Chapter 14 Chapter 12 Paleontologist Carlin

After Lao Yang died, everyone silently cleaned up Lao Yang's body. In this vast sea, there was no other better funeral than throwing him down. A very real problem was in front of everyone: after Lao Yang's death, no one could act as an interpreter. Although Cao Cang can generally communicate in English, he cannot tell others that he has this ability. Communication became a big problem for the remaining five Americans and four Chinese. However, the situation is not as bad as imagined. After all, everyone has lived together on the same boat for a period of time, and usually communicates with each other.Now simple intentions, in English or Chinese, through the other party's expressions and gestures, can communicate with each other reluctantly.

But when the compatriots from each other are together, everyone communicates in their native language proficiently, but people from the other country still cannot understand. Ximei finally played the role of the navigator. She has a sense of direction at sea, and everyone knows it. Now everyone is looking at Ximei, Ximei still has a flat expression, she sniffs with her nose, and then points in a direction with her finger.The research ship is heading in this direction. The strange school of fish on the sea, still unwilling to give up, slowly moved with the boat.But the speed of their movement is not as fast as that of ships.The scientific research boat gradually drove out from the fish school.

The strange fish realized that the prey was about to escape from their trap, and they began to make a final effort.All the strange fish stretched their tails into the air several meters high, and the dazzling light became one piece. At this time, it was no longer a soft weak light, but red, orange, yellow, green, blue, blue, and purple, arranged in sequence with the change of the spectrum. Everyone once again admired the beauty of this light. The rainbow, the rainbow that fills the sky, the colors of this rainbow are reflected all the way to the clouds in the sky, and then reflected back, covering everyone.

"This is not a rainbow. The real rainbow is caused by the refraction of light in the atmosphere. The atmosphere in the different sea is so different from the atmosphere in our world that it is impossible to produce these refractions." Sister Zhou said. Both Chinese and Americans have had childhood dreams. When they saw a beautiful rainbow, they dreamed of climbing that beautiful Hongqiao. Now everyone's dream has come true.But everyone knows that this is the strange fish trying its best to lure everyone and let them stay here, and then they can't stand the attraction of this dreamlike environment and fall into the trap again.

If it is an ordinary person, it will definitely be attracted by this beautiful light again.But the people on the scientific research ship have already seen the danger under the light, and it is impossible to make the same mistake again. When the scientific research ship was about to rush out of the fish school, the strange fish began to attack, and some strange fish slowly moved to the front of the ship, preventing the ship from moving forward.Cao Cang picked up the pistol and magazines left by Lao Yang, and when he was ready, he calmly shot at the top of the strange fish's tail. The light-emitting organ at the tail of the strange fish is very fragile. After being shot, the strange fish swayed painfully on the sea surface and then sank underwater.Cao Cang followed suit and hit several in a row.When Cao Cang was about to change the magazine again, Karin stopped him.

Karin patted the long hair on the bow.Now, this thing can come in handy again.There is a rope at the back of the long scorpion, and it can be retracted after hitting the target.The strange fish that was hit finally gave up.The light on the sea gradually dimmed, and the threat disappeared. Cao Cang tried his best to look at the sea surface, but beyond the reach of the searchlights on the boat, there was still boundless darkness. Cao Cang walked up to Ximei and said to Ximei, "Can you tell me what kind of place Yihai is?" "The Different Sea has always existed." Ximei said, "My ancestors have been here many times."

"Then why have I never heard of this place before?" "Not everyone can find this place." Ximei said, "My family once wanted to lead the entire Dan tribe to live in this place, but later, they never found it, leaving only the "Water Road Book". Time It’s been a long time, and everyone has forgotten this place, and it’s just a legend. Except for our family who kept the "Water Road Book", no one is interested in this place." "Can you tell me what you saw after you disappeared?" Cao Cang couldn't help asking. "There's nothing too strange." Ximei replied, "It's just that you're all gone, and I'm alone on the boat. I've been to every corner of the boat, and I'm the only one. I heard my father say, When our ancestors entered this sea area, the people on the boat became transparent and could not see each other, but it was only a few days, and after a few days, everything returned to normal."

