The door opened.

The wind was much stronger than yesterday, making it hard to stand. Chen Hao pulled his backpack up higher and was the first to step out. Sand immediately clung to his mask, making a soft, rustling sound.

“Let’s go,” he said. “Come back early for lunch.”

Susan followed behind, her hand constantly pressing the zipper of the sampling kit. Carl checked the communicator signal twice, making sure it could connect to the base before taking a step. Nana brought up the rear, the camera panning across the surrounding terrain; the navigation route was already marked as a green line in her field of vision.

The four people lined up and headed toward their target point, which was 60 kilometers away.

As dawn broke, the wasteland was shrouded in a gray haze. In the distance, the sand dunes stood askew, like houses that had been pushed aside. They had to cross three sand gullies and climb a rocky ridge to reach the edge of the mine. Nana said they could complete the journey in six hours, weather permitting.

But the weather was off from the start.

Half an hour after setting off, the wind speed increased from eight meters per second to twelve meters per second. Sand began to rise from the ground, crackling against the protective suits. Chen Hao glanced down at his handheld terminal; the navigation signal flickered briefly before returning to normal.

"Nana, can you still see the route?" he asked.

“Okay,” Nana replied, “but I suggest you speed up, there is no cover within ten kilometers ahead.”

“Then hurry up.” Carl said, taking two steps forward. “I don’t want to get buried on the way.”

They quickened their pace, their footsteps sinking into the soft sand, each step feeling like climbing stairs. Susan was panting a little, but didn't call for a stop. Chen Hao kept checking his watch as he walked, mentally calculating the time—if they didn't reach the mining area before noon, they'd have to walk in the dark to return in the afternoon.

Before we had even reached the halfway point, the sky suddenly darkened.

It wasn't the darkness of dusk, but the oppressive gloom of clouds overhead. The wind picked up, whipping sand around and whipping at people. Chen Hao raised his hand to wipe his mask, finding his vision already blurring.

"Visibility is down to eight meters," Nana's voice came through the earpiece. "The leading edge of a powerful sandstorm has arrived and is expected to cover the entire area within ten minutes."

"Where's the cover?" Chen Hao asked.

“There is a rock ridge depression 300 meters ahead, which meets the temporary evacuation standard.”

"Walk!"

The four turned around and charged forward against the wind. The sand pounded against their helmets, making a thud like someone was banging a spoon on a pot. Susan almost slipped, but Carl grabbed her. They ran for five minutes, gritting their teeth, and finally saw the protruding rock.

The depression wasn't large, just enough for four people to squeeze in. Nana immediately turned on the emergency light, illuminating a relatively flat area. Chen Hao took out an anchor bolt, secured the connecting rope to the crevice, and tied the other end to his belt.

"Tie them all up!" he shouted. "Don't get separated!"

Susan checked the sampling kit's seal and found some sand getting into the zipper gap, so she quickly sealed it with tape. Carl tucked the power drill into his coat pocket to protect it; if that thing got blown away by the wind, he wouldn't be able to explain it back home. Nana activated the machine's self-stabilizing system, stood with her legs slightly apart to block the side vents from the wind.

The wind blew harder and harder, and the outside was shrouded in yellow fog. The sounds were like a group of people shouting in your ear, making it impossible to understand what they were saying. They communicated by gestures, one nodding and the other shaking their head, as if they were speaking in charades.

They hid for two hours.

The storm finally subsided a bit; the yellow walls outside had turned into a gray veil. Nana scanned the area and confirmed that the wind speed had dropped below a safe level.

“We can continue,” she said, “but part of the original route has been buried by sand dunes, so we need to detour 1.5 kilometers.”

"As long as I can walk, that's fine." Chen Hao stretched his numb legs. "If we keep going like this, it'll get dark."

They untied the ropes, regrouped, and set off again.

I had walked less than 500 meters when the ground suddenly shook.

"What's going on?" Chen Hao stopped.

No one answered.

The next second, the sand on the left suddenly exploded, and a dark shadow darted out.

The creature resembled a lizard, but was as large as a calf, covered in dark brown scales, and sparks flew as its claws gripped the ground. It hissed, and saliva dripped onto the ground, emitting smoke.

"Back off!" Nana shoved Susan aside and turned on the bright light.

The white light shone on the beast's face, and it shook its head but didn't retreat.

The second one charged out from the right and headed straight for Karl.

Chen Hao grabbed his stun gun and rushed forward, smashing it into its nose. The creature groaned and rolled over. A third one attacked from behind, and Susan screamed.

Nana immediately switched to high-frequency sound wave mode, and the sharp buzzing caused the three beasts to convulse simultaneously. They spun around a few times, seemingly wanting to escape, but also growling unwillingly.

“They were hungry,” Carl said, staring at the largest one. “They ate us.”

"Then don't be shy." Chen Hao gripped the stick tightly. "Whoever dares to come up, will be the first to fall down."

