"It's finally here." Looking down at the sand table, Lin Tuo murmured softly, with a serious and serious expression.
At this moment, in his vision, the time ratio has been adjusted to 1:1.
As a result, many images became clearer, especially the two poles that were rapidly turning white.
Probably due to the needs of simulating the weather, from the beginning of the birth of this continent, there have been poles providing magnetic fields at both ends of the north and south directions, similar to the real poles.
It is cold, lonely, inaccessible, covered with pure white ice sheets, and in the depths, near the direction of the isolation enclosure, there is an eternal snowstorm.
It's just that in the long years before that, including this hundred years, although it has also expanded slowly, the magnitude is not amazing, and it still maintains the climate and ecology of this world.
But at this moment, Lin Tuo clearly saw that a huge, pure white storm vortex suddenly appeared at the two poles, and it was expanding rapidly. The north pole was bigger, and the south pole was smaller.
Accompanied by this, the temperature of the entire world began to drop slowly but steadily.
"The Great Ice Age will expand and spread to cover the whole world with the expansion of the two poles." Lin Tuo had a sudden realization in his heart.
After a little hesitation, he immediately raised his hand and probed towards the ice field where the North Pole was located, and at the same time separated out his clone.
He prepared to feel the power of the cold wave first.
"Consciousness switch!"
…
There was a brief dizziness, and then the vision became clear.
At this moment, in the sky in the extreme north of sandbox No. 2, the air twisted, and a figure in a cloak appeared immediately.
"It's so cold..." When Lin Tuo arrived, this was the first thought he had.
With the help of the main body, Lin Tuo slowly flew over the entire ice sheet, subconsciously running the ether, and using the Huabingquan method to stimulate blood and warm the body.
"The temperature here is at least minus 50 degrees Celsius!" Lin Tuo judged, relying on his blood to resist the cold.
Surrounded by howling, cold winds like knives, the location where he landed was still some distance away from the storm, so the surrounding wind and snow were not too heavy.
Bending down to observe, there is a pure white ice field under your feet. It is uneven, with peaks and valleys. The only thing in common is cold and silence.
No human structures in sight.
In the middle of the sky, not even a bird could be seen, only a round of the sun, shining mercilessly on this snowfield, raised his head, Lin Tuo looked into the distance, his face gradually became solemn.
I saw that in the distance ahead, the whole world was dark, and a huge blizzard vortex was spreading rapidly, and the blizzard it rolled up covered the sky and the sun, which was daunting.
At the moment, it is growing at a terrifying rate.
"According to this speed, I am afraid that within ten days at most, the northern part of the Sea of Storms will be frozen, landing on the northern continent, and destroying everything."
Thinking about it, Lin Tuo turned around and faced the south. In the distance, he could vaguely see the black horizon, which was the outline of the Northern Continent.
…
…
The Northern Continent, within the Kingdom of Aspen, in Winter County.
When people wake up in the morning, wear thick cotton-padded clothes, and go outside, what they look up to see is the sky full of clouds that are rapidly rolling south.
As the northernmost city in the entire world, the people here are rough and have a slow pace of life, and they have strong adaptability to severe cold.
However, since the beginning of the year, Rao, who is the strongest person here, has also started to wrap all the down jackets at home around his body, covering his head and face, and never go out unless necessary.
"This year's winter is colder and longer," people said.
Some of the news that has come out of radio and television programs recently is even more disturbing.
…
"According to the forecast of meteorologists, the world's temperature will reach the lowest point in history this year, and the thinning of the polar clouds will lead to the loss of heat from the ocean, which will directly-
Prick—prick—coal imports continue to increase, and this year, the number of people crossing the sea to the southern continent for the winter has increased—prick—”
In Winter County, far away from human habitation, in a certain unremarkable wooden house in a mountain full of pine trees closest to the north.
The radio placed on the bedside table was broadcasting news from Wangdu Radio Station.
Just because it is too remote, the signal is always intermittent, which is annoying.
However, just like the unchanging furnishings in this simple and old wooden house for many years, the figure sitting on the bed has enough patience.