Cao Cang said, "So you are not afraid." "Yes, but sister Zhou is different. After she disappeared, she became so powerful that she wanted to kill me." Ximei continued, "You're okay, not like her." "Because I've been watching you walking around on the boat, and finally sitting at the stern." Cao Cang said, "When you appeared, I said I could see you, not trying to hide anything for you." "Then why don't you tell others to see me." "Because..." Cao Cang paused, "I saw you pass through other people's bodies. How should I put it, it's like smoke in two human shapes, intertwined and then separated. But you can't feel each other. "

"You see everyone all the time?" "Yes. And Lao Song, he ran around the boat in a panic, trying to jump into the sea several times." "That's strange." Ximei said, "Your family must have something special that keeps you from disappearing and allows you to see others." Cao Cang thought for a while, then hurriedly found Lao Song, and brought Lao Song into the conversation. "Old Song, what exactly was your experiment for?" Cao Cang asked. "As I said, enter a place in Lop Nur." Lao Song replied impatiently. "I understand why the country wants me to participate in this experiment." Cao Cang said to Ximei and Lao Song, "I can stabilize in different spaces."

"What do you mean?" Sister asked. Lao Song understood, and said slowly: "Actually, I have thought of this too, but I didn't expect it to be like this." Xi Mei was anxious, "What exactly are you talking about?" "This different sea, this space, is more than one, and the directions are completely overlapping." Lao Song said, "And there may be infinitely many spaces." "Only you," Ximei said to Cao Cang, "can you appear in every space at the same time?" The three of them were silent at the same time, and after a while, Lao Song stopped talking.

