Chapter 3611 Arrival in Antarctica

Upon hearing Wu Siyuan reveal Wu Tianlin's arrangements, Wu Bolin frowned slightly and asked, "Why can't we just board the ship at the dock? Why do we have to find a way at sea?"

Wu Siyuan could only patiently explain: "Elder, currently in Ushuaia, only research vessels from various countries are waiting to enter the Antarctic Circle. There are no commercial ships. Moreover, those capable of exploring Antarctica are mostly countries with strong economies and national power. If you rashly board any ship, you may be detected and locked on, which is also a risk for you."

Wu Bolin said calmly, "That's simple. I've already planned it out. I'll use spiritual energy to control their minds and make them obey my orders."

Wu Siyuan said, “Controlling their minds is not difficult. What’s difficult is that there are surveillance devices everywhere from the dock to the ships. There is no one to meet you. If you enter the dock, you may leave clues. If someone notices something unusual and traces your itinerary back to Buenos Aires, and if they go a step further, they may be able to pinpoint the location of the Anti-Qing Society near Buenos Aires. This is also a threat to the organization.”

Wu Bolin was silent for a moment, then asked him, "So you mean I can avoid trouble by secretly boarding the ship at sea?"

Wu Siyuan nodded and said in a low voice, "What Chief Steward Wu means is that the management of the research vessel is very strict, and the monitoring data at the dock is uploaded to the server in real time. The Argentine police, the Department of Homeland Security, and even hackers with backdoors can obtain the data. The data backup is extensive, the link is long, and it is difficult to destroy. If you board the ship at sea, you will not leave any clues at the dock. After boarding, you can use your spiritual energy to control the crew and have them delete all the surveillance footage on the ship after you land. If you want to be absolutely sure, you can find a suitable time when the ship is destroyed and everyone is killed. At that time, it will be even more foolproof."

Wu Bolin asked him, "What if I leave Antarctica someday? Will I have to board a ship at sea then?"

Wu Siyuan said, "It depends on when you leave. If you leave in winter, you'll only have less than a month left to see if any research vessels will be leaving Antarctica by April. If you miss that window, you'll probably be stuck in Antarctica for the entire winter. If you wait until summer to leave, it will be much easier. There will be many commercial cruise ships coming and going then. Our Left Army Governor's Office also has a cruise ship operating company, and we happen to have a polar expedition cruise ship that can come and pick you up."

Wu Bolin nodded slightly and said, "In that case, let's do as Tianlin says."

……

After three days of sailing at sea, the research vessel Iliad, carrying Ye Chen, safely passed through the Roaring Forties, rounded the Antarctic Peninsula, and slowly approached the Antarctic continent.

At this time, the sea surface near the Antarctic continent was covered with a thick layer of ice, and the research vessel could only move forward by breaking through the ice at an extremely slow speed.

The research vessel is approaching the 80°S latitude line. Although it has not yet entered the polar night, the daily sunshine hours have been reduced to less than three hours, and it is the eve of the polar night.

The display screen inside the cabin shows the real-time outside temperature, which was already astonishingly low at -55 degrees Celsius before sunrise. After sunrise, the temperature would rise by about 10 degrees Celsius.

However, compared to the extreme low temperature, the outside environment was calm and peaceful, with almost no wind, waves, or snow. There was only the sound of ice breaking and the low-frequency noise of the engine running.

After another sunrise, the ice-covered Antarctic continent could be seen outside the window. The captain announced over the loudspeaker that in a few hours, the research vessel would dock at the edge of the Antarctic continent, and everyone should prepare to disembark.

As the journey was nearing its end, Ye Chen woke up Yun Rugo and Song Ruyu, who had been in seclusion.

The two returned to their room, quickly packed their belongings, and waited to dock.

At this moment, Lin Wan'er was pleasantly surprised to find that on the frozen sea, there was a large army of penguins marching towards the mainland in a long line.

Pointing to the dense black dots on the ice, she exclaimed excitedly, "Young master, look! They're emperor penguins!"

Ye Chen looked around and was surprised to find that these penguins were actually migrating from the frozen sea to the Antarctic interior.

He asked, puzzled, "The Antarctic interior is the coldest place right now, so why are these penguins still heading in there?"

Lin Wan'er said with a smile, "Emperor penguins are so strange. Other penguins migrate north in winter, but they come back in winter to breed deep in Antarctica."

Ye Chen remembered something and said, "I think I saw it on TV before. Emperor penguins would gather together in thousands or tens of thousands to resist the wind and snow. It was quite a spectacular sight."

“Yes,” Lin Wan’er said. “Their habit is to reproduce in the coldest time of year, gathering in groups to incubate eggs and raise their young. This may be the only animal we can see in the Antarctic interior during winter.”

Antarctica is the harshest place on Earth during the winter, and very few animals can survive there, including the emperor penguin.

Because the Antarctic sea surface is now freezing at a rate of several kilometers per day, ice layers several meters thick have formed on the sea surface near the Antarctic continent. At this point, research vessels no longer need docks. When the ice thickness exceeds the icebreaker's capacity limit, the ship simply comes to a slow stop and stops moving forward.

At this moment, several people waiting a kilometer away saw the ship stop and give a signal, so they immediately started driving several ice tractors slowly toward the research vessel.

These ice tractors each tow a trailer, some with cargo holds and others with passenger cabins.

Immediately afterwards, Captain John Torresson came over and told Ye Chen, "Mr. Ye, you and the three ladies can prepare to disembark. The staff of the research station will pick you up first. You can take your luggage and supplies with you in the truck. If anything is too big or too heavy, you can give it to us. We will use a crane loader to load the supplies and equipment on board into the truck later."

Ye Chen nodded and asked them, "Captain Torresson, when are you returning?"

John Torresson checked the time and said, "It's still over 100 kilometers from here to the research station. It will take at least four hours by snowmobile. We need to wait for the staff to transport all the goods over and for them to arrange the work at the research station before returning together. From now until we set off, it will probably take about four days."

Ye Chen nodded slightly. In four days, there would probably be very few people left on the Antarctic continent, which would make cultivation much more convenient.