The ground was still trembling. Chen Hao stared at the edge of the forest, not throwing away the vine in his hand.

Nana's optical glasses swept across the area, and the data stream rolled across her field of vision. "Vibration frequency three times per minute, amplitude below the warning threshold."

"Not a wild animal?"

"Unable to confirm at the moment."

"It couldn't have been an earthquake, could it?" He tossed the rattan into the recycling bin. "In this crappy place, even ants run away from the shaking, let alone three times."

Nana didn't reply, but turned and walked towards the west side of the fence. There were several fresh scratches on the bottom of the metal mesh, and the edges were slightly curled. She squatted down to inspect the resin sealant at the interface, her fingertips lightly touching the circuit connection points.

"Humidity increased by 23 percent, signal delay was 0.7 seconds."

"So, when that guy crashed into us last night, our sensors went out of service?"

"To be precise, the reaction time has slowed down."

Chen Hao scratched his arm; the burning itch from yesterday hadn't subsided. He walked to the southeast corner and found that a patch of the replanted thorns had fallen over, the soil around their roots loose, revealing the half-buried aluminum alloy support underneath.

"Was it blown by the wind?"

"The probability is 82%."

"What about the remaining 18%?"

"We cannot rule out the possibility of animals exploring at night."

"Alright, I can't sleep now anyway." He bent down to pick up a broken vine, tied it to the support with a resin rope, and tamped down the surrounding soil. "The defense line that I worked so hard to build last night can't just fall apart this morning."

Nana disassembled the control box, took out the tool module from the robotic arm, and began cleaning the damp wiring interfaces. She wiped the metal contacts clean with a dry cotton cloth, then applied a layer of sealant resin, her movements as steady as a calibrated machine.

“Voltage test?” she asked.

"It's up to you." Chen Hao squatted down beside her, watching her reconnect the wires. "Just make sure the sheep don't cause another disturbance in the pen."

"This setting is a low-frequency pulse mode, which will not affect the hearing system of livestock."

"That's good."

A few minutes later, the indicator light turned from red to green.

"System restored, sensor sensitivity meets standards."

"Finally, some good news."

They walked along the entire defensive line. The vines on the east side were growing well, and the sonic detectors were functioning normally; there were no abnormalities on the north slope; only a section of newly planted thorny vines in the southwest corner was bent under the weight, and the soil around the roots was cracked.

“Fill in the soil,” Nana said.

Chen Hao brought over a bucket of mixed mud, filled it into the pit, and compacted it. Just as he straightened up, something suddenly caught on his left glove. Looking down, he saw that the sharp tips of newly sprouted thorns had pierced his palm and were wedged in the gap of the metal frame.

He yanked hard, and the thorn slipped out, simultaneously cutting a gash in his forearm. Blood immediately seeped out, the edges turning red.

"Holy crap."

Nana immediately reached out and pressed down on the inside of his wrist. "Don't move."

"It's nothing, just a small cut."

"The wound is about 1.5 centimeters deep, and there is a risk of bacterial infection." She pulled the person towards the tool shed, "Sit down."

"It's not that bad—"

"sit down."

Chen Hao grinned, but still sat down. Nana took out a disinfection module from her repair kit, opened the cover, and a blue light illuminated. She first rinsed the wound with water, then activated the ultraviolet irradiation.

"pain."

"Lasts for thirty seconds."

"I know, it's just a way to feel better."

After cleaning the surface, Nana closed the sterilizer and turned to rummage through her backpack. She took out a glass bottle containing a pale yellow liquid.

"This is...goat milk?"

“A concentrated extract,” she said. “It contains natural antibacterial ingredients.”

"You're researching this?"

"Database data shows that lactating goat milk is rich in lysozyme and immunoglobulins, which can inhibit common Gram-positive bacteria."

"Sounds quite professional."

She ignored him, poured the liquid into a small bowl, added a little honey and herbal powder, and stirred it into a paste. Then, using a clean brush, she applied it to the wound.

"cold."

"It will form a protective film to prevent secondary pollution."

Finally, she covered the wound with a transparent resin film, keeping the edges close to the skin.

"Change it in four hours."

"I've got it."

"Avoid contact with water or high-friction objects during this period."

"Like thorns?"

“Especially thorny bushes.”

Chen Hao flexed his wrists. "I feel like I can still swing a shovel."

"Not recommended."

"You don't believe me?"

I believe in the laws of physics.

