novelraw Chapter 401, the final round begins!
Chapter 401, the final round begins!
Chapter 401, the final round begins!
"Huk!!!"
With the simultaneous roars of the fifty drivers, the starting line instantly transformed into a chaotic white hell.
The barking of over six hundred dogs, the roar of hundreds of kilograms of sleds hitting the ice, and the billowing snow dust instantly obscured all vision.
In that instant, the "Southern Young Masters" team displayed a devastating dominance.
Ilulissat's convoys, using "narrow fan" or even pseudo-column formations, resembled arrows being shot out.
They bred long-legged hounds for racing, and combined them with lightweight carbon fiber snowmobiles, resulting in astonishing acceleration from a standstill.
After only 500 meters, the first group of blue sleds had already left the main force behind, speeding away like F1 cars on a smooth highway.
Behind it all was a chaotic meat grinder.
Lin Yu-an did not rush to grab a position. His "wide fan-shaped" formation was a huge disadvantage at the start.
The twelve dogs were too far apart, taking up too much space. On the crowded track, they not only couldn't pick up speed, but they also had to be constantly on guard against getting tangled in the ropes of other teams.
"Hold on! Mars! To the right!"
Lin Yu'an pressed his foot firmly on the edge of the brake pedal, controlling the speed. The long whip in his hand struck the snow precisely, guiding the pack of dogs to avoid an out-of-control sled like a traffic controller.
He not only had to watch the road, but also had to be wary of the "barbarians" around him.
On the right, the Canadian team from Uyalak is like a runaway tank, rampaging wildly.
Uyalak brandished his whip, and although the rules strictly forbade touching his competitors, he cracked the whip in the air with a loud bang, using this psychological intimidation to frighten a small team next to him.
His Canadian Inuit dogs, raised on raw meat, were enormous and had a violent temper. Uyalak deliberately shouted commands, directing the pack to force their way into the inner lane and seize the road.
In racing, this is called a "tangent," but in bobsleigh racing, it's murder.
With his overwhelming weight advantage, his heavy sled forcefully blocked the path of the two light sleds.
"Bang—"
! "
That was the sound of skateboards colliding.
The two unfortunate sleds simply couldn't withstand the pressure of that weight, lost their balance under high-speed friction, and instantly overturned.
The man and the dog rolled together, their screams instantly drowned out by the wind and snow.
The referee's whistle did not sound.
Amidst the swirling snow and dust at the start, this was considered a "normal start-congestion incident."
"Damn lunatic, he's exploiting a loophole in the rules," Lin Yu'an cursed under his breath, pressing hard on the brake pedal to maintain balance.
Uyalak had clearly seen Lin Yu'an as well. A cruel smile appeared on his lips. He used the same trick as before, directing his pack of dogs to move to the left, trying to squeeze Lin Yu'an into the deep snow area at the edge of the track.
But this time, the defensive advantages of the "fan-shaped formation" became apparent.
Lin Yu-an's twelve dogs were spread out, like a large, open net.
The "wheel dogs" on the far right are extremely fierce. When the Uyalak dogs try to approach and squeeze them, they turn their heads and bar their teeth and growl without showing any weakness, forming a natural "biological defense line".
Unless Uyalak wants the two teams of dogs to stop and start a brawl, he can't get close at all.
"Consider yourself lucky!" Uyalak cursed when he couldn't push his way through, and using the pack's brute force, he sped up and rushed to the front.
The race had covered five kilometers. The smooth, groomed track ended, and the iconic icy, muddy area appeared ahead.
This is an area where sea ice was broken up by ocean currents and then refrozen.
The ground was no longer flat, but covered with dense, hard icicles like a washboard, and countless hidden pits filled with snow.
Adding to the "flat light" caused by the sun's extremely low angle at this moment, the ground looks like a pale white, making it impossible to distinguish where the bumps are and where the depressions are.
This was the turning point predicted by Odak.
The "Southern Young Masters Team," which was at the forefront, slowed down.
-
Their expensive carbon fiber sleds were light, but too stiff and brittle. During the violent bumps, every impact felt like it was hitting the driver's bones.
Moreover, the "narrow fan-shaped" space they used squeezed the dogs together, so if one dog tripped, the dogs behind it would crash into it like dominoes, creating chaos.
Lin Yu'an saw several blue sleds parked by the roadside, with the drivers frantically untying the ropes or checking if the dogs had sprained their ankles.
"The opportunity has arrived."
Lin Yu'an took a deep breath, slightly bent his knees, lowered his center of gravity, and turned his body into the best shock absorber.
