At 10:40 a.m. polar time, as the distant outline of the sun vaguely appeared on the horizon, the blizzard that had raged all night finally stopped.
At the same time, Wei Ran, who had been keeping vigil in the dog tent all night, also came out of the tent with a snow shovel and cleared the accumulated snow around the two tents.
Behind him, the dogs also jumped out and found a place to poop and pee to mark their territory. Then they immediately got into the warm tent and lay down on the waterproof canvas again.
Almost at the same time, Schubert also emerged from another tent, squinted his eyes and looked in the direction of the sun, "Help me hitch a sled, I'll go find the penguin breeding ground, Victor, before going to bed
Remember to help Hanno set up the radio."
"give it to me"
Wei Ran patted his chest and responded. Although he didn't sleep all night, thanks to the large pot of coffee, he was not sleepy at all now.
He quickly helped Major Schubert put on the sleigh, but the other party only unloaded the few boxes of cans and all the vegetables from his car. Instead, he unloaded the box containing the cipher machine, his mountaineering bag and another bag.
The locked box was still on the sleigh.
This is strange...
Watching the other party go away, Wei Ran muttered secretly, and then hurriedly set up the antenna with Hannuo who got out of the tent, and started the generator.
Ignoring Hannuo who was busy sending reports at the tent door, Wei Ran pulled his sled into the tent where the people lived, took off his thermal clothes, got into his sleeping bag, and fell asleep - even though he was not sleepy at all.
But he still pretended to be snoring loudly.
"Will Victor and Hanno help us get the compass?" Dr. Cross asked in a low voice in Latin in this tent.
"If we continue walking in, the compass will be of little use."
Carsten responded in a low voice, "So what we should discuss is, will Victor and Hanno help us?"
"It's hard to say Hanno"
Dr. Jorg shook his head and whispered in Latin, "Victor, I can't see through him. I think we can only rely on ourselves in this matter."
"Let me tell you, if the major can really take us there, why don't we wait until we get there to figure out a way?" Dr. Cross asked.
"We'll figure it out when we get there?"
Yog snorted coldly, "A week ago, if I had said I was ready to leave, I believe I would have been killed by that Major Aigner before I saw the coastline and the whaler.
Dr. Cross, do you still naively think that we have a chance to leave the Antarctic continent alive?"
"You mean we will die here?" Dr. Cross asked in surprise.
"I don't know if you two will die here in the end."
Dr. Yog said in an extremely sober tone, "If you can really get any results from the thing you discovered, you will definitely be safe, but Hanno and I.
Of course, it does not necessarily include Victor. Whether they are doctors or soldiers, Germany has no shortage of these two types of people."
"What are you going to do?"
Carsten paused and added, "Also, what did you see that made the major suspicious of you so much?"
"For me, Victor and Hanno, killing the major and framing this matter to the British is the best choice."
Dr. Yog paused and answered the second question, "I didn't see anything. On a sunny day, I used the major's telescope to look in the direction of the coastline, but I didn't see anything.
"
"Then what?" Dr. Cross asked in confusion.
"Then the major took away his telescope, and now it's hanging around Victor's neck."
Make an appointment with a doctor to talk about it, "The major warned me at that time that he could pretend that nothing happened, but he needed me to keep my mouth shut, and if my curiosity was too serious, he wouldn't mind changing doctors for us."
"Jog, when are you going to kill the major?" Carsten asked in a lowered voice, "Hanno seems to be a good leader."
“Not that easy”
Yog spread his hands and said, "Keep waiting for the opportunity. Okay, gentlemen, I have been frank enough. Can you share your guesses?"
"After you kill the major," Carsten set a deadline before Dr. Cross could speak.
Hearing this, Yog shrugged indifferently and agreed to the other party's conditions.
In contrast, Wei Ran, who was pretending to be asleep, secretly sighed in his heart. Obviously, the smartest person here was not the two scholars, but Dr. Yog.
What he said is indeed correct. Compared with scholars, Germany does not lack soldiers and doctors, but the fact that Germany does not lack them does not mean that there is no shortage here.
It is almost foreseeable that before being rescued, Dr. Yog's value would be far greater than those two scholars who could not see the situation clearly.
In addition, he was inevitably curious about what "that thing" they were talking about was.
Hearing that the three people in the tent stopped talking, Wei Ran turned over pretending to be dreaming about something, and then he really fell asleep.
When he was woken up again, although less than four hours had passed, it was already completely dark outside the tent, and Major Schubert also shouted and rushed back with the empty sleigh.
"Is there any news?" Schubert asked Hanno before the car stopped.
"No, there is no news."
Hanno replied worriedly, "I have already sent the encrypted telegram you sent me this morning, but there has been no reply either."
"Major, have you found those penguins?" Dr. Yog asked as he leaned his upper body out of the tent.
"No"
Major Schubert shook his head, secured the sleigh and got into the tent.
"Did I wake you up?" Major Schubert greeted Wei Ran who sat up.
"It doesn't matter"
Wei Ran yawned and asked knowingly, "Are we going to continue setting off?"
Major Schubert politely declined the hot water offered by Dr. Yoger, and while grinding coffee beans, he said, "The recent weather shouldn't be too bad, but the days will be getting shorter and shorter. We have to be in extreme conditions."
