Chen Hao's fingers were still holding the cracked egg, the sunlight shining in at an angle, making the shell gleam faintly. He was about to put it in the basket when suddenly his foot slipped, and the wet straw mat stuck to the sole of his shoe.

"Huh?" He bent down and stepped on the haystack; it felt like a waterlogged sponge. "Why is it damp?"

Looking up, I saw water dripping from the wooden beams, pattering against the chicken coop ceiling. Next to the thermometer in the corner, the hygrometer's needle was almost touching the top.

"Nana!" He turned his head sharply, "Our chicken coop is going to turn into a fishpond!"

Nana's optical eye scanned the area, data streaming across her field of vision. "Dampness seeping into the ground, clogged vents, air circulation failing." She paused, "Humidity is expected to exceed 75% within thirty minutes, and the chicks' breathing rate has increased by 32%."

Chen Hao slapped his thigh: "Then let's not wait!" He picked up the egg basket, put it on a high place, and covered it with a plastic sheet, muttering, "We just said we were going to institutionalize farming, and nature has come to check up on us."

Nana crouched down, a miniature drill extending from the tip of her robotic arm, aiming at the rusted valve on the ventilation duct. With a click, sparks flew from the metal scraping together. As she dismantled it, she pulled up the climate model in her knowledge base: "Suggestion: Simultaneously activate the hot air assist to improve evaporation efficiency."

"Hot air?" Chen Hao scratched his head. "We don't have that kind of thing."

"The heating element you had left over from modifying the electric blanket last night is still in the toolbox."

"Oh right!" He slapped his forehead, rummaged around in the corner, and pulled out a tangled wire and two blackened heating wires. "This thing still works?"

"After the power is turned on, it can provide local heating, and when combined with the newly opened air duct, it can create convection."

Chen Hao snorted, "Alright, assembly maniac online." He squatted on the ground, tightening screws and connecting wires in a flurry of activity. Finally, he tied two heating strips to a wooden stick, placed it in the center of the chicken coop, and plugged it in.

Buzz—

The heating element glowed a dark red, and the air trembled slightly. Wind blew in from the newly opened pipes, carrying a rusty smell, and made the plastic sheeting rustle.

"That's interesting." Chen Hao grinned. "The sauna has been upgraded to a dry sauna."

The hygrometer needle slowly dropped back down, but before he could even breathe a sigh of relief, the infrared alarm suddenly started beeping.

"An external moving target is approaching, from three points, above the eaves."

Chen Hao looked up and saw three stray cats crawling along the roof tiles, their claws hooked on the edge of the fence, their tails taut, and their eyes fixed on the chicks in the cage.

"Good grief, trying to take advantage of the situation, huh?" He grabbed a broom and was about to rush out.

“I don’t recommend driving them away directly,” Nana stopped him. “Your physical strength has already reached its limit, and your visibility is limited at night, which could easily cause a stampede.”

"Then what do you suggest we do? Wait for them to leave on their own?"

Nana paused for a second, then her optical eyes flashed with a blue light. "Refer to Chapter 178, the moisture control system record," she said. "The current surface moisture content has reached the plastic limit; short-term pressurized spraying can bring the soil into a fluid plastic state."

Chen Hao was taken aback: "You mean... turn the land into a mud pit with water?"

"Exactly."

"Wait a minute." He squinted. "Aren't we draining the moisture? Now we need to add water again?"

"Temporary reverse operation to create unfavorable ground conditions for the invaders."

Chen Hao grinned: "Well done, your brain works faster than a cat's."

Nana activated the underground sprinkler ring, and the high-pressure nozzles instantly sprayed out four jets of water, covering the area around the chicken coop in a fan shape. The soil quickly absorbed water and expanded, and the surface began to collapse.

The first cat jumped down, its front paws sinking directly into the mud. It struggled to pull itself out, but the other cat also sank in, its body tilting to the side, falling flat on its back. The third cat reacted quickly, taking a step back, but its tail swept across the mud, getting covered in wet mud that it couldn't shake off.

"Hahaha!" Chen Hao laughed so hard he leaned against the wall. "Look at you guys still trying to steal chickens! This is a live broadcast of 'the cat falling into the trap'!"

