svetikya Chapter 407 The Northernmost Village in the World
Chapter 407 The Northernmost Village in the World
Chapter 407 The Northernmost Village in the World
Theolapaluk, the northernmost natural village in the world, is located dozens of kilometers further north than Karnak. The living conditions there are harsher, and the hunters are more traditional and xenophobic.
Soon, three sleds arrived at Lin Yu'an's rest stop. The one in the lead was an exceptionally lean middle-aged man with more defined facial features than the average Inuit.
Especially his eyes, which shone brightly under the headlamp, had a unique and distinctive charm.
He walked straight to Lin Yu'an and Aoda's sled, took off his goggles, revealing a weathered face that carried a different air from the locals.
He looked directly at Lin Yu'an and said in slightly broken but quite clear English, "You're Lin? The man who killed a black bear with a bow and arrow on TV."
This is not a question, but a statement.
Lin Yu'an nodded, somewhat surprised. He hadn't expected that people in such a remote place would still watch television.
"My name is Kenta." The man extended his hand, his palm rough and strong. "I am the hunter leader of Theolapaluk, and I invite you to visit us on behalf of our village."
The invitation came so suddenly and directly that it caught both Lin Yu'an and Audak off guard.
Odak immediately stepped forward and said with a hint of wariness and protectiveness, "Kenta, Lin is my guest. He's coming back to Karnak with me first."
Kenta shook his head, his gaze still fixed on Lin Yu'an.
"A hunter should not be without prey. What Karnak has, we in Theolapaluk also have. What Karnak does not have, we also have."
He began listing his assets with confidence: "Our hunting grounds are further north, deeper inland."
"The musk ox herds there are even larger, almost undisturbed, and the bulls' horns are as big as washbasins."
"In the valley behind our village lies the largest puffin breeding ground in the Arctic. In the summer, there are millions of puffins there; it's a veritable mountain of meat."
He paused, then offered his most enticing condition: "Most importantly, we know the way to Devil's Fjord."
Upon hearing the name "Devil's Fjord," Odak's breath caught in his throat.
"That's the legendary breeding ground for polar bears," Kenta's voice seemed to possess a magical quality, each word striking a chord deep within Odak's heart.
"It's also the only place on this coastline where you can still reliably find herds of walruses. For twenty years, none of your hunters from Karnak have dared to go there."
"Devil's Fjord" —
These four words, like a rusty key, suddenly pierced into the deepest part of Audak's memory, prying open a long-sealed past filled with glory and endless regret.
Lin Yu'an keenly noticed that Audak's expression instantly turned serious, and his body began to tremble slightly but uncontrollably.
He asked in a low voice, "Odak? You know that place?"
Audak seemed to wake from a nightmare. He took a deep breath, his voice hoarse as if sandpaper was being rubbed: "I know—how could I not know—"
He didn't look at Lin Yu'an, but stared intently at Kenta.
"Twenty years ago, I was a young man who didn't know the immensity of the world. I took my younger brother and the three best hunters in the village and ventured into that hellish place."
His voice was filled with regret: "We found the walrus, but we also encountered the Petrarch wind."
"The wind blew my brother into a crevice in the ice—I couldn't even find his body."
"From that day on, that place became a forbidden zone in Karnak. And it became my—inner demon."
Hunting a fully grown male walrus in "Devil's Fjord" and seizing its perfect tusks was once Audak's biggest dream when he was young.
But after that disaster, the dream became a bloody scar, a regret he could never make up for in his entire life.
He had thought this regret would stay with him until his grave.
But now, a man from Theolapaluk has once again presented this opportunity to him in a bloody manner.
Lin Yu'an instantly understood, looking at the old man beside him who was tormented by the past, and felt a sense of comprehension.
This is no longer a simple hunting invitation; it could be a redemption for Audak.
He looked directly at Kenta and calmly asked, "Mr. Kenta, if I may be so bold, why would you invite an outsider like me to your most secret hunting grounds?"
A smile appeared on Kenta's face, a smile that carried an ancient honesty.
"Because of our tradition, Theolapaluk welcomes true warriors."
He pointed at Lin Yu'an: "We saw your performance in the wilderness on TV. You defeated a powerful black bear all by yourself."
