Chapter 12 Chapter 10 Time or Space

Now Alan and Carlin no longer worry about not being able to catch fish.Where there is any need for long fish, just use a bucket to fish on the sea surface, and you can scoop up a bucket full of fish.Joseph and Lao Song also took a long pole to test the sea, and they found that the fish had accumulated several layers on the sea surface. The sea fish on the top layer have been suffocated to death, but they are still very fresh, indicating that the time of death is not long.Carlin looked at the fish carefully, then shook his head.He doesn't know most of the fish. Carlin got some barely recognizable fish and brought them cooked.He motioned for him to eat first.Everyone understood what he meant: whether these unknown species of fish can be eaten is still unknown.

But after a few hours, Karin did not show any discomfort.Everyone started to eat. Everyone thinks that these fish taste very delicious. Of course, this is a normal feeling after eating compressed biscuits every day and suddenly eating fresh fish.Everyone used buckets to salvage, and then cooked, feasting. After eating, everyone sat together.Lao Yang suddenly opened his mouth and said to the Americans: "I think it's time for us to tell everyone who we are." The Americans all looked at Lao Yang blankly. "Maybe what each of us knows, pieced together, can tell us the purpose of our experiment and where we are."

Joseph said: "Well, at this time, we should give up the difference of nationality and find a way to get out of here together. This damn place is a different ocean." From Joseph's tone, Cao Cang heard that the Americans, like him and Lao Yang, had also thought of this. "Let me say it first." Lao Yang said, "I am the captain of the XX ship of the Chinese Navy. When I was performing a mission in the South China Sea, my superiors suddenly sent me to participate in this experiment. The task my superiors entrusted to me is to use my wealth experience in sailing, and deal with any emergencies in the experiment.” After speaking, Lao Yang waited for the Americans to speak, and then translated their words.

"I'm a researcher specializing in electronic communication technology." Joy said, "I'm not a soldier. Before I came here, I worked in product development at Motorola." "I am an ordinary person and have never left my hometown in my life." Cao Cang said, "The United States invited me to participate in this experiment." "You didn't tell the truth, Cao." Joshua said after listening to Lao Yang's translation, "You must have something to hide from us. This experiment has used a lot of funds and manpower in our country. It is impossible for us to ask an ordinary person join."

Cao Cang said: "Maybe it's because of my special ability. I can stay underwater for ten minutes without breathing." This excuse is not convincing.Cao Cang could see doubts on everyone's faces. "Let's talk about you." Lao Yang said to Joshua, "What do you do?" "I specialize in studying the history of ancient civilizations, and my professor recommended me to participate in this experiment." Joshua said, "I don't understand, what kind of civilization can I study in this inexplicable ocean." Ximei also explained her identity. She told everyone that she is a descendant of an ancient sea nation, and she is more familiar with the sea than the land.

Allen is an expert in mechanics, and he participated in the design of this scientific research ship.The role of him on this ship is to ensure the normal operation of the scientific research ship. Lao Song's identity has been told to others, he is a geologist who participated in the Lop Nur scientific expedition team organized by China, and he is the only survivor of that team. Before Joseph participated in the experiment, he was a staff member of the California Astronomical Observatory. Karin's identity is just as Cao Cang thought, a scholar who studies marine life. Sister Zhou waited for everyone to finish, and then said: "It seems that I am the most useless person here, and my skills are completely useless here. I am an expert in climate science. But the ocean here has always been calm, and there is no danger. Saw some peculiar current. I seem to be an idler."

Everyone introduced themselves.Obviously, this information does not explain the purpose of this experiment at all. Lao Yang was silent for a while, then made up his mind and asked: "Since everyone has participated in this experiment, what is the content and purpose of the experiment, can you tell me?" No one knows why.Cao Cang thought that before he came, the national leaders did not tell him what to do.Judging others by oneself, it seems that they, like themselves, were really not informed about the experiment.But the candidates selected by the two countries are definitely carefully arranged.

