American Horror Story, Starting from Falls Town

Chapter 420 Let's get down to business
Antarctica is the coldest place in the world and also the continent with the highest average elevation.

This desolate continent is home to a large number of animals and is also rich in minerals.

However, these minerals are all buried under thick ice layers, and with current scientific technology, it is difficult to utilize them.

After Roy, Heather, and Penny met up with Charles's expedition, they first flew to Australia, and then spent a day on a ship before finally seeing the edge of Antarctica.

By the time we reached this location, the temperature was extremely low, and the sea breeze felt like a knife on our face.

Everyone was bundled up in thick down jackets. Even Heather and Penny, who were in good health, didn't want to leave their cabins. Only Roy stood on the deck, gazing into the distance.

After watching for a while, I heard Charles's voice from behind me.

“Roy, in half an hour we’ll reach McMurdo Harbor in Antarctica. Then we need to go to my friend’s research station to get the exact coordinates from him.”

Roy turned to look at Charles, who looked extremely excited, as if he had suddenly become several years younger.

But Roy wasn't so excited because he had spotted an acquaintance in Charles's expedition.

Well, this acquaintance isn't the kind of acquaintance Hannibal Lecter knew, but rather a character from a horror movie I watched in a past life.

Lex Wood, the black female protagonist in the first Alien vs. Predator movie, left a deep impression on Roy. She was incredibly capable, managing to kill off all her teammates.

At this point, Roy realized that Charles was the wealthy man who initiated the expedition in the movie, which was truly baffling.

(Lex Wood, played by Sana Leter)
“Mr. Wieland, you’d better be prepared. This expedition may not go so smoothly.”

Charles looked at Roy strangely.

"Roy, just call me Charles! Adventures are never smooth sailing, are you implying something else?"

Roy nodded.

"I have a feeling that something bad might happen on this Antarctic expedition."

Charles frowned deeply; he certainly believed Roy's words.

Just as he was about to ask what the unpleasant thing was, a crew member ran out to inform Charles.

“Mr. Wieland, the weather station has detected a severe blizzard approaching Antarctica. We may need to make some preparations.”

“It seems we might need to revise our plans! Roy, come to the meeting room, let me introduce you to the other members of the expedition team.”

Roy did not refuse and followed Charles to the ship's conference room.

Everyone else had already arrived, including Heather and Penny; Roy and Charles were the last to enter the meeting room.

To complete this expedition, Charles spent a fortune assembling a top-notch expedition team, which included archaeologists, geologists, meteorologists, biologists, chemists, and physicists—all of whom were first-rate in their respective fields.

Many of these scientists came here hoping to make a name for themselves.

After all, if anything is discovered, Charles will definitely get the lion's share, but the other members of the expedition will also gain fame.

For scientists, this is an irresistible temptation.

In addition, there were two professional doctors, three renowned explorers, and a team of elite mercenaries hired from the Black Mountain Military Company.

Lex Wood was one of the three famous explorers.

There is even a professional drilling team, because the special energy source that has been discovered is located underground, and it may be necessary to drill through the ice layer to find it.

It appears that only Roy, Heather, and Penny are present and have no particular identities.

Roy at least has the title of world champion, even though it has nothing to do with adventure, while Heather and Penny really have nothing. Neither of them even has an education; they both started working right after graduating from high school.

Even so, Charles's professional team remains very strong.

Unfortunately, it was all for naught; this team was destined to deliver food to their destination.

If it's really just delivering vegetables, it will only become a breeding ground for facehuggers.

After introducing everyone, Charles began to formally explain the goal of this expedition: to explore a mysterious underground energy source in the heart of Antarctica.

The purpose was not specified beforehand, mainly because of concerns about leaks. After all, Charles is not the only wealthy person in the world who wants to have his name written into history.

Now that we're on the ship, we're still in Antarctica, and without a satellite phone, we can't contact the outside world.

Only Roy, Charles, and the captain on the entire ship had satellite phones, and the captain was Charles's man, so there was practically no risk of leaks.

"Next, we will land at McMurdo Harbor and then proceed to America's research station to obtain the detailed coordinates of our destination. I have prepared several large exploration vehicles, as well as sufficient food and fuel supplies. The ship's logistics personnel will provide support for this expedition. Ladies and gentlemen, this time we are sure to make a discovery that will shock humankind!"

Charles is an excellent speaker; one cannot become a top billionaire without strong public speaking skills.

Otherwise, how would they fool investors?

Encouraged by Charles, most of the members of the expedition team became excited.

People strive in society for nothing more than fame and fortune.

If this expedition can discover something new, then fame and fortune will be theirs. How could these explorers not be excited?

So the mercenaries' attitude remains unchanged: they take the money and do the job, and their names will basically not appear on the final expedition list.

After boosting the team's morale, Charles looked at Roy.

"Now, let Mr. Roy Black say a few words."

In this expedition, Roy was undoubtedly the number two figure; even the financier Charles had to listen to him. Therefore, Roy's authority had to be established before the expedition even began.

Roy hadn't expected Charles to let him say a few words, but since Charles had asked him to, he was bound to say the unpleasant things first.

“Thank you for letting me speak, Mr. Wieland. I’ll say a few words. I’m in charge of the safety of this expedition—you don’t need to look at me, this is Mr. Wieland’s decision.”

Roy was referring to the dozen or so mercenaries from the Black Mountain Military Company. They had actually recognized Roy long ago, since he was on the Black Mountain Military Company's blacklist and was one of the company's nemesis. Quite a few Black Mountain mercenaries had died at his hands.

However, there was nothing they could do. The main business of the Montenegrin military company was security, and they couldn't afford to offend the wealthy Charles, so they could only put up with Roy when they saw him.

