harleyscars Chapter 400 Dog Sledding Qualifying Race and Conflict
Chapter 400 Dog Sledding Qualifying Race and Conflict
Chapter 400 Dog Sledding Qualifying Race and Conflict
For the next forty-eight hours, the ice fields surrounding Karnak completely lost their former tranquility.
Odak did not show any mercy to Lin Yu'an just because he was a sugar daddy or someone chosen by Sila.
Instead, the old hunter adopted the most rigorous attitude towards his apprentices, throwing Lin Yu'an into hellish combat training.
For modern people accustomed to steering wheels and accelerators, the most difficult part of driving a dog sled in a "fan-shaped formation" is not speed, but rather the line.
Twelve dogs, twelve nylon ropes of varying lengths, all converged at a single point in front of the sled.
When a pack of dogs runs on the ice, they constantly change positions to avoid ice blocks, compete for space, or simply out of excitement.
Without intervention, within five minutes, the twelve ropes would become tangled together like a tangled mess, eventually forming a huge knot that would strangle the dog's legs and even trip the sled.
"Watch out! Don't just stare at the road!"
Odak sat in the back of the truck, holding a spare short whip, and said bluntly, "One-Eyed on the left is going to try and take Blackfoot's place again! The rope's about to get tangled! What are you waiting for? Give it a lash!"
'
Lin Yu'an stood on the footboard, the cold wind scraping against his cheeks like knives.
His brain was working at lightning speed, and his enhanced dynamic vision allowed him to clearly capture the trajectory of each rope.
"One-Eyed! Go to the right!"
Lin Yu'an flicked his wrist, and the long whip shot out like a serpent from its hole.
“Pah!”
A precise sonic boom rang out next to the ear of the restless Greenland dog on the left.
The dog was startled and immediately jumped half a step to the right.
In that instant, the ropes that were about to become entangled miraculously untied, and the fan-shaped surface was restored to its open state.
"Alright! That's it!" Odak roared. "Don't let them get out of control! You're the brain, they're the legs!"
"Now that the rope is out of the question, the next step is even more critical—navigating the bend."
"Inuit sleds have no rudder or brake discs. At speeds of 30 kilometers per hour, when facing sharp turns in this icy area, the only means of control is the rider's weight."
"There's a jagged ice ridge ahead! Don't slow down! Charge through!"
Ahead lay a strip of ice with a dramatic drop in elevation. If they crashed straight into it, the sled would disintegrate.
Lin Yu'an didn't apply the brakes. He took a deep breath, bent his knees slightly, and the moment the sled hit the ice slab, he suddenly leaned his body to the left.
With one foot dangling in the air and only the right foot hooked onto the pedal, it resembled a flag hanging in the wind on the outside of the sled.
"Zzz—Boom!"
Using this shift in center of gravity, the heavy sled's left side blades slammed into the snow, while the right side rose high into the air.
Then, landing on one side, it forcefully drew a perfect arc on the ice, avoiding the sharp ice rocks.
At the very front, the crimson lead dog "Mars" displayed a chillingly harmonious tacit understanding.
It doesn't need Lin Yu'an's shouts.
When it felt the leftward pull of the rope behind it, it immediately understood the intention.
It glanced back, then led the pack of dogs to jerk to the left, forcefully pulling the sled back onto the right track.
Under the ever-present setting sun, a man and a dog work together seamlessly.
When the sled came to a steady stop at the finish line, Lin Yu'an was covered in sweat, and his thigh muscles were trembling slightly from being tense for so long, but his eyes shone with an astonishing brightness.
Audak jumped off the car, checked the intact skateboard, and then glanced at Lin Yu'an, who wasn't even out of breath.
"Lin, do you know why I've been so harsh on you these past two days?"
Lin Yu'an shook his head, unscrewed the thermos, and took a sip of water: "Because of the tight schedule?"
"No, it's not just because of time."
Odak tapped his pipe on the snow and said seriously, "Because life and competition are two completely different logics."
"We usually tug seals and transport supplies on the ice sheet, prioritizing stability."
"When we encounter icy areas, we slow down, and sometimes even get out to push the vehicle; when we encounter sharp bends, we brake. Our mission is to protect the dogs, protect the cargo, and get home alive."
