Chapter 376 - The Mysterious Ship
The island's southeast had some coconut palms, but recent shipments from Yulin had already satiated the transmigrators, so they showed no interest in this meager resource. The island was covered in wild grass and shrubs. The white sandy beaches gave a tropical island feel, though piled with various seaweed washed ashore—some with considerable economic value. But the distance from Lingao made utilization inconvenient.
Bai Guoshi led several people searching for guano. They quickly found thick accumulations by the lagoon. During spring and autumn, large numbers of migratory birds stopped here. Years of migratory bird droppings had formed guano deposits totaling 600,000 tons on Dongsha Island.
Now in summer, only seagulls and seabirds rested by the lagoon, the air carrying a pungent fishy smell. Then rain began. Bai Guoshi pulled up his windbreaker hood—this was the Dongsha archipelago's rainy season.
"Right here," Bai Guoshi said, hammering off a chunk to confirm. "This type of rock—break it off."
Sailors, marines, and laborers specially assigned for this mining operation all braved the rain to land on Dongsha, manually quarrying guano.
Guano wasn't very hard—easy to extract. Mined ore was loaded in rattan baskets and carried to Zhenhai. The bird flocks resting by the lagoon, disturbed by this commotion, suddenly filled the sky above the island, swooping and calling.
Bai Guoshi and accompanying surveyor Gao Xiaosong explored the island. Gao Xiaosong was very interested in Dongsha, though from a different perspective than Bai Guoshi—he valued its strategic position.
The Dongsha archipelago sat astride the East Asia-Indian Ocean shipping lanes and Asia-Africa-Australia international routes. Routes from Guangzhou and Hong Kong to Manila or Taiwan's Kaohsiung passed through nearby waters—significant maritime importance. In the 20th century, weather stations and lighthouses had been established here. The Naval Command had long viewed this island as a stepping stone toward Taiwan, with keen interest. Chen Haiyang had specifically assigned Gao Xiaosong to survey it.
The two trudged through the rain, finding fishermen's abandoned shelters and drying racks along the way. Being summer, fishermen had returned to the mainland—the entire island was deserted.
"A water well!" Gao Xiaosong exclaimed.
Not far away, indeed there was a stone well curb.
"Useless," Bai Guoshi shook his head. "Coral islands can't hold freshwater. There's freshwater in the sand layer, but it's easily contaminated by seawater infiltration. Well water should be less salty than seawater—barely drinkable for survival at best."
"What a pity." Gao Xiaosong was disappointed. "I'd heard Dongsha Island had wells..."
"Apparently except for Yongxing Island, no South China Sea island has usable freshwater," Bai Guoshi said. "For permanent stationing, you'd need desalination equipment or rainwater collection systems—the rainy season here is long enough to store considerable water."
"With freshwater so scarce, permanent personnel can't be stationed without major development," Gao Xiaosong assessed. "The island is large enough, but ships lack a harbor for anchorage. Personnel access is inconvenient. At most it serves as a temporary rest stop en route to Taiwan."
"Look!" Bai Guoshi suddenly shouted, grabbing Gao Xiaosong's arm.
"What?" Gao Xiaosong was startled—why so jumpy? There was nothing dangerous on Dongsha Island.
"What is that?!" Bai Guoshi pointed directly at the waters to the island's southeast.
On the seemingly empty sea surface stood a strange triangular iron framework. It protruded less than a meter above water. Now visible only because of low tide—with waves rising and falling, it wasn't easy to spot without looking carefully.
Gao Xiaosong looked closely and found it strangely familiar.
"Looks like a small vessel's mast..." Gao Xiaosong hesitated. As former Coast Guard, he knew this extremely well—a typical tripod mast from ocean-going fishing vessels.
Both immediately felt their hair stand on end. Where would such a mast come from in this time-space? Gao Xiaosong had already drawn his pistol.
"Don't panic," he said quietly. "There's no one on the island—nowhere to hide people here. Let's go investigate."
"Okay, okay—"
Gao Xiaosong first radioed Lin Chuanqing, informing him of a possible situation on the island and to watch the surroundings.
"What situation?" Lin Chuanqing sounded alarmed.
"Still unclear. Bai Guoshi and I will investigate first."
"Alright, be careful."
"I'll fire warning shots if there's trouble." Gao Xiaosong surveyed the area. "We're heading to the island's southeast tip."
"Understood."
