The hook landed in the mud and slowly sank in. Chen Hao lay motionless on the ground, his hand supporting his chin, his face almost touching the mud.
“Throw it again,” he said. “Still can’t reach it.”
Susan stood behind, holding the other end of the rope, which was tied to a concrete post. "You swung it off-center, the angle was wrong."
"I know how far I can throw it," Chen Hao muttered to himself. "The problem is that this muddy ground sucks people in; the hook just drops as soon as it hits the ground."
Nana maneuvered the drone into the air, its robotic arm gripping the newly replaced grappling hook. She adjusted its position, hovering three meters directly above Karl.
"Target distance is 3.2 meters," she said. "Ready to launch."
The drone descended slowly, its robotic arm extending to gently place the hook beside a dead branch near Karl's hand. The hook tip touched the muddy surface but did not sink.
"Got it!" Susan exclaimed.
Carl's fingers trembled slightly. He slowly moved over, grabbed the hook, and pulled with his last ounce of strength towards his chest. The rope tightened.
"Start pulling!" Chen Hao turned around. "Slow down, don't pull too hard!"
The three stood in the safe zone, pulling the rope alternately with both hands. They paused for a few seconds after each pull, waiting for the suction in the mud to release. Karl's body slowly moved outwards, his chest heaving more.
Ten minutes passed, and his shoulders started to ache, followed by his waist. The last part was the most difficult; it felt like his lower body was being held down tightly by something.
"It's stuck!" Susan's voice was strained.
"Give it your all!" Chen Hao gritted his teeth. "Let's go together!"
They pulled hard together, and the rope snapped loose. Karl was dragged out of the mud and collapsed onto the wet ground, gasping for breath.
Nana immediately stepped forward to check. "Vital signs are stable, body temperature is low, and there is no external bleeding."
"Thank goodness he didn't break any bones," Chen Hao said, panting as he sat on the ground. "Otherwise, we would have had to carry him back to base."
Susan took a thermal blanket out of her bag and wrapped it around Carl. "Do you remember who you are?"
Karl's lips trembled: "I... am Karl."
"Then do you know where you are now?"
"At the edge of the black swamp... I took the wrong turn."
“It’s not your problem,” Chen Hao interjected. “The map is obsolete; anyone who comes here will get lost.”
Karl kept his eyes closed and didn't say anything.
They rested for fifteen minutes until Carl recovered. Chen Hao carried him on his back and walked back the way they came. Susan led the way with the terminal, while Nana brought up the rear, constantly monitoring the ground's load-bearing capacity.
No one spoke much on the road. The wind rustled the leaves, and footsteps made a soft, squelching sound as they walked on the mud.
Back at base, Chen Hao placed Karl on the medical bed. Nana connected the monitor, and blood oxygen and heart rate data appeared on the screen.
"Do you need an IV?" Susan asked.
“No need,” Nana said. “Just two hours of rest and some energy replenishment will suffice.”
Carl opened his eyes: "I'm sorry... for delaying your progress."
"What are you talking about?" Chen Hao plopped down in a chair. "If you don't go, we won't be able to find the components until next week."
"But I changed my route."
"A landslide blocking the road, can you fly over it?"
Carl shook his head.
"Then it's not your fault." Chen Hao patted the edge of the bed. "Next time you go out, go in pairs and bring a leash. The rules have changed, so it's not your fault."
Susan nodded: "We also need to reassess our field mission procedures."
Nana retrieved the records: "Seven items of the outing procedure have been updated, including route pre-inspection, equipment list, and emergency communication test."
"Great." Chen Hao stretched. "The person has been rescued. Now it's time to get down to business."
“We still don’t have enough components.” Susan looked at the screen. “We’re short six filter capacitors, and only three low-noise amplifier chips are left.”
“Dismantle old equipment,” Nana said. “There are three disused weather monitoring instruments in the inventory, and we can extract similar modules.”
"Can it be used?" Chen Hao asked.
"Calculations show that the performance loss after parallel reconfiguration is less than 5%, which meets the requirements of the prototype."
"Then let's tear it down." Chen Hao stood up. "We're just idling around anyway."