He didn't slow down; the heavy, traditional wooden sled, though slow to start, was made of resilient wood.
It is bound together with rawhide ropes, like a supple snake, twisting and absorbing energy on the rugged ice surface. Although bumpy, it is extremely stable.
More importantly, his "wide fan shape" gives each dog an independent choice.
The alpha dog "Mars" displayed the wisdom of a king.
Just as Noah had taught him, Lin Yu'an stared intently at Mars's ears.
My left ear moved and there's a dent on the left side.
The fur on its back bristled and the ice in front was thin.
Led by Mars, the twelve dogs, like a flowing net of mercury, automatically dispersed to avoid the dangerous, sharp ice rocks, flowing through the gaps in the chaotic ice.
Lin Yu'an kept overtaking the struggling southern teams.
Just as Lin Yu'an had rounded a sharp bend and entered a stretch of undulating road, he saw Uyalak ahead.
The burly Canadian man was in big trouble.
Just as the ruthless old hunter Odak had predicted—physiological limits were teaching him a lesson.
During the violent up-and-down jolting, the stomachs of the Canadian Inuit dogs, who had just swallowed large amounts of raw, bloody meat before the competition, suffered tremendous physical impact.
Lin Yu'an clearly saw that one of the main wheel dogs in the Uyalak team was retching painfully as it ran, its steps becoming unsteady and slowing down the pace of the entire team.
Then, as if it were contagious, the other two dogs also slowed down, opened their mouths wide, and spat undigested flesh and blood onto the pristine snow track.
The pack of dogs suddenly slowed down.
"Run! You useless piece of trash! Swallow that damned meat back!"
Uyalak angrily brandished his whip, even violating regulations by striking the snow.
But physiological reactions cannot be overcome by willpower. Those once ferocious beasts are now limp and powerless due to stomach spasms.
Lin Yu'an drove the sled, rapidly approaching from the side.
When the two cars were driving side by side, Lin Yu'an deliberately took off his goggles, revealing a pair of calm yet playful eyes.
He looked at Uyalak, who was barking at the vomiting dog with a furious expression, and did not say anything sarcastic, but simply whistled softly.
"call out"
Then he shouted at his leader dog, "Mars! Huk!!"
Mars glanced back at its disheveled brethren beside it, and seemed to reveal a hint of mockery in its expression.
It raised its head, and led its brothers, who had eaten easily digestible, warm "high-energy soup," to accelerate once again.
"Buzz—"
Lin Yu'an's sled was like a red whirlwind, cleanly and decisively overtaking other vehicles on the washboard-like ice.
All that remained for Uyalak was a flurry of snow dust and a receding figure.
The finish line, the ice surface of the port of Ilulissat.
-
In fact, Odak had already arrived while Lin Yu'an was still sprinting on the final straight.
This old hunter from Karnak was, after all, a legend with forty years of driving experience.
Driving his "Sky" team, even using a wide fan-shaped formation with high wind resistance, he still relied on his terrifying intuition about every inch of ice to overtake in the chaotic ice zone and finally crossed the finish line in an excellent fourth place.
They are only behind the three top-equipped professional teams from Cisimjute.
At this moment, Odak had already settled his dog and was standing by the fence at the finish line, squinting as he waited for his apprentice.
"They're here!" someone in the crowd exclaimed.
Amidst the swirling snow dust, the red sled shot out like a sharp arrow.
As Lin Yu'an, riding his twenty-four claws, traversed the final plains area and crossed the finish line eighth, a rousing Greenlandic announcement blared over the loudspeaker: "Eighth place! Lin, from the second team in Kanak! Passes! Qualifies for the main race!"
Although the top spots are still dominated by the heavily armed Sisimiut professional teams, their dogs are just too fast, like Ferraris on ice.
But Lin Yu-an's achievement was enough to cause a sensation for a "foreigner" and "temporary substitute" who was participating for the first time.
"Huk-Tama!"
Lin Yu'an smoothly applied the brakes, and the sled came to a stop in a beautiful arc at the finish line.
As soon as he came to a stop, Odak rushed up with Maria and little Alec.
"I knew it! I knew it! You could do it!"
Odak excitedly hugged Lin Yu'an, whose eyebrows were covered in frost, and patted his back hard: "I saw you do that single-sided corner in the icy zone! It was amazing! You're even faster than I thought!"
"I'm exhausted—" Lin Yu'an took off his goggles, panting heavily, and looked at the barking dogs around him. "This is more tiring than working out at the gym all day."