The old coach pointed to the sharp bend that Lin Yu'an had just swerved through on one side, his tone becoming impassioned: "But races are different! Races are about speed, about going crazy!"
"On the track, slowing down means admitting defeat, and braking means exiting the race! You have to test the limits of what's possible when the sled is about to overturn, and you have to squeeze speed out of the pack at the point where it's about to collapse."
"This requires a kind of madness that completely goes against the hunter's instincts." Odak took a deep breath, a convinced smile appearing on his face.
"But I didn't expect you to learn so quickly. You not only learned to be crazy, but you also learned to be crazy with such precision."
"Sila above—" Audak exclaimed, "Truly worthy of being a guide to souls. My foolish son spent two years practicing to reach this level, while you only took two days."
He stepped forward and patted Lin Yu'an heavily on the shoulder. "You're not chasing away dogs, you're dancing with them! From today onwards, this dog team can belong to the Lin family!"
Special training ended; departure day.
Karnak Airport, a simple airport located at the edge of the world, is experiencing its busiest time of the year today.
Two planes were parked on the gravel runway.
One was Greenland Airways' iconic red Dash-8 passenger plane, and the other was a gray transport plane specifically used to carry supplies and animals.
The tarmac was as chaotic as a vegetable market.
Dozens of huge aircraft cages were piled together, and the deafening barking of dogs even drowned out the roar of the turboprops.
The air was thick with the pungent smell of dogs and a sense of unease.
"Listen, Lin!" Odak, sweating profusely, brandished his seal-skin whip as he herded the last few unruly dogs into their cages.
He turned around and shouted at Lin Yu'an, who was preparing to board the plane, "You take the women and children and get on that red passenger plane first."
"Me, Pita, and these twenty-four bastards, we're on this transport plane! We'll meet at Ilulissat Airport!"
"Don't worry." Lin Yu'an handed a handful of crowns to Odak. "If you have to wait after landing, go buy some drinks. Don't skimp on the money."
"Ha! I'll drink all the beer at the airport!"
Lin Yu-an and his family boarded the red Dash-8.
For Lin Yu-an, who frequently travels the world, this was just an ordinary short-haul flight.
-
But for Alek, who had spent his entire life in Karnak and rarely left the city, it was practically an interstellar journey.
"My God, that's so high—"
As the plane took off, Maria gripped the armrest of her seat tightly, repeatedly murmuring "Sila, please bless me," but her eyes couldn't help but dart out the window.
Little Alek was so excited he practically pressed his face against the glass. Pointing to the icebergs below, which looked like tiny sugar cubes, he exclaimed, "Uncle! Look! That's our hunting ground! That's the Blue Wall! They've become so small!"
Nuoya sat next to Lin Yu'an, adjusting the child's seatbelt with a gentle smile on her face.
She looked out the window at her hometown receding into the distance, then looked at the man beside her and gently took his hand.
"We're going south," Noah said softly. "It's a world with traffic lights and paved roads."
After a three-hour flight and a brief stopover in Upenavic, the plane finally reached its destination.
When the announcement came over the loudspeaker that we were about to land in Ilulissat, the entire cabin stirred with excitement.
Through the porthole, you can already see the iconic, skyscraper-like icebergs in Disco Bay.
Ilulissat means "iceberg" in Greenlandic.
The plane landed smoothly on the black asphalt runway; this was the first time Alek had seen a surface that wasn't gravel.
Upon exiting the arrival hall, Lin Yu'an did not rush to call a taxi.
Because Audak's cargo plane has also arrived.
The airport's cargo area now resembled a giant arena.
As several grey transport planes unloaded their cargo, hundreds of aircraft cages were piled up on the snow. Top-quality sled dogs from settlements across the island gathered here.
The sounds of roaring, biting, and hunters' shouts mingled together. Dogs from different villages clashed, and the air was thick with the smell of gunpowder.
Lin Yu'an spotted Audak at a glance.
The old hunter was directing Pita to load their two teams of 24 dogs onto a rented flatbed truck.
Audak's face was flushed, clearly ignited by the intense atmosphere.
"Hey! This way!" Odak waved his hat. "Let the women get on the bus first!"
After meeting up, everyone squeezed into a rented double-cab pickup truck and headed to the event's accommodations in the town center.
Along the way, the pressure of the "approaching competition" grew stronger and stronger.
The streets of Ilulissat are wide and flat, with streetlights and traffic lights along the way.
