Chen Hao's hand was still on the ground, his fingertips sinking into the compacted soil. He slowly withdrew his hand, patted his pants twice, and stood up straight.
"The final section of the western area is finished!" he shouted, his voice slightly hoarse. "The entire base's structural reinforcement is complete!"
Several workers in the distance heard this, stopped what they were doing, and turned to look. One of them threw his tools on the ground and whistled. Another jumped up and waved his hand, nearly bumping into the scaffolding next to him.
Carl stood by the wall, his hand still resting on the syringe, and grinned after hearing this. He didn't say anything, but simply placed the gun back on its holder, casually removed his goggles, and wiped the dust off his face with his sleeve.
Susan walked back from the transport corridor, carrying the last bag of materials. She placed the bag in the designated spot, breathed a sigh of relief, and leaned against the wall without moving.
Nana stood in front of the monitoring platform, and the progress bar on the screen finally reached its end. The green area covered the entire building complex model. She tapped her finger to close the grouting simulation path, and the interface switched to the static report page.
"All wall interlayers have been injected," she said. "The structural stress tests have all passed the standards."
"Finally finished." Chen Hao stretched his shoulders, his neck cracking. "I feel like I've lost ten pounds in the past two weeks."
“Your weight has fluctuated between plus or minus 0.3 kilograms,” Nana said. “The data does not support your subjective feelings.”
"Couldn't you wait until I'm happy for a while before you ruin it?" Chen Hao rolled his eyes.
"I'm just stating the facts."
"You two are here again." Susan chuckled, looking up at the sky. "It's completely dark now, shall we eat something first?"
“Okay.” Nana nodded. “The nutrition supply module is ready. Heating time is three minutes.”
"Sure," Chen Hao rubbed his hands together. "I can eat a whole pot of rice right now."
Carl chuckled and bent down to pack his toolbox. He had just squatted down when he heard Nana's voice change.
"Abnormal geological fluctuations have been detected."
Everyone stopped moving.
Chen Hao's foot froze in mid-air before slowly falling back down.
“The frequency characteristics are consistent with the precursor model of a landslide,” Nana continued, her voice steady, but her speech a beat faster.
"When?" Chen Hao asked.
“The signal source is 17 kilometers northwest of the base.” She pulled up a topographic map, and a red patch lit up on the screen. “Preliminary predictions indicate that the landslide will occur within 48 hours, with an impact radius of about 5 kilometers.”
Susan straightened up: "That area is the mining area where we just set up our collection points."
“The initial equipment is all there,” Carl said in a low voice. “Solar panels, drill bits, and two recycling machines… If we bury it, we’ll have to start all over again.”
Chen Hao stared at the map without saying a word. His fingers unconsciously tapped his thigh twice, then stopped.
"We just caught our breath, and now we're going to start another war," he said.
No one responded. The ease they had felt moments before vanished like a piece of paper blown away by the wind.
Nana's vents were still slightly red, and the fan hadn't stopped. Her screen kept refreshing the data stream; a new predictive model was being generated.
“The current wind speed is 3.2 meters per second, and the humidity is 89 percent,” she said. “The high soil moisture content will accelerate the landslide process.”
"So, it's happening even faster than predicted?" Susan asked.
“It’s possible.” Nana nodded. “I recommend activating a Level 1 emergency response.”
Chen Hao scratched his head: "Is it possible that it was just a false alarm?"
“The waveform samples are consistent across three consecutive tests,” she said. “The matching rate is 94 percent.”
"So accurate?" He frowned.
“In geological databases, the probability of similar signals triggering subsequent disasters is 98 percent.”
"So it's a done deal." Chen Hao sighed. "We just finished dealing with this side, and now the other side is about to collapse."
“The resource site priority has been reassessed,” Nana said. “The original mining plan needs to be adjusted.”
"Adjust my ass." Chen Hao plopped down on a concrete block. "The ore vein we painstakingly dug out is going to be buried before we even start transporting materials?"
“There’s no way to stop the natural process right now,” she said.
“I know you’re not good at comforting people,” he waved his hand, “but can you not tell the truth right now?”
"What you need is decision support, not emotional intervention."
“What I need is hope,” he looked up at her, “even if it’s fake.”
Nana paused for two seconds: "Based on historical cases, after seven similar disasters, resource points were partially exposed on two occasions, which facilitated subsequent secondary mining."
"So you're saying that maybe we can still find something worthwhile after it collapses?"
"The probability is 28 percent."
"It's better than zero." Chen Hao stood up. "At least it's not a total loss."
Susan walked over and stared at the map for a while: "If the landslide really happens, will the base be affected?"
“The current forecast does not include the main base,” Nana said, “but the aftershocks may cause the foundation on the north side to loosen.”
"So we need to reinforce it further?" Chen Hao's eyes widened.
“Local reinforcement is sufficient,” she said. “The workload will be about 15 percent of this project.”
"You're making it sound so easy." He rubbed his temples. "Alright, let's not worry about that for now. The problem is, what about the mining area?"
