Crossing the World
XLVII - Shelters (Karen)

The height of the man in front of me may reach about 180 centimeters with a slightly thin body weight and dry muscle that is minimal fat. The color of his skin is blackened accompanied by blue and red patches due to burning during the day.

Yes, so far there is no significant difference between my appearance and her. Neither I, this person, nor the earthly man have identical appearances and ways of communicating.

The anatomy of our bodies may differ on some aspects, but my conclusions remain unchanged. We can be called as connected with humanity.

Until now I never thought about it. However, after meeting the earthlings representative and the person before me, a question suddenly came to my mind.

Why do we have identical performances when our world is different? Our innate nature and emotions also run in harmony. So also with the principles of good and bad and common sense in looking at the world.

There were too many similarities between us to the point that I thought that we might be from a common ancestor.

No, let's forget about this first.

"AI?" I spoke my language so that the person before me would not understand it.

"Do you need anything?"

"Yes .. there's something that makes me a little curious." My two eyeballs were still staring at the pitiful man who was not far from me. "Why is their blood blue? Don't they need oxygen to live?"

The red blood proves how important oxygen is to the body. Red blood is caused by the hemoglobin in the blood. The amount of hemoglobin content of each person varies, but the norm is around 17 to 21 grams per deciliter. For the earthlings, the amount of it is slightly lower than the amount of hemoglobin in my blood.

One of the functions of hemoglobin is to bind oxygen and spread it throughout the body and transport carbon dioxide to be then released during respiration. Simply put, the red blood signifies that we need oxygen.

The problem now was, the blood of the person before me was blue. In other words, there is no hemoglobin. What do they breathe when they breathe? Or do they even need the process of respiration to support their lives? Do they photosynthesize like plants?

"Regarding that ... "

AI started explaining something that caught my attention.

In short, far back in the past, the planet contained very abundant oxygen in the air. This causes the size of the insect to be unusually large than its usual size. Worse, these insects like one species in common - namely saltopus-as their food.

Saltopus is a large carnivorous reptile that lived in ancient times. Hunting for millions of years made the saltopus evolve into a much smaller form with the aim of hiding behind small holes. They were the only species in antiquity that shrank to a size of about two meters. Unfortunately, very high oxygen levels result in saltopus species often dying from poisoning in their breathing.

As a form of adaptation to the environment, the blood of the saltopus, which was originally red, is now starting to turn blue. They exchange the hemoglobin content with the hemocyanin content. Unlike hemoglobin that contains iron, hemocyanin containing copper is very less efficient in binding oxygen. When compared, its effectiveness is only about a quarter of that of hemoglobin. As a result, saltopos can survive in areas with very high oxygen levels and very cold weather.

"As oxygen content decreases, other species also begin to shrink. However, until now the saltopus still inherited their blue blood."

Of course it is not surprising to hear their blood is still blue until now because the oxygen crisis in this world only occurred about a few thousand years ago. Their blood will probably return to red in the next hundreds of thousands of years.

Given the much lower effectiveness of hemocyanin than hemoglobin, it's a miracle they've survived in a world of low oxygen levels. I can't imagine how hard they are when they breathe air.

Well, at least at night, they should be able to breathe more oxygen when compared to red-blooded creatures.

The oxygen content on the planet may be almost similar to the oxygen content on Earth on Mount Everest. The difference is, instead of being very cold like on Everest, the weather here is as hot as the Central Tunisian region when it is summer. The temperature can even penetrate up to almost sixty degrees Celsius at noon. At night, the temperature can drop to below five degrees.

How could these humans survive in such extreme weather?

Ah, I'm too engrossed in my own thoughts. For now, let's dig up a little information from them and leave the rest to the AI.

I cleared my throat a little to get my opponent to focus on my voice. Then, I asked a few questions that made me a little curious.

"Before, I wanted to know what your name was and where you came from. Since you have entered my territory without permission, I have the right to know it first."

I added the last sentence as a form of emphasis. It is possible that he refused to give their names and where they came from. Well, that's personal information. No wonder they refused to answer. That is why I claim this place as my territory and their arrival here has been regarded as an act of trespassing. In reality, I don't care about such trivial things.

He turned his gaze to a girl who was standing slightly behind him. The girl then slightly nodded her head, perhaps as a sign that she did not mind whatever choice the man would take.

"I'm Sergei. We come from settlements around the oasis ... "

The man did not finish his sentence as he turned his gaze towards the back.

Well, maybe he's forgotten which way he came from. It would be very difficult to determine the direction on the vast plains that stretched to the limit of the horizon.

"I understand. Surely it is difficult to determine the direction after a very long journey."

The language he uses does not have complicated levels like language in general. They are not familiar with the concept of pragmatics and other branches of linguistics.

When they talk to someone of a higher standing, they will still use the same level of language as when they talk to a close friend. Similarly, the time difference will not affect the language they use.

Simply put, this was like the first language I learned on earth, but without the concepts of manners and manners.

How should I describe it in words?

...

Ah .. I remember something.

AI always used polite language when speaking to me. Yes, it was because my position was so far above AI that he treated me politely. Although in fact he often insulted me using the pattern of polite sentences itself.

On earth, my language has a level similar to the first language I learned there. Meanwhile, for international languages, they place more emphasis on the level of language on the order of time, dividing it into 16 different forms.

Yeah, like that.

Unlike the three languages, the language the man in front of me had no such formula at all. This is why he spoke to me - who was a stranger - in a casual-impressed sentence.

My only purpose in coming to him was to find out how they were conversing and other small details. However, I did get some pretty valuable information from him.

A bunch of people live near an oasis, huh? Wouldn't it be interesting if I went to look for him in my spare time?

Let's put this on my list of tasks I'll do in the future.

Then ...

My hand pointed at the pile of things not far from me and said, "all this is for you."

The two just stared suspiciously, staring between me and the pile of food that was near me.

I ignored their response and chose to continue with my words. "Walk up to follow the sunset. When you find the dunes, go up and try to survive. You will find a small forest that can meet the needs of your life there."

I'll leave the rest of the business to the AI. Even if they get lost because the explanation of the direction I'm thinking about is very biased, I'm sure AI will definitely lead them down the right path.

Well, I want to be impressed like a mysterious person who comes suddenly, says cool things, then disappears as suddenly as I came.

The AI-controlled cyborg can go home on its own with a booster jet at its feet. So, I guess it's okay if I leave them now. My hands should be treated immediately.

I turned back to them, then teleported twice in a row, taking me to the treatment room inside the Shelter.