The sun was high in the sky, and the temperature had risen slightly. They returned to the fence to test the system's interconnected response.

Nana stood in front of the main control panel and brought up the operating interface. "The composite defense protocol is about to be activated. Phase 1: Simulate small creature climbing."

“I’ll be the guinea pig.” Chen Hao took off his injured glove and used only his right hand to hold onto the vine as he slid upwards. “Let’s see how severe the electric shock is.”

"Warning: Non-standard testing procedure."

"Mind your own business."

He had only climbed halfway when his foot slipped, and he crashed into the metal fence. Instantly, the sensor under his foot was triggered, the sonic wave generator emitted a short, high-frequency sound, and the electronic fence released a low-voltage pulse.

"ah!"

He jumped down, waving his arms. "The power really came back on?"

"The current intensity is at the upper limit of the safety threshold, which is sufficient to cause discomfort but no substantial harm."

"strong enough."

Conclusion: Effective against small organisms.

"What about the larger ones?"

"Verification with real targets is required."

"Then let's wait for it to come again."

At 3 PM, the system entered full-power operation. Nana activated the automatic monitoring mode, and all sensors were simultaneously activated.

Just two minutes later, the alarm went off.

“False fire alarm.” She checked the signal source. “Smoke is detected on the western perimeter.”

The two rushed over and found that the tip of a vine near the electronic fence was black and emitting thin smoke.

"Excessive voltage caused localized carbonization."

"Didn't you say you'd switch to intermittent discharge?"

"The initial settings are still inaccurate."

Nana immediately lowered the pulse frequency, cutting off the power supply to that section. The smoke gradually stopped.

"We need to find a way to insulate it," Chen Hao said, looking at the charred vine leaves. "Otherwise, it'll be smoking every day, and the alarm will be busier than the doorbell."

"It is recommended to introduce heat-resistant vegetation cover."

"You mean that kind of moss that grows in the cracks of ruins?"

"Samples of the mutant moss have been collected and possess moisture-absorbing and heat-insulating properties."

"Then let's plant them."

They dug up several pieces of moss with soil attached and laid them around the electronic fence, focusing on covering areas prone to overheating. The green, velvety plant quickly adhered to the ground, forming a buffer zone.

At 6 p.m., the third round of testing began.

There were no false alarms this time.

Surveillance footage shows a small rodent approaching the fence, only to be electrocuted and thrown away as soon as it touched the vines, before turning and running away; shortly after, a larger shadow slowly approached from the west, stopped about ten meters away, sniffed for a moment, and finally went around to leave.

"The tiered response was successful," Nana said.

"Does that mean the big ones scare people away, and the small ones are electrocuted?"

"The logic holds true."

Chen Hao stood in front of the control panel and glanced at the live feed. All green lights were constantly on, indicating that the system was running stably.

He rubbed his bandaged arm and smiled. "Now I can finally get a good night's sleep."

"It is recommended to maintain the shift schedule at twice a day to guard against unforeseen variables."

"Couldn't you just say 'it's not a big problem'?"

"The facts do not allow it."

"Okay." He yawned. "I'll go wash my face and then write some notes."

"The operation log needs to be supplemented with a security protection section."

"I know, I'll add one more rule later: Don't touch thorns with your hands."

He turned and walked towards the living area, his steps a little dragging. His clothes were covered in mud, resin, and haystacks, and there were obvious scorch marks on his cuffs.

Nana remained where she was, continuing to scan the system status. The outer coating of her robotic arm was still slightly deformed, and there was a slight grinding sound when the joints turned, but she did not stop the inspection process.

On the main control screen, the defense network is working smoothly across the board.

Chen Hao pushed open the kitchen door and took a bottle of water from the refrigerator. He took a sip, looked up, and saw an old work uniform hanging on the wall with a yellowed tag still attached.

He reached out, took it, looked at it, and stuffed it into his pocket.

It was getting dark outside, and the area around the base became quiet.

The main control system emitted a soft beep, confirming that it had entered standby mode.

Nana pulled up tomorrow's inspection plan and was about to close the interface when she suddenly noticed a brief fluctuation in the sensor line in the northwest corner.

She zoomed in on the image.

There was nothing there.

But she marked that area as the focus of her observation.

Chen Hao sat at the table, opened his notebook, and paused for a moment.

He wrote the first line: "Today the defense line is repaired, but I have also been pricked by thorns."

The pen tip continued to move downwards.

Outside, the edge of a patch of moss trembled slightly.