Chapter 54: Garrison

Heungwoo and Mia were in the fire room, and after the fire warmed up, the drizzle outside also stopped. Xingyu looked at the plain by the river and said to Miya, "This raft is useless, and I don't know if it is dangerous in the glacier. Luckily, the lifeboats are still there, and the lifeboats are like yurts, and we can camp on the ice fields. Mia also felt that they should leave the glacier as soon as possible, so the two began to equip themselves and prepare to go ashore to check it out. After picking up their scythes and putting on their paw boots, they left the raft and walked to the shore to climb the plain on the low slope. The lowest layer is a narrow plain, and the end of this plain cannot be seen as far as the eye can see. There were no creatures around them, a silent polar region. Once they were sure they were safe, they towed the lifeboat up the plain and pulled it to a hollow in the terrain. The two men who had seen the Antarctic storm drove all the nails of the tent that usually serve as barbecue forks into the ice, and then pulled the lifeboat with a rope. After setting up the lifeboat, which looked like a yurt, Xingyu measured with his eyes that the top height of the lifeboat was only 10 centimeters higher than the surrounding terrain. Hopefully, the lifeboat will be able to withstand the strong winds in this recess. The two of them then loaded everything they could from the raft into the remaining two carts. Then carrying two ice buckets, it was pushed to the side of the lifeboat.

Before, when they were drifting at sea in lifeboats, they did not dare to use a convenient stove to make a fire in a rocking boat. But on the cold ice field, they had no choice. It is only possible to make a fire in a boat with a convenient stove. Fortunately, there are still a lot of sticks and chips in the raft, and they are not short of burning materials for the time being. But there was no smoke, and when a fire was lit, they could not close the door of the boat, or they would suffocate.

Once they settled down, they began to discuss how to survive next. Xingyu said worriedly: "This camp is not a long-term solution. Luckily, the bunch of fish and potatoes we caught were still there, and there were some slices of bear meat left. Don't worry about food for now. And here is close to the sea, and after eating this food, we are not afraid. Tomorrow, I want to climb up the upper ice sheet to check out and see if there's anything better. Mia also knew that they couldn't stay here for long, and they wouldn't be able to survive here once the burning materials ran out. So it's imperative to find a place where they can continue to survive as soon as possible.

That's when they noticed a strange thing, they couldn't wait for the sun to go down. The sun seems to move in a large circle in the sky, but it just doesn't set. Only then did they remember that the Antarctic was half a year of eternal day and half a year of eternal night. They were lucky enough to drift to the South Pole during eternal daylight. Otherwise, the cold Eternal Night Antarctic, with their equipment, will be difficult to hold. Knowing that the sun would not set, they had to estimate their sleep time for themselves.

When they woke up from a sleep, they were ready to set off to check out the rest of the world. The first time I went out to check, they weren't prepared to go far. They were going to go out to check on the day and come back, but just in case, they packed two days' worth of barbecue and water on Mia's back, and set off with pistols and lighters. After walking for a while, they found that they were walking in the lowest ice field and had a poor view. If they climb directly to the third layer, they can view three layers of ice at the same time as they walk. So they decided to climb up to the upper ice field to take a look. The upper layer of ice sheets, like the next layer, is a long, narrow ice sheet as far as the eye can see. The terrain is higher, and they can look farther. They stood on the slopes of the ice fields, looking out to sea. They were surprised to see that on the surface of the sea, there were dense mountains of Xiaoice. They also saw some small Xiaoice mountains, drifting with the waves, crashing into each other. They were secretly frightened, no wonder they had been hearing the crash all the time. The raft was able to pass through this dense group of icebergs. Although the raft eventually broke down, it was miraculous that it was able to reach the glacier without sinking into the sea.

After a meal, they climbed up to the third level of ice. Although this ice sheet is also an endless elongated ice sheet, it is three times wider than the ice sheet below. The ice sheets below are all about one kilometer wide, and these three ice sheets are three kilometers wide. This ice field is further past a towering iceberg, and they wonder if they can't climb it with their climbing skills. So they walked along the slope of the third layer, and at the same time they could see the three layers of ice fields. They walked for a long time without seeing an animal, and Mia asked strangely, "There should be animals in Antarctica, right?" We've been walking for so long, and we haven't seen a single animal. Xingyu replied as he walked: "I remember that the book wrote that there were penguins, seals and sea wrasse in Antarctica. However, the weather in Antarctica is very cold, so there are not many animals, and it is not surprising that you can't see them. Originally, there were snow wolves in Antarctica, but snow wolves have been extinct by humans. Mia was surprised and asked, "Why did they kill the snow wolf?" Xingyu replied helplessly: "Maybe I'm afraid that the snow wolf will threaten the safety of the observers sent by various countries!" Hearing this, Mia remembered that there was an observatory in Antarctica. If the observation post is found, they will be rescued. In fact, Xingyu just wanted to find an observatory, but he had to find a small number of observatories from Antarctica, half the size of China. There is too little hope.

They continued along the hillside and soon saw a white fog rising in the distance. This white mist is like white smoke coming out of a huge smoke pass. They estimate that they may have to walk for half a day to get there. The appearance of white fog in the ice field may be related to human activity, and it is likely that there is an observatory there. Although they had a vague feeling that something was wrong, they would have been lucky to find the Observatory so quickly. But since it was possible, they decided to move on.

At this time, Mia noticed several small black dots moving on the shore in the distance. But it's too far away to see clearly. They guessed that the little black dots might be animals. They continued to walk on, slowly making out that the little black dots were a few seals frolicking on the beach and on the ice floes. They didn't know if the seals would attack humans, but they were separated by two kilometers and two layers of ice. They don't think it's possible for seals to run far from the sea to attack. So rest assured and keep going. But Mia was too tired to walk. The sun that does not set makes them lose their sense of time. They don't know how long they've been gone. They can only rest when they are tired, eat when they are hungry, and sleep when they are sleepy.

When they eat their second meal, they discuss whether or not to move forward. They only had two days' worth of food, and if they went too far, they would starve on the way back. But seeing that the fog was already very close to them, it was estimated that they would be able to walk for a few more hours. Now it's going to take another day to walk back. In the end, they decided to divide the rest of the food into four portions. After eating another serving, you must turn around and go back. After they rested, they walked a little more. They estimated that it was already night, so they climbed down the hill and prepared to sleep under the hillside. At this time, they saw that the seal was also gone.