Having become the palace master of Wu Han Palace, Wu Paulo carried out renovations and reorganisations within it.
First, he directly ordered the demolition and clearing of a nearly hundred-square-metre polar laboratory, emptying all items inside, then designating it as his sleeping quarters.
It was called sleeping quarters, but in truth it was merely a place for seated meditation and cultivation. For someone of his cultivation level, sleep had long ceased to be a necessity.
Second, he merged the dormitories of the Japanese research team members. Previously, some leaders had single rooms, but now all were converted to four-person rooms. The dormitories closest to his quarters were completely cleared, adding a layer of physical separation between him and the others.
However, Wu Paulo did not remain immersed in such empty titles or the illusion of dozens prostrating themselves in worship.
After the simple internal renovations, he had Kikuchi Kohei fetch the largest and most detailed map of the Antarctic continent, then began planning future exploration routes on the map, searching for the legendary gate of ascension.
He instructed Kikuchi Kohei to mark circles with a compass around all research stations in Antarctica, covering a fifty-kilometre radius based on human activity, and also to mark a hundred-kilometre radius around the South Pole.
Looking at the scattered circles on the map, Wu Paulo focused his gaze on areas farthest from the circles, or regions with no circles at all.
He reasoned that modern humans had explored Antarctica for many years. The areas around research stations and the South Pole must have been thoroughly searched. If any cultivator ruins existed, they would likely have been discovered long ago. Thus, he planned to ignore those places entirely, focusing instead on remote, rarely visited spots that humans had scarcely, if ever, explored.
At first, he considered going alone. As long as he trod on land, such an environment posed no real difficulty for him.
But he soon realised the most serious problem: it would be hard to navigate in the polar night of Antarctica.
Moreover, with so many free Japanese labourers available, it would be wasteful not to use them.
Thus, he used a red marker to circle several areas on the large map, then pointed to the nearest one and asked Kikuchi Kohei, “If we drive there, how long will it take?”
Kikuchi Kohei measured with a ruler on the map, calculated on a calculator, and replied, “Reporting to the Zhenren, it is about three hundred kilometres, but we must detour around some mountain ranges, so the total distance is roughly four hundred kilometres. Snowmobiles would need two days.”
Wu Paulo said indifferently, “Four hundred kilometres hardly requires two days. Go organise manpower. Form a ten-person team with three vehicles. We depart in two hours and must arrive within twenty-four hours.”
Kikuchi Kohei showed no hesitation, immediately replying respectfully, “Yes, Zhenren. This subordinate will arrange it at once.”
Two hours later, the ten-person team had assembled in the courtyard of Wu Han Palace.
They prepared three tracked snowmobiles, each large enough to carry ten people.
But Wu Paulo rode in one alone, with Kikuchi Kohei as driver. The rest dispersed among the other two vehicles.
The three snowmobiles left the camp and headed toward the mountains several hundred kilometres away.
Wu Paulo rode in the middle vehicle of the convoy. He did not hurry to meditate and cultivate, but sat in the passenger seat, gazing at the vast ice-covered continent around them, and asked Kikuchi Kohei, “Kikuchi, how thick is the ice layer on the Antarctic continent?”
“Ice layer?” Kikuchi Kohei paused, then said, “Zhenren, do you mean the ice sheet?”
Wu Paulo waved a hand. “Same thing. I just want to know how far this ice is from the actual land beneath.”
Kikuchi Kohei thought for a moment and said, “Across most of the Antarctic continent, the flat areas are entirely ice sheets formed from frozen seawater, with an average thickness exceeding two thousand metres.”
“Two thousand metres…” Wu Paulo was somewhat shocked.
The ancients said a freeze three chi deep does not come from one day’s cold. Three chi is merely one metre.
