"Hey, Doug, come here quickly. Let me introduce you to the distinguished guest on the Blue Whale." Old Kyle waved to a tall, bearded, middle-aged white man who looked like a savage at first glance.

The big man came over quickly, and before Kyle could introduce himself, he smiled and shook hands with Yang Jing. "Hey, Albert, and the beautiful Miss Sophia, welcome to Alert. I'm Douglas Henry, the head of the Alert Weather Station of Environment Canada. You can call me Doug."

This big man was not as rude as he looked. On the contrary, Yang Jing thought that the word "polite" was very appropriate for him.

Captain Andre obviously didn't know this big man. It was estimated that the last time he came, Douglas had not yet come here to serve as the director of the weather station.

After another round of greetings, Old Kyle smiled and said, "Doug, Albert and Sophia have brought us so many delicious foods. Shouldn't we prepare some? It's already past four o'clock, and it will be dinner time in less than two hours. I think we should hold a grand bonfire party to welcome our friends on the Blue Whale."

"Kyle, as you wish, I have made all the preparations here and am just waiting for your order." The big man saluted old Kyle playfully.

Old Kyle smiled widely and clapped his hands vigorously. After attracting everyone's attention, he said, "Guys, let's get moving and welcome our friends on the Blue Whale to Alert with our greatest enthusiasm."

More than 20 people around responded loudly, and the military lieutenant also said a few words into the walkie-talkie. After a while, the roar of a car engine was heard from the military base.

In mid-July, there was no ice or snow around Alert, but in the far west, the towering peaks were still covered with thick glaciers. The glaciers there were permanent glaciers, and they would not melt even in the hottest months of July and August.

The bonfire dinner was indeed a bonfire dinner. After a few strong men moved a few stones in the middle of the square, a large pit more than one meter deep and about two meters in diameter appeared. Then these people pulled out a lot of dry wood from the back of the room like a magic trick. Two strong men took off all their clothes except their vests, and then raised sharp axes to start chopping the wood.

Old Kyle smiled and explained, "Although there is fuel and gas in the base, wood is still indispensable. Every summer, when the sea route is open, there will be cargo ships from Churchill Port that bring us enough wood for the camp to use for a year and a half. There is no other way. There is not a single tree within hundreds of miles around us, and there is not even a single tree on the entire Ellesmere Island. Therefore, the wood we need for heating or other purposes must be shipped from the southern continent by ship."

After a pause, Old Kyle pointed at the wood and continued, "Feel free to use it. The wood accumulated here is enough for us to use lavishly for several years."

Gege asked curiously: "Professor, doesn't Alert have no permanent residents now? Why are there so many people here now?"

Old Kyle smiled and said, "Indeed, since the last five permanent residents left in 2009, Alert has not been a real human settlement. Most of the people living here now come by plane just after the cold season ends, and then fly back when the warm season is about to end. During the cold season, there are only a limited number of people living here. I have stayed here for more than two years because I want to do a study on the polar atmosphere. However, my study will be completed in September this year, and I can finally go back and reunite with my family. Well, it's not easy for those soldiers either. Last year, Lieutenant Rodman led four soldiers to accompany me through the long cold season and the four-month polar night."

Yang Jing gave him a thumbs up and praised: "Professor, you are really admirable. If it were me, I would go crazy if I couldn't see the sun for four months."

Alert is located at a high latitude of 82 degrees north latitude. Here, there are four months of darkness in a year, and there are also four months of daylight. Just like now, the sun does not set for 24 hours, and the night does not fall at all in a day.

"Haha, actually it's fine if you get used to it. The polar night here is actually very beautiful. Although there is no sun, you can see the gorgeous aurora almost every day. It's very beautiful. Albert, Sofia, if you have time in winter, you can try to live here for a while. Not only can you see the beautiful aurora, but you can also experience the loneliness of this planet. Sometimes, loneliness reaches an extreme, but it is a kind of enjoyment that makes people unable to stop."

Yang Jing and Gege looked at each other and shook their heads involuntarily. They both knew very well that this kind of life was not something they could enjoy.

As the saying goes, time is money, and life is short, so enjoy it while you can. There are still plenty of good days waiting for you to enjoy in the colorful world outside, so you can't waste too much time in such a place.

Although Alert has snowfall for more than 100 days out of 365 days a year, it is still very dry and belongs to a semi-arid area. Therefore, the fine pine wood shipped from Canada has already been dried out and can be split with an axe.

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