Chen Hao's fingers were still drawing that crooked line in the sand, the end of the withered branch already worn rough. He stared at the unfinished fence sketch and suddenly felt a little ridiculous—he was exhausted like a salted fish, while the rabbit was living a more carefree life than him.

He tossed the dry branch aside, clapped his hands, and stood up.

“Forget it,” he said. “Raising rabbits is too exhausting. I’d rather find something that can be eaten without any care.”

Nana stood two steps away, not saying a word, but slightly tilting her head, a stream of data flashing in her mechanical eyes.

“I know what you’re thinking,” Chen Hao said, brushing the sand off his pants. “You’re definitely calculating how many days I’ll survive this trip.”

“I’m assessing energy intake efficiency,” she said. “Current reserves only support basal metabolism for nine days.”

“So we need to make something high in calories.” He looked up at a steep slope in the distance, where a dark object was vaguely visible at the top. “See that? Ten meters up there, a beehive.”

Nana followed his gaze, and her pupils contracted and dilated.

"Signs of activity from a giant bee colony have been detected, with an estimated number of over 300 worker bees and signs of a queen bee present."

"So what if it's three hundred?" Chen Hao grinned. "Neither of us are easy to mess with. I have a knife, you have brains, and it has honey. Fair trade."

"You lack protective equipment."

"Just add rags and rattan, then paste some mud on top, and you've got a gas mask!"

Half an hour later, Chen Hao, wearing a cloth hood stuffed with dry grass and wrapped in twisted vines, looked like a scarecrow blown over by the wind. Nana had modified a small smoke generator from the remaining metal pieces and stuffed it with dried wormwood.

"Countdown to start the cold smoke bee-repelling method: thirty seconds," she said calmly.

"Wait," Chen Hao said, squatting on the ground, panting. "I'm not ready yet."

“You will start climbing in five minutes.”

"Why didn't you say so earlier!"

He struggled to his feet from the sand, a rusty machete in his hand. The two walked up the rocky slope, the sun making the stones scorching hot, their feet feeling like they were walking on a frying pan.

When Chen Hao reached the bottom of the hive, he looked up and his neck ached.

"This thing hangs really securely," he muttered. "Do the bees hold a daily rally, saying 'I'd rather die than leave the hive'?"

Nana didn't reply, but instead raised her arm and pressed the switch.

Smoke rose slowly, carrying the smell of burnt weeds. The wind initially cooperated, gently pushing the grayish-white airflow towards the hive entrance. The buzzing of the swarm gradually subsided, and a few soldier bees swayed in the air before falling into the bushes below.

“It works,” Nana said.

"I knew it would work." Chen Hao climbed up triumphantly, using his hands and feet to grip the crevice in the rock. "Once I cut it down, we'll have honey-roasted rabbit tonight—oh wait, there's no rabbit. So... honey mixed with sand."

He brushed against the edge of the support frame and raised the machete, aiming it at the main suspension wire.

"Three, two—"

The wind suddenly changed direction.

A wave of heat swept in from the side, dispersing the smoke. The buzzing inside the hive instantly erupted, as if someone had pressed an alarm bell for the entire mountain.

"The wind direction has suddenly changed!" Nana shouted. "Evacuate immediately!"

"Get out of here my ass!" Chen Hao swung his sword down.

The rope snapped, and the enormous beehive began to fall. He turned to jump, but slipped and tumbled down the slope.

As he tumbled, the world spun around him, and all he could hear was the roar of a swarm of bees. A rock struck his arm, burning with pain. He instinctively covered his head, but landed face-first, biting into a mouthful of sand.

"Cough cough... I fucking..." He lay on the ground spitting out sand, "I came here to collect honey, not to be a bee bread taster!"

He struggled to get up, and just as his knees touched the ground, he bumped into a warm, furry object.

He was stunned.

look up.

A large, brownish-gray face was facing him, its nose wet and half a berry chewing in its mouth.

Bear.

A man and a bear, staring at each other with wide eyes.

Chen Hao swallowed hard: "You...you're here to steal the honey too?"

The bear growled and raised its forepaws.

Chen Hao immediately raised his hand: "Don't fight! I won't fight for it! I'll give it to you!"

Before the words were even finished, the enraged swarm of bees in the sky changed direction and rushed straight at the newly appeared target.

The bear was clearly caught off guard. It suddenly shook its head, its tail snapped, and it spun around on the spot as if someone had stepped on its foot.

