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Chapter 85
Chapter 85
Chapter 85
Chapter 85
None of Louis and the others understood Gabriel’s words, nor had they ever heard of the Alpar River.
But they were all surprised to see that nothing floated on this river. They bent down to search for dead branches and withered leaves. Louis even took out some down feathers from his clothes and threw them into the river.
As expected, everything they threw in sank. Nothing floated on the surface of the river.
Hailey threw a paper towel folded into a small boat. Watching it sink and disappear into the water, she asked Gabriel curiously, “Mr. Lewis, what is the reason behind this?”
Gabriel stared at the river, shaking his head, and smiled wryly. “This river only exists in legends. No one in the world had ever seen it with their own eyes, so I always thought it was just a myth. As recorded in the Book of Mountains and Seas, there is a body of water north of Kenfort, and the water has no buoyancy, hence the name, the Alpar River. And according to Seas of Phoenix Island, Phoenix Island is located in the center of the west sea, spanning 450 miles. The island is surrounded by Alpar water, where not even a goose feather can float, and it cannot be crossed.”
He went on, “This ancient record was mysterious to the ancients, but it is not credible for modern people anymore. With the development of modern transportation, airplanes could go anywhere in the world. Therefore, there were no places on Earth that could not be seen or visited. No one has ever discovered such a river, so I believe it does not exist. But here…”
Hailey lowered her head and stared at the river, truly puzzled. She wondered what kind of water this was. Not even a goose feather could float on it. It was something she had never heard or seen before.
Sienna also stood beside Hailey and stared at the river. On the other side, Gunther asked Gabriel, “Mr. Lewis, how do we… cross this river?”
Gabriel shook his head. “I don’t know, either. I wonder if there is a bridge to cross this river.”
Howeyer, looking at the distant horizon, there was no bridge visible on this river, not even a simple wooden bridge.
The vast majority of the area in this river was more than 33 feet wide, with at least 65 feet in wider parts, and at least around 40 feet in the narrowest areas. It was impossible to jump over.
Louis turned around and went to the edge of the jungle to find a slender sapling, about 13 feet long, and chopped it down. He cleared off the branches and then took them to the riverside to test the water depth.
He stood by the river and put the trunk upright into the river and watched it sink gradually.
As a result, the trunk, about 13 feet long, was completely submerged in the water, but it didn’t sink to the bottom.
Louis was surprised. The river looked green and tranquil, and it didn’t look deep, but unexpectedly, the depth at the river edge exceeded 13 feet.
The river was green and tranquil, and people would sink as soon as they got into the water. The shallow areas were already more than 13 feet deep. How deep could it be in the deeper areas?
How could they cross it?
It was also not practical to go along the river and check whether there were bridges in other places. The distance was too far. The river was over 70 miles long, and it was estimated that most of its length had no bridges.
Jack gestured to the width of the river while looking at it. After a while, he said to Louis, “Louis, I’ve looked at it. The narrowest part of this river is around 40 feet. No matter how deep it was, it couldn’t be more than 33 feet at most. And it’s probably not that deep. We have ropes. I’ll tie it to my waist and wade across the river. I can hold my breath underwater for up to four minutes. The river is only 40 feet long, so it shouldn’t take more than four minutes. I’ll dive into the riverbed and find a place to secure the rope. Get this side of the rope fixed as well so that others could use it to cross over…
That could be a solution.
Gunther nodded and asked Gabriel, “Mr. Lewis, nothing floats on the Alpar River, but is it poisonous? Is there any problem with people diving in the water?”
Gunther was stunned and then shook his head. “I have never heard of this. The records only mention that nothing floats on the Alpar River, but I have never heard of any rumors about it being poisonous.”
Upon hearing this, Louis immediately went to chop off another tree trunk. He dipped it into the river for a while, then lifted it up and touched it lightly with his hand.
With water droplets on his hand from the tree trunk, Louis was very careful, but he didn’t feel anything on his hand. He even collected a few droplets of water in the palm of his hand to examine it.
Those water droplets were no different from ordinary water, as crystal clear as dew droplets, and there was no sensation
when they touched the skin, neither numbing nor itching.
After a few minutes, Louis flicked the water out of his palm and checked it again.
Nothing happened. At least, there was nothing wrong with the water.
Jack took out a bundle of thin nylon rope from his backpack.
This nylon rope was not an ordinary one. It was hundreds of times stronger in tensile strength compared to regular nylon ropes, yet it was much smaller in size.
In other words, the previous nylon ropes, with a thickness comparable to a little finger, could bear about 660 pounds of weight. But now, with only three or four nylon ropes of this quality, they could withstand that weight.
If the strand of nylon rope was as thick as a little finger, it could bear 5,500 pounds to 22,000 pounds of weight, which was incredibly inconceivable.
But technology had the ability to create such inconceivable things.
What they brought this time was nylon rope with new technology. The thickness of this nylon rope was only about the size of a fork, but such a bundle of 330 feet of ropes only weighed about 11 pounds. It was truly impressive.
Jack tied one end of the rope to his waist and said to Louis and Gunther, “Louis, Mr. Fox, I’m going into the water.”
Louis nodded and ordered, “Jack, in case of emergency, pull the rope hard. We guarantee that we will pull you back to the shore within seconds.”
“Got it!” Jack nodded. The river was not that wide. If the people on the shore pulled him together, it wouldn’t take much of their effort to do so; and it wouldn’t take more than one minute to pull him out of the water, so he could rest assured.
Jack walked to the riverside, while Louis took a looped rope by the river and un-winded around 33 feet of it in coils.
Wayne and Simon also hurriedly stood beside Louis. If Jack pulled the rope, the three of them could pull Jack out quickly.
Louis reminded once again, “Jack, be careful.”
Jack smiled and said, “Don’t worry. I can hold my breath underwater for five minutes at most. It will be over if I put up with it.”
He coiled the rope around his wrist several times, estimating that it was at least 65 feet long. Then, he stretched out his foot to test the water. “Louis, I’m going in now. Don’t worry, I won’t push myself. If I encounter any problems, I’ll come out and inform you.”
Louis nodded again and watched Jack stretch his foot into the river to test the water.
Instead of diving straight into the water, he used his feet to test whether the water would irritate his skin or cause any itching
or harm.
After a few minutes, Jack looked up and said to Louis, “Louis, no problem at all. I don’t feel a thing. I’m going in!”.
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