After the volcanic eruption and subsequent warming, a continuous drizzle has made Mars warm and humid, perfect for insects to come out and be active.

One hundred years ago, Blue Star sent 100 genetically modified cockroaches with the Perseverance rover to the surface of Mars.

When the Mars rover landed, the box opened, and the cockroaches scattered and fled. The Perseverance rover never captured any more images of the cockroaches, leading people to believe that they had died somewhere on Mars.

Although humans have been able to create panoramic maps of Mars, which seems to suggest that we have explored every corner of the planet, most of that exploration has been done using orbiting satellites. In fact, close-up exploration by Mars probes and astronauts covers less than one percent of the surface area of ​​Mars.

Moreover, cockroaches prefer to be active at night and are usually resting during the day. Human exploration of Mars is mainly concentrated during the day, and even rovers will enter a hibernation state at night.

Therefore, it is normal for omissions to occur.

Judging from the current situation, the cockroaches have survived. After 100 years, it's hard to imagine how much the Martian cockroaches have evolved.

According to Liao Changtian, it would be best to capture one alive, as biologists and entomologists on Earth are already fascinated by this tiny creature.

The problem is that this thing is not small at all.

For the past few days, Zhang Fan has been unsure how to broach the subject with the three beautiful women, young and old, about Xiao Qiang.

Women have an innate fear of this thing.

Does this mean that cockroaches the size of piglets might appear around the base in the future, and they should be prepared?

"What are you most afraid of?" Zhang Fan asked during lunch, taking advantage of the fact that the three beautiful women were all there. "I mean, things like bugs. Is there anything you're particularly afraid of?"

"Cockroaches!" Yui blurted out without thinking, losing her appetite. "Why are there such terrifying creatures on Earth—"

"Don't even mention it, it's giving me goosebumps," Su Muran said, rubbing her arms. "Especially in the South, cockroaches are really terrifying. They're huge and can fly. If you swat one, it flies over and smears it on your face..."

"Aaaaaaahhhhhh—" Yui was already screaming, covering her ears, "Help—"

Zhang Fan was completely speechless. He hadn't even said anything yet, and he was already this scared.

"Katerina, aren't you scared?" Zhang Fan looked at Katerina, the only one who was still calm. "It's so cold in Ross, aren't there cockroaches?"

“This is Mars! Mars! What’s so scary about bugs?” Katerina glanced at the other two girls with some disdain. “Can bugs be scarier than Siberian black bears? Can they eat you or bite you?”

Zhang Fan felt a little relieved. Indeed, Katerina had encountered a large black bear in the wild with her bare hands before. After several confrontations, she scared the bear away. The fighting spirit of the Russian people was truly remarkable.

“By the way, Fan,” Katerina suddenly said, “the kind of cockroach you’re talking about, is it that flat-bodied, reddish-brown arthropod with antennae on its head?”

“Yes.” Zhang Fan nodded. “You described it in quite a lot of detail.”

“There’s one there.” Katerina pointed ahead blankly, her pupils dilated.

Zhang Fan turned around and saw a cockroach, about the thickness of a thumb, strutting around on the cupboard...

Holy crap!

Immediately afterwards, Zhang Fan heard two of the sharpest screams a human throat could produce...

Ahhhhh aa——

Wow wow ww——

Yui and Su Muran hugged each other tightly, having retreated a great distance, hiding in a corner of the restaurant, trembling with fear.

"Katerina, do me a favor, let's flank it from both sides!" Zhang Fan picked up a book from the table and walked around the dining table toward the cabinet.

"Katerina? Katerina?"

Zhang Fan was already in position, but Katerina didn't catch up for a long time, which caused Xiao Qiang to crawl away from the other side and disappear into the gap of the kitchen cabinet.

Zhang Fan turned around angrily, about to scold Katerina, but found that she had fainted there.

Ah, this...

A woman who isn't even afraid of a big black bear is afraid of this little thing?

It turns out that Katerina is the one among the three beauties who is most afraid of cockroaches.

After Katerina woke up, she, Yui, and Su Muran locked all the doors of the automated restaurant.

The three of them discussed countermeasures together in the main control room. Zhang Fan also relayed Liao Changtian's words to them at this time.

Of course, Zhang Fan didn't tell them that cockroaches as big as piglets might exist on Mars, so the three of them still thought that cockroaches were as big as the ones they had just seen.

The three women, unusually united and of one mind, worked together as if facing a formidable enemy, enthusiastically devising a plan to destroy them.

They have already reviewed all the surveillance footage from the main control room. There's only one hatch for daily entry and exit from the "Bird's Nest," so they mainly need to review the surveillance footage from the main entrance.

Finally, the sharp-eyed Su Muran noticed that when Zhang Fan entered the Bird's Nest yesterday, a cockroach followed him in.

Moreover, upon reviewing the recordings from the past few months, this was the only instance of something unusual.

So everyone turned their accusing gazes toward Zhang Fan.

Zhang Fan shrank his neck and dared not speak.

Who would notice something so tiny? And no one would even think there are cockroaches on Mars, right?

Zhang Fan also offered his suggestions on how to deal with the cockroach, whispering from the side:

"Um...I want to capture it alive..."

"impossible!"

"It must die!"

"It's impossible for it to exist alive in this world!"

Well, Zhang Fan is few in number and has little influence, so he can only submit to the majority.

They thought of many ways to deal with the cockroaches, including burning, flooding, smoking, and poisoning, but when it came to actually carrying them out, a problem arose: none of them dared to approach the restaurant.

In other words, Zhang Fan is currently the only person who still has combat capability.

Soon after, Katerina, Yui, and Su Muran, all fully armed and dressed in full spacesuits, each carrying a broom or mop, pushed Zhang Fan forward from behind.

Zhang Fan was speechless. Was it really necessary to make such a big deal out of something as trivial as a fly swatter?

When Zhang Fan opened the automatic restaurant hatch, three beautiful women stood on either side, staring intently at the hatch to make sure nothing came out.

Zhang Fan entered the restaurant alone, while the other beautiful women stood guard at the entrance. However, Zhang Fan was facing a dilemma. He usually just stomped on cockroaches when he saw them, but now he had to actively search for them—how was he supposed to do that?

The restaurant is at least 40 square meters, and Xiaoqiang could hide in any small gap.

"Should we turn off the lights?" Zhang Fan asked the group of women. Xiao Qiang liked to be out at night.

"no."

"We can't see it even with the lights off."

"We must see it die!"

With no other option, Zhang Fan could only inspect every nook and cranny of the restaurant.

After several searches, nothing was found.

Most of the furniture in the restaurant is fixed and cannot be moved, but Xiaoqiang can move things.

"Okay then." Zhang Fan was really out of ideas and came up with a thorough solution. "Professor Su, could you go to the research module and help me prepare some insecticide, the kind that is harmless to humans? I'll go to the maintenance module to get some tools and separate the air circulation system of the automatic restaurant."

“We’ll inject insecticide into the restaurant’s air circulation system and keep it circulating all night. No matter where it is, it won’t be able to hide. What do you think of this approach?”

The three beautiful women, both young and old, nodded vigorously from outside the cabin door.

Su Muran went to the research cabin to prepare the insecticide using chemical substances, increasing the dosage, while Zhang Fan injected the insecticide into the air circulation system to circulate it within the restaurant.

No matter where a cockroach hides, it cannot survive being fumigated all night.