Although the Black Mountain Military Company still considered Roy an enemy, Roy no longer took the company seriously, since the Amacham Company was powerless against him. Therefore, he didn't pay much attention to the gazes of the dozen or so mercenaries.

"Let me reintroduce myself. Besides being a boxer, I'm also an agent of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Some of you may not have heard of this organization; this federal department is specifically responsible for handling paranormal events."

Upon hearing this, some people showed expressions of sudden realization.

As the FEA's functions expanded and it was given greater power by the White House and Congress, more and more people became aware of the organization.

Of course, those who have heard of FEA are mainly wealthy and powerful people, as well as elites in the scientific research industry, because FEA is increasing its research on supernatural forces, which certainly requires experts from all fields.

The scientific research community is actually very small; it is estimated that there are only a few hundred thousand people engaged in scientific research in America.

Moreover, most of these people are graduates of those few universities, and they are either teachers and students or alumni to each other. Information spreads very quickly in this circle.

"Mr. Weyland invited me here to address any supernatural events that might occur during the expedition. Therefore, you must notify me immediately if anything unusual happens—anything unusual. Also, everyone must obey my orders, including Mr. Weyland. Do you understand what I mean?"

Roy's gaze swept over everyone in the conference room.

At times like these, some troublemakers usually step forward to show their individuality, and Lex Wood, a black woman in a red dress, suddenly raised her hand.

"Mr. Black, what if your orders are wrong?"

Roy knew someone would step forward, so he told Lex Wood in an unyielding tone.

"That must be done!"

Upon hearing this, Lex Wood became somewhat displeased.

"But wrong orders could kill us!"

Roy walked up to Lex Wood and looked down at him. This black woman in the movie was very willful and basically only survived to the end because of the protagonist's halo.

"Believe me, if my orders cannot save you, then no one can."

Lex Wood wanted to continue speaking, but Roy interrupted her.

"This is not a debate. If you have any other opinions, you can choose to leave the expedition team and stay on the ship. However, if you choose to continue the expedition, you must obey my orders, understand?"

Roy's gaze swept over everyone present again, his eyes filled with a sense of oppression, making everyone feel as if a stone was pressing on their hearts.

Well, quitting is out of the question. These people have either been paid or are after fame; how could they possibly quit at the last minute?

"It seems no one wants to quit? Then I must make this clear beforehand: if anyone disobeys my orders during the expedition, I will take drastic measures. To be honest, I'm even thinking of asking Mr. Weyland to reduce the number of expedition members; bringing so many burdens is really unnecessary."

That concludes Roy's remarks, and then Charles comes up to give the final summary.

"Ladies and gentlemen, what Mr. Blake just said is the same as what I said! I hope this expedition can end smoothly and I don't want any unpleasant things to happen. I hope you can understand."

Charles's words made many people give up their ulterior motives, but there will always be some who are more stubborn.

After the meeting, everyone went their separate ways to prepare.

Charles's ship soon arrived at McMurdo Harbor, near McMurdo Station, the largest scientific research center in Antarctica.

There are more than 200 buildings here, and at its peak it can house 2000 people, which is equivalent to a small town.

By this time, the wind had become quite strong.

For safety reasons, the crew had to urgently unload the three snowmobiles that Charles had prepared and then set sail away from the coastline to avoid the blizzard.

Large ships cannot remain in port during storms because the waves rise sharply as the sea approaches the coastline, which can easily capsize them.

In such extreme conditions, large ships are actually safer in the deep sea.

The three snowmobiles that Charles prepared were also very special, as they were all specially modified for this Antarctic expedition.

One of the three snow exploration vehicles is quite special; it's about the size of a giant dump truck, and a normal person isn't even as tall as the tracks of this snow exploration vehicle named Conqueror.

The Conqueror is 20 meters long, 10 meters wide, and 8 meters high. It has more than 20 seats and living areas, making it essentially a base vehicle.

The remaining two snow exploration vehicles are relatively ordinary small vehicles, mainly responsible for reconnaissance and navigation.

After all, the Conqueror is such a large vehicle that it definitely has certain requirements for terrain. Even though the Conqueror is a tracked vehicle, it needs small snowmobiles to help with navigation.

Moreover, the Conqueror also had to tow drilling equipment, which was not cheap.

Just before the blizzard fully began, three snowmobiles carrying the expedition team entered McMurdo Station to take shelter from the blizzard.

The expedition team consisted of 30 people, including Charles, Roy, Heather, and Penny, as well as 7 Black Mountain mercenaries, 2 doctors, 2 cooks, 3 explorers, 3 drilling workers, 3 drivers, and the rest were researchers.

That's why a snow exploration vehicle as big as the Conqueror is needed; otherwise, it wouldn't be able to accommodate so many people.

The blizzard officially arrived shortly after the expedition team entered McMurdo Station.

The entire sky was a white blur, and the howling wind made the people inside the house feel uneasy.

"This is what it's like when you first come to Antarctica. Blizzards like this happen every few days. But you get used to it once you stay here longer."

One of the three explorers calmed the team down. This explorer, named Steven, had experience exploring the interior of Antarctica several times.

At this point, Charles received news that a few hours before he arrived at McMurdo Station, another expedition team organized by wealthy individuals had departed from McMurdo Station.

The expedition team's target is likely that mysterious underground energy source.

Moreover, the financial backer of this expedition team happened to be Charles's arch-rival, Lucas Barnes, a top billionaire also from Texas.

This guy isn't as wealthy as Charles, but he also loves adventure and especially enjoys being in the spotlight.

"Damn it! The news must have leaked!"

"Steven, can we leave now?"

(I forgot to include the picture, here it is)
(End of this chapter)