Mu Sicheng was almost dumbfounded—he couldn't handle this kind of biohazard at all.
Tang Erda, however, remained calm. "Should we go straight in? Or call Mu Ke and the others first?"
"The phone stopped working as soon as we landed." Bai Liu turned on the satellite phone to show him. The screen displayed a weak signal that couldn't connect.
Tang Erda frowned.
The entire way here, no matter how bad the weather had been, the satellite phone's signal had remained stable. Why had it deteriorated the moment they reached Taishan Station?
"This should be a key location in the game." Bai Liu lifted his chin, signaling everyone to prepare. "Get your guns. We'll head straight in."
Tang Erda lifted the helicopter and slowly glided toward Taishan Station, sending a tentative landing signal. Shortly afterward, the station responded—its signal lights flashing several times in confirmation.
"Something inside Tarzan Station can communicate with us using this kind of high-tech system…" Mu Sicheng muttered nervously, nudging Bai Liu with his elbow. "That means it's probably human, right?"
"Or," Bai Liu replied mildly, "the monsters have learned to use this level of communication specifically to trick humans into landing."
Mu Sicheng rubbed the goosebumps on his arms and shut up. He had long realized that Bai Liu would never say anything reassuring.
This guy just enjoys scaring him.
As they hovered above the station, Tang Erda spotted someone on the ground waving a red flag to signal a safe landing. He glanced at Bai Liu. After receiving a slight nod, he began lowering the aircraft.
The rotor blades slowed as the helicopter settled. The sled-style landing gear slid neatly into the snow grooves.
Through the transparent side door, Bai Liu and the others could make out the figure waving the red flag.
The man wore an orange penguin-style ski suit. He braced himself against the wind by planting his ski poles firmly into the ground. Most of his face was hidden beneath a thick wool hat. He waved enthusiastically at the helicopter, as if genuinely delighted to see it.
That enthusiasm made Mu Sicheng shiver. He instinctively edged behind Bai Liu's shoulder.
"Damn… is he a monster or a human?"
"We'll find out once we get down," Bai Liu said calmly. Without hesitation, he pushed open the helicopter door and jumped down.
The man hurried forward as if to catch him, but Tang Erda jumped down from the other side and stopped him with a raised hand. "I've got it. Thanks."
The man pushed his hat up, revealing a wind-chapped, reddened face. When he spoke, his Mandarin was fluent.
"I'm a stranded researcher from Taishan Observatory! You're from outside Antarctica, right? You landed here first, didn't you? Oh my God!" He was so excited he looked close to tears, practically bouncing as he spoke. "This is the first time in a year I've seen anyone from home besides our observatory staff—and you definitely haven't been parasitized! You must be human!"
"Quick, get inside!" he urged, glancing around warily as he led them forward, gun raised and scanning their surroundings.
Bai Liu and Tang Erda exchanged a silent look and followed him inside.
At the entrance of Tarzan Station, several other staff members stood upright in matching penguin suits. Rifles rested at their feet like sentries on guard.
The "sentries" examined Bai Liu and the others coldly. Their posture relaxed slightly upon seeing their faces—clearly Chinese—but soon they tensed again, gripping their guns.
The man who had led them over quickly explained, "I'm Fang Xiaoxiao, the meteorology graduate student who just went out to receive the helicopter. They came from outside Antarctica. Can I bring them in?"
Unmoved, one of the sentries replied coldly, "All of you—including him—must undergo cellular activity testing before re-entering the station."
Fang Xiaoxiao gave Bai Liu and the others an apologetic smile. "You may not know what's been happening here. Anyone who goes outside has to undergo a cell activity test before returning. It's for everyone's safety."
One of the sentries put on gloves and used a cotton swab to carefully scrape a small sample of mucous membrane from inside Fang Xiaoxiao's mouth, placing it into a test tube.
Then he took out three fresh swabs and gestured for Bai Liu and the others to open their mouths.
Mu Sicheng instinctively began to raise his gun, but Bai Liu subtly pressed his arm down. Calmly removing his hat, Bai Liu stepped forward and opened his mouth slightly, allowing the sentry to collect a sample from the inside of his cheek.
Mu Sicheng and Tang Erda followed suit.
"We'll send these for testing," Fang Xiaoxiao explained. "It won't take long. If everything's normal, you'll be allowed inside in about ten minutes. Please wait a moment."
Bai Liu asked evenly, "What exactly happened here that makes you so cautious?"
Fang Xiaoxiao sighed. "It started about a year and a half ago, in August. I'm not sure of the exact date—it was around the summer shift."
"Summer shift?" Bai Liu prompted.
"At the polar observatories, crews usually rotate once a year," Fang Xiaoxiao explained. "The Antarctic weather is extremely harsh, and there are four months of polar night during the winter, from April to October."
"Four months without sunlight can severely damage mental health. It's easy for people to develop T3 syndrome (¹). So the crew stationed here during winter usually leaves the following summer, when the icebreaker arrives with a new team for handover."
He forced a bitter smile.
"But we've already spent three winters here."
