"Barren Island" is a standard volcanic island, and it is also an active volcano. The most recent eruption was in 2009. Because it is only one word different from Bali, Indonesia, and there are also volcanic eruptions, it is often confused by people. mix. The intensity of the Barren Island volcanic eruption is far less than that of Bali, but for this small island with an area of only 11.5 square kilometers, it is also very violent. The entire volcano is covered with thick volcanic ash and large volcanic rocks, and only the island at the foot of the mountain There is some vegetation around the outer edge, and a barren river of cooled lava winds its way to the sea.
Although the Andaman Islands are under the jurisdiction of India, since Barun Island is very far east and is within Myanmar's air defense identification zone, it is relatively far away from India. Most of the islands are uninhabited islands with real permanent residents. There are only a handful of islands with a population of 280,000. The indigenous Andamanese are black and have a different culture and race than Asians, but they have closer blood relations with Africans. Everyone knows India's economic strength, and it is basically impossible to cross the entire Bay of Bengal to take care of this small group of foreigners. Therefore, the island's economy is very primitive, and the residents are in a state of abject poverty. A considerable number of them even maintain the habit of being naked. Basically, it is only at the level of the clan commune period.
Already inaccessible, after Barren Island was privately purchased by "Chicken Cone Snail", not many people would come. At this moment, the "Marian" is parked two nautical miles away from the island. This is a shallow sea with an average water depth of less than 20 meters. The water depth near the island is even less than two meters. Under the warm sunshine, the water is so clear. Like a piece of glass without any impurities, the snow-like fine sand on the seabed and the dots of coral dotted on it are so real that even the colorful fish hiding on the coral are clearly identifiable. At the same time, there are also a large number of lemon sharks, black tip reef sharks, and mako sharks living here. And of course, there’s the Andaman Sea’s apex predator, the Gulf crocodile.
Three drones conducted an all-round and three-dimensional survey of Barren Island. Shi Si looked at the screen with her eyes wide open. There were more than a dozen lollipop sticks thrown on the ground, and she could only hear them sucking in her mouth. He was mumbling something and cursing.
"What's wrong?" Ling Hao, who was studying the bag of diamonds with Annie not far away, raised his head and asked.
"You know that looking at the diamonds, Sister-in-law Zhuxin is once again focusing on recruiting her new subordinates. Those damn mercenaries have money this time. They are locked up in the cabin smoking and gambling, and no one is willing to help me! This bastard I've looked at the island eight times, inside and out. It's just a deserted island with nothing!" Xiao Nizi got angry and pouted.
Annie immediately giggled and came over to coax: "Is there anything else that our famous 'Nine-tailed Fox' can't handle? Come on, I'll give you a 3-carat diamond, which you can use to make rings in the future. Are you in a good mood? A little bit?"
Shi Si's eyes lit up, and he took the diamond handed over by Annie and looked at it carefully with his bloodshot eyes. Sure enough, no woman could resist the temptation of such a shiny object. "Don't fool me. According to this year's market price, a 3-carat round diamond of this quality is probably worth more than 600,000 yuan. However, this diamond does not come with a certificate of origin, so it is worth half the price at most."
"Silly boy, have you forgotten what your brother and I do? Is the place of origin a problem for us?" Annie smiled brightly. This bag of diamonds is worth tens of millions of dollars, which is a windfall.
"Let's get down to business, what's going on?" Ling Hao interrupted the two women's conversation with a look of helplessness.
"Well, I controlled the drone to conduct an all-round observation of the island. There are no man-made buildings on it. This is a desert island." Shi Si opened the holographic sand table of the island that was mapped on the computer and showed it to Ling Hao.
Ling Hao said: "We assume that the 'Chicken Cone Snail' does have a base here, but there is nothing strange on the island. What could be the reason?"
Shi Si frowned and said: "I have thought about the possibility that the other party is hiding underground, but considering that this is an active volcanic island, they are likely to dig out magma when doing underground projects. The construction is too difficult and extremely unsafe. , even if the 'Chicken Cone Snail' really did it, I haven't found the most important key signs of the underground structure. The first is the entrance. Most of the island is barren, and my drone has descended to the ground. Observing from a height of three meters, even a two-millimetre-wide gap on the ground cannot escape my computer analysis. Secondly, there are ventilation vents. Without ventilation vents, people below would suffocate to death. The number of ventilation vents they need is huge. It’s small, but I didn’t find any. Also, construction is going on on this island. If the people living here want to survive, a large amount of materials, supplies and even people must be sent to the island. There is no trace of a dock being built here. , and there is no airport, don’t you think it’s weird?”
