Free Web NovelChapter 107: Chapter 104: Frozen Ice Surface
Mike’s words made the people from his city happy.
If they happened to find Mike’s grandmother, they could return to Mike for supplies and shelter once their own ran out, saving their lives.
Soon, people were asking Mike for his grandmother’s address and a photograph. To prevent them from finding the wrong person or being fooled by an impostor, Mike also shared a secret code that only he and his grandmother knew. A correct response would be the only way to confirm her identity.
After all, in such extreme cold, even if Mike’s grandmother was still alive, she might be so disfigured as to be unrecognizable, drastically reducing the usefulness of a photograph.
There was a printer on the ship, so Mike quickly printed out the photos and addresses and distributed them to everyone.
Seeing this, his buddies thought about the vast city and how hard it would be to find anyone. They followed his lead, asking the others who planned to leave the ship to search for their relatives as well.
By staying entrenched on the ship and guarding the supplies, they could offer their families one last sliver of hope.
The others who wanted to get off the ship, however, were troubled.
They simply couldn’t take all the supplies with them. At best, they could carry a few dozen pounds on their backs, and not all of it would be food. How long could that last them in this frozen world?
Near the sea, they could perhaps drill through the ice to fish, but the deeper they went into the city, the less likely it was they’d have a way back.
But even so, some people insisted on leaving.
Because not searching meant there was no hope at all.
Jack and Lina thought it over and over. They couldn’t bear to abandon so many supplies, but the crucial problem was that they had no way to transport them away.
They schemed to first move the supplies off the ship, then find a hidden place to bury them.
Then, when they found their children, they could dig the supplies back up. This would keep the supplies from being left on the ship and claimed by someone else, which would mean all their efforts had been for nothing.
It would be great if they could find a snowplow, but unfortunately, that was probably impossible.
Mike was a clever man. He did his best to persuade everyone, saying, "Folks, if you travel with all your supplies, you’ll just become targets for looters. You can take some with you and leave the rest here for safekeeping. I swear to God, if you return safely, I will give your supplies back to you, untouched."
As for those who didn’t return... well, the supplies they left behind would naturally belong to Mike and his men.
Everyone was hesitant. Who could be sure that Mike wouldn’t go back on his word? And who could guarantee that he would be able to protect the supplies?
In the apocalypse, everyone was selfish.
Seeing that no one was swayed, Mike shot a look at the others who had decided to stay. They immediately chimed in, "That’s right! It would be way too inconvenient for you to travel with all those supplies. If you run out, you can come back for more. We’re counting on you to find our relatives, so we would never dare to touch your things."
These words started to tempt some of them.
Even if they found a handcart to pull along, they really couldn’t take so many supplies. Mike’s argument did make a certain amount of sense.
While everyone was still agonizing over the decision, the Icebreaker suddenly stopped.
A blizzard had started up again.
The temperature, which had been around forty to fifty degrees below zero, suddenly plummeted to sixty or seventy below.
Everyone crowded into the heated rooms but still felt bone-chillingly cold, able only to huddle together for warmth.
This filled the hearts of those who were about to search for their families with utter despair.
’In weather this cold, with no preparation... could anyone still be alive?’
SNAP!
The yacht’s engine broke again.
The electric heating went out, so they had to light stoves for warmth.
They were supposed to make landfall at eight o’clock, but now, at six, their progress had been forced to a halt. All they could do was wait for the heavy snow to stop.
Everyone worked desperately to keep the engine from stalling and the fuel tank from freezing, using every method they could think of to maintain the temperature. No one slept well that night.
Finally, dawn broke, and the snow stopped.
The engine was fine, but the accumulated snow was too thick, causing the ice layer to thicken to three meters. It was frozen solid.
The Icebreaker repeatedly rammed and tried to crush the ice, but it was no use.
The Icebreaker was stuck fast.
This sent the people on the yachts behind them into a panic. If the Icebreaker couldn’t operate, they couldn’t leave either. It also meant that dragging their supplies back would add another two or three days—no, maybe even a week—to their journey.
Jiang Linhai asked, "It’s this solid. What do we do if we can’t break through?"
Jiang Si said, "We either wait for the ice to melt a bit, or we try again." ƒreewebɳovel.com
They tried again and again for a long time. The tremendous noise made Dr. Shire’s heart pound with anxiety.
They had clearly run into solid ice, making it difficult to break a channel.
They were very experienced with this kind of situation. All one had to do was disembark, use machinery or tools to cut some cracks into the ice surface, and with that coordinated effort, the Icebreaker could advance.
But clearly, Jiang Si and her group weren’t worried in the slightest.
If they couldn’t break through, so be it; they acted as if it had no effect on them whatsoever.
Just as an anxious Dr. Shire was about to rally everyone to help, Jiang Si’s instructions suddenly came over the intercom: "The Icebreaker can no longer move forward. If you can’t wait, you can disembark and proceed to shore on foot."
The two-hour boat trip across the ice could, in theory, be walked.
Hearing this, Dr. Shire felt as if he’d been struck by lightning. If they used up all their strength just on the journey, how would they search for people? How would they stop their supplies from being stolen?
The Mike couple, who planned to bury their supplies, were even more agitated, jumping to their feet and shouting their refusal. "No way!"
Jiang Si was merely giving them a choice. Whether they got off the ship or not had nothing to do with her.
She was about to turn off the intercom when Dr. Shire spoke up excitedly, "Miss Jiang, we can help you break the ice! We’re experienced with this, please let us go, all right?"
’It wasn’t just that hauling the supplies would be hard,’ he thought. ’More importantly, what if we run into one of those man-eating giant-toothed sharks again?’
Once Dr. Shire said that, no one else voiced any objections to going onto the ice to help.
After all, the water here was shallow, and giant sea creatures typically didn’t come this close to the coastline.
When Jiang Si heard they wanted to help, she raised an eyebrow, suspicious that Dr. Shire might have an ulterior motive.
Qin Shen shook his head at her, and only then did she say, "Fine. Go ahead."
Soon, they had donned thick Antarctic suits, grabbed their tools, and descended onto the ice to begin breaking it.
There was actually an ice-breaking vehicle for this purpose, but it was on Jiang Si’s Icebreaker.
Dr. Shire was worried Jiang Si would think they were after the vehicle, and as he hesitated over whether to ask for it, Jiang Si beat him to it. "There seems to be an ice-breaking vehicle in the hold. Don’t you need it?"
Jiang Si knew how to drive a car, but not this machine. And since there were people here who could do it for her, she couldn’t be bothered to learn. They could just watch from above, see how it was done, and maybe they’d know how to use it themselves next time.
Dr. Shire suddenly felt that Miss Jiang was actually quite kind. ’Perhaps,’ he thought, ’I could trade some of my supplies for the ice-breaking vehicle.’
If Jiang Si agreed, he could take his supplies and go find his daughter.