The dazed cat tried to pounce again, but its hind legs kicked out, sending mud flying and covering its face in dirt. It howled and turned to run away. The remaining two tumbled and scrambled onto the roof, tails tucked between their legs, and disappeared behind the ridge.

Quiet returned to the area outside the chicken coop, with only the sound of flowing water and bubbling mud remaining.

But the chicks in the cage weren't panicked. Instead, they crowded to the doorway, craning their necks to look outside. One of the bolder ones, taking advantage of Chen Hao's inattention, squeezed through a gap, plunged headfirst into the mud, flapped its wings, rolled in mud all over, and clucked loudly.

"Hey!" Chen Hao's eyes widened. "You're actually enjoying this?"

Then the second and third ones also emerged, rolling around in the mud, some rubbing their backs, some digging holes, just like a group soaking in a hot spring.

"So they thought this was a new project?" Chen Hao shook his head. "'Chicken Happy, Cat Crazy' defense system is officially in use."

Nana retracted the nozzle, and the system automatically shut down. "Mud barrier effect achieved, invasion terminated. Chicken's surface temperature is stable, no stress response observed."

“Hey Nana,” Chen Hao squatted by the muddy ground, looking at a group of chicks that looked like mud monkeys, “shouldn’t we make a record of this trick? If anyone dares to come, we can treat them to a mud feast first.”

"An 'Emergency Mud Barrier Mode' has been added to the management agreement, with the trigger conditions set as: nighttime alarm + humidity threshold above."

"That's fine." He patted his pants and stood up, but forgot that there was still water around his feet. He stepped into a hole and half of his shoe sank into the mud.

"Ouch!" He hopped on one leg to pull himself out, but his shoelace got stuck in the mud and almost broke. After finally managing to pull it out, the sole of his shoe was covered in mud that he couldn't shake off.

“I suggest changing your footwear,” Nana said.

“Hey, let’s not speak English.” He rolled his eyes. “Besides, I won’t understand what you’re saying anyway.”

"I suggest you change your shoes."

"That's it." He turned his shoes upside down to shake off the mud, then casually tossed them at the door to dry. "Anyway, no one will see, so I'll just go barefoot."

He sat back down on the wooden stool, took out half a damp biscuit and ate it, his gaze falling on the chicks still playing in the mud.

Do you think they knew how dangerous it was just now?

"Lacking the ability to recognize risks."

“But they’re so happy right now,” he said, chewing on a biscuit. “More excited than when they’re laying eggs.”

"Environmental changes bring novelty and excitement, which is a typical exploratory behavior."

"Hey," he waved his hand, "Can't you speak like a human being?"

Nana didn't answer, but simply adjusted the focus of her optical eye slightly to continue monitoring the chick's activity curve.

After finishing the last bite of his biscuit, Chen Hao patted the crumbs onto his trouser leg. He stood up, found some old bamboo strips and a slanted wooden plank, and dug a shallow ditch around the chicken coop to drain the accumulated water.

“We can’t waste this little bit of water,” he said. “It’s perfect for watering the taro over there.”

Nana updated the system logs in real time, and the temperature and humidity curves stabilized, eventually settling at 62%.

"The environment is stable," she said. "The chicks' activity levels have returned to normal."

Chen Hao wiped the sweat from his face, looked at the muddy ground and the chickens flapping happily, and suddenly smiled: "It turns out that sometimes, a problem can become a magic weapon."

"The core logic of survival engineering is to make reasonable use of environmental variables."

“You’re talking like it’s straight out of a textbook.” He kicked a clod of dry soil at his feet. “But I believe you. From now on, we’ll not only protect ourselves from insects and moisture, but we also need to learn how to ‘make use of waste.’”

He turned and walked towards the toolbox, ready to clean up the mess. Nana stood still, her optical eyes flashing blue, continuing to record data.

A chick raised its head from the mud, a strip of mud clinging to its beak, blinked, and clucked at him.

Chen Hao stopped and looked back at it.

The chicken shook its wings, and mud splattered onto his trouser leg.