After Turning Into An Animal, I Rely On My Face To Make A Living

At the end of summer, the temperature across Antarctica reaches its highest point, ten degrees above zero, which even humans find comfortable.

A small icebreaker with a blue background and a white hull is slowly sailing towards the Antarctic Peninsula. The ship is the Expedition. Passengers can enjoy the Antarctic scenery under the leadership of an expedition tour guide.

"What we see now is the Antarctic Peninsula." Roy, the expedition guide, raised his hand and pointed to the place where the glacier melted. "Across this peninsula, there is an area where hundreds of thousands of Adélie penguins live. We can also see it with telescopes when the boat gets close to the shore."

The icebreaker was not large enough to enter the port. When the speed slowed down, tourists from the Antarctic tour group gathered around the deck and looked at the location directed by the tour guide.

The place where the continental ice meets the ocean is the estuary where Antarctic penguins go to forage. People wearing jackets and goggles saw Adélie in black and white suits diving into the sea, and the next second they jumped out of the water from another place.

The tourist asked Roy, "Can we kayak up the peninsula and see these Adélie up close in a minute?"

Roy is checking the equipment that will be used later: "Not close, but enough for you to see clearly."

Summer is the peak season for Antarctic tourism. Professional adventure tour guides, some scientists, and animal research experts will visit it almost every once in a while. Experienced humans are already very familiar with this frozen planet.

Adventure tourists who have booked kayaking trips to the island in advance are already gearing up.

Roy unbuckled the safety buckle of the kayak and threw it onto the sea. The kayak carrying eight to ten people at a time was swaying on the sea. The passengers put on bright orange life jackets, got off the icebreaker's hanging ladder, and excitedly got on the kayak.

Although the kayak looks very strong, it is still very small compared to the endless sea level, and it feels like it can be overturned by a wave at any time.

Therefore, tourists who are willing to kayak to the Antarctic continent are a little more courageous than ordinary tourists.

The icebreaker whistled at them, and Roy gestured to the captain in the cabin and drove the kayak toward the ice on the continental edge.

The gray-black kayak was very fast, and the white water whipped up by the propeller was raised behind it, causing the penguins under the ocean to jump out of the water one after another and look at the humans curiously.

The small whales also followed behind the kayak to watch the fun. The penguins quickly moved away from the big guys who were not easy to mess with and looked for food farther away.

Roy took off his goggles and said to the expedition team behind him: "We are about to dock. Everyone, bring your backpacks and remember the precautions just mentioned. Don't act without permission and don't litter."

The ecology of Antarctica is fragile, and those who are responsible for serving as tour guides must also maintain the local environment and not cause harm to the penguins that live here.

Everyone was in high spirits when they set foot on the continent where the ice and snow melted. Among them are scholars who specialize in Antarctic biology, and workers who have been yearning for the ice sheet since childhood. In addition to enjoying the Antarctic scenery that is different from other continents, there is another more interesting project, watching penguins.

The tour guide said that there are a large number of growing penguin chicks in the penguin colony this season, as well as the penguin parents who stay with the chicks, so they can enjoy watching them all at once.

The emperor penguins have grown up and gone to the ocean last season. Now this breeding ground belongs to the petite and fierce goose among penguins, the bully Adélie.

Maz, a scholar who has studied penguins in his own country, looked at Adélie who came from the breeding ground to prepare to go to sea and raising the camera in his hand, it was one thing to study normally, but it was another thing to see real animals so close to humans now.

Not only did he raise his camera, but others also took photos.

They had been reminded to turn off the flash before going ashore, and now the camera only made a clicking sound, attracting the Adélie to crane their necks and look here.

This kind of penguin is more courageous than the emperor penguin. Although they are small in size, they look like they are not afraid of anything. They don't shy away from the two-legged beasts that rarely visit here, and they visit each other openly.

Roy clapped his hands and motioned for them to continue heading inside.

Today's goal is to explore the Antarctic continental edge ice and go to the Adélie settlement. A lot of continental edge ice has been fragmented by the rising temperature. The place where humans come ashore is much closer to Adélie habitat than before. It only takes half a day to hike there and back.

