When the members of the search and rescue team appeared in front of him, the last nerve that supported the wakefulness finally relaxed, and Zhou Ran fell down with a smile. And when Zhou Ran appeared in front of Zheng Dashen, he thought it was a corpse, and when he heard that Zhou Ran was still alive, he showed an intriguing expression, followed by a clumsy expression of happiness.

Zhou Ran woke up again, and the first thing he saw was Zheng Dashen. The moment I saw him, countless thoughts clashed in my mind: acting, killing people, threatening, what to do......

"Professor Zhou, you're finally awake, thank God." Zheng Dashen was very excited and shouted, "Doctor, come on, he's awake!" ”

Zhou Ran was puzzled, could it be that he guessed wrong?

After a careful examination by the doctor, the good news finally came out: two broken ribs in the chest, a slight concussion, supplemental nutrition, and a week of rest.

The scientific expedition team immediately erupted in warm applause to celebrate Zhou Ran's escape from death.

"It's a miracle!"

"I didn't expect it, twenty-two hours."

……

Until this moment, Zhou Ran knew that he had been trapped for twenty-two hours, and even he couldn't believe that he could survive.

"Professor Zhou, it's all my fault, if it weren't for my carelessness, I wouldn't have ...... you," Zheng Dashen said regretfully.

"Crocodile tears."

Zhou Ran first thought of this proverb, but he knew that the more he was in this situation, the more he had to suppress the anger in his heart.

"Since you want to act, I'll accompany you." Zhou Ran's heartless mockery.

"Professor Zheng, you can't be blamed for this, and you didn't mean to." Zhou Ran said weakly, his face was already bloody.

"I should be careful, but ...... I apologize to you. Zheng Dashen said and bowed deeply.

"Hey, you don't need to," Zhou Ran pretended to be anxious, "This is an accident, don't blame yourself anymore, didn't I come back well?" ”

Zheng Dashen finally smiled and said in a low voice: "I propose to suspend the work of the scientific expedition team first, and then continue when you recover." ”

"No, I can't delay the plan because of me," Zhou Ran rejected his proposal, "I still have you when I fall, you are responsible for the time I am recuperating, and the scientific research plan must not be stopped." ”

"Okay then."

Based on the advanced medical level, Zhou Ran's injury was basically healed a week later, and he couldn't wait to participate in the scientific expedition.

The rest of the expedition went well, except for a few minor failures in the equipment. They have crossed glaciers and seas, reached many "death zones", seen rare plants and animals in Antarctica, and enjoyed the gorgeous scenery of the aurora.

However, in Zhou Ran's heart, there was a question that had been lingering in his mind, that was the ice road and passage.

They appeared where they shouldn't have been, and the origin of the ice tunnel cannot be explained, but the passage has obvious traces of artificial excavation. This is the most confusing and the most important thing to figure out.

During his recuperation, he repeatedly asked Captain Yu to send someone to investigate the passage where he was found, but he refused under various pretexts, so he had to give up temporarily.

According to Captain Yu, when his coordinates were located, he personally led a helicopter to rescue, but due to the special geographical environment, the helicopter could not land, and finally had to put down the search and rescue personnel through the spiral ladder. As a result, the helicopter is very close to the iceberg, and the air vibrations caused by the fast-rotating propellers are very likely to cause avalanches. In the event of an avalanche, not only can you not save yourself, but search and rescue personnel may also die.

In the end, after weighing, Captain Yu decided to take a risk, and finally rescued Zhou Ran smoothly.

"I will never agree to go to that position again, it's too dangerous!" Captain Yu said solemnly, "And I have already given an order, no one is allowed to act without permission." ”

"I understand your concerns, but that passage has high research value, and if you don't figure it out, there may be unknown dangers and hidden dangers." Zhou Ran explained.

"Unknown dangers and hidden dangers?" Captain Yu didn't understand, "Can you make it clearer?" ”

"Captain Yu, please think about it, who will dig a passage there? And who has the ability to dig a passage there? ”

"I can't answer this, I can't answer this." Captain Yu really couldn't figure it out.

"Take a step back, you don't want to figure out what's going on?"

Zhou Ran decided to convince him from another breakthrough.

Captain Yu is an experienced rescue captain who has participated in many expeditions with the scientific expedition team and has experienced countless rescues. Some of them can be easily solved, some are thrilling, and rescue accidents have also occurred. These experiences are his own experience, and in the event of a rescue accident, there will naturally be casualties. This is the main reason why he rejected Zhou Ran.

"Professor Zhou, then I'll be straight to the point." Captain Yu chose to pick out directly, "I do want to figure out the passage you mentioned." But my duty is to rescue, to reduce the number of casualties, and the rest is insignificant compared to this. ”

Zhou Ran nodded.

"Actually, when I rescued you that day, I thought about giving up." Captain Yu glanced up at him, "I can't risk so much to save you alone, even if you are the most important person among us, I hope you understand." ”

"I understand." Zhou Ran nodded, "Our responsibilities are different, and I respect your choice." ”

"Thank you."

"Captain Yu, I have a request." Zhou Ran said.

"Please."

"I've only told you about the passage, I hope you can keep it a secret, I don't want to cause unnecessary panic because of this."

Under Zhou Ran's gaze, Captain Yu nodded heavily.

This is the end of the conversation, and Captain Yu's openness and honesty just want Zhou Ran to give up this idea. Indeed, this is the only effective way to get him to give up, and all rescue operations must be approved by the captain.

In fact, the reason why Zhou Ran asked Captain Yu to keep this matter secret was mainly to prevent Zheng Dashen from knowing the inside story. Because he concluded that once Zheng Dashen knew about the artificial channel, he would definitely make a big fuss. As for what kind of fanciful article it is, it is not known, but it will certainly be bad for the "cautious faction".

A week before the end of the scientific expedition, Zhou Ran found Captain Yu with the last glimmer of hope and expressed the idea in his heart again. Unexpectedly, Captain Yu did not refuse this time, which gave Zhou Ran encouragement.

However, Captain Yu's next words shattered his last glimmer of hope, because just five days ago, an avalanche had occurred at the location of that passage, and everything was buried under the thick snow.

The secret of the artificial passage may remain a mystery forever......

Three and a half months passed quickly, except for the accident that happened to Zhou Ran, the rest of the expedition team went smoothly. Although the expedition took half a month longer than expected, in view of that episode, the Antarctic expedition was successfully completed.

A week after returning to the Institute of Ecology, Zhou Ran and Zheng Dashen completed the summary data of the Antarctic scientific expedition. Shen Tonghui was very satisfied after reviewing it, and after making the official wording of the layout, he made a report to the council. He spoke highly of the expedition, and at the same time expressed concern about Zhou Ran's unexpected encounter.

The first thing he did after sorting out the information, Zhou Ran did not go to Zhang Tianlin, but locked himself in the office to find information about the special events in the South and Arctic. He did not give up on the investigation of the artificial passage, although it was impossible to achieve the field survey, but he would not give up.

Zhou Ran has a deep premonition that this passage is definitely not simple, perhaps it can show that in the polar regions, in addition to humans, there are other "people" existing.

"They" must have an ulterior secret to establish this passage, perhaps Antarctica has long been under the supervision of "them", and when someone discovers the passage, "they" choose to destroy it......