Chapter 948
: Have the tasks been assigned?
Chapter 948: Have the tasks been assigned?
Under the command of Captain Gloria, the Whale Island circled around Mount Osor for several times, then slowly sank and stopped in a hidden valley, surrounded by towering snow-capped peaks and tall cedar trees, which was a perfect place to hide. More importantly, it was not far from the top of the mountain, and it could be reached in half an hour on foot, making it convenient for Lingge and others to observe the stars and determine the direction from a high altitude.
The reason why they didn't stop directly at the top of the mountain was because it would be too conspicuous and easy to be discovered. Although the top of Mount Osor is more than 7,000 meters above sea level, generally speaking, no one would be bored and come here for a walk, but what if they ran into such a psychopath? Ling thought it would be better to be cautious, and Captain Gloria humbly accepted his advice.
If it were another captain, I'm afraid that might not be the case.
The movement of Sky Island's landing caused the ground of the valley to tremble slightly. The big cedar trees growing in the valley shook their branches and leaves, shaking off the snow. The dust covered with snow spread like mist, and sparkled with dots of fluorescence under the sunlight, which looked quite beautiful.
"The first person to land is me, Alice!"
Just as the boat came to a stop, the impatient golden-haired maid jumped off the boat impatiently, landing steadily with a difficult juggling move, and then sneered disdainfully: "Ha, this height is a piece of cake for my Lady Alice...hiss! It's so cold!!!"
A sharp and cold wind blew, whistling in the valley, carrying with it the ice debris that had just been scraped off the frozen cliffs, like countless sharp daggers. Even the coldest and most stubborn stone on a 7,000-meter peak would be eroded by them, not to mention the fragile human beings? Alice, who was unprepared, felt a chill running straight from her spine to the top of her head. The exposed skin on her arms and cheeks felt a rough pain, and even her blood was almost frozen.
The golden-haired maid hugged her arms subconsciously and shrank inward, trying to reduce her exposure to the cold wind. She shivered and said, "What's going on? Isn't there magical fairy magic? Why is it so cold? Could it be that the fairy magic used by the boss lady is fake and useless?"
"Oh, Alice, will I be angry if you say that?"
The gentle voice of the lady boss came from above: "I told you a long time ago that fairy magic can only help you adapt to the environment here and prevent you from feeling unwell due to lack of oxygen and high pressure, but it can't help you ignore the temperature."
The average altitude of the Eastern Alps is over 5,000 meters. Starting from the mountainside at about 3,000 meters, it is completely covered with snow. The higher you go, the lower the temperature. At this moment, they are close to the top of the mountain, and the temperature is always below zero, which is colder than the ice moon in Nimsher. Alice didn't take any protective measures and jumped down in a maid outfit. She was very energetic without being frozen to death on the spot.
Others thought they were not as brave as her, so they obediently changed into the cold-proof suits carefully prepared by the proprietress: thick flannel cotton coats, hand-knitted felt hats and scarves, warm deerskin gloves and deerskin boots, wrapping themselves tightly, and then came to the ground, unafraid of the cold wind blowing from all directions, appearing calm and unhurried.
Leticia and Shemi laughed at Alice for being too stubborn and not wanting to wear warm clothes because she was ugly. Now she was frozen like a fool, right? Medien kindly reminded her not to be stubborn anymore and go back to change clothes. After struggling between face and substance for a while, Ai-chan decisively admitted defeat and ran back to the Fairy Sleep Inn in shame. She changed into the cold-proof suit that she disliked, and when she appeared again, she announced that she had fully recovered. The low temperature of a 7,000-meter peak was nothing special.
This kind of behavior of only remembering to eat and not to remember to be punished will be punished sooner or later, so Lingge was too lazy to pay attention to it, automatically ignored it, and started to issue tasks to everyone - well, it should be said that under the instruction of Captain Gloria, he started to issue tasks to everyone.
First mate Shelia, navigator and helmsman Ieta, logistics staff Lorena, and a cold-fearing Olvera were responsible for staying on board to prevent any accidents.
The ship's medical apprentice, Metien, was carrying a small basket and planning to go around the valley to collect some plants that are native to the alpine cold zone to prepare for his future studies. Since Yunjingkong Island is warm like spring all year round, this type of plant is relatively rare on the island and needs to be stockpiled in advance. Sister Livia accompanied her to protect her safety, and Shemi also followed her shamelessly.
