Su Huilan and Qingmu were both a little excited. If Ivan and Boris appeared on the island, then it was very likely that Situ would also be there, or even the entire expedition team would be on the island.
Qingmu asked, "How far are we from where the research vessel wreckage was found?"
He didn't know much about ocean currents and maritime search and rescue, but he had a clear mind. Su Huilan and Petru both knew about these things, especially Petru, for whom the ocean was his home.
Petru understood what he meant, and immediately checked the current location through the GPS system. At the same time, he opened the navigation chart and asked them where the research vessel wreckage was located.
To his surprise, the GPS system suddenly malfunctioned and couldn't detect any signal. He then turned on the ship's other communication devices. How could a fugitive pirate like himself not have advanced equipment on his ship? But the problem was, none of the devices could connect to any satellites.
"What the hell!" Petru pounded on the instruments in the cockpit. "Have we entered some kind of radio dead zone? We can't get a single signal!"
Su Huilan also took out a small signal receiver from her box, connected it to her PAD, and the result was the same.
Looking at the thick fog ahead, Qingmu recalled the research vessel's ordeal, "It must be because of this fog."
Su Huilan nodded and said, "We may have fallen into some kind of spatial bubble."
"Space bubble?" Petru had heard Su Huilan mention those three-dimensional and two-dimensional conjectures before; this nonsense sounded more terrifying to him than legends of sea monsters. "So what do we do now? Go to the island or retreat? Should we wait for the fog to clear before coming back?"
Su Huilan said, "It's probably too late to retreat now, and we can't possibly find this island in clear weather. Think about it, didn't you only find it when it was foggy last time?"
Petru nodded. "That's true."
Qingmu said, "Didn't you always have the location of this island? Didn't you notice the GPS malfunction before?"
Petru said, "I didn't notice. Although the GPS was always on, I mostly navigated by feel. You know, it's dangerous for a pirate to use GPS while escaping. People like us can travel the world with just a nautical chart. As for this place, I found it using those parchment charts. Later, after leaving the island, I checked the location. The GPS was working then, but we were already quite far from the island. I calculated the island's location based on the ship's route and speed, and it basically matched the markings on the chart. I don't think our current location is too far off."
Qingmu said, "Okay, then let's use the location on your nautical chart. You guys are more knowledgeable about maritime affairs, so let's calculate whether the people on board the research vessel could have drifted here after it wrecked."
Su Huilan operated directly on her PAD, which had a map application. She adjusted the map location to their current sea area and marked the location where the research vessel wreckage was found with her finger. It was an uninhabited reef southwest of the Bass Islands and directly south of the Tubuai Islands.
Then, following the markings on those old nautical charts and the locations Petru had surveyed, she marked two points on the map and asked Petru, "This is our current location, and this is the location of that triangle on the nautical chart, right?"
Petru looked at the coordinates displayed on the PAD: "That's right."
After receiving confirmation from Petru, Su Huilan made a few more adjustments, connecting the three points with a straight line. A circle appeared with the location of the triangle as its center, and the other two points fell within this circle. Then, the originally blue sea area within the circle began to change color with warm yellow and warm red hues.
Qingmu didn't know what kind of map software it was, but he thought it was very advanced and guessed it was some kind of software specifically for military or scientific research. He just couldn't understand why Su Huilan, a philosophy professor, would know these things. However, since he couldn't even solve the mystery surrounding himself, he didn't bother to think about other people's affairs.
Su Huilan pointed to the center of the circle on the map and said, "Judging from the research vessel's target and Captain Church's diary, the accident site should be located at the location of the underwater ruins, which is the triangle marked on the nautical chart, near the intersection of 30°S latitude and 150°W longitude."
She pointed to another spot, "This is where the wreckage was first discovered, about 200 nautical miles from the accident site. This is our approximate current location, about 150 nautical miles from the accident site. But these two places are quite far apart, about 400 nautical miles. Petru, in your experience, if the ship wrecked at this location, is it possible that the wreckage and debris could have drifted to both places simultaneously?"
Petru said, "That's hard to say. You have to consider ocean currents, monsoons, and all sorts of possible weather conditions, and you also have to calculate the time. You've given me too little information."
Su Huilan pointed to the changing colors on the map and said, "This is a simulation map of the monsoon and ocean currents in this sea area over the past six months. I just obtained the data from the United States Weather Bureau before I came. Red and yellow represent changes in ocean currents, and white represents larger-scale cloud formations, including tropical cyclones and storms."
"Oh, what software is this? It's really great! Could you install it on my ship too?" Petru exclaimed.
"If we both survive this mission, I'll get Lawiye out of the Egypt prison for you. If you still want to be a pirate then, I'll put one on you," Su Huilan said. "But let me tell you, this thing was made by the United States Navy."
"Oh, then forget it," Petru said immediately. "That's not enough; I also need to know the route and time of the ship you mentioned."
Su Huilan said, "The exact route is unclear. More than half a year has passed since the research vessel went missing, but we later received brief radio waves from them. We can roughly determine the time and location of the accident. It happened right here. If we count from then until the discovery of the wreckage, it was about twenty days."
"According to the captain's diary, the accident likely occurred on Christmas Day," Qingmu added.
"Christmas..." Petru stared intently at the climate change display on the PAD, then said after a moment, "Judging from my experience, the location of the shipwreck is correct. I think you should have found more debris by now."
Su Huilan nodded and said, "But no body was found."
"That's normal," Petru said. "It's about 200 nautical miles from where the accident happened. The ocean current there is less than two knots, and it's not a straight line. That means the debris might have drifted at sea for seven or eight days to reach there. By the time you found it, more than half a month had passed. If there were any bodies, they would probably have been eaten by sharks or something else by now."
"Is it possible that they might come here?" Qingmu asked.
Petru shook his head and said, "Unless they have lifeboats, or like Professor Su said, this is a space bubble, and if it's a bubble, who the hell knows if it's just floating around!"