As dawn broke, Chen Hao sat on a sheet of metal beside the ruins, bending over to fasten his back brace. He gritted his teeth and tightened the strap, a fine layer of sweat beading on his forehead. His ribs had twitched again when he moved that metal plate yesterday, and now even the slightest movement felt heavy.
Nana stood to the side, holding a worn-out backpack and stuffing things into it. She moved steadily, checking each item one by one: two bottles of water, half a pack of compressed biscuits, a rusty multi-tool, several old batteries, and a solar panel.
“This is enough for three days,” she said.
"It would be good if I could last two days." Chen Hao stood up, patted the dust off his pants, "With my body, I have to rest after walking two kilometers."
"Your heart rate is a bit fast and your blood pressure is a bit low. I suggest you reduce your workload."
"Reduce the burden? Then you'll carry me on your back?"
"I can carry you on my back."
Chen Hao was stunned for a moment, "You actually agreed?"
"The logic holds. Your movement efficiency is less than 62 percent of mine."
He rolled his eyes. "Forget it, I'll just walk by myself. Otherwise, you'll say I'm slowing down the trip."
Nana handed him the backpack and casually steadied him by the shoulder. He almost fell over.
"Go easy! Do you think I'm a punching bag?"
"The intensity has been adjusted to 70% of the range that humans can tolerate."
"Seventy percent is too harsh."
The two started from the edge of the ruins, but the ground beneath their feet was no longer the original path. After the flood, mud mixed with rubble had formed a messy slope, sometimes soft and sometimes hard, making each step a slippery half-step.
Chen Hao was panting like an old tractor, and he had to stop to drink water after only ten minutes.
“This is nothing…” he muttered. “There are still eight kilometers to go? Don’t be ridiculous, I’ll be lying in the ground after I finish this.”
“You won’t go into the soil,” Nana said. “Based on soil pH analysis, your decomposition rate will be 15 percent slower than normal.”
"You're going to give me this calculation?"
"I'm just stating the facts."
"Can't you say something nicer? Like, 'You'll definitely live to see next spring'?"
There is no data to support this statement.
I hate you.
"You don't hate me."
They slowly walked to the mouth of the canyon. What used to be a small river had been completely blocked by a mudslide, turning into a slope covered with slippery silt and broken tree trunks.
Chen Hao tried taking a step forward.
His foot slipped, and he slid straight down the slope. He quickly grabbed a broken log, his legs wobbling in the air a couple of times before he managed to stay upright.
“We can’t get through this place,” he said.
“You can proceed.” Nana took two steps forward, her eyes flashing. “I’m scanning.”
A set of data popped into her vision: soil density, load-bearing capacity, structural stability, row by row. She pulled up a knowledge base, compared several travel options for similar terrain, and finally settled on a hidden route.
“This way.” She pointed to the lower part of the rock wall on the left. “There is a hard foundation there, covered with a thin layer of silt, which can actually bear weight.”
How did you know?
"I know."
Chen Hao hesitated for a moment, but followed her anyway. He walked close to the rock face, holding onto the stones, and carefully stepped onto the spot she indicated.
This time my foot didn't sink in.
"It actually works." He breathed a sigh of relief.
"Continue, space each step 80 centimeters apart, and avoid the cracked area."
"Do you think I'm a robot? Someone who can pinpoint the exact location?"
"You don't need to be precise, you just need to be obedient."
"I'm not a dog."
Dogs are generally more obedient to commands.
Are you determined to silence me today?
They moved forward little by little. Chen Hao almost slipped again, but Nana grabbed his backpack strap and prevented him from falling into the mud.
"Thanks." He patted his chest. "My heart had stopped just now."
"Your heart rate has always been above 120, and it has never stopped."
"Could you please stop staring at my physiological data? It's creepy."
“I don’t see, but I can sense.”
"You're a walking health checkup machine."
After passing through the muddy area, there was a broken ravine ahead. The stone bridge that used to connect the two banks had collapsed, leaving only two broken ends exposed, with a gap of five or six meters in the middle.
Chen Hao stood on the side and looked down. Water was still seeping in from below, and it was all dark and murky.
"Jump?"
“No,” Nana shook her head. “The distance exceeds your maximum jump span by 1.3 times.”
"Then go around?"
"Yes. I found a large fallen tree about 30 meters upstream, which may form a natural bridge."
They walked along the edge. A giant tree had been uprooted and lay across the ravine. Its trunk was thick, but its bark was soft from being soaked in water, and in some places it was cracked.