"The question we have to think about now is..." Lao Yang said, "Why does our country hide the purpose of the experiment from us." "Or to put it this way," Joshua said, "our country, what the hell is it asking us to do when it sends us here." "Maybe Johnson knows." Lao Yang said, "He had the opportunity to take us out of the vortex, but he insisted on letting us enter the bottom of the vortex. This must be his mission. Your military must have told him some details of the experiment .He must know more than we do." Lao Yang's words are nonsense, because Johnson is dead.

"And your Mr. Luo." Joshua said, "He once said that he also presided over a similar experiment, but unfortunately the experiment in your country failed. He should know a little more than us." This sentence is also nonsense. However, from this point of view, among the people on board, there is one person who should know more than others.Everyone looked at Lao Song.Lao Song participated in the scientific expedition in Lop Nur. Although it was in the desert, it is similar to the current situation. Lao Song saw everyone's eyes gathering on him, and started to panic. "I really don't know the purpose of this experiment!" Lao Song waved his hands wildly.

"Then tell me about the purpose of your scientific research in Lop Nur." Lao Yang asked. "I can't say, I dare not say, I never want to recall that experiment..." Lao Song said that he slipped the tongue.He was talking about experiments, not scientific research. The Americans didn't understand what Lao Song said, but from Lao Song's expression, he could see that he was very nervous now. However, Americans are now very interested in Cao Cang.Because of the twelve people who participated in the experiment, others had extraordinary experiences or mastered different professional skills.Only Cao Cang is too ordinary.But it happened that Cao Cang, such an ordinary person, was strongly requested by the experiment host to participate.

