Chapter 64: It’s All Because of Phones
After New Year’s Day, Lin Jiangye stayed home for only a few more days before heading to the South China Sea region on the 4th.
There was still nearly a week until the operation the undercover had mentioned. Lin Jiangye came early because he wanted to go out to sea first, take a look around, and then decide how to act later.
This time, he didn’t just bring Tourmaline and Opal—he also brought Chang Geng and Qi Ming along.
The South China Sea had always been the best wintering area for migratory birds, so the seabird species he would encounter here were far more diverse than in Winter Sea Bay.
Opal and Tourmaline were both corvids. Crows weren’t weak in a fight, and in terms of size, a raven could be about as big as a gyrfalcon—but when it came to intimidation among other birds, falcons and eagles were far more imposing.
To transport Chang Geng and Qi Ming, Shang Fuyan lent Lin Jiangye his private jet for this trip.
Once they arrived, the moment they stepped off the plane—one man and four birds breathing in the cool 18°C air—they silently took off their down jackets.
“My god… so this is the south…” Lin Jiangye actually liked the south quite a lot. Apart from being a bit hotter, a billion times more humid, and a bit more sun-blasted at times, it was pretty great.
Then he saw who had come to pick him up—and his eyes widened instantly.
“Mr. Lin Xia? You’re the one picking me up?”
He hadn’t expected Lin Xia himself to come.
Lin Xia smiled at him. “What’s so surprising? I’m free at this hour. Perfect timing—I’ll take you to eat first, and we’ll talk after.”
Without waiting for Lin Jiangye to respond, Lin Xia continued, already describing the meal.
“I don’t know if you eat seafood. I know a boss who runs a seafood street stall. Don’t underestimate it just because it’s a stall—his cooking is even better than that private restaurant last time!”
That instantly made Lin Jiangye’s eyes light up.
Seafood? Absolutely. He wasn’t picky at all.
Seeing the young man’s sparkling eyes, Lin Xia found it quietly amusing. Then his gaze shifted to the four birds in Lin Jiangye’s arms.
“Hello there.”
Lin Xia had learned from Shang Yongyi that Lin Jiangye treated animals as equals, so he greeted the birds the way one would greet juniors.
Among them, Tourmaline was the most outgoing. When a human greeted him, he didn’t panic at all—he even stretched out one wing.
“Caw-caw!”
[Human! Hello to you too!]
Lin Xia didn’t understand, so he turned to Lin Jiangye. “He’s…?”
“He wants to shake hands. No idea what video he watched—he learned the human greeting gesture from it.” Lin Jiangye looked a little helpless himself.
Tourmaline was like a first- or second-grader: obsessed with copying people, and constantly pestering others for their phones.
Lin Xia looked delighted. Holding back a laugh, he seriously took Tourmaline’s wing and shook it up and down—almost exactly like a proper human handshake.
Tourmaline was thrilled. He even leaned in and rubbed against Lin Xia, which made Lin Xia laugh out loud.
Opal was a bit timid but the most lively. Seeing this human seemed friendly, he also cawed and interacted.
Qi Ming curiously leaned in—then got his head patted without warning. His little eyes went wide in shock.
Chang Geng quietly tucked deeper into Lin Jiangye’s arms. He wasn’t some little baby—he refused to be that undignified!
Seeing the white-tailed sea eagle refusing to be petted, Lin Xia felt a bit regretful. This one looked similar to the “national bird” of that other country; he was genuinely curious.
“Their national bird is the bald eagle. You can tell the biggest difference from the name,” Lin Jiangye said, stroking Chang Geng as he guided them into an off-road vehicle.
After they’d eaten their fill, Lin Xia brought them to the arranged lodging.
He’d set Lin Jiangye up with a seaside house, a speedboat, and several coast-guard officers responsible for his daily life and transportation.
“If you need anything, tell them. If you want to contact me, use this phone.” This operation was extremely confidential, so he specifically warned Lin Jiangye not to contact Yue City unless it was urgent.
“Though… if you want to contact Shang Fuyan, that’s fine too.” The only people Lin Xia truly trusted were the Shang family.
But Lin Jiangye shook his head. “No need. I’ve already arranged everything at home.”
This time, he hadn’t told Jiang Xin and the others where he was going—only that he was on a business trip. Shang Fuyan had also helped him take leave and likewise didn’t ask for the destination.
As for the newly rescued animals at home, Lin Jiangye had already contacted both the pet hospital and the rescue station at the wetland park. If anything happened, Jiang Xin and the others would directly have vets come on-site from those places.
Bai Zhengwen had wanted to come along, but this operation required secrecy, so in the end Lin Jiangye came alone.
