Republic of China: Ace Pilot

Chapter 655 Underwater Deep-Sea Exploration: Obelisks and Temples

Upon hearing Fang Wen's words, Steve and the two geologists quickly moved closer to the porthole and looked down.

The lake was as calm as a mirror, shimmering in the morning light.

"Fang, what did you see?" Steve couldn't help but ask.

“There are three dark shapes underwater, they look like man-made structures,” Fang Wen replied.

Professor White quickly retrieved the high-powered telescope he had brought and looked down.

With a telescope and because he specifically went to look, he actually saw it.

Three black dots were faintly visible on the gently rippling lake surface.

“They look like floating objects? But their shapes are too regular.” White adjusted the telescope’s focus. “No, they seem to be fixed in one place, not moving with the ripples in the water.”

Steve was overjoyed and immediately forgot his recent harrowing experience. He eagerly asked, "Could we lower the altitude to observe?"

"Okay, I will reduce the flight altitude to 800 meters."

Fang Wen replied, and then controlled the plane to descend.

As the altitude decreases, the outlines of the three black dots below become clearer and can be seen with the naked eye.

White put down his binoculars: "The three dark shapes are arranged in an equilateral triangle with sharp edges; they are definitely not naturally formed objects."

"I saw it too," Steve said with delight. "Based on our previous assessments, this must be the location of the underwater temple. But why did it take us so long to discover it?"

"We can't judge by appearance alone; we need to confirm with a detector. Leonard, let's measure the echo data directly below the black dot."

White called his assistant and began testing with the instruments.

The bottom hatch opened, and Leonard placed the echo detector in place.

The received echo was drawn as a waveform on paper using a stylus.

White was immediately excited: "The echo intensity is completely different! This isn't a reflection from natural rock! And there's a large, regular reflection area below, it's definitely a large cluster of buildings!"

Leonard analyzed: "It should be that only from our current specific perspective can we see it. Ancient people did not have airplanes and could not fly, so they have not found this place for thousands of years."

Fang Wen interjected promptly: "That should be the case. The German seaplanes can't come for the time being, which is the best opportunity for us to conduct underwater exploration. I will land the plane now and begin the underwater exploration immediately."

Steve nodded: "Yes, let's start now. Should we bring the Boeing 314 too?"

"Bring them over here and have them transport the heavy diving equipment. Let's try to find the treasure in the underwater temple before the Germans arrive," Fang Wen replied.

After discussing it, the two immediately decided to begin their treasure hunt.

Fang Wen controlled the plane to land on the water.

After the plane came to a stop, Fang Wen used his radio equipment to send a message to Boeing 314, instructing them to come immediately with their equipment. After sending the message, he took out his frogman diving suit and prepared to go down first.

Fang Wen re-fastened the safety rope around his waist and handed the other end to Gong Xiuneng: "Remember, pull the rope every ten minutes. If I pull back twice, it means it's safe. If there's no response, or if there's anything unusual about the rope, pull me up immediately."

"Don't worry, Commander!" Gong Xiuneng gripped the rope tightly, his eyes full of vigilance.

Fang Wen stood at the hatch, subconsciously took a deep breath, then put on the breathing apparatus hood and jumped straight into the water.

Numerous bubbles rose from the water as Fang Wen slowly descended, and visibility became increasingly dim as the depth increased.

Only when the descent slowed did Fang Wen swing his body and swim headfirst into deeper water.

After diving to a depth of about 100 meters, a large patch of aquatic plants appeared.

The broad leaves of the swaying water plants trembled like the tentacles of an underwater monster.

Humans are always afraid of the unknown.

The same situation applies to Fang Wen, a diving novice; even with his superior physical and mental abilities, he cannot escape it.

Suppressing the inexplicable fear in his heart, Fang Wen drew his diving knife and continued to descend.

The aquatic plants here grow very tall, reaching 2-3 meters.

The beam of the waterproof light weaved through the seaweed, its broad leaves brushing against the wetsuit like dark ribbons.

Various fish emerge from the aquatic plants and swim near the waterproof lights.

in the end.

Below is soft mud and sand.

Fang Wen reached out and scraped away the mud and sand, revealing a smooth stone surface.

He looked around.

The task now is to determine the orientation underwater.

He didn't have a diving watch, but he brought a compass.

Using a compass, Fang Wen determined the direction of the obelisk he had spotted in the air and swam towards the northwest.

At that moment, the safety rope around my waist was tugged.

Ten minutes had passed, and Gong Xiu was able to send a signal to confirm.

