773 Breaking Ice (1/2)
”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.
...
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.