The nuclear icebreaker Lenin's Shadow groaned through pack ice, its Soviet-era hull screaming like a wounded wolf. Leo stood on the bow, his claws digging into frostbitten railings as the bracelet projected coordinates into the howling wind. Behind him, Victor hacked into the ship's reactor with a jury-rigged ASIC miner, its fans roaring like a chainsaw choir.
"Radiation levels spiking," Victor coughed, his wheelchair lashed to a missile launch console. "Those Chernobyl-era fuel rods are cooking faster than my last GPU rig."
Leo sniffed the air – snowflakes carried whispers of frozen blood and machine oil. "We're close."
The ship lurched. A glacier spire erupted from the ice field, its obsidian surface carved with runes that pulsed in sync with Leo's heartbeat. The coordinates vanished. The bracelet burned white-hot, searing through leather gloves to brand his wrist with concentric circles.
Genetic Resonance Detected: Prime Alpha Specimen (Dormant)
Victor squinted at satellite imagery. "Thermal scan shows a hollow space three klicks down. Structure matches 1968 Soviet bioweapon reports... and some Viking shit."
A shotgun blast echoed from the cargo hold.
"Hostiles!" Victor spun his chair, servers sparking. "Crows must've tailed us from Nome."
Leo unsheathed claws. "Keep the reactor melting. I'll handle pest control."
Phase One: Blood on Ice
The cargo bay reeked of rust and seal blubber. Crow hunters in electrified furs aimed Tesla coils that arced blue lightning. Their leader wore a mask fused with walrus tusks, his voice modulator growling: "Batch Seven. You're late for family reunion."
Leo ducked behind a frozen forklift as lightning liquefied steel. "Mom always said don't talk to strangers."
The crow hurled a grenade that burst into silver nanoworms. Leo backflipped onto a shipping container, claws carving through its Cyrillic labels. Frozen wolf carcasses spilled out – each tagged with KGB stamps and Bitcoin wallet addresses.
Wallet Notification: +50 BTC (Genetic Royalties Claimed)
"Stop mining your ancestors!" The crow lunged, his electrified harpoon singing through subzero air.
Leo caught the shaft mid-thrust, dislocating the crow's shoulder with a Mongolian hip throw. They crashed through ice-encrusted cargo, rolling into a pit of mummified wolves. The bracelet flared, its heat thawing a Prime Alpha's corpse beneath them – 12-foot skeleton fused with tungsten augmentics.
Genetic Match: 99.99% (Paternity Confirmed)
The crow laughed through cracked respirator. "Meet daddy dearest!"
Leo's claws found the crow's thoracic cavity. "Send him my regards."
Phase Two: The Frozen Vault
Victor's drill rig breached the glacier's underbelly. The clang of metal on permafrost gave way to a cathedral-like chamber where wolves hung in cryo-pods, their chests split to expose coin-operated Bitcoin mining rigs. At the center pulsed a 20-ton wolf brain suspended in liquid nitrogen, dendrites replaced with fiber-optic cables.
"Ymir's Crypto Cortex..." Victor wheezed. "They've been mining the Genesis Block since 1982!"
Leo approached the brain, his breath crystallizing. The nitrogen mist coalesced into holograms – Soviet subs docking under ice, scientists injecting wolves with glowing serum, Satoshi Nakamoto's signature on a 1991 KGB document.
Memory Critical: Mother's Eyes (2% Remaining)
Victor collapsed against a control panel. "The brain's stabilizing the blockchain... and your DNA." Blood speckled his lips. "Gotta... reboot..."
"Stay put." Leo ripped open a maintenance hatch. "We'll fry this meat computer and–"
The glacier quaked. Prime Alpha's corpse stirred in its cryo-chamber, tungsten claws shredding ice.
Phase Three: Heart of Ice
The Prime Alpha's roar shattered cryo-pods. Leo dodged a swipe that cleaved through Soviet supercomputers, their vacuum tubes bursting like grenades. Victor crawled toward the control terminal, dragging his paralyzed legs.
"Distract it!" he shouted. "I need three minutes!"
The Alpha's claws grazed Leo's ribs, spraying frozen blood that hissed against mining rigs. He retaliated with a Brazilian elbow lock, snapping the creature's wrist joint. Ancient alloys screamed.
Wallet Alert: -100 BTC (Genetic Copyright Infringement)
"Fuck your royalties!" Leo drove the Alpha into the brain chamber. Liquid nitrogen rained, flash-freezing his arm.
Victor's terminal sparked. "Got it! Self-destruct in 120..."
The Alpha impaled Leo on icicle claws. "Weak... clone..."
Leo grinned through frosted teeth. "But upgraded."
He headbutted the Alpha, shattering its cryo-burned snout, then ripped open its chest cavity. The heart glowed like a fusion reactor core.
Prime Cardiothoracic Unit Detected – Transplant Protocol Engaged
Leo tore out the heart with a wet crunch. His claws disintegrated from the cold, but he slammed the organ into his own chest.
Agony.
System Override: Fenrir's Lock (Phase IV Activated)
Ice encased his body. Then fire – genetic code rewriting itself in blockchain bursts. The Alpha's corpse crumbled as Leo's new claws erupted, glowing with fractal patterns.
Victor smiled, fingers dancing on the terminal. "Took you long enough..."
The brain chamber lights died. Mining rigs exploded in chain reactions.
"Go!" Victor triggered his wheelchair's thrusters, ramming into the Alpha's remains. "This old wolf's last howl!"
Leo ran as the glacier collapsed. Behind him, Victor's final transmission played through crumbling speakers: "The vault wasn't a place... it's you, you stubborn..."
Static.
Genetic Synchronization: 100% (Ymir's Legacy Unlocked)
Leo emerged under Aurora-lit skies, his palm now branded with glowing runes – a map etched in starlight and wolf DNA. The icebreaker lay buried under million-ton ice sheets.
In the distance, a crow's quadcopter circled. Its spotlight illuminated Leo's new scars before darting north.
He howled. The glacier answered.
Polished English Version
The icebreaker's horn blared through Arctic night. Leo gripped the deck rail, claws carving grooves as coordinates burned his wrist. Victor's wheelchair whirred behind radiation shields.
"Reactor's cooking," Victor hacked. "Gonna melt faster than–"
Glacier spire erupted. Runes pulsed with Leo's heartbeat.
Crow ambush in cargo hold. Electrified harpoons vs. claws.
"Family reunion's cancelled," Leo growled, slamming crow into cryo-wolf carcass.
Drill breached vault – cathedral of frozen wolves with coin-op miners. Central brain gleamed, fiber-optics replacing neurons.
Victor collapsed. "It's... blockchain stabilizer..."
Prime Alpha awoke. Tungsten claws vs. Leo's jiu-jitsu.
"Three minutes!" Victor crawled to terminal.
Leo fought, arm freezing. Ripped Alpha's heart, transplanted mid-battle.
Agony. Rebirth.
Victor triggered meltdown. "Last howl, kid..."
Leo fled collapsing vault. Palm glowed with starlight map.
Quadcopter spotlight. Howls answered.
North.