The sun was setting, casting long shadows. Though their steps were slow, they never stopped.
After crossing a low ridge, a patch of exposed rock appeared ahead. Grayish-white stones covered the hillside, as if someone had dumped lime on the ground.
Nana stopped scanning. "The rock composition has a high silicon content, so the possibility of complex minerals cannot be ruled out."
"What do you mean?" Chen Hao asked.
"It might be the periphery of the target material," she said. "I recommend strengthening record-keeping and sampling preparation."
Chen Hao looked at Susan. She had already taken out the recorder, and her eyes lit up.
"Finally, there's something to look forward to," she said.
“I thought you were going to say, ‘Finally, I can take a break,’” Carl muttered.
"Take a break, but wait until we find some ore." Susan glared at him. "Don't you want a new pot?"
“I do want to,” Carl sighed, “but I’d rather get a new leg first.”
The team continued forward. The rock surface was uneven, riddled with pits and loose rocks, making it slippery underfoot. Nana walked in front, her probe gently touching the ground, and the green line on the screen kept jumping.
“There’s a hole three meters ahead.” She gestured, “Go around to the left.”
Chen Hao nodded, then turned to Karl and said, "Stay close, don't fall behind."
“I’m walking just fine,” Carl said, limping as he leaned on a metal bar. “It’s just that every step feels like torture for my legs.”
"Bear with it," Chen Hao said. "Once we find the ore, I'll apply for a wheelchair for you when we get back."
"But we have to get back alive first," Karl muttered to himself. "I can barely stand up now."
Susan scraped a small sample from the nearby rock wall and put it into a collection bag. "At first glance, it looks like ordinary quartz, nothing special."
“Let’s look deeper,” Nana said. “The temperature difference is greater on the shaded side, making it easier for crystals to form special structures.”
“You make it sound so easy.” Carl looked up. “There’s not even a shady spot here.”
“Then let’s build it ourselves.” Chen Hao walked to a sloping rock slab, reached out and pushed it. “Give me a hand, let’s lift it up.”
Carl sighed, leaned the metal rod against the side, and braced the edge with his shoulder. With a strong pry, the stone flipped over with a "crack."
"Huff—" Karl gasped for breath, "That almost ruptured all my old injuries."
“It was worth it.” Chen Hao stared at the gap underneath. “There’s something reflecting light here.”
Susan immediately came over, squatted down, and shoved away the rubble. A thin layer of soil was removed, revealing a stone the size of a fingernail, its surface shimmering with a bluish-purple light.
“This is…” She looked up at Nana.
Nana crouched down, turned on the detector, and pressed it close to scan. The screen flashed a few times, and the data began to scroll.
"The electromagnetic interference is quite strong," she said. "We need to eliminate external signals."
Chen Hao turned around and said, "Everyone, turn off your personal devices."
Susan put away the recorder, and Carl unplugged the detector, even turning off the indicator light on the metal rod.
Nana restarted the low-frequency mode, and the probe slowly approached the ore. This time, the readings stabilized.
“Confirmed.” Her voice was flat, but her tone changed. “The mineral contains a rare silicon-based composite lattice structure, which has high heat resistance and corrosion resistance, matching the preset target material parameters.”
The air went still for a moment.
"Really?" Susan's voice trembled. "We found it?"
“The data doesn’t lie.” Nana carefully removed the ore and placed it into a sealed sample box. “This is what we need.”
"Damn it!" Carl plopped down on the ground. "Seriously? This piece of junk rock almost got us dragged into the water by fish, and we spent half a day climbing this crappy mountain just for it?"
“But it’s worth it.” Chen Hao reached out and took the sample box, looking at it against the sunlight. The bluish-purple light shimmered slightly under the glass, like breathing.
"How many resources can we exchange for going back?" Susan asked.
"Enough to repair the heating systems of three bases," Nana said, "or upgrade the protective layer of a small transport ship."
"Then why don't we hurry up and dig?" Karl struggled to his feet. "My leg is almost useless; I can't let the pain go to waste!"
"Mark the location first." Chen Hao took out a marker from his backpack and drew a circle around the discovery point. "Expand the search area and check everything within 20 meters."
Susan immediately began mapping the coordinates and sketching the distribution. Nana, meanwhile, used the detector to scan the surrounding area, stopping to record data every five meters.
Chen Hao bent down and turned over another stone, but there was nothing underneath. He pried open another one and saw only ordinary gray rock.
“Not every piece can be shipped,” he said. “Take it slow.”
“I haven’t heard anything here either.” Susan looked up. “The soil layer is too thin; the veins are probably concentrated in a localized area.”