"Your courage and skill have earned the respect of all of us. Inviting you is a way of paying tribute to you."
Lin Yu'an nodded, accepting the reason. But he glanced at Audak beside him, whose fists were clenched, and knew that he shouldn't be the protagonist of today's matter.
So he said, "Okay, I accept your invitation."
A hint of joy flashed in Kenta's eyes.
"However," Lin Yu'an changed the subject, pointing to Audak beside him, "I can go, but on one condition. Audak must come with me."
He looked at Kenta, and then at Odak, and said, word by word, "He is my mentor and my partner. Wherever I go, he must be there."
Audak suddenly raised his head. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but found that his throat felt like it was blocked by ice, and he couldn't utter a single word.
Kenta glanced at the excited Odak, then at Lin Yu'an with a determined look in his eyes.
Finally, he slowly nodded, a welcoming smile appearing on his face: "Of course."
"However—" Lin Yu'an glanced at his and Audak's two sleds, which were piled up like small mountains, full of canned food, whiskey and various equipment that they had just traded from the US military base.
"We need to go back to Karnak first to unload these goods. And my dog also needs to be fed the best food in preparation for the tough battle ahead."
Kenta understood: "No problem, we'll wait for you on the ice field outside Karnak. Is an hour enough?"
"Half an hour is enough."
Kanak, at Odak's doorstep.
When Lin Yu'an and Audak's sled sped back to the village, Maria and Noah were looking out the door with little Alek.
"Quickly! Maria! Get out the best jerky and whale oil! And wipe that .30-06 rifle clean too—"
Oil!"
Maria looked at her husband's face, which was both excited and pale, and was somewhat puzzled.
Odak jumped out of the truck and frantically unloaded the cargo while explaining everything that had just happened in rapid succession.
Upon hearing the name "Devil's Fjord," Maria's face turned deathly pale: "No! Odak! Are you insane?!"
Maria's voice was filled with fear: "Have you forgotten Sila's curse on that place? You promised me you'd never go to that awful place again!"
"I know! I know!" Odak didn't dare look his wife in the eye, and just kept his head down carrying the heavy case of whiskey.
"But this time is different! Lin is here! And—Kenta and the others know the safe route!"
"Aata (Grandpa) ————"
Five-year-old Alek seemed to sense the heavy atmosphere.
He ran over, tugged at Odak's leather jacket, looked up at him with his little face, and asked in a childish voice, "Grandpa, where are you going? What's 'Devil's Fjord'?"
Audak put down what he was holding, squatted down, and looked into his grandson's innocent eyes.
He thought of his younger brother, who was forever trapped in the ice crevice. If his brother were still alive, he would be a grandfather by now.
He rubbed his grandson's head, his voice hoarse: "No, Alek. There are no monsters there. There's something Grandpa lost when he was young—Grandpa is going to find it."
Half an hour later.
The two refurbished sleds set off again.
This time, all the unnecessary equipment was removed from the vehicle, leaving only the finest hunting gear, high-calorie food, and sufficient ammunition.
When they arrived at the meeting point outside the village, Kenta's three sleds were waiting quietly in the snow.
"Let's go, Odak." Kenta nodded as he looked at the old man, who had regained his hunter's nature.
Lin Yu'an drove the Mars Squadron alongside Audac's Sky, following Kenta's three lead vehicles, heading towards a more northern and desolate unknown region.
This time, they are not only going to conquer the walrus, but also the nightmare that has been frozen in the heart of an old hunter for twenty years.
The road to Theolapaluk was even more desolate, and the ice surface even more rugged. Odak's sled followed closely beside Lin Yu'an.
The excitement from "Devil's Fjord" had gradually subsided, replaced by a cautiousness typical of an old hunter.
As they passed a bumpy ice mound, he came closer and said, "Lin, my friend—actually, this matter isn't that simple."
Lin Yu'an was somewhat surprised: "Why? Is there some other legal constraint?"
"No, but—" Odak glanced back at Kenta, who was leading the way, "You don't understand them. The people of Theolapaluk never do business without a return."
"Devil's Fjord is a trap; they have ulterior motives. Do you know why they're so eager to invite you?"