The four of them went to the equipment room. The three old instruments were placed against the wall, their casings covered in dust and their interfaces oxidized.
"It doesn't look reliable at all." Chen Hao touched the casing. "It's an antique from ten years ago."
“Technological iteration does not mean functional failure.” Nana opened the side cover. “The internal filtering circuit still meets the standards.”
Susan took the tools and began to disassemble. Although weak, Carl sat up to help sort the components. Chen Hao was responsible for handing over wrenches and screwdrivers, occasionally asking, "Should we keep this?"
Two hours later, the parts were all sorted out. Susan used a multimeter to test several capacitors, and the readings were normal.
“It’s ready to be assembled,” she said.
They returned to the lab. Chen Hao cleared the lab bench and laid out an anti-static mat. Nana projected the circuit diagram onto the wall, marking the key nodes.
Susan soldered the transceiver module, while Carl adjusted the antenna bracket angle. Chen Hao stared at the power indicator light, muttering, "If this fuse blows again, I'm going to launch a smoke bomb."
“It won’t burn.” Susan tightened the last screw. “Voltage matching, load balancing.”
Nana connects to the main control system and starts the self-test program.
The screen flickered a few times, and a green checkmark appeared.
"Power supply is normal."
"Signal path detection passed."
"Modulation module is ready."
Chen Hao stared at the lit green light and grinned.
"It's done?"
"Initial operation is stable," Nana said. "We can proceed to the next stage of testing."
"Can we test communication tomorrow?" he asked.
“Frequency offset needs to be calibrated,” Nana replied. “It is expected to take three hours.”
"Alright." Chen Hao slammed his hand on the table. "Everyone, get to bed early tonight and start work tomorrow morning."
Susan turned off the soldering iron and packed up her tools. Carl, supporting himself on the corner of the table, stood up, walking unsteadily.
"Go back and lie down first," Chen Hao said. "You don't need to stay up with me."
“I want to see the results,” Carl said. “This is the progress I’ve lost, and I need to see it caught up with my own eyes.”
"Whatever you want," Chen Hao smiled. "But don't push yourself too hard."
As night deepened, the lights in the base were turned off one by one. The laboratory lights remained on, and several figures moved back and forth.
The terminal screen continuously refreshed the data stream. Nana's voice steadily announced each parameter.
Susan typed the last piece of code and pressed Enter.
"Driver loading complete."
"Prepare to send a test signal," Nana said. "Target distance is ten kilometers, unobstructed straight path."
"Let's send it," Chen Hao said, leaning back in his chair. "Let's hear the sounds from afar."
The signal transmitter buzzed once, and the indicator light turned from yellow to green.
The remote receiver responds automatically, sending a feedback code back to the screen.
[Received successfully]
Error rate: 0.03%
Signal strength: Excellent
"It's connected," Susan said softly.
Chen Hao didn't move, staring at that line of text for a long time.
"It seems we can not only save lives, but also send messages out."
Carl sat in the corner, his fingers tapping lightly on his knees. He looked at the newly repaired equipment, a slight smile playing on his lips.
Nana switched to the monitoring map and marked the signal coverage area. The previously large blind spots were now highlighted in light blue.
"The communication radius has been extended to 12.7 kilometers," she said. "Partial penetration has been achieved in the canyon area."
"It's not perfect," Chen Hao said, "but it's good enough."
“The next step is to optimize the antenna array,” Susan said, flipping through her notebook. “We’ll consider adding a reflector.”
"Are there enough materials?"
"Just remove the casing of a backup power supply."
"Then you decide what to do." Chen Hao yawned. "Right now, I just want to sleep."
He stood up, his legs a little numb, and steadied himself against the corner of the table. Susan closed her laptop and pushed her chair back.
Karl slowly got up, his steps more steady than before.
“We’ll continue tomorrow,” he said.
“Of course.” Chen Hao walked towards the door. “This is just the beginning.”
Half of the lab lights were off, but the remaining instruments were still running. On the display screen, the waveforms moved smoothly.
Susan stopped and looked back.
The receiver suddenly flashed a red light.
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