After they’d exchanged the basics, Lin Xia left first. Lin Jiangye then made his first request to the four coast-guard officers:
“Can we go out to sea now?”
They hadn’t expected him to be this proactive, but that attitude actually matched their style perfectly.
“Yes. Where do you want to go?”
Lin Jiangye thought for a moment and decided to head somewhere deeper.
“Do you have diving gear?” If the surface view wasn’t clear enough, he might need to go down and check.
The moment he said “deep diving,” they all tensed.
“Do you… know how to dive? Do you have a diving certificate?”
The first: yes. He’d learned in that other world specifically so he could operate marine creatures in the ocean.
The second… “No certificate. But I can do it. If you don’t believe me, you can watch me and you’ll know.”
He said it calmly and firmly, but to them it was nerve-wracking.
When Lin Xia assigned them here, he’d specifically warned them not to anger Lin Jiangye, and told them about Lin Jiangye’s abilities.
These officers had participated in hunts for black ships before. Every time they returned empty-handed, it hurt. So instinctively, they had pinned part of their hope on Lin Jiangye.
If something happened to him, and the plan failed again… they would regret it for the rest of their lives.
“Consultant Lin…” They wanted to persuade him—
But Lin Jiangye’s next sentence struck straight through.
“If I don’t dive now—while it’s safe—then on the real day, won’t you stop me even harder? What if we miss the chance because of that?” And right now, while things were safer, wasn’t it better to find as much help as possible instead of scrambling at the last second?
The young coast-guard officers scratched their heads like monkeys—worried as hell, yet also feeling he made sense.
Watching them, Lin Jiangye suddenly thought of the monkeys at Changhe Wildlife Zoo. They also loved scratching their heads.
They’d probably have a lot in common.
“Alright, stop agonizing. Time is precious—let’s go.” Pushed out the door by Lin Jiangye, they hesitated twice more… and finally agreed.
They truly didn’t want to watch those criminals escape again.
This trip out to sea was fascinating for all four birds.
Chang Geng and Qi Ming had lived in the capital all year. There was no sea there—barely even a large river. Opal and Tourmaline had seen the sea, but never ventured far into it.
And going out to sea meant leaving land behind. For birds that had never experienced long, uninterrupted flight over open water, it was a genuinely scary thing.
So as they set off, the officers listened to Lin Jiangye repeatedly warning the birds not to fly off. Their ears almost grew calluses.
“This feels weirdly familiar,” one officer muttered. He had a little daughter, and whenever she went out, he also repeated the same reminders over and over.
No wonder his daughter looked so pained every time—so this was what it felt like to be on the receiving end of his nagging.
The other officers smiled faintly too, clearly thinking of their kids.
They knew Lin Jiangye cared deeply about animals, but only after being around him did they truly understand what that “care” meant.
To him, these animals weren’t pets.
They were family. Comrades worth cherishing—partners in battle.
In the end, even Tourmaline couldn’t take it anymore. He lunged at Lin Jiangye and covered his chattering mouth with his wings.
[Dizzy! Dad, stop talking!]
What a way to speak!
Lin Jiangye was afraid he’d fall, so he supported the raven with both hands. Meeting Tourmaline’s sharp little eyes, he glared at him.
Seeing Lin Jiangye finally shut up, Tourmaline grinned and leaned against him.
[Dad~ cuddle~]
Feeling the warmth of the bird pressed against him, Lin Jiangye sighed and kissed Tourmaline’s head.
“Fine, fine—I’ll stop. Otherwise you’ll start muttering again that I’m annoying!”
The officer with a daughter rubbed his knee, suddenly feeling like he’d been dragged into it too.
The group—five humans and four birds—successfully reached deeper waters. Staring at the sea that was so blue it looked almost black, the four birds that had been chirping nonstop fell silent.
For non-seabirds, this environment was genuinely unsettling.
“Don’t be afraid. Nothing to be afraid of.” Now Lin Jiangye stopped nagging and instead sat on the deck with the birds in his arms, letting the sea breeze wash over them.
“Too bad we didn’t bring a fishing rod. Otherwise I could toss a line and fish.”
The moment he said that, a fishing rod appeared behind him.
Lin Jiangye and the four birds turned around and saw one of the coast-guard officers grinning.
“I figured you’d want to fish, so we prepared it!”
Lin Jiangye froze—then his gaze dropped to the rod. In the next second, his eyes lit up like someone had switched on a lamp.
“Yes!”
The officers Lin Xia assigned were meticulous. They even had bait ready.
Lin Jiangye didn’t really recognize the bait, but it didn’t matter. Catching fish wasn’t the point—he just wanted to experience the feeling.
