The thick fog finally began to dissipate slowly.
First, people saw each other's faces, then they saw the trees behind them. The sun reappeared hazily in the sky, but this time, there were two Sun hanging simultaneously on opposite sides of the sky—
One is the rising sun, the other is the setting sun.
In the middle of the sky, however, some stars could be faintly seen, clustering around a dim, round object, like a ghostly face hanging in the sky. That must be the moon here.
People were no longer surprised by the unusual sights at Ramla; in this time and space, anything was possible. They carefully got up and went to the high ground on the hillside, looking out at the lake through the gaps in the bushes.
The silhouette of a boat moored in the middle of the lake suddenly came into their view. It was so huge that it stood like a mountain relative to the lake that a person could swim across.
"It's a warship!" Boris whispered.
"It looks like an American-made frigate; it looks somewhat familiar," Ivan added.
People's hearts sank. This warship was very likely the one that destroyed the research vessel. If it spotted them, a single shell would be enough to wipe them all out.
Petru had binoculars on him, which he carefully picked up and lay prone in the grass to look through, just like a sniper afraid that the reflection of the lens would reveal him to the enemy.
"Wait, I think I've seen it before," Petru said after looking at it for a while.
"Let me see," Ivan said, crawling down to Petru's side.
Petru handed the binoculars to Ivan. Ivan glanced at them and said with certainty, "The USS Swordfish frigate of the Pacific Ocean Third Fleet! No wonder it looked so familiar. I studied all the US Navy ships when I was in service; I know the appearance of every single one of them by heart."
Qingmu recognized the name and suddenly remembered it, looking at Situ and saying:
"When I met your wife on Rapa Island, she was with a naval officer who shook my hand and identified himself as 'Lieutenant Commander William Halsey, captain of the USS Swordfish, Joint Task Force, Pacific Ocean Third Fleet '."
Petru jumped up. "That's right! It's the warship we encountered, I remember what it looked like!"
Everyone looked at Situ.
For the first time, a dark cloud appeared on Situ's usually bright and handsome face. His brows furrowed, and a hint of melancholy and unease crept into his eyes.
Qingmu knew that if this enigmatic man, who seemed to know everything and be omnipotent, had any weakness, it would probably be the safety of Xia Xiaoxiao Meimei.
However, now, people are probably not worried about him, but rather wondering about the relationship between his wife and the perpetrators of the attack on the research vessel.
Anderson suddenly drew his pistol and pointed it at Situ: "I've suspected it was you for a long time!"
Ivan and Boris drew their pistols and pointed them at Anderson almost simultaneously. "Calm down, buddy!"
Petru then turned and pointed his submachine gun at Boris: "Put the gun down!"
The atmosphere was tense, on the verge of exploding.
Mrs. Larry shouted, "Everyone calm down! Anderson, don't act rashly!"
"No, I'm not acting on impulse!" Anderson said. "I'm the first mate of the Discovery, and I'm responsible for Church and the dead. I suspected them from the very beginning!"
What a coincidence that the Discovery rescued you from the South Pacific basin! You know, in that place, even if three people or three Godzilla were to drift away, they would be nothing more than three sesame seeds in Lake George.
You said you used a submarine to blow up the connection between the Ramla Ant Nest and Earth, destroying the submarine itself. How did you survive? I was a soldier too, don't think I don't know anything about submarines!
Before you boarded the ship, the Discovery only encountered the forces of nature. As a research vessel, encountering strange events is nothing new; it's not like we haven't encountered them before. But once you boarded, things changed.
First, Pardik was injured and his electronic equipment malfunctioned. Then we were attacked—attacked helicopters and missiles—only large warships have that capability. Everyone on the Discovery died except for me, Alice, and the lady, who escaped in the first lifeboat. The three of you are the only survivors.
It's the three of you again!
Listen to this, folks! Are those three God's own children? How come they can't die?!
If Mr. Qingmu hadn't said it, I wouldn't have been so sure. But now what do you have to say? I know you're very capable, able to control my subconscious, but I believe Mr. Qingmu is fair! You'd better explain yourself clearly!"