Nana quickly took a few steps back, and a stun gun popped out of her arm, hovering and locking onto the target.

"I suggest prioritizing addressing the current bear problem," she said.

"You still want me to handle it?" Chen Hao scrambled backward as he fled. "It weighs at least three times my weight!"

"You can try communicating."

"How do we communicate? 'Hello, let's peacefully share the honey'? Does it understand English?"

The bear, surrounded by a swarm of bees, flailing its paws in frustration, smashed half a rock with a single blow. The bees, undeterred, continued their stinging. Finally, abandoning its nectar source, it roared and charged into the nearby woods.

The swarm of bees pursued relentlessly, their buzzing gradually fading into the distance.

Chen Hao slumped to the ground, his chest heaving, his face covered in sand and blood.

"Did you win?" he asked, panting.

"Tactical withdrawal." Nana put away her weapon. "Honey lost, personnel slightly wounded, mission failed."

"You make it sound like we fought a war." He wiped his face. "Actually... it's a win-win situation. The bears took the honey, we survived, and the bees protected their home. Ecological balance, that's good."

"Your mouth is bleeding."

"That's because the sand we ate earlier was too salty."

Nana took a step closer, and the beam of light swept across his arm.

"Three abrasions and a minor sprain in the left elbow joint. Disinfection is recommended."

"What disinfection? I'm not a lab rat." He pushed himself up, his legs still a little weak. "Besides, there isn't even a band-aid here."

“I can provide antibacterial gel.”

Where did you come from?

"An emergency kit removed from the last maintenance bay."

"You were hiding this thing?" Chen Hao's eyes widened. "Why didn't you take it out earlier? Why didn't you take it out when the rabbit escaped?"

There were no open wounds at the time.

"You think there's a time limit to feelings?"

He limped back, with Nana close behind. The sun was already beginning to set, casting long shadows.

He stopped halfway there.

"Do you think... we could find some food that we can eat without having to cook?"

"for example?"

"For example... fruit that falls from a tree on its own, or mushrooms that grow on their own underground."

"That kind of resource acquisition efficiency is less than 61 percent of the daily calorie requirement."

"Couldn't you just say 'maybe'? You have to calculate it so precisely."

"My system does not support fuzzy conclusions."

"Then you might as well shut up."

They continued onward. The outline of the camp came into view, with wisps of smoke rising from the dilapidated wooden roofs.

Chen Hao suddenly stopped again.

"Hello."

"exist."

"Next time I say I'm going to steal animal food, you should stun me with a stun gun first."

"Should I write this instruction down?"

"Try to remember it," he said with a wry smile. "I can't remember it anyway."

Nana raised her hand, projecting a line of small words into the air, and gently tapped to confirm.

On the distant hillside, the swarm of bees finally dispersed. On the empty cliff face, only a broken hanging point remained, swaying gently in the wind.

Chen Hao glanced at his machete; the blade was chipped and covered in beeswax and dirt.

He tucked it into his waistband and continued walking.

As he approached the door, he suddenly turned around.

"Actually... I think that bear had it tough too. It came all this way, only to get beaten up by bees."

"It could have chosen to wait until the bee colony was tired before taking action."

“It’s probably starving,” Chen Hao murmured, “just like us.”

Nana didn't say anything.

They pushed open the wooden door, and the room was dimly lit. On the table sat the surviving fish-pickled barrel, its lid half-open, the salt grains gleaming faintly in the light.

Chen Hao plopped down in a chair, took off his shoes, and his feet were covered in blisters.

"What are we doing tomorrow?" he asked.

“I suggest testing fermentation technology,” she said. “Existing earthenware jars can be used as containers.”

"Fermentation?" He frowned. "You mean... brewing?"

"The initial goal is to manufacture protein supplements that can be stored for a long time."

"Translated, it means: We'll have to live on stinky soup."

"Data shows that the nutrient absorption rate of fermentation products increases by 37 percent."

“You always manage to make it sound so tempting.” He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. “Fine. As long as we don’t have to fight, I’ll take it.”

Nana walked to the corner, opened the device panel, and began to retrieve the soil moisture and temperature curves.

Chen Hao's breathing gradually calmed down, as if he had fallen asleep.

Outside, the last rays of sunlight shone on the sand in front of the door, casting two long shadows.

An ant crawled onto the tip of his shoe, paused for a moment, then hurriedly crawled down and disappeared into a crack in the ground.