Chapter 393 Fat Boy Island (Illustration at the end of the chapter) The ship sailed towards the Drake Passage, and the wind and waves grew fiercer.
Outside the window, there was a stark boundary between the leaden sky and the deep blue ocean.
After a long while, the soft sound of the ship breaking through the ice floes replaced the sound of the waves.
The world before Xia Zhining's eyes suddenly became pure, vast, and eerily silent.
We've arrived at Hope Bay in Antarctica.
Before me lay a pale ice field, azure waters, and inky black reefs.
The beach, which should have been a noisy breeding ground for penguins, was now a shocking sight.
Dozens of Emperor and Adelie penguin carcasses lay scattered on the ice.
Their black and white feathers were covered in dirt, and their once plump bodies were now stiff and shriveled.
Not far away, the dark bodies of several seals stood out, staining the ice surface with patches of dark red, a shocking sight.
Personnel are already working on site.
Several people wearing vests bearing the identification of "International Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources Observer" were carefully using tools to measure and photograph the animals and setting up a cordon around the carcasses.
Further away, there were environmental assessment experts from the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Parties.
They were wearing heavy winter clothing and collecting ice and water samples.
A faint smell of decay permeated the air, clashing with the clear, cold air of Antarctica itself.
Apart from the low murmurs of human conversation and the sound of the wind, there was only a heavy, deathly silence.
An He, a member of the support team sent by the Kunlun Station, the Chinese Antarctic research station, quickly walked to Xia Zhining's side.
His mask was frosted over, and his voice came through the mask in a muffled tone, carrying suppressed anger: "Expert Xia, you saw it."
"This is the scene they accused the Xinglan ship of causing."
“We compared the coordinates with the Xinglan’s logbook. Its operating location at the time was at least 20 nautical miles away from here, with a large area of ice floes in between. It was impossible for it to come here.”
He pointed to the animal carcasses, his fingers trembling slightly: "And look, these wounds and their condition... are clearly not right."
"Our station's biologists have made a preliminary judgment that this is more likely... killed elsewhere and then deliberately transported and disposed of here."
Xia Zhining nodded, squatted down, and glanced at the messy ice surface.
Her gaze slowly rose, passing over the busy staff and the gruesome corpses, and falling into the depths of the bay, and into the distant horizon where the outlines of other countries' research stations were faintly visible.
Just then, a tall foreign expert wearing a winter coat with the logo of a certain country's environmental agency noticed them.
Upon seeing the prominent Chinese flag on Xia Zhining and the expedition team members' clothing, his brows immediately furrowed.
He strode over, his tone filled with undisguised accusation and disgust:
"Look who's here! You ecological butchers, how dare you set foot on this land you've defiled?"
"Are you here to admire your own masterpiece?"
The scene fell silent instantly, with only the sound of the wind whistling through the air.
All eyes were on them; it was very unfriendly.
Xia Zhining paused, but compared to the other person's agitation, she merely glanced at him indifferently: "Sir, the gentleman beside me is a senior lawyer specializing in international environmental law."
She turned slightly to the side, gesturing for Gu Huaiye to hire a lawyer. "Every accusation you make will be recorded in its entirety and used as potential evidence that may involve defamation and damage to the reputation of our country and its citizens."
"Before the official investigation results are released, are you sure you want to convict our Dragon Kingdom here, at this moment, in your personal capacity?"
"Attorney Chen, did you record what you just said?"
The lawyer, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, stepped forward, his phone screen clearly displaying a recording interface.
He responded in professional but cold English: "Please watch your words. Your accusations against our client are defamatory until the joint investigation team issues its official report, and we reserve the right to pursue legal action."
An He, a member of the expedition team standing nearby, said in a firm voice: "We are a Chinese scientific expedition team that was invited by international conventions and is legally participating in the investigation!"
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