Find the penguin breeding ground before night completely covers the place, replenish enough food and rush to the destination."
After a short pause, Major Schubert continued, "Yorg, you and I will continue to find the penguin habitat later. Victor, give the telescope to Doctor Yorg."
"OK"
Wei Ran and Yog agreed to each other's request in unison, and handed the telescope that had been hanging around their necks to Dr. Yog.
"Dr. Cross, Mr. Carsten, from now on until departure, the vigil work will be left to you."
Major Schubert made arrangements while making coffee, "Victor, you and Hanno take rest as soon as possible to replenish your strength. After Dr. Yog and I come back, you continue to search for penguins. This is related to whether we can survive."
"
"clear"
Wei Ran agreed again. No matter what secrets and plans each of this small team had, following the command and arrangements of the same person at this time was indeed the key to survival.
"Major, if we can't find the penguin breeding ground..."
"We will definitely find it"
Schubert didn't wait for Dr. Cross to finish speaking before he said firmly, "There is no doubt about this."
"I think Dr. Cross just doesn't want to continue hunting penguins, right?" Dr. Yoger said in a joking tone.
"Stop your needless pity." Major Schubert snorted, "This is related to whether all of us can survive."
"I know I know."
Dr. Cross waved his hand quickly, "I just thought that there was enough food before and there was no need to hurt those penguins, but the situation is different now, isn't it?"
"That's the best thing you can think of."
Major Schubert's tone softened a bit and he said proactively, "We need at least seven penguins, not only to fill our stomachs, but also to fill the stomachs of the sled dogs. This is whether we can survive.
The essential."
"I believe Dr. Cross will definitely understand," Carsten said jokingly, "He is not a caring little girl, he will not understand this."
Under this little teasing, the atmosphere in this not-so-warm tent relaxed a lot.
When the coffee in the kettle boiled, Major Schubert even took the initiative to pour a cup of coffee for Dr. Cross and Mr. Carsten each, then added water and boiled it again, filling his own kettle and Dr. Jörg's kettle half full.
.
Watching the two people change to a sleigh and leave, Wei Ran and Hanno, who was still guarding the radio at the entrance of the tent, looked at each other, and then yawned again before Dr. Cross and Mr. Carsten could speak.
I entered a sleeping bag that was extremely warm, but became increasingly smelly as the internal temperature increased.
When he was woken up again from a nightmare full of bird droppings, the time displayed on the 24-hour watch was just early 18 o'clock. In total, he could barely guarantee eight hours of sleep.
He glanced at Hanno, who had also just been woken up by Carsten, and then at Major Schubert and Dr. Jörg, who had obviously just gotten into the tent. Wei Ran already knew that it was up to him and Hanno to go out to find the crucial
Penguin.
"It's your turn"
Before Major Schubert finished speaking, he had already handed his shotgun to Hanno. Then he and Yog took off the telescopes around their necks and handed them to Wei Ran and Hanno respectively.
When Wei Ran and the two got up from the bed, Schubert led them out of the tent, raised his finger and pointed in the direction and said, "Look in that direction. Go forward in two hours and back in two hours. If the weather changes, go immediately."
Go back, if you find a group of penguins, don't open fire yet, come back immediately to report the news."
After a pause, Major Schubert added, "If you haven't come back in more than five hours, Dr. Yoger and I will go find you immediately."
"We'll be back on time!"
After Hanno finished speaking, he had already put the shotgun on his shoulder and called Wei Ran to replace the sleigh with a team of dogs.
While Schubert was unloading the cipher machine and other items from the sled, Weiran also picked up his skis and poles, and also carried his mountaineering bag. Only then did Major Schubert speak.
Before doing anything else, I was the first to leave the camp on my skis.
Soon after, Hanno also chased after him with a sleigh.
"Get in the car quickly!"
Hannuo said hello from a distance and stopped the sleigh after passing Wei Ran dozens of meters.
Taking off his skis and sitting on the sled, Wei Ran waited for Hanno to yell at the dogs to start running again, then he calmly raised his telescope and looked for penguins gathering together on the Antarctic continent shrouded in darkness.
Although night had already fallen at this time, thanks to the relatively clear weather and the reflection of the aurora floating in the night sky and even the snow, the visibility was definitely not as bad as during the day, but it was not much worse.
"Victor, I'm going to be a father soon."
Hanno said without warning, "My wife and my mother wrote to me a letter a week ago. I guess my child may have been born by this time."
"Congratulations"
Wei Ran put down the telescope and said sincerely, "You should have followed Major Aigner back then."
"I've been regretting it these days"
Hanno simply shouted at the dogs to slow down, and said angrily, "I didn't read the letters they wrote to me until Major Aigner and the others left. I should have read them earlier. I was all focused on that."
The sewing machine is on."
"Do you like sewing machines that much?"
Wei Ran asked with a smile, but at the same time he couldn't help but think of another tailor he knew and several other soldiers who were about to become fathers at that time.
However, he didn't know what would happen to the young soldier in front of him who had already obtained the mountaineering expert badge. Will he become a murderer, the new leader of this team, or...
