"Child?"
Qingmu recalled that Mei Yiqiu sometimes called Mei Ziqing that, as well as Bian Ziyuan, who later joined the lab. Bian Ziyuan indeed still young, still in university; in the eyes of an old professor, calling him a child wouldn't be an exaggeration. But Mei Ziqing was actually quite old. Although her real age was unclear, judging from her education and work experience, she was at least over thirty.
Alice may be a little younger than Mei Ziqing, but she is definitely Bian Ziyuan. She has been out of school for several years, so why is she still a child in Mrs. Larry's eyes? Mrs. Larry is not old either, unlike Professor Mei who has a full head of white hair. She is not bad-looking and looks to be in her forties. If it weren't for her serious scholarly appearance, she would actually look even younger.
"She was already in Yeg Studio before she even graduated; she was such a child back then," Mrs. Larry explained. "In my eyes, she never grew up."
Qingmu chuckled, "Madam, do you scholars all like to use academic ability to judge a person's maturity? In your eyes, those who are not academically mature are all children?"
Mrs. Larry said, "That's a bit of an overstatement, but I have to admit there's a bit of truth to it. Lawrence Bragg won the Nobel Prize in Physics at the age of twenty-five. Back then, apart from his father Henry Bragg, who probably still considered him a child, people called him Mr. Bragg or Master Bragg. But most twenty-five-year-olds haven't even finished their master's thesis yet; in our eyes, they really are children."
Petru muttered, "I didn't even graduate from high school, so I'm practically your grandson!"
Mrs. Larry laughed at him and said, "No, Petru, you're not a child, you're a man!"
Petru, gun in hand and chest puffed out, said, "Your praise is more honorable than giving me a master's degree!"
The three of them walked along the lake shore, talking as they went. Because the path was difficult to walk on, they didn't walk very fast. The sun was already high overhead, and judging by Earth's experience, it was almost noon.
Qingmu looked up and saw that the small Sun, which had risen right behind the big Sun, seemed to be moving faster than the big Sun. Originally, the two suns were far apart, but now they were very close together.
Of course, under the glaring light of the Sun and the bright sunlight, except when it has just risen in the east, the little Sun is not conspicuous in the sky and cannot be seen unless you look carefully.
The conversation about Alice and Anderson didn't continue; Qingmu didn't want Mrs. Larry to dwell too much on the pain of her memories. He couldn't glean anything from these fragmented pieces of information either, only that things seemed a bit strange, just like the Sun in the sky at that moment.
Petru then asked, "How accurate is Stone's atomic clock in his mind? He said a year has passed; could he be lying to us?"
Mrs. Larry said, "If he wanted to deceive people, he wouldn't need to make up such a complicated lie. The simpler the lie, the easier it is for people to believe it."
Petru nodded. "But according to Mr. Qingmu's analysis, none of the times match up!"
The timeline is indeed very chaotic.
Mrs. Larry, Alice, and Anderson formed a group. They set sail from winter in New Zealand on a research vessel and, after more than ten days at sea, found themselves in summer. After being attacked at Christmas, they escaped into the fog and ended up in this place, which may be a thousand light-years away from Earth.
Situ, along with Ivan and Boris, were rescued from the sea by a research vessel a few days before Christmas. They then escaped into the fog but apparently landed on a different island. According to Situ, they spent almost a year there before arriving here.
Qingmu, Su Huilan, and Petru formed a group. They set off during the Southern Hemisphere Xia Tian, at the end of the China calendar. Luckily, on the first Ghost Island they found, they encountered Alice and saved Anderson and his wife's lives.
The three groups experienced different amounts of time, as if only after they met would their time be completely synchronized. At that time, Earth was nowhere to be found, and no one knew how much time had passed.
As Qingmu was pondering these questions, Crow tapped him on the head and said, "Hey, what's wrong with your brain? You've been analyzing things for so long and you don't even have a headache! Has your Holmes syndrome overcome your laziness, quack?"
Qingmu sighed and said, "I think I've thought of something, something that seems important, but I just can't quite put my finger on it."
The Crow said, "With a brain as peculiar as yours, it's no wonder you can't think straight!"
Mrs. Larry pointed out, "Regarding time, I'm wondering if the observer effect might also be at play, which could explain why our three groups experienced different amounts of time?"
"The observer effect? What's that?" Petru asked.
The Crow cawed excitedly, "I know! It's the uncertainty principle of quantum mechanics, Schrödinger's Cat! Guagua, I finally know why my cat has two states—because she's Schrödinger's Cat! She's both yellow and white. I can't see her now, so I don't know what color she is. Only when I see her can I be sure if she's Hanran or as white as Ruxue... Guagua, I'm so clever!"
Mrs. Larry denied this, saying, "To be precise, the observer effect and the uncertainty principle are not the same. The uncertainty principle focuses on measurement, and the measurement result is an inherent property of quantum mechanics, regardless of whether an observer is involved. The observer effect, on the other hand, mainly refers to how the presence of the observer affects the state of the observed thing itself, both physically and mentally."
For example, a child's behavior will be drastically different depending on whether parents or teachers are observing them while they are reading or doing homework. In physics experiments, to observe the movement of electrons, photons must be used to strike them, and photons will change the electron's state of motion.
I'm not a physicist, so I don't know if my statement is accurate. We discussed this issue on the ship; Professor Pardik had his views, but unfortunately he's gone. His point was roughly that the observer affects the decay rate of microscopic particles, or the form and transfer of energy in the universe, and therefore also affects time.
The Crow felt a little embarrassed and muttered, "That's enough, quack!"
Qingmu said, "Does Madam mean that, in special circumstances, different observers can affect the speed at which time passes?"
"Forgive me for not being able to explain Pardik's theory clearly. Mr. Stone should have done more research in this area. Mr. Robbins once talked to him about time and Pardik's views; I was there at the time. If you're interested, you can go and discuss it with him," Mrs. Larry said. "I only know that it has some connection to the formation of black holes and the human psyche."
"The spiritual world?" Qingmu suddenly felt a sense of enlightenment.
An individual's Mental Power certainly does not affect the laws of the objective world, but if it is a vast Mental Power Field, then it is hard to say.
These islands are all covered by Mental Power Field, but the source of this Mental Power has not yet been found. Judging from the case of Tubuai Island, the Mental Power Field emanates from the stones in Tapu, but the situation on this Ghost Island seems to be different.
There was no path along the lake shore, so Petru carried Mrs. Larry on his back and waded through the water.
Qingmu stepped into the water and suddenly felt that the Mental Power Field in the water was different from that on the shore. This feeling was very subtle, like climbing the Badaling Great Wall and the Shuiguan Great Wall. The scenery is actually similar, but the feeling is always different. As for how it is different, you can't say for sure.
Such subtle changes in mental fluctuations are not something that ordinary people can perceive, let alone deduce anything from.
However, Qingmu remembered something and asked, " Petru, I remember you said that the Tapu and the book here are at the bottom of the lake. How did you determine that?"