The two were forced back a few steps, but the leader suddenly leaped up and pounced on Susan.

Karl rushed over and shoved her aside, but was struck in the left arm by the claws. His protective suit tore open, and blood immediately gushed out.

"Damn it!" Chen Hao swung his stick and slammed it down, forcing the beast back.

Taking advantage of the moment, Nana threw a firebomb. The fireball exploded, and the heat wave forced the monsters to retreat. They circled the fire a few times before finally disappearing back into the sand.

“Karl!” Susan rushed over to look at his arm.

The wound was deep, and blood was flowing down his sleeve. Karl gritted his teeth, his face pale.

"Stop the bleeding." Nana crouched down and took out a first-aid kit from the hatch on her back. She cut open the torn protective suit, sprayed on the gel, and then wrapped it tightly with a bandage.

"It hurts so much," Carl grimaced. "Even the mosquitoes in this godforsaken place are poisonous, let alone something like this."

"Are you stupid?" Chen Hao glared at him. "You could have dodged just now."

“If I hadn’t stopped her, she would be the one bleeding now.” Carl pointed at Susan. “Are you willing to go back with two lives on your hands?”

No one spoke.

A breeze picked up again, bringing a chill. The sky grew increasingly dark.

“We have to go back.” Nana checked the vital signs data. “Karl has lost a lot of blood and needs immediate treatment. The low temperatures at night could cause him to go into shock.”

"What about the materials?" Susan asked.

“We didn’t have time to go deep into the vein.” Chen Hao shook his head. “But I remember passing by an exposed rock layer earlier, which had a crystal-like reflective surface.”

“I’ll go pick them,” Carl said, trying to stand up.

"You rest," Chen Hao said, pressing him down. "I'll make a trip, it'll be back in five minutes."

He took off his sampling shovel, ran back a short distance, scraped a few fragments from a crevice in the rocks, and stuffed them into a sealed bag. He moved quickly, afraid of causing anything else to happen.

When he returned, he was panting heavily: "I don't know if it's enough, let's take it back first."

Nana has replanned her return route, avoiding the area where the wild animal had appeared. The new route is two kilometers longer, but it's safer.

"Adjust the formation," she said. "I'll support Carl on the left, Chen Hao on the right. Susan will cover the rear and remain vigilant."

The four set off again.

Carl walked slowly, each step seeming like a drag. Chen Hao practically carried half of him on his shoulder. Susan gripped the stun gun, her eyes constantly scanning the surroundings. Nana's camera continuously refreshed the environmental scan results, ensuring there were no unusual moving targets.

It was completely dark.

They had only two headlamps illuminating the path a few meters ahead. The wind was still blowing, but much weaker. Occasionally, a strange cry could be heard in the distance, sounding neither like an animal nor like the wind.

"Ignore it," Chen Hao said. "Let's just keep going."

After walking about ten kilometers, Karl suddenly shuddered.

"What's wrong?" Chen Hao asked.

“Cold.” Carl’s teeth chattered. “My arm… is numb.”

Nana immediately checked vital signs: "The body temperature is dropping too quickly, administer a stabilizer."

The needle pierced his arm, and Karl grunted.

"Hang in there." Chen Hao patted his face. "I'll let you sleep for three days when we get back."

"Come on," Carl said with a wry smile. "We still have to fix the equipment tomorrow."

Susan glanced back and noticed that his bandages were bleeding again. She didn't say anything, but simply took a thermal blanket from her backpack and handed it to Nana.

Nana took it and wrapped it around Karl's shoulders.

The road ahead is still long.

The base's signal lights appeared faintly in the distance, like a star that refused to go out.

Chen Hao looked up at the sky and saw a crack in the dark clouds, revealing half a star.

"Hey," he said, "Do you think the boss would believe this if it were written as a report?"

"What did you say?" Susan asked.

"They said we were chased by a sandstorm, hacked at by giant lizards, and in the end we only brought back a few pieces of rock."

"You have to believe it or not." Carl coughed. "I filmed it all."

"You still have time to record?"

“Of course.” Karl pulled out a miniature recorder from his pocket. “Otherwise, how would I prove that I didn’t take this hit for nothing?”

Chen Hao smiled and continued walking forward.

Four figures moved slowly through the sandstorm.

Their footprints were blown away by the wind as soon as they were left, as if they had never been there.

It's still 15 kilometers from the base.

Carl's breathing became heavy, and his head bobbed up and down. Nana reminded him to stay awake.

Susan counted the remaining doses: three for pain relief and two for infection control.

Chen Hao suddenly stopped.

"What's wrong?" Susan asked.

He didn't answer, but instead bent down and picked something up.

A broken piece of metal, its edges charred, resembles the wreckage of some kind of equipment.

He turned it over and saw a line of small characters engraved on it.

That's their base's number.