Fang Wen grabbed the safety rope and pulled it back twice as a safety check.

He then continued swimming.

Five minutes later, a huge black shadow appeared in front of them.

It was one of the obelisks that Fang Wen had seen from the air.

Fang Wen swam faster and arrived at the base of the building.

The base consists of several pillars, and due to its age, the obelisk is covered with various aquatic plants, and is surrounded by lush aquatic vegetation.

However, the tower is not complete; the upper half is actually missing.

Fang Wen bypassed the half-obelisk and continued swimming forward.

He soon arrived at the location of another obelisk, not far from which lay the collapsed structure of the tower.

It appears that this area experienced a massive geological disaster, which not only caused the obelisk to break but also submerged the entire region underwater.

Fang Wen didn't dwell on these geological and historical questions, but instead swam towards the altar at the center of the intersection of the three obelisks.

The altar was destroyed, with a collapsed obelisk spire and large rubble on top.

This is troublesome. Fang Wen can sense that what he wants is inside this altar.

To retrieve the secret treasure that radiates mysterious energy, this underwater ruin must be cleared out.

Given the difficulty, it will probably be hard to complete in a short period of time.

At this moment, the safety rope around her waist was pulled again.

Fang Wen understood that Gong Xiu was reminding him not to stay underwater for too long to avoid insufficient compressed air.

Immediately, Fang Wen responded by pulling on the safety rope and turned to swim upstream.

Three minutes later, Fang Wen, dressed in a frogman suit, emerged from the water.

He appeared 30 meters away from the seaplane, and then swam over by waving his arms and legs.

Gong Xiuneng, who was on the float, waited for Fang Wen to come over and quickly reached out to pull Fang Wen's arm to help him up.

Fang Wen sat on the float and removed the breathing apparatus hood.

"What's going on down there?" Steve asked eagerly. "I saw three obelisks, but they're all only half-built," Fang Wen replied.

"An obelisk?!" Professor White exclaimed in surprise.

He sketched on a blank sheet of paper and showed it to Fang Wen.

"Is it like this?"

The sketch on the paper looked very similar to what Fang Wen had seen. "Yes."

White then launched into a long explanation: "The Queen of Sheba and King Solomon, along with their illegitimate son Menelik I, are all just legends. The only historically verifiable site in Ethiopia is the Aksumite civilization, which claims to be a continuation of the Solomon dynasty, but there has never been any evidence linking the two. However, the Aksumite civilization has a distinctive architectural feature: obelisks. Archaeologists previously believed that these obelisks were related to those of ancient Egypt, but now similar obelisks have been found underwater here, indicating that this particular type of architecture appeared on the Ethiopian highlands much earlier."

Everything he said concerned academic questions about history.

Steve didn't care about any of that; as the president of the Holy Light Gospel Church, he craved mystery.

Therefore, he asked Fang Wen in a low voice, "Did you discover anything special?"

"No, it seems there was a major natural disaster down there, like an earthquake or volcanic eruption. The buildings collapsed, so I can't go in."

Fang Wen replied truthfully.

"Don't worry, our people are coming, they'll definitely have a solution."

As Steve spoke, he stood up and looked anxiously at the sky.

West of Texas Island, a Boeing 314 departed the dock, accelerated on the water, and took off.

This scene was witnessed by Heinrich at the south port.

However, in the current situation, one of the two seaplanes has a damaged wing that is being repaired, while the other is still floating in the lake awaiting rescue, and there is no aircraft to track.

Heinrich, his face grim, discussed the matter with Professor Achim, the leader of the operation.

"That large seaplane must have discovered something before it left. Now that they're out of our sight, we'll have to wait until our plane is repaired to find them, which will probably be the day after tomorrow."

"If this drags on too long, they might have already found it. This won't do."

"Then we'll have to ask the Italians for help."

"They won't send in the army; at most, they'll lend us patrol boats."

“That works too. Our people can go out in batches by boat to search, and maybe we can find their location.”

"Okay, let's do it this way."

After their discussion, Heinrich immediately went to find the local garrison.

Half an hour after Fang Wen finished his dive, the Boeing 314 arrived.

The large seaplane landed, creating huge waves, and glided a long distance before coming to a stop. Then it turned around and glided over.

The two planes were 30 meters apart and parallel to each other. Steve immediately directed his men to take action.

They took out heavy diving suits, which were then put on by professional divers, and then they needed to determine the location for entering the water.

This is very important. If you deviate too far, the heavy diving suit doesn't have the same mobility as Fang Wen's, which would waste a dive opportunity.

