Chapter 3626: Quick, Call America!===GLOSSARY===

A senior official of Japan's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, who usually works a regular nine-to-five with a laid-back attitude, stayed late today to work overtime.

In a fully sealed conference room, they intensely discussed the fleeting liquid level signal from the icebreaker.

The person who discovered the problem reported: "I personally believe this matter is extremely serious; these people are hiding something from us in Antarctica, and they're using all Japanese research equipment, yet they're not carrying out the exploration mission announced by Japan—I have reason to suspect they've already committed treason!"

The head of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology felt his head swell like a bucket.

Although he also knew the situation was somewhat serious, as the person in charge, he didn't want to admit it was serious.

No one wants such a serious systemic problem to appear under their jurisdiction; once reported, how would they explain it, how would they account for their duties? They might even be removed from office.

So he said as gently as possible: "Mr. Watanabe, don't get too worked up; we currently have no other evidence proving our Antarctic expedition members have committed treason, and the signal you mentioned only appeared for a moment—what if it's a false alarm?"

"Impossible, absolutely impossible!" the reporter immediately said: "The liquid level signal isn't from high-precision or micro-control equipment; it exists solely to provide a backup redundancy for all electronic systems, so if it shows that height data, it proves the float definitely reached that height—unless someone jumped in, grabbed the float, sank rapidly, and let go instantly, otherwise such data fluctuation is absolutely impossible."

The deputy asked him: "You said the difference before and after was 1,300 tons—does that mean they've already used that much fuel behind our backs?"

"Yes!" the reporter explained: "Their previous fuel consumption curve was very linear, slow, and reasonable—after all, the icebreaker is ice-locked, so they wouldn't start the main engine, only the generator set, whose fuel consumption rate couldn't possibly increase unless there was a fuel leak."

The person in charge then said: "Perhaps it's just a fuel leak, after all!"

To him, a fuel leak was far better than the entire team committing treason.

Even if the icebreaker exploded and was scrapped, it would still be better than the entire team committing treason.

After all, no Antarctic expedition team in history has ever had the entire team commit treason—if this got out, it would likely become an international laughingstock.

The deputy, wanting to escalate the matter, then said sternly: "If over a thousand tons of fuel consumption was truly done behind our backs, it proves they're definitely carrying out a large-scale operation; we don't know what they're doing—what if they're involved in terrorist activities? What if they're slaughtering other nations' expedition members in Antarctica? If this gets exposed, our country will lose all face!"

Everyone immediately expressed strong agreement.

That place is now ice-locked—normally no one can get in—but what if these people really went mad and started causing chaos up there?

Moreover, everyone knows such a major issue means the person in charge bears primary responsibility, the head bears secondary responsibility, so everyone also hopes to launch an investigation as soon as possible to prevent escalation; otherwise, they might all end up laid off.

The person in charge was also near breaking point, asking everyone: "Help me think—under what circumstances could dozens of expedition members from different teams, units, and companies all commit treason simultaneously?"

Even if I had eight brains, I still couldn't figure this out.

This is a group of expedition members, and they're not even from the same team—some are from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, others were inserted from other research units; after all, any research unit or even some companies with Antarctic expedition needs will approach the Ministry for help renting expedition stations or purchasing slots.

It's like a temporary tour group thrown together—how could they possibly have such strong coordinated action?

Someone exclaimed: "Shouldn't we urgently confirm each person's survival status? What if many of them have already been killed or imprisoned? We can't guarantee all reliable personnel aren't deviants or extremists, but what if a few such people exist and have seized control?"

"Damn it!"

The person in charge directly swore.

If this really turned into a perverted bloodbath in Antarctica, even if I didn't disembowel myself, I'd have to kneel before the entire nation.

He urgently ordered: "Meeting suspended—you immediately contact all expedition members' families, indirectly inquire when they last contacted home, and whether you can 100% confirm it was them; if yes, record as alive; if not, record as doubtful—we'll first get a general picture."

Everyone immediately sprang into action.

Half an hour later.

Reporter Watanabe said: "Your Excellency, we've just tallied—families basically had video calls with them, they have internet there, so it seems no perverted bloodbath occurred."

The person in charge exhaled deeply: "Great, great..."

No deaths—his original worry vanished completely, replaced by a strong sense of relief.

He said: "Since everyone's alive, we should try to investigate their current situation—can we request help from the U. S. military, preferably by sending a reconnaissance plane to take a look?"

Someone agreed: "Yes! Quickly ask America for help—that's the correct move! Make the situation sound more serious; America has hundreds of expedition members in Antarctica themselves, so they'll definitely take this seriously and help us get to the bottom of it!"

The person in charge nodded: "In that case, let's report the situation to the Defense Ministry and ask them to contact the U. S. for support!"

……

When the U. S. Department of Defense received the situation report from Japan's Defense Ministry, the person in charge's face froze.

He thought Japan's provided situation was absurd and laughable—the entire expedition team committing treason? What kind of brain circuit could come up with such a hypothesis?

But based on the ally relationship, they still decided to help Japan first confirm the situation.

Thus, this order was passed to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, demanding they immediately devise a feasible plan to confirm the status of Japan's Antarctic expedition team.

The U. S. military's war experience is extremely rich, so they quickly found the entry point for this matter.

No need to send special forces or infiltrate scouts—to determine whether these Japanese have committed treason, we only need to confirm one thing: whether Japan's expedition machinery is resting at home or out working.

Aren't the Japanese wondering where their fuel went? Fuel can't be eaten or drunk—its only use is to be added to these machines.

If these vehicles are all sitting at home, the U. S. military wouldn't need to accompany Japan in this nonsense—likely the fuel signal just malfunctioned.

But if these vehicles aren't at home, then this is a serious matter.

Because in the Japanese positioning system, these vehicles have always been shown as stationary at home!

So, a military high-altitude reconnaissance plane immediately took off from a base in South America, heading for Antarctica.

At this moment, the Japanese expedition members were still carrying out Wu Bolin's exploration requirements.

Nearly all movable vehicles had gone out, leaving only a few open-top snowmobiles at home, since this thing truly can't be operated in extreme cold.

When the reconnaissance plane arrived, these expedition members didn't notice it at all.

Because the plane's engine noise was almost completely drowned out by their mechanical equipment sounds—the radar running at high power, the diesel engine operating at full throttle to provide sufficient power and electricity, so no one paid attention; it's almost unheard of for a plane to fly over the Antarctic winter, yet a reconnaissance plane screamed past at high altitude above Antarctica.

The plane's thermal imaging system, on the frigid Antarctic continent, clearly captured many abnormal heat sources—all of them from the Japanese frantically operating their mechanical equipment.

Soon, when the images captured by the plane were synchronized to the U. S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, the commander in charge of this operation felt his head buzz.

He pointed at the various photos on the big screen and demanded: "What the hell are these Japanese expedition members doing?! They've almost mobilized every vehicle that can move!"

A subordinate blurted: "This nature is extremely serious, and moreover, they've split forces into multiple routes—clearly, they're carrying out a detection mission!"

The commander immediately said: "Report to the Pentagon immediately!"