King of the Wilderness

Chapter 494: Chapter 273: De Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver Aircraft

Sunday, January 23, 2022.

In the Alaska morning, the sky remained dark and gloomy. However, unlike the blue-tinged darkness of the previous days, a faint white glow quietly emerged on the eastern horizon.

The long extreme night is about to end. More than twenty days have passed quietly in the tranquility of study and waiting.

Lin Yu’an can finally undertake practical flight training. He has not only thoroughly mastered those two heavy flight manuals, he’s even started self-studying related instrument flying courses online.

Meanwhile, the world outside has been turned upside down.

As he expected, GameStop’s stock price staged a shocking and crazy drama that left the world in awe over the past three weeks.

Starting at the $22.5 price he bought in, it surged upward, continuously breaking the $40, $60, and $80 barriers.

The Wall Street giants finally felt the agony keenly. The famous short-selling firm Citron Research, just yesterday, defiantly announced their surrender, pouring fuel on the fire of the retail investors’ revelry.

Lin Yu’an simply spends a few minutes glancing at the news each day and doesn’t pay attention further. He is waiting, waiting for that final and most crucial explosion signal!

A few days ago, when the signs of the impending end of the extreme night first appeared, the familiar roar of a snowmobile shattered the tranquility of the cabin.

Lin Yu’an put down his book, stepped outside, and saw his old friend Stan jumping down from the vehicle, wearing a thick deer hide coat, with white ice crystals hung on his frosted beard.

"Stan, is there trouble?" Lin Yu’an cut straight to the point, knowing that Stan wouldn’t brave the cold to come at this time if it wasn’t urgent.

Stan stepped into the warm cabin, took off his hat, shook off the accumulated snow, and accepted the hot coffee Lin Yu’an handed him, drinking it all in one go. His face bore the solemnity peculiar to hunters, with eyes sharp as a hawk.

"Lin, the sun is almost back." He said in a deep voice, not an ordinary greeting.

"For us, this is good news. But for those wolves who have starved through the entire winter, it means their good days are about to end," Stan slammed the empty coffee cup onto the table.

He fished out an oilcloth-wrapped item from his pocket, opened it, revealing a pinch of gray-black, slightly coarse fur, with a faint trace of the smell of blood.

"This was found in the snow in Billy’s backyard." Stan’s expression turned grave, "Billy’s sled dog, the strongest one, went missing during the snowstorm two nights ago."

"This morning, Billy and I tracked it to the forest edge, and found only this and some gnawed-clean bone pieces."

Aliya and Emily listened with a look of fright on their faces.

"The long dark night is their best cover. They’ve gotten used to approaching the town in the dark."

"Now, as daylight approaches, the hours of darkness shorten. For these starving beasts, it’s their last chance to use the cover of night for frenzied hunting! They’ll be bolder and more dangerous than ever."

"They’ll try to stockpile as much food as possible before daylight fully returns and human activity increases. There are signs of them around the town already; from the footprints, there are at least five to six adult North American Gray Wolves."

Stan’s eyes glinted with the cold light of a hunter, "We must seize this opportunity to give them a head-on blow when they’re at their most active and daring!"

"We must make them remember that Wiseman is not their cafeteria. Otherwise, once spring comes, they’ll have tasted the sweetness and become more troublesome and may even threaten children venturing out alone."

This is the real face of Alaska. It not only has magnificent scenery but also the most primitive and brutal survival laws.

Lin Yu’an’s expression turned solemn too. He fully understood Stan’s logic. This was like a battle to seize a closing window of time.

"What do you need me to do?" He asked directly.

Stan looked at him, his gaze showing a hint of approval: "I need you, Lin. You’re the best tracker here, and your aim is the sharpest. If you’re with us in tomorrow’s action, our chances will significantly improve."

He paused, hesitating slightly before asking, "But... you’ve been really busy lately. I heard from Hank you signed some big... contract? If you can’t make it, that’s okay, we can..."

Lin Yu’an raised his hand to interrupt him.

He looked at the old friend whom he respected and said calmly, "Stan, it’s every man’s responsibility here to protect our home. So let me know when it’s time to go."

Stan looked at Lin Yu’an’s deep and confident eyes. He could feel the powerful aura of control that belonged to a top hunter.

"Good! I’ll come find you at 7 a.m. tomorrow." Stan nodded firmly, all worries turning into trust.

After saying this, he put on his hat and turned to step back into the snowy outdoors. The snowmobile’s roar sounded again, quickly disappearing into the distance.

Lin Yu’an stood at the doorway, watching him leave until that point of light was completely swallowed by the darkness.

He returned to his study to contemplate; he had two battles to fight: one in the virtual digital world, using billions in capital to hunt down Wall Street’s greed.

The other, in this real world of ice and snow, using the hunting rifle in his hand to protect the peace of his homeland.