Chapter 3 Chapter 2 Set off to find the "ghost ship"

As he spoke, he searched for a piece of paper from his briefcase and put it on the table. The piece of paper was already very yellow, and it seemed to be very old. On the paper, there was a shield-shaped emblem printed on it, and the pattern in the center was a strangely shaped sea monster with two wings. On both sides of the sea monster, there are patterns of spears, bows and arrows, oars, and cannons. The whole picture seems to be printed with simple woodcuts. Pointing to the piece of paper, he said: "I found this in a library with a long history that collects the history of voyages that can be recorded all over the world. This emblem belongs to the Digatto family and belongs to Spain. Emperor Ferdinand V, it is an extreme honor to grant this family who have served the Spanish Navy fleet for generations."

Although I am not proficient in the history of world navigation, I always know the name of Ferdinand V. This Spanish emperor once sponsored Columbus's voyage plan and enabled Columbus to discover the New World. Moya seemed to be afraid that I would not believe it, and he strengthened his tone: "I can be sure that the three ships I saw at that time all had the same logo on the bow, and the logo was made of copper. Meters tall, I can never be mistaken, I can be sure!" I looked at the piece of paper, originally I wanted to say that he may have seen this emblem when he was studying before, so it left an impression in his subconscious, and at the right time, he formed a hallucination , this situation is like a person in a dream. Sometimes, he will see something he has never seen before, and it is later confirmed that this phenomenon has actually been seen before, but it only remains in the subconscious. Because of the impression.

However, I didn't say what was on my mind, because if I did, it would definitely cause another unpleasant conflict! I just nodded and said, "This should be reliable information." Moya seemed excited: "This is just preliminary information, read the records in this book!" He took out another book, which was also very old, and it was in Spanish. He opened the book and said, "Look at this insert." I saw the inset to which he was referring, and it was three huge three-masted ships abreast, with the arms I had just seen at the prow. Moya said: "This book says that in 1503 A.D., the year after Columbus discovered Central America, the three most outstanding figures in the Digado family each commanded a three-masted The ship, with a hundred and fifty sailors and soldiers on board, arrived in Puerto Rico, leaving behind the soldiers, and then the three ships continued north."

Moya stopped here and looked at me. While Moore was talking, I was already quickly flipping through the records in this book. The book said that they hoped to discover another Central America or another new continent on this voyage—this is the place where they cruised. Purpose. But they were unsuccessful, because the three ships, after leaving Puerto Rico, never returned. Moya saw that I was reading quickly, and he didn't bother me again. He didn't bother me until I finished reading this paragraph of records, and he said: "Now you understand? These three ships sank in the Atlantic Ocean!"

I closed the book: "After they set off, since they have never been seen since, of course they sank in the Atlantic Ocean!" Moya leaned forward and said: "At that time, there was no sound communication equipment, no radar, nothing, sailing was a 100% adventure, so people only knew that these three ships had disappeared, as for them Where, when, and under what circumstances it sank is completely unknown!" I agree with his words: "Yes, there are many such tragedies in the history of world navigation!" Moya said loudly: "I don't care about the other side, but I know where these three ships sank!"

I frowned. Moya's hand thumped hard on the table: "Where I saw them is where they sank!" I looked at him: "So, you are sure that the sunken ship is still at the bottom of the sea, and you want to find the sunken ship, right?" Moya nodded and said: "Yes, because the three ships I saw, I can be sure that they are those three ships!" I still frowned and didn't speak. Maybe Moya really "saw" three "ghost ships" at that time, which looked the same as the three ships of the Digardo family that sank in the Atlantic Ocean. However, that You can also refer to the above explanation to confirm that it is his hallucination.

I straightened up and said, "If you find the sunken ship, will it help you in your future sailing career?" Moya waited for a while, but didn't hear anything from me. He said, "How about it, is my information enough to convince you?" Moya smiled wryly, and said: "I don't know, the investigation court may still not accept the explanation of 'ghost ship', but at least, I can rest assured that I am not a disqualified person who can hallucinate at sea. You can know that I am still a qualified captain!" I let out a "huh", knowing in my heart that this point is extremely important for Moya in the days to come.I said: "If you want to find the three sunken ships, then you must have a ship and all the equipment."

