NOVEL NEXT Chapter 651 Reserve a Spot
Rushing a draft
Finished revising before one in the morning
To save space, the stairs on the ship are generally very steep, and the height of the rooms is only about two meters, with piping, cables, and insulation materials laid on top.
Once beds, closets, desks, and chairs are in place, the room is essentially filled.
Bi Fang maneuvered between the seats and the wooden table to sit on the edge of the bed, which was a standard single but even narrower.
There's a good reason for the cramped bed space. At sea, it's best to have a bed so narrow that it snugly fits your body.
Experienced sailors often stuff pillows and blankets at the head of the bed in advance so that when a storm hits, they can grasp the edges of the bed with their hands and brace their feet against the wall at the bed's end to avoid being thrown to the floor.
Outside the room, the ship's corridors barely meet the minimum international convention standard—0.7 meters.
When two people meet in the corridor, one must turn sideways and press against the wall for the other to pass.
As for entertainment, there's hardly any public space besides the dining room.
No wonder tickets for such a cruise are so cheap. Experience new stories on My Virtual Library Empire
Bi Fang sighed in his heart. A fishing vessel turned into a cruise ship could only offer these conditions.
If it were before, the crew would have had to spend whole two to three-year fishing periods in such an environment, but converting to a cruise ship made things much simpler and the income a bit more stable.
Most people imagine life at sea as a long vacation: eating sashimi, feeling the ocean breeze, sunbathing, each day like in Hawaii.
The first few aspects are indeed true and are also the biggest selling points of this "cruise ship," which, as a converted fishing vessel, has retained some fishing capabilities.
In the Arctic Ocean, almost free from industrial pollution, you can catch seafood and enjoy the finest sashimi without any condiments—tender, sweet, and rich.
Not long after boarding, Bi Fang witnessed an unprecedented catch—120 pounds of fish.
He had never before tasted such delicious Arctic shrimp sashimi, which melted in the mouth with a sweet and glutinous texture.
But once your three meals a day become just that, continuing for years...
Thinking this way, the captain who decided on the conversion was indeed quite bold; by turning it into a cruise ship, only the good was retained.
Bi Fang took out his backpack and, from the innermost compartment, retrieved two documents, inspecting them back and forth.
What he had taken out were two certifications.
One was a hunting quota allocation for polar bears, and another was a hunting permit for seals.
They were given to him by the scientists at Yellow River Station.
Bi Fang remembered the night before last when the hotel front desk suddenly called him, saying someone was looking for him. At that time, he was curious about who would come to such a remote city to find him.
It turned out to be a compatriot from Yellow River Station.
The purpose of their visit was to bring him the two permits he was now examining.
At face value, it's very simple: Bi Fang could now hunt polar bears and seals, and it would be through regular, legal means.
Greenland is also a stronghold for polar bears, and it's very likely that Bi Fang could encounter them. They are animals with a very keen curiosity, especially in the fall when they try to accumulate fat.
Once a conflict arises, the outcome is unpredictable.
The same goes for seals, a single seal could save a life at a critical moment, whether it's with its warm fur or the fatty seal meat, providing immense heat and assistance.
Never underestimate the determination of humans to protect the polar regions; their resolve is so firm that it's even shocking.
There's a regulation in the Antarctic Treaty.
"If you have not obtained 'permission to kill a seal' before heading to Antarctica, in the event of a disaster where you're about to starve to death, are you allowed to kill a seal to stave off hunger?"
The answer—unexpected by everyone: "You may not kill a seal to stave off hunger."
Incredible?
Yes, it seems incredible to anyone.
When regulations are this detailed, can anyone still think that the commitment to protecting the Antarctic ecosystem is a joke?
If these contents seem as empty as advice from a distant planet, it might be because your world hasn't expanded to the ends of the Earth.
Of course, that's the Antarctic Treaty, while Bi Fang is now heading to the Arctic, and even though an Arctic Treaty is being drafted, currently there are no such strict regulations in place, except for a ban on hunting by ordinary people.
Apart from Canada, only various research centers and the local indigenous Inuit people are able to obtain hunting permits.
Hunting polar bears and seals is a means of survival for the Inuit people, a natural part of the food chain, much like polar bears hunting seals. It's a given, nobody will stop them, and even then, there's a fixed quota each year.
No matter how a polar bear dies, it counts against the quota.
This time, Yellow River Station gave Bi Fang the quota for one polar bear and three seals, lending a helping hand.
It was a huge favor, to say the least.
Bi Fang solemnly placed the two permits into the compartment of his backpack, considering it a significant favor. Although he might not need it, he would never forget it.
Indeed, when you're away from home, it's always best to rely on your own people.
In the following days, Bi Fang stayed aboard the ship, approaching Greenland.
After the initial novelty wore off for the passengers, they started treating Bi Fang's several hours of live broadcasting each day as a fixed program activity.
When it was about time every day, they would gather on the deck, listening to Bi Fang explain cultural history and the strange tales of past Arctic explorers.
Everyone felt as if they had returned to their school days, except that this lesson was more interesting and more beautiful.
During his days on the ship, what affected Bi Fang the most was probably using the toilet.
Entering the restroom, the ship would sway, making it hard to squat steadily.
In the end, Bi Fang concluded that one should choose a calm day to use the toilet; otherwise, constipation was highly likely.
Having passed through Fram Strait, the warming effect of the North Atlantic current was negligible. Almost every day, the temperature was dropping, not because it was approaching winter, but simply due to geographic changes.
From around zero degrees at Svalbard to minus twenty in the strait, the temperature had now dropped to minus thirty degrees.
Bi Fang had no doubts that, upon landing on the island, the temperature would drop below minus thirty-five degrees, and at the end of the polar night, it could even hit an extremely low temperature below minus sixty degrees.
After several days of sailing, that morning, the captain sent a sailor to knock on Bi Fang's door to notify him.
The northernmost point of Greenland had been reached.
Bi Fang stood up and looked out the pitch-black porthole.
Although it was just a regular morning, the sky was still dark, painted with a faint, deep aquamarine ribbon, slowly drifting like a dreamy bubble.
It was the aurora borealis.
Today was a good day for the aurora borealis to appear, and in two more hours it would be dawn, but the silent icebergs of the night had already welcomed the first touch of natural light, turning the whole sky into an indelible aquamarine hue.
"Looks like it's a good day to land," he said.