At the moment the lights synchronized their breathing, no one moved.

Chen Hao stared at the circle of green light, feeling his heartbeat being gently supported by something. He slowly raised his hand, palm up, and slightly rotated it as if testing the wind direction.

The green light flashed twice, but the rhythm remained unchanged.

“I’ll count to three,” he said. “Three, two, one, back off.”

There was no response, but the ship trembled slightly, the attitude thrusters activated, and it slowly moved back five meters. The lights continued to flash, but the oppressive feeling had vanished, as if everything that had just happened was merely an illusion.

“It’s not following me anymore,” Nana said.

“It’s not that we’re not following it,” Chen Hao breathed a sigh of relief, “it’s that we’ve moved out of its sight.”

Susan tightened her seatbelt: "Where are we going now?"

“Follow the map.” He pulled up the structural diagram transmitted from the main unit. “There’s an exit in the southeast corner, marked as a Class A security route—although I seriously doubt whether this thing is specifically designed to lure idiots into a trap.”

“But we have no other way.” Carl looked down to check the instruments. “There are two more landslide areas beyond the rift. Forcing our way through would be suicide.”

Nana swiped her finger across the screen: "The path is clear, and there are no signal interference points along the way. It is recommended to turn off the main thrusters and move slowly using the attitude system to avoid triggering the system response again."

"Listen to the robot." Chen Hao turned off the engine control unit. "Right now, we're like a mosquito passing by a neighbor's window. Just don't buzz around."

The ship glided along the rock face, its probes scanning the path ahead. At the bend, broken metal supports were piled up, and a tattered robotic arm was stuck in a crevice, its joints still wobbling slightly.

“This place looks like an abandoned factory,” Susan said, looking at the external screen. “Like the kind where they forgot to turn off the power before they went out of business.”

"Maybe the boss left some good stuff behind when he ran away," Chen Hao said, squinting. "Once we get out, we can rent an excavator and start mining."

"You'd better get out of here alive first," she said, rolling her eyes.

Fifty meters later, the passage suddenly opened up. Ahead was a floating pile of slag, with metal blocks of varying sizes slowly rotating in the microgravity, like a heap of scrap iron that had been carelessly dumped.

"High-density iron-nickel alloy signal detected." Nana pulled up the scan results. "Three concentrated accumulation points, purity above 78%, suitable for collection."

"I've struck it rich." Chen Hao rubbed his face. "If I go back empty-handed this time, I'll be letting down my chubby face."

"Don't get too excited yet." Karl stared at the data panel. "There are multiple energy fluctuation sources around us, with unstable frequencies, like some kind of residual magnetic field."

Nana quickly analyzed for a few seconds: "It is confirmed to be a miniature energy vortex, formed by the resonance of metal dust and residual electromagnetic field. It is not an intelligent structure, but it has an adsorption effect. Getting close may affect the stability of navigation."

"That's a tornado that attracts iron?" Chen Hao grinned. "Let's go around it."

He activated the attitude nozzles, employing a zigzag gliding path to avoid areas of dense vortex. The ship slowly approached the first ore pile, and Carl opened the robotic arm control interface, while Susan switched to the outer wall stress monitoring.

“The left flank is thirty meters from the ore pile… twenty meters… ten meters,” she counted. “Watch out for that rotating plate-like object on the right; it’s shifting toward us.”

“I see it.” Chen Hao gently pushed the control lever. “Five degrees to the left.”

The ship made a slight adjustment, barely grazing the swirling alloy plate. The robotic arm extended, gripped the nearest crate of ore, and smoothly retracted into the cargo hold.

"First box done." Carl pressed the lock button. "Sealed well."

The second box was successfully collected, and just as the third box was firmly grasped, the movement of the robotic arm caused airflow disturbance, and two small vortices nearby began to converge.

"Oh no!" Nana suddenly exclaimed, "The gravitational field is intensifying; it's merging!"

"Cut off the power!" Susan shouted.

Carl immediately disconnected the power to the robotic arm. The ship had already begun to list, and the starboard side was being pulled toward the center of the whirlpool.

Chen Hao reversed the firing mechanism, and the starboard nozzle went at full power, forcefully righting the bow. But gravity continued to act, and the alarm sounded briefly.

“Throw the bait!” he said, turning to Susan.

She quickly took a signal beacon from her toolkit and inserted it into the launch port. Pressing the button, the beacon launched, exploding in mid-air with an electromagnetic flash.

The vortex shifts direction, weakening its gravitational pull.

"Quickly retract your arm!" Chen Hao roared.

Carl reconnected the signal, and the robotic arm began full-scale recovery. The last box of ore crashed into the cargo door, which then automatically locked.

"All in hand." He breathed a sigh of relief. "Three boxes of alloy, plus two active energy crystals, enough to repair the ship and still have some left over for resupply."

“It’s even more exciting than robbing a bank.” Chen Hao leaned back in his chair. “Next time I’ll consider recording a video and posting it on a short video platform like Universe. I’ll title it ‘You can get rich by picking up trash.’”