Cao Cang knew what Lao Song wanted to say, so he took the initiative to say: "It's not entirely like this, I can't see our original world. I can only see the space after those shocks." "You are by no means a descendant of a Nanyang ship merchant." Lao Song became alert, "Your identity is too unusual." Cao Cang said calmly: "Yes, this is the secret that our family has always kept." "Different Sea...Different Sea..." Lao Song smiled wryly, "It turns out that I used to be in Lop Nur just like here, and I couldn't find it on the map." Ximei said: "I know you are this person, my elders mentioned...you are the one who will never lose their way in the different seas." Cao Cang was silent. He really wanted to tell Ximei that he didn't know anything. Apart from his physical strength and combat experience, he had no other background.Compared with Lao Song and Ximei, I am completely unfamiliar with this place.Lao Song had at least participated in similar actions, and Ximei's ancestors also left memories of Yihai. Cao Cang knew that he could not reveal that he was an impostor.Because Lao Yang had explained to him before his death: "You can't trust anyone, including compatriots." This is what Lao Yang ordered before he died, and it was consistent with the intention of his superiors before the action. The three of them looked at each other for a while, Ximei and Lao Song knew that Cao Cang would not say anything more, so they each left angrily. The ship gradually moved out of the dark clouds. Although it was daytime, the surroundings were still very dark, and only where the sun shines was there bright light. Cao Cang deliberately approached the Americans, trying to be as casual as possible.But this cover-up is superfluous, the Americans are not wary of Cao Cang at all.When Cao Cang came to them, they were still discussing their topic. "Now I can be sure that this is another direction of biological evolution." Karin was talking, saw Cao Cang approaching, and smiled at Cao Cang, "It is not consistent with the biological evolution of our world." Cao Cang could barely understand what Kalin meant.Karin didn't shy away from him when he spoke, probably because he thought he couldn't understand English.Chinese people of Cao Cang's age cannot speak English if they are not special intellectuals or have received special education.Cao Cang thought of the Xia family brothers, and they found out that the real Cao Cang had never stepped outside the country, and was a descendant of the family hidden among the people. The Xia family brothers knew this information, and the Americans certainly believed it.The Americans did not expect that Cao Cang, standing in front of them, had already changed positions. "However, although these creatures are strange," Carlin continued, "their biological characteristics still maintain some commonalities with the marine life in our world. For example, those fish that emit scary lights and use light to lure us are called monkfish. They are because of their sight. It degenerates and gradually evolves the light at the tail, which becomes a tool for trapping prey. However, the monkfish here is even bigger." "Huge size..." Joey interjected, "didn't you notice that the creatures we've seen so far... I'm talking about creatures that are similar to the fish we know...they are all very large .” "Yes, that's what I'm going to say right now." Karin said, "The huge size of creatures is also a selection made in the process of evolution to adapt to the environment. This kind of fish in the different seas chose this size, and Not the size we used to see." "What we have to think about now is what kind of external environment caused this biological variation." Joy said. "The evolution of organisms is a process of continuous mutation." Carlin replied, "You can't think about this issue from the perspective of the past. If this is the case, it will not help our discussion." "Yes," Joshua said, "Now we have been able to confirm that the alien sea we are in is not the earth. The creatures here must of course evolve according to the environment of the alien sea. From the perspective of the alien sea, the creatures on our earth , is an unreasonable variation." "Correct!" Carlin said, "According to this line of thinking, we can speculate that the fish we saw are huge, and we may get an inference - the ocean area of ​​the different sea is very large, far exceeding the ocean area of ​​our earth." Cao Cang was also thinking. What Karin said was very reasonable. Goldfish kept in a fish tank will never grow up.But put the same species of goldfish into a spacious fish pond, and the goldfish will grow to a foot long.This is an ability of organisms to adapt to the environment. People in the United States have more professional knowledge and are more prepared than the Chinese, but why do they not know where they are when they enter the initial stage of the experiment?Cao Cang was a little confused. Is this a pact for a joint experiment between two countries?Cao Cang thought of the Soviet Typhoon submarine again, and finally understood one thing: this kind of consideration has only one purpose. In order not to reveal the purpose of the experiment, the two countries (at least on the surface) concealed it from everyone. experiment content.Except for the core leaders of the country, no one knew the purpose of the experiment, including the experimenters who performed the task. Cao Cang further thought that since the two countries are so cautious, it can be judged that among the twelve people who participated in the experiment, there must be people that neither China nor the United States can control.And this person should not be a Soviet spy.Because China has secretly passed the information of this experiment to the Soviet Union. "The continuation of the nation..." "This is war..." Cao Cang's thoughts gradually became clear. This is like a person escaping on a lifeboat. In order to prevent the lifeboat from being overloaded and sinking, he would refuse the people behind to board the boat.Cao Cang's palms began to sweat. People from China and the United States are the passengers on the lifeboat. For the success of the experiment, the two countries try not to let other countries know the content of the experiment.But the Chinese side knew that the moment the actual test was successful was when the U.S. kicked China off the ship, so China notified the Soviet Union and asked the Soviet Union to contain the U.S. In addition, China and the United States are not sure whether the participants in the experiment are appointed by other countries.In a Cold War world where espionage was so active, it was difficult to conduct an experiment of this magnitude without leaving a trace... "This inference is unreasonable." Joey continued Carlin's words, "Even if the area of ​​​​the alien sea exceeds that of the earth, is the area of ​​the environment expanded proportional to the increase in the size of the organism?" "Now there are two possibilities." Carlin said, "Either the Yihai is an extremely huge ocean, which has the same proportion as the size of organisms, and is hundreds of times the area of ​​our earth's sea area." "This inference is not valid." Joshua immediately retorted, "Look at the size of the sun in the sky, and then refer to the transition time between day and night..." "Yes, this is exactly the same as the earth..." Karin said, "Then there is another possibility..." "In