Chapter 3632: The Best Way to Keep a Secret

As the most loyal subordinate, Kikuchi Kohei had no doubt or disappointment regarding the question raised by Wu Bolin.

On the contrary, he thoughtfully analyzed: "Master, whether you can escape depends on whether the opponent has the ability to lock onto you and launch an attack."

Wu Bolin felt extremely depressed; at this moment, advancing or retreating both seemed inappropriate.

Advancing merely meant carving a bloody path, personally killing the American and Japanese soldiers ahead.

In Wu Bolin's view, if he could dodge their ranged weapons and close in, personally killing them might not be entirely impossible.

But the problem is, this is not an unprepared Japanese scientific expedition team; it is a regular force of the United States of America.

This means their current actions might all be transmitted in real time via satellite to their superiors.

This is the difference between modern times and a hundred years ago; if it were a hundred years ago, I would fear nothing, even if an army pursued me, as long as I killed all those chasing me, I could ensure my secrets would not be leaked by the dead.

But now it's different; although I still have the ability to kill them, I cannot stop the real-time transmission of data.

In that case, even if I killed them, I would still be exposed—not only would my identity and the existence of cultivators be revealed to the world, but it would also provoke even fiercer strikes from the US military.

Yet retreating does not necessarily mean one can escape unharmed.

Leaving aside the risk of being pursued by them, just saying this harsh Antarctic environment—even if my cultivation is high and I don't need to eat—maintaining bodily survival and operation in such conditions requires constant massive consumption of spiritual energy, and my recent spiritual energy consumption has been considerable; wanting to endure this winter in Antarctica is indeed difficult.

Seeing Kikuchi Kohei silent and speechless, he gave his judgment: "Master, you should still flee! Fleeing at least offers a slim chance of survival; not fleeing, once caught by them, you won't withstand Watanabe Gorō's screening, and will soon be exposed."

Wu Bolin's expression turned solemn, and he lightly nodded.

What Kikuchi Kohei said is correct.

Staying behind means certain death.

Even if I were captured and could think of a way to escape, that would still not be a good choice, because why wait until after exposure to flee, when one could flee before exposure?

Having made up his mind, he asked Kikuchi Kohei: "If I flee now, what methods can avoid their detection?"

Kikuchi Kohei frowned, thought for a moment, and said: "Reporting to Master, this is actually not difficult; they haven't launched reconnaissance aircraft or helicopters, so their detection equipment is definitely vehicle-mounted individual radar or thermal imaging devices, both of which have a major flaw: they cannot penetrate steel or complex objects, meaning that since we are all in snow vehicles, their radar can only scan the snow vehicle but not see how many people are inside it, and thermal imaging can only see the snow vehicle's exhaust and engine heat radiation, not the thermal radiation signals of us inside."

Saying this, Kikuchi Kohei solemnly said: "Master, as long as you, while fleeing, maintain a straight line with us—meaning you always run directly ahead of us—they will not detect your presence; I can have other vehicles change formation to drive side by side with us to create a larger blind spot for you; once you run a certain distance, we will stop and surrender, making it hard for their radar to lock onto you; if their attention is all drawn to us, you can then slip away silently."

"Good, very good."

Wu Bolin instantly felt delighted.

If following Kikuchi Kohei's method, although I would lose the Wu Han Palace, at least I would not be exposed, nor would I draw pursuit.

I could first find a safe place to hide for a while, wait until the commotion passes and everything settles, then think of a way to leave the Antarctic continent.

If I cannot leave before winter ends, I might as well find an uninhabited area and dig a deeper ice cave.

Originally, I thought it would be better to find an unmanned research station as a temporary base, but then I realized that even if unmanned, such stations surely have various monitoring equipment; I don't understand these modern technologies, and if I were accidentally caught by their monitoring without knowing it, that would be like walking into a trap.

Therefore, digging an ice cave to hide in has become the best solution I can think of.

The Antarctic ice cap is thousands of meters thick; although the temperature is extremely low, as long as one can avoid Antarctic blizzards, pressure will decrease significantly; moreover, ice houses have always been an excellent stable choice in polar regions; although I don't understand the physics behind it, I have known since a hundred years ago that in the northern barbaric lands, there is a people similar to the East Asians, called Eskimos, who live in ice houses, not only blocking wind and snow but also having excellent insulation.

Digging an ice cave tens or even hundreds of meters deep, like a hibernating polar bear hiding inside, would greatly reduce spiritual energy consumption!

Having made up his mind, Wu Bolin immediately asked Kikuchi Kohei: "Kikuchi, if you were captured, what would your fate be?"

Kikuchi Kohei shook his head: "Reporting to Master, I myself am not clear; it depends on how domestically this matter is defined, but it is certain that we should be swiftly escorted back home for interrogation, possibly even sent to the American McMurdo Station in Antarctica, or even to a US military base in South America for interrogation, because based on my understanding of America, they will certainly be very curious about what we are exploring in Antarctica; if they don't clarify this, even if Watanabe Gorō wants to send us back home, America will certainly not agree."

Kikuchi Kohei understands modern history better than Wu Bolin; although America nominally always acts for justice or peace, in reality they also have their own selfish motives—for example, during WWII, many German and even some Japanese scientists who were essentially war criminals deserving of death were directly taken by them due to mastering cutting-edge technology, and they even helped these war criminals evade military tribunal trials.

From this, it can be seen that justice is by no means absolute, and even contains considerable personal interests.

Recently, everyone has been continuously exploring Antarctica to help Wu Bolin find the underground town he mentioned; America must be extremely curious, and since Japan enlisted their help, they will certainly seize this opportunity to get a full understanding.

Upon hearing Kikuchi Kohei say this, Wu Bolin immediately said: "Kikuchi, you are a loyal subordinate; I have a task I wish to entrust to you this time as I depart."

Kikuchi Kohei said without hesitation: "Master, please speak! Kikuchi will surely not shirk even at the cost of ten thousand deaths!"

Wu Bolin coldly said: "Others have all undergone my psychological suggestion, so they certainly will not betray me, and you are the same; however, as you said, this matter is so curious in their eyes that they will certainly try to uncover the truth; I hope you can voluntarily take on this responsibility, tell them that everything was directed by you, and that all members of the scientific expedition team obey your commands."

Kikuchi Kohei immediately nodded and said: "Master, rest assured, I will certainly do so!"

Wu Bolin added: "If they ask you why you did this, you say you have always believed Antarctica contains vast amounts of gold, wanting to seize this opportunity to explore Antarctica's gold reserves, and if you could happen to mine some gold ore, that would be even better."

Kikuchi Kohei nodded, but again expressed some concern: "Master, this explanation, they may not necessarily believe."

"It's fine."

Wu Bolin said in a cold voice: "Even the most tight-lipped person cannot guard a secret better than a corpse; thus the best way to keep a secret is to die with it; when you tell them this, don't worry whether they believe it or not—take advantage of their inattention to find an opportunity to commit suicide, letting all this become a mystery; once people die, they will gradually give up digging deeper!"