Chapter 117: Investigation, Ben, Blade Forging
From a distance, on the vast expanse of white ice surface, three black dots clearly appeared in Tang Song's sight…
"They're up ahead, move closer!"
Tang Song stood at the bow of the ship, scattering a handful of blood pills. A black python emerged halfway from the seawater, its long serpent tongue flicking out, sweeping the blood pills into its mouth in one gulp.
Splash, the black python fell back into the water, the Sea Surface rippling. A python tail as thick as a water bucket swept across the Ice Surface. The dark scales on the python tail flashed blue for a moment, and the Ice Surface immediately cracked for over a hundred meters.
The yacht sped up, heading towards the three icebreakers.
...…
Observation Station Zero
Under Lance's command, the hundreds of people in the entire Base were preparing for evacuation, tense but not overly panicked.
In the high altitude of Antarctica, where snow was drifting, four decoy helicopters had already taken off.
Hive rockets and mounted machine guns were fully equipped, ready to use this heavy firepower to attract Zero's attention and buy time for the base personnel to evacuate.
As for whether they could cause damage to Zero, the Monarch High-level Staff who devised this decoy plan never harbored such a fantasy from the start.
The decoy plan initially recruited sixteen helicopter pilots. They received an annual salary of a million US dollars, and normally didn't have to perform any missions in the Base Observation Post.
But once a Level 1 Alert was sounded, they had to start their helicopters and become decoys with no chance of survival, attracting Zero's firepower to buy time for the evacuation of other personnel in the base.
After five years, only six of the sixteen helicopter pilots who signed long-term contracts remained.
Five of them, the moment they first arrived at Observation Station Zero and saw the true form of the frozen King Ghidorah, immediately gave up their million US dollars annual salary and left Antarctica after signing a confidentiality agreement.
Another five also chose to quit in the following years, unable to bear the pressure of being on the brink of death.
Below the ice of the Base Observation Post, two submarines were permanently moored. After the alarm sounded, some important scientists, including some research data/information, had all been moved onto the submarines.
If liquid nitrogen could not make Zero re-enter the frozen dormant state, upon receiving the evacuation order, the two submarines would immediately dive into the Deep Sea of Antarctica and quickly escape from here.
"Beep beep beep…"
Inside the Surveillance Room, Lance watched Zero's body temperature change on the screen with a solemn expression!
"45%, 46%, 47%, 48%…"
The progress bar next to it climbed rapidly. These bar values represented the nitrogen value input into the lower Space…
Once the nitrogen value reached 100%, it meant that the liquid nitrogen reserves in the base were exhausted.
If Zero's body temperature continued to rise at that point, everyone at Observation Station Zero would have to evacuate urgently.
"89%!"
After a series of urgent alarm sounds, the display data for the liquid nitrogen reserve value was approaching the alert point.
Lance clenched his fist, just about to issue an emergency evacuation order, when on the screen, the value representing Zero's body temperature took a sharp downturn from its peak, drawing an inverted U-shaped curve.
"Supervisor, it's dropping, Zero's body temperature is dropping, it has returned to the calm period of being frozen…"
The Doctor responsible for monitoring King Ghidorah's life form vital signs reported to Lance with an excited voice.
"I see it!" Lance's voice trembled slightly, and he let out a long sigh of relief.
"Continue monitoring, do not lift the Level 1 Alert for now!"
Watching the stable ripples on the screen, Lance cautiously issued the order.
The Level 1 Alert at Observation Station Zero continued for two days.
It wasn't until the third day that the alert level dropped to Level 2. Five days later, a joint Accident Investigation Team dispatched by the Monarch headquarters and the Federal Department of Defense entered Base Zero.
After a comprehensive inspection of Zero's life form vital signs and the degree of Ice Mountain melting, the entire Observation Post completely lifted the alert.
The Investigation Team conducted a comprehensive investigation into this accident, retrieving satellite monitoring from thirteen satellites that passed over Antarctica at the time.
The satellite monitoring footage did not show any ships passing within twenty nautical miles of Observation Post Zero.
