Live Streaming: Great Adventure in the Wilderness-Chapter 709 706: The Rare Icebreaking Exploration Ship

The ship's horn could be heard from over five kilometers away. On the vast and silent ice plains, this distance could be extended even further, so by the time the Thesus had not yet officially reached the coast, Bi Fang had already set out with the Three Fools, driving the sled towards the shore.

The ship inched closer to the ice plains, and Bi Fang moved toward the coast.

This was a mutual rush.

A quarter of an hour later, Bi Fang finally saw the massive cruise ship wandering on the ocean from the extended coastline. The ship's lights were on, and its body emitted a gentle orange glow, making the tense atmosphere a bit more relaxed.

However, since Bi Fang had only provided a general location without precise latitude and longitude, the people on the ship had not yet discovered the suitable route Bi Fang mentioned.

Bi Fang quickly threw the fuel he brought onto the ground and used the Mars he had in storage to quickly ignite it, producing a bright light.

If it had been daytime, Bi Fang could have used musk ox skin to make a flag; the brown musk ox skin would surely be eye-catching against the white ice plains, but in the perpetual night of the Arctic, this approach was obviously useless. He could only resort to a bonfire.

The small bonfire burned under the starry sky. Although it wasn't big, it was exceptionally conspicuous.

A crewmember holding binoculars noticed a light in the night and peered in that direction. He easily spotted Bi Fang and his three sled dogs on the shore and immediately shouted upward to the captain's cabin, "Captain, found them, ten o'clock direction!"

Harvey hurried over, lifted his binoculars, and swiftly locked onto the target on the shore, overjoyed. He immediately issued an order, "Steer to port ten!"

The crewmember at the helm had no hesitation, reflexively turning the wheel while repeating the command, "Steer to port ten!"

Moments later, the command was executed. The sailor reported the effect of the execution, "Ten degrees to port!"

Harvey nodded silently; the Thesus, with its course altered, headed straight for Bi Fang.

As the distance between them gradually narrowed, Harvey issued another command, "Full speed ahead, don't stop, we're going straight for it! Begin ice breaking!"

"Aye! Prepare for ice breaking!"

The crewmember operating the signal light quickly flashed a signal according to the command, and Bi Fang on the coast saw the flickering lights.

Having a certain understanding of signals, Bi Fang instantly understood Captain Harvey's idea. It signaled for him to clear the way, and he quickly pulled on the reins, turning the sled inland.

After moving nearly a hundred meters away, Bi Fang stopped the sled and watched as the Thesus gradually approached, his eyes filled with anticipation.

The viewers' eyes widened; many had never seen an icebreaker, much less witnessed one breaking ice, and were extremely intrigued.

The Three Fools sat in front of Bi Fang, restlessly watching the enormous Thesus getting closer. They couldn't help but become agitated, standing up and barking wildly at the cruise ship. In the end, it was only after Bi Fang pinched the back of each of the Three Fools' necks that they reluctantly settled down, although one look at Goudan's trembling legs showed that he was still very afraid.

Seems they've never seen a ship before, Bi Fang thought.

[The big one is coming, the big one is coming!]

[Charge, charge, charge!]

[Here it comes, it's hitting, it's about to hit!]

Under the excited barrage of comments from Shuiyou, the Thesus didn't slow down for a second; instead, it powered up and smashed into the ice plain, and the collision of steel and solid ice occurred before the eyes of millions.

"Crack-crack-crack."

Perhaps it was due to the polar night, or maybe the Thesus had encountered a blizzard, but only when the ship drew close to the thick ice did the audience notice that the Thesus was covered in white frost. The steel body of the ship emitted the unique structural collision sounds of a massive object. The metallic resonance echoed continuously within the empty hull, eventually reaching the ice sheet above.

There was no shock as imagined, no exaggerated scenes, like entering a realm without ice...

Without the slightest bit of hesitation, the Thesus collided straight into the ice sheet, shattering chunks of solid ice as easily as a hot knife slices through butter.

The ground trembled faintly, and the once-continuous ice sheet once again became drift ice, floating away to sea.

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For safety reasons, there were no tourists on the deck to watch; to avoid the sudden trembling during the collision that could lead to falls into the ocean, so only a few sailors were patrolling.

"Goudan, let's go!"

Bi Fang tugged at the reins, sitting on a sled, once again distancing himself from the shore.

The ice-breaking capability of the Thesus was a bit better than he had anticipated. A hundred-meter distance was not safe enough; they needed to retreat farther back.

Goudan, who had been needing to relieve himself, sprinted off and pulled back to a distance of three hundred meters.

There are a total of seven levels used to classify the ice-breaking capabilities of professional icebreakers around the world, with level one being the strongest. A level three standard for ice-breaking means it can continually break through 1.5 meters of 2-year-old sea ice.

The Snow Dragon II is a level three icebreaker, while the older Snow Dragon is generally between levels five and six; thus, for thicker and older ice layers, the Snow Dragon could only longingly keep its distance.

Today, there are only two or three icebreakers that can continuously break through three-meter-thick ice layers – the strongest icebreakers, strictly speaking. An example includes the Fifty Years Victory of Polar Bear and Red Era.

Naturally, the Thesus could not be compared to these monstrous ships; even if it underwent sufficient renovation to be comparable to a new ship, it was still just an exploration cruise ship. However, it was also an icebreaker!

An icebreaking cruise ship is extremely rare!

Many travelers to the Arctic or Antarctica are very concerned about a ship's icebreaking capabilities, often inquiring whether the ship they are boarding is an icebreaker.

This actually confuses scientific exploration voyages to the Arctic and Antarctic with tourist voyages to Antarctica, where ice-breaking capabilities become very important for reaching many areas unexplored by humans.

In contrast, tourists typically only visit a small part of the area, and an icebreaking ship is often not necessary; a ship with reinforced bow and ice-resistant ability would suffice.

So-called ice-resistant ships are those whose unique construction structures significantly strengthen the ship's ability to withstand glaciers.

A ship must meet certain requirements and technical parameters and demonstrate certain capabilities to obtain relevant ice-class certification, which is divided into ABC levels.

In short, the higher the ice-resistance level, the deeper it can venture into ice-filled waterways, navigating through the ice floes, and reaching places that other ships can't.

The lower the ice-resistance level, the smaller the range of reach and activity.

Therefore, in Antarctica, there are no icebreaking tour ships at all, and only a few exist in the Arctic. Luckily, the Thesus is one of them!

During the initial renovation, Captain Harvey had invested heavily, and he was at a loss for quite some time, which made him doubt whether it was worth it.

Nobody expected that the Thesus's moment to truly shine would come today.

It cannot be denied, it is the lucky ship of the Gray Whales.

As the ice layer continued to crack, the Thesus, like a sharp-pointed hammer, ruthlessly smashed into the ice sheet, tearing open a large fissure.