The wind had just stopped, and the blades were still vibrating slightly. Chen Hao was about to grin and say "It's done" when he slipped and almost fell to the ground. He steadied himself by holding onto the support frame, and when he looked down, he saw that two of the bolt holes on the main shaft base were empty. The high-strength nails that should have been screwed in were now just half a piece of rusty wire stuck inside.

"Huh?" He squatted down and scratched at it. "Didn't we just put it on?"

Nana stood to the side, her gaze sweeping over the connection point. "What we just secured were temporary clips," she said. "There are only six load-bearing bolts left, all of which have been used in the upper section of the support. The remaining three replacement bolts are insufficient in tensile strength and are marked as 'not suitable for long-term load-bearing' by the system."

Chen Hao rummaged through his toolbox, turning it upside down, and found several crooked screws rolling out, none of which matched. He then rushed into the warehouse, rummaged through the scrap heap for a while, pulled out a piece of old steel bar, compared it to the hole diameter, shook his head, and threw it away.

"So all that hard work building this frame ended up getting stuck on a tiny screw?" He patted the windmill base. "Look at it, it stands so straight, but actually, it has two legs underneath, one wearing a shoe and the other barefoot."

“The anthropomorphic description of the structure does not affect the actual problem,” Nana said. “I suggest initiating a material supplementation process.”

Her pupils flickered slightly. She retrieved the geological map of the area surrounding the base from the internal database, superimposed it with a metal composition analysis model, and projected an area three seconds later: a valley three kilometers away to the north, where there is a nickel-iron alloy enrichment zone in the rock strata, and exposed ore veins beneath the weathered surface, which can be extracted and processed into temporary fasteners.

“I’ve passed by that place several times,” Chen Hao frowned. “It’s all scree slopes; you can sink half your leg in with one step.”

“The current task takes priority over terrain risks.” Nana put away the projector. “The round trip on foot is estimated to take two hours and fifteen minutes. We can carry simple mining tools.”

"You make it sound so easy," he sighed. "With my physique, wouldn't I need to lie in bed for three days afterward?"

“Based on historical data, you once carried 30 kilograms of supplies for 4 kilometers in an environment with a temperature of 42 degrees Celsius, and only rested seven times along the way.” She paused. “This time, the estimated load is no more than 20 kilograms, and the slope is 18 percent on average, making the difficulty level lower than the aforementioned scenario.”

"You remember all this so clearly?" Chen Hao glared at her. "That's because the chicken coop collapsed. If I don't move it, there won't be any breakfast tomorrow."

“The motivations may differ, but physical performance is a valuable indicator.” She turned and walked to the locker, taking out a folding crowbar and a canvas bag. “Ready to go.”

Chen Hao stared at the bag for two seconds, then resignedly put on his non-slip boots. "Fine, to prevent this windmill from falling apart before it even starts turning, I'll give it my all."

The two left the base one after the other. The wind on the desolate planet began to blow again, carrying sand that stung their faces. Chen Hao stumbled along; the slope was soft, and with each step he slid half an inch down. Nana walked ahead, her steps steady, like a machine unaffected by gravity.

"You think there's any usable metal under this broken rock?" he asked breathlessly. "What if I end up digging up a pile of rusty slag and have to carry it back?"

“The probability assessment is 83.6 percent,” she said. “If it fails, we can try fusing the old circuit board frame as a replacement support after returning to the test site—although the stability is poor, it is sufficient to keep the test running.”

"It sounds like using staples to prop up a roof beam," Chen Hao muttered. "But it's fine, anyway, we haven't had any proper materials from the beginning of this project."

Reaching the valley entrance, Nana activated her handheld detector. The screen flickered a few times, and the signal was intermittent. She turned off the device, switched to deep scan mode, and her pupils glowed with a pale blue light as she began to analyze the underground structure layer by layer.

A few minutes later, she pointed to a cracked rock wall: "The target is located 1.2 meters below, with an exposed ore body area of ​​about 0.4 square meters. The nickel content is estimated to be over 6%, making it suitable for cold forging."

Chen Hao walked over and swung his crowbar, smashing the weathered rock layer. Debris flew everywhere, covering his face in dust. He wiped his face and continued prying until, with a "crack," the entire rock loosened and tumbled down the slope.

A silver-gray vein was visible in the crevice of the rock, reflecting a metallic sheen in the sunlight.