"This is just the beginning, kid." Odak handed him a bottle of warm water, then gave him a smug grin and pointed to the end of the track: "Come on, look at our big champion."
In the distance, a team is stumbling and scrambling towards the finish line.
It is Uyalak.
But his current appearance can only be described as appalling.
The once imposing and massive Canadian dog team had completely lost its ferocity at the start.
The once neat formation became sparse, and two dogs were even being dragged along by other dogs.
Uyalak's face was ashen as he frantically lashed out with his whip, trying to drain the pack of dogs of their last ounce of strength.
"12th place! An invited contestant from Canada! Just barely made it into the next round!"
When the rankings were announced over the loudspeaker, Uyalak slammed his whip to the ground.
"Look at that Canadian!" Odak laughed loudly without any mercy, making sure everyone around could hear. "His dog vomited all the way! Hahaha! That's what happens when you don't listen to your elders! Feeding him raw meat? You idiot!"
Lin Yu'an glanced at Uyalak, who was cleaning up the dog's vomit in the distance, and curled the corners of his mouth.
"Lin, this is just a warm-up." Odak looked up at the leaden-gray clouds gathering on the horizon, a signal that Sila was brewing a real storm.
"When the finals are held the day after tomorrow, when the real blizzard arrives—that will be the true stage for our Northern Fan Formation."
Lin Yu-an returned to the kennel area and began feeding the group.
This time, instead of diluted high-energy soup, the reward was walrus meat cut into fist-sized pieces with thick layers of fat.
"Well done, Lin." Odak leaned against the railing and handed him a cup of hot coffee. "Eighth place. That's quite an impressive result for an outsider."
"It's a pity that Uyalak still advanced, finishing twelfth. This shows that his dog is indeed very strong, able to run 30 kilometers even with stomach cramps."
"But thinking about it, it makes sense, considering his dog is used to pull musk oxen. But tomorrow's match is a completely different matter from today's."
"Judging from the sky, the wind speed tomorrow will exceed 20 meters per second, the temperature will plummet to below minus 30 degrees Celsius, and there may even be a blizzard."
Odak stood up, his gaze sweeping over the "Southern Young Masters Team" next door who were dressing their dogs in thermal vests. A cold smile crept across his lips: "This is our chance. Those racing dogs with legs as thin as mosquitoes will shiver in the blizzard, while our dogs—"
He patted Mars's sturdy back: "They only show their true fangs in the storm."
Just then, a series of heavy footsteps broke their conversation.
That persistent figure reappeared. Uyalak, accompanied by several companions, strode into the kennel area.
He looked even more disheveled than yesterday, his face ashen; clearly, the humiliation of "dogs vomiting" had made him the laughingstock of the entire camp.
He walked straight to Lin Yu'an's fence, and through the barbed wire, his bloodshot eyes stared intently at Lin Yu'an.
Uyalak's voice was hoarse, as if he had swallowed burning coals: "Easterner."
"Don't think you've won. Today was just a warm-up. My dog got an upset stomach, but that was an accident."
"An accident?" Lin Yu'an took a casual sip of coffee, his eyes revealing a condescending indifference. "Feeding dogs raw meat before a match, in my opinion, is just stupid."
This precise sarcasm made several of Uyalak's companions behind him look embarrassed.
"Shut up! You pretty boy who's all talk and no action!"
Uyalak gripped the barbed wire tightly, his knuckles turning white: "Tomorrow is the main race. Fifty kilometers, through the Death Ice Fjord. There's no flat land there, just jagged ice and deep abysses."
"I'll show you what true Nunavut power is. I'll smash your sled to pieces and knock your skinny dogs into the sea!"
As he spoke, he reached out and made an extremely insulting gesture. He took a coin out of his pocket and threw it onto the snow at Lin Yu'an's feet.
"This is your money to save your life. If you're afraid of dying, you can still withdraw from the competition now." The other contestants around looked over, and the atmosphere became tense.
Just as Audak was about to lash out, Lin Yu'an stopped him.
Lin Yu'an bent down and picked up the coin. It was a two-dollar Canadian coin with a polar bear on it.
He blew the snow off the coin and smiled, "Thanks. I just happened to need a coin to buy a disposable lighter."
The mention of lighters instantly turned Uyalak's face a deep purplish-red; they were a recurring nightmare for him.
Lin Yu'an put away the coin, his eyes turning cold. He took a step forward, and through the barbed wire, his murderous aura instantly overwhelmed the other's savagery: "Uyalak, save your strength. Tomorrow on the track, if you can see my taillights, I'll admit defeat."
"roll."