Carl, who had been silent, looked up and said, "Should we send people to harvest the crops while there's still time?"
“Seventeen kilometers, all scree slopes.” Susan shook her head. “A round trip would take six hours, not including loading and unloading time.”
"And we don't know when the landslide will start," Chen Hao said. "If we get stuck in the middle, we won't be able to get out."
“Remote operation?” Carl asked, “With a drone or a remote-controlled car?”
“Signal coverage is insufficient,” Nana replied. “The mining area is in a communication dead zone, and the existing equipment cannot be operated stably.”
"So we can only watch?" His voice lowered.
“It’s not entirely hopeless,” Chen Hao suddenly said. “We can do something first.”
"What?" The three of them looked at him at the same time.
“Mark them,” he said. “Clearly mark the location of all important equipment and take photos for future reference. That way, if it gets buried, it will be easier to find later.”
“I can do that,” Carl said. “I’ll bring a dashcam and record the whole way.”
“No,” Susan immediately objected. “It’s too dangerous. Going now would be gambling with your life.”
“I’m not going into the mining area,” Carl said. “I’ll just walk around the edge, take a few pictures, and come back.”
“The risks still exist,” Nana added. “In geologically unstable areas, localized collapses may occur in a short period of time.”
"Then what do we do?" Chen Hao spread his hands. "Do nothing? Just let it collapse on its own without even leaving a mark?"
No one spoke.
A night breeze swept across the open space, stirring up a bit of dust. A distant lamppost swayed, casting its shadow obliquely on the ground.
Nana's screen suddenly flickered.
“New data has been updated,” she said. “The landslide prediction window has been shortened to thirty-six hours.”
"So fast?" Susan frowned.
"Rain clouds are approaching." Nana pulled up the weather map. "They are expected to arrive over the mining area in six hours."
"That means we have to take action by tomorrow afternoon at the latest." Chen Hao stroked his chin. "The markings must be completed before then."
“It’s still too dangerous,” Susan insisted. “Nobody knows if that place is safe now.”
“I know,” Chen Hao said, “that’s why I’m going.”
"Are you kidding me!" she retorted immediately. "Your ankle isn't fully healed yet, you can barely walk fast, and you want to go to a dangerous place seventeen kilometers away?"
“I’m slow, but steady,” he said. “Besides, I don’t need to carry anything; I just take a picture and leave.”
“You are not suitable for field missions,” Nana said. “Based on your overall physical indicators, your endurance level is E.”
"Don't give me that." He pointed at her. "Last time you said Karl had a high error rate, but he's doing pretty well now. Data doesn't tell the whole story."
"My analysis is based on objective facts."
“The truth is, we have no one else to send right now.” Chen Hao looked around. “You can’t send Susan, and Carl isn’t safe alone either. As for you—”
He looked at Nana and said, "If you break down, we'll all starve."
“I can assist remotely,” she said.
"Then it's settled." Chen Hao made the final decision. "We'll leave first thing tomorrow morning. Karl and I will go together. You'll be in charge of back-end monitoring. If there are any abnormalities, stop immediately."
“I object,” Susan said. “It’s not a question of who should go, it’s that they shouldn’t go at all.”
“But someone has to make the decision.” Chen Hao looked at her. “We’ve put so much effort into reinforcing the base, isn’t it all so that we can survive and keep working? Now that the opportunity is right in front of us, even if there’s only a 28 percent chance, I’m willing to take the plunge.”
Susan wanted to say something more, but in the end she just pursed her lips and didn't speak again.
Carl looked down at his backpack and began putting in a dashcam and spare batteries.
Nana's screen continued to display data. Her machine was still warm, and the fan speed had not decreased.
Chen Hao walked to the monitoring station and stared at the red warning zone for a long time.
“Thirty-six hours…” he said softly, “Will that be enough?”
“It depends on the efficiency of the operation,” Nana said. “If we set off at six in the morning, there is theoretically a twelve-hour window.”
"Then don't sleep," he said. "Go back and pack your things. We'll meet at four."
He turned to leave, then stopped.
"Oh, by the way," he turned around, "is the food still warm?"
“The heating module has been turned off,” Nana said. “The food temperature has dropped to forty-one degrees Celsius.”
"It's alright." He grinned. "Take a bite before it gets too cold."
Susan shook her head, but still followed them toward the living quarters.
Karl zipped up his backpack and glanced at the sky outside.
Nana stood still, not moving. Her screen switched to real-time monitoring mode, and the boundary of the erythema area was slowly expanding.
Chen Hao walked to the door and glanced back.
"We can't afford to make any more mistakes this time," he said.
Nana looked up, her voice calm: "I will monitor the whole process."
"Okay." He nodded. "Don't let me die during mealtime."
He smiled, turned, and walked into the darkness.
Nana's lipstick glow hadn't faded as she swiped her finger across the screen to lock onto the mining area's coordinates.
Her voice system emitted a prompt tone.
"Level 1 alert status has been activated."
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