"Is it really just because of your fame on television?" Odak scoffed. "That's just an obvious excuse."
"Their real goal is to have you leave your seed there."
"What?" Lin Yu'an didn't react for a moment. The word was too primitive, which surprised him.
Odak sighed and began to explain that not-so-distant history: "If you look closely at Kenta's face, his facial features are different from those of us pure-blooded Inughuit people."
"That's because their blood contains genes from the distant East, just like yours."
"About 50 years ago, a Japanese man named Ikuo Oshima came here. He stayed and married the most capable woman in the village at the time."
"Oshima not only brought new tools, but more importantly, he brought new blood."
"His children and grandchildren are all smarter and stronger than their peers. Kenta, the man in front of you, is one of Oshima's descendants."
"Theolapaluk is too remote. They haven't had any foreign blood for many years, and the problem of inbreeding is getting more and more serious, resulting in weaker and weaker children."
Audak looked at Lin Yu'an with an extremely strange expression: "Now, they treat you like a second Great Island. They desperately need new, strong bloodlines to improve their offspring."
The old hunter clicked his tongue. "So, they didn't invite you over, Lin. They're using 'Devil's Fjord' as a bargaining chip."
"They're inviting you to be their stud. If all goes well, tonight they'll bring the village's prettiest girl, all cleaned up, to your place."
"This is their real reason for inviting you."
Lin Yu'an's grip on the sled handle tightened suddenly, and an extremely absurd feeling instantly surged into his heart.
He had experienced life-or-death battles, confronted giant bears, and even just played a deadly game with a crazed female major in a fully armed military base.
But he never dreamed that one day he would be regarded as a fine "stud" and invited to breed with a price tag.
"Audak, to be honest, this is insane." Lin Yu'an's tone was tinged with helplessness and anger.
"Every child is an angel, and parents should give them the best life and love, instead of being born into this world without knowing who their father is!"
"I absolutely refuse to accept my child being born this way! We're turning back to Karnak right now."
"reject?"
"Lin, my friend, do you think this is like buying something at a supermarket, where you can return it if you don't want it anymore?"
"Listen, for Theolapaluk and his men, they have extended the most solemn and honorable invitation."
"In their culture, inviting a powerful outsider to share their bloodline is the highest praise and recognition you can receive; it shows they see you as a gift from God."
"If you turn around and leave now, it's as serious as flipping the table at your Chinese New Year banquet; it's an insult to their entire village."
"They won't kill you, but from now on, your reputation will be completely ruined throughout northern Greenland. You will be seen as a cowardly, arrogant, and disrespectful coward."
"What should we do then?" Lin Yu'an sensed the difficulty of the situation.
This is no longer a simple moral issue, but a cultural conflict involving honor and the rules of survival.
"Ultimately, the main reason you agreed to go is me, and I won't let them force you." Odak blinked. "While you can't refuse, you can choose not to."
"No way?" Lin Yu'an didn't understand.
"No, that won't work."
Odak lowered his voice and began to impart the ancient and practical survival wisdom of the Inuit.
"Once you arrive, just accept their hospitality as usual. If they send their prettiest girl to your tent, let her in too."
"and then?"
"Then you talk to her," Odak said matter-of-factly. "You tell her stories about hunting in Texas, about building houses in Alaska."
"You treat her like the most honored guest, singing to her and telling her jokes, but you don't touch her."
"Girls are very smart. If you treat her politely all night, she will tell everyone herself by the next morning."
The man was very strong and very polite, but he missed his wife who was far away so much that his body could not accept another woman.
The old hunter patted Lin Yu'an on the shoulder, his face full of pride: "See? This way, all the problems are solved."
"Their people saved face because they had done the highest level of hospitality."
"And that girl preserved her dignity, not because she lacked charm, but because of your unwavering loyalty."
"And you," Odak pointed to Lin Yu'an's chest, "have preserved your honor and kept your promise to your wife."
"You're not only a formidable hunter, but also a devoted husband. This will make your reputation far greater than if you'd killed ten bears!"
"Of course, the premise is that you can resist that kind of—warm temptation."
"However, it's okay if you can't withstand it," Odak shrugged.
