As dawn broke, the sea was still tinged with a grayish-blue. Chen Hao leaned against the helm, dozing off, his eyelids too heavy to lift. He had stared at the stars for most of the night, his mind a complete blank, and every time he closed his eyes, he dreamt of himself floating on the sea, surrounded by a group of talking fish asking, "Why are you so fat?"
Susan rubbed her eyes and suddenly squinted as she looked ahead.
"Isn't something... off over there?"
Nobody paid any attention to her.
She raised her voice: "Hey! Isn't that patch of color darker than the sea?"
Carl, who was munching on half a hardened biscuit, didn't even look up: "You mean the cloud, right?"
“It’s not a cloud,” she said. “It’s solid. The edges haven’t spread out.”
Nana immediately stood at the bow, her eyes flashing slightly, as if something inside was turning. A few seconds later she spoke: "Optical enhancement activated, distance calculation in progress. Target stationary, continuous outline, not floating object."
Chen Hao suddenly snapped out of his daze: "Wait, you mean—that's land?"
"There's a greater than 90% chance," Nana said. "The preliminary assessment is that it's a naturally formed island, with an area of about 3.7 square kilometers and a maximum elevation of about 120 meters."
Carl swallowed the last bite of his biscuit, nearly choking: "Such a big island, and it's not marked on the map?"
“It’s not included in the standard aeronautical charts,” Nana said. “It may be due to location discrepancies or because it was never surveyed.”
Chen Hao grinned: "We're not going to be the first person to step on it, are we?"
“It might be the last one,” Carl muttered. “What if there are man-eating flowers living up there?”
"Don't worry," Chen Hao patted him on the shoulder, "They'll definitely go after the thinnest ones first."
The boat slowly accelerated, heading towards the blurry silhouette. The closer it got, the clearer the outline became. A long coastline appeared, behind which were low hills, densely vegetated, a dark green. There was no smoke, no buildings, and no trace of human intervention.
The wind blew from the right, billowing the sails halfway. Chen Hao gripped the helm, his eyes gleaming.
"We're really about to reach the shore."
"Don't get too excited yet," Nana cautioned. "The water color near the shore changes significantly, and there may be shoals or reefs. We suggest slowing down and proceeding cautiously."
“Listen to the robot.” Susan took two buoys out of the cabin. “I’ll mark the course.”
Carl climbed the mast, gripping the rope with one hand and using the other to shield his eyes from the light as he peered into the distance. "The water on the left is too clear; there must be rocks underneath. The waves on the right are smaller, and it looks calmer."
"Then we'll go to starboard," Chen Hao ordered. "Susan is dropping buoys, one after another, and we'll follow them."
The first buoy hit the water and swayed gently. The boat slowly approached, and a slight scraping sound came from its bottom, as if it were rubbing against the sandy bottom.
"Stop!" Nana suddenly shouted.
The boat stopped. Three meters underwater, a coral ridge cut across it, and it would have been stuck half a meter further ahead.
"That was close." Chen Hao wiped his sweat. "This thing is more accurate than a GPS navigator."
“I’m not a navigator,” Nana said. “I just don’t want you guys dragging me to the bottom of the ocean to fix circuits.”
Everyone burst into laughter.
The boat continued moving along the line connecting the buoys, reassessing the water depth every so often. Finally, an open sandbar appeared ahead, with a rocky slope on the shore, suitable for docking.
"This is it." Chen Hao released the helm. "Prepare to secure the ship."
Carl jumped off the mast, grabbed the rope, and ran to the stern. Susan rummaged through her toolbox for hooks and anchor chains. Nana stood at the edge of the deck, scanning the ground load data for the landing area.
"The ground is mainly composed of sandstone and humus, with some gravel layers in some areas," she said. "It's walkable, but you need to be careful to avoid slipping."
Chen Hao rummaged through the locker and pulled out a pair of non-slip boots with coarse rubber soles. He put them on and took a couple of steps, but his foot slipped.
"These shoes are harder to please than my ex-girlfriend."
"Have you ever had a girlfriend?" Carl asked, looking up.
"Of course." Chen Hao tightened his shoelaces. "In my dream."
He grabbed a metal probe and jumped onto the rock first. The moment his feet touched solid ground, he swayed and almost fell into the water.
"Earth's gravity is still so unfriendly to me."