The streets were covered with banners from sponsors—Royal Greenland Fisheries, BMW, Canada Goose—
"Look over there, that's the local Ilulissat team." Odak, sitting in the passenger seat, pointed out the potential opponents to Lin Yu'an like an intelligence officer.
He pointed to a group of young men in matching blue uniforms feeding their dogs high-grade pellet food, his tone disdainful yet wary: "Those are the young masters from the South. Look at their dogs, their legs are as thin as mosquitoes. They're specially bred racing dogs, with extremely strong explosive power, but they're useless in deep snow. They were last year's champions."
"And over there, the ones in gray overalls," Odak pointed to another group of people repairing a sled with a power drill.
"That's the Sisimitte team. They own factories, they're rich, and they're skilled. Their sleds are made of carbon fiber, they're as light as paper. They're formidable rivals."
Sitting in the back seat, Pita shrank his neck and pointed to the entrance of a supermarket by the roadside: "Aata—look over there—those big guys in reindeer skins."
Lin Yu'an looked in the direction Pita was pointing.
A group of tall, dark-skinned, burly men were gathered in front of a large supermarket.
They wore heavy, wild reindeer skin coats and huge fur boots.
The dogs around them were also different; they were huge, with messy fur and fierce eyes like wolves, and they were lying on the ground tearing at bloody chunks of raw meat instead of eating kibble.
"They're Canadians—a special delegation from Nunavut." Odak narrowed his eyes, his expression turning serious.
Among the group of Canadians was a young hunter with long black hair and a faint scar on his face, who was coldly staring at the passing convoy.
Unlike the others, he didn't make a fuss; instead, he crossed his arms and scrutinized the intruders like a pack of wolves.
"Ah, Lin, this is going to be interesting." That was Uyalak, Noah's ex-fiancé, the sled champion of Nunavut, Canada.
Their eyes met briefly through the car window.
There was no word spoken, but the air seemed to freeze.
Uyalak glanced at Noya sitting next to Lin Yu'an, a flash of anger in his eyes, which then turned into contempt.
He made an extremely provocative gesture towards Lin Yu'an, extending his thumb and slowly tracing it across his own neck.
That was the hunter's declaration of death to his prey.
"This kid seems even more arrogant than he sounds on the phone," Odak said coldly. "I heard he crossed the ice bridge over Smith Strait with his dogs. He's a tough guy."
Noah nervously grasped Lin Yu'an's hand. She knew Uyalak's strength; he was a true beast of the wilderness.
Lin Yu'an smiled. Instead of avoiding it, he deliberately slowed down and passed by Uyalak, giving him a "middle finger up" gesture.
"Ignore him." Lin Yu'an patted Nuoya's hand, his eyes calm and confident.
The convoy eventually stopped in front of the famous Arctic Hotel.
This metal-domed building, built on the edge of a cliff and meeting four-star standards, is a landmark of Ilulissat and the last bastion of the civilized world.
Lin Yu'an jumped out of the car and looked at the huge iceberg floating like a skyscraper in the distance in Disco Bay, burning golden red in the sunset.
"Odak, take the dog to the kennel in the back to rest and feed it the best meat. Noah and Maria, take the children to the restaurant for the buffet; they have freshly baked croissants."
After arranging things for Audak and Nuoya, Lin Yu'an was about to turn around and head to the front desk to check in.
Just then, the hotel's heavy revolving glass door was violently pushed open.
A gust of biting cold wind instantly rushed into the warm and fragrant lobby.
It was that group of Canadians, led by Uyalak.
Without his goggles, the man's appearance became even more frightening.
He had the typical face of a polar hunter, with prominent cheekbones and skin that was a deep bronze color from long-term exposure to ultraviolet rays.
A hideous scar runs across his brow bone; it's a badge of honor from being scratched by an Arctic wolf.
He was a good 1.9 meters tall, and wrapped in that heavy reindeer fur coat, he looked as muscular as a moving wall.
Uyalak ignored the receptionist and scanned the crowd with his eagle-like gaze, instantly locking onto Lin Yu'an at the front desk.
A flash of anger crossed Uyalak's eyes. He strode over, his steps heavy and direct, like a hunter closing in on its prey, carrying undisguised malice.
