In the warm cave, a wooden door sealed with a penguin down sleeping bag firmly blocked the biting cold wind outside the cave entrance.

Not far from the edge of the wooden door, the cold wind coming in from the two bowl-sized vents dug into the rock wall, after passing through an oil drum, just blew in the four water tanks.

On the stove, the heat released by the stove and water tank is also wrapped around it, continuously supplying vital heat and fresh air to every corner of the cave.

Opposite the stove, on the other side of the cave entrance, Hanno was controlling the radio to send messages, trying to establish contact with the rear.

Hanno was not the only one who was trying in vain. This was already the third day since they escaped here, but Stern was still lying unconscious on the hospital bed, showing no signs of regaining consciousness.

Farther away at the end of the cave, Dr. Cross held a geological hammer and slowly tapped the exposed rock mass. From time to time, he would pick up the knocked-out stones and observe them carefully, and then put them in his feet.

Put it in the wooden box next to it, or throw it aside casually, and continue to hit the rock mass with the small hammer in your hand.

Wei Ran also had something to do. At this time, he was sitting on an airdrop box next to the stove, carefully wiping and maintaining the VZ24 Mauser rifle and all tools including mountaineering picks and skis.

"Are you ready to go penguin hunting?"

Dr. Yog, who had just finished changing the medicine for Carsten's wound, approached Wei Ran and asked.

"Yes, the wind and snow outside have weakened a lot. I plan to wait a little longer before setting off."

As Wei Ran spoke, he tied an extra wrist rope to the Swiss-made ice ax in his hand to prevent it from falling off.

"Shall I go with you?" Dr. Yoger asked proactively.

"No need"

Wei Ran shook his head, "Wait until I find the penguin colony first and then come with me. Your more important job now is to take care of Mr. Carsten. Speaking of this, he..."

Before he could finish speaking, Dr. Yog shook his head and lowered his voice and said, "The situation is very bad. I'm very worried. The cause of his high fever and coma is intracranial infection."

Hearing this, Wei Ran's breathing was stagnant. Considering the current conditions, this was almost the worst case scenario. Not to mention he, a half-experienced veterinarian, even Dr. Yog, who seemed to have a professional background, might not be able to do anything about it.

"Victor, let me go with you."

After sending the telegram and getting no response at all as expected, Hanno came over and said, "I know the approximate location of the penguin breeding ground. I can definitely..."

“There are only two mountain guides in our team now.”

Wei Ran said truthfully, "If both of us leave, do you think Dr. Yog, Dr. Cross, and Mr. Carsten, who is still in a coma, can survive until the summer?"

Before Hannuo could speak, Wei Ran asked additionally, "Also, if you leave with me, who will monitor the radio?"

Han Nuo was stopped by this question, and Wei Ran also sighed secretly in his heart.

In this polar environment, if a person goes out alone, even if he just goes out to take a poop, he will face the fatal threat of being blown away by the wind. It is undoubtedly much safer for two people to go together.

But Wei Ran's family knew about his affairs. If it was just him, he would be able to go farther with the help of the metal book. But if someone followed him, he would take out the cast iron stove to get warm if nothing else.

Can't find an excuse.

Using enough reasons to stop the two companions who were about to go hunting with him, Wei Ran said while packing up mountaineering equipment and hunting weapons, "I will take away 20 sled dogs and tents later, and there are still two days left."

supply.

If the weather is good, I expect to be back within 48 hours. If the weather is bad, I will be back within 12 hours after the weather improves."

"If you don't come back after the time limit, we..."

"There is a high probability that we will not go looking for you."

Hanno didn't wait for Dr. Jorg to finish, and gave the answer first, "We will kill most of the remaining sled dogs to use as food reserves to survive this winter."

"no problem"

Wei Ran nodded happily. After all, Hannuo was the captain of everyone. From his perspective, not going to rescue was the best option to ensure that more people survived.

"You'd better survive," Hanno said.

"certainly"

Wei Ran smiled and said, "Help me load the car. It will be dawn in less than an hour. If the weather is not too bad, I will set off."

Hearing this, Hannuo and the other three looked at each other, helped Weiran lift a 100-liter iron bucket filled with coal onto a sleigh that had been waxed in advance and tied it up, and then tied it up, and then tied it up, and then tied it up, which they had used for the sauna a few days ago.

The tent and the sleeping bag belonging to the sanitary ware were packed inside.

Finally, he put his rifle on his back and loaded the mountaineering bag and skis onto the sleigh. With the help of everyone, he covered them tightly with waterproof canvas and tied them tightly with ropes.

"Put this on," Hanno said, handing a kettle filled with hot coffee to Wei Ran.

Wei Ran did not refuse the other party's kindness. He stuffed the kettle into his arms and let them help him drag the heavy sled out and hook up the sled dogs.

Looking up at the sky, which had little brightness at all, and the snowflakes that were still blown away by the wind from time to time, Wei Ran put on his thick leather hat, and then put a metal bucket on his head to act as a helmet, and then stepped on the sled.

He pulled the car, shook the reins vigorously, and shouted at the dogs to start running.

Gradually, the figures behind him became increasingly blurry, and Wei Ran also turned a corner along the foot of the mountain and completely disappeared from the worried sight of Han Nuo and others.

