Situ did not deny it, saying, "I have indeed been here, more than once."
"So how did you get back?" Several people asked this question at the same time.
"Luck," Situ replied simply. "If you don't mind going out like I have, only to return to a completely different world where no one recognizes you, then we can try our luck."
How do I try it?
" Mental Power also has different frequencies. Each endpoint of Ramla has a unique Mental Power Field, just like the scepter in my hand can resonate with the energy field of a certain island through Mental Power. There are also special Mental Power Field on Earth, but I found that the Mental Power Field on Earth are incomplete, as if they are depleted or destroyed. Do you still remember those Tapu?"
Qingmu, Su Huilan, Petru, and Mrs. Larry all nodded; they all knew of Tapu's existence.
" Tapu is remnant evidence of Earth Mental Power Field," Situ said. "I've been searching for a way to repair Earth Mental Power Field, and I've been studying Tapu. Simulating Tapu to set up Mental Power Field array was one such attempt. I entered Ramla a long time ago, though I didn't know it was called Ramla then. Every time the fog rolls in, I try to sense the special fluctuations of Earth Mental Power Field through the mist. If I'm lucky, I succeed in a few tries; if I'm unlucky, I might not find it even after dozens of attempts. That's why I said, if you can wait, we can try our luck. But even if you can wait, Earth might not be able to."
"Why?"
Those who didn't know the Situ's words were strange, but Qingmu and Su Huilan understood perfectly what he meant.
Su Huilan explained the matter of the Parasitic Consciousness invasion to Situ. Although they had talked about this before when they were casually discussing Earth, everyone, including Mrs. Larry, was still somewhat shocked when Su Huilan recounted in detail what happened after Lester's last words and the Cat-Killing Order.
"Mr. Lester has... passed away?" Mrs. Larry asked, her face filled with grief.
Su Huilan nodded.
A brief silence fell over the room, as if everyone was mourning Mr. Lester. Even Boris, who had only heard of Lester but had never known what kind of research he did, lowered his head in sorrow.
"You suspect that the Parasitic Consciousness came to Earth through the Ramla Ant Nest?" Qingmu broke the silence.
"It's not doubt, it's certainty," Situ said. "I discovered the entrance to the Ramla Ant Nest in the South Pacific, the very underwater ruins and inverted pyramid that your research vessel is going to investigate. I entered the Ramla Ant Nest from there before."
The usually composed Ivan suddenly spoke up, "I understand now, no wonder Mr. Stone wanted to use a submarine..." He then suddenly realized he shouldn't have said that, so he shut his mouth.
"It's alright, Ivan. You can relax here and say anything." Situ smiled at him. "When I realized that was the entrance to the Parasitic Consciousness, I wanted to end it all and destroy the connection between the Ant Nest and the earth. So I bought a Former Soviet Union- made submarine, loaded it with thirteen torpedoes, and hired veteran submariners like Ivan and Boris. When that entrance appeared, we blew it up."
Boris was stunned.
"I'm so sorry, Ivan, Boris. You should be with your wives and children right now, or enjoying a drink in a Moscow bar. It's my fault that you ended up in this godforsaken place. And Vasily, Andrei, Modevich, Anthony..." Situ rattled off a long list of names. "It's all my fault. May their souls rest in peace in heaven."
"No! Mr. Stone— " Ivan's expression was serious and earnest, "You don't need to blame yourself! From the very beginning, when you had me buy torpedoes from the arms dealers, although I didn't know what you were planning, I was prepared not to return home, and my brothers knew that. You gave their families enough money—more money we couldn't earn in several lifetimes at sea!"
Boris added, "That's right, Mr. Stone. Although my ex-wife and I argue every time we meet, I still want her to be happy. I think she and my son are living a good life right now thanks to the money you gave them. They won't have to worry about money until my son gets into college and finds a decent job! I have to thank you!"
Ivan added, "Besides, what you've done is to save all of humanity! You've done a great thing, and I feel incredibly honored!"
Boris quickly added, "Yes, it's an honor! If I get the chance to go back, I'll definitely brag about it to my uncle. That old guy always brags to me just because he fought in the Battle of Moscow, but he was just a nobody back then, only delivering meals to the Red Army soldiers. When I get back, I'll tell him I blew up the alien invasion tunnel with a torpedo! To hell with Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, to hell with Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin! We're not fighting for narrow nationalists, we're fighting for all of humanity!"
" Boris, although you're a bastard, I have to admit, you said something quite insightful!" Petru praised.
"Haha, Redbeard, although you're a villain, I have to admit, you have a pretty good eye!" Boris retorted.
Su Huilan immediately thought of the discoveries made during the maritime search and rescue operation, saying, "No wonder the research vessel wreckage and the submarine wreckage were found at the same time. We had always thought the research vessel had been attacked by a submarine, and Russia had taken the blame and faced a lot of public pressure for it. It turns out that Mr. Stone used the submarine to blow up the Ramla Tunnel. It seems you succeeded?"
"If I had succeeded, we wouldn't be here," Situ shook his head. "Things are far more complicated than I imagined. Every Tapu on Earth could be a port of Ramla. Besides, I don't even know if we destroyed that inverted pyramid, because all thirteen torpedoes we launched bounced back from the mirror space."
Qingmu said, "You should have succeeded. According to my latest information, the Parasites's invasion channel has been closed, and it seems that the Tushu are all thanks to you."
"That's really lucky," Situ said.
"However, they should be trying to restart the channel."
"So we need to hurry!"
The fog on the island thickened, and the two Sun in the sky became somewhat blurry.
An impatient Boris asked urgently, "So what should we do now? Go back to the original island, or try our luck and return to Earth?"
Anderson, who had been silent all along, suddenly thought of a question, "If... I mean, if we each went back to the island we came from, how could we ever get back together? Perhaps..."
Situ said, "That's exactly what I'm worried about, because our meeting this time was really just a coincidence. If we part ways, we may never meet again."
Petru said, "That's easy. Let's all work together, go to one island first, take care of one, and then go to the other island."
Mrs. Larry looked back at the densely packed savages in the distance and said, "We can, but they might not want to."
Petru said, "I told you they were a burden!"
Situ suddenly smiled and asked Anderson, "What were you about to say, 'Perhaps'?"
Anderson said, "Perhaps... we can take this island first; there should be an altar here too."
Situ said, "But we're not sure we can win now."
The fog on the island is getting thicker and thicker.
Alice suddenly pointed in the direction behind Situ and Qingmu and exclaimed, "What's that?"
People looked in the direction she was pointing, and suddenly the shadow of a boat appeared in the thick fog on the lake.