Antarctic Star 1

Antarctica.

Ninety-five percent of the land is covered by thick snow, and the harsh environment with temperatures dropping to tens of degrees below zero all year round makes it the only continent without permanent human settlement.

In the struggle for survival, some organisms will always be able to adapt to the strong winds and cold, and survive in such frozen soil.

Among them is the main character of this episode, a Weddell Seal...

"Stop!"

A slightly plump female researcher, hands on her hips, snatched the remote control from another male researcher and turned off the television that was playing a videotape.

"Anderson, stop watching those outdated documentaries! Our Antarctic Star is still at home, are you here to cause trouble?"

Interrupted from their entertainment, the France gentleman adjusted his glasses and retorted politely yet elegantly, "So what if we're watching seals? Ru Du, we're all zoologists; all groups are part of the food chain. You can't just side with the Emperor Penguin, can you?"

"So what if I'm biased? I am biased! Part of the Joint Research Station's funding comes from that child's earnings! Her tribe even sends us gifts!"

"The gift, uh, you mean those partially digested chunks of fish?"

"This is quite a precious gift for the Emperor Penguin!"

The two argued fiercely about this issue.

From a researcher's perspective, Anderson did nothing wrong; Tang Rudu was simply protecting his own...

Although she remains unmarried to this day.

Hearing the commotion in the living room, Antarctic Star peeked out from her bedroom, seemingly used to such scenes. After recognizing who was arguing, she expressionlessly withdrew.

The Joint Research Station is her home.

The researchers from all over the world who work here are her "parents" as "human beings".

She accepted this arrangement shortly after becoming a magical girl.

In return, she received not only affection, but also the unwavering dedication of everyone there, who were willing to devote their entire knowledge to educating her into the most outstanding elites, including many members of Mensa Club...

Emperor Penguin are social animals that value family ties and social interaction.

Therefore, Antarctic Star also cherishes these "cheap parents" at the research station. Her room's bookshelves are filled with a large number of books, mostly obscure and difficult academic documents. But because they were gifts from her "parents," she always takes them with her when she goes out, forcing herself to read and study them...

But in the end, I read and understood most of them.

Armed with knowledge, the magical girl Antarctic Star becomes even stronger.

However, it also became overly rational (inhuman), to the point that everyone at the research station was reflecting on whether this excessive elitist education had gone wrong.

"It's time to go out."

Antarctic Star stood up from her desk. There was a downward passage in her room that led to a private access pod.

To cope with the ever-changing snow depth, the research station is a series of elevated cabins connected together, and the location of the entrances and exits depends on the snow depth. However, most exit cabins require changing into thermal suits and snow boots, while the exit cabin of Antarctic Star is the most rudimentary, where she can simply open the door and leave.

After all, the thermal insulation equipment was all stored inside the Star Crystal.

"Hmm..."

It's a little chilly.

Today's temperature is -36 degrees Celsius, and the wind is light.

The climate, where humans can easily freeze to death, is a rare exception in Antarctica, where the weather is good.

The Antarctic Star lowers its mass relative to the ground, allowing it to move freely on snow and fragile ice without being blown away by howling storms.

Perhaps this is the magic she mastered to adapt to the Antarctica environment.

"You silly girl, you went to see the kids again?"

She ran across the snowfield, and the voice of a woman who had detected her departure came through her earpiece.

Antarctic Star explained, "Mom, today is the day for our regular observation."

"I'm not blaming you, I just wanted to remind you... but for the sake of the tribe's Future, don't interfere too deeply."

"I see."

"You are not allowed to hug the cubs in the guise of a magical girl!"

"I see."

"You can't do anything bad to your husband's current girlfriend!"

"... I see."

"Don't hit bad things, cough cough, I mean Adélie Penguin!"

"You're even more emotional than I am... Mom, I know what I can and shouldn't do."

To protect the Emperor Penguin's ecosystem, even Antarctic Star cannot interfere too much with the group's activities. After all, she cannot be the Emperor Penguin's god forever, and if she affects their ability to survive in the wild, the consequences will be unimaginable.

Antarctic Star understood this long ago.

Thirty kilometers away from the Joint Research Station, on a cold ice field, stands this huge, arched artificial wall.

Although it can't be called a building, it at least provides the Emperor Penguin with a safe haven.

The Antarctic Star's race is nurturing the next generation there; it's like a nursery.

In August, you can see the Emperor Penguin chicks, those little gray dumplings gathered together. This is the most gratifying sight for Antarctic Star, because it means that the next generation of the species will prosper.

Antarctic Star spotted a huge group of penguins.

There are approximately 1,300 of them, but this is only two-thirds of the population.

The penguin families gathered here are all single-parent families, with penguin mothers and their chicks waiting for penguin fathers to go out to sea to fish.

"... There are so many this year too."

Little, round, gray babies are learning to walk with their parents' help.

Perhaps due to the windbreaks, the survival rate of the young of the Antarctic Star is very high, with about one-third of the eggs surviving until the day they molt.

Compared to other groups, this is already a very high percentage.

Upon seeing Antarctic Star in her magical girl form, the group of Emperor Penguin showed no intention of fleeing; instead, they raised their heads and surrounded her.

Their intelligence doesn't recognize the current Antarctic Star; they simply have no concept of human existence.

On the other hand, penguins' body structure is not suitable for running, and on land they are at a level where humans can easily catch them.

"Antarctic Star, we've found an injured cub. It's probably been pecked on the back by those bad guys. It'll definitely die if we leave it unattended."

"Just discovered?"

"I discovered it before, but I didn't tell you."

"Please mark this, I will take it back and care for it."

A holographic image was projected onto the wall, marking a particular cub.

According to the Antarctic Treaty, humans are prohibited from contacting wild animals in the Antarctic Circle.

So, before the Emperor Penguin could swarm around him, Antarctic Star deactivated his transformation.

She...

It turned back into Emperor Penguin.

But she hasn't lost the wisdom she had as a magical girl.

Even though they look the same, a sad, thick barrier has already separated them from their relatives.

However, Antarctic Star was already used to it; it had become the guardian of the Emperor Penguin colony, and it didn't matter if it wasn't understood...

The towering Antarctic Star attracted some Emperor Penguin and their chicks seeking warmth.

But these were not her goals.

She struggled to break free of the flock and walked toward a young goose hiding at its mother's feet.