Stealing Game

Chapter 68
The young man stood on the deck, facing the bitterly biting air and soft snow.

It has been snowing these days.The ship has sailed into the Arctic Circle, and the long night is coming.This will be the last time the young man sees the sun for more than a month.

Murmansk has abundant energy.Even in the extreme night, the city is still lively and brightly lit all day long.But the excitement of the city has nothing to do with the sea.The young man withdrew his gaze and continued to watch the endless falling snow melt on the sea surface one after another.

The ship sailed for a few more days.

The sea breeze made the young man unable to open his eyes.He comes from Sicily, where the sun is particularly favored, and he has never experienced such a long night.

"You're from a different place from us."

This is already the second time through Teriberka.When the ship finally stopped at sea, said the bearded captain.

Russians don't stare at ice and snow for long.That's part of who they are.

The youth smiled.Even if he speaks the language fluently, some people know that he is out of place.

It's the same everywhere.

"Thank you, is this here?" The young man changed into his diving suit and looked at the captain questioningly.

Half a month ago, the young man appeared at the port under the jurisdiction of Murmansk with a bulging backpack on his back.

It was a big city, but few outsiders came.At the end of the last century, countless foreigners stuck their noses in, and now there is nothing they are interested in here.

The vigilance left over from the Cold War still lingers in the residents here.They are all people who have experienced the most glorious time of the former Soviet Union, and some of them even drove their own fishing boats to beat up the criminals who came over.

The bearded captain has stayed here all his life and has experienced the prosperity and decline of Murmansk as a military port.When I took over the broken fishing boat from my father, it had already experienced the transformation from a fishing boat to a warship, and returned to its job after completing its mission.

This is a fishing boat of honor.The captain takes good care of it every day and is always on call.

This boat can only be used for fishing at sea now, and occasionally the captain misses the time when he and his old buddy rode the wind and waves together.

But it has been too long, 20 years, the captain did not wait for the call of the empire.Until the young man appeared in this unnamed port, he wanted to take a look at the place where a certain Soviet warship sank.

The captain remembered the warship.It was a maritime research institute.Scientists who can influence the situation of the country will defect to other countries with imperial secrets.

But no one can really leave this piece of ice and snow, and the scientist and his secrets have been sleeping peacefully on the land.

Later, many people came to look for the warship.But even in the most chaotic period, the captain and others remained silent.Over time, the flies stopped coming.Even now, foreigners walking on the streets of this small town still attract attention.

The young man was able to find the captain's ship without being driven away, thanks to his blond hair, which is lighter than the sun, and eyes as blue as glaciers.This is what it looks like here.But the captain knew that the youth was by no means a local.

The youth still attracted the attention of the residents.There are very few young people here.Those children who were born here later cast aside this place, hang their heads down all day long, and leave the place where even the New Year is sunk in the eternal night when they grow up, without looking back.

Most of those left behind are outdated people.

But an era will not come to an end easily.Even now, the wind and snow have not dissipated.

And the youth came at the wrong time.No tourist will rush to see the permafrost before the polar night.If it weren't for the fact that he really had a look made of ice and snow, he wouldn't even be able to drink a sip of vodka here.

The captain watched the young man enthusiastically thank the tavern proprietress who closed the door in front of him, then drooped his shoulders, walked to the shore with dry cheese in his mouth, and gnawed a piece of black bread in the sea breeze.

For some unknown reason, the captain stopped the young man. "Hey, I hear you're looking for the Laswaite."

The young man didn't lift his head. "No, I just want to go to sea to see the aurora."

"No one goes to sea at this time." The captain stepped on the frozen fishing net and took a sip of vodka.He had already watched with cold eyes that the young man had been rejected countless times in the past few days. "Come back in July next year."

"That's it, thank you very much." The young man raised the corners of his mouth slightly and pulled out a cold smile. "It seems that I don't know enough about this place."

The young man finished his lunch slowly, took out a pair of sunglasses from his backpack and put them on.The thick green bill popped up, but was covered back again.He stood up and stretched himself, then touched his forehead with his hand to greet the captain.

The captain watched the young man walk towards another icebreaker not far away.

