Church's Diary, Part Twelve:
Who has ever experienced two consecutive days? We just did. That's right, two consecutive days, twenty-four hours of daylight. The Sun just set on one side of the sea and immediately rose on the other.
In the early hours of the morning, our GPS navigation system and communication equipment all failed, leaving us with no contact with the ground or space. This meant we were lost at sea, without navigation, unable to locate ourselves, unsure of the weather forecast, or the location of the nearest island. In such dense fog, it was practically impossible to move an inch.
We are like a piece of duckweed, drifting on the boundless Pacific Ocean.
After daybreak, Anderson told me that the fog outside was dissipating. I went out to take a look, and the sea was still covered in white fog, but it did look a bit lighter than yesterday.
During the day, a breeze picked up at sea, making the fog thinner and more noticeable, and the flags on the flagpoles fluttered in the wind. Everyone came up to the deck, breathing in the slightly salty and humid air, watching the thick fog gradually dissipate and the sea surface become more open. Now, whether there were any underwater relics or whether the scientific expedition could be completed had become relatively less important; people were only looking forward to the moment when the sun would rise again.
Once the fog clears and no other severe weather occurs at sea, even without GPS, we can use a compass and nautical charts to navigate the Discovery to the Tubuai Islands, a few hundred nautical miles to the north. Once ashore, we can then investigate the problem thoroughly, or request assistance from the New Zealand and United States Navy. With Mr. Robbins's connections, they should be able to request naval escort and assistance. If he had known such a strange situation would arise at sea, I think Robbins would have done so already.
Around three or four in the afternoon, the first ray of sunlight pierced through the fog and shone onto the deck, and we all cheered. Then, the sunlight shot out like arrows, blasting away the eerie fog without a trace. At that time, the Sun was like a giant red fireball, setting towards the western horizon, and the magnificent sunset turned the sea and sky a fiery red.
Perhaps it was because we hadn't seen the sun for so long, but this sunset looked particularly spectacular. Even though I've seen countless sunrises and sunsets at sea throughout my life, none of them have ever moved me as much as today's.
I saw solemn and wistful expressions on the faces of the others, probably sharing the same feelings as me. Only Anderson, taking advantage of the dissipating fog, had already taken his fishing rod and was leisurely fishing, completely oblivious to the beautiful scenery in the distance.
I had assumed that night would follow sunset, a fact I didn't even need to consider. I was already thinking about our next course of navigation, whether to discuss with Mr. Robbins whether to stay put and wait for communications to be restored, head north to the Tubuai Islands, or simply head west back to New Zealand.
Just then, someone suddenly shouted, "Sunrise!"
I looked in the direction of his voice, and another shocking scene unfolded before me. I will never forget what I saw today. Not only me, but everyone on the ship will never forget this scene. Some people were even kneeling on the ground, repeatedly making the sign of the cross on their chests and praying to God. Even Anderson threw down his fishing rod, stood up straight, faced east, and stared in disbelief.
At this moment, in the east, a small half of the red sun was rising above the horizon, and the brilliant rays of the sunset began to paint the sky and sea red. However, when I looked back, most of the red sun in the west was still over the sea.
The sun rises in the east and sets in the west, almost simultaneously. I kept looking in both directions, and when I examined it closely, I was even more shocked, because I discovered that the Sun rose in the east at the same rate as the Sun set in the west. My intuition told me that the two Sun were actually the same one; something must be wrong with the Earth, or there must be something wrong with my eyes.
As the sun completely set in the west, the rising sun in the east fully emerged from the sea. Its rosy cheeks began to shine brightly, then emitted a golden light, illuminating everything in the world, and a new day began.
We stood silently on the deck like statues on Easter Island, staring blankly at the sky, unable to move for a long time. Before I knew it, the deck had become hot, and sweat beaded on my forehead, my back felt slightly damp. I calmed myself down and then took off my thick coat.
My movements and the noise I made probably startled the others, and they all came to their senses and began to undress. Then, we returned to the cabin and began to discuss what had happened. During the discussion, the scientists and sailors naturally split into two groups, each talking about their own side of the story. The sailors mostly talked about miracles, God, and sea gods, while the scientists focused more on seeking a scientific explanation for the phenomenon. It was then that everyone realized that, despite such a miraculous event, no one had thought to film it with a camera or a mobile phone.
As usual, Anderson and I were invited to join the group of scientists, but we couldn't offer any opinions. Even Anderson, who is usually outspoken, kept quiet at this moment.
Scientists have made various guesses, but none of them have been able to convince the public.
Mrs. Larry said, "Could it be the effect of Mirror Pyramid? The Sun sets in the west and rises in the east at the same time, much like a mirror image. Or we can think of it this way: when we see the sunset at 150°W, 30°S, is the sunrise happening in the Sahara Desert on the other side of the world? In other words, there was some connection between the two mirrored pyramids just now, or even earlier, and that strange fog might have caused it, resulting in us seeing the same scene from both pyramid locations simultaneously. Stephen, what do you think?"
Stephen Robbins said, "I don't study space physics, so let's hear what Pardik has to say on this."
Pardik is a space physicist known for his research on parallel universes, but he is not good with words and speaks haltingly. Therefore, he only said one sentence: Mrs. Larry is right, this is very likely a phenomenon of space folding.
At that moment, Anderson suddenly shouted, "Ladies and gentlemen, don't you feel hot?"
He always had a loud voice, showing absolutely no gentlemanly manners. But that was understandable; most sailors at sea developed loud voices.
It was only then that I realized how unbearably hot it was. Even though I had taken off my coat, I was still sweating. I sensed something was amiss, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it.
Robbins frowned and said, "The temperature is over 25 degrees Celsius, and the sunlight is too intense; it doesn't feel like the winter Sun at all. If we're still in the same place and at the same time, then there must be something wrong with the Earth's rotation or magnetic field..."
I sensed he had something more to say, but he didn't continue. Perhaps, as Mrs. Larry said, scientists never make baseless conjectures.
I'm not a scientist, so I can speculate wildly that we might have crossed some space in that thick fog and arrived in the Pacific Ocean in the Northern Hemisphere, perhaps near Hawaii, or we might have traveled through some period of time to a Xia Tian in the South Pacific, either in the future or the past. And the point in time we traveled through was probably the moment of sunrise and sunset.