Moya heard that I had agreed to his request, and he danced happily: "I have, I told you, my promotion to the captain is entirely due to my own ability, in fact, my father is a very large family. chairman of the shipping company." I nodded and said, "He offered you help?" Moya said: "Yes, I had a long talk with him all night, and he promised to help me. He gave me a ship with excellent performance that can be used for ocean voyages. It is a ship worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. Yachts, as well as sufficient diving and detection equipment." I hesitated: "I must tell you that I am not a good diver."

Moya has already squeezed my hand: "This is not a problem, the problem is that you are willing to believe that there is such a thing, and that is enough!" I originally wanted to tell him that I didn't believe in it, but seeing Moya holding my hand so eagerly, I really couldn't bear to tell him about it. I said, "So, who else did you hire to help?" Moya said: "There is only one. He will join us in Puerto Rico. You may have heard of this man. He is the most prestigious diver in the Atlantic Ocean, Mr. Myllen." I immediately said: "Not only do I know him, but I have seen him before, but he seems to have retired!"

Moya said: "He retired last year, but at my strong invitation, he agreed to help me." I frowned again. Diving is one of the most dangerous activities in the world. Mr. Mellon is only thirty-eight years old. For other industries, this age is quite young, but for divers, he is already It is old age.Especially after he has retired for half a year, can he still support his physical strength?However, I did not raise this point, because Mellon himself should know his own affairs, and since he agreed, there would be no problem. Moya rubbed his hands, looking very excited: "Think about it, Myerlon, me, you, and the three of us should be able to find those three ships. I really saw those three ships. They exist. of!"