At dusk, the young man came to the shore to eat bread again.He put his head down, allowing himself to sink in the loss for a little while.After this little moment he had to try his luck again before the sun went down into the sea.It is necessary to find a ship that can go to sea before the polar night.

The captain was on deck warming a pot of stew.

The young man sniffed, raised his head and looked around.The captain smoked unmoved.Then the young man put the black bread in his hand on the shore without hesitation, and walked towards the place where the warm aroma of food was exuding.Seagulls rushed up behind him, dismembered his dinner and flew out to sea.

"Aren't you afraid that you will be hungry tonight?" The captain watched the young man dispose of the food gracefully and quickly.In his opinion, this is a rich son who doesn't know the heights of the sky and the earth.

"I'm afraid. But I'm more afraid that those dry breads will spoil my taste buds." The young man licked his lips and smiled at the captain. "Can I have some more stew, please?"

The captain looked at him with some round cheeks.In fact, he was still a child, perhaps even younger than his own son.Finally, the youth got a small bottle of vodka from the captain.

This kid looks a bit like a Russian when he drinks.thought the captain.The next second the young man was choked and coughed.

After drinking and eating, the young man took out a green ticket from his pocket.The captain glanced over.It seems that apart from the ones in the backpack, this foreigner should also have a lot of dollars.

The young man took his bulging backpack and bid farewell to the captain.

"Why do you want to go to sea?" the young man heard the captain ask behind him.

"There are some things I want to see."

"There's nothing there."

"Perhaps." The young man shrugged. "But maybe there is my destiny."

The captain took a drag on his cigarette.

No one knows better than him what the youth is going to do. Twenty years ago, in the last days of the Soviet Union, a history and a research secret were buried there forever.And those of them who were covered by the curtain of that glorious era have also silently guarded the past 20 years in their own way.

But so what?Who cares now about the legacy of a long-gone empire.

The captain drew heavily on his cigarette.he is old.The ship has not sailed for a long time.

"Hey, I'll go with you!"

The youth stopped in his tracks.He turned his back to the captain and smiled.

The willing take the bait.The young man doesn't know who has the news of the year, but there is always someone who will help him.

The wind grew stronger in Teriberka.

Fragments of ice and frozen soil were lifted from the wilderness and rushed towards the only fishing boat that dared to sail through the polar night.The starlight of the eternal night illuminates the sacrificial piles set up by the Sami and local fishermen.

People who depend on the sky for food are full of awe of nature.

The young man saw the lighthouse from a distance, and asked the captain to go ashore to see it.

It is said to be "on the shore", but it is actually just another deserted island floating in the Arctic Ocean.It used to be the northern port of the Soviet Union and it was very beautiful here for a while. Now, as people have moved to Murmansk, there are only abandoned ships and an old lighthouse that is no longer useful.

The captain flashed his searchlight a few times, and the island guard responded with the same language.After obtaining permission, the fishing boat docked.The island welcomes long-lost visitors.

In the past far beyond the scale of human life, this island was once part of the mainland.Now it is no different from the frozen wasteland.The young man put his hands in his pockets, and walked slowly under the watchful eyes of the island guards.It took him a long time to stop, staring at the frozen ground beneath his feet.

The soil freeze-thaw cycle has been disrupted here.What was once buried in the ground as the permafrost further froze over the seasons is about to revive.

This place melted abruptly in the last century, and the explosive energy field attracted many greedy eyes.

At that time, it was still under the high-pressure control of the former Soviet Union, and it was taken over by the research institute before the troubles broke out, and the project was brought to the top by a talented scientist.Later, all the information was buried on the bottom of the Arctic Ocean not far away along with the warship named Lastvi.

The young man looked at the speechless land quietly, and looked away when the tower guard came over.

"What a beautiful and vibrant place this is." The young man exclaimed.

"What's wrong with him?" the island guard asked the captain.

"Artist." The captain shrugged and returned to his fishing boat.In addition to pestering the captain to chat these days, the young man spends all day on the boat painting.It seems that this unchanging world of ice and snow is so colorful.

The young man took off the portfolio from behind his back.His hands were numb from the cold, and he brought them to his lips for a long time before he carefully unfolded a piece of paper and carefully drew the scene in front of him.

