When everyone finally found the weak points of the iceberg in front of them, they were ready to align and dig to open the passage to the inside.
The last method used was that Alka used the cross of the right fire, relying on his already skilled control ability to spray out a thick column of fire.
Continuously burning the iceberg in front of them, making it begin to melt. After burning for a while, the rest of the people began to dig.
Repeatedly.
If the fire is not used to burn, the hardness of the ice block is really difficult to break, which greatly limits their digging speed.
According to this method. They cooperated with each other and spent about two hours. The magic power in Alka's body began to fail to maintain the flame, and he waved his hand, indicating that he needed to rest.
Although he didn't keep the flames going for two hours, it still consumed too much of his magic power to keep the flames going for a long time.
The total time was at least about 30 minutes.
Who would keep spraying flames for 30 minutes in a battle? Isn't this just a waste of magic power?
It's not easy to spray such a high-temperature flame in the air. A lot of magic power is consumed every moment.
If Alka hadn't reached the triple spiral and had a treasure with a little more magic power than others, he wouldn't have been able to hold on for so long.
The rest of the people looked at the gap in front of them, which was only three or four meters deeper.
"No, this efficiency is too slow. It will take us a long time to dig inside."
Sofia looked at the efficiency and shook his head.
According to conservative estimates, the radius of this mountain is about 700 to 800 meters, and the ice surface leading to the pit below is in the center.
With such efficiency, Alka has to rest for 3 to 4 hours after maintaining it for two hours. Even if he works non-stop without rest, it will take about one and a half to two months to get through to the middle.
Not to mention that this is impossible, the time will only double.
Such a time consumption is almost unacceptable to them.
Because the harder the ice is, the closer it is to the treasure, and the cold will invade.
By then, the consumption of maintaining the flame will further increase, and even the power of the flame will be weakened.
After all, the ice here is not formed by the natural environment, but by the gathering of too many ice elements, which will cause the surrounding fire elements to be greatly affected.
Too many ice elements will even squeeze out those fire elements.
At this time, Jason looked at the depression he had just dug out for a long time, and couldn't help saying: "Have you noticed that these ice blocks seem to be recovering slowly."
After hearing this, the others gathered around and looked for a long time, and finally confirmed Jason's statement.
These ice blocks are indeed slowly growing and solidifying. Although the growth is very slow, it is still very obvious if you look at it for a while.
Seeing this, Alka shook his head.
"No, this method is totally unworkable."
If the ice can continue to grow slowly, it will take even longer, and it may not be possible to break through in a year, because they still have to break through the ice in the underground pit.
After wasting two hours, it was concluded that the dumbest method didn't work.
Now we can only think of other ways to solve this problem.
Jason looked at the ground under their feet and couldn't help but use his feet to push away the snow. After stamping his feet a few times, he said, "What do you think if we dig directly into the ground and dig into the pit?"
Arka looked at the ground under his feet and nodded.
"You can give it a try."
This method sounds good, but I don't know what kind of problems will be encountered in operation.
Anyway, the land here must be frozen hard.
Several people took tools and started digging at the land under their feet.
Because it is frozen soil, it is much more difficult to dig than the soil outside, but at least it is much better than the ice.
The ice that formed the iceberg was obviously abnormal, with an absurdly high hardness.
With their joint efforts, a pit quickly appeared.
Bororo stood in the pit, facing the direction of the iceberg.
They were going to try to dig inside, and the pit quickly expanded, all the way to the foot of the mountain.
"Dang!"
The digging tool suddenly touched something like a stone, and there was a metallic collision from it.
"What's wrong? Did you dig up a stone?"
It is normal to dig up a huge rock blocking the way when digging underground like this.
Bororo didn't say anything, but changed his position, but the same thing happened.
At this time, the people who were digging noticed something wrong.
They tried the area in front of them.
It was not a boulder at all.
The area in front of them was just ordinary soil, no, it should be called frozen soil.
They didn't know what it was made of, but the hardness of this frozen soil was even more ridiculous than the ice above, so digging a tunnel downwards was simply not feasible.
Thinking of this, everyone couldn't help but stop what they were doing.
Jason sat down on the ground next to him helplessly, scratching his hair.
Another method failed.
The people with mud on their faces looked at each other and shook their heads helplessly.
They crawled out of the pit with tools.
"Is it possible to dig with brute force?" Sofia sat on the edge of the pit and couldn't help but say.
It seems that this is the only way now.
Spend a little more time and dig down with brute force.
Others were silent when they heard this.
Because it seems that this is the only way.