Instead, a NATO surveillance satellite captured the scene of a volcanic eruption on an island forty nautical miles away from Observation Station Zero…
"This accident was unexpectedly caused by the vibration from an underwater volcanic eruption!"
Inside Lance's Office, a grey-haired man wearing a Federal Air Force lieutenant general's suit signed his name on the investigation results document reply.
Thaddeus E. Ross!
Putting the documents into a document bag, General Ross had just capped his fountain pen.
Lance pushed the door open and walked in, greeting him:
"Old friend, the base has prepared a farewell banquet, just waiting for you!"
"Farewell banquet!?" General Ross was a little surprised, his Big Beard seemed to tremble. He frowned:
"An accident is not a good thing, there's no need for a farewell banquet, I still need to rush back to the Department of Defense…"
"Ross, you're still the same!" Lance strode up to General Ross, patted his shoulder, and said with a laugh:
"You don't have a choice this time. Tonight is extreme blizzard weather in Antarctica, you can't leave even if you want to. Come on, I specifically opened a good bottle of wine for you!"
General Ross was pushed and shoved out of the Office by Lance with a helpless expression.
Bang!
Lance kicked the Office door shut, and the entire Office seemed to vibrate.
Thud!
On the Office Desk, a small brown calfskin wallet was shaken onto the Ground. The wallet opened, and on the first page of the interlayer, in the transparent pocket, was a photo of a middle-aged man in a white coat, looking disheveled.
The man in the photo had a large cross drawn over his face with a fountain pen, and his upper body was almost punctured into a sieve by the pen tip.
Clearly, the owner of the wallet had a deep "love" for this man whose face couldn't be clearly seen.
...
While the people at Base Zero were holding a banquet, on the other side, the research vessel Boss Tang was on had already docked at Ushuaia Port.
Ushuaia, the capital of Argentina's Tierra del Fuego Province, this small South American city with a population of about 64,000, is located at 54°47′ south latitude and 68°20′ west longitude. Due to its unique geographical position, it is famous worldwide as the gateway to Antarctica, and is also known as the End of the World!
Ushuaia is as far as 3200 kilometers from the country's capital, Buenos Aires, but only 800 kilometers from Antarctica.
Traveling to Antarctica by ship from Australia, New Zealand, etc., takes at least a week;
While sailing from Ushuaia, crossing the Drake Passage, takes only two days.
Therefore, Ushuaia is an ideal starting and supply Base for expeditions and investigations to Antarctica.
Late at night, many research vessels heading to Antarctica were moored at Ushuaia Port…
Due to the influence of the major ice storm in Antarctica, the departure time for these research vessels to Antarctica had been postponed.
Many research vessels were brightly lit, with occasional sounds of drinking and finger-guessing games.
Amidst the noise, no one noticed a yacht quietly sailing away from the Harbour.
On the Sea Surface under the night sky, the engine-off yacht was quietly moored on the Sea Surface. The ship's body, with its lights off, was enveloped in darkness, and the seawater slapped against the hull, making a splashing sound.
On the Deck of the yacht, a group of people stood in formation, dimly visible. No one spoke, except for the sound of the seawater hitting the hull and the sound of one person pacing back and forth…
The white figure walked into the crowd, suddenly stopped, flashed and drew his blade. A cold light flashed, and several people gathered on the Deck fell down clutching their throats.
Thud, thud, thud, thud…
After throwing all the corpses on the Deck into the Ocean, the yacht restarted, two white wakes rising from the stern, disappearing into the night.
...
A unique and beautiful small city built against the mountain.
Tang Song walked on the street, admiring the beauty of this small city. The street was not wide, but it was very clean.
The streets were lined with those cute little Wooden Houses that only appear in fairy tales, the kind belonging to Snow White.
The flowers in front of and behind the houses were blooming vigorously. This was the vibrant summer of the Southern Hemisphere.
But the cool air and the snow-capped mountains in the distance made one feel the atmosphere of Antarctica in advance.