I hesitated for a moment, and said, "I'm not very familiar with sailing, and I don't even know anything about ghost ships. Mr. Moya, what do you mean, ghost ships are a real existence?" Moya shook his head and said, "Of course not!" I said again: "Then, please forgive me to ask one more question. At that time, you saw three ancient large ships colliding with you. Didn't you think that they were ghost ships? Why didn't you just sail over?" Moya showed a very painful expression: "When I changed the course and hit a reef, I immediately remembered that I could do this, but at the time, I really didn't think of it, I just changed the course instinctively, so that Avoid them, I have no time to think!" I took a breath and said, "So, what you mean is that when the ghost ship appears, there is a mysterious power that can make people unable to think at all, instead of accepting the manipulation of this mysterious power?" Moya frowned and lowered his head. After a while, he raised his head: "I can't explain this." After he said this sentence, he paused and looked at me again: "Why, are you afraid?" I smiled and patted his shoulder: "Since I have promised you, I'm afraid I will go too. Where is your boat parked, I will meet you the morning after tomorrow." Moya said happily: "Okay, the boat is parked near the third pier, called 'Maori', you can see it as soon as you arrive at the pier, I'll wait for you!" My first meeting with Captain Moa ended here, and I broke up with him at the door of the bar. In the next day and a half, I not only prepared to pack, but also read books desperately. What I read was, of course, a book about the history of Spanish voyages. I found that the book that Moore showed me might be an out-of-print only book, because there are almost no records about the Digado family in other books.Only one book, mentioned briefly, calls it a traitor. I know that, of course, due to political reasons, the Degardo family was ruthlessly expelled in history. I looked up the information of Myer Lun again, and from the information, this Myer Lun Xiangui is, without a doubt, the best diver in the world. On the appointed morning, I arrived at the pier at 8:00 am. Before I found the "Maori", I saw Moya running towards me. His face was full of sweat, and he ran to me. , just held my hand and shook it: "You're here, you don't know, I'm so worried, I'm really afraid you won't come, really!" I looked at his innocent and sincere face, and said with a smile: "You seem to have more confidence in ghosts than in people. You thought the ghost ship would definitely be there, waiting for you to find it, but you thought I would miss the appointment!" Moya laughed embarrassedly: "That's not what I mean, I'm afraid that after you have time to think about it, you will feel that this matter is becoming less and less possible, so you will not come!" I walked towards the pier together with him, and I said: "To be honest, I always thought it was impossible. However, even if it is a trip, I will go there once. It is rare to have a traveling companion like you!" Moya seemed very happy: "Yesterday, I asked the investigative court for an extension. The reason was to collect evidence that the crash was not due to my fault. The investigative court gave me one and a half months." I nodded and said, "I think that's enough!" Moya was in my hand and took my box. At this time, I also saw the "Maori". I don’t know why, when I saw the “Maori” for the first time, I didn’t like it very much, although in the future ocean voyages, it proved that the “Maori” was an excellent ship , but I can't change this impression. The boat was odd in appearance, and it might have been deliberately modeled after a Maori canoe, but Moore clearly had a strange passion for the Maori, and when he and I went on deck, he kept saying He asked me eagerly, "What do you think of this boat?" I had no choice but to say: "It looks very strange, doesn't it?" As Moya took me to the cabin, he kept stroking the polished brass part of the ship, his gestures, as if he was stroking not the hull, but his three-month-old daughter . He took me into the cabin, and I was stunned again. There is only one cabin on the long and narrow ship, and at the rear of the cabin, against the bulkhead, are two double beds.In the middle, there is a long table, and four chairs on both sides, near the bow, is the bridge. I saw a lot of diving equipment piled up in the cabin. Since the cabin is not separated, it seems that there is a sense of spaciousness. Moya put my suitcase on the bed and turned around: "We will set off immediately, I think you can learn to operate it soon, the voyage is too long, the three of us must take turns driving, there are many books on this ship , there is no need to worry about having no entertainment at sea!" As he spoke, he pointed to some thick wooden boxes. I didn't say anything, just came to the bridge and inspected it. While Moya explained, he started the machine. The boat turned around slowly by the pier, and then drove out. In less than an hour, the boat was already in the middle of the sea! There is nothing to describe about the sailing life. The only thing worth remembering is that Moya and I mentioned something about the Digatto family. I said: "Your book about the Digado family seems to be an orphan? I have checked many books, and they are all about the history of Spanish voyages. I can't find anything about this family at all!" Mo Ya agreed with me, saying: "Yes, this incident itself can also be said to be full of mystery. All the information about this family seems to have been deliberately destroyed, so that there is no record left. .” I asked, "So, where did your book come from?" Moya said: "I don't know, this book has always been on my father's library shelf. I have read it since I was a child, so I have a deep impression on the emblem of the Dijiadu family. As for this book Where did it come from, my father may know." I didn't ask any further, because no matter what the reason was for this family, all records were destroyed and forgotten, and that has nothing to do with the purpose of our trip. During the days at sea, I looked at the books in those wooden boxes as a diversion. More than ten days later, when we were in Puerto Rico, after meeting and talking with Mr. Myerlon, Mr. Myerun actually thought I was a very experienced navigator. The books I read were all related to navigation. When