Several Canadian hunters followed behind him with their arms crossed and a mocking expression, ready to see this "pretty boy from the South" make a fool of himself.
Uyalak walked straight toward Lin Yu'an. The hotel corridor was wide enough for four people to walk side by side. But Uyalak showed no intention of making way.
He stared intently into Lin Yu'an's eyes, a cruel sneer playing on his lips. His shoulders slumped slightly, his muscles tense—a standard "ramming" stance.
On the ice hockey rink, or in a bar in the Arctic, this is the most common way for big guys to teach outsiders a lesson.
He planned to use his terrifyingly large body, weighing over 100 kilograms, to knock the Asian man flying, making him look foolish in public and fall flat on his face.
Five meters — three meters — one meter.
Faced with this human tank rushing towards him at full speed, Lin Yu'an neither dodged nor retreated, and didn't even take his hands out of his pockets.
With just a slight adjustment of his posture, his feet were rooted to the ground, and his core muscles locked up instantly.
"Bang!!!"
A dull thud of flesh colliding with flesh resounded in the lobby!
Everyone thought that the Easterner would fly away like a kite with a broken string.
But the next second, something astonishing happened.
Lin Yu'an stood still, completely motionless. His shoulders didn't even sway, as if a towering iceberg had caught an egg that had crashed into him.
On the contrary, it was Uyalak, who had taken the initiative, who let out a muffled groan.
A tremendous recoil force surged through his body from his shoulder. He felt as if he had crashed into an iron pillar at full speed!
Under this terrifying force, Uyalak's massive body lost its balance and staggered backward uncontrollably!
"Splash—!"
He staggered back five or six steps, finally knocking over the metal shelf displaying brochures by the door and falling to the ground in a disheveled state.
The imposing reindeer-skin coat was also torn open, revealing the thermal underwear underneath.
The lobby was deathly silent.
The Canadian hunters who were waiting to see what would happen stared wide-eyed, not even noticing their cigarettes fall to the ground.
Uyalak scrambled to his feet, his face turning a deep purplish-red. It was humiliation, a humiliation worse than death.
As an Inuit warrior, he actually lost to someone smaller than him in a head-on collision!
"I'm going to kill you!" Uyalak roared in fury, reaching for the hunting knife at his waist.
Immediately afterwards, Uyalak's hand holding the hunting knife froze in mid-air.
Because a cold, dark object had appeared out of thin air in Lin Yu'an's hand, and was pointing steadily at his brow.
That's a Glock 19.
The matte black polymer gun body did not reflect light under the crystal chandelier; only the dark muzzle exuded an aura of death.
Lin Yu'an's gaze was cold, as if he were looking at a dead seal: "Uyalak, your name means 'stone' in Inuit, right?"
"I hope your brain is as hard as your name suggests, instead of blossoming like a rotten watermelon."
"Click".
As if to confirm this statement, a slight pre-trigger click echoed in the deathly silent hall.
Uyalak broke out in a cold sweat instantly. As a hunter, he was all too familiar with that look. It wasn't just a bluff; it was the look of someone who had truly seen blood.
The surrounding Canadian hunters were also terrified, raising their hands above their heads to indicate they meant no harm, and then pulled Uyalak D away.
In the lobby, only Uyalak's heavy breathing could be heard. He was being pulled by his companion, who was staring intently at Lin Yu'an.
His eyes were filled with fear of death and relief at surviving; he really thought he had almost had his head blown off.
The standoff lasted for a full three seconds.
Uyalak's Adam's apple bobbed, and finally he loosened his grip on the hilt of the knife, the anger in his eyes turning into deep apprehension.
The air seemed to freeze; everyone awaited Lin Yu'an's next move. Would he put away his gun? Or call the police?
However, Lin Yu'an did not immediately take back the Glock.
Under Uyalak's horrified gaze, he slowly reached out his left hand, took out a sliced cigar from his coat pocket, and put it in his mouth.
Then, he made a move that took everyone's breath away: he slowly moved the dark muzzle of the gun towards his face, pointing it directly at the cigar in his mouth.
Lin Yu'an looked at the burly man in front of him, who was covered in sweat from fright, and a mocking smile appeared on his lips. He gently pulled the trigger with his index finger.
"Click—whoosh!"
There was no deafening gunfire.
Suddenly, a stream of eerie blue flame shot out from the chilling muzzle of the gun, instantly igniting the cigar tip with a hissing sound.
