Church's Diary, Part 10:
The thick fog has lasted for two days and one night, with no sign of dissipating.
Mr. Robbins ordered the underwater robot to be deployed, hoping it would locate the ruins. It was a crab-like creature, as big as a dining table, with six mechanical arms that allowed it to easily crawl and retrieve objects. Its "eyes" at the front of its body could extend like snail antennae, and they contained two cameras.
They all call it "General".
The general trailed a long tail line connected to the bottom of the Discovery, used to transmit signals to the ship. The relic target was located at a depth of more than 300 meters underwater, where seawater blocked radio waves, even long waves, so signals could only be received via fiber optic cable.
Thus, it was as if a long tentacle was extending from the bottom of the Discovery, and at the tip of the tentacle was a steel crab. This crab led the Discovery slowly forward.
However, the general swam in the water for a whole day but found no remains.
Although Mr. Robbins maintained his excellent gentlemanly demeanor, I could tell he was very worried. At noon, he and Mrs. Larry came to see Anderson and me to discuss whether to expand the search, such as by sending out a small manned submarine.
Mrs. Larry insisted on going into the sea, saying that the sea fog would not affect underwater work, and that the Copenhagen conference was about to be held, and they were waiting for the results of the Discovery's expedition, while we hadn't even found a place yet, which was really unreasonable.
Mr. Robbins, however, had reservations. As a marine expert, he was very concerned about the origin of the fog. He said that sea fog in the South Pacific is concentrated on the West Wind Drift surface south of 40°S latitude, and usually occurs in spring and summer, while we are currently in winter in the Pacific Ocean at 30°S latitude.
To be honest, I also find this fog very strange. Although I can't explain it scientifically like Mr. Robbins, my experience tells me that there shouldn't be such a thick fog at this time of year, let alone one that lasts so long.
Robbins wondered if this strange fog might be followed by severe weather changes or other unforeseen events. The fact that they hadn't found the buoy meant their location was likely a mile or more off from the underwater ruins. Deploying personnel with equipment at this point would make rescue extremely difficult should an accident or storm occur.
Mrs. Larry said that simply waiting here wouldn't solve the problem. If the fog doesn't dissipate for a week, are we supposed to wait a whole week? Fog is an atmospheric phenomenon and has nothing to do with seawater, so it won't affect underwater operations.
They were all looking at me, which made me a little embarrassed. Although I was the captain, Robbins was the expedition leader, and the expedition was their responsibility. My only job was to steer the ship to the designated location and then return safely.
But since they wanted to hear my opinion, I naturally had to say something. Just as I was weighing the pros and cons, Anderson, who had been silent until now, suddenly said, "This is the world's most advanced research vessel, equipped with the most advanced equipment, connected to the most advanced satellites in space, and staffed with the world's top scientists, yet we can't find a single discovered, clearly located, and marked underwater relic? Accept reality! You know it doesn't exist, right?"
His words were as harsh as fingernails scraping a blackboard, yet neither Robbins nor Mrs. Larry refuted them.
Anderson, seeing their silence, continued, "You said you saw Ghost Island, where is Ghost Island? You said there are underwater ruins, where are the ruins? You know perfectly well they don't exist, you just don't want to admit it! Alright, I'm going fishing. You can decide what to do yourselves. Oh, and Church, let me know if you find anything."
After Anderson left, a long silence fell over the cabin. Finally, Robbins looked at Mrs. Larry and said, "Professor Silva wouldn't lie to us." Mrs. Larry replied, "I also believe Professor Silva; something must have gone wrong on our part."
I said, "So what went wrong with us?"
This problem is bothering me, and I still can't sleep. God help me, I hope the problem isn't with me, since I'm the one who's in charge of the boat.
Church's Diary, Part 11:
Today has truly been a day of extreme joy and sorrow; we have experienced a true Song of Ice and Fire.
In the early hours of the morning, "General" was finally spotted. The monitoring staff on duty exclaimed, waking everyone up like an air raid siren. I rushed into the monitoring room with the crowd and saw the outline of a coral-covered reef on the monitor screen, with some rocks with distinct edges scattered among them.
Someone started shouting excitedly, "That's it! That's it!"
At this moment, the sonar and magnetometers also reacted. Personnel immediately took action, activating all instruments and electronic equipment. Using advanced technology, the sonar and magnetometer readings were combined with the video footage, and I saw the outline of a three-dimensional underwater reef on my computer screen. On the surface of this reef, there were rocks resembling structures and caves.
Amazingly, there is a huge triangular funnel in the center of the island. As the computer continued to calculate and simulate, the details of this funnel became clearer and clearer. People who had seen it before pointed to it excitedly and said, "That's it, it's a pyramid."
Even the usually composed Robbins seemed a little agitated, though he tried his best to control himself. I heard him mutter to himself, "Why didn't our detectors detect it before?"
I have the same question. Logically speaking, such a large area should have been detected long ago. But our equipment seemed to be asleep, and now it has woken up almost at the same time. I feel that this thing in front of me wasn't always there, but suddenly appeared.
Just as people were experiencing excitement, confusion, or contemplation, the ship's lights flickered a few times, and then the power went out.
It was still dark inside the cabin before dawn.
I immediately arranged for someone to go down and inspect it. About twenty minutes later, the ship's electrical system was restored, and the cabin was bright again. However, after the advanced instruments and computers were restarted, we found that everything had returned to yesterday's state. The ruins were gone, and the dark deep sea contained nothing but seawater and an endless abyss.
Good heavens! What on earth happened? Did all seventy-three people on board the Discovery have the same dream in the early hours of the morning?!
People kept banging on the machines, some even shouting hysterically. But it was all in vain. The instruments rigidly adhered to their scientific creed—nothing is nothing, they would not deceive you, not even by giving their owners a white lie.
That wasn't the worst part. The worst part was that when it got light, I realized we were lost.
Although power and equipment were restored, the Discovery could not connect to GPS or receive any radio signals. The maritime telephone also lost signal, making it impossible to contact any ground organizations; it was as if all the satellites in the sky had vanished.
The Discovery is like a blind man who has lost his cane. I don't know what to do, I can only pray for a miracle. Oh, if only I could be as carefree as Anderson, look, he's gone fishing again.