“Looks like we’ve arrived.”
Li Hao yawned while looking out the porthole, rubbing his bleary eyes.
Lin Yu followed his gaze and looked out the porthole.
The silhouettes of land and sparse lights appeared.
The plane’s attitude changed as it began to descend and decelerate.
Lin Yu closed the book in his hand, which was the very same The Psionic Compendium.
The flight was quite long.
During the first half of the journey, he had rewatched the Marvel series Moon Knight.
Ever since No. 2 had used the show as an analogy in that Mediterranean cave, he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about it.
Moon Knight’s power originated from the moon god Khonshu — it was coincidentally a setting where a god possessed someone, which made him want to look for clues in the show.
‘The protagonist of Moon Knight is a weirdo with three split personalities. Could I have a split personality too?’
After rewatching the show at high speed, he dismissed the idea of a split personality.
He was more inclined to believe No. 2 had just said it offhandedly.
His life so far had been a classic Chinese upbringing — standard primary, middle, and high school, then university.
There were no traces of any memory gaps in between.
After finishing the show, the long flight became incredibly boring.
He had no choice but to read The Psionic Compendium.
If it weren’t for his limited English, he actually thought this superpower encyclopedia was quite interesting.
Stepping out of the cabin, the cold wind of the Southern Hemisphere hit them, bringing a crisp, sharp chill that was entirely different from the United Kingdom.
They were quickly ushered into a heavily guarded warehouse filled with polar clothing, snowmobiles, and various scientific research equipment.
“What a hassle…”
Li Hao complained while tugging at his ill-fitting thermal suit.
They didn’t fly directly to Antarctica.
Instead, they first arrived at a forward transit station in South America — Punta Arenas, Chile.
This was the most important supply and departure base for Antarctic research teams from all over the world.
The personnel there were diverse, making it easy for them to blend in.
Everyone was required to change into thick, red polar thermal suits, goggles, and face masks.
These items completely concealed the Thanatos Academy uniforms underneath.
From this point on, they were no longer students but a private Antarctic expedition team for Aurora Technology.
When they set off again, they transferred to a clumsy-looking LC-130 transport aircraft equipped with ski landing gear.
The final leg of the journey was crossing the Drake Passage and flying toward the Antarctic continent.
“I wonder if we’ll see any penguins?”
As the transport aircraft took off again, Li Hao asked idly.
“Yes. I watched some videos about Antarctica before I came,” Lin Yu replied.
“Antarctica videos? Educational videos for expedition teams?”
“No, tourist videos. But they all take cruise ships and go as far south as the Antarctic Peninsula. You can see penguins on the Antarctic Peninsula, but we’re going much deeper than that,” Lin Yu said.
“Wait… there won’t be some kind of accident, will there? In typical anime plots… we’re at a school of occultists, so an outdoor club activity like this will probably end with us running into some god in Antarctica…”
“Maybe. If you jump out of the plane now, you might still have a chance to survive,” Lin Yu said dryly.
“Perhaps you can look on the bright side. Maybe we’ll run into some strange god, like Cupid. Maybe you can even get him to help you find a girlfriend.”
“Rei Ayanami. I’m choosing Rei Ayanami.”
“If you jump now, you might still have a chance. Maybe you’ll be reincarnated into the world of Evangelion.”
As he spoke, Lin Yu flipped through the book again.
“How can you look so unafraid? Didn’t you say you almost died on your last mission?”
Li Hao asked.
“Actually, I’ve awakened a superpower.”
“You awakened a Divine Sense?”
Li Hao’s gaze shifted over.
“Have you read Dragon Raja?”
“Yeah. Did you awaken an ability similar to one of the Yanling in Dragon Raja?”
“No. Just like Lu Mingfei, I can trade my life with a devil. That’s why I’m not afraid at all,” Lin Yu said with a yawn.
“Is that for real?”
“What do you think?”
Lin Yu said while flipping the pages.
“My friend, how can you talk such nonsense without even blushing?”
Li Hao didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
“What did you guys actually do on your last mission?”
“The details of the operation are classified. After we finished the mission report last time, the school had us sign a bunch of non-disclosure agreements and told us we couldn’t tell anyone.” Lin Yu shrugged and added, “So, have you seen JoJo?”
“Wait, again? Are you going to say you have Star Platinum like Jotaro Kujo this time?”
Lin Yu opened the book to the chapter on “Regeneration” and held it in front of Li Hao.
“What’s this? You’re not trying to scam me because my English is bad, are you?”
“It’s not Star Platinum. It’s Gold Experience,” Lin Yu said.
“As long as you’re not completely dead, I should be able to bring you back.”
***
Several hours passed.
The endless, heart-pounding white continent finally appeared in their field of vision.
Continuous snowfields, towering ice shelves, and deep blue glacial crevasses like scars on the earth were visible.
The piercing sunlight reflected off the snow, making it difficult to look at directly.
The transport aircraft roared, eventually landing on an ice field surrounded by mountains.
As soon as the cabin door opened a crack, the frigid air howled as it rushed in, hitting everyone in the chest like a heavy punch.
“Damn, the school is insane!”
Li Hao coughed violently while wrapping his thick thermal suit tightly around himself, his voice muffled behind the mask.
“Is this ghost of a place fit for humans?”
Organized by the school staff, they stepped onto the 10,000-year-old ice one after another.
The solid ice beneath their feet made a sharp crunch with every step.
The polar wind was like countless cold knives, searching for any gap to drill into their bones, making them shiver uncontrollably.
“Are we really going to stay in this godforsaken place for three weeks?”
Li Hao’s voice was filled with despair.
“No,” Lin Yu gazed at the all-consuming white in the distance, his tone calm and devoid of emotion.
“We’ll be gone by the second week at the latest.”
According to the rules, during Phase One — which was the first week — the school would provide polar tents, water, and food.
They only needed to survive for seven days in the designated area to earn the most basic credit.
This was the safest plan and most aligned with the original intention of “coasting for credits.”
Just then, a booming voice echoed across the ice field through a loudspeaker, drowning out the howling wind.
“All students, gather by your clubs! Come and collect your survival resources!”
Professor Moresco stood by a snowmobile, holding a large megaphone.
His red thermal suit was particularly striking amidst the vast white.
The crowd began to stir, like a scattered ant colony, huddling under their respective club banners.
Lin Yu pulled his mask up and walked with Li Hao toward the gold and black flag of the “King” club.
The so-called “collecting resources” was more like an efficient but cold distribution of supplies.
Several upperclassmen were responsible for counting and moving the gear, and a pile of strange items was quickly shoved into their arms.
Specialized polar tents, sleeping bags, and a camp ID tag engraved with “KING.”
There was even a fuel heater that was small but looked quite sturdy, along with several cans of specialized aviation kerosene.
As for food, there were several large boxes of compressed biscuits, energy bars, freeze-dried food, and bottled water.
To prevent the bottled water from freezing, it was specially wrapped in insulation.
The two of them scrambled to hold onto the pile of items that nearly overwhelmed them.
Li Hao looked down at the cold metal “KING” tag in his arms, then looked up at the vast ice field where there was nothing but snow.
He was completely dazed.
“And then what?”
His voice was filled with helplessness.
“Is this it? Is it starting? What are we supposed to do now? Pitch the tent…?”
“Seems like it,” Lin Yu said, looking at the others.
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