Inside the ice cave, Yang Lin, though considering himself not easily frightened, felt seriously uncomfortable both physically and mentally after sliding continuously in a narrow, enclosed passage for several minutes.
If such a slide existed in the world, most people probably wouldn't want to try it.
More importantly, this slide was in danger of breaking at any moment.
If it broke, he would fall into the Arctic Ocean.
Fortunately, his fears did not materialize.
After another few minutes of sliding, he could clearly feel the airflow.
This meant that this most terrifying slide in history was about to end.
As expected, shortly after this thought crossed his mind, an exit appeared before him.
Instantly, Yang Lin tensed his core to avoid impact upon landing.
But to his surprise, what awaited him was not solid ground, nor the muddy seabed, but a splash.
Indeed, after falling from the Arctic Ocean, he had plunged into another body of water.
As the cold water soaked through his clothes, he felt as if his skin was being peeled off with a knife.
With a shiver, he immediately placed the small arctic fox he was holding on his head.
After securing it, he took a waterproof flashlight from his pocket.
When the strong beam of the flashlight illuminated the water's surface, the scene before him stunned Yang Lin.
Everywhere he looked was water, and above him was something resembling a rock layer.
This meant that he was currently in an underground cavity, a cavity located beneath the Arctic Ocean.
As if a thought struck him, Yang Lin casually tasted the surrounding water.
The next second, his expression changed subtly.
"It's fresh water, this is a freshwater lake."
Although he had learned this from Inuit legends, seeing it with his own eyes still felt a little unreal.
A freshwater lake hidden beneath the ocean's surface – who would believe it?
However, recalling the deductions from a natural science magazine, Yang Lin speculated that this might be the most original Arctic Ocean, the Beiming mentioned in Zhuangzi.
Due to some special geological changes, this lake, called Beiming, moved underground from the surface, and the Atlantic Ocean flowed above it, becoming the Arctic Ocean we know today.
"Indeed, the world is full of wonders. If a writer came here, they might pen a sci-fi novel no less impressive than Journey to the Center of the Earth."
While marveling, Yang Lin began searching for direction in this underground lake.
However, the lake was so vast that after searching for a long time, he found nothing.
Finally, he placed his hope on the little arctic fox above his head.
"Little one, tell me which way to go, and I'll go that way, okay?"
In response to Yang Lin's words, the little arctic fox simply blinked its small eyes and pointed its front paw towards a certain spot in the underground lake.
"Alright, we'll go in the direction you pointed!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Yang Lin began to swim towards the direction indicated by the little arctic fox.
After a period of adaptation, his body had gradually grown accustomed to the cold lake water, so he swam quite swiftly.
Fifteen minutes later, as his flashlight shone forward, a dark landmass appeared in his sight.
Seeing this dark landmass, Yang Lin's mood changed again.
First, a lake just like in the legends, and now an island in the lake, exactly as described in the legends.
This made him suspect that the ancestors of the Inuit had truly been here, otherwise, how could they have been so precise?
"Could this really be the palace of some sea goddess? Could it be that mystical?"
While telling himself to believe in science, Yang Lin's heart began to waver.
However, the immediate priority was clearly the island in the lake. His lost parents were very likely there.
So, he couldn't care about anything else, and he swam desperately towards the island.
Another five minutes passed, and when his feet once again touched land, the long-lost sense of security returned.
At that very moment, two sets of footprints on the land immediately caught his attention.
These two sets of footprints, one large and one small, one deep and one shallow, clearly belonged to two people with a significant difference in size.
The larger one was about a size 45, and the smaller one was about a size 38, which perfectly matched his parents' shoe sizes.
The moment he realized this, Yang Lin became excited.
From the journey to this very second, he had been worried about his parents having an accident. Now, seeing their footprints, his heart could finally be somewhat at ease.
"No, I have to find them quickly. Many days must have passed since they landed on the island, and they are injured."
After the initial excitement, Yang Lin quickly returned to reality and began searching the island in the lake, following the footprints on the ground.
Unlike the outside world, this island was barren, devoid of any plants or animals, consisting only of gravel and soil, much like the primordial state of Blue Star.
Because of this, the footprints left by his parents were exceptionally clear.
After following them for about ten minutes, two tall, pale stone pillars appeared before him.
Looking at these two towering pillars with a slight curve, which did not appear to be naturally formed, Yang Lin's heart stirred with doubt.
"Why are there two pillars here? Could it be that there was an ancient human civilization here, or that the ancestors of the Inuit lived here?"
This conclusion was immediately dismissed.
The geological changes in the Arctic occurred over 20 million years ago.
Over 20 million years ago, the Earth was in the Miocene epoch. The poles were not yet covered by ice and snow.
The oxygen content on Earth was not comparable to today. The planet was filled with giant beasts, especially in the oceans, making it a true age of megafauna.
The ancestors of humans were probably still picking bananas on some tree back then; daring to come down would have meant being snatched by a giant bird in an instant.
Just as Yang Lin was about to examine the material of these two massive stone pillars, his peripheral vision caught sight of the area behind the pillars.
At a single glance, the flashlight in his hand almost slipped.
Following his gaze, he saw that not far behind the stone pillars, two rows of identical stone pillars, arranged symmetrically, extended from his current position to where the flashlight's beam could not reach.
Looking at these neat, more than ten-meter-high stone pillars with their curved design, Yang Lin now realized that these were not artificially carved pillars, but the ribs of some super-large vertebrate.
Based on the fossilized bones visible within his line of sight, he could not even imagine the size of this super-large vertebrate in its lifetime.