"This is not uncommon in Greenland. After all, no village would be willing to spend tens of thousands of crowns to buy seeds from a hospital; only a fool would do that."
Lin Yu'an couldn't help but admire how these indigenous people, who had survived in extreme environments for thousands of years, had mastered the art of human relationships and the rules of survival.
This approach is practically the "Greenland version of high emotional intelligence."
"I understand." Lin Yu'an breathed a sigh of relief, finally feeling a weight lifted from her heart.
"Odak, sometimes I really think you're much smarter than us civilized people."
"Ha ha!" Audak laughed triumphantly. "On the ice plains, brains are more important than guns, my friend."
As they talked, the lights flickering in the darkness ahead became clearer and clearer.
A village even more primitive than Karnak, like a giant beast lurking at the edge of the world, slowly unfolded before them.
【XNUM X Year X NUM X Month X NUM X Day】
Theolapaluk, we've arrived.
It doesn't feel like a small town like Karnak; it's more like a primitive camp scattered at the edge of the ice field.
A dozen or so low wooden houses are scattered on the hillside. To protect against the strong winds blowing from the ice sheet in the north, almost every house only has its roof and a row of small windows showing.
Kenta led the two to a semi-basement hut specifically for receiving visiting hunters.
To enter the house, one must first descend a steep wooden staircase before pushing open a second, heavy inner door draped with an animal-skin curtain.
A warm current, a mixture of the smell of incompletely burned diesel, the aroma of grease, and the smell of dried animal hides, instantly rushed over, completely shutting out the minus thirty degrees Celsius cold outside.
The room was warm, but dimly lit.
The main heat source was an old-fashioned cylindrical drip oil stove in the corner, with a transparent oil can hanging above it.
Diesel fuel was dripping into the combustion chamber through a thin copper tube, making a soft "drip...drip..." sound, while a steady orange flame burned in the furnace.
This type of stove requires no electricity, relies solely on gravity to supply oil, and has a simple and durable structure, making it a standard feature in polar hunter cabins.
On the other side of the room, on a stone table, sat a completely different lamp—a traditional seal oil lamp.
The wick, made of dried moss and soaked in melted seal oil, burned with a bright, warm flame without any black smoke.
Although its light was not as bright as an electric light, it brought a sacred and peaceful atmosphere to this rugged little house.
Kenta pointed to the oil lamp, his tone respectful, "This is a lamp that my mother lit especially for you."
She said that electric lights have no soul, and only the smell of burning seal oil can make Sila feel at ease.
1
The floor was covered with a thick carpet of polar bear skin, and stepping on it felt like walking on clouds.
In the corner was a huge red oil drum—the lifeline of this little house through the winter.
"Get some rest. We'll set off tomorrow when the wind has died down."
Kenta left behind a pot of hot tea and a plate of sliced raw whale skin, then politely withdrew, closing the heavy inner door behind him.
Only Lin Yu'an and Ao Dak remained in the room, along with the seal oil lamp that cast swaying shadows on the wall.
Lin Yu'an looked around; apart from the sound of the wind, it was quiet outside.
There were no young girls bathing and changing clothes, nor were there any ambiguous hints.
As he tidied his sleeping bag, he couldn't help but tease, "Odak, could you be wrong? No one's knocking on the door, and no one's bringing girls."
"They might just want to invite us hunting and maybe catch up with each other."
"Hmph, young."
Odak wasn't embarrassed by the failed prediction; instead, he displayed a seasoned expression: "Lin, my friend, nothing in the Arctic is free."
"When you ask someone for a favor, you should indeed offer a reward first, but it also depends on whether you have the ability to take it."
"They probably want to test the waters first. If you're scared out of your wits by the walruses like a coward during tomorrow's hunt, they certainly won't give you the best flowers in the village."
"Here, only the genes of the strong are worth preserving."
Lin Yu'an smiled and placed the Type 56 semi-automatic rifle next to his pillow. "Alright, go to sleep. Looking forward to tomorrow's hunt."
The next morning.
When they pushed open the heavy wooden door, Kenta and two other young hunters were already waiting outside, with sleds and packs of dogs ready to go.
The two hunters were Kenta's cousins, with typical Inuit and Japanese mixed-race facial features, slightly flat cheekbones, and long, bright eyes.
