The propulsion suit emitted a final soft click, as if letting out a sigh of relief. Chen Hao glanced down at his wristwatch; the green icon on the screen flashed, indicating the power system had fully returned to normal.

He lifted his foot and took a step forward.

Shallow pits were trodden into the sand, and a hot, dry wind blew from the direction of the lake. He didn't turn around, but simply raised his hand, gesturing for Nana to follow.

“Let’s go,” he said. “This time I’ll go slower, I won’t rush, okay?”

Nana didn't respond, but her footsteps followed. Her mechanical feet made almost no sound on the red rock, only a slight clicking sound of metal joints.

The two walked one after the other toward the reflective depression. Fifteen meters, ten meters, five meters—the distance was getting closer and closer, and the outline of the lake became clearer, like a piece of sheet metal that had been baked and was shining, with its edges gleaming white.

"Stop." Nana suddenly reached out to stop him.

Chen Hao nearly bumped into it. "What's wrong now? This time it's not a temperature issue, is it?"

“No.” She crouched down and took a small silver-gray bottle from the side pocket of her suit. “Collect samples. You’ll be in charge of collecting the water, and I’ll monitor the environmental data.”

"Oh." He took the bottle, unscrewed the cap, and said, "That's all? Not even enough for me to rinse my mouth."

“This isn’t for you to drink,” she said. “It’s for the future purification system to see.”

"The future? Then I'll have to wait until I'm dead to use it." He muttered, bending down to approach the lake. As soon as the bottle's mouth touched the water, he heard a soft "hiss" sound, like a drop of water falling into a red-hot pot.

He withdrew his hand slightly. "This water has quite a temper."

“The high surface temperature causes instantaneous vaporization,” she said. “Be quick.”

Chen Hao held his breath, pressed the bottle into the water, filled it to about eight-tenths full, and quickly tightened the cap. Just as he was about to straighten up, he suddenly caught a glimpse of a gray shadow darting out from the red grass beside him.

The thing lowered its head, its four short legs quickly pushed off the ground, and it leaped to his feet.

"Why?!"

The bottle has already been taken away.

The little animal turned and ran, flicking its fluffy tail, and in the blink of an eye, it disappeared into a crevice on the other side of the rocks, leaving Chen Hao standing there empty-handed, completely bewildered.

"It...it stole my bottle?" He stood there, stunned. "These days, even animals are starting to rob people?"

Nana has already activated scanning mode; a flash of blue light from her eyes locks onto the direction in which the target disappeared.

"It is about 40 centimeters long, with grayish-brown fur, short but powerful limbs, and horn-like protrusions on both sides of its head." She spoke steadily, "It is preliminarily judged to be a small herbivorous creature with no history of aggression, but it has a strong curiosity and a tendency to collect objects."

"It was curious about my bottle?" Chen Hao's eyes widened. "I went through all that trouble, risking heatstroke, to collect it! And it just snatched it away in one bite?"

“When you bend over, your movements are slow, and the bottle opening is exposed for too long,” she said. “For these kinds of creatures, small moving objects are equivalent to resources that can be picked up.”

"So I'm a vending machine?" He wiped the sweat from his forehead. "You put in coins for water, and the machine swallows the money but doesn't dispense the goods?"

“The analogy holds true,” she nodded, “but it lacks the concept of a coin.”

"Then tell me what to do!" He pretended to chase after it. "I'll go and plug the crack in it, forcing it to spit it out!"

He had barely taken a step when Nana's arm immediately blocked his chest, the metal arm exerting a slight force to deflect him.

“Don’t chase it,” she said. “It knows the terrain, and you could easily get dehydrated or slip. And—” she paused, “it’s not stealing, it’s taking. The difference is, it might be willing to give it back.”

"Change?" Chen Hao sneered. "What can I change with? You said my panties didn't meet hygiene standards last time, so you can't expect me to take off my shoes this time, can you?"

“You have an energy bar in your pocket,” she said. “High in calories, easy to carry, and fits its feeding preference model.”

Chen Hao was taken aback. "You can even figure out what it likes to eat?"

“No,” she said. “But I can speculate. The fact that it chose a container with a metal shell suggests that it prefers reflective or sturdy materials. The energy bar’s outer packaging is aluminum foil, which, like the collection bottle, is reflective.”

"So he's obsessed with looks?" He pulled out an energy bar from his pocket, looked at it, and said, "This thing? It'll be gone in two bites. I was saving it for a midnight snack."

“What you need now is a sample,” she said, “not to dream about drinking hot water in the middle of the night.”

He rolled his eyes, but still tore open the packaging, broke it in half, and placed one half on a flat stone closest to the lake.

“Come on, you little thief.” He took two steps back and lowered his voice, “See if it’s worth the risk.”

The wind died down for a moment.

The red grass swayed gently.

The gray figure reappeared.

It poked its head out from the crack in the rock, its ears twitched, its nose twitched a few times, and its gaze first fell on the energy bar, then slowly moved to Chen Hao's face.

"Is it looking at me?" Chen Hao froze. "Does it think I look like another energy bar?"