we left Puerto Rico and sailed north, sailing in the endless Atlantic Ocean, we were much more nervous. Myerlon was a man as strong as a bull with red hair. He often said that his ancestors were the "Wickings" in Northern Europe.He was also very chatty and the three of us got along really well. Merlon obviously knew nothing about the East, so he often asked me to tell him a lot of stories about the East. a period. The tension between Myerlen and me is just the tension at work. We are busy checking all diving equipment to prevent them from having any minor problems, but Moya is still mentally nervous, because, far away from him Seeing the location of the "ghost ship", it's getting closer! Day four, morning. It was Moya's night shift that day, and Myerlen and I fell asleep. In the early morning, Moya suddenly woke us up. He was very nervous and shouted: "Get up." The look we gave him also made him nervous. At that time, the sky began to light up, and there was a gray fog on the sea, and we couldn't see anything.When we got up, we found that Moya had turned off the machine, the boat was drifting on the water, and there was no sound at all on the sea, only clusters of dense fog floating silently. Myron and I looked at each other, and I said, "What's the matter?" Moya's expression became more tense, and he immediately said: "Shut up, listen!" I immediately listened attentively, but in fact, there was really no sound at all on the sea. I wanted to speak again, but Moya immediately made another gesture to me, his gesture, asking me to continue listening. I made a helpless expression, the sea is so strangely quiet, I really can't hear any noteworthy sound. I looked at Myerlon, and I could see from his look that he, like me, felt that there were no voices worth noting. After a while, Moya said again: "Can't you hear it? Listen, there is the sound of sea water hitting the bow of the ship." I stayed for a while, indeed, in the silence, there was a "pat" sound of sea water hitting the bow. However, we are now on a boat, and it is normal to have this kind of noise, so it is not worth noting at all. I also lowered my voice, and said: "We are on the boat, and the sea water is hitting the Maori!" Moya shook his head immediately, and said: "No, you can't tell the difference between the sound of sea water hitting a ship when it is moving, and the sound of sea water hitting when a ship is floating. But I can tell the difference. out." Myron was also very nervous, he whispered: "You mean, there is a ship sailing not far from us?" Moya nodded and said: "Yes, and according to the sound, its speed is about three miles." He paused for a while when he said this, and added: "This is exactly the speed of the 15th century three-masted sailing ship!" I couldn't help feeling a little nervous about Moya's words, and took a deep breath, but Myron was more nervous than me, and he said, "Ghost ship?" Moya was silent, and I tried my best to see something in the thick fog, but the fog was so thick that I couldn't see anything.However, after being reminded by Moya, I heard that the "pat" sound of sea water hitting did not come from the bow of the "Maori", but from the sea some distance away from us. I hurriedly said, "This kind of voice is so low, how did you find it?" Moya was still concentrating on the dense fog, he said: "That's my intuition, I feel a ship is approaching us!" I straightened up: "Okay, let's stop playing charades here, bring the fog lights, I will go to the bow of the ship to signal, if there are other ships not far from us, it will see the signal !" Myrlon whispered, "If it's a ghost ship──" Without waiting for him to continue, I immediately interrupted him: "To be honest, until now, I don't believe in ghost ships!" As I said that, I turned around, found a fog lamp, got out of the cabin, and came to the deck. The fog was so thick that I couldn't even see the bow of my own ship when I got to the deck. I started walking cautiously, took a few steps, stood leaning on the cabin wall, held up the fog lamp, and kept blinking. Signal. What I sent out was the simplest sentence: Please answer me! The orange light of the fog lights flashed and flashed in the dense fog. I repeated this sentence three or four times, then stopped, looked around, and waited for an answer. However, all around is just a thick fog of whiteness.The fog seemed to be getting thinner and thinner, and it was almost impossible to see anything. Of course, there was no flash of light in the thick fog. When I was about to send another signal, I suddenly heard someone behind me say: "It's useless, they're gone!" The sudden voice startled me, although I immediately recognized Moya's voice, but because of the thick fog, I still couldn't see Moya's body.I listened immediately, and sure enough, that sound was no longer audible. The sound of the sea hitting the Mauritan was significantly different from the sound we heard just now. I walked back and almost bumped into Moya who was right behind me. I saw Moya's complexion was very pale, and at the same time, I heard Maerun shouting from the cabin: "Come and see!" I took Moya and we went back to the cabin together. The fog had invaded the cabin, but at least it was much better than being outside. In Myerlen’s hand was a long piece of paper. As we all know, it was a radar detection record. . Pointing to the part of the record that suddenly rose up among the series of average lines, Myerlon said, "Look, the radar records show that a ship has approached us." I shook my head and said, "If the radar can detect ghosts, that would be a miracle!" Moya's voice was sharp, and he said, "So, what is it?" I immediately said, "Of course it's a big fish!" Both Moya and Myerlon were silent, and I began to realize that among the three of us, not only Moya persisted in believing in the existence of "ghost ships", but even Myerun also believed in it. Under such circumstances, of course they would not believe what I said was a big fish, so I don't want to argue further with them. The cabin fell silent. During this period of time, the thick fog on the sea was gradually receding. I said, "Moya, we are almost at our destination, aren't we?" Moya still stayed for a moment before saying: "It's not that it's almost there, but it's already here." I approached the bridge, pressed a button, and a sound of iron cables being loosened came from the side of the ship. The ship