Chapter Twenty-Three: The Island (Part II)
The next day, Xingyu, who hadn't slept well in the middle of the night, got up late again. When Miya saw Xingyu get up, she immediately excitedly pointed to the iron bucket on the ground and said, "Come and have breakfast." I cooked fillet soup. Then Mia poured the fillet soup into a glass made from a mineral water bottle and handed it to Xingyu like a treasure. When Xingyu took the fish soup and was about to drink it, he smelled a burst of fragrance coming from the cup, and wondered in his heart: "Is it because I haven't drunk soup for too long?" How can the soup smell so good just from dried fish fillets? Looking at the noodle soup again, it seemed to be shining with golden oil, and I was surprised: "It's amazing." Can white fish oil be boiled to give it a golden shine? Xingyu hurriedly took a sip: "Wow! Sesame oil chicken soup cup noodles! Seeing Xingyu's surprised look, Miya almost laughed: "Cherish it!" That's all I have in my backpack. Xingyu's eyes widened in surprise: "Your backpack is really a treasure bag?" There are even cup noodles. "It turned out that before Mia went to Madai, she was afraid that she would not be used to eating local food, and she was afraid that she would not have anything to eat in the middle of the night. So I took a few cups of noodles and put them in my suitcase. On the day of the tsunami, I had planned to go diving at sea, so I put a cup of noodles in my backpack as a snack. As a result, I didn't have a chance to soak it until now.
After satisfying breakfast, Xingyu wanted to start exploring the island and relieve the worries in his heart. originally wanted to investigate alone, but Miya had to follow, so Xingyu had to let Miya follow. Heung-woo decided to go around the island along the coast first. The island is not large, about a kilometer in diameter. The whole island resembles a low mound, and the top of the mound in the middle of the island is about 20 meters higher than the coastline. The two went around and found nothing strange. Heung-woo decided to climb to the top of the mound to have a look, and when the two approached the top of the mound, they found it strange. Xingyu smelled a faint swamp smell in the air. Mia also smelled: "Why does it smell of gas?" The smell of the swamp was not strong, so the two of them continued to climb to the top of the mound. After climbing up, they found that there was a deep hole on the top of the entire mound, and Xingyu and Miya carefully walked before taking a look and retreating. The two of them were afraid of the ground, so they didn't dare to get too close to the edge of the cave and couldn't see how deep the hole was. However, I saw that the walls of the cave were sporadically inlaid with large stones, and the surrounding earth was sliding down the cave at a very slow speed. Approaching the entrance of the cave, Xingyu also understood that the sound he heard last night was coming from the cave. Now I understand that it is a faint 'hiss' sound.
When Xingyu saw this, he immediately pulled Mia towards the shore where they came. Seeing Xingyu's nervous appearance, Mia asked, "Is this island an active volcano?" At risk? Xingyu replied calmly: "It's not an active volcano, the crater should smell sulfur, not a swamp." The lack of vegetation on the islands, along with the methane gas and black mud, indicate that the island is a floating island. Don't worry! It's okay, the island won't sink right away. After listening, it was Mia's turn to be nervous: "Will this floating island sink?" What is a floating island? I've never heard of it! Xingyu went on to explain: "In ancient times, when the earth's crust changed, some trees and air were buried under the seabed strata. Over hundreds of thousands of years, these gases evolve into biogas. If there is an earthquake that cracks the formation, biogas will spill out of the cracks. However, if it only loosens the strata, the biogas will lift up the strata above and turn them into floating islands. Usually these floating islands disappear quickly, and some of them are scattered by the waves. Others are caused by the soil being shaken loose and the biogas slowly spilling through the soil layer. Without the biogas to support it, the floating island naturally sank. Now on this island, it is clear that biogas has spilled through the soil layer. In the process of overflowing, the soil in the middle of the bottom of the floating island is lost, and the upper layer of soil is pressed down to form the hole we just saw. Looking at the depth of the cave, the island will soon sink. ”
Heungwoo didn't want Miya to be afraid, so he didn't tell Miya about the potential danger. Biogas is a type of gas that burns when it comes to fire. The stones on the walls of the cave and the surrounding soil are draining. When the soil is lost, the stones fall. When dropped, there may be a spark caused by a stone hitting a stone. In the unfortunate event of a spark from a rock, the methane gas accumulated in the cave will explode instantly, spraying out the stones and dirt on the cave walls. Then they are dangerous.
After the two ran back to the shore, they immediately carried their things and threw them into the lifeboat. Then untie the cable and immediately climb into the dinghy and row out to sea. When untying the cable, Xingyu noticed that the ship's pile, which had been hit in the dry ground, had been covered by the seawater. When they came to the island, Xingyu had already calculated the current, so he rowed out of the sea at an angle of 45 degrees, let the current float them by the side of the island, and then drifted away from the island along the current. After some distance from the island, Miya saw that Xingyu was still rowing, although he had slowed down his rowing speed, so he asked worriedly: "It's so far away, is it still not safe?" Xingyu replied with a smile: "It's been safe for a long time, but the farther away the better." Mia stuck out her tongue and said mockingly, "Coward! Mia looked back at the island and said, "This whole island is black, like an Alcatraz island, and it's not beautiful at all. It's strange why you wanted to go to the island so much before! Xingyu said jokingly: "You missed stepping on the ground before, so you were naturally in a hurry to go to the island." Now I find that there is no fun! Miya glanced at Xingyu and said, "Hmph! Just know to laugh at me. Just in front of the vacation! It's quite like in Mafu Island, but it's a little darker. ”
As soon as Mia finished speaking, she heard an explosion from the island, and after a 'bump', the mud and rocks erupted from the top of the mound with sparks, like nature setting off fireworks. Then there was a burst of flames from the mound, like a volcanic eruption, but there was no molten lava. Thick black smoke rose from the top of the flame, and when the black smoke rose into the air, it began to roll into a black mushroom cloud. At this time, the sea around the island began to roll like boiling water, and the island was sinking rapidly. Xingyu and Mia stood up in surprise and looked at the strange scene in front of them. I didn't dare to blink my eyes, and I didn't want to miss any of the sights.
After the island sank, a sea whirlpool quickly formed on the surface of the sea. The whirlpool swept nearby drifters to the bottom of the sea, and even lifeboats and dinghies swirled with the whirlpool. Mia shouted in fright, "We're going to be swept in!" Xingyu sat down with Miya in his arms and comforted: "Don't be afraid! The whirlpool will soon disappear. Sure enough, the whirlpool quickly weakened, and the eye of the whirlpool quickly shrank from the bottom of the sea to the surface. Soon the sea was calm again, as if there had never been an island.
Heungwoo and Mia began to drift again.