136: Departure to Antarctica

Four o'clock in the afternoon.

The land rover defender pulled to a stop at the foot of Cape Point.

This was a true wind tunnel. The cold winds from the Atlantic and the warm, moist air currents from the Indian Ocean collided violently here; all year round, fierce winds howled and gargantuan waves reached for the sky. It was not without reason that the Portuguese navigator Bartolomeu Dias named it the "Cape of Storms" when he first arrived.

Tourists, wrapped in thick windbreakers, were being blown about by the wind, struggling to hold onto the railings to take photos.

Jiang Yuan got out of the car.

He wore only a thin black trench coat, its hem snapping loudly in the gale. Yet he stood as steady as a pillar, firmly rooted in the wind's path without even a strand of hair being out of place—that layer of invisible air force field always diverted the gale away from him with perfect precision.

He didn't take the cable car. Instead, he ascended the steep stone steps, heading straight for the old lighthouse perched atop the highest point of the cliff.

Built in 1860, this cast-iron lighthouse once guided countless ships lost in the darkness. However, because it was situated too high and was frequently obscured by clouds and mist, it had since been abandoned and converted into a viewing platform.

Jiang Yuan avoided the crowds. With a flash of his silhouette, he leaped directly onto the lantern room dome at the top of the lighthouse, which was closed to the public.

Standing here, the elevation was 249 meters.

Beneath his feet was a vertical precipice; before his eyes was the vast, boundless deep blue.

"So this is where the two oceans meet?"

Jiang Yuan activated [Eye of Truth · Spectral Analysis Mode].

In the eyes of an ordinary person, there was only a continuous, vast expanse of sea.

But in Jiang Yuan's eyes, this sea area presented two completely different tones.

To the west was the deep, cold, ink-blue Benguela Current of the Atlantic. To the east was the warm, clear, emerald-green Agulhas Current of the Indian Ocean.

Two ocean currents of entirely different properties clashed head-on in this sea area, squeezing and entangling with one another. Along the boundary line, a white foam belt several kilometers long surged up, as if the ocean had drawn a scar upon the earth.

Rumble—!

Giant waves crashed against the reefs at the base of the cliff, kicking up a mist of water dozens of meters high. The sound was like ten thousand horses galloping, deafening to the ears.

Jiang Yuan kept his hands in his coat pockets, quietly watching this magnificent scene.

"The land ends here."

He murmured to himself.

Behind him lay the entirety of the massive African continent. There were savannas, deserts, rainforests, wild beasts, and countless humans struggling for survival.

But before him was the unknown, pure, deep blue domain that did not belong to humanity.

"It's about time to change my mode of transport."

Jiang Yuan leaped down from the lighthouse, landing lightly.

He returned to the parking lot and stroked the land rover defender that had accompanied him across half of Africa one last time.

The vehicle was covered in the red earth of the Serengeti, the mud of the rainforests, and the fine sand of the deserts. Every tiny scratch on the chassis was a story.

"Good work, old partner."

Jiang Yuan gently patted the hood.

"Recall."

Buzz—

The air distorted.

That massive steel beast rapidly blurred and decomposed in the afterglow of the setting sun. Countless silver nanoparticles, like a swarm of bees returning to their hive, spiraled and gathered into Jiang Yuan's palm, finally condensing into a cold metal capsule.

The parking space was empty.

The surrounding passersby didn't seem to notice this scene. Under the effect of the [Cognitive Interference Field], they would only think their eyes had played tricks on them or that they had remembered the parking spot incorrectly.

Jiang Yuan put the capsule back in his pocket and turned toward the coastline of crashing waves.

He did not look back.

The sun set in the west, stretching his shadow very, very long, all the way into the sea.

Next.

It would no longer be a dusty road trip.

He would cleave through the waves to conquer that white dead zone that even satellites struggled to peer into.

"Antarctica, here I come."

Understood. Starting from this chapter, I will significantly increase environmental descriptions, psychological activities, technological details, and sensory experiences to ensure each chapter exceeds 2,000 words, providing you with a cinematic reading experience.

