"Where did you get this from?" In the collection room on the first floor, Xia Shushi looked at the shell shells on the table while putting on the white-line gloves handed to him by Weiran.
"Found at an Indian friend's house"
Wei Ran also put on gloves as he spoke, and placed the can bottle with the ax in it and the ax handle sealed with a glass tube next to the shell shell.
"It's interesting. There are also Japanese things." Xia Shushi said subconsciously when he saw the glass tube.
"What?" Wei Ran looked at the other party in surprise.
"this"
Xia Shushi picked up the glass tube that had just been placed on the table, pointed at the metal pipe and pot tied to the ax handle inside, which was only slightly larger than the tachyon, and said, "We are used to calling this thing a puff of incense.
Literary gentlemen like little devils used to like to use this thing."
"One puff?" Wei Ran looked closely at the small cigarette pot, "You can take one puff of this thing? Isn't it too troublesome?"
"Although it smells good, you can smoke it for a few minutes without any problem."
Xia Shushi turned the glass tube, pointed to the pattern on the pipe pot and said, "Look at the waves carved on it. This pattern is called the waves of Kanagawa. It is unique to the Japanese and was born out of their Ukiyo-e prints."
While talking, Xia Shushi actually took out a magnifying glass with a light from his pocket, opened it and attached it to the glass tube. He pointed at the waves carved on the cigarette rod and said, "Look at the oxidized color, this cigarette rod is made of pure silver."
, the water droplets splashed by the waves engraved on it seem to be inlaid with pure gold, and the three boats and the wave plover in the waves should also be made of pure gold.
In addition, this fragrant smoking pot and mouthpiece are probably made of gold, and the materials are very thick."
Continuing to move the magnifying glass, Xia Shushi pointed to the three small characters near the mouthpiece and said, "Guangzheng Ke, if I remember correctly, it seems to be a Japanese from the Meiji era, more than a hundred years ago."
"You are quite knowledgeable about this stuff," Wei Ran said in surprise.
"If you don't understand clearly, how can you trick them... Ahem! What, I mean, if you don't understand clearly, how can you make friends with them?"
Xia Shushi made up for his words in a serious manner, then picked up the glass can with the ax in it, pointed at the tobacco that was almost broken into powder, and said, "Look at these tobacco, although they are almost broken,
But it can be seen to some extent that this stuff is much thinner than our common tobacco."
"Indeed." Wei Ran nodded. Although he didn't smoke any pipes, he had seen old guys who liked to play with pipes. The tobacco they used was indeed much thicker than the ones in cans.
"This kind of tobacco is specially used for this kind of fragrance."
Xia Shushi pointed to the hair-like flocculation in the corner of the can bottle and explained, "The smoking pot is too small, and only this kind of cut tobacco can smoke normally. If you use common cut tobacco, I'm afraid you won't be able to smoke at all."
Not available."
"These things are also the relics of that veteran," Wei Ran said, pointing to the unopened sailor bag not far away.
They did not bring this thing back in person, but after they left the farm, Tantu's father Tatanka took it to the airport and flew it back alone.
After all, it contained a machete and a portable flare gun, especially body armor and two helmets. Not only was it heavy, but it was also troublesome, so this thing actually arrived in Kazan before Wei Ran and others.
"Were they discovered together?" After Wei Ran nodded, Xia Shushi opened the sailor bag and placed the contents on the long table one by one.
"There's something wrong." Xia Shushi frowned.
"What's wrong?" Wei Ran asked with interest.
"According to the engraved writing on the shell, if these things are related to the Johnston, where did this sailor's bag come from?"
Xia Shushi took out his mobile phone while speaking, and while tapping the screen, he said, "I remember correctly, the Johnston is a Fletcher-class destroyer, which was the main battleship of the US military in the South Pacific theater in the later stages of the war."
Having said this, Xia Shushi handed the phone to Wei Ran, and then pointed to the canvas hammock with black stains on the table, "Look at the photo on the screen, that is the Fletcher-class destroyer's sailor cabin dormitory, with three
Tiered steel frame hammock.
In short, if you were a sailor on the USS Johnston, you would most likely not be able to use this kind of sailor bag and hammock. It can even be said that most American sailors at that time no longer had to sleep in hammocks."
