Seeing Wu Paulo’s shocked expression, Kikuchi Kohei replied truthfully, “In reply to the True Man, it truly is that far. Moreover, the route is not a flat ice sheet. There are numerous ice mountains and hills, so our detour speed will be greatly reduced. Even if the snow vehicles travel without stopping, the entire journey will take at least eight days.”
“Eight days…”
Wu Paulo could not help asking, “The straight-line distance is only a little over thirteen hundred kilometres. Why not fly directly there?”
Kikuchi Kohei hurriedly explained, “In reply to the True Man, of those thirteen hundred kilometres, about a thousand are over the sea. This means the helicopter has no place to stop and refuel en route. Even with auxiliary tanks, it simply cannot fly that far.”
Wu Paulo asked, “Does that mean there is no option besides the detour?”
Kikuchi Kohei thought for a moment and said, “There is no other good way.”
Wu Paulo pressed further, “What about the ship? If we set the ship sailing? Put the helicopters on board, sail close to their waters, then transfer to the helicopters.”
Kikuchi Kohei shook his head. “Does the True Man not wish to keep the ship’s exact situation hidden from authorities in Japan? If the ship moves, they will know we have been lying. Such actions would amount to treason, and they might send troops to suppress the rebellion.”
Wu Paulo said, “Can I not shut down all the positioning systems? Once they are off, how could they detect the ship has moved?”
Kikuchi Kohei pointed upwards. “Spy satellites and commercial imaging satellites pass overhead every day. They follow fixed orbits and photograph the surface, automatically comparing new images with previous ones in the system. This makes it easy to spot any objects that have moved.”
Wu Paulo swore, “Do you take me for an idiot? It is polar night now. What can satellites photograph?”
Kikuchi Kohei replied feeling aggrieved, “Although it is polar night, the aurora provides some visibility, which is not too poor. Moreover, satellite resolution and light sensitivity far exceed the human eye. What the eye cannot see, the camera still can. Most crucially, our research vessel is very large. Even at night, it would be visible from satellite. Smaller objects like vehicles and helicopters are relatively safer.”
Wu Paulo stamped his foot in fury.
This was simply too troublesome.
However arrogant he felt, he did not dare confront a sovereign state directly. If Japan discovered that these researchers appeared to have committed treason and truly sent troops, even if he could escape, his search for the Gate of Ascension would be derailed. Worse, the Japanese might discover the psychological suggestions he had implanted in the researchers.
In that case, reaching the American station would require the overland route.
Eight days there, eight days back. Sixteen days in total.
Wu Paulo felt like weeping.
Yet he also knew clearly that, with the current capabilities of the Japanese team, completing a full survey of Antarctica in this winter was pure fantasy. If he could take the American McMurdo Station, with its large personnel and abundant supplies and equipment, everything would change. The search speed would increase at least three or four times.
When he thought of it this way, losing sixteen days on the journey did not seem such a great problem. It was merely a necessary investment.
Having clarified this in his mind, he immediately told Kikuchi Kohei, “Prepare as quickly as possible. We are setting out to expand territory at that American research station.”
Kikuchi Kohei replied respectfully, “Yes, True Man. Your subordinate obeys.”
…
When Charlie wade returned to the Nordic research station, Li Yalin had already used AI to complete deep processing of the captured audio.
Natural noise and equipment noise had been stripped away bit by bit by the AI algorithms, restoring the conversation between Wu Paulo and Kikuchi Kohei with perfect clarity.
Realising Wu Paulo was about to make a major move, Li Yalin immediately sent the processed audio and video to Charlie wade.
Charlie wade watched the footage together with Lin Waner, Grace Lowes, and Song Rife. All four looked somewhat shocked.