The night at noon watches the youth.

The island guard sneered at first, but was gradually brought into the thin but thick painting by his brushstrokes.

"Can I take some souvenirs with me?" Putting away the sketch, the young man asked politely.

"This is not a tourist attraction, kid. There is nothing for you." The island guard said in a blunt tone.He has already started to like youth, but the warmth in his words was taken away by the biting sea breeze.

The young man moved his stiff joints and slowly squatted down.He clumsily swept away the frozen clods, rummaged for a long time, and picked up a dry grass from underneath.He raised his head and lifted the grass.

Withered Grass shook and touched Polaris.

The island guard watched silently.In the end, the young man only took away the grass, a few stones he picked up on the frozen ground around him, and his sketch.Frozen soil can't support life, so it's okay to take it away.The island guard thought so, and acquiesced to the youth's behavior.When parting, the young man gave the lighthouse drawn on the boat to the island guards.

After returning to the boat, the young man had to put his hands in the sea water to warm up slowly.When he was able to move, he began to fiddle with the small objects he had just acquired.

The captain sneered and sailed away from the island.

The Arctic Ocean, in Greek, means the ocean facing the constellation Ursa Major.

In order to show off, the captain wandered around this sea area for several days, and finally cast his net today.So the two ate the long-lost fresh ingredients, and the taste buds of the youth gradually recovered.

The place they went was close to the North Pole, and the surrounding area was mostly covered by sea ice, making navigation difficult.

Everyone here knows what lies beneath that sea.That was the hope of the former Soviet Union, the dawn of eternal night.Now it is so desolate that no fish come here, and countless abandoned fishing boats are like its tombstones, undulating on the silent sea.

Searchlights swept across the sea.The ships drifting from the abandoned port of the last century quietly undulate with the currents and wind waves, like living graves, and gradually surround the fishing boats.

The youth stared at the frozen world under the darkness.The ship he was looking for was sleeping in the deep sea at a depth of more than 3000 meters.

The young man asked casually: How did that ship sink?

The captain looked at the North Star. It was also a polar night 20 years ago, when it was still a military port.I didn't expect the stars to change so quickly.The stars are eternally cruel.

"Why are you looking for that ship?" asked the captain again.

During the Cold War, the United States has been instigating against the politicians and scientists of the former Soviet Union, and the Lasthwaite, as an energy source that can reset the empire, has naturally been targeted.At the end of the 80s, someone took advantage of the disintegration of the Soviet Union and wanted to drive the warship where the research institute was located directly to the Norwegian waters.Those people not only want to go, but also take away the secrets of this frozen land, the last weapon of the Soviet Union.The abacus was well played, and it even succeeded immediately.

At that time, no one knew how the former Soviet Union's doomed research institute was sleeping in the sea.

Some say that a sudden blizzard disrupted sightlines and caused the warship to crash into a broken iceberg.

Some people say it was an experimental accident. After all, this was the research institute of Ivan Nevalov, a rising chemical star at that time.It is said that he extracted the energy capable of supporting the operation of the entire empire, and conducted experiments day and night in order to put it into use as soon as possible or extract it in batches, which caused mistakes.

It was also said that the Laswaite had been attacked.In order to defeat the Soviet Union, the evil U.S. imperialism wanted to curb its scientific development, so it destroyed the scientist and his research together.

Under the divergent opinions, the truth of the year is like the day in the eternal night, disappearing without a trace.

The young man looked at the aurora that was blooming in the distance, and asked the captain. "Have you ever seen a flame burning in the sea?"

The captain was silent.Back then, the port hadn't been run down, and he was still young.It was also a day of polar night, and the flames lit up the entire Arctic Ocean.

The captain looked at the young man standing on the bow looking out.Many people want to get out of this ice and snow, those former Soviet scientists are, and the captain himself is also.

And this young man who was out of tune with the cold came back.

The young man did not give the captain an answer, nor did he wait for the captain's answer.He put on the diving goggles, and the tempered glass blocked the blue eyes that were condensed into ice blades, and the turbulent waves in his eyes.

The biting cold surrounded him through the diving suit, and the young man shivered.He grew up by the sea, but the water of the Mediterranean is as warm as the sun.