"There is an exception"
Wei Ran tapped the shell casing in the center of the table with his finger, "Lieutenant Colonel Evans, the captain of the USS Johnston, he served on the USS Alden, which was a Clemson-class destroyer.
, there might even be a hammock on that old warship."
"You mean, this sailor bag is the personal belongings of Lieutenant Colonel Evans?" Xia Shushi looked at Wei Ran in surprise, "It would be interesting if that's the case."
"According to the information I found, a total of 141 of the 327 sailors on the USS Johnston were rescued, and 92, including Captain Evans, were missing."
Wei Ran knocked on the shell case again, "According to the survivor's description, on October 25, 1944, during the final battle of the USS Johnston, Captain Evans was on the 9th of this morning.
The order to abandon the ship was issued at about 10:45, and 25 minutes later at 10:10, the destroyer USS Johnston rolled over and began to sink."
"Nearly half an hour is really enough time to take away some things."
Xia Shushi couldn't help but nodded, "But this sailor bag is not light even if it can float on the sea. Will the captain give up the precious carrying capacity of the lifeboat to a meaningless sailor bag?"
"This is just a guess"
Wei Ran spread his hands, "And when the USS Johnston began to sink, one of the Japanese destroyers conducted a final follow-up shot from a distance of less than one kilometer to ensure that it sank. Maybe it was bombed at that time.
It’s on the sea.”
"makes sense"
Xia Shushi patted his forehead, "Having said all that, what you are looking for is the whereabouts of the captain, right?"
Wei Ran nodded, "I am currently trying to find a way to check the survivors of the USS Johnston and the list of dead and missing to see if there is the name of my friend's father or any Indian soldiers other than the chief.
By the way, I want to see if anyone is still alive. So if you have nothing serious to do, why not stay and help for two days?"
"Can..."
"Lola recently got some good quality coffee beans"
"I'm thirsty. Let's have a cup of coffee first. After I drink it, I'll check it for you!" Xia Shushi promised, patting his chest as if he'd been given blood.
Xia Shushi was left behind easily, and the progress of Wei Ran's investigation suddenly accelerated. Unfortunately, after all, more than half a century had passed. For forgetful Americans, such a long time was enough for them to turn an Indian-origin hero into a
Completely forgotten.
So after several days of searching, the only useful information they could find, apart from some survivors' memoirs about the war, was only a few general records in the U.S. Navy's Warship Dictionary.
Even among the so-called sailor lists of the USS Johnston that the two of them finally found with the help of Anfia, there was no list of names that Tatanka had specifically written on paper and flown in together with his father.
First name and their family's surname.
"I have a suggestion"
In the collection room, Anfiya, who seemed to have been sleep deprived in the past few days since her return, yawned after speaking.
"What suggestions?" Wei Ran and Xia Shushi put down their tablets and looked over together.
"Whether it's a glass jar or a metal tube, you haven't opened it yet."
As she spoke, Anfiya closed her laptop and stood up, stretched, and said as she walked out, "The Internet is not omnipotent, and I can't help anymore, but my sister is very good at chemistry, so if
If the boss is willing to open glass jars and bottles, maybe she can help find some clues."
At this point, Anfiya has already opened the door, "Also, boss, there is a sister's laboratory in the basement of the library. If you want her to help, you can send things there first."
After looking at each other and Xia Shushi, Wei Ran immediately stood up and said, "We will send the things over now."
"I asked my sister to go to the basement and wait for you." After Anfiya finished speaking, she had already taken out her cell phone and sent a message to her sister.
By the time Wei Ran and Xia Shushi came to the basement of the library with shell casings, glass tubes and cans, the place was already brightly lit. Even Anfisa, who was busy upstairs with Suisui, not only put on
I got a white coat, and also put on rubber gloves, dust-proof goggles and a mask.
The other party was so well-prepared that Wei Ran naturally handed over all the glass tubes and cans to the other party with great confidence.
While Anfisa was busy working on the side, Wei Ran was also looking at the laboratory, which he had only glanced at through the glass since it was renovated.
In the nearly 50-square-meter room, in addition to a circle of iron cabinets containing various chemicals and chemicals and a trolley-type fire extinguisher can and gas masks placed on the side of the entrance, there are also items such as centrifuge equipment placed on the large test bench in the center.
For experimental equipment such as machines and microscopes, there is a separate ventilation system above the head.
