"Dear Gao, may I ask what you need me to do for you?" the polar bear asked Gao Jianfei in a humble voice.
“Yes, there are your kind here. They’re hibernating. I hope you can use your excellent sense of smell to find where they’re hibernating.” Gao Jianfei smiled. “I’m going to take them all with me!”
At his command, the polar bear got down on all fours, its nostrils flaring as it searched around. Gao Jianfei sat on its back and followed.
Chapter 489 Strange Corpse
Chapter 489 Strange Corpse
Gao Jianfei rode a polar bear, circling the deserted island to search. Of course, to avoid shocking the group again, Gao Jianfei intentionally or unintentionally avoided them.
The mutated polar bear's sense of smell was enhanced eightfold, and coupled with its intimate knowledge of the habits of its kind, it quickly stopped in front of an iceberg, sniffing intently. Gao Jianfei immediately received a telepathic message from the polar bear in his mind… “Dear Xiao Gao, I’ve found it!”
The next moment, the polar bear began to dig in the snow with its forelimbs. Gao Jianfei jumped off the bear's back and let the polar bear dig the hole.
The polar bear's forelimbs moved with increasing frequency, digging a larger and larger hole, sending snowflakes flying everywhere. Soon, it had dug a large and deep pit in the snow. Gao Jianfei glanced at it and discovered that this pit was connected to the glacier behind it. In fact, a hole had been carved into the glacier, covered by snow and ice.
"Heh, this is really interesting." Gao Jianfei touched his nose, chuckled, and then followed the polar bear into the glacier.
Inside the glacier, it was pitch black, but one thing was certain: a huge space had been carved out of it. Gao Jianfei could sense faint breathing.
After his eyes adjusted to the darkness, Gao Jianfei gradually became able to see the situation inside the space more clearly.
Suddenly, in one spot in the space, there were 10 polar bears lying side by side!
10 heads!
These 10 polar bears were all in their prime. They lay on their backs, sides, or prone, much like humans sleeping, emitting faint, almost imperceptible breathing sounds.
They look adorable. Of course, that is, provided you don't wake them up.
Gao Jianfei was extremely satisfied and directly summoned 10 level 1 ghosts, consuming 4 ghost-repelling points, to occupy the bodies of these 10 hibernating polar bears!
Ten spots of light merged into the heads of ten polar bears, and then the possession began! Since they were hibernating, possession was incredibly easy at this time. Just half a minute later, the ten hibernating polar bears awoke from their slumber, stood up straight, bowed slightly, and said to Gao Jianfei, "Respected Xiao Gao, thank you for giving us a second life! We are willing to accept your command for eternity!"
Gao Jianfei smiled excitedly and directly stored the 10 polar bears into his Ghost Den space. In this way, Gao Jianfei's animal army was effectively expanded... 20 polar bears, 8 huskies, and 1 Labrador!
After finishing this job, Gao Jianfei rode the polar bear he had used before and began to return the way he came. Before reuniting with the others, Gao Jianfei discreetly put the polar bear into his Ghost Den space and walked over.
"Respected Master!" Upon seeing Gao Jianfei return, Blank, Mario, and the others respectfully stood up from the ice stone and bowed properly.
Gao Jianfei walked over and said calmly, "Alright, is that the 'Arctic Forbidden Zone' that's said to be the only place where no expedition team can survive after entering? Let's rest for a while and then head straight there! Blank, you need to study that map carefully, don't get the route wrong."
“Absolutely not! My master, since I got this map, I have studied it 424 times. I swear, even with my eyes closed, I can find the right route among thousands of forks in the road!” After a pause, Blank couldn’t help but change the subject, “Master, shall we start looking for hibernating polar bears now?”
"This? I've already taken care of this." Gao Jianfei smiled casually, then ignored the astonished Blank and Mario, and looked intently towards the so-called 'Arctic Forbidden Zone'.
Just as Blank described, that area was an endless glacial fork!
At least, as far as Gao Jianfei could see, he did not see any icebergs or islands; all he saw were glacial waterways, some wide and some narrow!
There are really thousands of them!
With so many branching paths, just looking at them is enough to make your head spin, let alone actually venturing into them to explore the other side!
"Uh... I'll follow the map to see what this Viking treasure is all about. If I encounter polar bears along the way, I'll capture them all. Once I find the Viking treasure, I'll return the way I came, stay in Barrow Town for a few months, and then return to the civilized world. By then, things outside will probably be less tense, and I can take advantage of the enemy's relaxation to teach them a profound lesson. Then, I'll find an opportunity to destroy the Holy Land!" Gao Jianfei planned in his mind. "Also, I need to accumulate hundreds of thousands of exorcism points and a level 5 ghost with strong martial arts skills. I'll learn its power, and then I'll have a much better chance of dealing with those reclusive ancient martial arts masters in the Holy Land."
