On the second day of boarding the icebreaker, Chu Tingwu spotted a baleen whale from the deck.
As the icebreaker advanced, various Antarctic animals began to appear one by one. When the ship broke through the ice ahead, penguins could be seen scurrying away on their tiny feet across the icy surface, while seals briefly poked their heads out below before quickly darting away. The shattered ice floated on the water's surface, reflecting a deep, dark blue hue from beneath.
Chu Tingwu had quickly befriended the photography crew on the first day, likely because she had managed to fix the editor's malfunctioning computer with a simple tap.
She sat among the crew, munching on a meat bun as they chatted about the animals outside the porthole and their pets back home. She effortlessly memorized all their pets' names and personalities, recalling them perfectly upon their next meeting.
This earned her their friendship, and Roman, the burly, bearded leader of the group, invited her to review the footage they had captured.
Roman was cheerful yet thoughtful, and his actual age was much younger than his rugged appearance suggested. The expedition's schedule wasn't rigid or dull—aside from daily meetings and task assignments, the team had plenty of free time for games and entertainment.
Chu Tingwu knew there would be a singing session in the evening, and the ship even had an audio-visual room. When Roman saw her on the deck, he asked why she wasn’t joining the others for games.
Chu Tingwu replied, "Because I remember you mentioned flying the drone. Can I watch?"
Roman said, "Oh, of course!"
Using drones for filming required prior approval, much like in protected areas—if a drone crashed, retrieving it would be a hassle, and they couldn’t leave any "trash" behind in Antarctica.
The drones Roman and his team used were from the Wu Voice Group's first-generation models, known for their agility, stability, and low noise. The upgraded versions retained their original spherical design, resembling a metal ball.
These drones were custom-made for extreme environments, equipped with obstacle avoidance systems and crash protection mechanisms—not to protect the drone itself, but to safeguard the surroundings. The drones would deploy protective casings to collect damaged parts for easy retrieval.
As the drone ascended, the screen displayed a breathtaking view: a nearby iceberg resembled an icy blue nest, and from this aerial perspective, the fractured ice on the ocean's surface looked like cracks.
Roman murmured, "I try to bring these images back to the connected world, to show everyone what it’s like here. But no matter how good the footage is, it can’t fully capture the reality. And yet, the climate is warming."
He pointed wistfully at a distant iceberg. "Two years ago, there was more than one iceberg there."
Some famous icebergs, once landmarks on Antarctic tours, had already vanished by half.
Humans often feel like a year has passed in a blur, barely noticing the passage of time. But in Antarctica, time sometimes stands still, while at other times, it rushes by alarmingly fast.
Chu Tingwu stood still, listening to the crisp sounds of ice being broken by the ship. Deeper and farther away, marine creatures moved about. Despite her extraordinary hearing, she couldn’t detect the sounds from the ocean’s depths from the deck.
Yet, she felt surrounded by countless, countless animals.
The icebreaker was both noisy and quiet. Compared to the ship's size, the number of people on board was relatively small. In such an environment, aside from the sounds of people moving about, there was only the noise of the ship breaking through the ice. But Chu Tingwu always felt she could perceive faint, unfamiliar yet vibrant sounds.
It was as if inaudible notes composed nature's symphony.
While others busied themselves around her, Chu Tingwu crouched down, hugging her knees. She seemed to be watching the drone in the sky, yet her gaze seemed to stretch further—
"Ah…"
Her heart swelled with gratitude.
Yes.
She could sense that the system was worried about her. Her heightened senses, beyond human capacity, and her feline-like intelligence made her a unique "human-cat hybrid."
The system saw her as a cat trapped in a room—even if Chu Tingwu appeared wild, the "room" the system perceived was an invisible, lonely one.
But Chu Tingwu felt nothing but gratitude.
She whispered, "Because... this perspective of the world is fascinating."
If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be able to see the world from this angle, to observe and hear things others can’t.
People often think cats in rooms are lonely.
But they fail to realize that these soft, seemingly clumsy creatures are among the most agile hunters on land. They can leap two to three times their body length, hear whispers from a hundred meters away, distinguish individual footsteps, and possess a sense of smell surpassing even dogs, capable of detecting different pheromones.
And they’ll take care of the cockroaches in your room.
Chu Tingwu, who seemed lost in thought, suddenly stood up. Her movements didn’t appear particularly agile, but she effortlessly caught a piece of equipment that was about to hit the ground. With a quick leg motion, she steadied a photographer without even using her hands.
Roman, who was about to ask, "Are you okay?" found the words stuck in his throat.
Chu Tingwu smiled at him.
"Natural changes and the disappearance of icebergs aren’t things we can stop. But with technological advancements, we can preserve these scenes and share them with more people."
