Zhang Fan felt he shouldn't scare himself. He had never heard of a ghost needing to open a door himself. What was outside must be some kind of physical entity. Whatever it was, he had to verify it himself.

Who is the most handsome man on Mars?

"Zhang Fan!"

"Verification successful. Please reset your password."

Zhang Fan reset the password to 0607, opened the hatch, and poked his head out to look around.

The corridor was empty.

If you listen carefully, you can only hear the faint sound of the air system circulating.

Zhang Fan closed the hatch and ran to the fitness pod. To deal with the unknown enemy, weapons were necessary, but what weapons could be found in the "Bird's Nest" base? Everything taken to Mars would be subject to strict qualification checks; even a small knife was unacceptable.

Zhang Fan took out a pair of boxing gloves from the locker in the gym cabin; these were the most presentable "weapons" he could think of at the moment. Among the 10 astronauts was a big guy named Bob, who, in addition to being an astronaut, was also an amateur boxer, and the boxing gloves were his personal belongings.

After putting on his boxing gloves, Zhang Fan practiced his punches on the sandbag a few times, the punches making dull thuds as they hit the bag. Feeling more confident, Zhang Fan left the gym and searched the corridor.

Although the "Bird's Nest" base covers a large area, many of the buildings are actually machines and equipment used to maintain the base's operation. Those cabins are not intended for astronauts to live in; they are cramped and either too hot or too cold for living organisms to survive in.

There were only a few cabins connecting to the living area, and Zhang Fan checked them one by one, but found nothing.

To ensure no one was missed, Zhang Fan checked everything again. The second time, he closed every hatch he passed and secretly plucked a hair and placed it on one of the hatches so he could spot anything that had been opened after he left. But by the time he finished the second check, every single hair was still perfectly intact in its original place.

In the end, Zhang Fan returned to his room.

That shouldn't be the case. Could it be a hallucination? Is it auditory hallucination caused by loneliness? Or is it due to fear? Because of being afraid?

Zhang Fan lay on the bed staring at the ceiling, placing his boxing gloves next to his pillow.

Never mind, let's go to sleep.

Whatever it is, I'm all alone anyway. I'm not even afraid of death, so what's there to be afraid of?

Zhang Fan fell asleep.

He had a dream in which he heard a "beep beep" sound, and then Su Muran, wearing a lace nightgown and smiling broadly, walked in and snuggled into his bed to sleep with him...

Spring dreams leave no trace.

Morning.

Zhang Fan woke up, changed his underwear and put it on, then tried to open the cabin door to have breakfast.

Beep! Beep!

"The hatch is locked. Please verify the security question and reset the password to unlock."

What the heck?

Zhang Fan took two steps back and looked the cabin door up and down.

This is definitely my room, but something must have entered the wrong password three times while I was asleep, and now the hatch is locked from the inside.

Last night wasn't a dream.

Damn it! Why isn't it the second half, or a dream?!

Zhang Fan was furious.

I'll kill you!

"Request verification of security issues!"

Who is the most handsome man on Mars?

"Zhang Fan!"

"Verification successful. Please reset your password."

Zhang Fan reset the password to 0607, opened the hatch, picked up his boxing gloves from the bed, and came out again.

I don't care what you are!

Are you kidding me?

Hide-and-seek is fun, right?

I'm going to fight you to the death today!

Since the other astronauts left, Mars had become a place fraught with danger in Zhang Fan's eyes. The once dark and empty night sky seemed to harbor countless pairs of ferocious beasts, watching him with predatory intent. This sense of loneliness and fear was especially pronounced after learning of the extinction of humanity on Earth.

But he also came to terms with it; at worst, it was just death. Since he already knew that death was his ultimate fate, there was nothing to fear.

Zhang Fan unscrewed the screws on the ventilation vent above the corridor, removed the vent cover, climbed up, crouched down inside the ventilation duct, and carefully put the cover back in.

Through the gaps in the louvers of the ventilation vent, one could see his living quarters door. Although the field of vision was narrow, anything that approached the door would not escape his eyes.

Zhang Fan currently has a pair of boxing gloves, a piece of bread, and a bottle of water with him. The water and bread are for a long-term infiltration.

While waiting for the rabbit to run into the tree stump, Zhang Fan was also very curious about what the other party was.

If an alien were to appear at this moment, Zhang Fan wouldn't be surprised. Rather than seeing an alien, Zhang Fan would prefer a humanoid creature to appear.

Although the alien can be considered humanoid, Zhang Fan had seen the movie "Alien" and simply couldn't appreciate its appearance. While the Predator was also disgusting, at least it looked pretty cool in its armor.

Zhang Fan lay inside the ventilation duct, his mind wandering. He felt like a long time had passed, but when he looked at the digital watch on his arm, only 10 minutes had gone by.

Damn it, come on over here, I'm waiting for you! Let me give you a proper greeting with my fist that's as big as a clay pot!

The ventilation duct was cramped, making it stuffy and difficult to breathe. Zhang Fan was already sweating, and the bottle of water was already empty after only half an hour.

After finishing his bread and waiting for another hour, Zhang Fan was about to give up when he suddenly heard a strange noise outside.

Before the target even came into view through the ventilation shaft, Zhang Fan put on his boxing gloves and felt the hairs on his arms stand on end.

Although the target's true form has not yet appeared, a long, humanoid shadow has already been projected into the corridor.

Whatever it is, it's definitely not human!

Humans will never have such a shadow!

A body with incorrect proportions is not a human body!

Humans don't have hair all over their bodies!

It was some kind of humanoid but not human creature!

Zhang Fan held his breath inside the ventilation duct, not daring to breathe out. The corridor was quiet; no footsteps could be heard, but the hissing of breathing could be clearly heard.

This hoarse cry, seemingly emanating from deep within the throat, could not be human breathing; it sounded more like the kind of ferocious beast that could produce such a sound.

Zhang Fan felt his heart leap into his throat, pounding violently. Through the gaps in the louvers of the ventilation vent, he saw something covered in black hair appear at the door of his living quarters.

Bilibili——

An error message sounded from the hatch combination lock, and the creature in front of me was trying to open its room!

Zhang Fan felt goosebumps rise involuntarily all over his body. He couldn't get a full look at the creature in front of him through the gaps, and he didn't know if it was an intelligent being or if they could communicate amicably.

No one dictates that aliens must resemble humans; they may even have four legs or more. A hairy creature before us might be intelligent, and we don't know if it's a peacemaker or a hostile invader.

However, judging from the other party's sneaky behavior, the latter is clearly more likely.

Zhang Fan instinctively clenched his fists, bracing his elbows against the vent. In his nervousness, he forgot that the vent cover wasn't screwed on. The cover slid open under pressure, Zhang Fan lost his balance, and fell out of the ventilation duct.

Holy crap!