Gao Jianfei knew very well that with his current martial arts skills, killing some experts from the Holy Land wouldn't be too difficult; but to say that he could single-handedly defeat the entire Holy Land was unrealistic.
After resting for more than an hour, Gao Jianfei gave an order, and everyone began to board the cargo ship.
Blank and Mario personally commanded the fleet, following the map and choosing a moderately sized glacial channel from among thousands of forks in the road, and sailed directly into it!
The rest of the journey became somewhat tedious.
After entering that fork in the road, it took a day of sailing, and then thousands more forks appeared before us! Last time, without a map, Blanc sailed to this point and then gave up.
Of course, now that Gao Jianfei and his group have a map, the situation is different.
Since they had chosen to take the adventure, they should have believed in the map's authenticity. Therefore, Blank and Mario did not hesitate and directly chose one of the forks in the road, following the map's guidance.
It took another day to reach the end of this side road.
Actually, it wasn't really the end, because ahead lay hundreds more branching paths! There were no glaciers, islands, or other landmasses at all.
Gao Jianfei originally intended to look for opportunities to hunt polar bears while sailing, but it seems he has to keep going!
Again, following the map, we chose one of these hundreds of paths... and moved forward!
It's worth mentioning that after entering the 'Arctic Forbidden Zone,' the 'polar night phenomenon' in the Arctic actually disappeared! In other words, sunlight was 'shining' into the 'Arctic Forbidden Zone'! This is almost another phenomenon that naturalists could study for years. However, for Gao Jianfei and his explorers, this was merely a side note.
Another day has passed, and this time, something rather strange has happened! Gao Jianfei and his group have discovered several ships in this waterway!
At that moment, Blank and Mario were both shocked and immediately told Gao Jianfei the news!
On the deck of Gao Jianfei's ship, through the telescope, he saw several ships floating ahead... They weren't steamships, but wooden sailing ships! The kind of ancient sailing ships that sailed using wind and manpower! Each sailing ship was quite large! There were four in total, which seemed to be a fairly powerful fleet that had once explored this place! However, now, all four ships were in a state of disarray, drifting aimlessly on the icy river.
"My God! Other humans have been here before! But judging from the appearance, those ships are at least a hundred years old. Could it be an Arctic expedition from a hundred years ago?" Blank's mouth was wide open in horror.
"Don't say anything more, get closer to those wooden boats!" Gao Jianfei ordered directly.
So Gao Jianfei's fleet sailed directly towards the four wooden boats. The gunmen and sailors, fully armed, began boarding the boats. Gao Jianfei told the women to stay in the cabins and not wander around, and he, along with Blank and Mario, boarded one of the boats.
On the wooden boat.
In fact, these wooden boats were likely products of the 19th or early 20th century, quite ancient. What horrified Gao Jianfei and his companions was the sheer number of corpses lying on the decks of these boats! Human corpses!
Uh, to be precise, it's skeletons!
On the deck, there were hundreds of human skeletons!
It was stark white and terrifying!
Gao Jianfei was very suspicious. He couldn't help but walk over and examine the skeletons. Using his formidable medical expertise, Gao Jianfei quickly determined... these skeletons, that is, these corpses, had been murdered before they were alive!
It's very simple. Most of the bones in the corpse, especially the vital parts, show signs of being smashed by a sharp weapon.
For example, some skeletons have shattered sternums, indicating that they were killed by a weapon such as a hammer before they were born.
Some skulls were broken into pieces;
Some of the vertebrae were even cut into several pieces;
...
In short, none of the hundreds of corpses on the deck died of starvation or were killed by any wild animals. They were all murdered by humans using primitive weapons such as hammers, machetes, and spiked clubs!
"What... what's going on? There was a battle here?" Gao Jianfei was completely bewildered.
He was eager to know the answer to this strange event.
So he directly commanded the AI program to disperse the ghosts in this area!
However, to Gao Jianfei's surprise, not a single ghost appeared in this area!
"No way? There are hundreds of skeletons here, how could they not have souls?" Gao Jianfei asked the AI program with his mind, puzzled.
"Dear user, it's like this," the intelligent program explained. "In reality, if the deceased have been dead for too long, their souls will dissipate and vanish. This area contains some fragments of souls, but they are incomplete. Therefore, the Ghost Instrument cannot piece these fragments together into a complete soul. Based on this phenomenon, I can conclude that the deceased here have been dead for at least a hundred years! In other words, some of the scattered ghost fragments here have definitely drifted to other areas. It's not that ghosts can't come here, provided that you know the names of the people who died here. The Ghost Instrument can still piece them together and contain them in the Ghost Nest."
