161 Island Frozen in Ice

The time was noon on 3rd December, but the sky was suspiciously dark, and it was covered with constellations that should not have appeared at this time of day. Wrangel Island was located at 71°14′, 179°25′. The island was once home to a military airstrip, a military radar center, and even a few mines, but all of them had been abandoned not long after they were built. Ushakovskoye was situated along the southern coastline, and a small marine base was adjacent to this former community. The base was made up of standardized constructions, and about several hundred members from two different countries were occupying it.

Gu Jun’s team of five had arrived at Cape Schmidt Military Base yesterday, and when the weather conditions permitted them to fly, they had immediately hopped on over via a helicopter. They had crossed the two hundred plus kilometers of sea and arrived at the helipad of this small marine base. The surface of the sea had basically frozen over, and that made sailing impossible unless one had the service of an ice-breaker in its armada.

1

“This place is so white.” Wu Siyu looked at the snowy picture under the night sky. It reminded her of the ESP training. To prove her point, if one stayed too long in this kind of experiment, one might suffer from the Ganzfeld effect, seeing illusions and going mad.

“If anyone suffers from signs of discomfort, please inform the team immediately,” Xue Ba reminded the rest. He puffed up his chest, but his bushy brows and beard were already covered in frost particles. Moving around the Arctic belt in the winter time was a real test of one’s mind and physique. If this was a standard operation, all of them would have to go through some training first, and people like Gu Jun who suffered from a fatal illness would never be allowed on this mission, but this was not a standard operation.

Near the helipad was a small welcoming party.

Among them was the scouting team called the Arctic Wolf from Phecda. They were led by Leader Yu Xiaoyong and Vice Leader Zhang Xiaoqi. Arctic Wolf was a large-scale Special Mobile Force unit temporarily formed to accommodate this mission. The team had members from different backgrounds, but most of them had professional arctic exploration training. Next to the Arctic Wolf were the people from the Russian National Security Department. They were the real shot callers here, and the people from Phecda were their guests. The leader of the Russian squad was a middle-aged man called Ivanov Mstislav. The beard on his face and muscles all over his body were even more pronounced than Xue Ba’s. The man was like a walking brown bear.

After they settled down, Gu Jun immediately requested for the exploration to begin. Captain Yu thus led the five of them and headed down the western side of the island on a snowmobile. Soon, the abandoned Ushakovskoye appeared within their sight. Captain Yu said by way of introduction, “The place has been left like this for years. It is like a place frozen in time. The Russians hesitate to take it down and forbid other countries from intervening as well.”

Gu Jun knew that from the files he had read about the place.

Lit up by the headlights, some old electric poles could be seen leaning in the snow. Confusing electrical wires connected some old and squat wooden houses. Various kinds of trash peeked out from the layer of snow, especially the rusted edges of abandoned oil barrels. Around them were endless stretches of white that seemed to reach down to the mountains on the horizon.

“There’s a polar bear.” Just as the vehicles stopped, Wu Siyu pointed in a direction. Gu Jun turned to look.

A burly polar bear stood next to an old house with its head lowered about twenty meters away from them. It glanced at the team before turning to disappear into the snow.

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‘Why…’ Gu Jun frowned as a strange feeling overwhelmed him. ‘Why does it feel like the polar bear has been waiting there for us to arrive?’

The wind continued to wail. Other than that, there was an enveloping silence. However, Gu Jun could hear the sound of blood flowing in his veins. ‘Has the effect of mental disturbance arrived so soon?’

“Captain Yu, I wish to explore that house further,” Gu Jun said. The polar bear had long since disappeared, so they were spared the trouble of chasing it away. Heeding Gu Jun’s instinct, the group headed toward the old wooden house, which was less than thirty cubic meters in size. The roof was almost collapsing from the weight of the gathered snow, but that was already an impressive feat considering it had stood there for several decades already.