Chapter 3618: I Want to Go Take a Look

Ye Chen heard the faint sound of an engine, while the other three girls were completely bewildered.

Besides the wind and the rustling of ice and snow blown across the ground, there was no other sound—how could there be a helicopter?

Moreover, when they arrived at the research station and made contact with the Nordic research team, they had heard them mention that Antarctic winter helicopter launches are extremely rare, only occurring in emergencies involving personal safety; otherwise, it would be unthinkable to risk launching, as even a small mistake could mean the destruction of the aircraft and loss of life.

However, since Ye Chen said he heard it, they all believed he was certainly not speaking randomly.

Thus, Lin Wan'er said: "Perhaps it's another research team's helicopter on a mission."

Ye Chen said: "If a helicopter were truly dispatched on a mission, it's likely someone was injured."

As he spoke, he frowned again and said: "The helicopter seems to be getting closer and closer to us."

At that moment, dozens of kilometers away, the helicopter dispatched by Wu Han Gong was flying along its preset route, searching.

They had mounted an airborne ice radar on the helicopter, operating at full power to probe the ice sheet below.

Their preset flight path brought them closest to the Nordic research station at about a few kilometers away; since they needed to probe the ice sheet, they had to precisely control the helicopter's altitude, not flying too high above the ground, so they were essentially flying as close to the ground as possible.

As the helicopter drew nearer, Yun Ru Ge and Song Ru Yu also successively heard its movement; Yun Ru Ge asked Ye Chen: "Mr. Ye, should we go back first, or wait here to see what happens?"

"Let's wait and see for a moment." Ye Chen said: "They've flown this far all the way—it doesn't look like a rescue mission, after all, in such extreme weather, who would send someone out on such a distant task?"

"Alright." Everyone decided to wait in place to see which country's research helicopter would be conducting such a large-scale operation at this time.

Because Wu Han Gong's research helicopter needed to conduct surveys, its speed was not fast; the four waited a long time before a helicopter appeared in the aurora-filled sky.

Although still several kilometers away, Ye Chen immediately spotted the large red circle on the fuselage and remarked in surprise: "Looks like a Japanese helicopter—what are they up to this season?"

Lin Wan'er recalled something and said: "When the Young Master was in seclusion, I had seen some news about Antarctica; it seems the Japanese research team launched their largest-ever Antarctic winter expedition this year, and reportedly their station is fully staffed or even overstaffed."

"Oh?" Ye Chen also found it strange, saying: "We've been here once, so we know that in this freezing weather, even if some countries have year-round stations still operating, they reduce personnel to ensure supplies last—after all, resupplying is no easy task, and now it's nearly impossible to get in; Japan launching such a large-scale operation—can their supplies last?"

Lin Wan'er shook her head: "I'm not sure about that, but what the Young Master said makes sense—even if they could bring large amounts of supplies by research vessel, the station's scale is fixed, just like our current research station: first, fuel reserves have a clear upper limit, and building storage tanks is extremely troublesome—not only does the entire tank facility need to be shipped directly from other continents, but the accompanying stabilizing equipment and transmission pipelines also need to be transported in place; the tanks must be unloaded from the ship and hauled to the station, then a large pit dug to bury them—this absolutely cannot be completed in winter; they have never publicly announced any expansion of the research station, so suddenly bringing this many people, fuel and supplies would likely be insufficient."

"Moreover, they're deploying helicopters on such a large scale—I've looked at maps these past few days and have a general idea of other countries' research station locations; flying from the Japanese research station here is at least three hundred kilometers, their helicopter not only didn't turn back but continues forward—this trip would likely consume a huge amount of fuel—have they lost their minds? When dozens of people run out of fuel for power and heating, the first step would be loss of life."

Ye Chen found Lin Wan'er's reasoning sound, so he said: "I'll ask someone to help inquire—let's find out what's really going on; if the Japanese intend to conduct large-scale research this winter in Antarctica, it would also be a trouble for us."

Lin Wan'er nodded and said: "Should the Young Master seek help from Miss Ito?"

"Yes." Ye Chen smiled: "Meng Meng Zi has great influence in Japan; her people should be able to uncover what big move Japan plans in Antarctica."

Afterwards, he greeted the three and returned to the research station, while using a satellite phone to call Meng Meng Zi.

The call connected, and Meng Meng Zi exclaimed in surprise and delight: "Ye Chen Jun, are you calling me from Antarctica right now?"

"Yes." Ye Chen smiled: "I'm still in Antarctica under the aurora, heading back now."

"How romantic." Meng Meng Zi couldn't help but sigh, then asked: "Ye Chen Jun, you called—do you need me to do something?"

Ye Chen spoke directly: "Meng Meng Zi, I hope you can help me investigate Japan's this-time-largest-ever Antarctic expedition—what exactly they're up to, and if possible, clarify their detection mission this time."

Meng Meng Zi immediately said: "No problem, Ye Chen Jun—I'll have people look into it right away."

The Ito family's influence in Japan is no less than that of the Samsung family in South Korea.

They not only possess strong power in civilian and financial circles, but in various government departments, even the cabinet, they have numerous informants.

Although this time Japan's Antarctic expedition is highly confidential, for the Ito family, this secrecy level is like a windowpane—just a poke and it breaks.

Thus, Meng Meng Zi quickly called back and told Ye Chen: "Ye Chen Jun, I just had people look into it—this time Japan's Antarctic expedition, while appearing to be the largest in history on the surface, is actually due to a human-caused accident."

"A human-caused accident?" Ye Chen then asked: "Do you know the specific situation?"

Meng Meng Zi said: "Yes—it's that the newly launched research ship, while transporting winter expedition personnel to Antarctica, planned to disembark staff and supplies and return with the summer team, but because they needed several days to transport supplies, the ship's propulsion system suddenly suffered a fault that cannot be repaired in a short time; now the ship is ice-locked, far beyond icebreaking capability, so both personnel and vessel are stranded in Antarctica; to avoid a scandal, they announced it was intentional."

Ye Chen frowned even more tightly, saying: "If twice the personnel are stranded in Antarctica, supplies and fuel should be tight—why such extravagance, directly launching helicopters? Please ask the Japanese side again—what mission is the helicopter performing? Shouldn't the research team here report to Japan's homeland?"

Meng Meng Zi said: "Ye Chen Jun, please wait a moment—I'll ask about the helicopter situation."

"Alright, Meng Meng Zi, thank you for your trouble."

Ye Chen waited a while, then Meng Meng Zi called back, somewhat shocked, saying: "Ye Chen Jun, Japan's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology said they saw no takeoff record for the helicopter; if what you saw earlier was truly the helicopter from the Japanese research station, then it can only mean they deliberately concealed the helicopter's movement data."

Ye Chen was even more puzzled.

First, the research team was stranded; second, they concealed from domestic authorities the mobilization of the helicopter—this looks nothing like a normal situation no matter how you view it.

Thus he asked Meng Meng Zi: "Isn't the Japanese research ship stranded? Do you have the coordinates of its stranding? I want to go see for myself!"