"Will this work?" Chen Hao touched the tree trunk. "It looks like it could fall apart at any moment."
"The structure is 79% intact, which is enough to allow us to pass through."
"Couldn't you have given a higher percentage?"
"I will not falsify data."
"Fine, we're going to die together anyway."
Nana climbed the tree trunk first. Her steps were steady, and her mechanical legs could automatically adjust her center of gravity, making her walk as if she were walking on flat ground.
When it was Chen Hao's turn, he squatted down and climbed up using both his hands and feet. He had only gone halfway up when his foot suddenly gave way, a piece of bark split open, and his knee hit the wood directly.
"Ouch!" he cried out, "It hurts so much!"
"Keep your center of gravity in the middle and don't struggle."
"You make it sound so easy..."
He gritted his teeth and kept shuffling forward until he finally reached the other side. He almost knelt down the moment he landed, only managing to stay upright by holding onto the rocks.
“I’ll never believe in natural bridges again,” he gasped. “They’re all lies.”
"It is effective."
"Effective my foot! If I had to go through it again, I'd be paralyzed here."
Nana glanced at him and said, "You're sweating excessively. I suggest you rest for fifteen minutes."
"Alright, let me rest for a bit." He sat down against a rock, took out a water bottle from his backpack and took a big gulp. "What are we doing this for? We could have survived for a few days at the base, but we had to come out here to suffer."
"Because staying put will only make you poorer."
"You heard me say that yesterday, didn't you?"
"That's exactly what you said."
"You remember it so clearly?"
"I have an excellent memory."
"You're so great, you deliberately chose my most depressing words to write down and use them to hurt me."
"I'm just recording the facts."
"You just want to see me break down."
"You haven't broken down yet."
"Soon."
After resting, they continued on their way. The terrain rose higher and higher, and the vegetation began to change. Some strange plants appeared by the roadside, with thick leaves and reddish stems, as if they had been soaked in water and then dried for a long time.
"Can this thing be eaten?" Chen Hao asked, pointing to one of the plants.
“No.” Nana glanced at it. “It contains neurotoxins; ingestion will cause muscle loss of control.”
"What if you get really hungry?"
"You can give it a try."
"You'd love for me to try it, wouldn't you? So you can say, 'See? I told you you couldn't eat it.'"
"I would say this."
"You're such a cold-blooded machine."
"I have no blood."
"I understand, you're high-end."
A steep slope appeared ahead, its rock face slippery and covered in moss. Chen Hao looked up and his face turned green.
"How do we get up there?"
"With hands and feet."
"Easier said than done."
Nana climbed up first, then turned around and reached out her hand.
"catch."
"Can you pull me?"
"I have already calculated your weight and coefficient of friction."
"What if the calculation is wrong?"
"Won't."
Chen Hao grasped her hand. In that instant, it felt like he was holding a piece of iron pipe, cold but powerful. Nana gave a gentle tug, and actually pulled him up.
“You’re incredibly strong.” He shook his hand. “It’s like you’re holding hydraulic shears.”
"You can adapt."
"I'm not a machine, I can't be upgraded."
“You can exercise.”
"All I want to do right now is sit."
They climbed to the top of the hill, where an open area lay before them. The wind picked up, making their clothes flap loudly.
Nana opened her wrist screen, and a map was projected. A flashing red dot indicated that they had left the base fifteen kilometers away.
"At the current speed, we expect to arrive at the preliminary exploration area in forty hours."
"Forty hours?" Chen Hao's eyes widened. "Doesn't that mean it'll take two days?"
"yes."
What have I been eating these past two days? Half a pack of biscuits?
"There are two bottles of water left."
"Water can't be eaten as food."
"You can save energy by reducing the frequency of your speech."
"Shutting up is the best way to save electricity."
Nana didn't respond. She suddenly turned her head to the right, her eyes flickering slightly.
"An anomaly detected."
"What's wrong?"
"The ground vibration frequency is abnormal, fluctuating periodically, with an interval of 3.2 seconds."
"earthquake?"
"Low probability. It's more like some kind of regular activity."
"for example?"
"It is impossible to determine at this time."
Chen Hao looked over there and saw a barren slope, completely bare and devoid of anything.
"Is there something wrong with your sensor?"
"My system is working normally."
"But there's nothing there."
Nana took a few steps forward, squatted down, and placed her palms on the ground.
A few seconds later, she looked up.
"The tremors came from underground."
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