"We were supposed to be rotated out the summer before last. But no one ever came. And we were starting to run out of food…"
As he spoke, Fang Xiaoxiao suddenly stopped, as if he had touched on something unspeakable. The young graduate student's throat tightened, and he didn't know how to continue.
Bai Liu responded at just the right moment. "It's impressive that you managed to survive on only a year's worth of supplies."
Fang Xiaoxiao fell into rare silence. He closed his eyes, and tears slipped from their corners.
The two sentries beside him looked grim as well. One of them gently patted his shoulder. "It was all for survival."
Just then, the cell test results came back. All readings showed normal cellular activity.
Relieved, Fang Xiaoxiao quickly composed himself and led Bai Liu and the others inside. "I'll take you to your accommodations. You must've had a long journey. Get some rest first."
Bai Liu sensed that Fang Xiaoxiao had mistaken them for the rotation team sent from outside. Instead of correcting him, he asked casually, "If you've been trapped here, why not contact the outside world?"
"Because we can't get through." Fang Xiaoxiao's smile turned increasingly bitter. "For a year and a half, we've tried everything—satellite phones, the internet—but the connection's been gone for a long time. The receiving stations outside never responded. We waited and waited. No reply."
"We even risked sending out biplanes and helicopters. But once they flew beyond Antarctica's range, radar systems were disrupted by magnetic interference. Every aircraft crashed on the glaciers."
He lowered his head. "If you hadn't come now… maybe we really would've been cut off from human society forever. Everyone would've gone insane during the polar night…"
Mu Sicheng leaned close to Bai Liu and whispered, "This NPC is so miserable. They probably think the outside world is normal. They don't even know the global ice age situation… The people he's waiting for might already be frozen to death."
In a world growing colder, people trapped inside the polar circle—already one of the harshest environments on Earth—would have little way of sensing broader climate changes. Communication was difficult even under normal conditions. It wasn't strange that Fang Xiaoxiao and the others assumed equipment failure rather than an ice age.
And Bai Liu had no intention of telling this emotionally fragile NPC that the outside world had long since become an icy wasteland like Antarctica.
He didn't look capable of handling that truth.
Bai Liu's gaze drifted briefly to Fang Xiaoxiao's open jacket pocket. Inside were two small vials of medication—one of the psychiatric drugs Mu Ke had mentioned, used to treat severe mania and depression.
"With only one year of supplies, how did you manage to last two and a half?" Bai Liu asked, sounding genuinely curious.
"There were some solar reserves during the extreme daylight periods. We conserved energy wherever possible. As for fuel…"
Fang Xiaoxiao pressed a hand to his forehead and exhaled slowly. "The Antarctic Treaty prohibits harming wildlife. But last year, the krill population exploded. By October, the waters near the Ross Sea had practically turned orange."
"Penguins, seals, whales—almost all polar animals feed on krill. With that abundance of food, their populations grew at an abnormal rate. Their numbers nearly doubled within a year. And these animals are rich in fat…"
His lips tightened, moral conflict flashing across his face. "Early human expeditions to Antarctica hunted penguins and seals when they lacked sufficient food and grease…"
"So you ate penguins and seals?" Mu Sicheng asked, not fully understanding the depth of Fang Xiaoxiao's distress, though he sensed the researchers' reverence for the animals.
He patted Fang Xiaoxiao's shoulder sympathetically. "You had to survive. It's normal to eat animals when there's no food."
At the word "food," Fang Xiaoxiao visibly jolted. His face drained of color.
"No," Bai Liu said lightly. "In early Antarctic expeditions, penguins and seals weren't primarily used as food because of their high fat content. They were burned as fuel."
He looked directly at Fang Xiaoxiao. "If I'm correct, you hunted seals and penguins not to eat them, but to extract fat for fuel. Without it, the observatory would've frozen."
Fang Xiaoxiao bit his lower lip. Tears shimmered in his eyes. "Animal fat can't be used directly. But with some technical adjustments, it can be refined enough to generate electricity…"
"…But right now, the observatory doesn't lack food or fuel."
Suddenly, a desperate spark ignited in his eyes. He stepped forward and gripped Bai Liu's hand tightly. "What we lack are medicines! Psychiatric medication! Everyone is suffering from T3 syndrome. They can't control their emotions or behavior. They can't distinguish reality from hallucination. They're losing their minds!"
Bai Liu looked at him calmly. "If you didn't rely on seals and penguins for food, then where does your food come from?"
Fang Xiaoxiao met Bai Liu's emotionless gaze and recoiled as if stung. He withdrew his hands, breathing unevenly, eyes darting.
"I suppose your food supply is frozen in the ice crevasse outside," Bai Liu continued evenly.
"After conducting various experiments on those bio-monsters that evolved into human forms, you intended to discard them. But due to food shortages, you decided to reuse the 'waste'—storing it in a natural freezer."
His tone was mild, almost conversational.
"Your food is human, isn't it?"
Fang Xiaoxiao's eyes turned red as he screamed, "They're monsters! They're animals! They're not people!"
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1. Polar T3 syndrome is a condition found in polar explorers, caused by a decrease in levels of the thyroid hormone T3. Its effects include forgetfulness, cognitive impairment, and mood disturbances.