Chapter 3611

When Ye Chen and the others disembarked, the brief daylight was already drawing to a close.

On the ice cap a hundred meters from the ship, three Nordic polar research team members were waiting by their snowmobile.

They had received word that after refueling the research station with fuel and various supplies, they were to set the station to unmanned operation, with power, heating, and water supply automated and maintained in a habitable state, instruments recording operational status and key indicators such as temperature, humidity, air quality, and oxygen levels inside the station; if the station's unmanned operation throughout the winter went smoothly, a team could truly overwinter there next year.

Due to the lack of sunlight and unstable winds in Antarctica's winter, there is almost no usable clean energy; the most stable energy source is diesel generators, and the heat generated during electricity generation happens to be usable for heating the station.

Therefore, this research vessel must replenish the station with at least 150 tons of diesel for the entire winter's operation.

Fuel transport is relatively troublesome, requiring at least two or three trips to complete, so these researchers have also prepared for busy work, hoping to finish the task this morning and return to their warm homes in Northern Europe.

When they saw Ye Chen and the three others, the three researchers who came from the station were somewhat surprised; they were driving a snow tractor pulling a crew cabin, intending to bring back anyone on the ship who could help, but they did not expect there to be four Asian faces accompanying the vessel.

Ye Chen stepped forward, shook hands with the leader, and while using spiritual energy as a psychological suggestion, introduced himself: "Gentlemen, I am a meteorological expert from the military; this time I have come with a very important task, and while you are here, you must absolutely cooperate with my work, and after leaving, you must forget my existence—can you do that?"

The three immediately replied in unison: "We can."

Ye Chen nodded and asked the leader: "What should I call you?"

The other respectfully said: "My name is Charles, Charles Johnson."

Ye Chen asked him: "Alright, Charles, how many of you are currently at the research station?"

Charles said: "We were originally a team of sixteen, but most had already returned by the end of summer; now it's just the three of us staying here to prepare for the station's unmanned winter operation."

Ye Chen nodded and ordered: "Then first, take us over."

Charles nodded: "No problem, please get in the vehicle; my two colleagues will be responsible for driving and bringing us back."

Ye Chen and the three others boarded the crew cabin under Charles's accompaniment, while the other two directly entered the cab of the snow tractor; afterward, the vehicle started and headed toward the research station over a hundred kilometers away.

Antarctica is truly the edge of the world; around it are only ice and snow and endless mountains, with no properly constructed roads, though most of the terrain is relatively flat, allowing snow vehicles to pass easily, and here in all directions not a trace of human presence can be seen—perhaps the only place on Earth that has changed little compared to hundreds of millions of years ago, a pristine land.

According to Charles's introduction, the inland research stations in Antarctica are not actually concentrated; from the coastline inward, over a hundred kilometers in, they are sparsely distributed, and this Nordic station is relatively close to the coast, while most are actually two or three hundred kilometers deep inland, with some even located near the South Pole; if traveling by land, at least a thousand kilometers would be required, making arrival in winter nearly impossible, with the only option being summer transport via simple airstrips on the ice cap for resupply and personnel rotation.

Even so, in winter, the vast majority of research stations must cease operations; on this Antarctic continent, larger than Canada's land area, the stations that continue to operate in winter are few and far between.

Ye Chen also learned from him that once winter begins, these still-operating stations have strict operational protocols: without extraordinary circumstances, they are not allowed to leave the station for more than 24 hours, meaning everyone's activity range is limited, so there is virtually no interference between stations.

Ye Chen also asked about the aurora; Charles told him that Antarctica has recently entered the aurora season, though not yet the peak period, so at the Nordic station, one can basically see an aurora every two or three days, but once the polar night of April and May arrives, auroras can be seen almost daily, even lasting continuously for several days.

For Ye Chen, this is nearly a perfect secluded environment.

The snow vehicle drove for several hours through the Antarctic night and finally stopped in the center of a cluster of low buildings.

The Nordic research station, viewed from outside, appears unremarkable and even somewhat shabby; the front is a row of nearly hundred-meter-long single-story buildings, the left side has several similarly shaped and sized arched buildings arranged very orderly, and the right side features several special buildings with various equipment mounted on their roofs, seemingly including communication and climate monitoring devices.

In the center of the building cluster, several various special vehicles are parked—whether transport trucks, bulldozers, cranes, or excavators, all without exception use tracked locomotion.

After the vehicle came to a stop, Ye Chen and the others stepped out of the warm cabin; although they had only advanced over a hundred kilometers inland, since the sun had disappeared several hours prior, the temperature was considerably lower than when they first disembarked.

In Charles's subconscious, Ye Chen and the others are military personnel related to national security, so he spoke very politely and enthusiastically: "Now the temperature has dropped sharply; you four may not yet be fully adapted—let's hurry inside!"

Ye Chen nodded, and the three women beside him felt no cold at all, curiously looking around nonstop; after all, such a place is something ordinary people rarely get to visit, especially in winter, which makes it even less possible.