The single word of dismissal, coupled with the low roar that suddenly erupted from "Mars" beside him, made Uyalak instinctively take half a step back. He spat viciously, pointed at Lin Yu'an, and turned to leave with his men.
"That bastard will definitely pull some dirty tricks tomorrow," Odak said, frowning as he watched them walk away.
"I know." Lin Yu'an patted the dust off his gloves. "That's why I plan to prevent him from even having the chance to use dirty tricks."
The day after tomorrow is the final day.
Just as Odak had predicted when he looked at the leaden sky, Sila was enraged, and furiously so.
At six o'clock in the morning, Ilulissat, which should have been illuminated by the midnight sun, was instead shrouded in a suffocating, chaotic gray-white.
The gale, like countless invisible ice blades, howled through the fjord at a speed of 25 meters per second, whipping up the dry, powdery snow on the ground and creating a terrifying "ground blizzard" in mid-air.
The boundary between heaven and earth was indistinguishable, visibility plummeted to less than fifty meters, and the temperature dropped precipitously, approaching minus thirty-five degrees Celsius.
This is no longer the kind of sporting competition accompanied by cheers and colorful flags; this is a true survival challenge in the far north.
The starting point of the racecourse is located on the frozen harbor lake on the edge of the town.
The twenty teams that have advanced to the finals have assembled. Compared to the noise and relaxation of the qualifying rounds, the starting line today is deathly still, with a sense of despair and oppression permeating the air before the battle.
The players from the "Southern Young Masters Team" were in a sorry state.
They dressed the dogs in brightly colored, windproof, and warm vests, but even so, those short-haired, thin-legged, and extremely low-fat "racing dogs" still seemed very uncomfortable in this extreme weather.
They are not afraid of the cold, but rather they hate the violent wind and snow.
Accustomed to speeding along smooth, hard snow tracks, they instinctively tuck their tails between their legs when faced with a blizzard, unwilling to run against the wind, and even trying to turn their backs to the wind.
That's a kind of "delicate" quality that has lost its wildness.
On the other hand, Lin Yu'an's situation is completely different.
Lin Yu'an took off his lightweight modern ski suit and put on a traditional sealskin Anorak.
The garment was heavy and rough, but the moment Lin Yu'an put it on, she felt as if she had entered a warm fortress.
The hollow fibers of the seal skin perfectly lock in body heat, while the large fur hood shields it from wind and snow, leaving only a pair of sharp eyes exposed.
"That's the difference." Odak was helping Lin Yu'an check the ropes when he glanced disdainfully at his opponents next door, who were wearing brightly colored windbreakers.
"They're dressed like plastic bags. Believe me, in this kind of weather, only fur blessed by the sila can protect the living."
Noah ignored the wind and snow. She knelt on the snow, holding a greasy iron bucket in her hand.
She was feeding each of the dogs a small piece of high-calorie whale fat before they went into battle. For the dogs, this was the final "nitroglycerin," the source of their explosive power.
Finally, she walked up to the head dog, "Mars".
The crimson beast was as still as a statue, letting the wind and snow form a layer of white frost armor on its thick mane. It silently gazed at the void ahead.
Noah took off her gloves, cupped the huge dog's head in her warm hands, and gently pressed her forehead against its.
"Mars Baby... Go fly..."
She whispered the entanglements of her past life in a local language that only they could understand.
Mars closed his eyes and let out a low groan.
The affection of a pet had vanished from those icy blue eyes, replaced by the focused and murderous flame that belonged to the alpha wolf.
"Listen, Lin! Prick up your ears!" Odak had to shout at the top of his lungs to make his voice cut through the howling wind.
"In this kind of weather, road signs will be buried in snow. Don't trust your eyes, trust a dog's nose!"
"The first half of the race is uphill, and we'll be heading towards the edge of the inland ice sheet. That's the windward slope, where the snow is deepest. That's the graveyard of those Southern Greyhounds!"
"The second half is a downhill sprint, passing through Devil's Canyon. That's where the densest ice floes are, and also the only overtaking point!"
"Remember! If you want to overtake, use the width of a fan-shaped formation to block the other car! Don't let them get too close! Push them onto the icy road!"
Lin Yu'an nodded, pulled down his heavy windproof goggles, and shut out the wind and snow.
He stepped onto the pedals, bent his knees slightly, lowered his center of gravity, and gripped the handlebars like iron clamps.
The entire room fell silent.
Only the wind was howling.
"Bang!!!"
The red signal flare struggled through the wind and snow, exploding in the gray sky.
The final match has begun!
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