Chapter 1166: Antarctic Ice
Translator:Nyoi-Bo Studio
Editor:Nyoi-Bo Studio
Wilkes Land was a vast ice field. It was first visited by an American named Wilkes from 1838 to 1842 and was named after him.
Li Du did not know much about the place. He had the guts to go there because he wanted to give Steve some respect.
Li Du had never been to Antarctica. He felt that the southernmost continent was just a piece of white ice, desolate and cold.
However, according to the pamphlet, it was not cold in this region of the Antarctic in the daytime, and the temperature could hover around zero degrees Celsius. Wearing ordinary winter clothes would keep one warm.
Of course, during an ice storm, the temperatures would drop a lot, but fortunately, ice storms were very rare in the summer season.
The main items on the brochure list were clothing, sunscreen, and other daily necessities. To live in the Antarctic, one needed a down jacket, waterproof pants and gloves, sweaters, warm caps, and sunglasses.
There were some of these in the airplane cabin, but it was not certain that they would fit. Therefore, Li Du decided to go to Hobart and buy them.
One did not need to wear extremely thick clothes in Antarctica, but it was necessary to keep them close to the body to make sure they fit, or else they would not retain body heat.
In Hobart’s department store, there were winter coats for visitors to Antarctica, and when the people outside still wore short sleeves, they left awkwardly with a pile of thick clothes in their arms.
On the plane, they began to change clothes; the air conditioning on board had a very good refrigerator-like effect, in order to let them feel the Antarctic temperature in advance.
The party gradually added layers of clothes, and by the time they woke up, everything below the plane was white as far as the eye could see!
Li Du asked in surprise, “Is this Antarctica? My god, this ice sheet is really white!”
“Sir, this is not an ice sheet. This is a neat, even cloud,” said a random bodyguard.
Sophie laughed. “Are you sleeping like a log? Would we reach Antarctica after we have just closed our eyes for a while?”
“But we did arrive in Antarctica,” The bodyguard continued.
Sophie stopped laughing, and Brother Wolf helplessly shook his head, saying, “Couldn’t you say so at once?”
After less than half an hour, the plane began to land.
There was a natural runway on the ice sheet, and the pilot chose to land on a very flat area, but because the friction resistance was small, the plane skated on the ice after gliding straight forward. It only showed some signs of slowing down after gliding a considerable distance.
Li Du looked out of the window. The scenery outside was not very interesting. It was just a large expanse of white, the same all around. Far in the distance, there was a bump of a snow mountain, the only variation in the local scenery.
Brother Wolf handed him the goggles. “Boss, be careful.”
Li Du nodded in understanding, knowing that looking at the snow for too long would cause snow blindness.
Steve and Elson, both wearing fur coats, waited for them at the end of the road. They drove a sleigh. The thing looked like the front half of a bulldozer, which was very interesting.
When they met, Steve gave Li Du a big hug and smiled. “I didn’t expect to see you here.”
“It is fate, Steve,” Elson chimed in. “You and Li are bound by destiny.”
This was not nonsense. Li Du felt the same way, he did not know that Steve had gone to the Antarctic, and yet they met.
Riding the sleigh, Steve took them around the big ice sheet to help them get used to the environment.
However, this did not help. Li Du could not tell in which direction they were going, as all looked the same.
It was not until the sleigh was far away that he noticed another color: a grayish-yellow field appeared in his field of vision.
“That is the ocean. There are many penguins and seals around here. I could take you there next time if you are interested. As for now, we will go and have dinner,” Steve said over his shoulder from the vehicle.
The sun was still high in the sky. Li Du looked at his watch, and saw that it was 9:30 PM!
In this season, there were places in Antarctica where the ice caps would melt, exposing the land below.
Steve and Elson lived on a solid ice sheet, in a cluster of multicolored shipping containers stationed side by side, with steel structures rooted deep in the ice.
The outside of the container was an insulation layer. The temperature inside was comfortable enough. Compared to the outside world of ice and snow, these were two very different environments.
The container had a large space, more than two hundred square feet, with multiple windows on each side. and pots of growing green plants next to them.
“Welcome to Steve’s Antarctic home,” Steve gestured with his hand and laughed. “Make yourself comfortable. There is no need to change your shoes. Feel free to explore. If you are interested in taking a tour, Mr. Steve is willing to be your guide.”
Li Du took off his heavy coat and said, “We will skip the tour. I’d better take a rest. However, I recall reading on the Internet that there is no permanent residence in Wilkes Land.”
Steve shrugged and said, “Of course there is no residence known to the public. There’s actually more to Antarctica than you’d expect.”
Sophie remarked, “It looks like the government isn’t being honest with the people.”
Steve laughed. “When has the government ever been honest? Don’t put your hopes in the authorities.”
Li Du waved his hand and said, “Okay, let’s talk about something else. Tell me, why did you come to Antarctica this time? Let’s get down to business.”
Steve said, “It’s okay, Li. We’re in Antarctica, and no government has the ability to monitor it, not even our dear America, so if you have something to say, you can say it here.”
Without hesitation, Li Du immediately turned around and hugged Sophie. “What I want to say is, dear, I love you, and just like the ice and snow here love to embrace their land, I want to be with you forever…”
Sophie smiled and buried her face in his chest. “Me too…”
Steve could not take it anymore and said, “Okay, okay, I’ll answer your question. I am here to look for meteorites. Will you please stop trying to provoke me?”
Li Du achieved his goal, and let go of Sophie in satisfaction.
Sophie was not satisfied, however. She grabbed him and said moodily, “Hey, what are you doing? Using me? Throwing me away after playing with my feelings?”
Steve’s face turned green. “Please, please, don’t do this to me. I know you two love each other, but there is no need to show off in front of me. We are good friends; you can’t hurt me like this!”
Li Du looked at him and said, “Are you afraid now? Okay, back to business. Did you come to Antarctica to look for meteorites? Why are you doing that?”
Steve sat him down and then asked him, “Do you know anything about exoplanets? Do you know there’s a big crater here?”