They were dressed in white camouflage clothing, carrying old-fashioned Lee-Enfield rifles, and long-handled skinning knives hanging from their waists; they were clearly skilled people who made a living in the ice crevasses year-round.
"Did you sleep well, Lin?" Kenta's gaze swept over Lin Yu-an, seemingly assessing his condition.
"Very good, there is absolute silence here." Lin Yu'an stretched his shoulders and slung the modified Type 56 semi-automatic rifle over his back.
"That's good. Sila's in a good mood today. The wind is blowing south; it's a good day to head to the edge of Devil's Fjord."
Kenta's gaze fell on the gun on Lin Yu'an's back, and he frowned slightly: "You only brought this gun? Its caliber—is it intermediate power round?"
"This thing isn't even as powerful as my .303 when it comes to hunting walruses," muttered a young hunter named Aki, patting the wooden stock of his old-fashioned rifle on his back.
His words represent the simple values of polar hunters: walruses have thick skin and thick flesh, and their skulls are as hard as stone.
Only full-power bullets can guarantee the penetrating power to kill with a single shot.
"That's enough." Lin Yu'an patted the gun, his tone as calm as if he were stating a fact.
Kenta looked at Lin Yu'an with a serious expression, reminding her, "Lin, I have to tell you. Walrus skulls are very thick, especially the forehead."
"If your shot misses or doesn't penetrate enough, the bullet might ricochet. Then we'll be facing a wounded and berserk monster, and that's no joke."
Lin Yu'an pulled out a bright yellow 7.62.39mm bullet and held it between his fingers. "I know you guys are used to using heavy bullets, like .303 caliber 180-grain bullets."
"But this bullet is different. Although its caliber is small, its cross-sectional density is higher and its flight speed is faster. Moreover, I used a full copper bullet, not an ordinary lead-core soft-point bullet."
"In addition, I won't hit its hard forehead, I'll hit the small piece of cartilage behind its ear that connects to the atlas."
"There, it wasn't protected by a thick skull. This ice pick was powerful enough to precisely sever its central nervous system."
After listening to this analysis, Kenta fell into deep thought, but Aki and another hunter next to him exchanged a glance, revealing undisguised doubt.
"That sounds nice," Aki scoffed, crossing his arms and speaking in broken English, "Behind the ear? That place is only the size of a coin."
"Besides, a walrus's neck is all fat, you can't see it at all. At a distance of eighty meters, against the sea wind, you think you can hit it? Do you think you're an Olympic champion?"
"Theory is theory, and the ice field is the ice field. We hunt based on experience, not textbooks. If the bullets aren't powerful enough, they just aren't powerful enough."
Lin Yu'an wasn't angry at being questioned. He simply put away his bullets, glanced at the two men, and a playful smile appeared on his lips: "Sounds like you don't have much confidence in my marksmanship?"
"We only trust the guns in our own hands." Aki patted his Lee Enfield, his tone full of pride.
"Okay, I hope you'll still be this confident in a little while," Lin Yu-an's gaze sharpened.
Kenta watched this scene without stopping it. He also wanted to see for himself whether this Asian man truly possessed the necessary strength.
"Set off!"
The journey to Devil's Fjord is a silent march.
As the group ventured deeper north, the surrounding scenery became increasingly desolate and oppressive.
This is no longer the flat, open sea ice around Karnak, but a broken world shaped by both glaciers and the ocean.
Huge ice floes drifted slowly in the sea like moving mountain ranges.
The two sides are towering black basalt cliffs that squeeze the sky into a narrow slit, and the entire fjord is shrouded in a cold blue hue.
The most terrifying thing is the wind.
The wind seemed to lose its direction here, pouring in from all directions through ice crevices and rock fissures, emitting a sharp whistling sound like the howling of ghosts and wolves.
"Lin! Stay close! But don't follow my tracks!" Kenta, who was leading the way, suddenly turned around and shouted, his voice distorted by the wind.
"The ice here is alive! Ocean currents are surging beneath, and the ice is constantly shifting! The cracks I just walked on, those made by the sleds, could completely burst open any second now!"
Lin Yu'an instantly understood what Kenta meant.
