Chapter 610 - 401: Reviving the Ice Ridge Dragon
As Running continued to excavate,
his body also gradually advanced into the area hundreds of meters below the ice.
His excavation method was rather brute,
and the noise was extremely loud.
It could be heard for several kilometers around.
Yet, strangely, it did not cause any large-scale fractures in the ice layer.
Only the part he excavated turned into countless ice shards, forming a near-cylindrical passage, perfectly vertical to the Earth’s core, making one marvel at the precision of his excavation.
This was because after the Excavation Skill evolved into Earth Escape, his excavation method changed from relying on brute force to leveraging gravity for a rotational downward push.
The benefit of this excavation method is that it is very energy-efficient, as he only needs to rely on gravity for the main force, providing just a little rotational power himself.
Another advantage is that the excavated pits are very regular, akin to holes drilled by screws, cylindrical and perfectly vertical to the Earth’s core, greatly preventing any pit collapses.
With this Earth Escape method, Running took just half a minute to excavate over a thousand meters, faster than normal human running speed.
In fact, to protect Antarctica’s ice layers and land,
most Antarctic drilling research involves extracting a cylindrical ice core through drill pipes, and then studying the ancient organisms, ancient microorganisms, etc., in the ice core and ice debris to ascertain condensation records under ancient climate conditions.
This drilling method is also often used in rock drilling, as it allows understanding the land’s geological changes at the lowest cost.
However, compared to Running’s excavation method, this drilling method is much less efficient. Furthermore, the drilling limit rarely exceeds two thousand meters, and each additional thousand meters requires significant technical breakthroughs.
After reaching one thousand meters, Running began to notice the surrounding changes.
First, the change in the ice layer; the color of the ice layer had transformed from the original blue to a milky white, resembling spilled and solidified milk, densely packed with rice-grain-sized bubbles. Here, many fern spore fossils embedded in the ice layer could be seen, indicating that these fossils appeared about two thousand years ago given the ice layer’s depth.
Beyond one thousand meters, the bubbles noticeably decreased, the transparency diminished, and the color of the ice layer became increasingly dark, increasingly unlike traditional ice. Occasionally, layers of volcanic ash could be seen.
Here, many remnants of ancient life forms were already visible. For example, remnants of various small Antarctic organisms that no longer exist, although ancient Dinosaur remains were not yet visible.
Running could feel the hardness of the ice layer increasing, gradually becoming harder than rock, as these millennia-old ice formed over time had become exceptionally hard. The hardness of ice relates linearly to temperature. Yet, after all, this is still on Earth, where even Antarctica’s lowest temperature is not below minus eighty degrees Celsius; it’s not at a crushing level. Unless the ice layers were formed at temperatures below minus two hundred degrees Celsius, hardness would not pose a problem for Running.
After several minutes of excavation,
finally, Running arrived at about three thousand meters depth, where the ice layer had turned blue-black, and the transparency was very low, requiring the activation of Human Body Glow to see things clearly here.
Meanwhile, Running’s Primordial Qi could already detect the lake beneath the ice layer,
where the water pressure was very high due to long-term pressure from the ice layer and filled with many impurities.
Running continued digging, opening up the remaining thousand meters of ice layer,
and then dropped into the water.
Gills appeared on both sides of his neck, starting to filter the lake water instantly.
However, the numerous microorganisms and ancient bacterial viruses in the water caused some adverse reactions in Running’s gills, but fortunately, his strong metabolism and adaptive immune cells neutralized these bacteria in about three seconds.
Running squinted and scanned around. This lake was unexpectedly not as turbid as he imagined; instead, it was very pure, purer than the purified water used for drinking. He could see quite far through the lake water without even utilizing Microscopic Focus vision.
Additionally, the lake water here seemed to have an extraordinarily high oxygen content due to the high-pressure environment, perhaps fifty times that of ordinary lakes. After taking a few breaths, Running’s gills felt uncomfortable. Bearing with this discomfort, he swam several laps in the lake but didn’t see anything unusual.
"So there really aren’t ancient relics or alien relics as I imagined..." Running couldn’t help but feel a sense of loss. If even Antarctica couldn’t help him find any Extraordinary relics, then what means could possibly lead him to them?
"Logically, this oxygen concentration should have fostered large-sized organisms. The microorganisms here are also abundant; evolving into life forms shouldn’t be an issue..." Running thought to himself.
The notion that high oxygen levels can foster giant organisms has scientific backing. For example, the waters around Antarctica, due to very low temperatures which can increase dissolved oxygen concentration, have high oxygen content, leading to the birth of many giant organisms—a phenomenon known as "Polar Gigantism."