The residents coming and going, upon seeing the four tall, burly Bodyguards in black clothes following behind Boss Tang, all showed Tang Song a kind smile.
"Coo coo…"
On a bench facing the street, Tang Song held a handful of bread crumbs. Several doves hopped and pecked at the bread crumbs he scattered in front of him.
"Boss, it's all taken care of!"
Storm Shadow, dressed in a black suit, appeared behind Tang Song.
"Do you know why I asked you to deal with that batch of Cobra Soldiers?"
Coo coo!
A grey-feathered dove fluttered onto Tang Song's palm, boldly pecking at the bread crumbs in his palm.
Tang Song gently stroked the dove's feathers with one hand, asking without raising his head.
"Boss, you were worried about alerting the enemy, that Cobra Commander would detect our actions in advance!"
"Yes and no!" Tang Song allowed the grey dove to peck at the bread crumbs in his palm.
"These Cobra Soldiers have all been injected with nanite solution. This semi-mechanical, semi-biological thing, even I only have a partial understanding of it. Firstly, I'm not sure if these nanoworms come with some kind of surveillance memory function.
Secondly, although these Cobra Soldiers currently obey your order, their underlying code should be in the developer's hands!"
The grey dove, having finished pecking the bread crumbs, flew away from Tang Song's palm without any hesitation.
"Where do you think these Cobra Soldiers would stand if you and Cobra Commander were to clash!?"
Tang Song clapped the bread crumbs residue from his hands, and stood up. The Bodyguards immediately handed him his cane.
Fluttering…
The doves that were pecking on the Ground were startled and took flight.
Tang Song walked ahead, leaning on his cane, followed by several Bodyguards.
"I understand! Boss!"
Storm Shadow followed behind Tang Song, his eyes wary, watching left and right.
"You still have a batch of manpower in the Tibetan Snow Mountain?!"
With four tall, burly black-clothed Bodyguards following him, Tang Song walked on the street. Besides smiles, some people even avoided them from a distance to avoid trouble.
"After leaving Arashikage back then, Zartan asked me to train a batch of personal guards for him.
So I trained a batch of Ninjas in the Tibetan Snow Mountain according to the Arashikage training method. There are about sixty people, and their skills are decent, usable!""
Although Storm Shadow didn't know Tang Song's intention in asking, his admiration for Tang Song from the bottom of his heart made him tell Tang Song about the manpower he had trained without thinking. Zartan, one of the Cobra leaders.
He is a guy who drives enemies and even comrades crazy, and this is all thanks to his bizarre disguise technique.
His disguise technique can almost reach the point of being indistinguishable from the real thing.
To maximize his disguise technique, Zartan stops at nothing. Besides disguise, Zartan is also proficient in ventriloquism, multiple languages, and escape techniques.
In addition, Zartan also serves as the Leader of another notorious motorcycle gang, the Dreadnoks.
Mentioning Zartan gives even Storm Shadow a headache.
"Tibetan Snow Mountain? Did you find anything abnormal there?"
A black car stopped not far opposite Tang Song. Two men got out of the car and walked directly towards Tang Song.
Storm Shadow stepped forward vigilantly, slightly turning his body to shield Tang Song.
"They're with me," Tang Song patted his shoulder, signaling him to relax.
Tang Song changed the subject and brought up the Tibetan Snow Mountain.
Storm Shadow thought for a moment and shook his head: "Boss! The mountain range we stayed in is located at the peak of the snow mountain, rarely visited by people. Normally, besides a few climbing teams, you sometimes don't even see a single person!"
"Is that so!" Tang Song looked at the two people stopped not far away, waved, and signaled them to come over.
"Boss!"
"Mr. Tang!"
The two walked closer. The black-clothed Bodyguards bowed to Tang Song and called him Boss.
The Big man with a full beard wearing a grey T-shirt was a bit reserved.
"Come, Storm Shadow, let me introduce you. This is Ben, the nine-time consecutive champion of the Forged in Fire!"
"Ben! Don't be so reserved. This is Storm Shadow, the Katana you're going to forge is for him!"