"Oh?" He leaned closer for a look. "It actually looks quite decent."

He scraped off a fragment with a crowbar and handed it to Nana. She took it, her fingertips gleaming slightly, scanned it for a moment, and nodded: "The tensile strength is about 87 percent of that of standard bolt material, and the hardness is slightly lower, but this can be compensated for by increasing the contact area. It can be processed into an emergency fastener."

"Great!" Chen Hao plopped down on the ground. "At least the trip wasn't in vain."

Just as he was about to get up and pry off a few more pieces, Nana suddenly raised her hand to signal for quiet.

“Deep elemental anomaly detected,” she whispered. “A trace amount of iridium is present five meters below our current location. The concentration is extremely low, but the characteristic peak is stable.”

"Iridium?" Chen Hao scratched his head. "What's that thing used for? To make pots or for cooking?"

“It’s not within the scope of the current mission,” she said, “but marking the coordinates will allow for a subsequent assessment of the feasibility of mining.”

"Wait a minute." He realized, "You mean...we stumbled upon a treasure by accident?"

"These are only preliminary detection results," she cautioned, "and iridium has no direct application in the local context."

“But it’s a rare metal!” Chen Hao’s eyes lit up. “I’ve seen it in documentaries before; it’s used in high-end quantum modules and aerospace engine coatings. Just because we don’t use it now doesn’t mean nobody will want it in the future.”

He grinned and said, "We're not here to save a windmill, we're here to lay the foundation for a future power plant."

Nana didn't reply, but simply saved the coordinates into the system and casually stuffed a few pieces of ore into her canvas bag. Chen Hao also quickly set to work, prying off four or five pieces of metal rock of varying sizes and stuffing them into his backpack, which weighed heavily on his shoulders.

On the way back, the wind picked up, yellow clouds rolled in from the horizon, and sand and dust began to blow in their faces. Visibility decreased, and Chen Hao squinted as he walked forward, relying entirely on Nana to lead the way.

"Can you still see the road?" he shouted.

“The optical sensor has been switched to the infrared band,” she said. “Follow my footsteps and keep a distance of 1.5 meters.”

The wind blew harder and harder, the sand stinging their faces. Chen Hao covered his head with his clothes and followed closely behind. Suddenly, he slipped and fell sideways on the slope, almost tumbling down. Nana immediately turned around, grabbed his arm, and pulled him up.

"Thanks." He panted, "That fall just now almost made me the first 'wind roll man' on this desolate planet."

“The risk level has been raised,” she said. “Low-frequency beacon navigation has been activated.”

She emitted an invisible signal wave from her wrist, leaving a tracking point along its path. The two followed the trail in reverse, gradually making their way out of the valley.

The storm lasted for nearly twenty minutes before finally stopping. The sky was still overcast, but the outline of the base ahead was now visible.

Chen Hao patted the dirt off his clothes, touched the ore in his backpack, and chuckled, "This trip wasn't a waste. We got the screws, and we found the treasure. We can weld the windmill's tail back on when we get back."

"I suggest prioritizing a feasibility test for smelting," Nana said. "The existing ore contains many impurities and needs to be screened and purified before processing."

"Let's not worry about the details for now." He waved his hand. "Let's finish assembling the model first. Otherwise, it'll look like a statue without pants standing here, and it'll be embarrassing if the wind blows."

Nana glanced at him, said nothing, but the corner of her mouth seemed to twitch very slightly.

They crossed the perimeter fence of the base and stepped onto the concrete path. The windmill frame still stood in the center of the yard, its blades drooping silently, as if waiting for them to bring back the last piece of the puzzle.

Chen Hao took off his backpack, untied the rope, and poured out several pieces of ore with a splash. The silvery-gray fragments rolled all over the ground, gleaming coldly in the setting sun.

"Come on," he said, rubbing his hands together. "Time to get to work."

Nana crouched down, picked up a piece of ore, and her fingertips lit up with scanning light again. Chen Hao, on the other hand, took out a hammer and pliers from the workbench, preparing to try and knock out a usable metal strip.

He had just raised the hammer when Nana suddenly spoke up: "An abnormal crystal structure was detected inside the ore."

"What do you mean?" He stopped.

“This is not a natural nickel-iron alloy,” she said. “The crystal arrangement shows signs of artificial annealing—it has been smelted before.”