There was still some unmelted snow on the ground near the continental edge ice, and the soles of their shoes made a crunching sound when they stepped on them. The snow in the inland areas not blown by the summer wind was still a bit firm, so they would slip if they wasn't careful.

The team Adélie going out to sea, passed by the two leg giants as they came and went, and some even flapping their flippers came to drive them away fiercely.

The human took a few steps back. Only then did Adélie feel that they had the upper hand, and continued walking towards the estuary with their head held high.

In areas covered with ice and snow, they change from upright to sliding down, speeding up their travels.

The sky above this continent is now covered by a dark cloud, and the sky is so low that it seems like they can reach out and touch this gray-blue curtain.

After taking a breath of cool air and admiring the silver dragon-like inland glaciers along the way, tour guide Roy took the adventure tourists to the most interesting sightseeing spot of their trip, the Adélie Breeding Ground.

Two hours after humans left the continental edge ice and walked on the real ground in Antarctica, a slope appeared in front of them, shaped like a trapezoid standing on the continent.

Climbing over this hillside, they can see a large number of Adélie and Adélie cubs stationed there.

Shi Qiao was waiting for the boss who went to sea to come back. As usual, she was surrounded by three temporary guardian geese. She listened to them chirping and occasionally said something to each other. When she turned her head, a few colors that did not match Antarctica appeared in front of her.

This continent is covered with gray and black bare ground and silver-covered ice and snow all year round. The human figures are particularly eye-catching when they first appear.

The little penguin stretched her neck to look at the other side of the hillside. The three Adélie, who were chatting happily, called her and asked her what she was looking at.

Shi Qiao pointed with her flipper in the direction the two leg giants were coming from, gesturing for them to look over.

When the three Adélie caught a glimpse of humans, they immediately jumped up from where they were, quacking and cooing louder than before. Adélie penguins are a more domineering species than emperor penguins and do not like to be approached by foreign creatures, let alone two-legged beasts that are so much larger.

The commotion of several penguins on the upper slope alerted other Adélie families below. Shi Qiao knew from the look of these humans that they posed no threat to Adélie. They were either on an Antarctic expedition or a sightseeing group.

Three penguin bodyguards surrounded the little penguin, with their flippers spread to their maximum, flapping their sides and making noisy calls at the humans.

Shi Qiao was blocked tightly and squeezed past to try to stop them from making such a fuss. Unfortunately, she was so soft-spoken that she couldn't calm down the penguins.

The three adult Adélie not far from the hillside became the first penguins that humans saw after hiking to the settlement.

This is also the closest distance they can come into contact with, and they can't get any closer. Roy said to the tourists behind him: "This is the breeding ground where Adélie raises his cubs."

"These little penguins will shed their down before winter and then grow into adult penguins like their parents and head to the sea."

Penguins that could only be seen on screens and in zoos in the past are now in front of our eyes, and humans can't help but sigh.

There are too many penguins here.

The crowds of people looked at the group of Adélie who all share the same looks.

"Penguins go through many accidents and risks from birth to adulthood. There are more babies and more babies die. Many penguin chicks died before the weather warmed up."

Roy looked at the cute little penguins hiding behind their parents. Adélie penguin chicks are several times smaller than emperor penguins. They look like mini gray waxy chicks. They are a little less domineering and more innocent than adult penguins.

Especially the female little penguin closest to them is one that makes people unable to take their eyes away once they see it.

Maz picked up his camera and looked over the three chirping adult Adélies to take pictures of the penguin chicks behind them.

The little penguin's watery eyes stared at them unblinkingly, as translucent as black gemstones, and the fluff on her body looked soft and warm. It was magical. At first glance, he knew she was a rare Adélie sweet girl.

Compared with the first three noisy adult males, the other party showed a calmness that was not suitable for his age.

There was no sign of fear at the sight of the two legs giants, unlike the other cubs who had retracted their heads under the flippers of their parents.

Roy soon discovered the difference between this young penguin and other young penguins. Other little penguins only have one parent around them, and the other parent has usually gone to sea, or only two of the parents have returned from the sea, but this little penguin is being looked after by three Adélies at the same time.

And all three are males.

A bit strange.

