"Feed the sharks? I know it is the sea area with the most sharks in the world, but I'm not that bored. Ling, have you heard of the legend of the Mu continent?" Annie sat back on the bench with interest and continued to give the two of them Pour the wine.
"I've heard of it, but I didn't pay much attention to it. It seems to be a fabricated legend like 'Atlantis'."
"No, I got the fragmentary pages of Captain Cook's diary by chance. It mentioned an underwater reef that looked like an ancient city and had approximate location information. This is similar to the Mu continent. The presumed location matches. Are you interested in following me to explore the ruins of the Mu continent that sank to the bottom of the sea?"
"You said that you, an executive vice president of a multinational company, don't work hard and discuss business, so why do you like to travel around the world like your uncle?"
"Do you think I'm not doing my job properly? You don't understand the helplessness of being a child of a big family. You can't make your own choices about what to do and who to be. The job of CEO is given by the family and you must accept it, but I prefer I like to wander freely in nature, and embrace the sea, forests, grasslands, and deserts. As compensation, my family allows me to work only 8 months a year, and the remaining four months are free to do as I please. I like adventure, and I like to understand I am also interested in unknown things and all kinds of magical legends. I also bought the fragmentary pages of Captain Cook's diary at an auction, and also went to the museum to compare it with the original of Captain Cook's diary. , it can be confirmed that it is authentic. Does this sound exciting to you? Bring your team with me to explore and discover."
"I don't have any questions. You have to ask the others themselves." Ling Hao said with a smile.
"Don't they all listen to you?"
"If it's work, and I'm the boss and they're employees, they naturally have to listen to me. But this time it's not a business, so naturally they have to be happy."
"Oh." Annie had a look on her face as she reached for her checkbook in her pocket.
Ling Hao quickly stopped her and said, "Stop it, don't tear up the check. We won't accept it even if you tear it up. You'd better use your personal charm to impress them."
The next day, Annie gave a passionate speech to everyone in the living room, but except for Jiang Mingyu and Yuan Bing, who coveted Annie's beauty, everyone seemed to have no interest.
So, on the third day, Annie changed her strategy. A set of her own brand of cosmetics settled Xueting, a set of clothes settled Shi Si, and what she gave to Tian Yong and Zuo Pengfei was a world-class diving watch. On the fourth day, everyone was successfully settled. Annie's large transport plane carried the equipment and Ling Hao and the others set off for the island of "Tahiti".
It has to be said that Annie's ability is definitely superior to that of her uncle, Professor Levins. The advanced nature of the diving boat that picked them up in Tahiti astonished professionals like Ling Hao and others. This ship is called "Marian". The back half of the ship has a wide parking and maintenance platform for deep submersibles and living quarters, two high-power cranes, a large decompression chamber, and even a helicopter launch chamber. Lowering platform and lift hangar. The front half of the ship looks like a yacht, with a total of four floors, many cabins, and the best environment in terms of accommodation, dining, etc. Although the ship is quite big, due to its "twin-hull design", its displacement is small, its draft is less than 3 meters deep, and even some shoals and reefs cannot block its navigation.
After all the people and equipment were on board, the "Marian" weighed anchor and headed to "Fakarava Atoll". The facilities on the ship were so good that the rooms were like single rooms in a hotel. Ling Hao and the others each chose one room and moved I put my luggage away and went to a small conference room for a meeting.
Anne stood in front of a whiteboard with a chart of Fakarava Atoll and the surrounding area. She looked at Ling Hao and the others sitting below, and began to explain the mission like a commander.
"I believe that you have read the legends about 'Mu Continent', Captain Cook's experience, and the sea conditions near Fakarava Atoll. Now I will talk about some of the information I have. The specific situation. The three fragmentary pages of Captain Cook's diary that I got were part of his diary during his second exploration of the Pacific. Because the diary binding was rough, the ones that fell off were picked up by his assistant Clark and kept in his In the diary. Clark served as the captain of the companion ship "Discovery" led by Captain Cook during Captain Cook's third exploration of the Pacific. After Captain Cook was killed by a native Hawaiian, he He served as the captain of the 'Resolution', but he also died of tuberculosis when the ship sailed to the waters near the 'Kamchatka Peninsula'. His relics, including his diary, were brought back to London by his subordinates. Until now, his descendants have never None of them discovered where the three pages of notes in his diary came from. It wasn't until five years ago that Captain Clark's descendants auctioned his belongings, and a historian who studied Captain Cook happened to recognize them. The provenance of these three pages, however, he did not have the ability to take a picture of this item. Finally, I took a picture of it and hired this historian to make a final identification. We even went to the British Museum to have a second meeting with Captain Cook. Comparison with diaries from the time of exploring the Pacific proved the authenticity of these three pages.”
Everyone understands that the purpose of her saying so much is to make everyone believe everything written on these three pages of the diary. Ling Hao asked with a smile: "Then tell me quickly, what is recorded on these three pages?"