Joshua said to Lao Yang: "I think Cao, there are still many things left unsaid." "In the current situation, there is no need for everyone to hide their secrets." Lao Yang said to Joshua, "If we continue to suspect each other like this, there will only be one ending - never going back, in this inexplicable drifting on the ocean. lifetime." "We're just curious about Cao," Joshua explained. "What we have to do now is to figure out what kind of experiment we are participating in." "Can you figure it out?" Lao Yang pointed to Lao Song and said, "This person has participated in a similar experiment. If you ask him about his experience, you can understand our current situation." "Are you willing to tell us?" Joshua was a little disbelieving. "As I said, we have to trust each other." The attention of the Chinese and Americans turned to Lao Song again. Lao Song's eyes drifted away, looking at Lao Yang in a strange way.Lao Yang nodded to Lao Song: "Tell us what happened to you in Lop Nur." Lao Song hesitated for a long time, and finally began to speak. He spoke slowly: "You all know that four years ago, our country disappeared a scientist in Lop Nur. This incident is well known." Lao Yang translated Lao Song's words to Americans, word for word.It seems that Lao Yang is determined to eliminate the barriers with the Americans and discuss countermeasures together. Lao Song went on to say: "Actually, no matter before or after that scientist disappeared, there were quite a few people who disappeared in Lop Nur. It's just that his identity is too special, and the country can no longer hide it. Two years later, my teammates and I went We set foot on that place once, and before we set off, we all explained our funeral to the country, no matter how dangerous it was, it was death. But what happened later was more terrifying than death." Cao Cang recalled that Lao Song had said that he and his teammates had encountered very terrifying things in Lop Nur. There were mysterious creatures chasing and killing them. The most terrifying thing was that they could not see each other, and his teammates disappeared into the air.At that time, Lao Song was excited, and when he was about to speak, he was stopped by Lao Yang. Now it seems that Lao Yang also wants Lao Song to continue talking. "There are seven of us." Old Song's voice became steady, "With the determination to die, we took supplies and entered the core area of ​​Lop Nur—the central area of ​​the nuclear explosion that year. Although more than ten years have passed, But the radiation in that place is still very strong. We wear radiation-proof clothing and walk on foot. Our mission is to find the body of the missing scholar. The real purpose is to find out what happened in this place. When we walked to that place When I was near the place, I discovered that there is an oasis in the center of the desert...not only the oasis, but also many creatures that I have never seen before!" When Lao Song said this, everyone felt chills in their hearts.This scene is really similar to the sea area you are in. Lao Song completely let go, no longer cared about anything, and continued, Lao Yang also quickly translated to the Americans: "The antelopes there eat meat, and those antelopes have evolved into scavengers. The pasture is dismissive, just looking for dead animals on the ground and eating the rotten meat of the dead bodies; many animals have changed, the ants on the ground will eat everything, and eat all our instruments; there are also huge hares, and wolves. They also attack me and my teammates. Fortunately, we have all the weapons and equipment, otherwise everyone will die under the teeth of these hares; the most terrifying animal in the desert - the wolf, here is The weak. Instead, they are at the bottom of the food chain and are hunted and killed by some usually docile and docile animals." "You mentioned the food chain." Karin asked through Lao Yang, "How big is the place you mentioned?" "It won't exceed a hundred square kilometers." Lao Song replied, "The animals haven't left that place. It seems that there is an invisible wall separating this area." "It is impossible to form such a rich biological population in such a small space." Carlin said. "On the contrary." Old Song smiled wryly. "There are so many animals there that they cannot be counted... just like the place we are in now." Lao Song pointed his finger at the surface of the sea, and there were still layers of fish floating on the surface of the sea. "That can only be explained in this way." Carlin said, "The place you went to and the place we are now have some kind of strange magic that can attract nearby animals." Lao Song listened to Lao Yang's translation of Karin's words, thought for a while, and nodded, "Maybe that's the case. But how do you explain the changes in these animals?" "It should be that your country's nuclear explosion in Lop Nur triggered genetic changes in animals," Joshua said. Lao Song went on to say: "The most frightening thing is a kind of strange creature, which we have never seen before. They hide in the gravel, under the grass, and even in the swamp. When we get close, they will suddenly jump out and attack the approaching ones." Humans emit a kind of electric arc. People who are hit will die immediately. The shape of this creature is very strange, it is a piece of animal large intestine, the short is one foot long, and the long one is more than one meter. It is very strong, even with a saber They kept chopping. Two of my teammates died under their attacks." "I have an idea." Joey said to everyone, "The place Song Nian went to may be a time distortion, allowing some animals that shouldn't