Roy, who has been a tour guide in Antarctica for several years, also saw such a strange thing for the first time.

It's good that some single Adélie will help parents take care of their babies, but not now. At the end of autumn, when all Adélie parents can't help but go to sea to eat, they will gather all the lone cubs to take care of them.

Usually, one or two adult Adélie take care of a group of cubs, not several looking after one like now.

The reaction of the three penguins was even stronger than that of the other Adélie parents. They were afraid that they would approach the little penguin behind them, and they did not know whose biological cub it was.

After walking for several hours to get here, some tourists with weak physical strength were already resting in place.

Roy also took out the chocolates he carried in his backpack to replenish calories and distributed them to them: "Don't throw the bags around and don't drop them on the ground for penguins to eat."

When Shi Qiao heard the sound of a plastic bag, she peeked her head out from behind the three goose groups. After seeing the familiar packaging, she felt as if she was in another world.

Chocolate, she hasn't had it for a long time.

It's a pity that she is a little penguin who cannot eat human snacks, so she can only watch helplessly as these two-legged beasts stuff food into their mouths.

Seeing the greedy expression on the little penguin's face, the camera in Maz's hand has never stopped since arriving here. He took dozens or hundreds of photos in a row before he was willing to put the camera down.

Someone said: "She seemed to know we were eating."

Maz: "Adélie is a very intelligent penguin. Not only do they have a rich language system, but they can also understand the behavior of other creatures."

People who have studied it know more than others. Tour guide Roy also nodded in agreement: "Although Adélie popular science video spends eight minutes out of ten talking about their shortcomings, I have to admit, that Adélie is indeed smarter than she looks."

What penguins do during the breeding season can refresh human knowledge, but it's not that most penguins have no moral integrity. The little penguin in front of them looks very innocent.

Shi Qiao: Penguins cannot be judged by their appearance.

If she released the "little knowledge" in her head that did not belong to native penguins, it would scare all these humans away.

Hearing the sound of humans talking about Adélie, Shi Qiao also nodded. Adélie are much more thoughtful and smart than other penguins.

Except for three penguins who were still shouting and yelling.

When the other penguins saw that humans were no longer approaching, they all retracted their heads and relaxed their vigilance. Only they kept shouting at the top of their lungs.

The little penguin couldn't bear it and chirped: "Stop making noise, they won't come over."

The three penguins turned their heads and quacked at her: "That's because we are here, so they don't dare to come over."

Shi Qiao: "..."

If Adélie had met a bad guy with his size, he would have been kicked away long ago. How could they have been so arrogant for so long?

Seeing that these humans were not planning to leave for a while, Shi Qiao also looked from behind the two-legged beasts towards the distance of the hillside to see if there was any big shot among the Adélie who had returned from the sea.

The little penguin's eyesight is getting better and better now, which is incomparable to humans who always stare at electronic products.

In the last world, she had a very strong dynamic vision, and now it is no exception. In the future, she will definitely be able to catch up with small fish, shrimp, and squids in the ocean.

Foraging for food with the boss has become Shi Qiao's growth goal. After galloping on the grassland for so long, she doesn't know how good she is in water and whether she will turn into a soft-legged shrimp in the sea.

The journey to the sea is long, and one has to survive until adulthood first.

The little penguin stared boredly into the distance, and not long after, she saw a familiar figure waiting for her.

Calculating the time, Klein came back faster these past few times he went to sea than before. It should be due to the impact of the melting of the ice on the continental edge. The distance between the land and the ocean has been shortened, and the penguins can return to the colony quickly after landing.

The little penguin, who had been peaceful at first, suddenly became happy, pulled away the three Adélie, and ran forward.

The Three Goose Group was already used to it. As soon as they saw Thea being so excited, they knew that Klein must be back.

It's just that this time there are two-legged beasts in front of them who don't know the details. The little penguin had to pass in front of humans when she ran over. The three penguins were all excited, but they didn't dare to let the little penguin make any mistakes under Klein's nose. They all raised their necks and chased after her dutifully.

A cub is running in front, and other single Adélie are chasing behind. Not only humans have never seen such a scene, not even other penguins have seen it.