This is similar to preventing avalanches on snow-capped mountains: never let the entire team's weight press down on the same point.
The vehicle in front had already damaged the internal structure of the ice, leaving countless invisible stress cracks. If I were to drive on the same line again, it would be tantamount to suicide.
He must find a completely new path that belongs to him.
He couldn't follow the tracks, but he had to stay close, which meant he had to keep parallel to the car in front of him, but also maintain a safe distance of a few meters.
He gripped the handlebars tightly, focusing all his attention on the road ahead.
However, he soon discovered that in such places, human sight and hearing are unreliable.
The real navigators are those twelve Greenland hounds, their nerves taut.
The pack of dogs, which had been barking occasionally out of excitement just moments before, was now eerily quiet.
They no longer simply charge forward; instead, they lower their bodies, and their tails, no longer curled, hang down tensely.
Each dog's ears were spinning like radar, picking up every tiny sound coming from beneath the ice.
Especially the lead dog, "Mars".
This crimson beast was now fully in "battle mode".
It stopped looking at Kenta's sled and relied entirely on its instincts.
Its nostrils twitched violently as it tried to distinguish the taste of saltwater from freshwater in the wind. The salty taste indicated that there was a crack nearby.
Suddenly, Mars jerked his left ear back!
Lin Yu'an hadn't even felt the tremor beneath his feet, but he reacted immediately, shifting his weight sharply to the right.
"Click—"
Almost simultaneously, a piece of ice a few meters to the left of the sled cracked with a crisp sound, and a black crack appeared instantly.
If we had been even half a second slower, the left skid would have gotten stuck.
J
"Good boy!" Lin Yu-an couldn't help but whisper in admiration.
He no longer tried to judge the road conditions himself, but instead placed all his trust in this psychic alpha dog.
If Mars moves to the left, he moves to the left; if Mars slows down, he applies the brakes gently.
"Audak, are you alright?" Lin Yu'an glanced at the sled on the right.
Audak was staring intently ahead, his face unusually pale in the dim light, his lips pressed tightly together, and he didn't even hear Lin Yu'an's question.
His knuckles were white as he gripped the handlebars, as if he wanted to crush them.
Twenty years ago, right here, after this eerie tremor of the ice, the crack that had swallowed his brother suddenly opened its blood-red maw.
Every piece of ice floe, every howl of the wind, seemed to remind him of the fear and helplessness he felt back then.
Lin Yu'an sighed and didn't bother him any further. He knew that on this journey, Audak could only rely on himself.
He must personally walk this hellish path again in order to truly reconcile with the past.
"stop!"
Kenta, who was leading the way, suddenly raised his fist, making a gesture to stop.
The three sleds stopped almost simultaneously, and the pack of dogs immediately fell silent.
"I can smell it." Kenta took off his goggles, his nostrils twitching violently, his eyes sharply scanning the air in front of him. "There's their scent in the wind."
Lin Yu'an also took a deep breath, "I can smell their stench too."
It was an extremely strong smell, a mixture of rotten fishy odor, a heavy stench of urine, and a smell similar to old leather.
"It's the distinctive smell of a large marine mammal colony, which means we're not far away, and they're upwind!" Lin Yu'an concluded.
"That's right." Kenta nodded. "The sled can't go any further. At this distance, the ice will transmit the vibrations and noise."
"We'll have to walk or crawl from here on out."
The five men abandoned their vehicle and proceeded on foot, hiding their sled behind a massive iceberg that resembled a giant beast's skull. They carried only rifles, ammunition, and an ice pick to measure the ice's thickness.
Using the ice ridges and snow as cover, they crouched low and moved forward quickly.
At a distance of about 500 meters, the unique stench became stronger.
At the same time, a new sound joined in, a cacophony of grunts and roars, a mixture of cow mooing and pig grunting.
"Lie down!" Kenta suddenly made a gesture to lie down, and the five of them instantly stuck to the ice like geckos.
"There are still more than 300 meters left. We can't walk anymore; we have to crawl."
The five people supported themselves on their elbows and knees, slowly wriggling like snakes on the cold snow.
The icy snow powder seeped into collars and cuffs, but no one dared to pay attention. Every movement had to be extremely slow, for fear of making even the slightest unnecessary sound.
