Church's Diary, Part 18:
Towar, Godbless!!!
Scrolling to the last page of Captain Church's diary, Qingmu discovered that the preceding entries were all text entries, without dates, simply named " Church's Diary" followed by a number. Clearly, someone had compiled it from the original diary, omitting some unimportant sections about life on board. Nevertheless, the diary entries were very detailed, providing a complete account of the events.
Strangely, the last entry wasn't a text entry, but a pasted picture. Although the picture had been edited, the texture of the creased paper and traces of water damage were still visible.
The diary entry contained only two words and three exclamation marks. "Towar, Godless!!!". The handwriting was extremely messy, with no spaces between words, and the commas and exclamation marks were drawn in an exaggerated manner, clearly indicating that it was written under very urgent circumstances. Next to it were four numbers, "1225", which probably meant December 25th, likely the day after Christmas Eve mentioned in the previous entry.
According to Captain Church's diary, Mrs. Larry spoke with Stone, and then Robbins asked him to return at full speed. Their ship's instruments were probably still broken at that time, so it was impossible to return west to New Zealand; the most likely route was north to the Tubuai Islands.
The area where the shipwreck and diary were found is located on several deserted islands in the southern part of the Tubuai Islands, which matches the description in the diary.
In other words, they encountered an accident while sailing north at full speed.
What could have happened?
What does "Towar" mean?
Is it a place called " Taowo "? Or is the "d" missing in "toward," meaning approaching a target? Or is there a space in "To war," which means war has begun?
Based on the current information that the research vessel "Discovery" was attacked by overheated weapons, the possibility of war or an attack seems more plausible. But who would attack a research vessel at sea, and why would they use the word "war"?
Qingmu showed his diary to Professor Mei and Su Huilan.
Mei Yiqiu pondered for a long time before saying, "Although the Discovery is a research vessel, it is equipped with weapon systems, so ordinary pirates can't do anything to them. But it doesn't seem plausible that the attackers were regular troops. In that sea area, shooting down a large research vessel carrying so many scientists would be an act that no government could withstand the pressure of public opinion if it became known."
"Could it be the US military? They have the capability to cover up the truth," Mei Ziqing asked.
"Impossible," Su Huilan said. "If it were the US military, they could have handled it very cleanly, and there wouldn't have been the subsequent search and rescue operation, nor would we have been able to see Church's diary."
Mei Ziqing insisted, "Is it possible that they are the thief crying 'stop thief'? Otherwise, why wouldn't they publish the captain's diary and instead hide it?"
Mei Yiqiu said, "It's unlikely. Analyzing Church's diary, their loss of contact with us was purely accidental. No one could have predicted that all their equipment would malfunction. Given the technological equipment and defense capabilities of the Discovery, it's impossible for them to be silently eliminated if communications hadn't failed. The United States government wouldn't be foolish enough to take such a risk. If they wanted to eliminate the Discovery or its crew, they could easily deploy FBI agents, which is their usual method, instead of using military force."
Su Huilan added, "Assuming the Discovery was indeed attacked, the attackers' aim should have been simply to destroy it or kill someone on board, and the retreat was hasty, with no cleanup of the battlefield. In this respect, it seems more like piracy or a spur-of-the-moment operation."
Mei Ziqing said, "But it's also possible they stumbled upon some military operation, like that tsunami. Didn't the diary speculate that it might have been a military nuclear test? And the fact that all the ship's electronic equipment was destroyed makes it seem more like an attack by an electron pulse munition. Also, what about the three people who were rescued? Could they have been FBI agents?"
Mei Yiqiu said, "The Easterner who was rescued should be Situ."
"Ah--" Mei Ziqing exclaimed. Actually, she had been a little suspicious, because Church had praised Mr. Stone's appearance in his diary, which immediately reminded her of the handsome man she had seen in Copenhagen.
Qingmu remained silent, his eyes closed as he pondered the cause and effect of the matter. He recalled Zhao Pengcheng's dream of another life. He couldn't say for sure whether that world was real or not, but the events that occurred there were definitely not fabricated out of thin air. They must have developed according to some kind of logic in the real world, probably belonging to the category of parallel worlds. The premise for whether or not something happened might be a certain opportunity, or the existence of him and Crow.
He remembered that in that world, Cohen established a base in the Cook Islands and ultimately won the war of invasion and counter-invasion.
"Isn't the Cook Islands very close to there?" Qingmu asked.
Su Huilan said, "It's very close. The previous activity areas and the accident site of the Discovery were both in the waters south of the Tubuai Islands, while the Cook Islands are located between Polynesia and Fiji, just northwest of the Tubuai Islands, almost right next to them."
Qingmu nodded and said, "I suspect it was done by the Dream Society; Cohen probably went there."
"How do you know?" the others asked almost simultaneously.
Qingmu didn't explain, only saying, "I think I need to go there as soon as possible. I have a feeling that things aren't over there yet; Cohen and Situ are both there. And I just got news that Duwa went too."
Mei Yiqiu raised his eyelids slightly and asked, "Who is Duwa?"
Qingmu then realized that he might not have told Mei Yiqiu about Duwa, or perhaps he couldn't remember. He often felt uneasy and troubled about everything that happened in Southern Yunnan and Mianyue, not knowing whether it was because it concerned the secrets of the Alliance or because he had killed too many people. In any case, he had never told anyone about it completely.
He said, "Someone who might be able to help us."
Mei Yiqiu asked casually and didn't delve into it further. Su Huilan, on the other hand, had an inscrutable expression on her face. She glanced at Qingmu, seemingly lost in thought.
"Since you're going, you should prepare and go as soon as possible," Mei Yiqiu said.
He was Tushu to Qingmu and Su Huilan when he said "you". It was only because Su Huilan was going to the investigation team that Qingmu was asked to go with her.
"I've already spoken to the investigation team. Professor Su's information has been sent over. Qingmu can go there as Professor Su's assistant."
Qingmu said, "I want to take my Crow with me, but crossing the border is a hassle. I don't know if I'll have enough time."
Su Huilan frowned and said, "Do you have to bring your pet with you when you go out on errands?"
Qingmu said, "There's an obedient bird at sea; it might come in handy."
"It seems you really like small animals, and you're even a trainer." Su Huilan smiled noncommittally. "As long as you're not worried about your bird getting lost at sea, I'll figure out everything else."