"The cold wind is like a knife, using the earth as a chopping board and treating all living beings as fish and meat. The Bayi Net has thousands of miles of flying snow, turning the sky into a furnace and melting all things into silver... "
When he saw the snowflakes flying all over the sky, roaring into white walls like mist in the storm, Jiang Chen couldn't help but think of Mr. Jin's words.
The good luck seemed to have run out. Off the coast of King George V, the Pathfinder encountered a blizzard blowing from the polar regions.
Big ice cubes banged on the research ship, but the Pathfinder, which was originally designed for harsh weather, would be disrupted by a storm of this level
Because he was not sure where the eye of the storm was, Captain Marshall directly swung the wide icebreaker bow in the direction of the storm in order to prevent the Pathfinder from rolling over, then dropped anchor and waited for the storm to pass.
After waiting, the leader of the inspection team simply gathered the inspection team and the crew together. About fifty people set up five tables and had hot pot in the canteen. A few Californians who couldn't eat chili peppers were so spicy that they stuck out their tongues, causing others to laugh.
There is a storm blowing outside and hot pot is burning inside the house. This feeling is really not ordinary.
Jiang Chen hadn't had hot pot for a long time, and it was the first time that it was so spicy that he ate several bowls of rice in a row. Seeing that the chairman was so friendly to the people, the members of the inspection team also relaxed a lot. There was a very cute little girl who kept feeding him. Everyone here, whether white, black, or yellow, can speak Chinese. Everyone ate meat and drank wine, chatting happily.
But Garrett and the others were stubborn and didn't drink.
As soldiers of the "Sea Lion" special forces, protecting Jiang Chen's safety is their top priority. Not to mention being a teetotaler, I had to follow strict discipline to eat. Although he felt a little sorry for these soldiers, Jiang Chen didn't say much.
Discipline is discipline, and for soldiers, discipline is above all else.
Since this is the team led by Garrett, he has the final say in everything. Jiang Chen knew very well that as the chairman, he would only cause trouble for others if he just pointed fingers.
In this way, the storm continued until the next morning.
The Pathfinder retracted its anchor chain, adjusted its course, and continued along the George V coast.
…
In the captain's room, Captain Marshall hung his cigar and frowned slightly as he looked at the marked position on the map.
After a while, he took off his cigar and turned his questioning gaze to Jiang Chen, who was leaning aside with his arms folded. Just ten minutes ago, the chairman of the group found him and suddenly asked him to change the original login location and deploy the research station at this location on the map.
"Why did you choose to build the research station here? Whether it is climate conditions or supply costs, this place is far inferior to Ross Bay." Marshall asked as he nodded at the red circle on the map with two fingers holding a cigar.
"But the nearby sea area has rich flammable ice reservoirs." Jiang Chen shrugged.
It is true that there are abundant flammable ice reservoirs on the seafloor, but this is not the deeper reason.
This place was closest to the coordinates on the codebook, which was the real reason why he chose this place. The reason why the information was not revealed before and Captain Marshall was suddenly found now was mainly because he was worried that there were too many people on the ship and the secret might be leaked in advance.
"What a mess." Marshall shook his head, sighed, and looked at the first mate, "Lower the ship, the landing place has changed!"
Although he is dissatisfied with the chairman's nonsense, who wants him to be the chairman? The salary he is currently receiving is twice that of his peers. He cannot complain more about this salary alone.
In this way, the Pathfinder turned a corner on its original route and headed towards the hinterland of Cape Goodenough.
There is thick ice on the sea, but it is not difficult for a polar research ship with ice-breaking capabilities. I saw that the wide bow directly hit the thick ice, and then used its thousands of tons of tonnage to directly crush the ice. It's like a road roller sailing in the glacier, grinding out a blue path on the frozen sea.
Many members of the inspection team stood on the bow of the ship and took out their mobile phones to take pictures. Although it was not the first time for some of them to come to the Pole, scientific researchers like them did not have many opportunities to see icebreakers breaking ice, and it was the first time for many of them to see it with their own eyes.
Also standing on the bow was Jiang Chen.
This was the first time he had seen how an icebreaker worked.
In the past, he always thought that the icebreaker relied on the bow to "cut", but he did not expect that in fact, the icebreaker relied on its own weight to "press".
"Fortunately, we didn't encounter thick ice that could not be pressed. The explosives we brought were no longer needed. This is the best." Standing in the air-conditioned cabin, Captain Marshall wiped the sweat from his face. , looked at Jiang Chen who was pushing the door in, "Close the door quickly, my sweat is freezing!"
Jiang Chen smiled kindly, immediately closed the door behind him, hung his cold-weather clothes by the door, and walked next to him.
"How about it? Based on your experience, is this coast suitable for deploying a research station?"
"The terrain is okay, but I'm afraid there will be some trouble with supplies in the future." Marshall glanced at the ice outside the window, picked up a ballpoint pen and drew a line on the map, "To ensure that this place will not be frozen, we must cut it here. Create a triangle and push it out to sea... My suggestion is to push it out. If we blow it up directly, international environmental organizations may cause us trouble."
"Whatever is convenient for you, I believe in your skills." Jiang Chen said with a smile.
Marshall grinned and put the cigar back into his mouth.
"give it to me."
…
In the middle of Cape Goodenough, on the sea frozen by the ice shelf, the Pathfinder pressed an outward opening along the triangle. Several crew members wearing cold-proof clothing jumped on the triangular ice shelf with great skill, and used long nails to carve out a dozen stakes on the outer edge of the ice shelf.
The graphene cable was thrown from the ship, and the crew quickly tied the rope to the nails and returned to the ship. These cables are tied to the robotic arm of the polar research vessel, which is the strongest part of the entire ship.
When everything was ready, Marshall, holding a cigar in his mouth, began to increase the power and drive the boat outward.
The graphene cable gradually tightened and made a creaking sound.
At this time, Jiang Chen was surprised to find that the ice surface of several square kilometers had been dragged out even slightly by this tiny research ship!
"Don't look at the scary ice surface, we just need to give it some strength, and it will run out on its own." Marshall said with a smile, pointing out the window, "These cables are really strong, better than what we used before. They are all steel wire ropes, and the toughness of those things is so poor that they are not only easy to break, but also easy to injure your own people."
"Graphene material."
"Really? Technology is really a magical thing." Marshall grinned.
The ice outside the window moved slowly, and the cheers of the crew came from the bow. The members of the expedition team have returned to the cabin. The Pathfinder is about to board 6, and it is time for them to go back and pack their luggage. (.)