Arctic survival, starting in hell at minus fifty degrees Celsius

More than twenty people set up camp and worked enthusiastically, quickly clearing a space and even digging off a layer of frozen soil with pickaxes.

Although it may seem like a thankless task, these permafrosts actually steal away their body heat at night.

The snow on top was very thick, and the excessive snow actually had an insulating effect. The permafrost layer was not actually very deep; they dug down less than half a meter before they reached soft soil.

With more than twenty people working together, the digging was quite fast. The snow served as walls, and a campsite was quickly dug out.

The space was small, and people were packed together, making it difficult to even turn around.

Baldy led his men out to find firewood, Richard arranged for people to keep watch nearby, and the others brought out sleeping bags and tents to keep out the cold wind.

In this kind of weather, tents can only play a limited role, as the accumulated snow will quickly collapse them.

However, the tent only temporarily sheltered them from the snow; Old Yang, Williams, and the others had already gone to cut down trees nearby.

The vegetation near the glacial lake is quite lush. The main trees in the deciduous forest are larch, along with some smaller plants buried in the snow, such as Arctic willow and moss.

These small plants actively wither when the polar night arrives, continuously extending their roots downwards so that they can emerge from the ground again after the snow melts and reproduce.

The harsher the environment, the more tenacious life becomes.

This is not the Arctic tundra, so the plants here are relatively more abundant. When Sun Chengwu and his team dug deeper, they unearthed quite a few plant roots.

Out of humanitarian considerations, Sun Chengwu gathered these roots together and reburied them when they left.

It's not that they're protecting the environment, but rather that it's the result of hundreds of millions of years of life's evolution. When people see roots that have penetrated a meter deep into the ground in the Arctic, they can't help but feel a deep sense of respect.

This is a miracle of life.

Just as they were able to survive in the Arctic, I felt a sense of empathy.

The firelight shone, and high walls of snow surrounded them, blocking the cold wind.

As the temperature gradually rose, in a corner where no one was paying attention, these roots sensed the temperature and gradually began to change.

Their root systems are even more vigorous, seizing this hard-won opportunity of warmer weather, and continuously extending their roots downwards.

Just a few hours later, these roots had penetrated more than half a meter deep into the soil.

When Sun Chengwu and the others finished eating, the observant Fang Wei noticed this. Out of the corner of her eye, she glanced at the piled-up plants and discovered that a small tuft of cotton had sprouted on one of the plants, with a bit of white showing through it.

She exclaimed in surprise, "It's blooming!"

Everyone turned around when they heard her voice and saw the white flower, which was no bigger than a little fingernail. They all looked surprised.

The tenacity of life was fully demonstrated at this moment.

Because the warm period in the Arctic is very short, often only a few days, these plants will immediately bloom, spread their seeds, and reproduce once they sense the warming temperature.

There is something that defies common sense.

In the Arctic, there are fifty-three kinds of flowers, and sometimes even spectacular sights of seas of flowers can appear.

Our stereotypes about the Arctic stem largely from the fact that what we see is mostly the inner circle of the Arctic.

The Arctic is vast, and even in the inner circle, where temperatures can drop to minus seventy degrees Celsius, there are more than ten species of plants.

What about the outer ring?

Zhou Xiaolian ran over, carefully picked up the small white flower, and said, "This is an edelweiss!"

Everyone had only heard of Edelweiss, but this was the first time they had seen it in person.

Sun Chengwu couldn't help but take a second look.

Sofia sighed, "What a pity, this edelweiss is blooming now, it definitely won't survive the year."

Fang Wei is an optimist, "but she blossomed in the cold night, didn't she?"

It has completed its mission.

A tiny, tiny flower bud, so small that it wouldn't even get a second glance if placed by the roadside, a flower that doesn't even qualify as a bud, evoked different feelings in many people at this moment.

Some people feel that they are like this little flower, destined to die in the Arctic sooner or later.

Some people believe that if this little flower can bloom in the cold Arctic night, then they must be thriving even better.

Different mindsets determine different paths people take in the future, and even more so, whether they can persevere.

That day, Sun Chengwu had a dream while he was sleeping.

He dreamed that he was lying on the ground in a flower field, with petals fluttering everywhere, and a giant ship sailed in from the sea of ​​flowers, sounding its horn.

Suddenly, he woke up with a start.

Not only him, but many people around him also woke up.

They looked toward the coast in shock, but in the pitch-black night, they couldn't see anything.

The distant sound of the steam whistle, like an ancient battle horn, drew all their attention.

The bald man shouted excitedly, "Did you hear that?"

Everyone nodded in agreement.

The bald man cursed, "Then what the hell are you waiting for? Go to the beach!"

Maybe we'll be saved!

Sun Chengwu, however, harbored a bad feeling.

A ship's whistle could signal rescue, or it could indicate a ship scouting ahead.

At this time, a ship approaching the Arctic could not be a research vessel or a smuggling vessel.

Scientific expeditions will not choose to approach the Arctic during the polar night, and smuggling ships have already made arrangements with the Hadza chieftain to avoid coming during the polar night.

What could it be?

Sun Chengwu remembered what the clan chief had said: a team would first land in the Hadza villages and take over the local residents.

Sun Chengwu shouted, "Everyone, don't move!"

The bald man asked, puzzled, "Brother Wu, what do you mean by this? The boat will be leaving soon!"

Sun Chengwu calmly replied, "Have you considered who might be coming to the Arctic at this time?"

The bald man said impatiently, "I don't want to stay in this godforsaken place for even a second longer! I don't care who they are, as long as they can save us!"

Sun Chengwu countered, "What if I don't save you?"

The bald man paused for a moment, then asked, "Why not save them?"

Sun Chengwu countered, "Why should we save them?"

This stumped the bald man. "They're all fellow human beings, they wouldn't just stand by and watch someone die, would they?"

Sun Chengwu gave a cold laugh. "Yes, we are all fellow human beings. We have lived here for eight months. Where is the rescue?"

Where are your compatriots?

After thinking for a while, the bald man calmed down and said, "Stop beating around the bush. I'm not very bright. Just tell me the conclusion."

Sun Chengwu's gaze swept over the crowd. "I know many of you don't understand what I'm doing. I can't give you a definite answer right now. I know you won't give up until you see it for yourself."

"In that case, whoever wants to go and see, please take a step forward."