"Talk-tick--" until the radio completely lost its signal and made a persistent noise, the owner of the house stretched out a slender hand and turned off the switch with a bang.
Then, she lifted the quilt and began to put the too thin set of clothes on her body. After doing all this, she got up again, picked up the thermos, poured the already cold water into the washbasin, and cleaned her face...
It is probably because similar steps have been repeated too many times. Similarly, there may also be her personality factor of striving for perfection. In short, the whole step is not redundant at all.
Waiting to pick up the towel and stand in front of the mirror on the wall, the mirror immediately reflected a face that didn't look old even after many years.
Anne Hathaway looked at herself in the mirror for a while, then wiped it dry, and then accurately took out a ballpoint pen, pressed out the tip, put it in front of her mouth and let out a breath before using it, and then put the calendar on the wall as today's The date is circled.
Tuesday the 25th.
"I hate Tuesday." Hathaway muttered, then put down her pen, took her wallet, pushed open the door of the wooden house that could not block the cold, but at least could block the wind, and went outside.
Walking out the door is the sea.
When Hathaway first came here and accidentally found the abandoned ranger's cabin, its door was still facing south and it was in dilapidated condition.
So she simply modified it, and removed the trees in front of the door in the north, so that she could see the Sea of Storms in the north without hindrance.
Although her purpose is not just to look at the sea.
Because of deliberately hiding his whereabouts, and because the place is really remote enough, so far, no one seems to have discovered that such an uninvited guest lives here.
Occasionally, when she went to eat in a nearby town, people would only treat her as a stranger from other places, and occasionally someone would strike up a conversation and ask some questions.
In this regard, her unified statement is that she is a travel writer who lives around and occasionally writes for magazines. She does not make much money, but it is okay to support herself.
The second half of this statement is false, but the first half is true.
Traveling is indeed her normal life in the past ten years, and being a writer is a tool for her to relieve boredom.
Yes, it has been ten years since Hathaway woke up.
This is a number with a large error from expectations.
In the original plan, she was supposed to be awakened around the seventieth year of the Centennial Plan to take over Alrod, but the real time was delayed by a full twenty years.
It wasn't that there was any accident. It can only be said that she, the initiator of the hibernation plan, underestimated the lifespan of that old man in Neftu, and also underestimated the narrow-mindedness of the big man Alrod...
In short, when Hathaway walked out of the snowy field and became the new leader, the shadow that toured the mainland, what greeted her was already a brand new world.
It took her a year to understand the history of the past few decades, understand, adapt, and integrate into this world.
It took another year to travel through the four countries and eight directions from south to north.
It is gratifying to find that although many details of the original plan have inevitably changed, the overall direction has not shifted.
The successors of the four countries took over the authority from the elders, and also took over the secret mission.
Of course there were accidents, but they were all corrected in time under Alrod's decisive action... This should of course be a gratifying thing, but Hathaway felt a little regretful.
During that year, every time she sneaked to a king's capital and watched the new king in secret, she would always think depressingly, how could these filial sons and grandsons be so obedient, at least one villain who would affect the plan and asked her to kill one... kill…
This is of course a joke.
When the big clock of doomsday reached the last ten years, the whole plan could no longer be hidden.
Over the past few decades, the countries in the northern continent have consciously transferred their wealth to the south. This general trend can be clearly judged by anyone who has read the relevant materials a little bit, and even ordinary people can perceive it.
In the past few decades, the economic development of the countries in the northern continent has declined rapidly, and the old country can no longer maintain the glory and glory of the largest country. On the contrary, the southern continent has risen and become the current world center.
Corresponding to this is the series of "faint" behaviors of the southern royal family, borrowing the whole country, opening up the country, and setting up various "wonderful" projects.
The old king was keen to pave the entire road with altars.
After death, the next round of successors did not repent, and drilled and mined almost crazily. From the first metal deposits, to later, they simply dug out stones.
It claims that in order to solve the problem of the growing population and land shortage in the Southern Continent, the underground city will be artificially excavated to alleviate the housing shortage...
