a thumbs-up, though his condition appears mediocre.

Hua Yun sighs, saying: "It’s fine not walking, but under the sun and moving, it’s unbearable."

Chen Wen nods slightly, also assessing their situations.

"Now it seems, three have sunstroke, Adam and I are still managing."

Chen Wen states: "The water issue, thankfully there’s a baobab tree, see if we can extract some water, to address the urgent need, but still waiting for the Osprey to find a water source for a complete resolution."

Chen Wen speaks, looking at Dennis: "How do we get water from the baobab tree?"

The baobab tree is known as the water tower, this Chen Wen is aware of.

But how to extract water, he’s indeed quite unsure, never tried before.

Upon hearing, Dennis points towards the trunk, succinctly: "Dig!"

Well, seems like what he had thought.

Chen Wen licks his lips, takes the ax from Fred.

His idea involves using a sharp tool to open the baobab tree trunk, excavate the trunk, and utilize its water-storing feature, indirectly pressing to extract water.

Chen Wen picks up the ax, targets the trunk, and hacks away recklessly.

After effortlessly stripping off the bark, he creates an opening in the trunk big enough to fit a canteen.

Then continues to excavate the baobab tree trunk.

The baobab tree’s wood is loose, making excavation extremely easy.

Chen Wen barely exerts much effort, quickly having a small pit in the tree trunk.

The excavated wood is very damp.

Chen Wen grabs the wood, squeezes hard, swiftly extracting some muddy, slightly whitish sap.

"Is this drinkable water?"

Chen Wen is somewhat skeptical.

But Dennis nods repeatedly: "Yes, that’s it!"

Chen Wen tentatively moves his mouth towards the wood, tasting a few drops.

The flavor is somewhat sour, also a bit astringent.

Overall, it’s fairly palatable, akin to drinking not very tasty juice.

Moreover, it should be non-toxic.

Therefore, Chen Wen offers other pieces of wood to Fred and the others for them to try drinking.

While he uses the blunt end of the ax, continuously hammering the baobab tree trunk, pressing around the opening.

Soon, quite a bit of whitish sap appears inside the trunk.

Chen Wen uses a canteen to gather some of the whitish sap, taking it out for everyone to drink.

The sap is sparse, not thirst-quenching, but it somewhat alleviates their heatstroke conditions.

Moreover, after resting for a while, everyone significantly recovers.

At this point, the Osprey returns.

Seeing the hovering Osprey, hope lights up everyone’s eyes.

For no other reason, the Osprey carries their hope of finding a water source.

Once the Osprey descends, they immediately gather around Chen Wen.

Chen Wen too anticipates, looking at the Osprey, hoping to receive good news from it.

The Osprey doesn’t disappoint Chen Wen.

Facing everyone’s expectant gazes, it emits a rapid call.

Understanding the call’s meaning, Chen Wen’s face lights up with joy.

Then he turns to look at everyone: "Found it! Water source!"

"Brilliant!"

"Love this Osprey!"

"Hahaha! Saved!"

The crowd cheers jubilantly, causing the Osprey to nervously retract its head.

Even the Taipan Snake resting inside Chen Wen’s backpack curiously pokes its head out, watching the humans suddenly become lively outside.

After calming down, Chen Wen says: "The Osprey knows the water source location, we’ll follow it!"

Everyone nods repeatedly, eager to follow the Osprey.

Chen Wen, having heard from the Osprey about the water source’s whereabouts, knows it’s not far from here but resides at the base of a canyon.

Water at the canyon base...

Despite his delight, Chen Wen holds a foreboding in his heart.

Generally speaking, water in canyon bases isn’t quite clean!