Chapter 3613

Captain Sato, already somewhat aged, under the influence of psychological suggestion, willingly stripped off his clothes and walked to the bow deck in full view of everyone.

The research vessel was sailing deep into the night strait, the temperature dropping lower and lower; although the captain was frozen purple and stiff all over, he still stood hunched there like a lascivious borderline statue.

Seeing that he was about to die from hypothermia in the cold wind, Wu Boklin ordered Matsushita Heikichi to carry him back inside.

By the time the captain was carried back, he had already stiffened, but fortunately he still had breath clinging to him, and once the temperature rose, he wouldn't die.

Finding the captain annoying, Wu Boklin simply had him sent back to the cabin to rest, then summoned Matsushita Heikichi and asked him: "How many days until we reach the Antarctic continent?"

Matsushita Heikichi respectfully replied: "About another three and a half days."

Wu Boklin said coldly: "Find a way to compress it to three days—I don't have so much time to waste at sea."

"Haiyi!" Matsushita Heikichi agreed without hesitation; the research vessel's original route and speed had safety margins, so they could appropriately increase speed—reducing three and a half days to two days was basically impossible, but cutting it to three days was no problem,

and so the vessel immediately went full throttle, racing forward toward the Antarctic continent.

At this moment on the Antarctic continent, Ye Chen was driving a snowmobile, carrying three people toward a gentle hill south of the Nordic research station.

The magnificent Antarctic aurora had already appeared; Ye Chen intended to go up the hill for a closer encounter with the aurora.

Upon reaching the hilltop, he took a Yuanyuan Pill, intending to once again circulate the earliest set of hand seals, exchanging the spiritual energy within his body for the mysterious entity within, while the remaining five pills were his self-imposed safety line—no matter what, he must ensure he always has five pills on hand for emergencies.

This time, the Four Directions Treasure Pagoda again passed through the aurora, bestowing upon Ye Chen sixteen hand seals; this set of the Great Sun Tathagata Hand Seals has now reached a full eighty seals.

The eighty Great Sun Tathagata Hand Seals have significantly improved the overall efficiency of spiritual energy acquisition; after returning to the research station, Ye Chen plans to first enter seclusion for a period, waiting until his body accumulates sufficient spiritual energy before exchanging for the subsequent hand seals.

Once entering seclusion, time seems to cease to exist—several days pass like a flick of the finger.

Three days later, the Japanese research vessel docked at the edge of the Antarctic continent.

Its docking point was still about two hundred kilometers or more from where the Iliad had previously stopped.

The Japanese research team members were already waiting there at this time; their procedure was similar to that of the Iliad: they would first transport supplies over, then complete personnel exchange.

This was Wu Boklin's first time setting foot on the Antarctic continent; in the endless night, he personally witnessed the aurora in the sky, leaving him feeling utterly amazed.

After seeing this desolate continent, he became even more convinced of the story he had heard over a hundred years ago—that perhaps the Gate of Ascension truly lies in this endless desolation.

However, he still underestimated the area of the Antarctic continent: here alone, the coastline stretches twenty thousand kilometers, and the interior extends thousands of kilometers deep; searching for any relics in such a place would be nearly impossible.

For a moment, he even didn't know where to begin.

Not knowing where to start, he simply decided to begin with what was right before him—these Japanese research team members would thus become his ideal lackeys.

So he simply subjected everyone to psychological suggestion; fortunately, among the remaining crew he found someone fluent in Chinese, and thus he left him and Matsushita Heikichi by his side as the two guardians.

Originally, this Japanese research team that came aboard the ship was tasked with relieving the stationed crew and then returning to Japan with the vessel; these people had spent half a year in Antarctica, each desperately missing home, and with the return journey still over a month away, they were all eager to go back.

But Wu Boklin had no intention of letting them leave—not even those who had worked and lived in Antarctica for a summer and were now preparing to return home for rest; he was unwilling to let a single one go.

For him, these research team members were nothing but beasts of burden and slaves.

He had already easily controlled everyone; in the time ahead, these people would all obey his every command, becoming his helpers and laborers in exploring Antarctica.

What's more rare is that this group of research team members knows Antarctica best; having them obey him would make his plans twice as effective with half the effort, so losing even one would feel like a great loss.

Since he wanted to keep the ship, he might as well keep everyone—after all, he also needed more lackeys to obey his orders; this way, in this vast, frigid expanse of Antarctica, he could become a local emperor.

On the other hand, he cannot let the Japanese research vessel leave Antarctica, otherwise, once winter arrives and he needs to leave this place, if he cannot find a ship capable of breaking ice and sailing straight through the Devil's Westerlies, that would be embarrassing.

Thus, he summoned Matsushita Heikichi and asked: "How long can your vessel remain docked here at most?"

Matsushita Heikichi said: "Docking is no problem at all—our supplies can last at least half a year, and fuel, if not used for long voyages, can also last over half a year; however, if the ship remains docked here, as temperatures drop further, the frozen coastline expands and ice thickens—once the ice thickness exceeds our icebreaking limit, the ship may become immobile; to move again, we would have to wait for warmer weather and ice melt."

