Under the Ice Wall
Originally, they were just some small pieces of ice, and they could rely on the weight of the large ship and directly use the relatively sharp bow to push them away.
But now the ice flakes are getting bigger and bigger, which means that there may be a large area of ice nearby. Once it reaches a sufficient hardness, the wooden boat will be frozen directly to the sea surface.
Without binoculars and night vision goggles, it was difficult to see anything in front of me because of the fog.
Ding Can also went over to take a look and noticed that the ice blocks had already reached a certain thickness. If they had only started to form after dark, the speed was a bit too fast.
It's more like it's drifting in from somewhere.
The icebergs were also denser than before, and the wooden boat had been making turns all the time. Gao Wenwen, who had originally adapted to it, now began to feel seasick again.
He stuck half of his head out of the small window, feeling the biting cold wind blowing in his face. The nausea in his stomach eased a little under the stimulation of the cold.
"We can't go any further, let's go up and check the situation first."
Xia Jialian pushed the rudder down. Now that there was no power applied, the wooden boat would just float naturally on the sea.
The only way to observe the cab is through the small window on the side. Only when you reach the deck will you have a wider view.
Yin Jiu heard footsteps and turned his head. The sea breeze lifted the few strands of brown hair that were not covered by his hat. His brows were furrowed with vague worry. "You guys have also discovered the problem, right?"
He was on duty at night and noticed that something seemed wrong tonight, but nothing actually happened, so he just kept his doubts to himself.
Ding Can walked up to him and asked, "Did you encounter so many icebergs during your migration in the past?"
"It does require more attention from the helmsman at night, but the number we saw today is a bit too much."
In fact, if the sailing speed is not fast, hitting an iceberg will not be a big problem. We can just repair it after arriving at Fengyang Island.
But the icebergs in front of us seem to want to trap everyone here completely.
There are fewer and fewer escape routes to choose from, and Yin Jiu only now discovered that a lot of icebergs have gathered behind him without him noticing.
Shi Yan was puzzled: "What we saw was only a small part of the iceberg that emerged from the water. It is so heavy, and it is okay if a few icebergs happened to be so close to the ship, but how could so many of them get so close?"
Xia Jialian looked at the iceberg closest to them. After observing it for a few seconds, he could not see any changes. It was as if the iceberg was just standing there silently.
"In theory, the movement of icebergs is caused by many factors. They may be affected by gravity, moving from high altitudes to low altitudes, or they may move in the direction of ocean currents."
But no matter what the reason is, it seems to have nothing to do with what I see now.
There is no natural phenomenon that can make the icebergs seem to have eyes and specifically surround the wooden boat.
Gao Wenwen looked further around and noticed that now, apart from the bottom of the ship where the sea water could still be seen and the slowly rising and falling ice blocks above it, there was nothing else to see.
Icebergs of all sizes had gathered around them, and they could no longer see the route they had previously taken.
The wooden boat was still able to move slowly on the sea, simply because it was just nightfall and the temperature had just begun to drop lower than during the day.
The nights in the glacier area are long. It is not difficult to imagine that the temperature will drop even lower in the middle of the night. If even the sea water under their feet is frozen, coupled with the cold air gathered by the surrounding icebergs,
Even when the sun rises again tomorrow, it will be difficult to melt the ice gathered around the ship with sunlight alone.
Moreover, if a wooden boat stays in a position frozen by ice for a long time, the hull will be subtly squeezed in the process of continuous ice formation.
The slight change in shape can cause a fatal blow to the wooden ship when it reaches a certain critical point, and disintegration is not impossible.
"So these icebergs deliberately trapped us here?" Shi Yan expressed her speculation with some disbelief.
Then if they are really trapped and unable to move, we should prepare to do something to them.
Ding Can has already started selecting props in the system: "We need to find a way out as soon as possible."
They cannot rush around like headless flies and must reduce the chances of trial and error. Perhaps the situation is even worse than they imagined.
In response to the current dilemma, Ding Can browsed the system for a while and finally exchanged for a prop called "Real-time Navigation".
Real-scene navigation actually has many similarities with the navigation software people use in real life.
But in addition to being able to select the optimal route, it can also survey the surrounding terrain and provide real-time 3D road conditions.
Yin Jiu watched Ding Can take out something that looked like a round disk from his arms, and his eyes twitched: "What is this? Do you always carry it with you?"
Such a big plate, could it be that I didn’t notice it before because the clothes were too thick?
"Well, just in case." Ding Can answered casually, without paying attention to anything else, his fingers operating the real-time navigation.
After a few brief flashes of light, she began to set her destination. They had never been to Fengyang Island, but they knew it was located due south and was several hundred miles away.
