Dreamland Guide

　　 Mei Ziqing had just left the International Conference Center to go back to the hotel. As she walked across the lawn, she saw a man standing on the bench and beckoning to him with a smile.

　　 Mei Ziqing was taken aback. This man is so handsome! He looks a bit mixed. He should be 80% of East Asian ancestry, and 20% of Western ancestry. He may be Italian or Greek. Anyway, he looks classic and elegant, and very sunny.

　　 She pointed to her nose suspiciously, and asked in poor Japanese English: "Are you calling me?"

　　 The man said in fluent Japanese, "Are you Professor Mei’s assistant?"

　　 "Ah, yes! Who are you? Are you looking for a professor? He is still in a meeting at the center!" Mei Ziqing felt particularly cordial when he heard Japanese, bowed and said politely.

　　 "Oh, I know." The man said as he took out an envelope, "I want to trouble you to give this to the professor."

　　 Mei Ziqing took the envelope suspiciously, and asked, "Can you ask what this is? I can't..."

　　 "Don't worry, it's just a very ordinary personal letter."

　　 The man’s voice is as warm as a spring breeze, and Mei Ziqing cannot refuse.

　　 "Okay!" She put the envelope away, "But, can you tell me who you are?"

　　 "My name is Xingzhi, you can also call me Situ." The man suddenly said in Chinese.

　　……

　　 In the second conference room on the third floor of the center, more than 60 top scientists are whispering to each other, listening to each other about why the conference suddenly changed its agenda.

　　 In addition to the host Frederick on the rostrum, there are also several initiators and conveners of this meeting. All of them have neat faces and solemn expressions, as if the third world war had occurred.

"Everyone! Please be quiet!" Frederick adjusted the position of the microphone. "I'm sorry, something happened and we have to adjust the agenda of the meeting. In addition, I want to tell you two very unfortunate news. ."

　　 The venue was quiet, waiting for his next words.

"The most important item on the agenda of this conference is the archaeological demonstration of the seabed relics found in the South Pacific Basin. All of you here are important scientists, and I believe everyone has heard about it. But, just the day before yesterday..." Frey Derek paused, and said gravely, "Our research ship is missing."

　　 "Oh my God..." everyone on the venue yelled in surprise.

"There are 27 scientific research personnel and 46 crew members on board, of which 7 are as great scientists as everyone here. They are all my friends and everyone's friends. As of now," Frederick took a look. Watch, "They have been out of contact for 63 hours."

　　 "How did you lose contact? Was there a storm? How was the search and rescue situation?" someone asked.

"In fact, we don’t know exactly what happened. The research ship has stayed at 150°W and 30°S for 15 days and has been in normal communication with us. We have two weather satellites for 24 hours. Continuously monitor the changes in the airflow over the South Pacific Basin. On the day of the loss of communication, everything in the nearby sea was normal and no storm occurred."

　　 Frederick squeezed his nose and eyebrows. Apparently he had been having a headache for more than a day.

　　 "Please rest assured that we have applied for search and rescue support from the US, Australian, New Zealand and Argentine governments. Please also trust the sincerity of these governments. They have their scientists on board, and they will do their best."

　　 "Without a storm, will an undersea earthquake happen? A tsunami is more terrifying than a storm!" someone said.

Frederick shook his head and said: "No, no. According to the WWSSN monitoring report, there were 79 monitorable earthquakes in 23 places around the world at that time, of which only one occurred in the South Pacific Basin, with a magnitude of approximately 4.5, and the epicenter was far away from the research ship. More than 300 nautical miles is not enough to cause any harm. The seismic networks and monitoring stations of New Zealand, Chile and Argentina have not detected strong seismic signals from the sea. Moreover, our scientific research ships are fully equipped. If an earthquake occurs, it will be in the tsunami Before swallowing the ship, they have at least a few hours to react and contact us."

　　 "Is there something wrong with the scientific research ship itself?"

"This possibility is not ruled out, but the possibility is very small." Frederick said, "This ship is manufactured by Taihe Shipbuilding Industry in Japan, with a tonnage of 4,800 tons, a capacity of 80 people, 13-level wind resistance, and an endurance of 18,000 nautical miles. It meets the requirements of an infinite navigation area. Moreover, the scientists have modified and upgraded the ship, with the most advanced electronic communication and experimental equipment. In the past twenty-odd missions, no mistakes have been made."

　　 "Did you search for nearby islands? Didn't find any wreckage?"

"No." Frederick shook his head. "In fact, it is not just our scientific research ship that is missing, including the four ghost islands, including Maria Telesa Reef, which was accurately repositioned a month ago. The two conventional islands and reefs in the southern part of the Tubuai Archipelago, as well as the undersea relics being explored, are all gone."

　　……

　　Meijiu looked at Frederick~www.wuxiaspot.com~ carefully recalling every detail of what he said, distinguishing the doubts and thinking about the possible cause and effect behind it.

　　 He knew that Frederick was telling the truth, and he could not lie on such a big thing.

　　 As the world's top scientist, he can accept any strange and weird things. This is the spirit of exploration necessary for science.

　　 But this happened too suddenly!

　　 It’s better to say that even if there are no earthquakes and storms, it is not impossible to explain it. After all, the South Pacific Basin is so big. Maybe it's a malfunction of the signal equipment, maybe a new discovery was made temporarily, maybe it's the magnetic interference that made them lose their way. Anyway, there are a lot of explanations.

　　 But, how can islands and underwater ruins disappear?

　　 Most of the people were meditating on the same problem as Mei Yi, and the venue fell into deathly silence.

　　……

　　 I don’t know how long it took, and finally someone remembered that the host Frederick hadn’t finished speaking.

　　 "You just said that there are two unfortunate news. We already know the first one. What is the second one?"

　　Everyone is uneasy, is there anything more unfortunate than the first news?

　　 Frederick’s expression changed from solemnity to sadness, and he choked: "Our beloved and great Mr. Evans Lester passed away early this morning."

　　 His grief is not a fake. People sitting close can see that the corners of his eyes are moist.

　　 His words are like throwing a bomb in the meeting place. After a short silence, the bomb exploded.

　　Oh, MyGod!

　　 Someone screamed in surprise, some hid their faces and wept, some beat their chests and feet...

　　 Mei Yiqiu felt a huge hammer, swept from the void, and hit his chest heavily.