Therefore, they need Fang Wen to provide them with guidance.

Fang Wen put on a breathing mask and helmet, changed to a new compressed air tank, and jumped back into the water.

Fang Wen became more skilled on his second dive. He swam directly northwest and reached the obelisk at a depth of 200 meters in just 7 minutes.

Fang Wen stopped and tugged at the safety rope around his waist.

On the water, Gong Xiuneng watched as the safety rope in his hand twitched three times in a row, and quickly shouted, "We're here!"

Although none of the people present understood Chinese, they all knew that this was the place where Fang Wen had returned to the obelisk, because they had been informed in advance.

Then, Gong Xiuneng sat on the rubber boat, holding a safety rope in his hand, and waved his hand to guide the direction indicated by the safety rope.

"Paddle this way, yes, that's the direction, keep going forward."

Under his guidance, the rowers paddled the rubber boat and eventually stopped in one place.

The Boeing 314 then headed to that location and stopped near the rubber boat.

Only then did the divers on the Boeing 314 jump into the water wearing bulky heavy-duty diving suits.

The heavy diving suit, with two ropes attached, slowly slid down to the lake bottom, landing on the soft, muddy bottom two minutes later.

Fang Wen swam over and led him toward the obelisk.

Before long, the two divers arrived at the obelisk.

Next, the heavy diver drove a positioning line with a buoy into the mud, and the buoy, due to buoyancy, carried the end of the line to the surface of the lake.

Therefore, people on the lake can locate the underwater temple.

With the location determined, a larger-scale underwater exploration began.

Steve specially prepared an underwater exploration team of 16 American diving experts who took turns going underwater to explore.

With them taking action, Fang Wen no longer needs to stay underwater.

Immediately afterwards, Fang Wen surfaced from underwater and returned to his plane in a rubber boat.

After removing his frogman suit and changing into clean clothes, Fang Wen sat in the cockpit, started the plane, and taxied to the Boeing 314.

On the surface, he was resting in the driver's seat, waiting for the results of the exploration below.

In reality, Fang Wen secretly activated the Perspective Gem, using his X-ray vision to penetrate the water's surface and observe the situation below.

Ten hours have passed.

The lake was deathly still in the dead of night, with only the searchlights of the Boeing 314 casting pale white spots on the water, reflecting the bloodshot eyes of the divers.

After working continuously for more than ten hours, everyone was exhausted. Even professionals could not withstand such sustained work underwater.

Steve arrived in a small boat from Boeing 314 and boarded Fang Wen's seaplane.

He came to the cockpit, his voice hoarse: "The interior of the underwater temple has been searched thoroughly. The caverns contain only decaying wooden remains and broken stone fragments. No gold or silver jewelry has been found, nor the legendary Ark of the Covenant or the Son of Light."

Fang Wen stood up from the driver's seat, walked to the rear cabin, poured Steve a cup of coffee, and handed it to him.

Could there be a secret room?

Steve, who had just finished his cup of coffee, shook his head: "The temple's walls and pillars are all carved from natural rock, with no sign of any secret chambers or hidden compartments. Professor White said that, geologically speaking, the temple was built into a cave, avoiding the direct impact of tectonic movements, and is therefore quite well preserved. Strange, if there really is treasure, there's no reason it wouldn't be in the temple... Could the legend be wrong?"

His face was etched with disappointment, and his taut nerves seemed on the verge of snapping.

Fang Wen then offered his opinion at the opportune moment: "Just because it's not in the temple doesn't mean it's not on the altar."

Steve's eyes lit up and he stood up straight: "The altar? But it has collapsed. The rubble is piled up like a small mountain, and the underwater visibility is low, making it too difficult to clean up. It may also cause a secondary collapse."

“Difficulty doesn’t mean there’s no way.” Fang Wen stood up, walked to the spread-out map, and pointed his finger at the mark of area 2. “When we were exploring before, the echo data of the altar was completely different from that of the temple. There may be something we haven’t discovered hidden under the collapsed rubble.”

He paused deliberately, then added, "The three obelisks forming an equilateral triangle around the altar clearly represent special significance; perhaps they would place important items on the altar rather than inside the temple."

Steve's exhaustion had vanished: "You're right! In ancient sacrificial rituals, the altar was a medium for communicating with the gods, and perhaps important items were often buried beneath the altar as offerings. But..."

He looked out the window at the dark water. "How can we clear away the obelisk rubble before the Germans arrive?"

“No need to clean the top, we’ll make a hole from the bottom,” Fang Wen replied.

(End of this chapter)