SWNOVELXO Chapter 640: 637
Even the largest ocean liner is but a tiny boat on the vast sea.
Bi Fang tightened his clothes and exhaled a breath of warm air, which was almost invisible as mist. He took out his thermometer.
Indeed, the temperature had dropped to negative nineteen degrees Celsius.
Once below twenty degrees, the mist from one's breath would instantly become ice crystals,
a temperature nearly impossible to reach in the Svalbard Archipelago, due to the millions of tons of warm currents from the North Atlantic surging through the ocean, bringing astonishing amounts of heat.
The Westerlies Drift, the most powerful warm current in the northern part of the Atlantic, is also an extension of the Gulf Stream from the Gulf of Mexico.
But with half a day's navigation, Bi Fang had gradually left the range of the warm current and arrived at Fram Strait, distinctly feeling the heat escaping from his body.
"The strait is located between Greenland and the Svalbard Archipelago, with a width of 450 kilometers. It serves as a passage from the Greenland Sea of the Arctic Ocean to the Norwegian Sea, between Greenland and the Spitsbergen group of islands."
"It is named after the Norwegian ship Fram, which was constructed by the Danes, and the Norwegians aboard it became the first people in the world to reach the Antarctic."
"The ship could accommodate a six-person exploration team, had once sunk into the sea, but was salvaged in 1936, and now remains intact in a museum."
Bi Fang, holding a map in his hand, was giving a simple lecture to the audience in the live broadcast room.
And by his side, other tourists and sailors had also gathered, clustering around him like students, as he spoke about the Arctic Ocean.
Compared to the previous several hours, the number of people surrounding Bi Fang had already decreased by more than half.
Most had returned to their rooms to rest, partly because it was too cold outside, and partly because — seasickness.
This was a long-distance fishing boat converted into a cruise ship.
Initially, every tourist was excited without exception, and everything started with friendly greetings. The primary topics were threefold: "What is your name?" "Where are you from?" "What did you do before?"
Occasionally, one could hear someone bragging about the romantic escapades had the night before departure.
And then, just a few hours later, the atmosphere on the ship had changed entirely; almost everyone was knocked down.
Just as they sailed into the open sea, people started vomiting bile, the plastic bags beside them were already empty, with nothing left in their stomachs to throw up.
Unlike the climax of a roller-coaster ride, which ends within 10 seconds or a few minutes, an ocean-going ship is like a 24-hour roller-coaster.
Swaying left and right is tolerable, but what's fearsome are the pitch and heave, like being forced to bungee jump or ride a drop tower non-stop.
The most uncomfortable is the irregular tossing, with people on board becoming like dice in a casino, placed in a jar and shaken aimlessly in all directions. Continue your adventure at My Virtual Library Empire
Tables and chairs in the rooms slid from one corner to another and back again. Plus, the noise from the engines roaring non-stop, 24 hours a day, left no chance for peace.
Only an experienced captain would, through personal example, tell newcomers: perseverance is the only remedy for seasickness.
Eat something. If you throw up, eat again.
As the ship tossed in the big waves, the rolling angle almost reached 30 degrees. Walking on the deck was extremely difficult.
The group clustered around Bi Fang had changed over and over again.
The Arctic Ocean is filled with icebergs floating on its surface, and to navigate flexibly around these ice caps, the ship was only about 70 meters long; the slightest wind and waves made it shake violently, making moving about on board like walking on a tightrope.
At least a few people could remain composed, apart from the sailors, and the only person unaffected appeared to be Bi Fang himself.
Outstanding core strength and balance allowed him to walk as if on flat ground, even outperforming many of the sailors as if the waves had no effect on him at all.
"What an odd relationship, Danes built it, Norwegians captained it?" a sailor raised a question nearby.
"Yes," Bi Fang nodded with a smile, "For thousands of years, humans have been trying to extend the footprint of exploration and discovery to every corner of the Earth. Among all, the most enchanting and coveted destinations for explorers are the mysterious icy realms of the Arctic and Antarctic."