After the settings are completed, two lights of different colors will light up on the disc.
The red dot below is the fixed southern point, and the flashing blue dot in the upper middle is the current location of the ship.
In just a few seconds, real scenes began to appear on the disc, with cones of varying heights rising along the blue light spots.
It is so dense that it almost completely covers the blue dot.
It is not difficult to understand that these pointed protrusions are no less than a hundred icebergs gathered around.
Yin Jiu's initial confusion upon seeing the props was quickly replaced by shock. His eyes widened: "So, are all these icebergs near us?"
The size of the prop is actually not too big, only about 20 centimeters in diameter, but the markings on it are very clear.
You can also use your fingers to zoom in and out and change the direction of the main perspective. Ding Can then magnified the position of the icebergs.
The location where the sea water flows is also represented by a faint blue stream, but it now appears to be very small and has become intermittent due to the obstruction of icebergs.
If they don't have props and just keep searching, they will most likely end up in a dead end.
As for the southbound route shown by the real-time navigation, it currently appears to be very tortuous and winding, with many detours back and forth.
Ding Can instructed Yin Jiu, "Let's go to the cockpit first and sail according to this route. You go and tell the priest about this. Remember, only tell her first."
When Yin Jiu heard this, he was a little confused, but the situation was urgent, so he chose to obey. He turned around and walked up the small stairs to the cabin above.
The few of them returned to the cockpit. They had only been away for a few minutes when a considerable layer of ice had already formed where the hull met the sea water.
It was only after the three of them worked together to turn the rudder several times that the wooden boat finally showed signs of moving again.
"The trajectories of these icebergs are changing in real time." Ding Can looked down at the navigation direction. The route was updated almost every few minutes.
Plans cannot keep up with changes. The wooden boat has been sailing according to the route indicated by the navigation, but it has been going back and forth and making several circles. In fact, it is just moving back and forth in the east and west position, and has not really approached the destination.
There were footsteps behind me, and Meng Qi and Yin Jiu came over.
"Is it so serious?" She roughly knew what happened from her nephew on the way, but she was still shocked after seeing the situation on the disc.
Ding Can pushed the navigation forward. "The navigation can only give the optimal route, but the iceberg is constantly moving. In fact, we have been trapped in this area for a long time."
The virtual image displayed on the prop is very similar to some time-lapse videos.
If the icebergs are viewed as a whole, they are like a jelly that is constantly deforming, firmly wrapping the wooden ship wherever it goes.
Yin Jiu murmured, "Are they trying to trap us in the deep sea?"
He couldn't imagine how long his people would have been deceived if Ding Can didn't have this thing in his hand.
After wandering in the sea for a whole night to avoid icebergs, when the sun rises the next day, you will despair and find that you can no longer escape.
Meng Qi turned his head and said, "The ice is still at a level where it can be cleaned with tools. Go tell the tribe leader to get everyone to clean the ice."
"Okay." Yin Jiu agreed, and was stopped again before he was about to take on the responsibility of running errands.
"Wait a minute, if the clan leader asks, I will say that I gave this artifact to her."
Yin Jiu was stunned for a moment. What he meant was that when other tribesmen saw this magical tool, even if he knew that it was Ding Can who took it out of his arms, he would pretend to know nothing.
But what does it have to do with my aunt? And it seems that Ding Can didn’t even tell me where it came from.
So, is the aunt protecting them... Without his knowledge, it seems that the aunt has some secrets with these peers.
Yin Jiu bit her lip, but still didn't ask the reason: "I've got it in mind."
Simply letting the wooden boat sail will not be of any use in this situation. We must first remove the surrounding icebergs.
Shi Yan stared at an iceberg next to her for a long time. In the dark blue sea, she could almost see the thicker mountain underground.
"Do you think there's something pushing this iceberg from under there?"
No matter how you think about it, it still seems unbelievable that the iceberg can control its movement direction independently.
Gao Wenwen suddenly realized: "Who knows."
If there were other sea creatures like the nemerteans we encountered before, and they set their sights on the wooden boat and had the strength to drag heavy objects, they would have brought all the surrounding icebergs over.
"Are we going to explore the seabed again?" Ding Can thought of the coldness when he entered the water during the day. At that time, he felt the sea water was icy cold to the bone and almost lost the ability to move.
The temperature is so low now, and there are a lot of ice cubes mixed in the sea water. You will probably lose consciousness in the sea water as soon as you get in.
Xia Jialian thought for a moment and said, "I have to go, but I have to go without alerting anyone else."
Otherwise, if they move too freely and roam the seabed, other tribesmen will find it strange and may even regard them as aliens.
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