Chapter 359 - 356: An Unexpected Discovery

Antarctica, Penguin Station.

It was located about 17.6 kilometers from Endeavour Base in the Antarctic Region, and the two were connected by a subway line.

The reason Penguin Station wasn't built directly on top of the base was mainly for security.

After all, human brutality could sometimes be boundless. Once bloodlust took over, it was hard to say whether an enemy would launch a nuclear missile at a research station.

Wu Yongxing took the subway to Penguin Station.

He took an elevator up into the research station's main building.

He was here to inspect the research station and to check on the employees on duty.

The station chief of Penguin Station was a bald man who didn't look like a researcher at all. He looked more like a mob boss, and his expression was rather ferocious when he wasn't smiling.

"Andre, are you getting used to life here?"

The bald man, Andre, waved his hand. "No problem. My hometown is Red Tower, and the winters there are a lot like Antarctica."

"I heard some people from Shouwa Station came over a while ago?" Wu Yongxing asked, standing before the one-way, floor-to-ceiling window and gazing at the vast, white ice sheet in the distance.

Andre sneered. "Just a task from their masters. America is behind them. They're clearly wary of us stirring up trouble in Antarctica, so they deliberately sent those people from East Japan to probe us."

"By the way, in about nine days, a nuclear-powered icebreaker sent from company headquarters will be delivering a batch of supplies. Be ready to receive them then."

"No problem." Andre made a mental note of it.

Although Endeavour Base was self-sufficient, Penguin Station still needed to maintain a certain level of external supply shipments on the surface to reduce outside attention.

Andre and his team weren't just fake researchers; they were the real deal, genuinely carrying out all sorts of scientific missions.

These missions included launching small airships to monitor the recovery of the ozone hole over Antarctica, drilling for ice core samples from the surrounding ice sheets, and surveying the marine life in the nearby waters.

Since it was a research station, it had to look the part.

When the research team from East Japan came for an "academic exchange" earlier, Andre and his team handled them with ease, never once slipping up or revealing any lack of academic expertise.

Wu Yongxing asked curiously, "Have you guys discovered anything interesting?"

"The ozone layer above Antarctica has completely recovered. As long as we don't go back to using Freon-type chemicals, it shouldn't have any major problems."

Then, Andre continued, "We also found traces of king crabs at the junction of a nearby trench and the continental shelf."

"King crabs? As in, Alaskan king crabs?" Wu Yongxing asked, taken aback for a moment.

"According to genetic testing, the king crabs in Antarctica are the same species as Alaskan king crabs. They likely reached the Southern Ocean via ocean currents."

Wu Yongxing stroked his chin and asked, "What kind of impact will their presence here have?"

"They'll disrupt the marine ecosystem of the Southern Ocean. The king crabs have no natural predators here, and since humans rarely fish in the Southern Ocean, their population is growing incredibly fast. It's almost out of control."

Wu Yongxing thought for a moment. "It seems I'll need to propose to headquarters that the nuclear-powered icebreakers coming to resupply Penguin Station and Blue Whale Station can also moonlight as king crab fishing vessels."

Hearing Wu Yongxing's idea, Andre laughed. "That's one way to do it. The supply ships are empty on their return trip anyway. Catching some king crabs could bring in some economic benefits."

"Put together a report on the king crab habitats in the Southern Ocean. I'll send it back with my own report."

"No problem."

The king crabs, currently running rampant in the Southern Ocean, had no idea that a terrifying power had just set its sights on them.

The two chatted for a while longer, and then Andre took him to see the research station's vegetable cultivation pods.

There were 16 cultivation pods in total, arranged in four rows and buried within the ice. They could produce a variety of vegetables, as well as watermelons, cantaloupes, and strawberries.

Andre cut open a jade-green cantaloupe. "These cultivation pods are really something. As long as you have enough energy, you can grow all the fruits and vegetables you want."

Wu Yongxing took a bite. "A Brix score of 18.6 is pretty high. It's just a little soft."

"That's a characteristic of this particular variety."

"I still prefer them a bit crisper." Although he wasn't a huge fan of this type of cantaloupe, Wu Yongxing finished his slice. "Is the power from the station's nuclear reactor pods sufficient?"

"More than enough. There are only 150 of us, and the equipment doesn't use that much electricity."

Penguin Station was equipped with two nuclear reactor pods.

These small nuclear power units were slightly larger than a standard shipping container and had a power output of 2 megawatts. They were also thorium-based molten salt reactor systems, designed specifically to supply small bases.

Furthermore, the waste heat from these reactor pods could be used to heat the research station.

For an extremely cold, uninhabited region like Antarctica, nuclear power was more convenient and had lower operating costs than other energy sources.

If they used diesel or natural gas generators, the constant back-and-forth of transportation would cause the power system's operating costs to skyrocket.

As for the international treaties prohibiting the construction of nuclear facilities in Antarctica, the Homo Sapiens Company didn't care, because the Homo Sapiens Company had never signed them.

After finishing the melon, the two of them went to the research station's sample room.

Inside, many frozen ice core samples were on display, and a dozen or so researchers were engrossed in studying them.

Wu Yongxing didn't disturb them, quietly browsing through the various lab reports instead.

He continued until he picked up one labeled: [Research Report on Drill Core Sample Endeby Land 375]

Flipping open the report, he saw a list of ice-layer sediments from various periods of Earth's history, which the researchers had obtained by analyzing the drill core.

By studying these sediments, they could determine what had happened on Earth during each of those periods.

"The Peculiarity of the Younger Dryas Event..."

Andre glanced at the report and explained in a low voice, "That was a geological event from ten thousand years ago, primarily characterized by a sudden, large-scale global cooling."

"A sudden, large-scale cooling?"

"Yes. The devastation caused by such an abrupt cooling event would be catastrophic, especially for living organisms. Even for modern humans, any power other than the Company would suffer devastating casualties if they encountered such a sudden, large-scale drop in temperature."

Wu Yongxing's eyes narrowed slightly. "What was the cause of the Younger Dryas event? It couldn't have just happened for no reason, right?"

Andre replied helplessly, "The academic community doesn't have a definitive answer yet. There are several hypotheses. I personally lean toward the North Atlantic Drift anomaly hypothesis."

"You mean the North Atlantic Drift that passes by North America and brings warmth to Western Europe?"

Andre said with some concern, "Exactly. In fact, over the last decade or so, the strength of the North Atlantic Drift has been decreasing, and its behavior has become more and more irregular."

Wu Yongxing fell into deep thought. The Homo Sapiens Company's ability to withstand natural disasters might be an order of magnitude higher than any other power on Earth.

But that didn't mean they could be reckless.

Before the might of nature, humanity was still as fragile and insignificant as an ant.

He thought for a moment before asking, "If the North Atlantic Drift were to shut down, would the entire world enter an ice age?"

Andre shook his head. "Probably not. After all, humanity's industrialization has released a massive amount of carbon dioxide. Greenhouse gases would mitigate the impact of the North Atlantic Drift shutting down, but global temperatures would definitely drop by a degree or two."

After weighing the pros and cons, Wu Yongxing gave his order: "Andre, I want you to write a professional assessment report on the topic of the North Atlantic Drift shutting down and submit it to the Science Division."

"I can do that." Andre nodded.