The spaceship swayed slightly, as if someone had pushed it from behind.

Karl was crouching in the engine room, the wrench still caught on the coupler bolt. He glanced up at the voltmeter above him; the reading jumped slightly, then stabilized.

"I hope nothing goes wrong now," he said in a low voice. "I don't want to end up as a kebab halfway through the repair."

In the main control room outside, Nana stared at the energy monitoring screen. The fluctuation from before had disappeared, but her finger remained on the emergency power-off button.

Chen Hao sat in the driver's seat, his hands on the control stick, his eyes fixed on the gradually enlarging outline of the planet ahead. A crack appeared in the clouds, revealing the grayish-brown surface below.

"Karl, how is it?" he asked.

"Half of the connector is burned," Carl's voice came through the communicator. "I rewrapped it with three layers of insulation, and the voltage is stable now. If it lasts another ten minutes, I'll retire it."

"As long as it can hold out until it's deployed, that's fine," Chen Hao said. "We're not expecting it to last a lifetime."

Susan looked at the external camera feed. The three small red dots were still hovering in the distance, getting a little closer, but not any closer.

“Those things are still going in circles,” she said, “like a dog seeing a cat.”

"Don't mess with them," Chen Hao said. "We're on a boat heading home, not a fighting boat."

Nana brought up the landing system self-test interface. The brief power outage caused the navigation module to restart, and the path data needed to be reloaded.

“Importing correction parameters,” she said. “Using a high-precision atmospheric model from the knowledge base, synchronization is expected to be completed within three minutes.”

"Your brain works faster than the old ladies at the market back home," Chen Hao said. "They rely on calculators, you rely on memory."

"Thank you for the compliment," Nana said expressionlessly, "but I won't accept any money."

When the self-check progress bar reaches 100%, the green checkmarks light up one by one.

"Flight control system is normal, thruster response delay is less than 0.1 seconds," Nana read aloud. "AI-assisted mode is activated, safety threshold is set to the highest level."

Chen Hao breathed a sigh of relief and leaned back. "Alright, let the machines do the work now, we'll be the supervisors."

The main screen flashed as soon as I finished speaking.

Landing command delayed, landing gear release signal not responded.

"Again?" Chen Hao sat up straight. "Does this ship think we're having too easy a time?"

Nana immediately switched the control channel. "Bypass the central processing unit node and activate the backup flight control chipset."

The data stream on the screen refreshes, and the state is restored.

"The problem is solved," she said. "It was suspected to be a cache overflow on the master node, which has been cleared."

"Could you clear it earlier next time?" Chen Hao said. "Don't wait until I have a heart attack before you start."

"I suggest you have regular check-ups," Nana said. "According to database records, sudden palpitations are often related to long-term sleep deprivation and irregular eating habits."

“Look, the robot is starting to manage my life.” Chen Hao looked at Susan. “Is she right?”

Susan ignored him, staring out the window. "The wind speed is changing. The ground airflow is unstable, and the crosswinds are strengthening."

"Received." Nana pulled up the weather analysis chart. "The crosswind is expected to reach eight meters per second at the time of grounding, which may cause the vehicle to skid off course."

"Then don't let it go off course." Chen Hao flexed his wrist. "My hands are still warm, I can do it again without any problem."

Karl then emerged from the engine room, removed his gloves, and his face was covered in sweat.

“The power supply is fine,” he said. “Unless it tries to spontaneously combust, it won’t cause any more trouble.”

"I feel much more at ease knowing you said that," Chen Hao said. "At least if someone else blows up first, it'll be someone else who does it."

The three sets of red dots outside suddenly moved.

They accelerated and approached, the closest one being less than 500 meters from the spacecraft.

“They’re testing the waters,” Susan said. “The trajectory is asymmetrical, like they’re testing our reaction speed.”

"Don't scan, don't speed it up," Chen Hao said. "Let's just pretend we can't see it."

Nana sent a standard civilian identification code and a peace passage signal, while simultaneously adjusting her course to avoid the intersection.

There was no response from the other party, but the two red dots shifted outwards, while the third continued along its original path.

“She walked past,” Susan said. “She didn’t bump into me.”

“Maybe they think we’re too poor and they’d lose money if they robbed us,” Chen Hao said. “After all, this boat looks like a refurbished second-hand ship.”

"Altitude seven thousand meters," Nana reported. "The speed brakes have deployed; we are entering the final descent phase."

The cabin quieted down.

The landscape became increasingly clear. Mountains, rivers, and the city's edge lights were all visible.

“That’s the North Three Plains, right?” Susan pointed to an open area below. “I remember watching an aerial documentary when I was a kid.”