Anne nodded and said: "As we all know, the purpose of Captain Cook's first two explorations of the Pacific was to find the so-called 'unknown southern continent', which is Antarctica. Unfortunately, although he entered the Antarctic Circle several times, he failed all due to bad weather. Due to the cold and cold, he ultimately failed to set foot on the Antarctic continent. However, two wanderings in the South Pacific allowed him to discover New Zealand, the Australian continent, the Society Islands, the Cook Islands and other places, and mapped out extraordinary Accurate chart. In April 1774, Captain Cook returned to the Society Islands and continued his expedition after resupplying in Tahiti. This is where the three pages of the diary begin, on April 15, in At Fakarava Atoll, he and his crew saw swarms of various sharks in the sea, and called it the 'Sea of Sharks.' After staying for two days for observation, on April 17, the 'Resolution' again They set sail and sailed south of the Sea of Sharks. On April 19, they came to a shallow reef area. Although they did not see any reefs or islands emerging from the sea, the water basically remained at about 15 to 100 feet. At a depth of 5 to 35 meters, the shallow water area is full of colorful corals, mother-of-pearl oysters and sea urchins as big as plates, as well as giant clam clams as big as wheels, and various fish schools are like clouds. Gathering in the sea. Naturally, there are countless sharks, even more than the 'Sea of Sharks'. On a sunny noon, Captain Cook heard the shouts of the sailors on the ship. He came to the deck and found that the sailors were all Standing on the side of the ship and looking into the sea, he naturally stretched his head out curiously. Captain Cook wrote this: "I will never forget what I saw in front of me at this moment in my life. I even suspected that it was my eyes that were faulty." What's the problem? Under the sun, the clear sea water is very peaceful, but underneath the sea water is a huge city, with wide stone streets, neatly planned residences, and the magnificent palace in the center of the city, just lying there quietly Under the blue waves, it seems to be sealed in time. The palace is different from any architectural style I have ever seen. It is solemn and sacred, perhaps more like a temple. In the circular square in front of the palace, a tree The huge snow-white coral stands in the middle like a sculpture. Countless sharks of various sizes swim in the city in groups, as if they are transformed by the souls of the residents of this city. It is shocking. I want to send people to dive. Look, but there are too many sharks. I believe anyone who dares to disturb the tranquility of this city will be torn into pieces by these guardians. Maybe this is a miracle left by God, maybe it is the relics of an unknown civilization in ancient times. , now that it has been buried by the sea, I can only pray for its eternal rest.' After lingering here for a day, the 'Resolution' left. This is all the contents of the three-page diary."
After listening to Anne's narration, everyone fell silent. If this place is really found, it will probably become one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of this century. Although Captain Cook's diary is relatively credible, the contents in these three pages The content is really a bit fantasy. Even professionals like Ling Hao's team, who have dived into the deep sea countless times, really can't imagine what they will face next.
"In other words, we are now following Captain Cook's original sailing route, planning to search south after reaching Fakarava Atoll until we find this underwater ruins?" Ling Hao asked.
"Yes, after we find the ruins, we will record the coordinates and take some imaging data and photos. It would be better if we could enter the ancient city to have a look. Everything we discover by then will refresh mankind's understanding of the Mu continent. It shocked the entire archaeological world." Anne said excitedly.
"Even if there is such a relic, how can we prove that it is related to the Mu continent?" Shi Si asked puzzledly.
Anne explained: "The South Pacific is the emptiest body of water in the world, especially the area we are in. Except for some scattered islands and atolls, the nearest New Zealand is more than 4,000 kilometers away from South America. The distance is even further, so it is unlikely to be affected by the civilizations of these two places. Tahiti, the largest island in this sea area, has a current population of only 120,000. This is a modern era with super-developed logistics and transportation. If it relies solely on the With its own products, Xi Ti may not even be able to support 30,000 people, let alone other smaller islands. Such a sparse population cannot produce a highly developed civilization in any case, let alone build anything grand. Buildings. However, such ruins have actually appeared. Let’s not talk about the underwater ruins we are looking for this time. You all know the huge stone statues on Easter Island. There is no doubt that there are not tens of thousands of people who have lasted for dozens of generations. It is simply impossible to build those behemoths with all the efforts, but how big is Easter Island? How many people are there? Various signs indicate that there was indeed an ancient continent in the South Pacific and gave birth to a brilliant civilization. It was only later that For unknown reasons, this ancient continent sank to the bottom of the sea, leaving only some highlands on the road, which have now become dotted islands. Some sporadic traces have been discovered by modern people, but a large number of ruins are buried deep in the sea. to the bottom of the sea.”
In fact, the scientific community has never acknowledged the argument about the continent Mu, and in the eyes of many people, the story about this continent is highly similar to the "Atlantis" written by the ancient Greek philosopher Plato, which is indeed somewhat Of course, there are many people who believe in speculation and fabrication. There are even many scientists who have blindly "looked for a needle in a haystack" in the vast South Pacific.
Seeing that Shi Si was about to "raise a different opinion", Ling Hao immediately pinched her back and stopped her in time. He smiled and said to Annie: "Okay, let's not discuss what the undersea ruins are. Is it true or false? Anyway, you can tell at a glance when you find the place. I think everyone should take the time to organize their equipment, especially shark repellent and other things, so that they are prepared. The depth of this dive will not exceed 60 meters. We don’t need saturation diving, and the preparation work will be much simpler, so everyone can go and get busy.”
This "academic seminar" was "dismissed" by Ling Hao in advance. The team members retreated in a hurry, leaving only Annie and Ling Hao in the conference room.
"Why don't you let us continue the discussion?" Annie frowned and looked at Ling Hao.
"Countless people have been discussing this topic for hundreds of years, but there is no result. It is better to use facts as the best proof. When we get there, everything will be revealed, right?" Ling Hao said with a smile.
At this moment, Shi Si pushed open the door of the conference room and gasped: "We have arrived at Fakarava Atoll. There are many sharks. This is really a paradise for sharks!"
