Chen Hao's flashlight swept across the pile of rubble, the beam stopping on the exposed hand. He took two steps forward, slipped, and nearly fell to his knees on a raised metal plate. Susan went around to the side to help him, but tripped herself in the process.

"This place really needs to be cordoned off," Chen Hao said, panting. "Who designed this site? There isn't even a drainage ditch."

No one answered. Carl stared at the severed arm, his brow furrowed. Something looked wrong—the fingers were short and thick, there were calluses on the web of his hand, and there was a trace of grease from eating compressed biscuits yesterday on the cuff.

"Wait a minute," Carl suddenly spoke up, "that hand...it looks like yours."

"Nonsense." Chen Hao looked down at his hands. "My hands are perfectly fine right here."

After he finished speaking, he took another step forward, squatted down, and shoved away the loose soil beside him. A broken support beam was lifted up, revealing half a face underneath.

It was him.

Chen Hao froze, then plopped back down on the ground. Not far away, in another pile of rubble, Susan's face appeared, her eyes closed, dried blood at the corner of her mouth.

"Holy crap!" Chen Hao pointed at himself on the ground. "What is this? Did I master the art of creating a clone? Or was I still dreaming last night?"

Nana stepped forward, her mechanical eyes flashing a few times as she began scanning. "Vitality confirmed. The trapped individuals are Chen Hao and Susan. They have been buried for approximately thirty-seven minutes. There are no fatal external injuries, but there is a risk of chest compression."

“But we’ve been together the whole time!” Carl’s voice tightened. “Just now, when we were crossing the river, you complained that the bridge was swaying like a disco!”

“So it wasn’t ‘just now’.” Nana pulled up the data stream. “According to the geological creep model, the localized landslide occurred while you were crossing the stream. There was a brief spatial displacement at this point, causing visual overlap. Simply put, you were buried beforehand.”

"What do you mean by 'in advance'?" Chen Hao stood up. "I'm standing here talking, and there's another version of myself lying over there. Do you think I'm some kind of time traveler who can save myself?"

“As it stands,” Nana said calmly, “you haven’t been saved yet.”

Susan suddenly stirred. Her fingers twitched, and she let out a muffled groan.

"She's awake!" Karl rushed over, but Nana stopped him.

"Don't touch her," Nana said. "Her cervical spine may be damaged, and moving her will worsen the injury."

"What should we do then? Let her stay buried?" Karl asked anxiously.

"Get the people out first." Chen Hao rolled up his sleeves. "We have to carry them away, alive or dead."

The four of them immediately got to work. Carl used a pickaxe to dig through the topsoil, while Nana used a robotic arm to grip the large rock pressing against her chest and slowly moved it away. Chen Hao's situation was even worse; one of his legs was stuck in the collapsed drilling platform base, the hydraulic rod deformed and gripping his calf tightly.

“This thing is tougher than my life.” Chen Hao tried to pull it, wincing in pain. “Should we saw it off? Anyway, the base has spare parts.”

"Make sure it's your leg before you saw it," Carl said as he cleared away the mud and rocks.

"Nonsense, of course it's not my leg!" Chen Hao shouted. "I wouldn't have the heart to saw it off if it were mine!"

Nana ignored their bickering and focused on analyzing the structural stability. "The load-bearing capacity of the right rock face has decreased by 60%, so we recommend accelerating the progress."

“We know to hurry up without you telling us.” Chen Hao wiped his sweat. “If we’re any slower, there won’t even be any crumbs left.”

They finally managed to clear Susan's upper body. Her head was tilted to the side, and her breathing was weak. Nana supported her neck with her hand, and together with Carl, they slowly dragged her to a relatively flat surface.

“She has to lie flat,” Nana said. “She has a head injury and can’t be shaken violently.”

"Then you'll carry her on your back?" Carl asked.

“I can,” Nana nodded, “but Chen Hao is still in trouble, so he has a higher priority.”

"Alright then," Carl sighed, "We'll have to wait in line to save people."

When it was Chen Hao's turn, the trouble was even greater. The deformed hydraulic rod seemed to have grown into his flesh; pulling it directly would tear the muscle. After examining it, Nana said, "We need a cutter to disconnect it at the joint."

"Come on," Chen Hao said, closing his eyes. "I won't look."

Carl opened his toolbox and rummaged through it, his expression changing. "Where's the cutter?"

"Wasn't it in your bag?" Chen Hao opened his eyes.

“I slipped and fell while crossing the river, and I probably lost it.” Carl rummaged through the lining of his backpack. “All I have left is a wrench and half a roll of duct tape.”

"Can tape break metal?" Chen Hao sneered.

"Give it a try?" Carl held up the tape. "What if it says 'miracle happens' in this book?"

“Give up your illusions.” Nana took the wrench. “Use the lever principle instead. Widen the gap before pulling your leg out.”

She inserted the wrench into the gap of the hydraulic rod and pried it open with force. The metal scraping together made a piercing sound. Chen Hao gritted his teeth and remained silent, his forehead covered in sweat.

"Just hold on a little longer," Nana said. "We only need two more centimeters before it loosens up."

Just then, a low rumble came from above.

It's like a stone being slowly rubbed together.

“Nana?” Karl looked up.

"Displacement of the upper rock strata has been detected." Nana immediately stopped what she was doing. "A secondary landslide is expected within thirty seconds."

"Get it done in thirty seconds!" Chen Hao roared. "Don't stop!"

Nana increased the force, bending the wrench slightly. The hydraulic rod finally loosened, and Chen Hao jerked his leg out, rolling to the side. Karl pounced and dragged him towards the safety zone.

The first rock hit its original spot, kicking up a cloud of dust.

Then came the second, then the third. Gravel rained down, completely burying the drilling platform wreckage.

"Susan!" Chen Hao struggled to get up. "She's still there!"

Nana had already rushed out.

She lunged to Susan's side, turning her back to the direction of the fall, the metal casing catching a large chunk of rock. A thud was heard, and she swayed, but didn't fall.

Carl and Chen Hao scrambled over, and the three of them together carried Susan away from the danger zone. The last stretch was practically dragged along; the ground shook violently, each step feeling like walking on trembling sheet metal.

They finally retreated to the base of a recessed rock face. Behind them, a continuous rumbling sound echoed as their previous digging point was completely covered.

Chen Hao collapsed to the ground, his legs aching so badly he couldn't speak. Susan lay beside him, her face pale. Carl checked her breathing, his hands trembling.

Nana stood outside, her back panel cracked, and fine white smoke was emanating from the ventilation holes.

"Are you alright?" Chen Hao asked, looking up.

"Twenty-three percent of the energy remains." Nana turned around. "It can continue operating."

"That's good." Chen Hao said, panting. "Otherwise, we wouldn't even be able to find the parts to fix you."

Carl suddenly spoke up: "So...we're saving ourselves?"

No one answered.

The solar array in the distance was still emitting smoke, and the display screen of a recycling machine flickered, showing the message: System restarting...

Chen Hao stared at that line of text for a long time.

Then he laughed.

"They're quite dedicated," he said. "They still wanted to turn the machine on even though it was buried like this."