Finally, they reached the last natural shelter, an arc-shaped icicle shaped by the wind.
When Lin Yu'an peeked out and saw the scene below the icicles, even he, with his vast experience, couldn't help but slightly contract his pupils.
It was a natural platform made up of a single, huge, flat ice floe, about the size of half a football field.
On the platform, there was a large, densely packed mass of wriggling, flesh-colored "hills".
Those are a herd of Atlantic walruses.
There were more than twenty of them, each as big as a Volkswagen Beetle and weighing over a ton.
They huddled together, like a huge pile of giant potatoes washed ashore. Some were scratching themselves with their enormous forelimbs, while others slept soundly with their long tusks draped over their companions' backs.
The heavy breathing merged into a muffled chorus, each breath exhaling a huge plume of white mist.
That strong stench is coming from here.
At the outermost edge of the herd, there was an exceptionally large male walrus, occupying a prime rock closest to the deepest water.
Its skin is covered with deep wrinkles like old tree bark, and is full of hideous scars left from fighting with other male elephants.
What's most striking is its pair of long teeth.
Those long tusks were at least half a meter long, like two newly drawn ivory scimitars.
"That's the Walrus King." Kenta said in a very low voice, afraid of disturbing the sleeping giant.
"Its skin is at least five centimeters thick, and its skull is harder than a steel plate. Odak, are you coming? This might be helpful to you."
Odak's hands were trembling slightly as he raised his beloved .30-06 rifle, trying to lock onto the behemoth through the scope.
But the image of his younger brother falling into a crevasse twenty years ago flashed back in his mind like a curse.
The crosshairs in the scope were shaking violently and could not be stabilized at all.
"I—I—" Odak's breathing became rapid, and cold sweat beaded on his forehead.
"Let me do it."
Lin Yu'an pressed down on Audak's cold gun barrel, giving him a reassuring look. He knew that now was not the time to force the old hunter to confront his inner demons.
He unfastened the Type 56 semi-automatic rifle from behind and cocked it.
"Click."
When Kenta saw Lin Yu'an about to make a move, he immediately became extremely serious. He pointed to the distance between the group of walruses and them: "The distance is about two hundred meters now, too far. Your bullets aren't powerful enough, and the wind is too strong."
Kenta pointed to the broken ice floes beneath the group of giant beasts: "Walruses aren't cows. If you don't kill them with one shot, they'll immediately slide into the water."
"Or worse, it might go berserk and charge at you," Kenta said, his tone tinged with apprehension. "Don't let their fleshy appearance fool you; once they start charging, they'll glide across the ice using the fat on their chests and bellies!"
"On the ice, they can run at speeds of up to 20 kilometers per hour, faster than Olympic sprint champions! Two hundred meters is just a matter of tens of seconds!"
"We need to get closer, at least a hundred meters closer."
The next twenty minutes were a long and agonizing stealth.
The five men moved forward like ghosts, using every protruding ice ridge and every pile of snow as cover.
Each movement had to be made when the walrus herd began to growl, using their own noise to mask the sound of their actions.
Lin Yu'an could even smell the increasingly strong, pungent odor in the air.
Finally, they reached the last icicle.
Eighty meters away.
At this distance, Lin Yu'an didn't even need a scope to see the walrus king's thick beard.
"Let's do it, Lin," Kenta said in a low voice. "We can't get any closer, or we'll be in their olfactory range."
Lin Yu'an lay prone in the snow, pressing the snow down with his elbows to create an extremely stable shooting platform.
He adjusted his breathing, the cold air stinging his lungs.
Instead of aiming at the walrus's forehead, which was hard enough to deflect bullets, he slowly moved the crosshairs and finally locked onto the cartilaginous area behind the walrus's ear canal that connects to its spine.
"Bang!"
A crisp gunshot rang out, sounding particularly abrupt in the deathly silence of the fjord, even triggering a small avalanche on the distant ice wall.
The bullet, imbued with Lin Yu'an's absolute confidence and responding to previous doubts, precisely pierced the walrus king's cervical spine!
The behemoth didn't even have time to let out a wail before its massive body stiffened abruptly, then went limp like a bag of cement with the air sucked out.