"On the condition that we can get back alive." Susan unbuckled her seatbelt and got up to check the securing of the cargo hold.

The ship slowly sailed out of the slag heap and into a relatively open area. Chen Hao prepared to restart the main thrusters, and just as his finger touched the start button, a sharp alarm suddenly sounded from the control panel.

The red light is on.

"Coolant flow rate to zero." Nana stared at the screen. "Propulsion system automatically shut down; backup power has taken over life support."

"What do you mean?" Chen Hao frowned.

“The engine is unusable,” she said. “The initial assessment is that the cooling circuit is blocked or leaking, and manual inspection is required.”

"It was fine just now," Susan said as she returned from the cargo hold. "Could one of the impacts have loosened the pipes?"

“Possibly.” Carl had already stood up. “I’ll go put on my repair clothes.”

"Wait a minute." Chen Hao opened the emergency reserve panel. "The backup power can last for another six hours, enough for one outboard maintenance."

“We need to hurry,” Nana added. “External monitoring shows that we are drifting towards a region with a high density of micrometeorites, and the impact frequency is increasing to twice per minute. The shield won’t last much longer.”

"It's like when it rains, it pours." Chen Hao scratched his head. "One second I was thinking about what to eat to celebrate tonight, and the next second I have to crawl out to fix the water pipes."

“You can change your mind now,” Susan said, arms crossed. “Let Carl go alone.”

“That’s so disloyal.” He stood up. “I’m at least half a driver, so when it comes to repairing a boat, I should at least put in a few people.”

The two changed into partial maintenance suits, and Karl, carrying the testing equipment, headed towards the airlock. Nana sat at the control panel, her eyes quickly scanning the data stream.

"According to system feedback, the most likely problem is the third cooling pipe on the starboard side," she said. "The stress level there is high after the last impact."

“Got it,” Carl nodded. “Wait for my signal.”

Susan paced back and forth in the cab, glancing occasionally towards the cargo hold. The resource containers were all secured, but she was still uneasy and went over to check the clips again.

"You're nervous," Chen Hao said as he packed his toolbox.

“I’m not nervous,” she retorted. “I’m just annoyed. One problem after another, there’s never a smooth run. After fixing this one today, will I have to change the oxygen filter tomorrow?”

"If you really find it troublesome," Chen Hao laughed, "you might as well write a will and skip the struggle next time."

"You're the one who should write it." She glared at him. "You're always so stubborn and arrogant, but who's going to take the blame if something really happens?"

“There are robots.” He pointed to Nana. “Their knowledge base is more comprehensive than a library, and they’re much more reliable than me when it matters.”

Nana didn't look up: "I suggest you first check the cooling pipe interface on the third section of the starboard side. If you find any crystal deposits, you can use a hot melt knife to clean them."

"Did you hear that?" Chen Hao handed the toolkit to Karl. "They've even come up with a solution for you."

Carl put on his helmet and stood in front of the airlock, awaiting instructions. Chen Hao walked to the control panel, preparing to open the outer door.

"The outside temperature is -183 degrees Celsius," Nana reminded. "Working time should not exceed forty minutes."

“I know.” Carl gripped the detector. “Let’s begin.”

Chen Hao pressed the switch, and the gas valve slowly opened. The metal door slid open, revealing the pitch-black starry sky.

Carl took a step forward, his magnetic boots attaching to the hull surface. He slowly moved along the right-hand pipe, bringing the detector close to the third cooling pipe connector.

The three people inside the cabin kept their eyes glued to the monitor screen.

“He’s here,” Susan whispered.

Karl crouched down and used the instrument to scan the pipe connection. The numbers on the screen flickered a few times before freezing.

He raised the detector and waved it twice in front of the camera.

"It's blocked." Chen Hao read out the reading. "Crystallization is happening, and the flow rate has recovered to less than five percent."

“Use a hot melt knife to handle it,” Nana said. “Be careful to release residual pressure during the operation to avoid splashing.”

Chen Hao picked up the communicator: "Old Ka, heat it up to clear the blockage, be careful."

Carl nodded, pulled out a hot melt knife from his toolbox, and started it up, aiming it at the interface.

Blue-white flames erupted, and the metal surface began to glow red. A few minutes later, a section of black crystalline material melted and detached, drifting into space.

"Is it connected?" Chen Hao asked.

Carl gestured, preparing to continue inspecting the downstream pipeline, when suddenly his body swayed and he almost slipped off the hull.

He grabbed the support next to him to steady himself.

"What's wrong?" Chen Hao immediately sat up straight.

In the surveillance footage, the tubing on Carl's elbow was slightly deformed, as if he had bumped into something during a sudden movement.

He looked down to check, raised his hand to indicate that everything was alright, and continued moving forward.

But just as he approached the fourth section of the pipe, the entire cooling pipe suddenly began to vibrate violently.

"Something's wrong." Susan stared at the data. "The pressure is rising too fast; it's exceeded the safety threshold!"

"Retreat quickly!" Chen Hao shouted.

Carl turned to walk back, but before he could take two steps, the starboard cooling pipe suddenly burst open, spewing out a cloud of white mist.