Chapter 709 Breaking the Ice
Bifang did not forget his real purpose of coming to the Arctic, which was to "survive in the wilderness" for a hundred days.
Although there might be nothing wrong with eating a bar of chocolate, it's better not to gamble. The purpose of the Tethis coming here is to rescue gray whales, not to provide help to Bifang. He doesn't need it and doesn't want it.
The rejected sailor said nothing, but opened the package alone, ate a delicious hazelnut chocolate, and then folded the wrapper and put it in his pocket.
The greasy sweet smell floated to Bifang's nostrils through several meters of air.
hateful!
I want to eat it.
Bifang, who had crawled into the musk ox hide, turned around. He was not hungry after eating the emergency reserve food, but this high-sugar food made his body instinctively crave it in the severe cold.
The roar of chainsaws, the operation of generators, the driving of snowmobiles, the noisy conversations of the crowd, the occasional whale calls, and even the faint sound of whistles, the tranquil ice field suddenly became noisy and lively, no longer so lifeless.
Amidst the noise, Bifang turned his back, curled up, and fell into a deep sleep in his musk-ox-skin sleeping bag.
Seeing Bifang sleeping, the audience was surprised to find that the live broadcast had not stopped but was still continuing.
The new light was reflected on the dark ocean, and ice blocks glowing white were drifting slowly. After the Thesis, the excavated waterway was once again covered with a thin layer of fine ice, which could be broken into large pieces with a slight touch, but no one knew when it would freeze into a terrifying shape of tens of centimeters.
The fat seal raised its body and lay on the sea ice, watching in amazement as the huge ship Thethis crashed into the ice field. It was so frightened that it crawled a few steps and jumped into the water, creating ripples.
On the other side, everyone was working just as hard. No matter how hard the ice was, it was still not as good as real steel. More and more floating ice was cut off, and the area of the ice cave continued to expand.
The gray whale was a little worried at first, but as it looked at the growing ice cave, it swung its tail in joy.
…
"Well, how long have I slept?"
Bifang opened his eyes and crawled out of the sleeping bag. He looked up and around and found that many of these people seemed to be familiar faces. There were many new faces among the tourists, but the sailors were still the same.
Only an hour or two had passed?
Bifang guessed.
In order to work and maintain order, the sailors should be replaced by a new group in about two or three hours. Now they are the same group, which means I didn’t sleep too long. No wonder my head hurts so much.
The sailor nearby looked at his phone and said, "It's been almost ten hours."
"Ah, I fell asleep."
Bifang pressed his head and he realized that he had not slept for an hour, but for a whole round!
Headaches are caused by sleeping too much.
"No, it's been ten hours, why are you still here?" Bifang suddenly realized, it had been so long, why was he still with them?
"Mr. Fang, you will understand if you look back."
The sailor who asked Bifang if he wanted to eat a chocolate bar pointed backwards. When Bifang looked back, what he saw was not an endless ice field, but a series of ice caves!
The distance between each one was about thirty meters, and a total of three were dug out, which was a distance of nearly one hundred meters.
"Mr. Fang was sleeping the whole time. We were worried about leaving you there alone, so we slowly pulled you here. And it seems that only when you move will the gray whales follow you. If we just dig a hole, they won't follow us at all."
The sailor sighed and said, if Bifang was left alone on the ice field, what would happen if he encountered danger? It would be too troublesome to send someone to look after him, so he slowly dragged him here.
Moreover, they dug a hole, but the gray whale remained indifferent. However, when the Bifang moved, these big guys actually followed.
"Your sled is very well made. It doesn't shake too much. It feels almost the same as the one made by my grandfather, who is a carpenter."
The sailor praised, causing Bifang, who was still having a headache, to smile.
"Nothing unexpected happened?"
"No, the plan is going well. The distance between us and the Tethis is getting closer and closer. Now it's only about five miles away. However, there is a section of thick ice in the middle, so it may take longer."
Ten hours, shortening the distance by less than two miles?
Bifang estimated in his mind and found that at the current speed, it would take more than two days to completely open up the road. Including the section with thick ice, it should take three days.
Looking at the gray whale breathing air in the ice cave , Bifang felt that since the gray whale would follow him, the speed might be even faster.
"Give it a try by digging the ice caves to a distance of fifty meters."
"Can."
The sailor agreed without asking the reason.
Bifang sat on the sled, took out a water bottle from the sleeping bag, took a sip of water, and watched everyone digging the hole quietly.
The three idiots were still sitting there unmoved... Well, where were the three idiots?
Bifang, who thought the three idiots were still sleeping on the ground, was startled and suddenly found that the three silly dogs were gone. He quickly turned his head to look, and found that the three dogs were playing with the children. When the children threw snacks, they immediately jumped to catch them and had a lot of fun.
No ambition!
Bifang stood up, took out a wooden stick and put it in his mouth to chew, then did a simple and rough brushing of his teeth. Then he grabbed a handful of dry snow nearby, washed his face simply, and came to the ice storage. He watched the little gray whale raise its head and spray water at him, giving him a unique greeting.
After wiping the frost off his face, Bifang patted the gray whale's head and whistled. The three idiots who were still playing pricked up their ears.
Fugui and Wangcai licked their lips and finally ran over obediently. Only Goudan pricked up his ears and stood still, looking at Bifang with sidelong eyes, as if trying to pretend that he didn't hear anything. However, his action of stopping playing betrayed him early.
When Bifang raised his foot to grab it back, Goudan finally sensed the call of "fate" and ran back obediently.
Several children also focused their attention on the little gray whale leaning against the shore, but unfortunately the sailors did not allow them to get close to the ice cave, so they could only stare at it from five meters away.
Bifang put on the reins and drove the sled again to patrol the route. After checking once, he found that there was no problem and the progress was the same as the sailor said. A total of more than one mile had been dug.
The Thesis ran more than 600 meters, and they dug less than 100 meters. The speed of the icebreaker was more than four times that of digging holes. Even if the retreat route was blocked by ice, the ship was faster.
But it's still a little bit off.
The icebreaking ability of the Thesis was ultimately too weak. According to the sailors, it even got stuck several times and only managed to get rid of it by swaying.
After confirming this, Bifang took the three idiots and rushed towards home. He needed to bring more food and fuel, as he could not survive on the northwest wind for three days.