The captain watched the young man unfold his body and slowly dive into the dark water.

The fire 20 years ago burned in the captain's heart for a long time.Because it was the Soviet Union's North Sea Fleet that sank the Lathwaite.

Of course the young man did not see the Laswaite in the Arctic Ocean.

The consequences of the nuclear leak are either mutated creatures like Godzilla, or nothing.

There is only silence here.

The deepest record of human free diving is 330 two meters underwater.In the still, cold water, the stars trembled.The young man was a little out of breath.His heart was beating violently, and his lungs were constricted.

The young man hovered in the empty sea, gazing at the wreckage sleeping deeper.In fact, he was just staring into the darkness.At the bottom of the water below 1000 meters, even in the extreme daylight, no light can penetrate.

The Lathwaite is anchored more than 3000 meters underwater.In that deep water, everything has been crushed to pieces.This is also the reason why it has been left undisturbed for so long.

Through the dense darkness of the eternal deep sea, the young man seemed to hear the sound of the explosion 20 years ago.

What the youth is looking for is also looking for him.

The frozen seawater began to boil.

By the light of the fire, the young man saw the outline of the wreckage of the Lasthwaite.

He spread his arms.Through sea water and time and space, it is like waiting for a belated hug.

Death to human beings has never been as simple as a biological concept.

The frigid waters and years-old nuclear strike can prevent some dangers, but the captain does not dare to take it lightly.He watched the surface cautiously, so he missed a burning underwater.

The rope moved.

With the help of the captain, the young man tremblingly climbed onto the deck, muttering "I'm freezing to death, I'm freezing to death".The Polaris almost hangs above his head, casting a distinct light and shadow on his face.

It was also this star that sent off scientists back then.

The captain saw the shining light in the youth's eyes.Something is set ablaze by the Arctic Ocean.

The captain turned the rudder.

Perhaps this eternal night finally ushered in the dawn.

Because of boycotting the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, only 1980 countries and regions sent small-scale Olympic delegations to the 14 Moscow Olympics.Italy is one of them.

Marlena, a girl from Naples, came to this exotic socialist country with her family who went to "do business".There, besides the lovely mascot Misha Bear, she also met a lovely Soviet youth.

The cold reception of the Olympics does not conflict with a beautiful encounter in a foreign country.

Before graduating from St. Petersburg University, Ivan had already got an opportunity to do research in a top department. He said in high spirits that he would become a great scientist like Mendeleev in the future.However, when facing Marlena, Ivan was just a quiet and dull young man.

Before leaving, Ivan gave Marlena a Misha bear.In the years since then, the two have also maintained correspondence.But because Ivan's research is getting smoother and smoother, there is less time and space for him.They didn't see each other again until the Soviet Union faced its collapse a few years later.

At the end of the 80s, the precarious Soviet regime was naturally intervened by the Western forces that had been coveting it.Malena also set foot on the land where her lover was trapped again.

When they saw each other again, the young man's meticulous blond hair and obviously stern face made Malena feel a little dazed.But when he spoke, it was her language.It turned out that Ivan was also approaching her in the time when they had never met each other.Even if he speaks the language of lovers so bluntly, it is enough to make Marlena, who has heard countless love words, fall in love again.

The lingering Italian words uttered from the lover's mouth melted the cold Moscow night.

The lovers walk across the banks of the Moscow River, enjoy ballets and do silly handicrafts together.However, a top scientist in the Soviet Union and a jewel in the palm of an Italian arms dealer, the future and the present do not belong to them personally.

Ivan cannot disclose his research to anyone.He could only tell Marlena that after finishing the research at hand, he would go to Italy to find her.

But first came the decay and decay of the Soviet Union.

Countless Soviet scientists took advantage of the chaos and fled to the West, and the Americans naturally gave Ivan an olive branch.But the scientists were not tempted.

A few years ago, the Soviets discovered the ore that was almost hundreds of millions of years ago in the permafrost in the far north.It can continue to burn under extreme circumstances, and the energy is enough to ignite the existence of ice and snow.Ivan analyzed an element from it, which may be able to help the building to collapse.He, like many others at the time, believed Gorbachev's lies and fought for a Soviet Union that would be toppled by a leader he trusted.