"You are thinking conventionally. Just imagine it wildly. The problem you mentioned is not unsolvable. No one said that the entrance must be on the island. The exhaust hole is even simpler. You see the circle around the edge of the island. Is there vegetation? There are so many trees, are you sure they are all solid? It is not necessary to send people and materials to the island by ships and fixed-wing aircraft. The whole world knows that Qiongzhou is the largest submarine base in China, but Has anyone seen a dock in Qiongzhou for parking submarines? Expand the search range with the drone and look at the sea around the island. You should be able to gain something." Ling Hao seemed to be confident, patted Shi Si's shoulder, and learned from her He picked up a lollipop from the table, peeled off the candy wrapper and stuffed it into his mouth and continued: "Eat less sugar. Although you won't gain weight, aren't you afraid of tooth decay?"
Shi Si was speechless and automatically ignored Ling Hao's last words and continued to operate the drone. Nearly an hour later, a scream alerted almost everyone on the ship. Everyone gathered around the door of the central control room and looked at the frantic Shi Si inside. "Is her lollipop filled with alcohol? Why is she so drunk in broad daylight?" Many people were murmuring in their hearts.
Ling Hao separated from everyone and asked, "Have you found anything?"
"Brother, come and see!"
Shi Si projected the image from the drone camera onto the LCD TV on the wall of the central control room, and everyone couldn't help but gasp. The height of the drone is about 300 meters above the sea, and the camera angle is tilted downward. The water is so clear that it is almost invisible, and the seabed covered with sea sand seems to have been struck by a giant ax of the gods. A wide rift valley, the sea sand slowly flows into the rift valley with the sea currents. It looks like a magnificent waterfall. This majestic momentum is beyond the reach of even many famous waterfalls on the surface. It is really It is truly a creation of heaven and earth and a miraculous workmanship.
"This is... an underwater waterfall?!" Although Ling Hao has been living at sea for many years, he has only heard about this special geological phenomenon and has not seen it with his own eyes.
Shi Si said excitedly: "I made a rough measurement and found that this seafloor fissure is 25 kilometers long, 680 meters wide, and 1,700 meters deep. What is this concept? Angel Falls, the world's largest waterfall. , the height difference is only 979 meters, and the length of the longest 'Iguazu Falls' is only 4,000 meters, which is nothing compared to this waterfall."
Ling Hao rolled his eyes at her: "Don't get excited, we are not here for scientific research. I have been in water all over the four oceans. I know what underwater waterfalls are like better than you. Generally speaking, there are two causes of underwater waterfalls. The prerequisite for both types is that there must be a trench with sufficient height. One is the countercurrent of hot and cold water caused by the difference in seawater temperature, and the other is the countercurrent caused by the different salinity content of the seawater. No matter which of the above The water flow speed at the waterfall will reach a terrifying level. Divers and even ordinary submersibles will be torn apart by the strong currents when they get there. It is estimated that only deep dives like the 'Stone Crab' and 'Pippi Shrimp' can The hull structure of the submersible can withstand it. But I don't think that the 'Cone Snail' will have such a submersible, let alone that she will use such a submersible to transport building materials. Then the entrance cannot be inside the underwater waterfall, and we can't There is absolutely no need to waste time there. However, there is another special situation. I heard that there is an underwater waterfall in Mauritius, which looks like white clouds pouring into a bottomless black hole. You can clearly see it by helicopter, and the scene is spectacular. But in fact, the sea currents there are very stable. The root cause is that a large amount of silt and sediment washed into the sea by nearby rivers are slowly pushed into deep trenches on the seabed by the currents. The sediment continues to fall into it due to its own weight, and it looks like It's like a waterfall, but it's actually an illusion. What's the situation here? You might as well let your mechanical fish called 'Steamed Grouper' go over to investigate, especially to measure the flow rate. If the situation is the same as in Mauritius, then I estimate that the entrance to the underground building is probably there."
After making arrangements for Shi Si, Ling Hao said to the others: "Don't worry, everyone, the nest of 'Chicken Cone Snail' must be here. The SWAT team should send a two-person sniper team to the island, equipped with a 12.7 mm caliber sniper. Specially responsible for blocking the enemy's air retreat. The others began to organize their equipment. This time there is no detailed operation map, so they can only search forward and wait for opportunities to complete the mission. Next, we will assign the work and be ready to go at any time!"
Sure enough, after detection by the "Qingzheng Grouper", the water flow of this underwater waterfall was not strong, and a huge cave was discovered on the cliff below the waterfall, which was obscured by the sediment flow. After exploring the cave, he found that he had indeed found the right place. Ling Hao immediately ordered the "Stone Crab" and "Pippi Shrimp" to be launched into the water. All team members boarded the submersible and headed for the mysterious lair of the "Chicken Cone Snail".
This sea area is too shallow. The average depth between the water surface and the seabed beach is only 15 meters. For a submersible of the size of the "Stone Crab", it is very difficult to navigate here. If you are not careful, you may get stranded. risk. Seen from the sky, it looks like there is a dark, huge crab in the transparent sea water, slowly moving on the soft sand towards the deep nest not far away, like the entrance to hell.
Facing the abyss, Shi Si struggled with his thoughts for a while, and finally raised his heart and pushed the joystick forward. The "Stone Crab" "jumped" like a dive, and slowly fell into the darkness. It quickly disappeared into the rolling mud and sand.