Leticia also wanted to follow to prevent the despicable Xiemi from taking advantage of her situation, but before she could speak, her grandmother grabbed her collar and planned to take her to perform a more important task: to inspect the surrounding area, discover certain dangerous monsters in advance, and expel or eliminate them depending on the degree of danger. The boss Xiesta will accompany them to perform this task. If they encounter aliens that can communicate, she will come forward to explain the situation to avoid conflicts. Even in the depths of this rarely visited snowy mountain, the reputation of the traveler fairy among the aliens is still trustworthy.
The rest of the group went to the top of the mountain to carry out the main quest, including Captain Gloria, the ship's chaplain Linger, the ship's doctor Saint Charia, the boatswain Shino, and Alice, a small shrimp who could be sacrificed as cannon fodder when necessary. Although the golden-haired maid herself was very dissatisfied with this statement, she still swallowed her anger due to the captain's musket intimidation and secretly swore in her heart that one day she would prove herself and make everyone look at her with new eyes. Don't bully a poor girl!
After a short rest, the group left the valley and headed towards the top of the mountain.
Although it is a plateau snow mountain, it does not mean that there is nothing here except snow and ice, and it is a land barren of vitality. On the contrary, the vitality of life is not lacking anywhere in the world, whether it is a dark and muddy swamp or a mysterious and deep sea abyss.
There are two most common plants here. One is the giant cedar tree, which looks similar to the cedar, but is taller and thicker, with a waist circumference of ten people hugging it. It grows densely along the winding ridges, like a giant umbrella on the snowy mountain. It is clearly a cold winter, but their branches and leaves are particularly lush, and covered with a layer of snow. Any slight movement may cause the snow to fall off and gather together to form a terrifying avalanche. Therefore, travelers must be careful when walking under the woods to avoid touching the most primitive anger of nature.
The other type is the low shrubs, which are completely different from the others. They are widely distributed on the plateau and can be seen everywhere. If you don't pay attention, you may overlook them. These shrubs will ignore the rules of the seasons and bloom small white flowers at irregular intervals. At first glance, they look like snow falling on the shrubs. The flowers will wither in just a few hours after blooming, and small red berries will be produced. These shrubs are the most important part of the plateau ecology. They have no other characteristics except that they are tenacious. Many small herbivorous animals and birds rely on the berries produced by these shrubs to survive, and carry their seeds to every corner of the snow-capped mountains and plateaus. These tenacious seeds can take root and sprout within two weeks, forming lush shrubs, and then repeat the above process.
"In addition," Linger added, "although their flowering period is very short, if the flowers can be picked during the short flowering period, they can become a very versatile medicinal material. Taking them directly can promote blood circulation and speed up wound recovery; after boiling them with water, they can be used to treat frostbite, which is common in snowy mountain areas. Local residents often collect these flowers, dry them and preserve them for emergency use."
"Oh." The golden-haired maid responded to this useless knowledge with a very indifferent "Oh", indicating that she heard it.
She didn't want to know what the ecology of the plateau was like, nor did she want to know how much these bushes that could be seen everywhere contributed to maintaining the ecosystem of the plateau, and she didn't want to know whether their flowers could be used to treat diseases... unless they were very valuable.
Lingge had a blank expression on his face. After being disrupted by this guy, he didn't even have the mood to continue popularizing science.
As everyone gradually moved towards the top of the mountain, walking on the snow became more and more difficult, especially since Lingge and his team had landed at a very unfortunate time. A heavy snow had just fallen yesterday, and the snow covering the ground was up to the knees. The feeling of taking one deep step and one shallow step made people feel like they were walking on a silted and corrupt swamp, and each step required more effort than usual.
Especially in the face of the sharp air currents and biting cold temperatures in the mountains, it was even more of a torture. Occasionally, when passing through deep snow-covered valleys or cliffs, everyone had to slow down and pass carefully to avoid causing an avalanche due to excessive movement.
Affected by the topography and climate, the snow in the Eastern Alps hardly ever stops falling. Often the next snow falls before the previous one has melted. The howling wind and snow all year round bring the most dangerous disasters to this land far away from the world. Sometimes an avalanche can bury hundreds of kilometers of land and swallow up all living things living in it.