Tang Song smiled and introduced them to each other.
Although Tang Song told him not to be reserved, Ben was clearly still a bit constrained. After nodding to Storm Shadow, he began to examine his palm and height.
"Did you bring the things?"
Tang Song's gaze fell on the German Bodyguard who brought Ben here.
"Boss, the things have arrived!" The Bodyguard quickly said.
"Mm!" Tang Song looked at Ben, who had already started measuring Storm Shadow's palm length, and then at Storm Shadow, who had an awkward expression and allowed himself to be handled, and smiled.
He leaned on his cane and watched the spectacle from the side.
Measuring palm width, length, measuring arm length and height, Ben was busy for a while. After this procedure, it didn't look like he was forging a blade, but rather like a tailor.
Storm Shadow stood there with a sour face, letting Ben handle him.
"Mr. Tang, I've finished measuring, I can start anytime!"
When facing Tang Song, Ben's focused and confident expression from when he was measuring Storm Shadow immediately became reserved.
There was nothing he could do. Ben, as the nine-time consecutive champion of the Forged in Fire, later directly transformed into a member of the judging panel.
He was considered one of the few winners to emerge from this competition.
He had vaguely heard some things about the Big Boss behind the Forged in Fire.
He was just a bladesmith. Facing Tang Song, who was rumored to have a dark background, it was naturally difficult to avoid feeling constrained.
"Has Lane told you about the properties of Adamantium?" Tang Song's face was gentle.
Ben nodded and replied: "Before I came, Mr. Lane had me forge a dagger using Adamantium! Once this metal is smelted and cooled, it won't show even a hint of melting even at a high temperature of 500,000℃…
It's a very peculiar metal. Weapons made from it are almost indestructible…"
As if mentioning professional knowledge related to his profession, Ben's demeanor changed, and he began to gesticulate while describing the marvels of this metal to Tang Song.
Tang Song listened patiently with a gentle expression as Ben described his design for the Katana.
Meanwhile, Storm Shadow, upon hearing Ben describe the Katana he was designing for him, also came closer, occasionally interjecting and telling Ben his requirements.
Ben displayed his professionalism, refuting Storm Shadow's opinions and explaining the unreasonableness of his suggestions.
The two engaged in a verbal sparring match, but both were not eloquent speakers. Ben, the bladesmith, was inherently a focused technical worker.
Not to mention Storm Shadow, who was skilled at refuting his enemies' viewpoints with the blade in his hand.
He once killed four armed targets with his Katana in two seconds.
So their arguments were also very interesting.
Storm Shadow wanted to increase the weight of the Katana, while Ben explained to him the most suitable weight for a Katana for the human body…
Storm Shadow simply grabbed the back of Ben's neck, lifted him up with one hand, and showed him what non-human strength was like.
Clearly, on the matter of increasing the Katana's weight, Storm Shadow convinced Da Li Ben in his own way.
There were many such instances. Storm Shadow described his concept for the Katana to Ben, such as wanting two Katanas that could be assembled together.
When Ben questioned the practicality of these two Katanas, Storm Shadow directly drew two spare Katanas, twisted the knife hilts together, and demonstrated his blade arts on the spot.
Watching the two cold, sharp Katanas change unpredictably in Storm Shadow's hands, moving so fast that Ben could barely find the blade itself, Ben's eyes widened.
Clearly, Storm Shadow completely won this round as well.
Tang Song watched the spectacle from the side with a smiling face. Storm Shadow's movements with the Katana also attracted some passersby who stopped to watch.
Seeing Storm Shadow's almost magical swordsmanship, many people gave Storm Shadow a thumbs-up and praised him repeatedly in the local language.
Of course, when someone wanted to take photos, several black-clothed Bodyguards would directly step forward to dissuade and stop them.
Ordinary People, upon seeing these Bodyguards in crisp suits, sunglasses, and earpieces, would generally choose to stop filming and, under the Bodyguards' supervision, delete the negatives.
Of course, there were also some overconfident hotheads, one Big Beard shouting about Federation Person, democracy, and freedom of filming.