vibrated slightly, and then stopped still.I took a breath: "Now that we have reached our destination, we can start diving!" Moya and Myerlen looked at each other, and I said again: "The seabed detector can also be used!" The "Maori" has seabed detection equipment. This kind of equipment is very useful for finding sunken ships. If the detector detects metal on the seabed, then it must be the location of the sunken ship! Moya took a breath before saying: "Okay, let's start working, may God bless us." He pressed several buttons in a row, and adjusted some buttons. A dark green fluorescent screen lit up, with regular bands, from one end of the fluorescent screen to the other. Myerlon walked back and forth: "We should go into the water to see for ourselves, so that we can get something out of it." I looked over to Maerun, and Maerun made gestures: "I am very experienced in salvaging old shipwrecks. If the ship has sunk for hundreds of years, most of them are buried in the sea sand. Some metal parts are exposed on the sea sand, and the rust layer must be extremely thick, and the response to the detector is very weak." I agree with Mellen.The dense fog on the sea was gathering and dissipating quickly. At this time, I looked up and looked out of the cabin. There was nothing on the surface of the sea, as far as the eye could see, save our ship. Moya seemed to know what I was looking at, he murmured: "It's already gone!" I said: "If there is a ship traveling at a speed of three kilometers, we should still be able to see it?" Moya glanced at me: "The ghost ship will not appear in the sun." I wanted to argue with Moya again, but I immediately thought that it would be meaningless to argue any longer, so I just smiled: "Next time if I hear that sound again, I must put down the boat and go , follow the sound and find out what is making the sound." After Moya heard my words, his expression became very strange, and his face looked pale, and I said again: "If that is really a ghost ship, what will be the consequences if I do this?" Moya's expression showed that what he said was definitely not a joke, he said: "Then, you will disappear without a trace!" After he said this, he paused for a while, and then said again: "Then, after a few days, the ghost ship reappears, maybe you will be discovered, and you are doing hard labor on the ghost ship!" I almost wanted to laugh, but I didn't because I knew that if I did it would lead to something extremely unpleasant. I just put it lightly, pretending to be humorous: "That's good. Originally, a person's life is limited, but in this way, it seems to become eternal, right?" Moya frowned, as if he didn't quite understand my question for a while, so he didn't answer me right away. And at this moment, Myerlon shouted loudly: "Don't just talk, we are going to start action. I mean, we will launch one person into the water at a distance of no more than 500 yards, and then move the boat." Both Moya and I agreed with his statement. We first worked together to lower a submarine thruster into the sea.The so-called "undersea thruster" is actually a very simple structure, but it is extremely useful for a searcher who dives under the sea. There are propellers at the front and rear of the "submarine thruster". Two tanks of spare oxygen and a powerful fishing gun can be hung on both sides. It is propelled by a powerful battery. There is a light at the front that can emit light. The speed of this kind of pusher in sea water will not be too fast, but in any case, it is much faster than human swimming, and it can save energy. Mellon had already put on the oxygen tank, and he said, "Of course I'll go into the water first!" When he said that, Moya and I didn't think there was anything wrong, because Mellon is a very experienced diver, and our equipment is very good. A distance of 100 meters should be very safe. Mellon was on the side of the boat, did some warm-up exercises, and then jumped into the sea. That day, after the fog cleared, the weather was amazingly fine, the sun was so fierce that it burned the skin a little, and there was a gleam of light above the sea, the water was so clear that we could clearly see Merlon sinking , in the water about three meters deep, lying on the pusher, the pusher spins two bursts of water, and starts to move forward slowly, and sinks down. After all, Mellon is a very experienced diver. He did not rely on his own experience at all, and immediately started to contact us.A hood that keeps water out, so he can talk to us freely. His voice came from the intercom, saying: "Now I have reached a depth of 30 meters, and the sea is very calm. At 50 meters, the visibility is quite high. At 70 meters, I think the sea in this area will not be too deep. .” Moya looked back at what was detected on the recorder: "It's about 200 meters below the bottom of the boat." Mellon's voice came up again, saying: "I have been sinking all the time. If a ship sank here, I believe there must have been a sudden storm at that time. There are some reefs on the bottom of the sea, covered with seaweed." I said, "Myerlen, be careful, there are sharks in this area according to the records." Merlen smiled and said: "I haven't seen any sharks, but I have seen a very delicious big lobster and stone fish. When I come up, I will definitely catch some. We can have a rich lunch." Oh, I'm so stupid, the bottom of the sea is so beautiful, how could I think of retiring. What happened last time was just an accident." We all know what Merlin's words meant, and the reason why Merlin decided to retire was that he was trapped in a cave for forty-eight hours during his last dive. If it wasn't for the small area on the top of the cave, which was filled with air, he must have died at the bottom of the sea, but even so, after he was rescued, he was still lying in the hospital for more than a month. At this time, he suddenly mentioned that matter, and Moya and I looked at each other, feeling ominous in our hearts. Of course, we didn't say anything, because in such fine weather, with Mellon's rich experience, diving into the sea two hundred meters is equivalent to an adult crossing a road without heavy traffic Similarly, the word "dangerous" is definitely not mentioned. Mellon's voice came up again: "I saw the bottom of the sea, the sand on the bottom of the sea is fine and white, God, it's endless, it's like a desert under the bottom of the sea, Moya!"