The baby penguin ran up to another male Adélie, stopped, and nuzzled him affectionately.

The other penguins behind her also stopped and walked towards the nest behind two Adélies, one big and one small.

This scene is more than a little strange.

Other tourists scratched their heads and looked at Maz and Roy, who had studied Adélie the most: "Whose baby is this little penguin? Why are there so many adult penguins rushing to take it with them?"

Even if they knew Penguin better, the two of them couldn't answer.

Maz looked at it again and again, but did not dare to conclude easily: "I guess the person she is closest with is that male Adélie."

After all, the little penguin has completely different levels of intimacy with the other three penguins and the male who has just returned from the sea.

On the other hand, the three noisy Adélie at the beginning followed the tallest male, looking like "this is our boss."

The tour guides who have seen many penguins find it interesting: "I didn't expect that there is also a big brother in the penguin group. These Adélie seem to become docile in front of him."

Taking photos alone could no longer satisfy researchers' thirst for knowledge, so Maz simply started videotaping: "These Adélie habits are richer than what we knew before. It's so interesting."

They watched the little penguin follow the male Adélie back to the gravel nest after returning from the sea. After being looked at by the male, he began to feed her food.

After feeding the little Adélie penguin, it was not over yet. The male Adélie also gave the food to the other three adult penguins. The three Adéli penguins who had received the food seemed to be still fighting for something. They flapped their wings to continue asking for rewards. As a result, the male Adélie slapped them on the head one by one and kicked the three penguins away.

The three Adélie who were looking after the cub left here dejectedly with their tails between their legs and returned to their respective territories.

The humans who saw this scene looked at each other.

Adélie was already known for his violent temper, and the one in front of them seemed to be particularly capable of fighting, but there was another doubt that puzzled them the most.

Why does this scene look so like a penguin rewarding three other penguins who helped raise his chick?

They couldn't help but start to wonder, did Adélie really have such a high IQ to even think of such a deal?

Maz pondered for a moment: "Adélie penguins do trade, but their trades are usually during the breeding season. To obtain the property stones of another male penguin, the female penguin will agree to some indescribable requests. However, I have never heard of transactions involving babies."

Compared with the former transaction, the latter transaction is much simpler and is full of care for the cub.

When the boss arrived, the little penguins no longer paid attention to the whispers of humans. Klein didn't care about these seemingly harmless two-legged beasts. He returned to the settlement after a dusty journey. The moment he saw the little penguin, she relieved all the fatigue from his body.

Shi Qiao felt that Big Brother's menu was getting richer and richer.

Not just krill and squid, but also some small squid.

The changes in the menu will change as the chicks grow. When the chicks grow up, they can eat larger seafood, no longer limited to krill, which is easy to digest.

Shi Qiao clicked her lips, feeling that the squid she ate this time was more delicious than fish, and she really wanted to go to the sea to find food by herself one day.

Being a cub with memories is quite difficult, especially being away from the boss for so long.

Every time the other party comes back, he can only stay for a few days before leaving again, so the days spent resting and recuperating in the settlement are particularly precious.

The little penguin chirped at the other person, and her original childish voice was losing its youthfulness day by day. Klein rubbed his head against the lanugo hair on the other person's body, but the hair was still as soft as before.

Every time he comes back from a trip to the sea, he can visibly see that his little baby has grown a little taller than last time. Although the difference is sometimes only a few millimeters, it is also growing steadily.

Shi Qiao developed a habit of standing next to the boss to compare her height every time he came back.

The other person is like a reference penguin. At first, she could only reach the other person's belly, but now she has slowly approached the other person's chest, and by autumn she can reach the same height as the other person's neck.

The sense of accomplishment in raising a baby is more satisfying for penguins than they imagined.

No other achievement can compare.

Klein glanced at the two-legged beasts who were still watching them nearby and found that these two-legged beasts were always focusing on his little penguin. He stretched out his flippers to catch the other person behind him, blocking her completely.

Human beings are helpless, a certain Adélie parent is quite possessive.

After staying in the Adélie settlement until now, they have not seen the scoundrels and rogue penguins in the documentary. Instead, they have discovered that a certain Adélie attaches great importance to family ties and treats his cub like a little treasure.