Just as he was yelling, a Bodyguard directly lifted his suit from behind, revealing the black gun hilt on his back waist.
"OK! OK! OK…"
The Big Beard wisely handed over his camera. After the Bodyguard checked it and deleted the photos inside, he threw the camera back to him, and the Big Beard almost ran away from the street.
Seeing that more and more people were gathering to watch, attracted by Storm Shadow's swordsmanship.
Tang Song gave a signal, and took the group directly away from the street and back to the Hotel they were staying at.
Ushuaia Hotel, this is one of the only two four-star Hotels in this small Argentinian city.
Just like usual travel accommodation, Tang Song directly booked two floors of Rooms in the Hotel.
Inside the Presidential Suite guest room, Da Li Ben was somewhat mesmerized, stroking the silver metal block inside the briefcase.
His trembling, mesmerized hands were like stroking his bride on their wedding night.
For a bladesmith, a good metal is like a good chef facing a table full of rare ingredients.
His hands itched, wanting to show off his skills.
Tang Song sat on the sofa, took the coffee handed to him by the Baroness, and looked at Da Li Ben.
"Forging two Adamantium Katanas according to Storm Shadow's requirements, will there be any difficulty?"
Sipping the freshly ground black coffee, Tang Song looked at Ben.
Da Li Ben held the Adamantium in his hand, weighed it, and looked at Tang Song with some hesitation.
"Mr. Tang, this piece of metal is more than enough to forge one Katana, but if I follow Storm Shadow's opinion and forge two, the materials are a bit insufficient!"
"How much is missing?" Tang Song put down his coffee cup and asked.
"Another half of this piece of metal is needed!" Da Li Ben weighed the metal with his hand and stated his judgment.
"Call Lane and have him send another piece of Adamantium of the same volume!"
Upon hearing Ben's reply, Tang Song directly instructed Fox, who was sitting on the side with his legs crossed, drinking coffee.
Fox responded and got up, heading towards the bedroom.
"Ben, you are currently a resident judge at the Forged in Fire. How much is your appearance fee per episode?"
The matter of Adamantium was just a phone call's difficulty for Tang Song.
Having nothing else to do, Tang Song held his coffee and chatted with Ben about everyday matters.
Ben, sitting on the sofa holding his coffee cup, was somewhat restless.
The Big Boss behind the Forged in Fire asking about his employee salary made him feel uneasy and restless, worried about gains and losses.
"One recording session is five hundred thousand US dollars…" Da Li Ben answered honestly.
Five hundred thousand US dollars, for some Hollywood stars, might only be the salary for recording one episode of a TV series.
But for a bladesmith like Da Li Ben, five hundred thousand was already quite high.
The champion of the Forged in Fire only gets fifty thousand US dollars.
This was after Boss Tang, the Big Boss, took over. At the beginning of the Forged in Fire competition, the champion's bonus was only ten thousand US dollars.
"Five hundred thousand US dollars, that's a bit low…"
Tang Song tapped his fingers on the table...
"Ben, here's one million US dollars, it's your payment for forging the blade this time!"
Ushuaia – Malvinas Argentinas International Airport, in front of the waiting room, eight black-clothed Bodyguards formed a semicircle facing outwards, creating a private Space in front of the bustling waiting room.
Ben looked at the check Tang Song handed him, feeling a bit flustered.
"Mr. Tang, the blade hasn't been forged yet, and isn't one million too much…"
"Take it, you've earned it!" Tang Song directly slapped the check into Ben's hand, then turned to look at Storm Shadow and Ana.
"After your blade is forged, immediately return to Cobra. Since I've given you two good blades, bring me results. Didn't you suspect Zartan killed your master? Then use him to christen the blades!"
"Yes! Boss!" Storm Shadow nodded and bowed in salute.
"Go back and review the Qi Circulation Route I taught you properly…"
To Ana, the charming Baroness, Tang Song flicked her nose and instructed.
Ana nodded, her eyes like silk.
(end of chapter)