Leaving the mountainous area in the direction they came from, Wei Ran didn't dare to waste any time, so he ordered the dogs to turn right and ran towards the direction where Hannuo once mentioned that he had seen eggshells.

About an hour later, the sky had darkened again, and there were still mountains on the right, but he did not see any penguin shadows in the increasingly dim vision.

This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! The sled was fixed with wooden wedges in the lee of a huge ice block. Wei Ran first hung all the mountaineering equipment in the backpack on the belt of the one-piece thermal suit.

Then he took out the large telescope from the metal book and set it up, bit by bit, searching for more distant scenes.

After a while, he decisively put away the binoculars and once again ordered the dogs to run.

During this stop and go, he was getting farther and farther away from the warm cave, and two lit kerosene lamps were hung on the handles of his sleigh.

But when he couldn't see anything at all even with the help of a telescope, he still couldn't find even a shadow of a penguin.

Looking up at the night sky where there was no aurora at all, Wei Ran shook his head helplessly and had to find a piece of blue ice to block the wind again, hiding in the leeward side and setting up a tent on a sleigh and a metal book.

After lighting the cast-iron stove and waiting for the charcoal fire to burn completely, I didn't forget to make a brazier with a tin bucket for the dogs next door to keep warm. I also fed them the last half bucket of penguin meat I had saved.

I’m afraid this return mission will last for just half a year, right?

In the warm tent, Wei Ran lay on the sleigh covered with bearskin and muttered worriedly.

Objectively speaking, he has achieved his goal of entering this period of history, but Metal Book is obviously not prepared to let him go just like that.

It's time to start building a hope...

Wei Ran stared blankly at the tattoo at the tiger's mouth, but he had no expectations at all for the days to come.

After an unknown amount of time, the night sky outside the tent gradually began to be filled with brilliant auroras. Upon seeing this, Wei Ran immediately stood up and sat up. He set up a telescope in the tent and sat on the sleigh to slowly observe the situation outside.

After a long time, he waved his hand and put away the telescope, quickly packed up the tent, stove, and the sled cart filled with life-saving supplies. He shouted to the dogs and continued to pull the sled cart close to the mountainous area on the right under the increasingly intense aurora.

Running on the edge.

From time to time, he would stop and set up the telescope again and again to observe the surrounding environment.

However, until the strong wind blew around him again, until the strong wind became stronger and stronger, and began to be mixed with fist-sized ice and gravel, he still did not gain anything.

In desperation, he could only find a nearby ice cave with leeward wind and set up his tent again inside.

When the hell do we have to find this?

Wei Ran muttered secretly, the Fengxue was about to get bigger. Obviously, when the Fengxue stopped again, the only thing he could do was to wait patiently.

But according to what I heard from Dr. Cross before setting off, it is now April. In the coming days, as the polar night falls, snowstorms will become more and more normal.

In other words, there is not much time left for him, maybe only half a month or even a week at most, and even this place will be shrouded in polar night.

When the time comes, trying to find the emperor penguins that take advantage of the polar night to hide and reproduce will be as difficult as finding a needle in a haystack!

But unfortunately, the last bit of time left for him is only about one hour during the day, and it will get shorter and shorter.

That's all, excluding days when the wind blows and makes hunting impossible.

After getting rid of all these troubles in his mind, Wei Ran dragged the sleigh towards the cast iron stove, and soon after lying down in his clothes, he fell into a dreamland full of penguins.

Unfortunately, when he woke up again, although it was already daytime, the cold wind and blizzard outside the ice cave still showed no sign of stopping, and even the entrance of the cave was covered with nearly 30 centimeters of snow.

Wei Ran took off one of the bread bags hanging on his waist and threw all the half-cooked frozen meat inside to the sled dogs outside the tent, but his inner worry increased.

The last bit of penguin meat left yesterday, and the animal meat in the two bread bags around his waist, were almost the last bit of dog food reserves. He had to rush back before the dogs ate them up——

Or hunt penguins.

Patting the last bread bag filled with animal meat on his waist, and glancing at the dial of his watch, Wei Ran walked to the entrance of the ice cave and set up his telescope again, trying to find something in the snow and wind.

After wandering around for 10 minutes, he finally gave up the attempt, put away the telescope and got into the tent again, lay down on the sleigh again, lit a cigarette and passed the time that was starting to become boring and extremely long.

Soon, the long night fell again, and the wind sound outside the ice cave finally became quieter, but the heavy goose-feather snow that rustled down showed no sign of stopping, and the top of the head was pitch black, with no ray of aurora visible at all.

shadow.

Why is it getting dark again... Wei Ran muttered a little irritably, but he couldn't sleep.

I wish I had brought this book with me...

Wei Ran muttered regretfully, took out the cigarette case with a slight irritation, lit another cigarette for himself and took a long puff.

Logically speaking, with his ability to withstand stress, he shouldn't have been able to bear the loneliness so quickly, but the endless dark night, the howling cold wind and other factors made the negative emotions that had been accumulated in him for who knows how long come to an end earlier.

Touched the edge of collapse.

After flicking the cigarette butt away, Wei Ran tried hard not to think about the memories that popped up from the depths of his memory for no reason. He drank up the gin in the flask with him in a few sips, then filled the stove with coal, and then took off his clothes.

Wearing the stinking jumpsuit and shirt and underpants, I forced myself to lie on the warm bearskin again, and fell asleep hard with the help of wine.
To be continued...