Live Streaming: Great Adventure in the Wilderness-Chapter 635 - 632: Doomsday Seed Vault

Langyel City lacked some of the bustle of human civilization, but it had an extra dose of stunning beauty enveloped in silver and white.

From the drone’s overhead view, aside from the endless white, one could also spot a hint of green, the vegetation persevering through the snow.

Contrary to what the audience might imagine, the Svalbard Archipelago wasn’t entirely covered in snow and ice, and there was the rare sight of "vegetation" as far as the eye could see.

In low-lying and moist areas, plants of various colors could always be seen.

There were flowers and grasses, and even a special plant—the Edelweiss.

This flower, shaped like cotton, blossomed in white tufts across hills and fields.

There were no towering trees or dense jungles here, this touch of green was the Svalbard Archipelago’s summer "swan song."

Year after year, the tenacious vegetation of summer could be seen.

Walking along the road, warning signs were everywhere, not saying "Beware of Vehicles," but "Beware of Polar Bears."

Such a scene seemed absurd, as if one hadn’t arrived in the real world but had ventured into the kingdom of polar bears from "The Golden Compass."

Bi Fang pointed to the sign and laughed, "It’s only in the roads of Langyel City in Svalbard that signs like this are written, because there are nearly 5,000 polar bears in the region, while the resident population is less than two thousand."

That’s right, there were more polar bears here than local residents.

Although it was habitable, the year-round low temperatures and vast snowy plains deterred many.

As mineral resources were depleted, the various scattered points of human settlement had also disappeared, leaving only Langyel City.

A little over two thousand people lived here all year round. Among them, Norwegians and Polar Bear People were the majority, and the rest were scientists from around the world.

Of course, there were also some people living scattered around the Svalbard Archipelago, most of them clustered together, worried about attacks from polar bears.

This situation reminded Bi Fang of the joke about kangaroos invading Uruguay.

"So, if the polar bears were to revolt in an organized manner, it would mean that on average, a person would have to deal with more than two bears," he said.

"These are the largest carnivorous animals in the world, with a body length between two to three meters, and adult males often weigh over half a ton."

As the northernmost city on Earth, it was only 1,300 kilometers from the North Pole and, apart from Greenland, was one of the last major land masses, serving as one of the strongholds for polar bears.

Strolling down the path, Bi Fang even saw a polar bear cast a distant glance at him; but as soon as their eyes met, it fled in a hurry, its fur flapping in the wind.

[Hahaha, it’s running away]

[Polar Bear: That look in the eyes, he’s someone I can’t afford to mess with]

[Polar Bear feels a chill down its spine]

Where people live, there will be infrastructure. Hotels, churches, post offices, and even pedestrian streets—this place wasn’t much different from any ordinary city.

The only difference was that there was a scarcity of amenities for entertainment, transportation, financial services, and educational facilities.

But this was an inevitable predicament for the Svalbard Archipelago.

The roads were also mostly empty, lending a particularly quiet atmosphere.

"The city itself isn’t big, so there’s no need to drive. Usually, it’s only at birth and death that people take a car to the coast to board a ship or plane and leave."

"Isn’t there a hospital on the island?"

"There is, but people still prefer to go elsewhere. On one hand, because the local medical facilities are lacking, and on the other hand, to protect the environment."

[???]

[What does that have to do with protecting the environment?]

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The audience was somewhat puzzled.

"You see, you didn’t pay attention to the prohibitions just now. There’s another rule that says, ’No burials allowed.’"

"The Svalbard Archipelago is the only place in the world where births and deaths are prohibited."

The audience was astonished.

What was the reasoning behind this?

Bi Fang explained, "This is actually due to safety considerations. Since the area is perennially cold and the ground is mostly permafrost, viruses from corpses can easily be preserved by the ice. If the permafrost melts, the viruses could start to spread, leading to unimaginable disasters."

"There is also just a small graveyard in Langyel City, and it stopped accepting new bodies 70 years ago."

"Due to the poor local medical facilities, pregnant women close to childbirth and those with serious illnesses are taken away from this place to other cities in Norway for childbirth or burial. So, unless it’s a sudden death, you have no right to die here."

"Of course, there are no explicit regulations prohibiting birth and death; everything is done to protect this pristine land as much as possible."

In the Svalbard Archipelago, everyone is a guest.

In addition to polar bears, you can also see whales, Arctic foxes, walruses, and arctic reindeers along the shore.

Creatures of the snow, rarely seen elsewhere, are commonplace here.

The group even saw a polar bear feasting.

But these were not the true purpose of Bi Fang’s visit.

As a survival expert, there was a certain place in the Svalbard Archipelago that Bi Fang had been curious about for a long time, and he could not miss it on this trip.

The Doomsday Seed Vault. Enjoy new stories from novelbuddy

Also known as the Global Doomsday Seed Vault.

A thick sense of the apocalypse made many viewers feel absurd; they were hearing about such a place for the first time.

What was it used for?

"This Doomsday Seed Vault is built deep underground in the Svalbard Archipelago and serves as the last line of defense for global food security," he explained.

"The seed vault can store 2.25 billion seeds for up to a thousand years, aiming to preserve crop diversity and prepare for disasters such as asteroid impacts on Earth or nuclear wars. The Norwegians have even given it a resounding name—Doomsday Dome."

"Currently, about 100 million seeds from agricultural crops around the world are stored at minus 18 degrees Celsius in the vault."

[Hiss, why do I feel a bit anxious?]

[Don’t say that, I’m starting to feel nervous already.]

[This feeling that everyone’s preparing for the apocalypse behind my back while I live in ignorance—is it just me?]

[I’m already watching Master Fang’s videos to learn about survival.]

[Master Fang! Save me!]

[Hugging legs tight.]

[Wait, is this kind of place open to the public?]

"Of course not," Bi Fang said as he reached into the inner pocket of his jacket, searching for something. "This vault has had a very low profile since its establishment, with almost no news reports about it."

"The only internal filming occurred back in September and October of 2008, when the French photographer Caroline Boulen captured the entire process of transporting plant seeds from a farm in India to the seed vault, and there has been nothing since then."

"Luckily, I got a pass."

Bi Fang finally took out his hand from the pocket, holding a stamped document and a magnetic card.

He unfolded the document; it contained just a few simple sentences, but the stamp on it clearly had a high level of authoritative force.

This was something Bi Fang had acquired from the Norwegian government two days in advance.

The Norwegian side agreed very readily, and the respective documents were mailed directly to him.

"Let’s go, I’ll take you to see the modern-day Noah’s Ark!"