Three hooks went down.
And the first bite didn’t go to the two officers who fished regularly.
It went to Lin Jiangye.
With a loud splash, Lin Jiangye yanked hard—and a red fish burst out of the water, leaping into the air.
“Quick, quick!” The officers got excited instantly, rushing over with a landing net to scoop it up.
Once they hauled it in, they saw it was a longtail snapper—beautifully shaped and vivid in color. The four birds were transfixed, and even the officers stared in admiration.
“Damn, this has to be over ten kilos!” One of them hefted it. It was heavy—almost like the ten-kilo fat cat he had back home.
Lin Jiangye stared at the fish for a moment, then asked curiously, “Can you eat this?”
The coast guards looked surprised. “Consultant Lin, you’ve never eaten it before?”
Lin Jiangye shook his head. That other world didn’t have this kind of fish, and he’d never been particularly enthusiastic about fish to begin with, so he wasn’t familiar with it.
“It’s delicious. Great as sashimi too!”
After saying that, the officer watched the longtail snapper’s mouth opening and closing and suddenly asked, “Wait—Consultant Lin… is it talking?”
Lin Jiangye shot him a skeptical look and shook his head. “No. Not all fish can talk.”
Even if a fish could talk, whether it could string together a complete sentence was another matter entirely.
Hearing that, the coast guards finally relaxed. “Alright then. When we get back to shore, I’ll slice it up for you to eat!”
The moment he said that, he noticed several pairs of bright, sparkling eyes staring straight at him.
[Too bad. If Tibetan Mastiff were here, he’d be so jealous—hehe!] Tourmaline’s eyes rolled mischievously, clearly up to no good.
Lin Jiangye promptly patted his head. “No stirring trouble!”
Tourmaline instinctively shrank his neck at the warning, immediately dropping the idea of going home to show off to Tibetan Mastiff.
He was honestly a little afraid that if he bragged, Tibetan Mastiff would grab him and beat him up.
Tibetan Mastiff had grown bigger now—his body was getting larger and larger, even a whole size bigger than Opal. If Tourmaline fought him head-on, he had zero chance unless he took off into the air from the start and never landed.
But if he did that, then unless he planned to never go back indoors for the rest of his life, he’d still end up facing Tibetan Mastiff sooner or later.
Forget it, forget it. This big bird had plenty of pride—he wouldn’t stoop to arguing with a little cat!
Watching Tourmaline bob his head and mutter who-knew-what, Lin Jiangye suddenly felt an absurd sense that his kid had been poisoned by the internet.
“You should play less on human phones…” Halfway through, Lin Jiangye stopped himself. Saying that to a raven was just too surreal.
He pressed a hand to his forehead, fell silent for a moment, then turned away.
“Forget it.”
After that, they cast a few more lines. Once the sudden fishing urge was satisfied, they stopped.
“Alright. I’ll dive down and take a look. This area doesn’t seem to have any big ones.” If there were no big creatures here, he’d have to change locations.
The coast guards were extremely nervous, terrified Lin Jiangye might get into trouble underwater, so they decided to send one person down with him.
After slipping into the sea, Lin Jiangye even had the spare attention to wave at the little ones standing by the rail.
Seeing their owner was perfectly fine, Chang Geng and Qi Ming finally felt a little reassured.
They were frightened by the endless ocean and wanted nothing more than to return to land immediately. So when Lin Jiangye entered the water, their worry was no less than the coast guards’.
Unlike them, Tourmaline and Opal weren’t worried at all.
It wasn’t that they loved Lin Jiangye any less.
They’d seen his strength. They knew this human was stronger than countless other humans. So even though they’d never watched him dive before, their instincts still believed he was basically invincible.
The four birds had different mindsets, but their love was the same.
Even through the seawater, Lin Jiangye could clearly read the differences in their eyes. He smiled to himself and didn’t immediately return to the surface to comfort Chang Geng and Qi Ming.
If he wanted to erase their fear, the best way was to let them witness his ability with their own eyes.
He sank slowly, observing the area. After confirming there were no big creatures within a few hundred meters, he sank deeper again.
That descent speed made the accompanying coast guard’s scalp go numb.
But even when they reached thirty-plus meters below, there were still only small fish and shrimp around.
Going deeper, the coast guard refused. Beyond forty meters wasn’t recreational diving anymore—the deeper you went, the greater the danger.
Luckily, this time Lin Jiangye listened. He obediently followed the officer back up to the boat.
“Well?”
Lin Jiangye shook his head and delivered bad news. “No. We need to change places.”
There were plenty of fish down there—great for sea fishing. But not a single “big one” he was hoping for.
