Qingmu felt that it was unlikely that Petru heard the names Ivan and Boris; the probability of two Russia with the same name appearing in uninhabited waters of the South Pacific was very small.
Whether they arrived in lifeboats or, as Petru said, were swallowed by the drifting space bubble, at least some of them are still alive. If two are alive, then there are likely three, four, or even more.
Qingmu especially hoped that everyone on the ship would survive, particularly those whose names he had seen in Church's diary. In addition, because of his promise to Xia Xiaoxiao, he hoped to see Situ on this island.
Situ's abilities are beyond question, and his chances of survival are high. However, Qingmu also remembers that Mr. Stone was seriously injured in Church's diary, but he doesn't know the specifics.
If they were to end up on this island, they would undoubtedly be seen as invading enemies by the local tribes. The island possesses a strong spiritual energy field; do the tribes understand Mental Power? Could there be powerful shamans among them?
" Professor Su, if you really think there are savages on the island, what kind of conditions would allow their race to survive?" Qingmu asked.
Su Huilan said, "First, the population must be at least four hundred people; otherwise, diseases and genetic defects caused by inbreeding will cause them to die out within a few generations. Second, the island must be large enough to have enough food and be able to form a complete food chain. Alternatively, there should be other nearby islands to provide the primitive people with the conditions to survive. If it is the latter, the tribe has a greater chance of survival because they can engage in primitive trade, and in the event of disasters such as tsunamis, typhoons, and volcanic eruptions, these tribes have a place to move to. Inhabited islands in the Pacific Ocean are never isolated islands."
Qingmu asked Petru, "You've been to the island, do you think it's big?"
Petru said, "It wasn't big. When I ran out, all I had was a tree branch as a weapon. I didn't want to fight savages naked, so I took a long detour to get back to my boat. I remember climbing up a high point, from which you could see the lake in the center of the island."
"You just said that after you overheard those two Russia talking, you went back to the ship to get weapons, right? You also said that when you went back to the island, you found that the situation on the island had changed?"
"That's right. I was afraid they would spot my boat, so I deliberately moored it in a less visible spot. I went back to the island, intending to follow the marks I made when I came out, but I couldn't find those places anywhere. Because of the heavy fog, I didn't think too much about it. Anyway, I eventually climbed to another high point and saw the lake. In any case, the island must not be very big."
Are you sure the lake you saw both times is the same lake?
"Of course I'm sure!" Petru said with wide eyes and a trembling Redbeard.
Qingmu didn't ask any more questions, but turned to Su Huilan: "What do you think?"
Su Huilan pondered, "Judging from this, there really might be more than one island inside. But why did he see the same lake? Does every island have an identical hot spring lake? Or is it some kind of special spatial distribution?"
What special spatial distribution?
"Hmm..." Su Huilan thought for a moment and said, "I'm not a physicist, so I can't explain it clearly. I can only give an analogy. For example, imagine a five-pointed star. Each point is like an island, and the central pentagon is like a hot spring. The entire five-pointed star is hidden in a certain spatial state, and each time a different point appears, it's a different one. Whichever point we land on determines which island we can see. And because the pentagon is connected to all the points, we feel like we're in the middle of the island. Only by somehow passing through this pentagon, which is the hot spring lake on the island, can we reach the other island."
"So complicated!" Petru exclaimed, his head throbbing. "Who cares what it is? Let's go up and see! Laozi got tricked last time. If we run into savages again," he patted his gun, "We'll see if their spears are stronger, or my gun!"
Qingmu stood up and walked to the porthole, looking at the ever-changing, swirling fog outside. He felt there was something eerie about the island. He had some vague guesses, but they seemed illogical. Whenever he tried to think about it more deeply, his mind became a jumbled mess, and the chaotic memories gave him a terrible headache, so he had to give up trying.
"It's best to be careful," he said.
Su Huilan also felt that it was better to be cautious, so she selected some different weapons and ammunition from the armory and also carried a small military backpack.
Qingmu was already carrying a bag, and he had originally intended to stuff some more things into it. However, when he unzipped the bag and saw the still-green willow branch, he abandoned the idea of putting explosives and grenades inside.
He felt that those things were contrary to the green of life; weapons were deadly and symbolized death, while the willow branches carried the endless power of life.
However, under the Crow's insistence and with Wanran's Hanran gaze, Qingmu's bag was eventually stuffed full of ham and dried fish.
For some species, food is always more important than anything else. As for whether they will get too fat, that's completely irrelevant.
The three men disembarked from the large ship and paddled to the shore in a raft.
Having spent quite some time on the ship, the fog seemed to be thinning out by then.
The Crow said, "I'll go up and scout ahead first..."
Just as it opened its mouth, Qingmu felt a claw slapping his scalp from above. Before it could finish speaking, he grabbed its leg and warned, "Don't move! Don't leave my head!"
The Crow flapped its wings a few times, its body swaying precariously, and complained, "What's wrong with you! Guagua..."
Qingmu let go of the Crow, and rowed hard, saying, "Row faster, the fog is thinning; we need to get to the island before it disappears."
He didn't know why he made that judgment, but neither Su Huilan nor Petru asked any further questions; they simply rowed even harder.
The raft quickly reached the shore.
They got off the raft, and Petru dragged it ashore.
The fog on the shore had thinned considerably, and golden sunlight spilled onto the beach. Ahead lay a dense forest, where the leaves of the silver-flowered shrubs reflected the sunlight and swayed gently in the breeze.
Good weather brings good mood.
Petru looked up at the blue sky, white clouds, and Sun and exclaimed, "This is fucking comfortable! Much more comfortable than when I was here last time!"
Su Huilan also felt very comfortable and took a pleasant breath of fresh air.
Only Qingmu frowned, glanced in the direction they came from, and said, "Hopefully this is a good place; we can't go back for the time being anyway."
"What did you say?"
Su Huilan and Petru were both startled and quickly turned around to look.
The island's shore stretched out to both sides, with only the boundless sea in sight, but the two-masted sailing ship they had been on had vanished without a trace.
Petru yelled, "Fuck! What the hell happened?"
Just then, they heard a loud and long howl coming from the dense forest on the island:
Woo--ri--woo--ri--!