"It should be," Chen Hao said, squinting. "I just don't know if the landing strip has been repaired yet."

“The landing strip is called A-9,” Nana corrected, “not the landing strip.”

"It means the same thing," Chen Hao waved his hand. "Anyway, it's a place where we're supposed to stop."

Suddenly, an alarm sounded.

The landing gear release signal was interrupted again.

"No way!" Chen Hao suddenly looked up. "Is this thing really going to strike today?"

“The manual emergency device is available,” Nana said. “Karl, can you activate it remotely?”

“Let me try.” Carl rushed to the secondary control panel and found the mechanical release switch.

He pressed the button, and the system prompted: "Instruction sent, awaiting execution."

Ten seconds later, the main screen still showed the landing gear status as "not deployed".

"Is it stuck?" Susan asked.

"It's impossible for it to get stuck both times," Chen Hao said. "Could it be that one of the wires has become loose again due to the vibration?"

"I'll go take a look." Carl grabbed his toolbox and headed towards the hatch.

"Wait." Nana raised her hand. "Try again, this time with a pressure pulse."

She entered the command, and the system buzzed.

This time, a green indicator popped up on the screen: "Landing gear deployed successfully."

"It's done!" Chen Hao patted the armrest.

Susan switched the camera angle to confirm that the wheelset was fully extended and the structure was intact.

“No problem,” she said. “We can prepare for grounding.”

“At an altitude of three thousand meters,” Nana said. “The AI ​​has planned the optimal grounding angle, and the differential braking system has completed its preload.”

"The wind is still blowing." Chen Hao stared at the instrument panel. "It's stronger on the left."

“I have already calculated the compensation value,” Nana said. “It will automatically start 0.5 seconds before grounding.”

The ground was rapidly approaching. The gravel on the wasteland, the dried-up riverbed, and the reflection of the distant highway were all clearly visible.

"Two thousand meters," Nana reported. "One thousand five hundred."

"Are you ready?" Chen Hao asked.

“Anytime is fine,” Nana said.

“Then…” he took a deep breath, “go home.”

"One kilometer."

Five hundred meters.

"Three hundred meters."

"Crosswind increased to nine meters per second." Nana's voice remained unchanged. "Activate differential braking."

Chen Hao gripped the control stick tightly and made minor adjustments to the tail fin.

"One hundred meters."

"Fifty meters."

Thirty meters.

The spaceship descended slowly, its fuselage trembling slightly.

The moment the wheels touched the ground, the entire cabin shook, and everyone leaned forward before slowly sitting back down.

The thrusters reverse their direction and the speed brakes deploy.

The gliding begins.

"The steering is stable," Nana said. "The braking is working properly."

Chen Hao released the control lever; his palms were sweaty.

"Have we...landed?" he asked.

No one spoke.

Susan unbuckled her seatbelt and walked to the porthole. She looked at the familiar landscape outside, her lips moving slightly.

“It really is here,” she said. “I’m not mistaken.”

Carl stood behind Chen Hao and patted him on the shoulder.

It was very heavy.

Nana looked at the system panel and said calmly, "Main engine shut down, braking complete, life support switched to ground mode. Current location: Third Plains Region, Northern Hemisphere of Mother Planet, less than 200 meters from the original landing point."

Chen Hao leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.

"Finally... I'm back alive."

The cabin was quiet.

In the distance, a wild bird flies across the wasteland, its wings cutting through the air.

Carl suddenly asked, "Is there any instant noodles left in the kitchen?"

Chen Hao opened his eyes and smiled. "What did you say?"

“I said,” Karl repeated, “we’ve landed, we should at least get something hot to eat, right?”

"Yes." Chen Hao reached into the locker and touched it. "The last pack of braised beef."

He took it out and checked the date.

"It's three months past its expiration date," he said. "Is it still edible?"

"I'll eat when I'm hungry." Carl took the instant noodles and headed to the kitchen.

Susan stood motionless by the window, her gaze fixed on a dry riverbed in the distance.

Nana is still monitoring the system to finish the process, and the green indicator lights are lighting up one by one.

Chen Hao remained seated, his hand still resting on the control lever.

As darkness fell outside, the wind blew sand grains against the porthole, making a soft, rustling sound.

Carl turned on the kettle in the kitchen; the water wasn't boiling yet.

Susan finally turned around and went back to her seat.

She looked at Chen Hao and said softly, "We're really back."

Chen Hao grinned and nodded.

Nana looked up, and her face was reflected on the screen.

“Mission accomplished,” she said. “Welcome home.”

Just as Chen Hao was about to speak, the kettle suddenly emitted a sharp whistle.