74 THE FLEET

CHAPTER 74 THE FLEET Island animals were hiding and looking out to sea at a fleet of ships. Dozens of ships, in various shapes and sizes, were sailing together in a line that stretched for miles. But as the fleet drew nearer, the animals slowly realized that they weren't ships at all. They were robots. The mining station manager had promised to clean up the poison tide, and she was keeping her word. Specialized robots had been sent to follow the poison tide's path and to remove the toxic dust as they went. Different robots worked in different ways. Some had wide spinning drums that skimmed dust from the surface of the ocean. Others roamed the depths, using magnets to collect the metallic particles. Drones hovered in the sky and scanned for patches of gently shimmering water. Farther out, enormous robotic barges plowed through the waves.

第七十四章舰队岛上的动物们躲起来，望着海上的一支船队。 几十艘形状大小各异的船排成一条绵延数英里的队伍一起航行。 但随着船队越来越近，动物们慢慢意识到他们根本不是船。 他们是机器人。矿站经理答应清理毒潮，她说到做到。 专门的机器人被派去跟踪毒潮的路径，并在它们移动的过程中清除有毒的灰尘。 不同的机器人以不同的方式工作。 有些有宽大的旋转鼓，可以从海洋表面掠过灰尘。 其他人则在深海漫游，利用磁铁收集金属颗粒。 无人机在空中盘旋，搜寻着一片片微微闪烁的水面。 更远的地方，巨大的机器人驳船破浪前行。

There was movement in the shallows, and up climbed a swarm of small robots. Hundreds of them scuttled along the coast, removing any toxic dust they found. They crawled over rocks and down into tide pools and through the dead fields that ringed the island. The coastline was long, but there were so many small robots that they cleaned it in only a day. When the job was finished, they scuttled back into the ocean, and the entire fleet of robots continued south.

浅滩上有动静，一群小机器人爬了上来。 数百艘船沿着海岸航行，清除他们发现的有毒粉尘。 他们爬过岩石，爬下潮汐池，爬过环绕小岛的荒地。 海岸线很长，但是有很多小机器人，他们只用了一天就把它清理干净了。 当任务完成后，他们潜回海洋，整个机器人舰队继续向南航行。