Chapter 773 - Breaking Ice
“If the cold blizzard is like a knife, then the earth is used as a chopping board, and the people are fish and meat. Snow gusting, the heaven is the furnace, and it melts everything into white silver…”
When seeing the snow dancing and whirling into a white wall in the storm, Jiang Chen recalled this stance by Jin Yong.
They seemed to have ran out of luck. On the shores of George V, the Pathfinder encountered a blizzard from the pole.
Bean-sized ice cubes flung against the ship, but the Pathfinder, designed for bad weather, wouldn’t be stopped by a small blizzard like this.
Because of the uncertainty of where the eye of the storm was located, Captain Marshall, in order to prevent the Pathfinder from rolling over, directly placed the large ice-breaking bow in the direction of the storm and then anchored the ship to wait for the storm to pass.
While waiting, the leader of the research team gathered its members and crew together. Fifty people sat around five tables and began to eat hot pot in the cafeteria. A couple of Californians who couldn’t eat the chili peppers was screaming about how it was too hot and attracted the friendly laughter of others.
The storm was blowing outside and the pot was lit inside. It was a great experience.
Jiang Chen had not eaten hot pot for a long time. It was the first time he had eaten such spicy hotpot, he had to eat several bowls of rice to down the food. With the president being so down-to-earth, the members also became less reserved. A pretty little girl was adding rice for him. Regardless of the skin color, everyone spoke the same language. Everyone ate meat, drank alcohol, and chatted freely.
But Garrett was stubborn and didn’t drink.
As soldiers of the “Sea Lions” Special Forces, protecting the safety of Jiang Chen was their top priority. Not to mention not a single drop of alcohol, they must take shifts when eating. With such strict discipline, although he felt bad for the soldiers, he didn’t say anything.
Discipline was discipline. For soldiers, discipline was above all else.
Since it was Garrett’s team, everything was up to him. Jiang Chen knew very clearly that giving directions as the president would only cause trouble for other people.
The storm persisted until the next morning.
The Pathfinder has stowed the anchor, adjusted its course, and continued along the shores of George V.
… ( Box novel.c om )
Inside the control room, Captain Marshall had just lit a cigar and was frowning slightly at the map.
After a while, he put down the cigar and looked at Jiang Chen with questions in his eyes. Jiang Chen was standing on the side with his arms folded. Just ten minutes ago, the president of the group found him and suddenly asked him to change the original destination and deploy the station on the location marked on the map.
“Why choose to build a station there? Whether it is the weather conditions or the cost of supplying, this is far less ideal than the Ross Bay.” Marshall asked, pointing at the red circle on the map with the two fingers still holding a cigar.
“But there are abundant flammable ice reservoirs in the nearby sea.” Jiang Chen shrugged.
The sea floor has abundant flammable ice reservoirs, but that is not the only reason.
The closest location to the coordinates on the codebook was the real reason he chose this place. The reason why he did not disclose this information before and suddenly went to find Captain Marshall, was because he was worried that the people on board the ship would leak the information.
“It’s reckless.” Marshall shook his head, sighed, and looked at the first officer. “Reduce the speed of the ship, the landing point has changed!”
Although he was not satisfied with the reckless decision, he was the president after all. The salary he now earned was twice that of his peers, and he just couldn’t complain for the sake of his salary.
Just like this, the Pathfinder made a turn from its original route and diverted to the hinterland of Cape Goodenough.
There was a thick layer of ice on the sea, but it was not difficult for a polar expedition ship with ice-breaking capabilities. The large ship’s hull directly hit the thick ice, and then crushed the ice directly with its displacement. Just like the roller cruising in the glacier, in the frozen sea, a blue trial was rolled out through the whiteness.
Many members of the expedition team stood on the bow and took pictures with their phones. Although it was the first time for some of them to come to the poles, they didn’t have much of a chance to see the icebreaker breaking ice before. It was also the first time for many people.
Also standing on the bow was Jiang Chen.
It was his first time seeing an icebreaker in action..
In the past, he always thought that the icebreaker used its bow to cut, but he did not think that in fact, the icebreaker was “crashing” ice with its own weight.
“Fortunately, we didn’t come across a thick layer of ice that couldn’t be crushed. Now, we don’t need the explosives anymore.” Standing in the air-conditioned cabin, Captain Marshall wiped his sweat off of his face and then looked at Jiang Chen who just came inside. “Close the door, my sweat is freezing!”
Jiang Chen gave him a friendly smile and immediately closed the door behind him. He hung his winter coat up and walked next to him.
…
“How are things going? With your experience, is this coast suitable for the deployment of a station?”
“The terrain is good, but I’m afraid it will be a little troublesome later for supplying.” Marshall glanced at the ice outside the window and picked up a pen to draw a line on the map. “We want to make sure that it will not freeze here. We must cut a triangle here and push it out of the region… I suggest we push it out. If we blow it out, the International Environmental Protection Organization may give us trouble.”
“However you see convenient. I believe in your judgement.” Jiang Chen laughed.
Marshall grinned and put the cigar back in his mouth.
“Leave it to me.”
…
In the middle of Cape Goodenough, on the frozen, the Pathfinder crashed outward along the triangle. Several crewmen in winter clothes jumped out on the triangular ice shelf and drilled a dozen piles from the outer edge of the ice shelf with spikes.
The graphene cables were thrown off the boat. The crew members tied the ropes down, and then returned to the boat. These cables were all tied on the mechanical arms of the polar expedition ship, the strongest point of the entire ship.
Everything was ready, Marshall, with the same cigar, began to increase the horsepower of the ship.
The graphene rope gradually tightened and creaked.
At this time, Jiang Chen was surprised to find that the ice surface of several square kilometers was moved by a small ship.
“Although the surface looks daunting, we just need to give it some speed and it will run out on its own.” Marshall said with a smile, pointing out the window. “Those cables are really strong. Much stronger than what we used before. We used steel rope before, the toughness was bad. Not only was it susceptible to breaking, it may hurt our own people.”
“Graphene material.”
“Is it? Technology is a magical thing.” Marshall grinned.
The ice outside the window slowly moved, and the cheer of the crew came from the bow. The members of the research team have returned to the cabin. The Pathfinder was about to land and it was time for them to prepare for their landing.