“It’s assessing the threat level,” Nana whispered. “Your current posture is ‘non-predator,’ but further confirmation is needed.”

The small animal slowly moved out, its front paws on the edge of the stone, its body pressed low, as if ready to escape at any moment. It stared at the food, then glanced at Chen Hao, and finally cautiously approached, touching the energy bar with its nose.

"It smells it!" Chen Hao almost jumped up. "Quick, it wants to eat it!"

Sure enough, the animal opened its mouth, took a bite, chewed twice, and then its ears suddenly perked up.

Then it turned and ran, disappearing back into the crevice in the rock.

"It ran away?!" Chen Hao was dumbfounded. "It freeloaded?!"

Three seconds later, a small thing rolled out of the crevice.

It's that collection bottle.

The bottle spun halfway around on the ground and stopped on the sand, the cap still tightly screwed on.

"It...it really changed?" Chen Hao's eyes widened. "This thing actually follows the rules?"

“Transaction complete.” Nana stepped forward, picked up the bottle, and said, “Credit points successfully established.”

"Credit score?" He scratched his head. "It even has a credit system?"

“At least it knows there’s a price to pay for taking things.” She examined the sample. “It’s well-sealed, and the data is usable.”

Chen Hao looked at the crevice in the rock and suddenly laughed, "Do you think it will greet me next time it sees me? Like, 'Hey, you fat guy who gave me food last time?'"

“The possibility exists,” she said, “but it is advisable not to feed it too frequently, otherwise it may develop a dependency.”

"If I forget to bring food one day, will it just pounce on me and try to rummage through my pockets?"

“Based on existing behavioral models, it’s more inclined to steal than rob.” She put the bottle away. “But you could try calling its name.”

"Call me?" He was taken aback. "Call me what? I can't exactly shout 'Hey, bottle thief!'"

“Try making the same frequency as when you were eating,” she said. “For example—click.”

Chen Hao was silent for two seconds, then cleared his throat and imitated the sound of biting something: "Crunch...crunch."

There was no movement in the crevice.

He did it again, this time with a bit more force: "Snap!"

The grass rustled.

The little head popped out again.

It stared at Chen Hao, its mouth slightly open, as if it were recalling something.

Then it pushed off with its hind legs and jumped out of the crevice, heading straight for the rock—but there was no food left there.

It stood before the empty stone, looked up at Chen Hao, and had an indescribable expectation in its eyes.

"It...it thought I'd still give it to it?" Chen Hao grinned. "It's become a repeat offender!"

“You’ve established a conditioned reflex,” Nana said. “Now you’re its mobile resupply point.”

"Then I've become a zookeeper?" he sighed. "I originally wanted to collect samples, but I ended up with a pet."

“It’s not a pet,” she said. “It’s part of the local ecosystem.”

“But the look in its eyes just now was exactly the same as when I was watching the chef serve food at the cafeteria window.” He took out the remaining half of an energy bar, hesitated for a moment, and then threw it over. “Take it, consider it protection money.”

The little animal caught the food, but instead of running away, it sat on the rock, hugged the energy bar with its two front legs, and started munching on it like it was eating corn.

Chen Hao squatted down, tilting his head to look at it. "Do you think it has any companions? What if it brings a bunch of relatives to ambush me one day?"

"Currently, this is the only one within the monitoring area," she said, "but the possibility of group activity cannot be ruled out."

"Then I'll bring a few more next time." He stroked his chin. "Let's do a membership program, buy three get one free."

Nana didn't respond, but simply adjusted the scanning angle and continued recording the animal's feeding rhythm and dwell time.

The wind picked up again, and the reflective cloth trembled slightly in the distance, like a restless metal leaf.

After finishing its last bite, the little animal licked its front paws, stood up, glanced at Chen Hao, and slowly strolled back into the crevice.

Chen Hao patted his pants and stood up. "It was quite polite; it even greeted us after it finished eating."

“It’s confirming a safe distance,” Nana said. “The next step might be to try closer contact.”

"Does that mean it still wants to freeload?"

“Or we could exchange for other items.” She turned to him. “I suggest you carry at least two tradable items with you from now on.”

"All I have left to trade are socks and underwear," he sighed. "I should have packed more snacks before I ran away."

“The escape pod still has thirty-seven energy bars,” she said. “Theoretically, that’s enough to sustain the exchange for a month.”

"A month?" He widened his eyes. "You want me to open a general store here?"

"If it can provide useful information, such as the distribution of water sources or heat avoidance routes, then such an investment is reasonable."

“If all it does is trade for food, then that’s pure exploitation.” He shook his head. “I’ve transmigrated into a poverty alleviation cadre.”

Nana didn't smile, but her eyes flashed with blue light, as if she were recording some kind of abnormal data.

Chen Hao rubbed his temples. "Alright, I don't have anything else to do right now anyway. Next goal—develop local diplomatic relations."

Just as he finished speaking, a small head suddenly peeked out from the crevice in the rock.

But this time, it wasn't carrying an empty bottle in its mouth.

It was a black stone the size of a fingernail.