The two carefully approached the cape nearest the iron framework. Here coral reef pebbles jutted out, extending underwater. The iron framework was in the atoll lagoon, about seventy or eighty meters from the cape. Now it was clearly visible—despite rust and missing components, this was unmistakably a ship's tripod mast.
Gao Xiaosong strained to see underwater. There seemed to be a vague ship-shaped shadow on the reef platform—but with rain, strong winds, and poor water clarity, he couldn't see clearly.
"There seems to be a ship underwater," Gao Xiaosong concluded.
"This... this... how is this possible..." Bai Guoshi's teeth were chattering. Obviously, in 1629, neither Ming nor European vessels had such masts.
"Your expedition didn't lose or have any ships go missing?" Gao Xiaosong had been following his suspicious wife when he was tricked onto the Fengcheng, so he knew little about the overall operation.
"No," Bai Guoshi said definitely. "When crossing the wormhole, we didn't lose a single ship. Every one is still at Bo-pu Harbor."
"Then this is very strange—" Gao Xiaosong naturally understood the gravity. If this was indeed a 20th-century modern fishing vessel, then besides them, others not from this time-space had also arrived.
The rain intensified, accompanied by strong easterly winds. Waves surged, crashing against the cape. The two stood frozen, somewhat at a loss.
"Should we report to the Executive Committee immediately?"
"Not yet." Gao Xiaosong steadied himself, wiping rain from his face. "Let's find shelter first, then discuss with Captain Lin. For reporting, we can't just say 'there's a tripod mast.'"
"Alright, I'll follow your lead." Bai Guoshi shouted over the wind. They retreated from the cape. The island offered nowhere to shelter from rain, so they jogged to a fishermen's shed—which was riddled with holes, but better than nothing. Interference from the heavy rain blocked the radio; they could only huddle in their windbreakers, waiting for the storm to pass.
Bai Guoshi watched the overwhelming downpour and surging waves beyond the shed, fear growing in his heart.
"Instructor Gao"—Gao Xiaosong had been a Coast Guard instructor, so everyone respectfully addressed him thus—"do you think the people from that ship might still be on the island?"
"Dongsha Island isn't too small, but there's nowhere to hide people," Gao Xiaosong said. "We saw no fresh signs of human activity along our route—they're probably not here." He added to comfort Bai Guoshi: "Maybe it's not even a ship."
"Let's hope so," Bai Guoshi muttered, extremely uneasy. He'd rather face a horde of pirates from this era than encounter an unregistered transmigrator. If such a person appeared before him now, he would unhesitatingly put a bullet through their brain, plus seven or eight more for good measure—whether man, woman, or child, Chinese or foreign.
"Don't worry too much. Even if it's a ship, it might just be an empty vessel accidentally pulled through the wormhole." Gao Xiaosong saw his excessive nervousness becoming neurotic and tried to reassure him.
"Our crossing point was Qiongzhou Strait. This is Dongsha Island!"
"Well," Gao Xiaosong shook rainwater from his jacket, "perhaps some kind of temporal disturbance..."
After the rain stopped, Lin Chuanqing was called to the island. After hearing Gao Xiaosong's briefing, he was taken to the cape to see the strange iron framework.
Lin Chuanqing's face went pale: "I know this type of mast... American West Coast ocean fishing vessels often use this design."
"So it might be an American ship?"
"Very possibly." Lin Chuanqing had worked as an American fisherman—his word was highly credible. "If only we could get closer to look. Is the water deep?"
"About 8 meters," Gao Xiaosong said.
"Just dive down for a look." Lin Chuanqing said this, but looked troubled. Eight meters was nothing for him or Gao Xiaosong—without diving equipment, a single plunge would do. The problem was sharks leisurely swimming everywhere—he lacked the courage to swim with sharks.
"The Planning Committee warehouse apparently has diving equipment, anti-shark suits, shark repellent and such—but not on Zhenhai."
The three conferred and decided to first conduct a thorough search of all Dongsha Island. If anyone from the ship was still stranded, they'd find them.
"There probably isn't anyone on the island," Gao Xiaosong said, "but just in case."
Regardless of whether they found anyone, this situation required information containment. Besides them, no one else on Zhenhai would be informed. After finishing guano extraction, they'd return and report directly to the Executive Committee.
Orders were given to suspend guano mining. The entire ship went to first-degree alert. Sentries were posted at every corner of Zhenhai. Then a comprehensive island search began.
"If you find anyone, try to capture them alive," Gao Xiaosong ordered.
(End of Chapter)