A cloud of bluish-white smoke rose, filling the air with the aroma of expensive Cuban tobacco.
The lobby fell into an even more eerie silence than before.
Uyalak's eyes were wide open like copper bells, and his mouth was agape enough to fit a fist.
He stared blankly at the "gun muzzle" that was spitting fire, then looked at Lin Yu'an, who was blowing smoke rings with a look of enjoyment.
In that instant, his mind went blank, and then a flush of red rushed from the base of his neck to the top of his head—it was the feeling of blood flowing backward.
That's a lighter.
That's just a lighter!
He, a sled champion from Nunavut, Canada, a warrior who can subdue a musk ox with his bare hands, was actually scared into surrendering by a lighter!
Lin Yu'an toyed with the Glock in his hand, skillfully twirling it in a beautiful arc, and looked at Uyalak as if he were an idiot.
"Don't be nervous, big guy. This thing won't even burn off a single eyebrow."
"Pfft—"
Someone couldn't hold back and a suppressed laugh came from the crowd.
Immediately afterwards, as if it were contagious, the entire hotel lobby erupted in thunderous laughter.
""
"Hahaha! A lighter! That's a lighter!"
"My God, look at that Canadian's face! It's redder than a monkey's butt!"
That laughter was more deadly than bullets. Uyalak stood there, trembling, feeling as if he had been stripped naked and thrown into the square.
Even if Lin Yu'an had actually shot him, he wouldn't be in this much pain.
"You—you—" Uyalak pointed at Lin Yu'an, so angry that he couldn't even utter a complete sentence. He quickly left the hotel lobby.
Lin Yu'an ignored him, straightened her collar, turned to the dumbfounded receptionist, handed him her passport, and said in a completely different tone: "Hello, check-in is here. Also, could you please help me straighten up the shelf on the floor? It'll be on my tab."
"Sir! Sir!"
The waiter wasn't intimidated by the earlier commotion at the table, but he treated the smoking cigar with great suspicion.
"This is a smoke-free hotel! Smoking is strictly prohibited! Please extinguish your cigarette immediately, otherwise it will trigger the fire sprinkler system!"
"Oh, I'm sorry."
Lin Yu'an readily took the water glass from the front desk and plunged the freshly lit cigar into it with a "whoosh".
"I was just demonstrating this lighter for everyone, sorry." Lin Yu'an smiled and casually placed a 1000 crown note on the table as a tip and compensation for the water glass.
The waiter, who had been keeping a straight face, suddenly had his pupils contract when he saw the denomination of the banknote.
The serious, businesslike expression on his face melted away instantly, replaced by a respectful, professional smile.
He quickly put away the banknotes, picked up the glass of dirty water, and put it aside: "It's alright, sir. As long as you don't smoke it, you're not breaking the rules."
I'll check you in right away!
After checking in, Lin Yu'an did not rush back to his room, but went straight to the hotel's scenic restaurant.
Odak, Maria, and Noah were having a buffet with their children at a window seat.
Although the restaurant serves exquisite French cuisine and Greenlandic flavors, the atmosphere is somewhat peculiar.
As soon as Lin Yu'an entered the restaurant, the previously noisy conversation seemed to instantly decrease by a few decibels.
Many diners stopped eating and secretly stared at him with a mixture of awe, curiosity, and even fear.
"Hey! Lin, over here!"
Odak, oblivious to the strangeness around him, waved the crab leg in his hand and called out.
Lin Yu'an walked over and sat down, grabbing a glass of ice water as he went.
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"What's going on?" Noah keenly sensed something was wrong. "When I went to get the dessert just now, I heard some guides at the next table talking."
"They said something happened in the lobby, an Asian man pulled out a gun and pointed it at some big, dumb guy's head—was that you?"
Audak put down the crab leg he was holding and looked at Lin Yu'an with concern: "Lin, are you alright?"
"You're not injured."
Lin Yu'an cut a piece of smoked fresh fish and put it in his mouth, speaking in a calm tone as if he were talking about today's weather.
"There was a little scuffle. That guy tried to bump me with his shoulder, but he ended up falling flat on his face. Then, in a fit of anger, he tried to pull out his knife."
"Draw your sword?!" Odak gasped. "Then what did you do? You really—draw your gun?"
