The Severnaya Zemlya was on the coast of the Arctic Ocean, an island belonging to the Krasnoyarsk Krai of Russia.
It was located between the Kara Sea and the Laptev Sea in the Arctic Ocean, across the Velikitsky Strait from Cape Chelyuskin, the northernmost tip of Siberia, so Li Du and the others entered the Kara Sea by boat and followed the route to reach the archipelago.
Since it was an archipelago, there were naturally many islands. The main islands were the October Revolution, the Bolsheviks, the Communist Youth League, and the Young Pioneers, in addition to more than 70 smaller islands.
The archipelago had a total area of 37,600 square kilometers, a small area with a small population. There were almost no permanent residents on the islands because of the cold local temperature, and nearly half of the area was covered with glaciers all year round.
The glacial zone was uninhabitable, with temperatures below zero all year round, and temperatures reaching minus 30 or 40 degrees in winter. Other than the glacial zone, the rest of the area belonged to the Arctic desert, the Arctic tundra, and a small number of polar forests.
Young Ford told Li Du that there used to be some fishermen on the island, who hunted seals, walruses, and beluga whales in the waters around the Severnaya Zemlya, but they left when the global marine conservation organization put those animals under protection.
Steve leaned over the side of the boat and added, "Actually, you're wrong. They left not because the conservation organization forbade them to hunt these animals, but because the animals were hunted so badly that their numbers plummeted. Their harvest in the archipelago was reduced, and they had to leave."
Li Du asked, "Have you ever been to this island?"
Young Ford pointed to Steve and said, "He has been here. This island was actually discovered by his family."
Steve took a sip of the steaming hot coffee and explained further, "It's my great-grandfather. He was a captain and liked to travel around the world's seas. He idolized Columbus, but in the end, he didn't become as famous as Columbus."
This news surprised Li Du. "Your great-grandfather discovered the island? When did he discover it? The island was not associated with his name? What a pity. "
Steve laughed and said, "He was lucky to have returned to New York alive after discovering the archipelago. That was more than 80 years ago, when the Bolsheviks were the mainstream here. A capitalist like him, who was born into the bourgeoisie, would have been shot if he had been caught."
The names of the four main islands of the archipelago showed that they must have been discovered during the Red Empire, or they would not have such socialist names.
Li Du asked again, "So, what is our purpose in coming to this island? Just to find meteorites from outer space? Are you sure there are meteorites on the islands? "
Big Ford smiled. "We are here to explore the history of human expansion. Since modern humans evolved in East Africa 160,000 years ago, the boundaries of human life have been expanding outward, and this is the end of the expansion."
Li Du was stunned and said, "This is the end of the expansion? Are you trying to say that this is the last land discovered by humans? "
"It's not that simple." Big Ford shook his head. "Of course, your guess is right. This is indeed the last large land discovered by humans. Do you know what Steve's great-grandfather followed to get here?"
Li Du imitated him and shook his head. "I don't know. Could it be following a meteor?"
"You won't believe this, but he followed the Polynesians here," Steve said himself. "Yes, the Polynesians, they left a trail."
Li Du raised his hand and said, "Wait, Polynesian? What the hell are you doing? Don't Polynesians live in the South Pacific? "
When he went to Australia, he learned that the Polynesians were a group of ethnic groups in the Polynesian Islands in eastern Oceania. They included more than 10 branches, including Maori, Samoan, Tongan, Tuvaluan, Hawaiian, Tahitian, Tokelauan, Cook Islanders, Wallis, Niuean, and Easter Islanders, totaling more than 900,000 people.
Indeed, the Polynesians were believed to be the last human migration. According to archaeological activities, modern people believed that about 2,000 years ago, the Polynesians crossed the Pacific Ocean and reached the Pacific Islands.
Big Ford explained further, "The Polynesians belong to the Mongolian race. Molecular anthropology has confirmed that their genes originated from the coast of East Asia and moved to Taiwan between 6,000 and 4,000 years ago. Two thousand years ago, they crossed the sea again through the Melanesian Islands to the Pacific Islands and merged with the local indigenous genes to form the modern Polynesians."
"What does that have to do with this place?" Li Du asked. "The South Pacific and the Arctic Ocean happen to be the two most extreme seas on Earth, right?"
Big Ford shrugged. "Yes, that's the problem. They should have gone to the South Pacific, but some time later, traces of their life were found in the Severnaya Zemlya. Isn't that strange?"
Li Du frowned. "Well, what you're trying to say is that it's another unsolved mystery of the world, right?"
The Ford brothers nodded, and young Ford said, "This mystery has never been solved."
Steve said, "According to our exploration, there is now a hypothesis that the Polynesians first explored all the way north. According to the climate and sea surveys at that time, it was easier for them to go north.
They went all the way north and eventually came to the northernmost Severnaya Zemlya. Then they found that there was no place suitable for their race to survive on this road, which means that their migration was wrong.
"Originally, this was a terrible mistake that could have destroyed their entire race, but they corrected the mistake and returned to the starting point. Instead of continuing north, they went south, crossed the equator, and entered the South Pacific Ocean, where they found a new habitat that was warmer and more abundant in resources.
Li Du said, "I understand, I understand. How could they go back? The fifth dimension, right? They found a node or some kind of gate in the fifth dimension, and through the fifth dimension, they returned to the starting point. "
Steve nodded and said, "That's a reasonable explanation."
Li Du could not help but laugh. "Maybe they had split up at that time? All the way north failed and all the way south succeeded. Doesn't that make sense? "
Steve waved his hand and said, "First, they were still primitive tribes at that time, and did not have enough people and resources to migrate between two routes. Second, if they really split up, the people on the losing side should have all died in the Severnaya Zemlya. There should be more traces on the island or around it, and … "
He was about to go on explaining when the captain's anxious voice rang out, "God bless us! We're so unlucky today, pirates! We've run into pirates! Get ready to fight! "
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