this world, there is no land at all." Allen said, "It's all ocean." "Although the total area of ​​the world remains the same," Karin continued, "the range of biological activities is missing two spaces. There are no land creatures, no birds, only the ocean..." "This actually expands the living space of marine fish infinitely, and the species competition among organisms is only carried out in the ocean." Joseph said, "All organisms in one environment, the huge size is the continuation of species. Advantage." "Then how do we explain the long-beaked dragon we saw?" Joey said, "Reptiles evolved on land." "This is easy to explain." Carlin said, "Dinosaurs should have become extinct tens of millions of years ago. There must have been land in Yihai tens of millions of years ago, and reptiles evolved... the sea water here It's not completely fresh water, it's still partially salty." "Can you understand it this way," Allen said, "The alien sea 100 million years ago was the earth. It's just that from a certain time period, the history of the earth moved in two directions, splitting into two spaces..." When Cao Cang heard this, he could no longer control his emotions, and the top of his head began to sweat. "Cao!" Allen pointed at Cao Cang and shouted, "What happened to you?" Allen speaks very simple Chinese. He and Cao Cang often chatted before and learned some Chinese. Cao Cang knew that his expression must have given some clues to the Americans. When he was thinking about how to explain it, he suddenly felt something flying over his head, and he suddenly pointed his hand to the sky. The Americans looked up to the sky, and a group of birds flew past the scientific research ship. Now, the Americans are all stunned. The conclusion they drew just now was completely overturned by this sudden flock of birds. There are birds, which proves that there must be land in the different sea, and the land is not far away. The flock of flying birds flew by slowly, and then disappeared into the sky. The Americans resumed the discussion. Joseph said: "I infer that there is another possibility. The range of biological activities has expanded. We only think of two-dimensional planes. Is it possible that the depth of the different seas is several times, or even dozens of times, that of the oceans on the earth... This can also explain the expansion of the environment for biological activity." "No!" Joshua said with certainty, "The Different Sea must be an ocean world. The appearance of birds cannot completely overturn our conclusion just now." "He's right. Birds don't necessarily have to evolve from land." Carlin supported Joshua. "This is a different sea, and we can't think about things in the way of biological evolution in the original world." "According to your point of view," Joseph said, "The range of biological activities affects the size of organisms. Is this theoretical basis also to be overturned?" "The result will be known in a few days at most," Karin said. Cao Cang knew what Karin meant. If land was still not visible within a few days, Karin's speculation was closest to the truth.After all, he is a biologist. Americans no longer discuss it. Cao Cang found Ximei.Ximei was still watching the sea from the stern. "Did you see the bird just now?" Cao Cang asked. "I see." Ximei replied. "Is the land very close to us?" "No." Ximei still replied coldly, "I don't smell any land." "Is there no land here at all?" Cao Cang asked. "The Waterway Book handed down by my ancestors," said Ximei, "it records that there are only islands here." Cao Cang now knows why sister Zhou was able to participate in this experiment, she is not optional.According to American speculation, Yihai used to have the same environment as the Earth, but now it has become so weird, and there is an obvious reason for it—climate change. Cao Cang asked Ximei, "Where is Sister Zhou now?" "Since the incident, she has rarely moved around on the deck, and basically stayed in the cabin." Cao Cang hurried to the cabin to find Sister Zhou. "Don't talk to me." Sister Zhou said, "I really shouldn't take part in this experiment." Cao Cang said: "If you don't tell what you know, you will never go back." "It doesn't matter." Sister Zhou said, "I already knew we couldn't go back." "Why did you say that?" "There is no ocean current here, no convection in the sea, and no monsoon." Sister Zhou smiled miserably, "When the fuel on the boat runs out, we can only float here forever." When I saw this, I finally saw the vest online. I quickly typed to him: "I have read a lot of the documents you gave me." Vest: "Where did you see it?" "Seeing Lao Yang's death, both Americans and Chinese are guessing where Yihai is." "You look very slowly." "Hehe, I've already started sorting out these texts and posted them online, so I don't have so much time to read the documents." "What do you think of these words?" "Your father is telling stories." "hehe." "There are too many things he wrote that are not so reasonable." "My father is just a soldier, so he can't write very fluently." "He mentioned parallel space, and Yihai is a parallel space. I am more curious about a soldier who is so interested in science fiction." "My father seldom reads. Of course, I'm not sure. It's just that in the years when he came back, when I was with him, I never saw him read. Moreover, you have been to my hometown, and there is no place at all. Buy books on the subject." "You mean your father's account is his real experience?" "This... I'm not sure yet. I'm looking into it." "How do you check?" "I'm looking for clues to these experiments back then, and I'm in Nanjing now." "Is the experiment Lao Luo said true?" "It's true. XX University did conduct a magnetic shielding experiment in the early 1980s. It was a very small-scale experiment, but it failed." "Hehe, the strange sea your father mentioned is too weird, and there are many things that cannot be explained." "It can't be explained with real-world theory." I was silent for a while, and continued typing: "Will my posting on the Internet affect you? I mean if your father's experience is true." "Even if you don't believe it, other people certainly won't believe it." "Hehe, I am very concerned about an issue now, which is the issue of biological body size as mentioned by the Americans." "Have you ever thought that during the evolution of creatures on earth, there were indeed large creatures, such as dinosaurs, which were very large." "What do you want to say?" "This is also a direction of biological evolution. Haven't you noticed that there are no mammals in the alien sea that my father described?" "You mean to say that the higher level of evolution of large animals on Earth is mammals, but Yihai has not developed in this direction." "Although this reasoning is far-fetched, it cannot be denied that fish and reptiles returning to the sea evolved in the direction of increasing their body size. This possibility cannot be ruled out." "I have another question. Sister Zhou said that Yihai is a dead sea. There is no convection and monsoon in the whole ocean. This creates a problem. Such a large sea area is a dead sea. In this environment, it is difficult to With abundant biological populations, without competition among species, where does evolution start?" "Keep reading," the vest typed again after a while, "the people on board will know immediately that the different sea is definitely not the dead sea."