"Sila, there are police here! If you illegally possess a gun in the hotel, you will be deported!"
Seeing Audak sweating profusely with anxiety, Lin Yu'an put down his knife and fork, a wicked smile playing on his lips.
"Don't rush, Odak. How could I do something so stupid?"
He slowly took out the black Glock 19 from his pocket and gently placed it on the clean white tablecloth.
The black gun barrel gleamed with a cold metallic sheen under the crystal chandelier.
Maria covered her mouth in fright, and Odak instinctively tried to cover it with a napkin, afraid that the waiter would see it.
"Watch."
Lin Yu'an gently blew on the ambient candle that was burning in the center of the dining table.
"call"
The candle went out, leaving only a wisp of smoke rising.
Immediately afterward, under the questioning gazes of the three men, Lin Yu'an picked up the gun.
He steadily aimed the dark muzzle of the gun at the still-smoking candle wick and gently pulled the trigger with his index finger.
"Click—Sizzle!"
The next second, the candles suddenly reignited, their warm orange light illuminating everyone's faces once more.
A deathly silence fell over the dining table.
Audak's eyes widened as he looked at the reignited candle, then at the flaming "gun barrel," and finally at Lin Yu'an, who had a mocking expression on his face.
"This—this is—"
"Windproof lighter".
"You mean—" Odak felt his brain short-circuit a bit, "Uyalak, in front of everyone—was so scared by a candle-lighting thing that he raised his hands in surrender?"
"That's right." Lin Yu'an shrugged. "His face at that moment was more interesting than this candle."
"Pfft—hahahahahaha!"
Once he realized what was happening, Odak finally erupted.
He slapped his thigh and laughed so hard he almost fell over, drawing stares from everyone in the restaurant.
"Lighter! Hahahaha! By Sila! Lin, you're so mean! You're a devil!"
"This is worse than killing him! It's like destroying his spirit! That idiot will never be able to hold his head up again!"
Odak laughed so hard he could hardly breathe, wiping away tears as he said, "I can already picture the look on his face when he gets back—like he'd eaten shit! Tomorrow at the competition, I'm going to tell this joke to everyone in Greenland!"
Noah, sitting to the side, couldn't help but smile.
She reached out and gently took Lin Yu'an's hand under the table, her worry turning into deeper admiration and love.
Even when facing a savage behemoth like Uyalak, he doesn't need to resort to violence to solve problems.
With wisdom and courage alone, one can manipulate the enemy at will, making them lose not only face but also courage.
Lin Yu'an grasped Noah's hand in return and smiled faintly: "To deal with a beast that only uses brute force, you don't need to actually fire a gun. Just make him feel afraid, and that's enough."
"Alright, are you full? We should go back and rest. Get a good night's sleep tonight. We won't have any lighters to use on the track tomorrow."
The next day, at 05:30 AM.
Even with the heavy blackout curtains drawn, the morning light still stubbornly seeped in through the gaps.
In April, darkness is a rare commodity in the Arctic Circle. The sun is already bright at four in the morning.
Lin Yu'an quickly put on a pair of dark sports sunglasses and then began to put on his gear.
When he walked out of the hotel's back door and into the makeshift kennel area, the air was as crisp as mint.
The thermometer showed only minus eighteen degrees Celsius, but under the scorching sun, there was no biting cold; instead, there was a dry chill under the blazing sun.
Odak and Pita had already arrived.
The two men, both wearing reflective goggles that covered almost half their faces, were busy working around a huge stainless steel barrel.
A portable gas stove was raised beneath the bucket, inside which a pot of warm liquid, emitting a fishy and greasy aroma, was simmering.
"Good morning, Lin!" Odak was clearly in a good mood, the sunlight shining on his oily face. "The sun is shining brightly today, a great day for racing."
"Good morning." Lin Yu'an walked over and glanced at the contents of the bucket—it was the most important "breakfast" before the competition.
It's not meat chunks, but "high-energy soup".
It is made from a mixture of warm water, minced seal fat, fish oil, and high-protein powder.
"The temperature is just right." Odak took off his gloves and tested the temperature of the soup with his fingers.
"Never feed them dry meat two hours before the race, otherwise they are prone to gastric torsion under strenuous running. They must drink plenty of water now, as this is their coolant."