In the face of the might of nature, mortals can hardly contend with it, and can only use their wisdom to try their best to avoid it. The ancient Xiatoto people, who have lived on the snowy mountains for generations, have summed up some rules in their long hunting life. They can accurately predict the scale of the next snowfall by observing weather changes and air movement; or by observing the abnormal behavior of wild animals, they can judge where avalanches are likely to occur, so as to migrate in advance and avoid natural disasters.
These mountain dwellers who run on the snow as if they were walking on flat ground are just like the Wind Chasers of the Knight Kingdom of Lessenwell. They have not only adapted to the harsh environment of nature, but also followed the guidance it gives them. They wander according to the rules of the four seasons, chasing the tail of the blizzard, migrating from one snow-capped mountain to another, avoiding disasters, and engaging in hunting, gathering, animal husbandry and even simple farming. You can regard them as nomads in the snow-capped mountains.
The plank roads, suspension bridges, rope ladders, and wooden stakes left by the Chateautres during their migration have become guideposts for those who came after them, helping them find their way on this dangerous 7,000-meter peak and not get lost in the snow. It is said that two hundred years ago, when the city government of Heidblosberg decided to develop tourism, it prepared various rest and protection facilities for tourists on the way to climb the mountain, inspired by the ancient traditions of the Chateautres.
Two hundred years later, due to the decline of tourism and economic malaise, the city government has long been unable to repair those facilities, and can only let them gradually decay in the wind and snow until they are buried in the depths of a blizzard, while the original traces left by the Chateauto people still exist. This may prove that time is never the culprit of destruction, but people's attitude towards it is.
At this moment, Lingge and others were walking along a mountain path left by the Xiatoto people. This path was located under a steep cliff, and next to it was a bottomless cliff. The biting cold wind was howling between the smooth cliffs. The shrill sound was like a wild beast trapped under the cliff, making hysterical wails, which made people tremble with fear, for fear that they would accidentally fall and end up in the abyss with the beast.
It is unknown how the migrating Xiatoto people carved out this road. They even chiseled through the frozen cliffs, nailed long iron sticks into the hard rocks, and then connected them with chains, thus forming an alternative suspension bridge. People walking on the path only need to reach up, grab the iron sticks, and hold on to the chains to pass through this most dangerous section of the road without any danger. Even if they accidentally fall, they can still struggle to avoid falling into the abyss and dying without a complete body.
Linger also keenly noticed that several iron bars on this road were brand new, without much evidence of erosion by wind and snow, which meant that someone had maintained them not long ago? It must not have been the city government of Heidebrusburg, who were not so active, and of course, not so rough either.
The original owner of this road seems to have never left and still lives in this vast alpine snowfield with Mount Osor as the center, just like their ancestors for thousands of years.
The young man then remembered a question: when the local tourism industry was at its peak, the Chattoto people had given up their traditional hunting and nomadic lifestyle, choosing to go down the mountain and integrate into the human world. They used their rich mountaineering experience to serve the believers and tourists who came to see the saint's relics, earning a lot of profit every year, which was at least hundreds of times better than their previous life on the snowy mountains. However, after the promulgation of the "Religious Decree", this kind of life was gone with the decline of the tourism industry. The city government and local residents were still immersed in the good old days and could not extricate themselves. What should the Chattoto people who had abandoned traditional concepts do?
Now it seems that they have already made their choice.
The young man was somewhat surprised. He thought that after seeing the prosperity and beauty of the civilized world, these Shatoto people would not tolerate returning to their primitive traditional nomadic life, just like the younger generation of the wandering Moryas who prefer to settle in human cities rather than continue to search for their illusory hometown. The development of civilization always changes many things, and tradition is the most vulnerable example. Once broken, it is difficult to repair.
Or is it that the Chattoto people who abandoned their traditions in the past are not the same ethnic group as the Chattoto people who still live on Mount Osor?
With some insignificant doubts, he continued to move forward with his companions. After passing this most dangerous section of the road, the rest of the journey became much smoother, at least not so frightening. But the increase in altitude also made the temperature lower. Even with the double protection of fairy magic and cold-proof suits, everyone still began to feel cold, and even the blood and bone marrow began to be eroded by the cold air on the 7,000-meter peak, gradually becoming stiff.
Also, it was snowing.
Give me some meow