Anderson's voice was a bit loud, Alice reminded him, " Anderson, keep your voice down! Don't attract the attention of the people on that warship over there!"
Anderson said, "Oh, it's okay, they can't hear you," but his voice had already lowered, probably because he felt it was unsafe to speak like that.
Situ didn't confront Anderson, nor did he offer any explanation; he simply gazed silently into the distance.
Qingmu was willing to believe Situ from the bottom of his heart, but he needed an explanation from him.
Actually, he was a little puzzled at first. As far as he knew, Xia Xiaoxiao had been hiding under an assumed name because of the incident at Laboratory No. 19, so how could she so openly board a United States fleet warship? But he thought of the all-powerful Situ, so he didn't take it seriously.
When Qingmu mentioned the warship and the officer's name, his intuition told him that Situ knew Halsey. However, he also seemed surprised that Xia Xiaoxiao would be on a warship and showed a hint of worry. Therefore, Situ likely not only knew Halsey but also knew his identity, while Xia Xiaoxiao might not.
Of course, another possibility is that Situ discovered something suspicious, and that this suspicious point involved Xia Xiaoxiao herself. But Qingmu didn't dare to think too deeply about it. He didn't want to drag Meimei and her mother into the center of the incident. From a man's instinct, he hoped they would stay as far away from these troublesome things as possible, just as he hoped Bi Shenghua would never get involved in these matters.
He believed that Situ thought the same way. Bi Shenghua was Qingmu's Achilles' heel, and no one was allowed to touch her; Xia Xiaoxiao Meimei were Situ's Achilles' heel, and no one was allowed to touch them either.
Putting himself in Situ's shoes, he understood Situ's feelings and his silence at that moment.
Su Huilan suddenly said, "We encountered the Swordfish frigate at Rapa Island. At the time, they seemed to be assisting the United Nations rescue team with a maritime search and rescue operation. Why are you so sure it was the same ship that attacked the Discovery?"
"Then why is it here?" Anderson asked.
"If we could get here on Petru's sailboat, why couldn't they? Perhaps they too encountered a thick fog and were swept away by Ramla?"
"This is too much of a coincidence, I can hardly believe it!" Anderson said stubbornly.
Alice, however, said hopefully, " Anderson, I think Professor Su is right. Shouldn't we always look on the bright side? I told you long ago it might be here to save us!"
"How can we confirm this? The risk is just too great!"
"We can send two people over to find out their background."
Who should we send?
"Nobody go! Getting on the ship is like walking into a trap!" Situ suddenly said. "We mustn't expose ourselves before they land. Petru, you monitor the warships with your binoculars; the rest of you, stay hidden. Qingmu, we need to send tribesmen to scout out escape routes and better hiding places. Mental Power can't handle cannonballs!"
Although Situ had not yet been cleared of his status as a suspect, his words carried an irresistible force, and no one raised any objections. Even Anderson reluctantly put away his gun.
When Qingmu heard Situ say that his Mental Power couldn't handle the cannonball, he suddenly remembered the mental bullet that Petru used when he fired at him in Tapu on Tubuai Island. At that time, he couldn't understand how a bullet buried in Tabuli could generate Mental Power. He even thought that the strong radiation of Tapu affected the characteristics of the bullet. Later, it was confirmed that this was not radiation, at least not the radiation of ordinary material particles.
If mental radiation affects the bullets, does that mean it can also affect artillery shells? And any substance, causing it to generate mental fluctuations? The Mental Power Field of Ramla's island is much stronger than that of Tapu on Tubuai Island!
Qingmu sensed something was seriously wrong with Petru. Just as Su Huilan had warned him, was it really a coincidence that he obtained the Tapu Chart? Why did he choose to hide on Tubuai Island instead of hiding elsewhere?
Furthermore, Anderson's performance today was also abnormal!
Qingmu suddenly found himself becoming suspicious. That didn't seem right!