"I've been practicing this for forty years," Odak chuckled, and began to use a long-handled spoon to distribute the brown liquid into each dog's food bowl.
The once restless pack of dogs instantly fell silent, leaving only the uniform sound of licking.
Lin Yu-an walked towards his head dog, "Mars".
The bright red Greenland dog lay quietly on the snow, not rushing to grab food like other young male dogs.
As it saw Lin Yu'an approaching, it gently swept the snow with the tip of its tail.
Lin Yu'an squatted down, grabbed Huoxing's front paw, and carefully examined each toe.
"The snow conditions are unusual today," Lin Yu'an said, frowning as he inspected the snow.
April in Greenland features a typical freeze-thaw cycle.
During the day, the snow melts slightly under the sunlight, but at night the temperature drops sharply, causing the snow to freeze into a hard ice crust in the early morning.
The surface ice shell is extremely sharp, like shards of glass. If you don't wear proper boots, their footpads will be cut through within five kilometers.
Lin Yu'an took out a box of Vaseline from his pocket and applied it thickly to the dog's paw pads to prevent the snowballs from sticking.
Then, skillfully, he put a red nylon anti-friction boot on it and tightened it with Velcro.
"Pita, stop taking pictures!" Odak yelled, turning around. "Go get that box of new boots! We have 24 dogs, that's 96 feet that need shoes! Hurry up!"
"Okay, Uncle Odak!" Peeta put away his phone with a bitter face, looked at the mountain of boots, and began the tedious assembly line work.
With the dog taken care of, the next step is the sled.
Lin Yu'an and Audak walked to the traditional fan-shaped sled that was three meters long.
He flipped the sled over, revealing the skis underneath. For the competition, Odak had specially covered them with a layer of black high-molecular-weight polyethylene material.
Odak took out several bottles of professional ski wax in different colors, saying, "April mornings are the most difficult."
It's minus eighteen degrees Celsius now. The snow is as hard as stone, with high friction and strong static electricity.
But as the competition progresses and the sun rises higher, the temperature may drop to minus five degrees Celsius, causing the snow to soften and become sticky, creating an adhesive force.
This is a game about friction.
Lin Yu-an ultimately chose a blue low-temperature hard wax to match the underlying graphite antistatic wax.
His expression was as focused as if he were polishing a sniper rifle. He pressed the wax layer forcefully into the micropores of the skateboard, then smoothed it with a scraper, and finally polished it vigorously with cork.
Until the skateboard surface has a mirror-like shine.
Everything is ready.
07:00 AM, the event assembly area.
When the convoy arrived at the entrance to the Ilulissat Icefjord, it had already transformed into a world of light.
The massive icebergs were completely transparent in the sunlight, gleaming with a sapphire-like luster. All the snow was a dazzling white, making the whole world look like an overexposed photograph.
Drones buzzed overhead like flies, and media from all over the world set up their cameras and microphones outside the fence.
All the athletes, spectators, and staff members had huge snow goggles on their faces, making it look like a gathering of alien creatures.
The qualifying rules were announced over the loudspeaker in Greenlandic, Danish, and English: "The course is 30 kilometers long, traversing the A3 ice zone. It starts with a mass start, and the top twenty finishers qualify for the main race."
As soon as Lin Yu'an's convoy entered the venue, several unfriendly glances were caught behind his sunglasses.
On the left is the "Southern Young Masters Team" that Odak mentioned yesterday.
-
Their style is completely different. They all use carbon fiber ultralight sleds, and although they also use Greenland dogs, those dogs have been selectively bred for many generations and have a slender body like greyhounds.
It has short fur and long legs, and is even wearing a thermal vest provided by a sponsor.
Some of the young competitors, wearing tight-fitting racing suits, even unzipped their collars to dissipate heat.
They looked at Lin Yu-an's "country bumpkin" setup, which involved using a traditional, heavy wooden sled, and a hint of superiority appeared in their eyes.
But an even more piercing gaze came from the right, from Uyalak and his Nunavut forces.
Uyalak seems to have become even more gloomy after last night's lighter incident.
He no longer shouted and provoked as he had yesterday, but instead stared intently at Lin Yu'an like a wounded grizzly bear.
Even with black tactical goggles on, you could still feel that venomous gaze.
Audak was helping Lin Yu'an organize that pile of complicated fan-shaped ropes. "Hmph, it seems our friend is in a bad mood today."
