“After all, supplying necessities isn’t easy, and now they can’t even get them. With Japan launching such a large-scale operation this time, will their supply reserves be used?”
Maria Lin shook her head: “I don’t know about that, but what you said makes sense. Even if they could bring in a lot of supplies via research ship, the scale of the research station is limited.”
“Take our current research station, for example. First of all, there’s a clear limit to fuel reserves. Furthermore, constructing an oil storage tank is extremely cumbersome. Not only does the entire oil storage tank equipment need to be transported directly from another continent, but supporting stabilization equipment and transmission pipelines also need to be transported to the station.”
“The oil tanks need to be unloaded from the ship and transported to the research station. A large pit will also need to be dug to bury them. This definitely can’t be done in winter. They haven’t announced any information about expanding the research station. With so many people suddenly arriving, fuel and supplies might not be enough.”
“Furthermore, they’re using helicopters on a large scale. I’ve been looking at maps these past few days and roughly know the locations of several research stations in other countries. They’re at least 300 kilometers from the Japanese research station.”
“Their helicopter not only didn’t turn around, but continued forward. This trip will likely consume a lot of fuel. Are they simply trying to survive? If dozens of people don’t have fuel to generate electricity and keep warm, it could easily lead to death.”
Charlie thought Maria Lin’s words made sense, so he said, “I’ll ask someone to help me find out what’s going on. If Japan plans to conduct large-scale scientific research in Antarctica this winter, it will be a problem for us.”
Maria Lin nodded and said, “Would the young master like to ask Miss Ito for help?”
“Yes,” Charlie smiled. “Nanako has a lot of influence in Japan. Her people should be able to tell what major moves Japan is planning in Antarctica.”
Then he called the three of them back to the research station and used the satellite phone to contact Nanako.
When the call connected, Nanako asked in surprise and joy, “Is Charliejun calling me from Antarctica now?”
“Yes.” Charlie smiled and said, “We are still under the aurora borealis in Antarctica and are on our way home.”
“How romantic.” Nanako couldn’t help but exclaim, then asked him, “Did Charliejun call because there’s something I need to do?”
Charlie said directly, “Nanako, I was hoping you could help me investigate what Japan is up to with this largest Antarctic expedition in history. It would be even better if you could learn about their mission.”
Nanako immediately replied, “No problem, Charliejun, I will immediately ask someone to investigate.”
The Ito family’s influence in Japan is no less than the Samsung family’s influence in South Korea.
They have significant influence not only in the private and financial sectors, but also in various government departments and even within the cabinet.
Although the Japanese Antarctic expedition was kept a closely guarded secret, this level of secrecy was like a thin sheet of paper to the Ito family, easily penetrated with just a simple gesture.
So, Nanako immediately called back and told Charlie, “Charlie-kun, I just asked someone to investigate. This Japanese scientific expedition to Antarctica, which is said to be the largest in history, was actually caused by a human-made accident.”
“Human error?” Charlie asked him, “Do you know the details?”
Nanako said, “I know. The newly launched research ship was carrying a research team on a winter mission to Antarctica. They planned to drop off personnel and supplies, then return with the summer research team. However, because they needed several days to transport the supplies, the ship’s propulsion system suddenly suffered a failure that couldn’t be repaired in a short time.”
“Now the ship is frozen in ice, far beyond its icebreaking capacity, leaving the ship and its crew stranded in Antarctica. To avoid a scandal, they announced that it was done deliberately.”
Charlie frowned even deeper and said, “If twice the number of personnel are trapped in Antarctica, then supplies and fuel must be extremely scarce. How could they be so wasteful, using helicopters all the time?”
“Could you also ask the Japanese side what mission the helicopters were on? Shouldn’t the research team here report to Japan?”
Nanako then said, “Charlie-kun, please wait a moment. I’ll ask you again about the helicopter.”
“Okay, Nanako, thank you for your hard work.”
Charlie waited for a while, then Nanako called back, saying with some surprise, “Charlie-kun, the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology said that they didn’t see any records of the helicopter taking off. If what you just saw was really a helicopter from a Japanese research station, then that only means that they are deliberately hiding information about the helicopter’s movements.”
Charlie was getting more and more confused.
First, the research team members were trapped; second, the research team members secretly called in a helicopter without the knowledge of local authorities. This did not seem like a normal situation at all.
Then he asked Nanako, “Isn’t that Japanese research vessel stuck in the strait? Do you know its coordinates? I want to go and see it!”