Wu Boklin furrowed his brow and said: "That won't do—I need you to keep the vessel on standby along the Antarctic coastline at all times, ready for my needs; you figure out a way to satisfy my demand."

Matsushita Heikichi obsequiously said: "This is also simple—I can have the ship move outward each day at the same rate as the expanding ice edge, always staying within the controllable ice thickness zone; that way, when you need the ship, we can respond immediately—this would require moving only a few kilometers per day at most, consuming little fuel, and we could still sustain it for a long time."

Wu Boklin nodded in satisfaction, then asked: "I ask you—if I have you change plans and not return to Japan for the entire winter, will Japan immediately come after us?"

Matsushita Heikichi said: "The research vessel we operate is a state asset; if we refuse to carry out the order to return home, the state will certainly come after us, possibly even dispatching troops, and we would certainly be charged with treason."

Wu Boklin stroked his beard and smacked his lips: "This is a trouble—you had better think hard about how to reasonably and justifiably keep these people and the vessel in Antarctica."

Matsushita Heikichi pondered and said: "This…… I really can't think of a good solution; saying we delay departure by a few days due to some incident is easy to explain, but if we don't return for the entire Antarctic winter, no matter what reason we give, it won't hold up."

Wu Boklin asked him: "What if the ship breaks down? What if it gets frozen in and can't move?"

"Well……" Matsushita Heikichi respectfully said: "The state can track the research vessel's position in real time via positioning; if we report to them that the ship is frozen in, but in reality we are slowly moving it each day to prevent freezing, once the state detects this, they will realize we are lying, and will certainly dispatch troops to investigate."

Wu Boklin asked: "If the ship truly gets frozen in, does your military have the capability to come to Antarctica for rescue?"

Matsushita Heikichi shook his head: "The nation's only heavy icebreaker is this very vessel; if our ship truly gets frozen in, domestically no ship capable of rescuing us can be dispatched—even if we sought help from the United States, it would be too late; by the time their icebreaker arrives after tens of days of sailing, the ice blockade would likely stretch over a hundred kilometers—even the best U. S. heavy icebreaker couldn't penetrate it, at most mooring outside the ice edge to assist in evacuating personnel."

Wu Boklin nodded and said: "Then it's simple—later, you just report to the state that the ship suffered a mechanical failure requiring repair, then keep delaying until the ice closes in; when the ship can no longer move, have the research team consult with the state, everyone promote the spirit of frugality, don't let your nation waste resources coming to rescue us—better yet, everyone just stays here and works hard, taking the opportunity to accelerate Japan's exploration progress in Antarctica."

Matsushita Heikichi naturally obeys him without question, though this lackey is also diligent and responsible, respectfully saying: "You just said you want the research vessel on standby at all times, but if we truly let this ship get frozen in, then if you have a need for the ship, you probably won't be able to satisfy it."

Wu Boklin snorted coldly: "A mere ice blockade—troublesome for your icebreaker, but to me, it's nothing; your ship is right here stopped—when you truly need to move it, I myself can break the ice open!"

Wu Boklin's strength—splitting a fissure in the ice is not difficult; the difficulty lies in having no point of attachment, attempting to cross the Devil's Westerlies alone.

An environment where one cannot fly above nor tread below, relying solely on spiritual energy to let the flesh float on the water's surface, combined with towering waves and winds above level eleven—even if Wu Feiyan came, she would utterly fail to withstand it.

Therefore, this vessel, Wu Boklin must keep in Antarctica.

Thus, he immediately ordered Matsushita Heikichi: on one hand, have him deliberately delay the timing and pace of unloading supplies, as much as possible postponing departure; when departure time can no longer be delayed, then, under the condition that repair is still possible, artificially damage the ship's propulsion system—by then, even moving the ship out a few kilometers or even ten or more kilometers, with ice thickness exceeding two meters, even if repaired, the ship could only lie helpless.

Fortunately, the ship's fuel and supplies are abundant; remaining stationary here, it can guarantee uninterrupted power, heating, and water supply.

As for the research station, there's no need to worry—supplies already have a safety surplus, and this time there's a large new batch added; although more people are present, it can certainly hold out.

Taking a step back, even if supplies later run short, we can still have the Japanese side figure out how to airdrop supplies via military aircraft;

Taking another step back, if that truly fails, just have these research team members tighten their belts—so long as they don't die and can still work, that's enough; anyway, Wu Boklin himself doesn't need to eat.

Having made up his mind, Wu Boklin instructed Matsushita Heikichi to remain on board to carry out his orders, then summoned another Chinese-fluent member of the research team, Kikuchi Kohei, and told him: "Kikuchi, you are responsible for arranging all research team members to return to the research station for assembly; additionally, starting today, each day set aside three hours to teach them Chinese—they must study with full effort, so that I won't later only be able to give orders to one person—understood?"

Polar scientist Kikuchi Kohei bowed ninety degrees, saying respectfully: "Please rest assured, I will certainly complete the task!"