"In the late 15th century, European explorers sought to discover a route to Asia by sailing northwest or northeast. At that time, people already knew that the northern parts of Norway were not frozen, so the explorers began their Arctic expeditions in search of the Northwest Passage, and they would continue this struggle for several centuries to follow."
"In 1845, the government of the Central Country decided to establish two grand prizes: 20,000 British Pounds to reward the first person to navigate the Northwest Passage and 5,000 British Pounds to reward the first ship to reach 89 degrees North latitude."
"That was a substantial amount of money, and we have to thank Mr. Newton for that."
A little girl nearby raised her hand and asked, "Newton? What does this have to do with Newton?"
"Because it was this physicist who, while working at the Mint, established the Central Country's gold standard. In 1717, Newton set the price of gold at 3 Pounds 17 Shillings and 10 Pence per troy ounce."
"The British Pound's value was fixed to gold in 1717, a price that lasted until 1931, interrupted only twice, but was not affected in 1845."
"To put it simply: in the 19th century, 1 Pound contained 7.32238 grams of pure gold. Today, the Huaxia currency's stated gold price is about 330 yuan/gram. In other words, 1 Pound was equivalent to more than 2,400 yuan in Huaxia currency, and given that gold mining was far less developed back then, the value would have been even higher."
"In 'Around the World in 80 Days,' the wager between the protagonist and his friends was 20,000 Pounds, and the cost of circumnavigating the globe was also about 20,000. Judging by their lavish spending along the way, 20 million Huaxia currency might not have been enough."
Huaxia currency is now one of the world's universal currencies. With Bi Fang's conversion, those present could roughly understand its value.
"Such a vast fortune naturally stirred people's hearts, and nearly every explorer in Europe was mobilized, including those from Norway and Denmark."
[Holy moly, more than ten million?]
[Not just that, it's immeasurable]
[So much money]
"You truly are a learned man, knowledgeable in history, geography, and climate. To call you an all-rounder would not be an overstatement."
A gentleman tipped his hat in respect, having listened for several hours. He watched as the young man confidently held forth, completely engrossed.
"You flatter me," Bi Fang replied with a polite smile before shifting the subject, "But it was precisely this grand prize that led to the greatest tragedy in the history of Arctic exploration."
"At that time, the Central Country's exploration ships HMS Erebus and HMS Terror were equipped with the most advanced steam engine propellers and also had heating systems to withstand the extreme cold of the Polar Regions."
"The expedition was led by the renowned polar explorer John Franklin. But in July of that year, both ships mysteriously vanished in the Arctic seas under the leadership of Sir John Franklin, and the 129 elite crew members, including Franklin himself, disappeared without a trace."
Whispers of shock spread among a few of the listeners.
The disappearance of over a hundred crew members was no small matter.
The crew members, looking around at the icy sea, even felt a shiver of fear.
Even though they had been here a dozen times, the chill down their backs was like the gaze of invisible ghosts watching over them.
"It was not until 1903 that Captain Amundsen appeared out of nowhere, landing on the Antarctic Continent with the Fram, becoming the first explorer to set foot on the Antarctic Continent," Bi Fang brought the topic back full circle.
The crowd nearby let out exclamations of appreciation for Amundsen's deed, in light of the previous example.
Yet Bi Fang's tone had not risen for long before it once again became somber.
"The fact is, there was another captain as famous as Amundsen at that time, that was Scott. Just over a month after Amundsen landed, on January 18, 1912, Scott also reached the South Pole."
"Regrettably, due to their physical exhaustion and an early storm, Scott and his team fell one by one on their way back."
"Six months later, the rescue team found their bodies along with Scott's diary, which detailed his last expedition, as the diary continued until the final day. The rescuers buried them on the spot, and today they rest deep beneath the Antarctic ice."
"The competition for the South Pole between Amundsen and Scott became an epic in the history of world exploration."
Scott and his team remained forever in that little cabin, while Amundsen became the first person in human history to reach the South Pole.
"And the tragic end of this hero is inseparably linked to the Arctic we see before us."
Bi Fang pointed to the sea in front of them, stirring a ripple of curiosity in the somber atmosphere.