appear in the world to come to our time." According to Joey's inference, could it be that the different seas were also caused by time disorder?Creatures from the future appeared in Lop Nur, and in the alien sea where everyone lives, all the animals that appear now are from ancient times? Lao Song did not make a conclusion on this inference, but continued: "These animals are not the most terrifying. It is that all the animals in that place will disappear inexplicably, and then reappear inexplicably. When we are surprised by this phenomenon This phenomenon started to happen to us when we were in the middle of the night. My teammates started disappearing mysteriously, but after a while, when we were looking for them, they reappeared beside us..." When Lao Song said this, Cao Cang looked at Xi Mei.Ximei was also staring at Cao Cang with her eyes.Cao Cang resisted the urge to speak. Lao Song continued: "In the beginning, everyone suddenly disappeared and then reappeared. The most terrifying time was when I suddenly found that everyone disappeared without a trace around me. I looked for my teammates everywhere, but I didn't dare to leave. far, the result..." "As a result, you suddenly saw everyone appearing beside you again." Cao Cang said. "Yes. That's it." Lao Song said, "This shows that it was me who disappeared, not someone else." "The cosmological constant in that place is changed," Joshua said, "so this strange phenomenon occurs." "Then, the disappearance of people is no longer limited to one, sometimes two or three disappear together, and finally everyone can't figure out whether it is others or themselves. The frequency of everyone disappearing is getting higher and higher. The captain wants us to hold hands with each other But we still have to sleep, and when we wake up, we will find that our companions are gone again..." "Then, as you said before, your teammates not only couldn't be seen, then couldn't be touched, and finally couldn't hear the sound... Until the end, everything disappeared. Your luck is the best, leave to that place." Cao Cang said. After hearing Cao Cang's deduction, Lao Song's eyes began to turn red slowly. "They didn't disappear, they all died." Everyone was shocked when they heard Lao Song's words. "I haven't mentioned it to anyone." Lao Song said, "Including to the superiors, my explanation to the superiors is that they are all missing, but the actual situation is not like this..." When Lao Yang was translating, his voice became serious.Everyone understood that Lao Song was going to hit the point. "Everyone was exhausted by this strange phenomenon. Xiao Zhang was the first to take it no longer. He suddenly shot at his teammate He platoon leader who appeared beside him. After Lao He was shot and died, we all became crazy Get up. Our minds are starting to go crazy, and everyone is in danger. My thought at the time was that in order to survive, I must kill the people around me. As long as they all die, I will not disappear again. When everyone dies There is no corresponding reference object that suddenly disappears and reappears..." Everyone shuddered.No need for Lao Song to go on, everyone understands that Lao Song must have killed his teammates one by one.He and his teammates used to rely on each other, but due to the continuous occurrence of strange incidents, he would kill the dangerous teammates one by one. It was not until the last person was killed that Lao Song's own space began to stabilize.Only then can he get out of that horror zone. When Lao Song said this, he walked away alone, leaving the others, looking at each other in blank dismay. Lao Song once talked about his experience in Lop Nur, and everyone vaguely knew that his experience was not simple.But after Lao Song said these words, Cao Cang thought of the environment he was in now, so his hair was terrified. No one talks about it anymore.Everyone dispersed, the speed of the boat slowed down, and Carlin and Alan used bamboo poles to test.A few hours later, there were more fish on the sea.The fish on the surface began to rot, and the fish in the lower layer also died in large numbers. The sea is full of dead fish, endless, and there is a huge creature floating up, this is a large fish that no one has ever seen.Its body is like a mollusk, very big, but the fish head is in the shape of a common fish, and the upper and lower long teeth are uneven on the outside of the mouth.This strange fish has no wounds on its body, and it doesn't look like it was attacked to death by other animals.According to Carlin's analysis, this fish should live in the deep sea, and should not suffocate to death not far below the sea surface. The specific cause of death is not clear to him. The stench in the air was getting stronger.Lao Yang found Alan and asked Alan to let the scientific research ship sail out of this dead sea as soon as possible.Allen increased the power of the turbine to the limit, and the scientific research ship broke through the thick school of dead fish and moved forward. Cao Cang followed Ximei all the time.When Ximei was sleeping, Cao Cang stood on the deck near the cabin door as if nothing had happened.Ximei discovered Cao Cang's actions and expressed her gratitude to Cao Cang.Cao Cang didn't say anything. At night, Cao Cang calculated the time and quietly hid on the upper deck of Ximei's hatch.Here is a partition for wind protection, on which Cao Cang hangs.The first purpose of Cao Cang's doing this was not to protect Ximei, but to see if anyone would harm Ximei. If not, let it go.If there is... it means one thing, someone on this boat may have disappeared like Ximei, but they were not noticed by everyone.The