Roman shrugged. "Let’s hope so."
He watched as Chu Tingwu wandered off, not bothering to disturb her. However, Roman had a good memory for visual details, and for some reason, he kept replaying Chu Tingwu’s earlier movements in his mind. It wasn’t until she returned to the cabin that Roman suddenly exclaimed, "Ah!"
Though the movements weren’t identical, he had seen "Wu" catch falling supplies during the Redstone Reserve livestream years ago!
Recalling "Wu’s" background, Roman muttered, "Technological advancements…"
Perhaps the kind of technological progress he was imagining could keep up with the melting icebergs?
Chu Tingwu didn’t dwell on it. She went back to help Misha organize data.
Due to the polar day and magnetic field effects, even her sleep patterns had shifted slightly. She found herself sleeping longer, and despite the ship having a gym, Chu Tingwu didn’t feel entirely comfortable.
An inner restlessness made her want to run and jump. When she realized she had unintentionally left scent marks in her usual spots, Chu Tingwu turned to the system, asking it to assign her new lessons.
Her Russian was already proficient, allowing her to converse fluently with Teacher Zhang, even using dialects without hesitation.
Her English, frequently used and practiced, was sufficient for daily communication. So, Chu Tingwu decided to let the system teach her a new language.
Antarctica had no indigenous population… so, after some discussion, they settled on Old Norse.
Misha: "?"
When Misha heard about her self-study project, even she was puzzled. "Old Norse? As in the Scandinavian language of the Vikings? There aren’t many practical uses for that, are there?"
Even the Vikings themselves don’t speak it anymore.
Chu Tingwu, munching on fried chicken, looked up. "I haven’t spoken much Russian with many Russians either."
When learning loses its purpose, the joy lies in acquiring new knowledge itself. Misha nodded, then dug out some research literature on Scandinavian languages from a USB drive, suggesting Chu Tingwu take a look in her spare time.
Chu Tingwu: "Okay =v="
However, her learning experience wasn’t actually boring because… in the dream classroom, the system, after years of knowledge absorption and training, arranged for her a "course" that felt like an interactive, movie-level holographic game. It was like learning two subjects in the time of one class.
It scanned the entire icebreaker and, using reference materials, designed a group of AI crew members who spoke Russian. At the same time, they encountered a group of Viking pirates on the sea.
Chu Tingwu: "...Hmm, what a historically resonant plot design."
The system’s design was quite scientific. When Chu Tingwu entered her dream that night, it explained the plot to her—
"You are aboard the Russian icebreaker Yekaterinburg, heading to the Antarctic Circle. However, after a severe solar magnetic field eruption, you discover that all the instruments on the icebreaker have malfunctioned, and many icebergs that shouldn’t be on the route have suddenly appeared around you… That’s right, you’ve traveled back a thousand years."
"But the bad news doesn’t end there. The captain is seriously ill, there’s no external aid, and some people, including the maintenance crew, are not on the ship—you temporarily don’t want to think about what state they’d be in if they were left a thousand years in the future without coming back. Because the challenges you face are even more dire."
"Mission one: Secure a food source."
"Mission two: Repair the instruments and get the ship moving before the icebreaker is completely frozen."
"Mission three: While you were unconscious, a group of Viking pirates seems to have quietly boarded the ship and are hiding in unknown locations. Find them!"
"Mission four: More Viking pirates are approaching. Only after completing mission three will you have a chance to learn their location and approximate numbers. Protect yourself and the lives of your crew!"
Yes, Chu Tingwu’s habit of sleeping in might also be because she gets to play a "custom-made deluxe single-player holographic Viking language teaching game" at night… The game is just too fun; she can’t help it!
Now, through save files, her progress has reached the point where she’s captured all the Vikings, learned their language, stumbled through distinguishing truth from lies by comparing the system’s translations, and studied how to repair the icebreaker using the Russian-written (…) operation manual.
It’s been very fulfilling.
And while she’s happily playing the "holographic" game, barely noticing the passage of time… the gaming division of Wu Voice Group has been diligently working on internal testing, pre-orders, and promotions, hoping this important semi-holographic game will be a success.
The company’s staff are even more excited than the waiting players.
Because, after finalizing the internal testing date, the gaming division of Wu Voice Group officially became an independent subsidiary. Chu Tingwu gave this new company a name—
"Universe."
Perhaps with current human technology, we can’t travel the universe, but in the boundless realm of games, everyone can be the king of the world.
Chu Tingwu: "...Even the king of the world has to study while playing games."
She skillfully took the gun handed to her by a crew member, crouched low, and aimed at the face of a Viking on the opposite ship—
"Bang."
Isn’t it common to learn a bunch of other things while studying a language?