Just now they thought about cutting down the surrounding trees and burning them to melt the ice.
But to be honest, there are not many trees around, and the islanders living on this island also need to use them.
And these trees are alive. If you want to burn cold-resistant plants, you have to dry these woods, which takes a lot of time.
And their demand will definitely destroy the local ecology.
Aerka sat beside the pit, his eyes inadvertently glancing into the distance.
There were several children from the tribe, hiding in the snow and watching them.
For these children, outsiders like Aerka were too strange.
Looking at these children.
"I have a way!"
"I have a way."
Aerka and Lucilia on his shoulder said at the same time.
Hearing the sudden voices of the two, everyone else turned their eyes.
Lucilia on the shoulder patted Alka's face: "You go first."
Alka did not delay, nodded and said: "Why do we have to dig into this cave by ourselves? Aren't there hundreds of tribal residents on this island? We can mobilize them to help us dig."
At this point, a silver snake appeared on the back of Alka's hand and began to roll left and right.
"And we just need to pay some rewards."
Hearing Alka's words, everyone's eyes lit up.
"Won't it be exposed if we do this?"
Porro said with his hands folded and frowned.
He thought that their action was to dig out treasures, and such an action should be well concealed.
Hearing Porro's question, several people looked at him.
Jason couldn't help but say beside him: "It's impossible to hide what we did just now from the residents of this island."
They were digging pits and digging mountains. No matter which one, it took a long time, and it was impossible to hide the actions of the residents of this island.
This is something that will definitely be exposed.
Not to mention that they had a group of people with the same purpose as them coming here almost every 10 years.
Many people would also interrogate the residents of the island about some information they knew. If the residents of the island didn't know something in the past few hundred years, Alka would not believe it.
But no one would have thought that they were looking for the treasure buried under the center.
Hearing this, Porro nodded in sudden realization.
So that's it.
"This method is indeed feasible, and we can accept the reward."
To be honest, it doesn't cost much to hire the residents of these islands.
Not to mention that the tribal residents on this island are not closed people. They will still take a boat to leave the Hungry Triangle and the outer area to conduct some trade.
They also have boats, but there are no merchants willing to come to them.
The population is too small, and the resources are not abundant.
At this time, Alka shook her shoulders: "What about you?"
"It's similar to what you think, and I'll also ask others for help."
But she just wanted to tell the archbishop this information directly, since the location of the treasure has been determined anyway.
It's no different from finding the treasure, and the Pope can just worry about how to break through these ice blocks.
It's just that the reward may be reduced.
However, after hearing Alka's method, she thought she could give it a try. After all, it would take several months for the archbishop to receive the news and rush over to help.
Since everyone thought it was okay, Alka nodded.
He said to Jason: "I'll leave the negotiation to you, is that ok?"
After hearing what Alka said, Jason adjusted his plush hat, made a gesture and said: "Don't worry."
He walked directly to the place where the children had been hiding, ready to let him take him to their tribe.
The rest of the people waited there.
After about an hour, Jason came over with several tribal residents.
The leader was an old man wearing some ivory ornaments, holding a huge solid wood scepter in his hand.
His left leg seemed to be not working well, and there was a young man beside him to support him.
Jason came over, shrugged helplessly and said, "The price has already been agreed, but he has to communicate with you."
The old man who came over waved his hand and asked the young man who was supporting him to wait beside him. He walked slowly with the scepter.
As he walked, the ornaments hanging on the top of the scepter were still shaking left and right, making a crisp sound.
The moment he walked over, he stared at Alka in front of him.
He obviously twitched his nose twice, looked at Alka and said, "Are you a resident of Home Island?"
Hearing this, Alka narrowed his eyes slightly.
This old man doesn't look like an ordinary person, how can he be a triggerer.
Sofia and others beside him showed a dangerous look.
"Don't be nervous. When I was young, I dealt with many residents of Home Island. It's easy to tell them apart."
He walked tremblingly to the pile of mud next to him and sat down.
He stretched out his dry hand and pounded his knee.
"You want to hire people from our tribe to help you dig out this iceberg, which means you have found the source of the cold, right?"
"Don't be surprised. It has been 824 years since this place fell into cold. Almost every 10 years or so, the church will send a team to search.
Some people are serious and responsible, just like you.
Some people are sloppy and perfunctory, just like they are here for vacation."
The old man said, trying to dispel the vigilance of several people.
After all, they have lived here for 800 years, and countless church members have come here to explore.
Some people are tight-lipped, and some people will just tell the islanders what they know.