He was talking about a certain "male mother" closest to them.

This parent would lie down to rest after feeding his child after going to sea. He would also check whether the little penguin was any different from the last time he saw it, and he would rub her.

Roy couldn't help but say: "They have such a good relationship."

"Indeed, this female penguin in particular is very emotional and likes to express her emotions through behavior more than other chicks."

"It's like rubbing against some cats like this."

At this moment, the little penguin was enjoying the feeling of being rubbed back by the boss and did not hear this intuitive and accurate guess. When she was a leopard, she loved to rub up and down with Klein to exchange pheromones, and now she has retained some of her previous habits.

Perhaps because she became a penguin, she liked the scent of the sea on him, which also made her yearn for the ocean even more.

The little penguin spoke boldly: "After autumn, I peck off the feather on my body in advance, and then I can go to the sea."

Klein didn't know where the other party's whims came from.

Shi Qiao was very confident. She saw it all from the documentary about Emperor Penguins next door.

When the down feathers on the emperor penguins' bodies are not completely shed, they can peck each other off, revealing the black and white diving suits hidden under the lanugo hair.

"That will have to wait until you grow up, and it will fall off in the winter."

Shi Qiao was a little disappointed that she had to wait until winter. She thought it would be almost ready in autumn.

Unable to bear to see the little penguin dejected, Klein used his mouth to comb the cloud-like fluff on her body. The soft and waxy texture made him couldn't help but take a few more bites.

"There are many dangers in the sea."

If possible, he would like to let the other person stay on land for a longer time, even if he has to feed her when she grows up.

If Shi Qiao knew what the other person was thinking right now, she would definitely criticize him strongly, and doting on her was unacceptable!

She thinks about a certain male leopard, she had already seen that useless leopard chewing on the old, dragging his old mother down to poverty, even if she was the one who wanted to chew on the old.

Originally, it would not be easy for the boss to raise the cub to adulthood. She would definitely help him lighten the burden when she becomes an adult.

She is anxious to go to sea now because she doesn't want to see the other person running back and forth. When she grows up, she can feed the delicious seafood she caught to the other person like she does now.

Shi Qiao couldn't wait to think about the wonderful life after adulthood. She patted her flippers, which had not yet grown strong, and said, "When I go to the sea in the future, I will find food and you can lie down flat."

Although he didn't think that the baby's words would come true, his heart was still softened by the other party's cry.

Klein calmly moved closer to his penguin chick and rested his head on the other's body.

This scene was frozen in the center of the photo by the human behind him. Roy and the tourists quietly left the colony of Adélie penguins.

This journey is a rare and wonderful journey for humans, and it also cleanses their understanding of low-quality penguins like Adélie. The grumpy old man also has a rare gentleness in front of his young.

After the two leg giants left, the Antarctic Skua, which had been lying in wait for a long time, flew towards the penguins.

Standing next to the settlement with the size of a human being is also a problem for the raptors. Now it is finally time to hunt.

As the little penguins grow up, their appetites increase, and Adélie parents have to sacrifice their own food rations for them. This causes the parents of their children who stay in the settlement to also go hungry.

Some Adélie parents couldn't stand such hunger and left the little penguins in the colony, and both parents went to sea.

The solitary little penguin has become the best target for Antarctic skuas.

Shi Qiao watched as a little penguin was grabbed by an Antarctic skua, flew up and took it to the open space at the top of the hillside, and lost its life in the blink of an eye.

The most disturbing thing for the geese is that the parents are on their way back. There was only a small chance of returning to the nest to protect their children before the Antarctic skuas arrived, but in the end, they could only face an empty gravel nest when they returned home.

The one who came back early was a novice Adélie father. He stayed at the colony to take care of his chicks two days ago, but he couldn't bear to leave the little penguin before his partner came back.

Thinking of the reproach that the female would receive when she came back, the father of this Adélie decided to act evil and kidnap a better-looking one.

Some penguins decide to embark on a criminal path, just like the great skuas they hunted just now, looking for their "criminal targets."

Shi Qiao watched the other person look left and right and then locked his eyes on her.

? ? ?

She provoked whomever!