Chapter 23: Phantom · Deep Sea Form

Having bid farewell to the tourist-filled Cape Point lighthouse, Jiang Yuan did not choose to linger in that bustling parking lot.

Like a reclusive ghost, he avoided all surveillance cameras and the sight of tourists, heading alone toward a more desolate area along the rugged and steep western coastline of the Cape Peninsula.

This was the famous Atlantic coast, where fierce winds whipped up giant waves that battered the black reefs day and night without pause.

After scaling a steep cliff covered in low shrubs and sharp rocks, the view suddenly opened up to reveal a hidden bay that had never been marked on any map.

This was a natural harbor.

Vertical cliffs rising a hundred meters high on both sides were like a pair of giant arms, embracing this crescent-shaped beach. Because the terrain was extremely treacherous and unreachable by land, this was a forbidden zone for humans—unless you were a "superman" like Jiang Yuan, who possessed a Third-Order Gene Lock constitution and could walk on steep rock faces as if on level ground.

By now, the sun had half-sunk below the horizon, its afterglow dyeing the sea a deep wrought-iron color.

The roar of the waves was thunderous, and the air was filled with a salty, fishy, and icy scent.

Jiang Yuan jumped down from the last rock, his feet landing on the fine and cold white sand.

"Good location, the water is deep enough."

He glanced at the interior of the calm bay. Although the outer sea was turbulent, the water inside this small bay was surprisingly deep and the surface was calm, making it an excellent "launch point."

Jiang Yuan took a deep breath, savoring this last trace of terrestrial air.

The journey ahead would no longer hold the fragrance of soil, only the endless deep blue, ice, and snow.

He reached into the inner pocket of his trench coat and pulled out the silver metal capsule that had been with him all along—the [Phantom · Multi-Form Tactical Shuttle].

Along this journey, it had mostly appeared in its aircraft form, carrying Jiang Yuan through the clouds to look down upon the earth.

But today, it would reveal another form.

A form born to conquer the ocean.

"Go."

With a gentle flick of his wrist, the capsule traced a graceful silver arc in the air and landed with unerring precision into the seawater fifty meters ahead.

Plop.

A soft sound, followed by a small splash.

Immediately after, a miracle occurred.

Beneath the originally calm surface, a strange blue light suddenly glowed. That light did not come from some biological source, but from hundreds of millions of high-energy nanobots being activated and charged.

Rumble—

A low vibration came from beneath the water, and the sea began to boil violently.

The ball of blue light rapidly expanded and elongated; its volume, which was originally only the size of a fist, swelled frantically like a balloon within a few short seconds.

Massive amounts of seawater were sucked into the conversion engines to extract hydrogen as fusion fuel, while the nanobot swarm began to devour minerals from the surrounding water to perform rapid molecular-level proliferation and restructuring.

Splash!

A behemoth burst forth from the water.

At that moment, even Jiang Yuan, who was accustomed to high-tech creations, could not help but have a flash of amazement in his eyes.

It was a super yacht, one hundred and eight meters long.

But it looked nothing like any existing vessel on Earth.

It was entirely pitch black—not the color of paint, but a special light-absorbing material called "Deep Space Black Gold."

It could absorb 99% of radar waves and light, making the entire ship appear almost invisible in the night, with only a few futuristic matte gold lines tracing the edges of the hull, exuding a sense of low-key luxury.

Its design was extremely sharp, like a black scalpel slicing through the sea's surface.

The bow featured a reverse bow design, sharp as a sword.

The hull lines were incredibly smooth, without any redundant protrusions. No radar antennas, no satellite dishes, not even a traditional funnel.

The entire superstructure looked as if it were carved from a single piece of obsidian; the streamlined panoramic glass windows blended perfectly with the hull, appearing as if they were naturally formed.

If one weren't told it was a ship, one might think it was a spacecraft left behind in Earth's oceans by some alien civilization.