LOGINHis tone determined, Charlie once again refused, "We're extremely isolated and the environment is at best hostile. Help won't arrive in time if anyone gets hurt—I'll at least have peace of mind if Ms. Chain and Ms. Singer are watching you."Seeing that he was dead set, Vera nodded. "Just be careful."Nanako soon provided Charlie with the coordinates of the stranded ship, which was around 180 miles from Charlie's position. While it was past the shoreline in the summer, the sea had since frozen over, so he could just walk.Sure, the coastal area was flat, and snow tractors would be quicker, taking at most a five-hour journey, but it was big and loud, making him easily detectable.As such, Charlie decided to drive and stop around thirty miles out, and then proceed on foot.With that, he picked one of the lighter snow tractors and sped out of the Norway research base, stopping and turning off the lights in the snow as planned.At the same time, he focused his Reiki on his soles—not e
Having been on the Elliot, Charlie could see that everything from the tech to the design of a research vessel was twice as complex and sophisticated than what one would see in two modern ships put together.In other words, it didn't make sense that it would break down that easily.Furthermore, the research crew had been using helicopters without informing the ministry, even turning off trackers while they did. It gave the sense that they weren't stranded, but were staying in the Antarctic deliberately.The motive in itself was… peculiar.They were all researchers, so it should only be the fresh crew who should be conducting any operations themselves in the Antarctic. And once the plans were finalized, they would have made all the necessary preparations before departure, including personnel, supplies and equipment.In that case, there was absolutely no need for the research crew here for the summer to schedule a return at all, or for the research vessel to remain in Antarctica.B
"Yeah." Charlie smiled. "Nanako has plenty of influence in Japan, and she definitely is privy to anything big Japan is doing in Antarctica."Then, while gesturing for the three ladies to return to the research station, he called Nanako on his satellite phone.Nanako sounded chipper when she answered. "Are you calling me from Antarctica right now, Mr. Wade?""Yes," Charlie smiled. "We're just walking back under the aurora.""How romantic," Nanako sighed. "Is there something you need?"Charlie said bluntly, "I need you to personally look into this so-called largest-ever Antarctic expedition by Japan. Ideally, if you can figure out what they are doing here, specifically."Nanako quickly replied, "No problem. I'll have someone look into it right away." The Ito family's influence in Japan was no less than the Samsung chaebols' influence in South Korea. They wielded a significant influence not only in the private and financial spheres but also across various government departments, e
The three ladies were all confused when Charlie mentioned helicopters.Helicopters? All they heard was the rustle of the Antarctic wind and nothing else.Furthermore, when they arrived at the research station and met with the Norway research crew, they specifically mentioned that helicopters are rarely used during the Antarctic winter. Unless there was an emergency, there was absolutely no chance of seeing one flying around, since the slightest mishap could cause a fatal crash.But it was Charlie, so they all believed him."Perhaps it's another research crew on a mission?" Vera suggested."That probably means air extraction and someone's hurt," Charlie replied, frowning. "It's getting closer."Meanwhile, dozens of miles away, a helicopter taking off from Griffin Winter Manor was searching along a pre-planned route.It was carrying an aerial ice radar, scanning the ice sheet below at full power.Still, their planned flight path brought them a few miles from the Norway research b
However, Kohei overlooked one thing in his zeal to produce results.Their research base was already overcompensating. That meant supplies were scarce, and fuel reserves could only meet the needs of small-scale operations. Now, all vehicles were running at full capacity, shuttling back and forth, and with the addition of helicopters, the reserves were rapidly being drained. And when Charlie woke Ruby and Penny to check out the aurora again, the Japanese researchers at Griffin Winter Manor were knee-deep in their intensive exploration.As they arrived beneath the aurora, Charlie once again sacrificed most of his Reiki to acquire sixteen new hand seals, bringing the total sequences of Variocana hand seals to ninety-six.The underlying logic of the Variocana hand seals was simple: each additional hand seal enhanced the overall effect, and this gradual accumulation meant that the initial shortage of just sixteen hand seals was no longer a problem.Charlie felt all confident because if
Barlin sent Kohei flying with his slap—but he was being restrained, or the slap would have shattered Kohei's skull.Seeing Kohei lying lopsided and unconscious in the snow, Barlin cursed as he strode over to check on him. He soon saw that the man was definitely passed out and maimed. He considered leaving Kohei to die, but then remembered that he needed Kohei to teach him about whatever gimmick he was talking about, and growled through his teeth, "Damn it! Why do I have to waste my Reiki to wake you up from slapping you?! What a loser!" Despite the physical and verbal abuse, he still had to try to save Kohei, and he reluctantly projected his Reiki into Kohei's body to quickly revive him. Upon waking, Kohei touched his swollen head that was the size of a football, still feeling groggy. Still, Barlin asked impatiently, "When can that radar thing you talked about be used?" Kohei bowed his head reverently, ignoring his disorientation. "Any time, my lord. However, I still need
When Jordan saw that Jarvis appeared a little sluggish and noted the dumbfounded look on the latter’s face when he turned to look at him, he lowered his voice and asked, “Master Yant, what’s wrong with you?”Jarvis came back to his senses, and he said in a similarly low voice, “Lord Fox, the security
The junior captain from Ten Thousand Armies smiled faintly and spoke up as he said, “Should we still keep you guys on board to eat our food and drink our fresh water if we don’t release you? Let me tell you, we will not feed our supplies to you even if we were to feed it to the dogs.”As he spoke, he
When the news of Badr’s death was confirmed, public opinion around the world was in an uproar!No one would have expected that Badr would die so suddenly!Just yesterday, Badr had vowed to take revenge on Ito-Schulz Ocean Shipping Group and kick Ten Thousand Armies out of the Gulf of Aden at the same
Meanwhile, Claire was preparing to eat lunch at the company.As there were a lot of official duties and business at the company, Claire would usually not bother to go home to eat at noon. Instead, she would eat takeouts at the company because this would save her more than an hour.She was just about t







