Petru was carrying Mrs. Larry ahead when he heard Qingmu's question. He didn't stop, but only glanced at the distant rolling mountains with the book, and said:
"This is indeed the first place I've ever been. I was exhausted and thirsty, so I drank some lake water and even jumped in for a dip. I noticed that the Mental Power Field in the water was stronger than on the surface. I initially thought it was due to the medium, like sound, where Mental Power travels differently in different mediums."
Qingmu found it strange that such words came from the mouth of a pirate. People often use the things they are most familiar with when making analogies, and the laws of sound transmission in different media are usually only known to scientists. Even if he used the effect of explosives in different environments as an analogy, Qingmu felt it was more reasonable, after all, fighting was Petru's forte.
"Later I encountered savages, so I dived out of the lake to escape to the other side, and even surfaced in the middle of the lake to catch my breath. There were some special reefs underwater, the same as the stones in Tapu. I've never seen those kinds of stones outside of Tapu, um... except for that altar," Petru continued.
Qingmu recalled how they had escaped from the Flying Waterfall on that island yesterday and fallen into this lake. At that time, he was Tushu a little dazed because he had just witnessed a terrifying phenomenon, and he was rescued by Alice's small boat. But if the lake was indeed Tapu, and the Mental Power of the entire island was emanating from the bottom of the lake, he couldn't possibly have failed to discover it.
"Although the Mental Power in the lake is different, I don't seem to sense Tapu's power at the bottom of the lake," Qingmu said.
Petru said, "I find it strange too, but I swear, what I said is true."
Petru's words were full of doubts, but since arriving on the island, he had seen all sorts of strange things, and nothing could be judged by common sense. For example, Anderson and Alice were able to find a lifeboat and escape through the spatial rift in the fog in the face of that cataclysmic disaster, which was nothing short of a miracle.
Qingmu shook his head. He found himself suddenly becoming very suspicious, as if some force was influencing his mind and fighting against his lazy and unthinking nature.
He didn't know why he had become like this. Although many things were suspicious and the people around him were not entirely reliable, not only Petru, but also Situ, Anderson, Alice, and even Su Huilan, all of whom had many suspicious points.
Perhaps only Boss Coal and Hanran are trustworthy!
Qingmu originally wanted to dive into the water to take a look, but the timing wasn't right, because while they were talking, they had already spotted the riverbank where the savages were.
Rows of neatly tied rafts lay on the riverbank, presumably intended by the savages to cross the lake. It was unclear whether they were for retreat if they were defeated by the local tribes, or for returning home when the fog rose.
Petru asked, puzzled, "Why are they building so many rafts?"
Qingmu said, "Maybe they're just in case they can't beat the local tribes."
"This isn't a water battle; we don't even have rafts to use if we can't win!"
"At least they can quickly escape to the other side of the lake. When fog rolls in on the island, they might be able to row back."
"Go back? Are you kidding me! Such a huge flood! Such a huge moon! I don't think anyone can survive in that godforsaken place!"
Qingmu agreed with Petru; it was truly unimaginable what state the island would be in after such a cataclysmic disaster.
However, given the mysterious timing on the island, perhaps when the fog rolls in again, centuries will have passed, and the traces of disaster will have been repaired by new life.
The savages may not understand the observer effect of time, nor realize that when they traverse this mist once and then again, their home has long since transformed from the sea back into mulberry fields. In their perception, that might only take a few days. Time leaves no trace on them, yet it secretly smooths away the vicissitudes of life, preventing them from seeing them.
"Time will heal all wounds!" he said.
The Crow exclaimed, "Caw! How poetic!"
Petru, however, curled his lip in disdain.
Qingmu said, "I now suspect that these islands may never have experienced the rise and fall of civilizations. The disaster we experienced was the norm here, just like the ice ages on Earth. It's just that these tribes can use distorted spatial channels to avoid disasters and avoid aging due to the relativistic effect. So, as long as they hide outside for a few days, the wounds inflicted on their homes by the disaster have been healed by time. The next time the fog rolls in, they can go back and rebuild their homes."
Mrs. Larry said, "What you said makes sense. If the timelines on both sides are not aligned, they can indeed go back and rebuild their homes. Since we are able to survive here, it means that the material environment of this space is similar to that of Earth, so the post-disaster recovery will probably be similar to that of Earth. If we extrapolate in this way, the impact of a super flood would probably last for several hundred years, while the stellar impact that Mr. Stone and his group encountered is incalculable, and it's hard to say whether that island will even still exist."
However, Mr. Qingmu, there's something you're wrong about. Their civilization did experience periods of rise and fall; it's just that we can't see or find the traces of those rises and falls, much like... some people are searching for the Gendaya Civilization."
Petru's ears perked up, and he asked, "By the way, madam, may I ask, what exactly is this Gendaya Civilization?"
"The first Sun calendar recorded in the Maya civilization is said to have given men a third eye, while women received blessings from the gods and gave birth to the gods' children. Of course, it's all just a legend." Mrs. Larry's expression was somewhat desolate and forlorn, as if she was thinking of something.
Petru seemed to want to say more, but seeing that Mrs. Larry was unwilling to say more, he had no choice but to shut up.
Qingmu said, "At least the Gendaya Civilization can find some clues from the Maya civilization, but these savage tribes have neither cultural relics nor are they large enough to form a large civilization."
"Have you forgotten the writings I showed you?" Mrs. Larry said. "That altar was no smaller than Maya pyramid, and judging from the murals and writings inside, their civilization was indeed once magnificent, unless that altar wasn't built by their ancestors, but was a true miracle."
"A miracle?" Petru laughed. "Madam, shouldn't a scientist like you be an atheist?"
Mrs. Larry said, "The unknown power is God. This God could be something that exists but we cannot understand, such as the Boltzmann Brain that Mr. Stone mentioned."
"If Bohr's brain is so powerful, why didn't he just take those savages to a more civilized place? Why make them suffer in this godforsaken place?" Petru said.
"Perhaps we'll know the answer once we decipher the high-dimensional writing and murals in the altar."
"Do you know the answer?"
"To know God's thoughts, and—" Mrs. Larry said, "Who is God?"
Petru said, "Maybe it's just a charade!"