"Why do you have a laboratory here?" Xia Shushi, who was also walking around in circles, asked in confusion.
"My pleasure"
Wei Ran said with a grin, but actually he didn't know why. He only knew that this laboratory was requested by Anfisa and Suisui approved it. By the time he found out, this laboratory had already been approved.
What's there?
He and Xia Shushi didn't wait long. Glass tubes and cans were opened one after another. Soon, Anfisa also brought something on a stainless steel tray and a paper report.
“Not much to discover”
Anfisa put down the tray, pointed to the floc in the first petri dish, and said, "First of all, this is most likely not cut tobacco. I guessed it might be the fiber in the coconut shell, because I found a small piece of it inside.
coconut shell."
With that said, Anfisa used tweezers to pick up a piece of wood about the size of a fingernail from the second petri dish and showed it to Wei Ran and Xia Shushi.
Immediately afterwards, after putting down the small piece of coconut shell, she picked up another yellow-white slag that was only the size of a match head from the same petri dish. "This yellow-white one is not a coconut shell. I guess it is
Bones, and they are hard, unlike bird bones.”
"Where was this found?" Wei Ran asked after translating the Russian into Chinese, which was easier for Xia Shushi to understand.
"Inside the heart-shaped cutout in the middle of the ax head"
Anfisa said, picking up a piece from the third petri dish that was about the size of half a melon seed peel, dark brown with black fur, "This was also found from the heart-shaped hollow of the ax head, I guess
It should be the skin near the eyebrows. The piece of bone just now was wrapped and stuck in the heart-shaped hollow, so I guess that the piece of bone might be the eyebrow bone."
After Wei Ran finished translating this sentence, Xia Shushi immediately grinned and said, "Fortunately, I didn't open it."
"The next thing is this Indian pipe ax and this little pipe."
Anfisa pointed to the ax placed separately in a small plastic tray, as well as the ax handle placed directly in the stainless steel tray and the small Japanese incense pipe, "First of all, there are obvious traces of cutting use on the ax blade.
Secondly, I found fine sand stuck in the solidified tar accumulated under the pipe axe.
Similarly, fine sand was also found in the hollow ax handle, the feathers on the ax handle and the small pipe."
With that said, Anfisa picked up a slide from the tray and placed it on the microscope, then raised her hand towards Wei Ran who had finished translating.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! When Wei Ran put his eyes to the eyepiece of the microscope, Anfisa continued, "You can clearly see these fine sands through the magnification of the microscope.
The structures are basically the same, so we can guess that these sands should come from the same place."
"Anything else discovered?" Wei Ran asked, making way for Xia Shushi. At the same time, his eyes subconsciously looked at the last petri dish in the tray.
"It was taken out of the handle of the pipe axe."
Anfisa said as she slowly pulled out the black and yellow cigarette holder that seemed to be made of horn on the side of the ax handle.
"This cigarette holder is made of tortoiseshell and has engravings on it."
Anfisa handed the cigarette holder, which was half the size of a ham sausage, to Wei Ran, pointed to the hollow part inside and said, "I suspect the things taken out from here are dry flowers and unknown plants.
Seeds, but because there is a lot of dried smoke oil on the flowers and the shape has changed, it is temporarily impossible to identify the species."
"It's jasmine. At least those seeds are jasmine seeds."
Wei Ran looked at the cigarette holder in his hand and said, "When I was a child, my grandma's house planted a large patch of jasmine. When Aurora was about four or five years old, she once stuffed the jasmine seeds into it.
It got into my nose, and I went to the hospital specifically for it. Since then, all those jasmine flowers have been chopped off."
"Apora has never told us about this kind of thing."
Anfisa shrugged nonchalantly, pointed at one end of the tortoise cigarette holder with tweezers and said, "The engraving is here. It was originally tied up with a leather rope."
"To War Chief Captain Ernest Evans! - USS Alden, DD-211, Destroyer Squadron 57 - 08/13/1942"
Just as Wei Ran was turning around to read the English inscriptions on it, Anfisa, who knew that her boss did not speak English, also translated it into Russian and read it out.
"So this is Captain Evans' 34th birthday gift?" Wei Ran weighed the tortoise cigarette holder.
"I don't know when the birthday of the captain you are investigating is."
As Anfisa spoke, she picked up another slide and put it on the microscope, "Now comes the final discovery."
