Chapter 1635: Mountain of waves

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

The place was called Fruity Town, which could be an expression of hope because the land of the far north was short of fruit and vegetables.

It was a small town. The northern part of Canada was like Siberia, except for wetlands and swamps, and the weather was harsh. Every year there was a period of polar night when the sky was dark for almost half of the year.

Living in such an environment could be so stressful that even countries with such good welfare as Norway, Sweden, and Iceland still had high suicide rates and the highest incidence of mental illness in the world.

This season was good, after all, when the summer came, and the climate was mild and sunny. Li Du thought the local climate was very good when they arrived, not too hot or cold. It was indeed comfortable.

There were probably a few hundred houses in the town, as well as a lone bar, movie theater, restaurant, and a church.

Few strangers came here, and the town was almost a closed living area, so when Li Duʼs motorcade drove in it immediately drew a lot of attention.

Soon, some people appeared on the side of the road. They stood in front of the shops and houses and looked at the motorcade curiously with folded arms. The looks that came from around them made Li Du feel uncomfortable.

He found a bar and went in with his men.

Li Du gave Brother Wolf and the others a wink, asking them to go around to invite people to drink and see if they could fish out any news about Steve.

The result made disappointed him; he heard nothing about Steve.

Watching Li Du frowning, the bartender leaned over the table, smiling and asked, “Hey, buddy, are you looking for someone here?”

With nothing to hide, Li Du nodded and showed him one of Steve’s photos. “Yes, I had a friend who was said to have been here, and then we had lost contact with him.”

It could be because Li Du was clearly a customer with a lot of money, or it may be that the bartender didn’t encounter any strangers usually and was idle, so he was quite enthusiastic about this matter.

He took the picture and looked at it. Then he shook his head and said, “No, this guy definitely did not come to our town, or I, Cat Ear Bond, would not be uninformed.”

Li Du was very disappointed. It seemed that he had come on this trip for nothing.

The bartender said, “Leave your contact number behind, and if we find anything here, I will give you a call.”

The goodwill shown by the other side made Li Du feel touched. He left his satellite phone number, gave the bartender a tip, and returned to the ruins of the Inuit village with Brother Wolf.

Young Markelov, who had some information, said, “Boss, there is indeed something weird about this place. Every year, people come to Lake Angikuni for hunting and fishing and they usually get back alright. But if they go to the island in the middle of the lake, it will be different.”

He pointed to the island, which was pretty big, as he said this.

“What is the difference?” asked Li Du.

As he inquired, he released the space-time bugs, which, as he suspected, stopped obeying him again. There seemed to be something here that had suppressed the space-time bugs’ power from releasing.

Young Markelov said, “There is something odd about the island, namely, occasionally someone goes missing. Do you know the name of this island in the lake? It is called the Lost Island, and no one in Fruity Town dares to go there, because it is easy to get lost on it.”

Li Du looked at the island from a distance. There was still a dense mist on the lake at that time; it was like a big area of fog. The island seemed to be hidden behind it. He looked far ahead and felt almost hypnotized.

Looking at the island, he asked Brother Wolf, “Have any of Elsonʼs men ever searched the island?”

Brother Wolf said, “They did, but nothing was found.”

Li Du thought about it and said, “Letʼs go to the island too. We have inflatable kayaks in the cars, right? Get ready, leave some men behind to look after the cars, and let the others prepare to get to the island.”

Brother Wolf nodded, and under his lead, the few rubber kayaks were set up soon enough using the power of the cars.

Li Du looked at the satellite map, which Elson had prepared for them. There was software to receive signals directly from the satellite, which could be used to mark their location and draw 3D maps.

The satellite map was good, but it wouldnʼt help much because there was always a fog on the lake, so the map was blurry and it was hard to see most of the area clearly.

Landing on a strange island in the far north was a very dangerous thing, and one of the challenges special forces were trained to face.

However, Elson had sent someone to search all around this place, but there was no sign of Steve. If he didnʼt dive into the lake, there was a big chance of him being on the island.

Originally, Li Du guessed that Steve and the others may have entered some hidden cave, and then he could find them through the space-time bugs.

Now that the space-time bugs were out of use, however, he figured he might not be able to make such discoveries either.

After they got ready, they paddled the kayaks slowly close to the Lost Island.

It was not clear from a distance, but up close, the island looked somewhat bare and did not have much vegetation. It was mainly an island made up of stone.

Li Du felt relieved seeing this; he would not need to worry if it was a stone island. It would have fewer obstacles and would be easy to search.

However, when they landed on the island, they did see a great deal of vegetation. Only the outside perimeter of the island was cleaner, but there were still trees, shrubs, and weeds growing on the hills inside.

The area of the island was more than sixty square kilometers. Li Du knew it was pointless to search just by relying on manpower. Fortunately, he brought Ah Fei along. Ah Fei could fly at a high altitude and with the camera, it would be potentially very helpful.

The sky darkened slightly, indicating nightfall, though it would not become really dark at this time of year. Li Du waved his hand and said, “Big Markelov, you take some men along to pitch the tents. Brother Wolf, Young Markelov, you take some of the men along, we will climb into the mountains to assess the situation.”

Because the weather was wet and the rocks were covered with moss, Li Du managed to climb to the top of a small hill after some struggle. He looked at the surroundings and saw that the rocky mountain on the island was a little weird.

There were mountains on the island, and the rocks on the mountains seemed to be undulating, with deep and shallow layers of rock piled together and curved like waves.

Looking at this unique geological phenomenon, Li Du exclaimed and said, “This mountain looks like a scroll, do you know what I mean?”

Brother Wolfʼs facial expression became serious and he said, “This is stratigraphic fold. It is not considered rare, but the appearance of a folding island in a lake is unusual.”

Young Markelov scratched his head and said, “What do you learn in the German army? What is stratigraphic folding?”

Brother Wolf said, “You know, although the earth beneath us is solid and thick, if you go through the earth and you see the mantle, the crust is like an eggshell, very thin and fragile, with a thick layer of molten magma inside, which is like egg white, right?”

Li Du nodded.

Brother Wolf continued explaining, “The rock layer on the earthʼs surface is just the skin of the earthʼs crust. The skin is not that strong and would bend in case of interference.”

“There are a lot of types of geographical disturbances, like the plates of the earth crushing, or sinking because of their own gravity, or being affected by external forces. In these cases, if the rock is not flexible enough, it will break, forming a fault. If it is flexible, you get this type of fold.”

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