“Then let’s focus on digging in one area.” Carl, holding onto the rock wall, hopped and skipped to the vicinity of the initial discovery point. “I can’t let all these falls go to waste.”
He bent down and scratched at the ground, his glove brushing against a half-exposed stone. The stone wasn't big, but its edges emitted a faint, dark light.
"Hey!" he exclaimed, "There's another one here!"
The three people gathered around. Nana scanned and confirmed: "The ingredients are consistent, and the integrity is higher."
"I'm rich!" Carl grinned. "How much of my share will I get when I get back?"
"The credit is yours," Chen Hao said. "I'll have your name engraved on the wall when we get back."
“Inscribing a name is not as good as having a meal.” Karl carefully packed the ore into a bag. “I want to eat meat, two meals.”
"You have so much energy to talk now," Susan laughed. "Didn't you just say you couldn't walk anymore?"
“That was before.” Carl straightened up. “Now I’m the discoverer, and I have to maintain my image.”
Nana continued probing forward, then suddenly stopped.
“There are dense signal sources five meters ahead and thirty centimeters underground,” she said. “The area is about two square meters, and it is presumably a small mining pit.”
"A nest?" Chen Hao's eyes lit up. "Much better than scattered."
“How can we dig?” Susan frowned. “We only have one pickaxe, and manual labor is too inefficient.”
"Let's go for it." Chen Hao unpacked his backpack. "First, clear away the surface rubble, then use a probe to locate the densest spot and make a precise strike."
Carl volunteered to stand to the side: "I'll take care of clearing the debris; we can't move too fast anyway."
"Take it easy," Chen Hao said. "Don't exhaust yourself again."
"Don't worry." Carl picked up the small shovel. "I'm doing technical work now, which requires a steady, long-term approach."
The four quickly divided the tasks. Chen Hao and Susan cleared the surface layer, Nana continued to monitor changes in underground signals, and Carl neatly piled up the excavated rubble.
Ten minutes later, a shallow pit was dug into the ground. Nana pointed to a spot: "The signal is strongest here."
Chen Hao switched to a short-handled pickaxe and began to chisel away at the hard soil, bit by bit. As he went deeper, the soil gradually darkened, becoming mixed with tiny, glittering particles.
"There's hope," he said.
He struck the soil a dozen more times until the pickaxe tip hit something hard. He then moved more gently and used his hands to dig away the dirt.
A fist-sized piece of ore lay in the soil, its entire body gleaming with a deep blue luster, its surface texture clearly defined, resembling a naturally formed circuit diagram.
“Wow…” Carl leaned closer, “This piece of land is huge, it could probably sell for a house, right?”
“More than that,” Nana said after scanning. “The purity reaches 82%, which is a high-grade sample.”
"We're rich now!" Susan quickly pulled out her notebook. "I must remember the location and time of the mining."
"Don't rush to write it down." Chen Hao reached for the ore. "We need to get it out first."
He had just grasped the stone, his fingers not yet tightening—
"boom!"
The ground beneath my feet suddenly sank. The entire rock formation emitted a piercing "crunch," as if some structure was breaking apart.
"It's collapsed!" Karl yelled. "Get back!"
Chen Hao quickly withdrew his hand and jumped back a step. As soon as his foot left the ground, a crack appeared where he had just been standing, and gravel rained down.
Nana grabbed Susan's arm and pulled her away. Carl, bracing himself against the metal bar, desperately backed away, only to step on a loose stone and fall backward.
Chen Hao reached out and grabbed his collar, forcefully dragging him back.
The four retreated to a safe area, panting as they looked back.
The original excavation site had collapsed more than half a meter deep, and the edges were still cracking. The piece of ore that had just emerged, along with the surrounding soil and rocks, had all slid into the cracks.
“It’s over.” Karl slumped to the ground. “Just when we saw a glimmer of hope, the earth swallowed us up.”
“Not necessarily.” Nana squatted on the edge, extending her probe to measure. “The vertical depth is about 1.7 meters. There is a supporting structure below, so it hasn’t completely collapsed.”
"Can it still be saved?" Chen Hao asked.
“We could try localized reinforcement, followed by a downward descent for recovery,” she said. “But that will take time.”
"Let's do it then." Chen Hao dusted off his pants. "We're already here, a few more minutes won't make a difference."
Susan took an emergency light out of her bag and wedged it into the crack in the rocks. Nana began mixing filler to seal the edge of the crack.
Carl stared at the dark, gaping hole and whispered, "Do you think the bottom might be crushed?"
"No." Chen Hao stared at the crack. "Good things are tough, they're definitely still waiting for us."
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