"What is it this time?" Wei Ran turned around and asked after he finished translating for Xia Shushi.
"Fish scales, very small scales, and there are signs of carbonization."
Anfisa pointed to the leather rope removed from the ax handle, "I found it in the gap of the leather rope. There seem to be some slight burn marks on the ax handle."
"It can be used for fire... Could it be that you are really living on a desert island?" Wei Ran muttered to himself, and then gave Xia Shushi the translation of what Anfisa just said.
"Although a lot of details have been discovered, it doesn't seem to be of much help to us in finding Captain Evans."
Xia Shushi went to the microscope and took another look. Seeing that he could not figure out the reason, he straightened up and continued, "I think you should start the investigation from the personal information of your friend's father. Just rely on this."
I’m afraid I won’t be able to find any clues at all.”
"The Johnston is an American destroyer," Wei Yan said, "but my Indian friend lives on an Indian reservation in Canada."
"How can we find this..."
Xia Shushi scratched his scalp and retreated, "Brother, how about... how about I help you continue the investigation after returning to China? You see, the business you gave me hasn't been done yet, we can't delay it.
It’s down to business, right?”
"You're doing it because Lola ignores you, right?"
Wei Ran shook his head dumbfounded, but at the moment, relying only on these clues, he really couldn't find anything. What's more, he had originally intended to help directly through the metal book, and now he has done the preparations that should be done. The most important thing is
What's more, both the Katenka sisters and Xia Shushi, in addition to helping to cover up, have actually done a lot of help to him, but they don't know it.
Of course, this includes the details of the last battle of the Johnston that have been found out these days. But the most important thing is actually the burnt fish scales just now.
The fish scales themselves are naturally nothing, but since they can be burned, at least the fish must have been burned. If there is fire, there must be land.
Since there is land, at least Captain Evans, whom he is looking for, may not have sunk into the sea in the end, but may be buried on some unknown uninhabited island.
Seeing that Wei Ran was silent, Xia Shushi gritted his teeth and said, "Brother, do you think this is okay?"
"What kind?" Wei Ran came back to his senses and looked at Xia Shushi with interest.
"I'm going to do my business first."
Xia Shushi took out the authenticator hanging around his neck and shook it, "When I finish my business, if you haven't found the captain and his destroyer by then, I will help you find it. If I find the exact location,
, I will accompany the Philippine Monkey on a trip, and by then, whether it is a person or a boat, as long as you can dig it out or fish it out, I will guarantee that you can take it with you."
"Does this mean you have a relationship there?" Wei Ran asked with a smile.
"It doesn't matter to me"
Xia Shushi grinned, "But that second-in-command of Qin Beast has something to do with him there. Do you remember that Brother Yang who was in Munbei last time? The bodyguard next to Qin Beast."
"Remember" Wei Ran nodded, "we went into the mountains together to find the cemetery."
"Their security company seems to be based in Philippines, and they are easy to talk to."
Xia Shushi patted his chest and said, "Whether you can find it or not, I'll go back and do some work first, and then I'll call the beasts over to pave the way for you to go to the Philippine Monkey Pagoda in advance. What do you think? Isn't my brother generous enough?"
"That's okay"
Wei Ran nodded. Since the other party was responsible for what he said, he naturally had to let the other party go.
"That's enough!"
Xia Shushi snapped his fingers and turned around and walked out, "I'll go up there and have a cup of coffee, and then I'll buy a plane ticket and leave."
"Let me buy the ticket for you."
As he spoke, Wei Ran winked at Anfisa, who had already taken off her white coat. The latter immediately nodded, picked up the tablet placed on the table and chased out.
Seeing that he was the only one left in the laboratory, Wei Ran hesitated for a moment, then walked to the darkroom next door, which was specially used to develop photos, holding a stainless steel tray in one hand and the shell casing in the other.
Ignoring the scumbag friend who went to the library to exchange feelings, Wei Ran returned to the house alone after leaving the basement. He first went to the storage room to replenish the metal book, and then took away the bits and pieces in the collection room.
All the broken objects were put into the sailor bag, carried on the shoulders, and sent to the darkroom underground in the library. They took out the items one by one and placed them on the table like a stall.
Finally, after locking the door, Wei Ran took out a bottle of cold mineral water from the refrigerator and drank it all. Only then did he finally gather up the courage.