But the surrounding walrus herd was in an uproar!
The sudden gunfire and the leader's sudden death plunged the behemoths into extreme panic.
More than twenty walruses began to rush into the water frantically, their huge bodies colliding and trampling each other, causing the ice surface to tremble.
However, two of the equally large young male walruses did not flee.
The death of their leader ignited their ferocity and fueled their ambition to seize the throne.
With their heads held high and fangs bared, they let out a defiant roar, then turned around and charged toward the ice ridge where the group was!
It was a one-ton bio-tank that glided on the ice using fat, and when it charged, ice chips flew everywhere, making it a terrifying sight!
"Damn it! They're charging at us!"
Kenta's two young cousins frantically pulled the bolts of their old-fashioned bolt-action rifles, trying to eject the spent cartridge and chamber a new one.
But under extreme tension, one of them even got stuck!
Kenta calmly raised his gun, but he only had one gun, which could only take down one enemy at most.
"Odak!" Kenta roared at the trembling old man beside him, "Fire! Suppress one!"
But Odak is still trapped in his inner demons.
"Odak! Wake up!" Lin Yu'an roared as the two giant beasts charged within fifty meters.
At this critical moment, Lin Yu'an did not hesitate for a moment. He steadily gripped his gun, aiming the muzzle at the walrus on his left.
"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Short, rapid gunshots echoed continuously through the icy valley.
7.62mm bullets rained down like a hailstorm.
Lin Yu-an did not aim for a one-hit kill—hitting a moving target in the head during a walrus charge is too difficult and extremely risky.
He used the classic "firepower suppression" tactic.
The bullet struck the ice in front of the walrus with precision, sending up a series of ice chips and ricochets.
Occasionally, a few bullets would hit its thick forelimb joints and snout with precision.
Although these bullets could not cause fatal wounds, the pain, the continuous impact, and the ice flowers exploding in front of it greatly disrupted its charging rhythm.
This created an opportunity for Kenta, who shot the giant beast in the head, bringing the walrus to a complete halt.
But there's still one left!
Seeing its companion die, the male walrus behind it felt it had secured the throne and became even more confident and ferocious, charging straight at Lin Yu'an and Odak!
Thirty meters! Twenty meters!
Just as Lin Yu'an finished reloading and prepared to fire again, a thunderous roar rang in his ears: "I'll take it!!! Don't move! It's mine!"
It's Odak!
When he saw Lin Yu'an, his friend who was trying to help him realize his dream, standing in front of him with his own body and using the rifle to buy him time.
At this moment, the sense of responsibility to protect his companions shattered the fear, regret, and cowardice that had been etched into his heart for twenty years!
The old hunter's eyes instantly turned blood red. He shoved Lin Yu'an aside and took the shooting position.
Those hands, which used to tremble uncontrollably, are now as steady as if welded to a gun.
"Stop! Watch!"
Kenta lowered his raised gun, and the two young hunters stopped cocking it. The authority to fire was returned to the old hunter.
This is Audak's battle, this is his redemption.
Time seemed to slow down at that moment.
The male walrus was less than twenty meters away from Odak.
Its massive body was like a moving wall of flesh, and every time it pushed off the ground, the ice surface trembled.
Audak, however, remained lying still, motionless.
There was no panic, no fear in his eyes. All his inner demons had vanished, leaving only a cold, focused concentration.
"Bang--!!!"
A dull, loud gunshot rang out, like a warhammer striking the ice.
The .30-06 caliber full-power rifle bullet, carrying Odak's pent-up anger and resentment of twenty years, precisely pierced the walrus's brain.
One shot, and he was dead.
The giant beast's charge came to an abrupt halt.
Its massive body slid forward several meters due to the enormous inertia, and finally crashed heavily like an out-of-control truck.
Blood and brain matter gushed from its mouth, staining the ice surface red.
Lin Yu'an also let out a long breath. He looked at the old man beside him, whose chest heaved violently and whose spine was ramrod straight: "Audak, you've conquered yourself!"
The inner demons that had plagued him for twenty years, the iceberg that had weighed on his heart, have been completely shattered!
He broke the curse! The hunter of Karnak has killed a walrus in Devil's Fjord for the first time in twenty years!
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