Such an absurd plan naturally encountered opposition from many people, but centralized politics and rapid economic growth and development forcibly covered up these.
When the third successor came to power, he even proposed the "National Subway" plan, introduced foreign capital, and built underground railways and undersea tunnels frantically, claiming to use railways to connect the entire country...
In the past ten years, whether it was finally impossible to hide it, or it was deliberately released in advance, a theory gradually began to spread in the four countries.
It is the so-called ancient prophecy handed down by the royal family, that the world will come to an end at the end of this century... The emperors of all ages have gone underground crazily to avoid the catastrophe of extinction...
This kind of "prophecy" that has no logic at all has naturally been ridiculed and ridiculed by countless people.
The emperor of the Southern Kingdom was the first to bear the brunt of it, and it became a common joke among the people of the four countries. As for the cooling of the whole territory this year, it was accused of being caused by a large amount of gas released by the subway...
"Reasonable stupidity." Whenever Hathaway saw similar ridicule and criticism of "underground city" in newspapers, on TV, on the radio, she always calmly said this in her heart.
stupid? Yes and no.
Like most stupid things in the world, they are made because not enough information is known.
Hathaway sometimes thought that if she hadn't been drawn into that round table meeting, she wouldn't have known about it.
Will you also be immersed in the afterglow of the past, sitting in a coffee shop in the metropolis of Winton, reading the news in the newspaper and scoffing
The vast majority of people in this world are ignorant of the imminent crisis, they are not poor, they are enjoying the happiness brought by ignorance.
But I, this "wise man" who watched coldly, could only carry a heavy mission, touring the north and south continents year after year, observing, recording, and writing.
This kind of life is dull and boring, but she has adapted to it after all.
Until more than two months ago, she ended her travels and went straight to the northernmost tip of Wintershire in Aspen.
In order to meet the coming cold disaster, but also to wait for the awakened observation angel to call again.
Thinking of this, Hathaway stood on a mountain full of dark green larch forests, stared at the north, and rubbed the sterling silver hanging tag on her wrist with her right hand for the umpteenth time, as well as the complicated patterns on it.
Suddenly, a gust of north wind came from the sea, shaking Hathaway's hair and clothes, and causing the entire dark green forest behind her to tremble like wheat waves.
It also blows the huge white windmill standing on the top of the distant mountain to turn faster.
Sensing some kind of disturbing signal brought by the wind, the ghost who had wandered on the mainland for ten years suddenly opened its eyes wide, and magic power surged from its body.
The original plain clothes turned into a deep red robe full of ancient atmosphere.
Her clear eyes were fixed on the north, as if she saw a... storm.
…
…
"Severe changes in the weather ahead have been detected! It seems that a giant storm eye has appeared!"
At the same time, in the Antarctic on the other side of the continent, the Sea of Storms is the southernmost point.
In the silent sea, with glaciers floating one after another, an icebreaker from the Southern Continent was slowly moving.
In the cabin, it fell into sudden chaos.
The instruments beat disturbing signals, simulating the sudden appearance of a huge and terrifying cyclone in the distance.
"what happened?"
"I don't know...it...it seems to appear suddenly, without any warning!"
"No! It's spreading too fast! How could it be? It doesn't fit..."
"We must change course and escape from the range of the storm, otherwise we will be in big trouble!"
In the cabin, everyone on the icebreaker became tense.
Staring at the rapidly beating numbers on the instrument, panic filled the air, and all eyes were cast on the captain in the navy uniform.
The latter's face was ashen, and he immediately issued a diversion order, and sent the news back to the land through a special channel, then pulled over a set of winter clothes, put them on, and led a group of crew members to the ship's side deck.
Immediately, he looked forward amidst the violent and rumbling sound of the propeller.
His face darkened, at this moment, he saw the biggest storm he had ever seen in his life.
…
On February 25th, a super blizzard broke out at the North and South Poles, and the icebreaker "Alarm" was lost, sank, and disappeared. 45 minutes before the loss of contact, the last encrypted message was sent back, only four words:
"'Reaper', here we come."
(end of this chapter)