"This data is very significant because we can determine the exact location where they are salvaging by analyzing the docking positions of their ships."
After merging the GPS data with the team from the National Museum of Ireland, the experts immediately started interpreting the GPS data and commented on it.
However, when they marked the locations on the map according to the data, Liang En frowned, as the locations obtained through his card were completely opposite.
"What do you think is going on?" While the scholars were still researching, Liang En pulled Joan of Arc outside the house and asked.
"The current situation seems clearly wrong. Even if the ship was damaged in the storm and drifted far away, it shouldn't look like this."
"Can you confirm this?" Joan of Arc looked at Liang En and asked. "You know I'm not very professional in this field, so I can't judge if your inference is correct."
"This can be confirmed." Liang En nodded seriously. "The local ocean currents are very clear, so these things should not drift away completely unrelated to the currents."
It was understandable that the museum scholars did not realize this, as they did not have the card and did not know the location of the other important site. However, Liang En could analyze the abnormal situation by judging the positions of the two points.
"If that's the case, there are only two possibilities: either those people are cunning enough to remove the GPS trackers and place them on other ships to hide their tracks, or the previous owner lied to us."
After thinking briefly, Joan of Arc quickly made two assumptions. But before she finished speaking, Liang En denied her first assumption.
"It is impossible to remove all the GPS trackers. You know these trackers are very small, and shipowners often place them in very difficult-to-remove places."
"Especially some built-in trackers are installed on the ship's keel or even the main engine. Unless you dismantle the ship destructively, it is impossible to remove or damage them."
"But if that's the case, why did that merchant lie to us?" Joan of Arc asked puzzled. "I can't see what he could gain from deceiving us."
"I don't know either, but I guess it has something to do with this relic." Liang En touched his chin and said. "Besides this, he has no other connection with us."
"So, I believe that since the other party doesn't know we have the correct location, we just need to observe if there is any activity around that correct location to identify those behind the scenes."
The next day, when everyone was about to go out to sea, Liang En left Fan Meng on the shore, citing the excuse of limited space on the boat to minimize unnecessary personnel.
That day, everyone floated on the sea, using divers and small remote-controlled underwater robots to conduct a comprehensive survey of the seabed, hoping to find the relic where the brass was previously excavated.
But as Liang En had previously judged, although there were many human activity relics and various items on the seabed in this area, they did not find what they were looking for.
"Don't be discouraged, this is very common for us." As they landed, the leading scholar from the museum patted Liang En's shoulder and said.
"Marine archaeology is very different from land archaeology. It takes more time and effort to locate relics, so not finding the target in a week or two is normal.
"For example, many famous marine archaeologists may spend months investigating a relic, but in the end, they may not find the target. So it is very normal for us not to find the target on the first day."
"Of course, I know that." Liang En smiled and said, "You know I once found that British expedition team in the north, so I understand how complicated it is."
However, after sending off the scholars, Liang En ensured that no one was following them and went to a café with Joan of Arc to meet with Fan Meng, who had been observing the situation outside during the day. "Your previous guess was correct."
As soon as they met, Fan Meng said seriously to Liang En, "I observed that there was a ship near that area all day."
"Most importantly, I saw several divers going up and down from that ship, and their diving equipment was too professional to be tourists."
Fan Meng took the task of observing if there were any ships or divers near a certain point very seriously and brought back this crucial information to Liang En.
This is also the most important reason why Liang En was willing to trust Fan Meng, as he could complete his orders without asking any preliminary questions.
"If that's the case, we can now restore the situation." Liang En nodded, then turned to Joan of Arc and said, "The other party is clearly misleading us regarding the relic."
"By your account, the other party should have found the shipwreck." Frowning while looking at the tourists outside through the café window, Liang En showed a thoughtful expression. "But why are they digging up that thing?"
"Didn't you say there's a shipwreck below?" Fan Meng asked puzzledly at this time, "The other party is clearly digging up the shipwreck."
"But this shipwreck is different—" Liang En scratched his head and thought for a while, then asked Fan Meng, "What do you think can be salvaged from a shipwreck?"
"Gold, silver, or various expensive jewelry and ceramics." Fan Meng thought for a moment and then suddenly realized.
"The ship here is probably not like the ones we found in the Arctic Circle last time, with no gold or silver jewelry on board."
"You guessed it right, don't forget this is from the same era as the relic we excavated on Crete Island last time. Ships from that era didn't have many valuable items in modern terms."
"If I'm not mistaken, the items on this ship, if left today, would probably only be some old ceramics and some remaining metal pieces, and these things don't have much value in the antique black market."
There is a difference in target selection between archaeological excavations and illegal excavations. Illegal excavators pursue crafts, precious metals, or gemstones, anything of monetary value.
But professional archaeologists are different; they are not concerned with the economic value of these items but the information they contain.
For these professional archaeologists, a container with food remnants might be more valuable than an exquisitely crafted gold necklace.
Because the former can be analyzed to determine what people ate in that era, providing a series of insights into ancient production and living conditions.
Therefore, these people salvaging the shipwreck seemed abnormal, as based on those brass pieces, there weren't many valuable items on this ship.
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