"The cold wind is like a knife, the earth is like a chopping board, and all life is like meat. Thousands of miles of snow, the sky is a furnace, everything is melted into silver … "
When Jiang Chen saw the snowflakes flying in the sky, whistling into a fog-like white wall in the storm, he couldn't help but think of Elder Jin's words.
Good luck seemed to have run out. Next to the George V coast, the Pathfinder encountered a snowstorm from the polar region.
Bean-sized ice cubes slammed on the ship, but the Pathfinder was designed for harsh weather. How could it be disrupted by a storm of this level?
Because he was not sure where the eye of the storm was, Captain Marshall directly turned the wide icebreaker in the direction of the storm to prevent the Pathfinder from turning over, then he anchored and waited for the storm to pass.
Since they had to wait, the head of the delegation gathered the delegation and the crew together. Fifty people set up five tables and had hot pot in the cafeteria. A few Californians who couldn't eat chili stuck out their tongues from the spiciness, which attracted laughter from others.
A storm was blowing outside, and a hot pot was lit in the house. This feeling was not just a normal kind of carefree.
Jiang Chen, who hadn't eaten hot pot for a long time, felt so good for the first time. He ate several bowls of rice in a row. Seeing that the president was so friendly, the members of the delegation also relaxed a lot. There was a cute girl who kept adding food to his bowl. Everyone, regardless of whether they were white, black, or yellow, could speak Chinese. Everyone ate meat and drank wine, chatting happily.
However, Garrett and the others stubbornly didn't drink.
As soldiers of the "Sea Lions" special forces, protecting Jiang Chen's safety was their top priority. Not to mention not drinking, they even had to change shifts with strict discipline. Although he felt sorry for these soldiers, Jiang Chen didn't say much.
Discipline was discipline. For soldiers, discipline was above all else.
Since this was the team led by Garrett, everything was up to him. Jiang Chen knew very well that as the president, he would only cause trouble for others if he casually gave orders.
In this way, the storm lasted until the next morning.
The Pathfinder retracted the anchor chain, adjusted its course, and continued to move along the George V coast.
…
In the captain's room, Captain Marshall smoked a cigar and frowned slightly as he looked at the marked position on the map.
After a while, he took off the cigar and looked at Jiang Chen, who was leaning on the side with his arms crossed. Just ten minutes ago, the chairman of the group found him and suddenly asked him to change the original login location and deploy the observation station to this location on the map.
"Why did you choose to build an inspection station here? Whether it is the climate or the cost of supplies, this place is far inferior to Ross Bay. "Marshall pointed at the red circle on the map with two fingers holding the cigar.
"But the nearby sea is rich in flammable ice reservoirs." Jiang Chen shrugged.
It was true that the seabed was rich in flammable ice reservoirs, but that was not the deeper reason.
This place was the closest to the coordinates on the codebook, which was the real reason why he chose this place. The reason why he didn't reveal the news before and only contacted Captain Marshall now was mainly because he was worried that there would be too many people on the ship and that the secret might be leaked in advance.
"Too reckless." Marshall shook his head, sighed, and looked at the chief officer. "Lower the speed of the ship, the landing point has changed!"
Although he was not satisfied with the chairman's reckless behavior, who asked him to be the chairman? The salary he now received was twice that of his peers. Just based on this salary alone, he couldn't complain more.
Just like this, the Pathfinder turned on the original route and changed course to the hinterland of Cape Goodenough.
The sea was thick with ice, but it was not difficult for the polar expedition ship with the ability to break ice. The bow of the ship slammed into the thick ice, and with its several thousand tons of tonnage, it crushed the ice. Like a road roller sailing in the glacier, on the frozen sea, it created a blue path.
Many members of the expedition team stood on the bow of the ship and took out their phones to take photos. Although it was not the first time for some of them to come to the polar region, these researchers didn't have many opportunities to see an icebreaker breaking the ice. It was the first time for many people to see it with their own eyes.
Jiang Chen also stood on the bow of the ship.
It was the first time he saw how an icebreaker worked.
He always thought that the icebreaker "cut" the ice with the bow, but he didn't expect that in fact, the icebreaker "crushed" the ice with its own weight.
"Fortunately, we didn't encounter a thick layer of ice that couldn't be moved. The explosives we brought are useless. This is the best." Standing in the air-conditioned cabin, Captain Marshall wiped the sweat on his face and looked at Jiang Chen who just pushed the door open. "Close the door, my sweat is freezing!"
Jiang Chen smiled in a friendly manner and immediately closed the door behind him. He hung his winter suit by the door and walked next to him.
"How is it? With your experience, is this coast suitable for the deployment of an expedition station? "
"The terrain is not bad, but I'm afraid it will be a little difficult to supply 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 a triangle here, and then push it out into the sea … I suggest pushing it out. If we blow it up directly, international environmental organizations will probably come after us. "
"Do whatever is convenient for you. I believe in your technology." Jiang Chen laughed.
Marshall grinned and put the cigar back in his mouth.
"Leave 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. A few crew members wearing winter suits nimbly jumped onto the triangular ice shelf and used long nails to chisel a dozen stakes on the outer edge of the ice shelf.
The ship dropped graphene ropes, and the crew deftly tied the ropes to the nails before returning to the ship. These ropes were tied to the robotic arm of the polar expedition ship, which was the sturdiest part of the entire ship.
Everything was ready. Marshall, with a cigar in his mouth, began to increase the horsepower and pushed the ship outward.
The graphene ropes gradually tightened and made a squeaking sound.
At this time, Jiang Chen was surprised to find that the ice surface of a few square kilometers was actually loosened by the tiny expedition ship!
"Don't be fooled by the size of the ice. We just need to give it some acceleration, and it will run out by itself," Marshall said with a smile and pointed out the window. Marshall laughed and pointed outside the window. "These ropes are really sturdy. They're better than the steel wire ropes we used in the past. Those things are too weak. Not only can they break easily, but they can also hurt our own people."
"Graphene material."
"Really? Technology is an amazing thing, "Marshall said with a grin.
The ice outside the window moved slowly, and the cheers of the crew came from the bow of the ship. The members of the expedition team had returned to the cabin. The Pathfinder was about to land, and they should go back to pack their luggage.
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