phenomenon on the scientific research ship is a bit different from what Lao Song said about Lop Nur, but this is the key. Cao Cang watched until midnight, and saw Joey, Joseph, and Lao Yang pass by Ximei's room, but they didn't stop.Now it's time for Lao Song to be on duty at night.Sure enough, after half an hour, Lao Song tiptoed to Ximei's cabin door, and then began to look around. Cao Cang's body began to tense.Lao Song gently knocked on the cabin door with his hand, but there was no response from inside. Lao Song took out a tool from his body and began to pick the lock of the cabin door.Cao Cang immediately jumped down from above, and before Lao Song could recover, Cao Cang slashed Lao Song's neck fiercely with his palm. Lao Song fell down without making any sound.Cao Cang dragged Lao Song to a corner not far away, waiting for Lao Song's blood circulation to recover.Lao Song woke up and saw Cao Cang squatting beside him.He struggled to get up and said to Cao Cang, "Why did you stop me, I must kill her, otherwise she will kill us all!" "Why are you so sure?" Cao Cang asked. "She was the first to disappear. She will know before us. She must be thinking of doing this to us now." "You killed her, so you have to think about dealing with other people?" Cao Cang asked, "Tell me, what will you know after the person disappears? What exactly did you see?" "I'm going to kill her. I'm going to kill her..." Lao Song's spirit was close to being insane. Cao Cang was about to continue asking Lao Song.A woman's scream suddenly came from Ximei's cabin.Cao Cang didn't care about Lao Song, so he ran to the door of Ximei's cabin and kicked the door with his feet, but the iron door of the cabin couldn't be opened. Cao Cang kicked the door loudly, which alarmed the others. "Cao Cang!" Lao Yang shouted, "Are you crazy?" Cao Cang signaled everyone to be quiet.Sure enough, a woman's scream continued to emanate from inside.Is Sister Zhou doing something to Sister Xi? Allen quickly got the key and opened the door. The scene in the cabin shocked everyone. They saw that Ximei was holding a steel pipe and was violently pumping at Zhou Jie, and the ground was full of blood. Sister Zhou struggled to escape from the cabin by relying on her survival instinct.Cao Cang snatched the steel pipe from Ximei's hand. Ximei's hair was disheveled, covering most of her eyes, and her face was also mottled with blood.She lowered her head, looked at Cao Cang with her eyes, and smiled with the corner of her mouth, which was extremely strange. "What are you doing!" Lao Yang pulled Ximei aside. Sister Zhou shouted: "She, she just disappeared." Cao Cang grabbed Ximei tightly. Sister Zhou continued: "She was lying on the bed well, chatting with me, and there was no sound when she was talking. I thought she was asleep, but when I got up to drink water, I saw that her bed was empty! Never opened, never opened..." Everyone looked at Ximei, but Ximei's expression still did not return to normal. Lao Song shouted from the side: "She will kill us all, she will do it now!" Lao Yang grabbed Lao Song and said, "Don't make a sound." "She suddenly came out of the air..." Sister Zhou continued to tremble and said to Lao Yang, "Then she beat me up. She just wanted to kill me. I saw her secret." "Now it's like this," Lao Yang said, "Xiao Cao and Lao Song accompanied Xiao Zhou...Ximei followed me to the captain's room." After Lao Yang finished speaking, he took Ximei away.The Americans also divided into two groups. Joshua and Allen followed Lao Yang and Ximei, and the rest stayed where they were.Allen went to guard the engine room, and they made this arrangement without discussing it. Cao Cang regarded Lao Song very strictly, fearing that Lao Song would be emotional.Lao Song survived this kind of environment by chance, and he didn't have any moral constraints.Joey and Joseph were also wary of Lao Song. Sister Zhou was still chattering about what happened just now, roughly saying that after Ximei disappeared and reappeared, she suddenly seemed to be a different person and wanted to kill her. Cao Cang was thinking about what Lao Yang and Xi Mei would say now.While thinking, Cao Cang saw Joey winking at him.Joey pointed to the outside, and then pointed to himself and Cao Cang. Cao Cang looked at Lao Song, a little worried.Joseph said something in English: "Leave this to me." Cao Cang said he understood what he meant. Joey and Cao Cang went to the deck.Dead fish are densely packed on the sea surface, and the edge is still invisible at a glance.Cao Cang waited to see what Joey wanted to do. Joey looked in the direction of the captain's cabin, and then took out an envelope from his pocket.Cao Cang took it, tore open the envelope, and took out the paper inside. Cao Cang took the paper in his hand, and his hand shook slightly.The letter is written in Chinese characters: "Dear Mr. Cao, you may be surprised that we invite you to participate in our experiment. Of course, you may not find it awkward at all. Please forgive us for using this kind of opening statement, because we don't know whether you have Did not inherit your family's secrets." "Your family is a very respectable family. This has nothing to do with your family's blood. Your ancestors were not nobles, but your family has kept a secret for two thousand years. Your ancestors escaped the historical The turmoil and social changes have kept this secret until today. This requires the efforts of each generation, and your family's persistence is respectable." "The people who can participate in this experiment are suitable candidates selected by your country and us. Please believe us. Anyone on this ship is your