Then he pointed to the sky and whispered, "Lin, be careful. Although the light is good, this kind of 'flat lighting' can be a trap."
"At this time of day, the sun is at a low angle, resulting in severe diffuse reflection of light, and the uneven ground casts almost no shadows. What appears to be a smooth snowfield may conceal snow pits or protruding icicles."
"Okay, Audak, I'll be careful."
Lin Yu'an stood on the sled pedals, adjusted the straps of his goggles, and put on brighter yellow lenses to ensure a clear view in this excessively bright world.
He tightened the main rope in his hand, feeling the strength transmitted from the twelve dogs at the other end of the rope.
The lead dog, Mars, had already stood up, its ears standing straight up, and its muscles taut like a fully drawn bowstring.
It sensed the competitive spirit of hundreds of its kind around it and let out a low war roar.
Meanwhile, Lin Yu'an noticed an interesting detail.
To make his dogs stronger, Uyalak is feeding his pack of dogs chunks of raw, bloody meat. The Canadian Inuit dogs are eating with their mouths full of blood, looking incredibly fierce.
Lin Yu'an observed carefully and found that these dogs were subtly different from the Greenland dogs of Odak.
Their legs appeared to be taller, their skeletons thicker, and their fur more bushy and unruly, giving them the aura of untamed wolves.
"That's a Canadian Inuit." Odak followed Lin Yu'an's gaze, his eyes filled with the scrutiny of an expert.
"Many people can't tell the difference between them and Greenland dogs. In fact, thousands of years ago, when our Thule ancestors crossed the Smith Strait to Greenland, they brought this kind of dog with them."
"Genetically speaking, they are our Greenland dogs' brothers, sharing the same ancestor. That's why the organizing committee allowed them to compete."
"Greenlandic law strictly prohibits Huskies or Alaskan Malamutes from entering the Arctic Circle, for fear of contaminating their bloodlines."
"But for the Canadian Inuit, we see them as returning family members, the only foreign breed allowed to compete on this track."
"However—" Odak changed the subject, pointing to the group of giant beasts tearing at chunks of flesh.
"Although they are related, they are still slightly different. Their dogs retain more weight, usually 5 to 10 kilograms heavier than our dogs, and are stronger, but also more difficult to control."
Lin Yu'an raised an eyebrow: "Feeding raw meat? At this time?"
Odak narrowed his eyes: "That's not ignorance, that's arrogance. This is typical Nunavut heavy armor build."
"From the perspective of hunters in Canada, our high-energy soup, although it is absorbed quickly, is water for sissies."
"They believe that only undigested raw meat can keep a dog's most primal bloodlust and sustained explosive power."
"It's an extreme gamble," Odak explained. "If these dogs have strong enough stomachs to hold their own against the churning chunks of meat during a violent run."
"Then, in the second half of the race, when our dogs were hungry, their dogs were at their zenith, with inexhaustible strength."
"But he forgot about today's terrain." Lin Yu'an looked at the Inuit dogs wolfing down their food through his goggles.
Odak added, "Indeed, he might have won on flat ground. But today's track was a hard, washboard-like surface of snow, plus flat lighting that obscured any undulations."
"The violent up-and-down jolting will turn the chunks of meat in his stomach into a burden. He wanted to use brute force to crush the track, but the track will teach him a lesson."
"Just watch, those bandits will either have to slow down to digest halfway through their run, or they'll be jostled so much they'll throw up their breakfast."
Just then, the referee raised the red flare gun high.
"Everyone, get ready!"
The entire field of fifty teams and more than six hundred dogs instantly erupted into a frenzy of barking, the sound as powerful as a tsunami, even the ice beneath their feet resonated.
All the sleds were shaking violently, gathering strength for a critical moment.
Lin Yu'an took a deep breath of the cold air, bent his knees slightly, lowered his center of gravity, and gripped the handlebars tightly with both hands, his body becoming one with the sled.
"Bang!"
A signal flare streaked across the sky.
"Huk!!!"
Lin Yu-an let out a loud shout and released the brakes.
Twelve bolts of lightning of different colors erupted instantly, and the enormous pulling force propelled the sled out, stirring up a cloud of snow dust, and plunging it into the white battlefield!
(Dear readers, the new book has been released using a new account. Feel free to check it out if you're interested!)