Over time, the islanders learned some of the reasons why the surrounding environment has changed.
The information they knew was almost the same as what Alka and his friends knew.
The old man in front of him said to himself: "You know, according to the records of our ancestors, more than 800 years ago, this was a good place with four seasons of spring, and the food produced could be sold to several surrounding countries."
"Legend has it that it is because the Virgin Mary has bestowed grace, and we do believe in the Virgin Mary."
The information provided by the church did say that the residents on this island are all believers of the Virgin Mary, so there is no need to be too defensive, just say that they are members of the church.
"Don't look at me like this, I was also a member of the church when I was young."
As he said this, he also revealed a tattoo on his withered right arm.
Sofia looked at the tattoo, turned around, and whispered in Alka's ear: "He is a lone missionary of the church. He is indeed a member of the church."
The old man continued: "So I have a deep understanding of this area. After all, when I was young, I followed a team that took on this mission and came here to explore."
He opened his eyes slightly, staring at Alka in front of him with cloudy eyes and said: "So, the source of the cold here is in the iceberg, right?"
There was a slight tremor in his voice, but he was so firm.
Alka nodded.
Nothing was hidden.
Because there is really nothing to hide, just as the old man in front of him said.
The information they know is almost the same as what Alka knows.
"Okay, okay, okay."
The old man said, and stood up with his crutches. The surprise and excitement in his voice could not be concealed at all.
"We thought we were on the ice island, but it turned out to be here? What's your name?"
Hearing the old man's words, Alka nodded. It seems that the old man did take on this task when he was young.
The location given by the church is also considered to be on the Ice Cap Island. Although this place is called the Extreme Cold Triangle, the overall neutral position is the Ice Cap Island at the top of the triangle.
According to normal logic, and the fact that the Ice Cap Island is colder than other islands.
Normal people would think this way.
"Just call me Alka."
"Okay, Alka, I will let the residents of our tribe cooperate with you."
As he said this, he couldn't wait to use his crutches and limped back to the original path.
The young man immediately came over to help him.
After a while, a large number of tribesmen wearing various furry animal skins rushed over.
One of the sturdy men looked at Alka and said, "Are you Alka? The high priest told us to listen to you."
Looking at the various digging tools in the hands of these tribesmen, they even brought their own tools.
Nodded.
Begin to plan these people to dig into the interior of the iceberg.
…
The digging operation is in full swing.
Even with the help of these tribesmen, it would be difficult to dig through without 10 days or half a month.
Because the harder you go, the harder it gets, and the slower it gets.
Had to slow down.
When facing these stubborn ice blocks, Alka would use flames to burn out some points of force so that they could speed up the excavation efficiency and save some strength.
And their ships had left the Arctic Triangle as early as the beginning of the excavation.
Jason and Porro on the ship were going to some supply islands outside to buy some food and tools.
The hardness of these ice blocks greatly increased the wear of the tools of the tribesmen.
And there was not much food on the island, and Alka couldn't let them work for him on an empty stomach.
As time passed.
The progress finally advanced 600 meters inside. According to Sofia's detection, digging about 160 meters inside will reach the top of the pit.
But here we encountered a problem.
The hardness of the ice reached an extremely exaggerated level. No matter how these residents operated, they could only knock off some debris on the ice surface at most.
It's better for these ice blocks to recover quickly.
"Your mission is completed. These food and tools are all given to you. Leave the rest to us."
Arka took out a bag of gold coins from his arms and handed it to the man in front of him.
Looking at this situation, the strong man scratched the back of his head in annoyance.
"But we didn't help you dig in."
He felt a little embarrassed.
Arka and his team gave them new tools, enough food, and even money.
However, they still couldn't complete the task.
Looking at the simple appearance of these strong men, Alka smiled, patted his shoulder and said: "It's okay, just leave the rest to us, just tell the high priest."
The strong man nodded and said helplessly: "Okay, you are such a generous person, I wish you all the best, and the Virgin Mary bless you."
He crossed his arms and clasped them in front of his chest.
Alka nodded and returned the greeting: "May the Virgin Mary bless you."
Watching the residents of these tribes leave, Alka turned his head and looked at the tunnel in the middle of the iceberg.
He said to Sofia beside him: "Let's go in and give it a try. Now we can only rely on ourselves."
As he said this, several people walked into the tunnel, and Porro stood outside waiting.
He was too big, and it was impossible to spend a lot of time expanding the tunnel upwards just for him.
So even though he was extremely powerful, he could only be on guard and wait outside.