partner. You can trust them unconditionally. You are this The leader of this experiment, there is only one reason, only the descendants of your Cao family can bring them back to the real world from this place." "After watching burn down." Cao Cang read the letter, asked Joey for a lighter, and burned the note. "What's on the letter?" Joey asked. Cao Cang deliberately pretended not to understand what Joey said.He pulled Joey to the captain's cabin. In the captain's cabin, Ximei has completely returned to normal. Lao Yang said to Xi Mei: "What happened to you guys?" "Sister Zhou," Ximei said, "Sister Zhou disappeared by herself and then strangled me. If I didn't get the steel pipe, she would have strangled me to death. She strangled my neck with a towel." Ximei raised her head, and sure enough, her neck was red. Joshua was suddenly alert, "Let's go back quickly." Cao Cang also understood Joshua's worry. Now that Sister Zhou and Lao Song are dangerous people, Joseph alone must be very dangerous. Everyone hurried back to the cabins of Sister Zhou and Sister Xi, but the situation was different from what Joshua expected: Old Song and Sister Zhou were indeed crazy, but they did not target Joseph.Lao Song and sister Zhou are fighting.Lao Song had already pressed Sister Zhou hard to the ground, pinching Sister Zhou's neck with his hands.Sister Zhou's legs were twitching and kicking.Joseph was already petrified, standing aside at a loss, and didn't know how to go up to try to persuade him to fight. Everyone used a lot of strength to separate Lao Song and Zhou Jie. "Why did you do this?" Lao Yang said to Lao Song, Xi Mei and Zhou Jie, "You have lost the face of the country, you know?" All three were listless, but all had sharp eyes. Cao Cang said to Lao Yang: "Let's not talk about them first, let me ask you, what do you know more than us?" "What are you talking about?" Lao Yang shouted at Cao Cang. The Americans stood aside tacitly and looked at each other coldly: out of the five Chinese in front of them, three were already killing each other, and the remaining two were arguing. "You and I didn't have a similar situation to them. You, like me, didn't lose control of your mind." "What do you mean, you know something and didn't tell us?" Lao Yang was keenly aware of Cao Cang's meaning. "You knew from the beginning that this sea area does not belong to our world." Cao Cang said. Lao Yang stared at Cao Cang. "Americans also know this." Cao Cang said, "so when they suddenly find themselves disappearing and reappearing, they can calmly face this reality. The three of them are different, they are frightened by this phenomenon. Lao Song is right, in this situation, only by killing the people around him can he keep his state stable." "Why are you asking me this now?" Lao Yang asked. "Tell me!" Cao Cang shouted at everyone, "What is this place?" "This is the Different Sea." Lao Yang replied, "You guessed right, the place that is different from our world doesn't even exist in our world." Cao Cang is now completely sure that what the note said did not lie to him, this is not the real world. "Ask him now," Cao Cang said, pointing at Joey, "Who gave the note in his hand?" Lao Yang told the Americans what Cao Cang said.The Americans were silent for a while, and each of them took an envelope from his body.Lao Yang wanted to take it to see, but the Americans refused to give it to Lao Yang. Cao Cang took all the envelopes and tore them open. The content of each letter was the same. "This is a note someone gave us before we got on the boat." Joshua said, "That person only asked us to hand it to Cao. We don't understand Chinese characters, so we don't understand what it said." Cao Cang threw all the notes over the side of the boat. Lao Yang said to Cao Cang, "I won't pursue the note with you. You are not the person appointed by our country." "Have you ever disappeared?" Old Yang asked the Americans on behalf of Cao Cang. Americans are silent. Lao Yang said: "Our entry into this space is a secret kept by the two countries. When we enter this space from the real world, it will cause a kind of shock. What kind of shock it is, can only be guessed theoretically. I am not a physicist. I can't give you a precise explanation. But this experiment is exactly the same as Lao Song's experiment in this respect. The sudden disappearance and reappearance of the human body is one of the phenomena after the shock of traveling through space. We can't compare with Lao Song. Like Song’s scientific expedition team, they killed each other at the beginning of the experiment, which made the experiment fail.” "You mean, Lao Song's experiment failed because they couldn't bear this phenomenon?" "The country has never known the reason for their failure. Old Song was too selfish to conceal this important link." Lao Song heard this and said: "Then what can I do? Is it wrong for me to do so? Don't you know how his teammates were treated after that person disappeared?" "This kind of shock will gradually weaken as we spend time in the different sea, and finally it will no longer appear. At this time, our experiment can really start." "Why do Americans know how to keep calm in this situation?" "Because they have done this experiment more times than us." Lao Yang said, "They have also failed many times and have more experience than us." Cao Cang turned his attention to the Americans. These Americans, who usually look innocent, now look innocent.They deliberately watched Chinese people who did not understand the truth kill each other. Cao Cang recalled the psychological training he had received at the base: "Don't be swayed by your own subjective judgment..."