However, someone with a heart takes advantage of Ivan's relationship with his foreign lover to make a fuss.No one would bet against a scientist with such abilities not to defect.So Ivan, who once wanted to be a scientist like Mendeleev, became a sinner because he discovered the amazing energy.After being counted as a traitor, his only way out was to flee the Soviet Union.Before the trial was issued, colleagues who had already been instigated took the opportunity to encourage Ivan to go with him.All the joints of the rotten country have been opened up, and they only need to drive the Lasthwaite to leave this inevitable sinking front with all the research.

Scientists can no longer do anything for the motherland.But at least he won't give up the research of his homeland.So he set foot on the warship that was destined not to return.

Bearing the infamy, Ivan used his reputation and his own life to make the authorities and the Americans think that [Boiling Snow] was on that ship, and sank into the Arctic Ocean with him after failing to defect.Since then, his research that could change the world, and even his destiny, fell silent in the cold wasteland.

Until 20 years later, a young man docked in a broken fishing boat.

Ivan didn't feel cold when he was swallowed by the sea.The person he loves should be in the sunshine of Naples now, that girl who is afraid of the cold.

I really want to see her again.Ivan thought.Tell her, I sewed a bear for you, look, do you like it?I also made you a ring out of fragments of stars, the only pair in the whole world.

Ivan turned his gaze to the sky.Yongye's aurora is the color of his lover's eyes.Thinking of her, even the sea is like a hug.

The water in the Mediterranean Sea should be warm.I really want to see her, I really want to see her again.I want to tell her that my life is loyal to the motherland and my heart is loyal to you.

The last thing that occupied Ivan's sight was the light that could penetrate the sea water.He closes his eyes.The sun should be warmer in Naples than in Leningrad.

After seeing a crooked Misha bear in a small building on the outskirts of Moscow, Marina's vision blurred.

After such a long time, the spirited blond young man who was holding the bear came alive again, took off his hat and smiled shyly at her.

When he asked her out for the first time, his slender fingers gripped the hat so tightly that it was deformed.Obviously not good at handicrafts, but said he would make a Misha bear for her.Because the bear represents the Olympic Games that brought the lovers together.They are obviously a scientist, but believe that mascots can bring good luck to their relationship.

Marina laughed.

The girl from Naples always meets that young man who is as cold and gentle as snow.

It's a pity that good luck can't help them.In that era, every step of a person was pushed by the wind of the times, but her lover could not get out of the historical wind and snow after all.

That young man named Ivan sleeps forever on the bottom of the Arctic Ocean for his motherland, no, for the sake of human beings no longer trapped in the flames of war.Without looking at the sun again, the reputation in front of him was also scattered.

Many years later, their son found the little bear.

Who would have thought that the research that the whole world was looking for was actually hidden in this old residential building.This discovery that has been silent for a long time will stir up the world situation and set off a new storm.

The youth brought the cub to his mother.

Malena looked at the ring held in the arms of Little Bear.It was made by Ivan from meteorite fragments found in the wasteland.There are two rings, both left to her.

After gently taking off the ring, the weightless bear waved his short arms crookedly at Marlena.Like a belated farewell.

The lover who rushed from Naples stood in his former house, and the long-lost snowstorm in Moscow came in from the window.

20 years passed in a flash.

"How did you find [Boiling Snow]?"

"Mr. Black has a pocket watch, and I have a heart of lead."

What Marlena didn't know was that there was a lead heart inside Bear's body.In that firm heart, there are elements extracted by former Soviet scientists based on ore.

That was Ivan's silent confession to his lover.

"My feelings for you are like this inexhaustible element."

There is a person's ideal and abandonment in the Misha bear left by Ivan.Later, someone took over those years and walked into the desert from the wind and snow.

The last bonfire also burned out.

Arno looked into those bright and determined black eyes, and saw an inextinguishable fire burning.He thought of the Naples sunshine.

Under the starry sky, there was a smile in his glacier-like eyes.

"Yu, are you willing to help keep my heart made of lead?"

　Arno not only found [Boiling Snow], he also has a piece of [Eternal Eye]

　　
　
(End of this chapter)