Ye Chen said to Charles: "Please first give us a detailed introduction to the entire station's situation and operation mode, such as what hardware facilities are available and the basic operation methods of essential equipment."

Charles nodded and introduced the four: "The main building before us is the station's entire residential and daily indoor work area; all indoor spaces are equipped with electric underfloor heating, plus 24-hour heat-exchange fresh air and humidification equipment, and with the molecular sieve oxygen generation system, so basically constant temperature, humidity, and oxygen can be achieved."

Having said that, he pointed to the left-side arched buildings and said: "Our generator set is located in the first equipment cabin on the left; there are five sets of diesel generator units, three primary and two backup, plus an energy storage system to ensure uninterrupted power supply; the second equipment cabin houses our ice-melting equipment and water storage, using the temperature and electricity from the diesel generator set to slowly melt stored glacial ice, then purify it and store it in water tanks, transported via underground pipelines to each room."

Ye Chen asked him: "Are these all automatic?"

"Yes," Charles said: "All equipment, once set to a mode, will run automatically; the diesel generator units adjust power according to electrical load, and the water-melting system is the same, storing a large amount of glacial ice—at least 1,000 cubic meters—plus a buried underground reservoir of nearly 100 cubic meters."

Ye Chen nodded; over 1,000 cubic meters of water should be sufficient for four people to last an entire winter.

Charles further introduced: "Our fuel tanks are all built underground around the main building's perimeter, with adequate fire and explosion prevention measures, capable of storing up to 500 tons of high-grade diesel; besides the generator set, all vehicles also run on diesel."

Ye Chen asked him: "Then how do you refuel these vehicles?"

Charles led Ye Chen to the central parking area; at the center of the lot, there were four fuel dispensers specially developed for polar regions; while demonstrating how to refuel vehicles, he introduced: "The fuel here is a mixture of aviation kerosene and ultra-low-freezing-point diesel, capable of flowing normally even at minus seventy degrees; all vehicles have also been polar-modified, so aside from needing extra time for preheating, their use is otherwise not significantly different from inland vehicles."

Ye Chen specifically asked him about operating enclosed snow vehicles; after clarifying everything, he let Charles lead everyone into the station's interior for a tour.

Although the outside temperature is over fifty degrees below zero, the internal temperature of the station's main building is actually a full twenty-six degrees; the building area is about four thousand square meters; besides some professional research and laboratory spaces, there are as many as twenty rooms, similar to the research vessel, ranging from quad to single occupancy, each equipped with an integrated simple toilet and shower; wastewater has an automated recycling system, while settled sludge and solid dirt are automatically collected and sent back to the home country via supply ship.

The dining hall and kitchen have considerable food reserves, though not enough to fully sustain the station through winter; however, fortunately, among Ye Chen's four companions, only Lin Wanner needs to eat, while the others can completely abstain from grains, so these supplies are also quite ample.

Charles also introduced to Ye Chen that, besides daily necessities and supplies, the station also has television, telephone, and satellite internet, all communications routed via satellite, with efficiency not lagging behind inland; any situation, Ye Chen can contact the outside world immediately, and others can also reach him promptly.

However, this network guarantee is limited to within the station's range; if leaving the station for fieldwork, those vehicles have Musk's Starlink system installed, providing basic signal coverage across the Antarctic continent, with speed not slow and bandwidth already exceeding 100 Mbps.

Ye Chen was quite surprised by Starlink's coverage and speed; he had never encountered such a product before, never expecting such comprehensive network service in polar regions; his having Lang Hongjun build satellite communications, even if the first phase is completed and put into use, can at most ensure basic global communications except for the two polar regions; to achieve such seamless high-speed network coverage, satellite numbers would still need to increase by several orders of magnitude.

While Ye Chen was basically mastering the operation of the station's equipment and vehicles, the fuel shuttle kept going back and forth between the research vessel and the station; they spent a full thirty hours refueling and transporting other necessary supplies; after material replenishment was completed, they also loaded and hauled away a large amount of garbage.

After the last vehicle was loaded and transport completed, three days had passed.

During these three days, Ye Chen saw two auroras, but since the others were still working nonstop, he did not leave the station during this time.

When the supply team and the three personnel left behind had finished all their work and prepared to return, Ye Chen saw off their vehicles from outside the station.

After everyone left the station, they completely forgot Ye Chen's existence; in their subconscious, the station had entered unmanned operation mode, and the next time someone comes, it will have to wait until next year when Antarctica enters summer in the second half.

After these people departed, only Ye Chen and his three companions remained within a radius of several hundred kilometers of the station.

Ye Chen joked that this might be the loneliest place on Earth, but interestingly, none of them felt lonely; on the contrary, each felt in their heart that this was a rare opportunity in life to completely detach from worldly noise.

Just as the four had just settled in at the station, a Japanese research vessel set sail from Ushuaia Port.

On the vast ocean, a fishing boat drifted aimlessly; Wu Bolin sat cross-legged in the cabin, eyes closed, meditating.

At this moment, Wu Siyuan rushed in, excitedly saying: "Grand Elder, the research vessel you've been waiting for has arrived!"