No one felt discouraged. But over the next two days, they visited several more locations and still didn’t spot a single big creature. That’s when they finally started to worry.
Lin Jiangye stood on the deck, looking at the sunset that resembled a salted egg yolk, then suddenly turned and waved at the coast guards.
“Let’s go back. Stop looking.”
“Huh? But there are less than three days left…”
Lin Jiangye shook his head. “Going back doesn’t mean we won’t go out to sea. It just means we won’t search ourselves this time—we’ll have seabirds spread the word for us.”
He seriously wondered if his brain had started growing mold after coming south. Such a simple method, and he only thought of it now.
There were islands everywhere in the South China Sea. Some were so small they were barely the size of a boat—but for seabirds, they were perfect resting spots.
And if those were deep-sea islands, then these seabirds definitely knew where the “big ones” liked to appear.
If they still couldn’t find any after that, then it wasn’t a strategy problem—it was just bad luck. In that case, they’d stop dreaming about big-creature help and rely solely on seabirds.
Even so, returning to shore didn’t mean Lin Jiangye would slack off.
In fact, he got up even earlier than the previous days. “A lot of birds are active at night. It’s easier to find them at this hour. And once we talk to them, we’ll need to prepare food.”
If you ask animals to help, you can’t offer nothing. Why would anyone do it?
Before the coast guards could even respond, the four little ones nodded first.
Exactly right.
With the four birds agreeing, the humans naturally didn’t dare object—though they didn’t think his logic was wrong anyway.
Honestly, it applied to humans too. As police, sometimes they needed civilians to cooperate. Pulling out a badge and forcing people was often less effective than offering a small benefit.
“Alright! What do you need us to do?” They rolled up their sleeves, ready to help.
There was definitely work to do—like buying a large amount of supplies.
“Not just grains—also meat, and some liver as an attractant. Here’s the list. Here’s my card. Go buy it.”
The coast guards originally didn’t want to use Lin Jiangye’s money, but one look at that densely packed list told them it would cost tens of thousands at minimum.
“Use my money first. I can get Lin Xia to reimburse it afterward.” Hearing that, they finally felt relieved.
Before the supplies returned, Lin Jiangye had to use what he already had on hand and send the four birds to gather nearby birds.
Tourmaline shook out his feathers, stood on the rail, puffed out his chest.
[Finally my turn to work!]
See? Dad can’t do it without them!
Lin Jiangye’s mouth twitched. Why did this little raven feel more and more… obnoxious?
At first it was just a little prideful. Now it felt downright cheeky.
Who taught him that?
Maybe sensing the dangerous aura rising off Lin Jiangye, Tourmaline screeched and immediately launched into the air—so fast he nearly caused a “midair collision.” A bird happened to be passing through that exact spot, and if it hadn’t been quick, they would’ve slammed into each other.
Lin Jiangye’s face changed instantly. “TOURMALINE!!!”
Great. Now it was truly dangerous.
Tourmaline didn’t dare come back. He hurried in the direction the other bird flew and quickly caught up.
While Tourmaline negotiated with the other bird, Opal also flew off right away.
Left behind, Chang Geng and Qi Ming didn’t know how to coax other birds into helping.
But watching the two corvids acting so energetically, the competitive streak in these true raptors flared up.
Not knowing how was fine.
Worst case, they could just chase the birds over.
Most of the local birds couldn’t beat them, and they couldn’t outfly them either. Sooner or later, they’d behave and listen.
Lin Jiangye still had no idea how ferocious his kids were about to be. Once all four were gone, he went back inside to prepare tools.
He still planned to make bird biscuits—just larger this time.
Back in Yue City, he’d been thinking about sparrows and tiny finches, so the biscuits were basically finger-sized. That wouldn’t cut it here.
Seagulls were roughly crow-sized, but frigatebirds were usually much larger—some even bigger than a white-tailed sea eagle.
So he decided to make palm-sized biscuits. If small birds came, he could always break them into pieces.
But before the supplies even arrived, the front yard—which had been quiet—suddenly became noisy.
[Help!!!]
[Don’t you run! Come back with me!!!]
Lin Jiangye didn’t recognize the first voice, but the second…
If his ears weren’t broken, that was Chang Geng’s voice.
Before he could process it, Chang Geng’s voice rang out again—this time sounding downright terrifying:
[If you don’t stop, I’ll skin you and stuff you!]
Lin Jiangye fell silent.
At that moment, he only wanted to cover his face and scream internally—
What on earth have you been watching?!
It’s all from playing on phones, isn’t it? (No.)
Author’s note:
Xiao Ye clutches his chest in anguish: “I can’t raise kids. I’m not a good dad.”