He steadied himself and poked the ground with the probe. The soil was soft, but there was a hard layer underneath. He took a few more steps forward to confirm it was safe.
"Alright! You can get down now!"
Susan was the first to follow, carrying a sampling bag and a notebook. She squatted down, grabbed a handful of soil, and squeezed it. "High in organic matter, suitable for plant growth."
Carl landed with his toolbox on his back and looked around. "Nobody lives here, no roads, not even a broken bottle. Are we really the first ones?"
“Perhaps animals came by.” Nana pointed to several footprints not far away. “There are repeated trampling marks on the ground, all in the same direction, which should be caused by biological activity.”
"What animal?" Carl asked.
“It is currently unidentifiable,” she said. “The footprint spans about 40 centimeters, has a three-toed structure, and an irregular stride.”
"It doesn't sound like a deer," Susan frowned.
“It doesn’t even look human,” Chen Hao said. “Unless someone is walking on tiptoe.”
The four people landed on the island one after another, standing in a row and looking at the small boat behind them. It was moored alone in the shallow water, its rope tied to a large rock, swaying gently with the waves.
“We’ve really made it up,” Susan said softly.
“And it hasn’t triggered any traps yet.” Karl looked around. “There’s not even a ‘Welcome’ sign.”
"Stop talking," Chen Hao said, walking forward. "Let's see if we can find fresh water first."
They climbed up the slope. The vegetation grew denser, with vines twining among the bushes, their leaves large and covered in fine hairs. The air was damp and carried the smell of decaying plants.
Nana scanned as she walked. "Air quality is good, oxygen concentration is normal, and there are no toxic gas reactions. The electromagnetic field is stable, and no artificial signal sources have been detected."
"So, this place is completely wild?" Chen Hao asked.
"That seems to be the case at the moment," she said. "But some plant species don't match the database, so there may be unknown species."
“Unknown?” Karl stopped in his tracks. “You mean, the kind that moves?”
“No signs of movement have been detected so far,” Nana said. “However, some leaves exhibit photosensitive turning, indicating that they have basic stress response capabilities.”
"So they turn to look at you?" Susan's eyes widened.
“Rotating slowly,” Nana added, “at a speed of about 0.3 degrees per minute.”
"It's a bit slow," Chen Hao said, scratching his head. "But the thought of them all turning around and staring at me in the middle of the night... it gives me the creeps."
They continued on and came to a small hill. The view was expansive, allowing them to see the outline of the entire island. To the east was the beach where they had landed, to the west was a swamp in the distance, to the north was a steep hillside, and to the south was a flat woodland.
“The terrain isn’t too complicated,” Chen Hao said. “Let’s divide the work. Susan will be in charge of sampling, Carl will check the water source and the route, Nana will continue to monitor the environment, and I’ll scout the way.”
"You're scouting ahead?" Karl laughed. "Last time you said you were scouting ahead, and you ended up falling into an anthill."
"That was an accident," Chen Hao argued. "The ants shouldn't have been so enthusiastic."
"Don't wander off this time," Susan warned. "If there's any danger, call for help immediately."
"I know." He waved his hand. "I'm not going to die, I'm going to find a way to live."
He headed towards the north slope, and the others dispersed. Susan crouched in front of a plant with serrated leaves, using tweezers to collect a sample. Carl parted the grass, checking the ground for signs of water. Nana stood still, her eyes blinking as she received various data streams.
Chen Hao climbed halfway up the mountain and found a dry ditch. He followed it down; the soil was damp, indicating that water must have flowed through it not long ago.
"Where there is water, there is hope," he muttered to himself.
Suddenly, he stepped on a loose stone. He stumbled and grabbed onto a nearby tree trunk. The tree trembled slightly, its leaves rustling.
He looked up.
The leaves were indeed moving, not from the wind. The entire tree's leaves were slowly adjusting their angle, as if they were aiming at him.
He froze.
I took two more steps.
The leaves of another tree nearby also began to turn.
Take one more step, the third tree.
He slowly backed away, his heart pounding.
"Nana!"
He shouted, his voice trembling slightly.
No one responded.
He looked back; the others were still busy in the distance.
He swallowed hard, turned around, and walked back quickly.
I took two steps and my foot sank into the ground.
Looking down, I saw a crack in the soil, as if something had pushed it up from below.
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