Chapter 1643: Land and Air
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“… The next sentence, I can’t quite understand. It seems like he was saying something about how the light is too blinding? Oh, then he said thank you again, thank you for giving him water to drink. He said that the water is nice to drink…”
“… He hopes that you can take your dog further away, he is very afraid of dogs. Their village has banned the keeping of dogs. Then I can’t understand what’s next. Something about the dog causing some sort of trouble?” Li Du came to a realization now. It was no wonder that the youth had been so frightened when he saw Ah Ow.
However, he had a doubt deep down. As everyone knew, the Inuit people loved dogs. They saw dogs as partners, allies and friends.
“… he asks you, why do you guys look like the same kind of people but speak a different language from him? You guys should be from the same family,” That was directed at Li Du.
“Then, he asked what you are doing on the island. This island is very strange and he tells you guys to leave immediately, not to stay too long on the island…”
“… He says that he has bumped into some people who had golden hair, different from him and his tribe. The clothes had been exchanged with them…” Those words were not directed at Li Du. Madman nodded, acknowledging that the recording had come from his interaction with the boy when he was on shift.
“From here on, he is shouting something that must be a few names. There is no need to translate that. Hmm, he shouts again, saying that there are people around him, not to come out first and that he would return by himself…”
“…He doesn’t want to leave the lake. He wants you guys to let him off, not to bring him ashore. He keeps pleading for you guys to let him go, not to force him to leave his home.”
“That’s it, our translation is incomplete. Really sorry about that, this is the best we can do. There are some phrases that we really cannot understand,” the expert sighed.
Li Du asked, “This language, is it so hard to translate?”
The expert laughed bitterly. “Sir, as a Chinese man, you should know. Even in your country, in the southern provinces, two villages separated by a river would speak different dialects.”
“The Inuit language is even more complex than that because they are nomads and will not stay in one place for long. And they are closed tribes. If a tribe stays in a wasteland for several years, their language is likely to change. Such changes will eventually become unique dialects if there is little interaction with other groups.”
“In addition, there are some unique words. Inuit people are creative. Due to environmental restrictions, they are unable to exercise their creativity in daily life. Their creativity, however, is exhibited through their language. New words often appear in a village. Similarly, if these new words are not passed on in time, the outside world will not be able to understand them.”
Li Du understood what he meant. It was just like how these days, children and parents used different slang due to the generation gap. The children have picked up some web urban language that the parents could not understand.
However, the information he had now was pretty much sufficient. As the Inuit youth had repeatedly said that he did not want to leave the island, it was obvious that he would still be there now.
He had even mentioned that he had met Steve and his people. The jacket that he was wearing had come from them. It showed that Steve had been on the lake or the island.
As he was still piecing the information he had, Elson walked over. He shook his head, “Peter has truly gone mad.”
Li Du asked, “Did you get any information?”
Elson laughed bitterly. “I hope that that information I got is inaccurate. More so, I hope it is useless.”
Li Du understood what he meant. Peter had repeated ‘dead, all dead’. If he was referring to Steve and his people, Elson would break down.
Elson asked, “How about you? Did you get any useful information?”
Li Du wanted to tell everything he knew to Elson. However, he thought for a bit and decided to keep the information to himself. After all, it also involved his own secret.
He did not know how Peter knew about the little bug. He also did not know who other than Peter had learned about that. However, he was sure that it would be better if fewer people knew!
If more people learned about that, someone might use the secret against him. That would be enough to put him through hell!
The Island of the Lost and Lake Angikuni were full of mystery. He decided to lead the team to resolve it.
Elson did not have the heart to stay there. He placed the hope on Peter. Taking the disturbed man, he decided to go to New York and send Peter to the best psychiatric hospital for treatment.
Li Du passed the photos of the two seashells to Elson. He wanted Elson to go check with seashell experts on what kind of shells those were and find out where they were from. He wanted to know if there might be some useful lead from that.
After sending Elson off, Li Du decided to get on his helicopter. They would check out Island of the Lost via air as well as by sailing.
Besides, he also wanted to gather more information on the Island of the Lost. However, the nearest place was Fruity Town. The people in Fruity Town were more conservative and did not travel much. Even if they did, they would not visit the Island of the Lost.
Hence, the information that he could gather on the Island of the Lost was inadequate. In the early days, the government wanted to develop the island. Later, in order to protect the ecological environment of Lake Angikuni, the development plan was terminated. Another reason for the termination was that it was not profitable.
Besides, some people had gone to explore the island. However, some had also disappeared that way. As they had been unable to receive help and assistance, those people ended up dead.
Hence, to people around the place, the Island of the Lost was forbidden grounds. There was nothing good about the place and it was dangerous. Nobody was willing to go near it.
Brother Wolf led the team onto the island, while Li Du took the helicopter. Again, they started their investigation on the Island of the Lost.
Young Markelov sat beside him and said as he chewed gum, “Boss, have you thought that the boy we met might be related to the Inuit tribe that had disappeared eighty years ago?”
Li Du nodded. “I’ve thought about that. However, it’s been eighty years, how could they not have been found by the outside world? They would be incapable of surviving independently, right? As you’ve seen, that boy was quite clueless. It seemed that he has never seen the outside world, but how could this be possible?”
Young Markelov scratched his head. “Perhaps they don’t hang out around here? They live on the lake or on the island and sometimes, they go to a different town for supplies?”
Li Du asked, “How about transport?”
Young Markelov shrugged his shoulders and said, “God knows.”
The Island of the Lost spanned a wide area of more than 60 square kilometers. The engine of the helicopter was booming as it was flying above in the sky, gradually lowering itself.
They focused on the search from the sky. After a focus area was established, the squadron on the ground conducted a thorough search. The two teams worked together to find clues.
From the sky, the place looked like a deserted island. There was no sign of men on the island. After circling the Island of the Lost twice, Li Du’s eyes had already started to turn red and yet they had found nothing.
Li Du put down the binoculars and blinked several times. He said to Big Ivan, “Go resupply and give the helicopter an overhaul, then return to continue the inspection!”
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