Real ghosts are different from virtual ghosts... Virtual ghosts can be pieced together at will; but real ghosts, if they have been dead for too long, are very difficult to piece together, unless you know their name, occupation, age, and other details from their previous life.
Chapter 490 Prince Scholes
Chapter 490 Prince Scholes
Gao Jianfei and his fleet entered the 'Arctic Forbidden Zone,' a place no Arctic expedition had ever been able to conquer. It was a natural 'maze' filled with branching passages.
After entering the 'Arctic forbidden zone', and sailing for several days through the vast, boundless glacial channels, Gao Jianfei and his companions discovered four ancient wooden boats! On each boat lay hundreds of skeletons!
This is no ordinary matter!
Gao Jianfei immediately ordered his mercenaries and sailors to conduct a thorough search of the four ships! A complete and utter search! Leave no corner unchecked!
As a result, the four ships in the fleet stayed for several hours.
Hundreds of skeletons were carried by his men onto the deck of the wooden ship where Gao Jianfei was, and placed in several rows, filling the entire deck.
Gao Jianfei had been studying these skeletons. Without exception, every skeleton showed comminuted fractures, or even complete shattering, in key areas. Gao Jianfei was an exceptionally skilled internist and surgeon; simply by observing the degree of bone fractures, he could discern the extent of the injuries the deceased had suffered before death, and even the approximate force exerted by the perpetrator.
For example, when Gao Jianfei looked at a skeleton with its sternum completely broken, he would mutter, "That blow had about 800 jin of force... So strong!"
While his men were working on the wooden boats, Gao Jianfei also made an assessment of three-quarters of the skeletons displayed on the deck… Analyzing the degree of damage to these skeletons, the murderers were generally very strong. If Gao Jianfei had to use data to support his assessment, it would be…
800-2000 jin!
In other words, a weaker perpetrator could exert a force of 800 jin (400 catties); a stronger one could exert a force of 2000 jin (1000 catties)!
"That's incredible!" Gao Jianfei exclaimed in amazement. "2000 jin of force has basically surpassed the level of the peak masters of ancient Chinese external martial arts. In fact, it's even greater than the force exerted by any master of internal martial arts... Who did this? There are hundreds of people here who died from this kind of heavy blow. That means the murderer is unlikely to be just one person, but rather... a group of people! A whole group of people!"
While Gao Jianfei was still wondering about this, the people in charge of the investigation had finished their work and reported to Gao Jianfei truthfully, "Your Excellency, we have thoroughly searched every corner of these four ships. Strangely, my lord, we found nothing on any of the ships! In other words, apart from these skeletons, there is not a single item on the four ships! They are completely empty!"
"Huh?" Gao Jianfei scratched his head. "Didn't find anything?"
Blank smacked his lips and said, "Your Excellency, if these ships belong to Arctic explorers, then what happened to their equipment? What happened to their tableware? Surely nothing was left?"
"Oh, right!" Gao Jianfei slapped his thigh. "I suddenly thought of something."
All eyes were focused on Gao Jianfei's face.
"The flesh and skin of these victims have decomposed over the long years, but what about their clothes? Not a single piece of cloth remains! Furthermore, we haven't found any of their personal belongings near the bodies... Could it be that they were all killed by the murderer while naked?"
The question raised by Gao Jianfei was quite intriguing. Therefore, everyone put their minds to work and thought about it carefully.
Half a minute later, Captain Mario tentatively said, "My esteemed master, I have a bold theory... uh, I mean, could it be... could it be that the crew of these four ships encountered bandits, and therefore, all the goods on board were looted! And their personal belongings were also stolen..."
Blank raised some objections, "Could it be that the crew's clothes were also stolen by the bandits? That...that can't be, can it?"
The logic of encountering robbers is somewhat flawed... Why would robbers steal the deceased's clothes?
Some of the clothes are probably not worth much anyway!
After thinking for more than ten minutes, they still couldn't come up with any ideas. So, they left the four wooden boats and returned to their own ship.
"Master...should we continue forward according to the map, or go back the way we came?" Blank and Mario asked cautiously.
Gao Jianfei hesitated for a moment, then resolutely said, "Forward!"
Of course, Gao Jianfei wasn't someone who would be easily frightened by strange occurrences. When it comes to the bizarre and outlandish, who can compare to Gao Jianfei himself?
The fleet continued onward!
After completing this voyage through the side channels, the fleet soon faced a large number of other side channels to choose from... This time, there were only 89.
Based on the map markings, the fleet chose one of the side paths and continued onward.
That noon, the fleet found several ancient wooden boats at a fork in the road, with a large number of skeletal remains on board! Just like the wooden boats they had found before, apart from the skeletons, there was nothing else to be found!
Gao Jianfei and his companions shouted silently, but they still did not choose to turn back... Forward! Forward!