The hum of the hydraulic pump sounded like a gasp for breath, as if it might stop breathing at any moment. Chen Hao's hand was still pressed tightly on the emergency lever, his knuckles white, his arm trembling like a clothesline being blown by the wind. He dared not loosen his grip, nor dared to switch hands, for fear that if he relaxed his strength, the grain silo, which looked like a drunkard, would really collapse.
“The pressure gauge… is still wobbling,” he said, his voice hoarse as if it had been rubbed against sandpaper.
Nana stood in front of the control panel, her optical lens scanning the data stream. "Right-side support efficiency 78%, oil circuit blockage not completely cleared."
“78% is still better than before.” Chen Hao gritted his teeth. “We can’t expect it to grow legs and stand up on its own.”
He wanted to laugh, but it stirred up the sweat on his forehead, and a drop slid directly into his eye, stinging him so much that he blinked twice. The oil and dirt on his face mixed into a black line, running down his nose. He raised his arm to wipe it, but instead smeared his entire cheek with the color of industrial waste.
“The hydraulic valve needs further unclogging,” Nana said. “Current lubrication only alleviates surface corrosion; the internal piston remains stuck.”
"So we still have to demolish it?"
"yes."
Why didn't you say so earlier!
"You're applying pressure."
"And now?"
"You can let go for ten seconds."
Chen Hao grinned: "Ten seconds? I can't even open my mouth wide enough to yawn, and you want me to let go for ten seconds?"
"With a calculation error of 0.3 seconds, the structure will not become unbalanced."
"You call this calculation, I call this risking my life."
Even so, he took a deep breath, abruptly pulled his left hand back, and almost fell backward. His right leg was numb as if it had been heated by welding. He steadied himself by holding onto the edge of the table, grabbed a wrench with his right hand, and reached for the hydraulic valve interface.
"The valve cover is rusted shut," Nana reminded her.
"Then smash it."
He swung the back of the wrench and struck the edge of the valve body. A loud clang rang out, making my eardrums ache. A second, a third, a fourth—
"Click".
The lid finally cracked open a crack. Chen Hao pried at it with the tip of a wrench for half a minute, and the whole piece of sheet metal flew off with a "snap," hitting the toolbox in the corner with a muffled thud.
A stench of stale oil mixed with iron filings wafted out, smearing his face.
"Good heavens, is this hot pot broth that's been stored for three years?" He wiped his face and spat out a piece of metal that had splashed into his mouth. "Who designed this system that makes people test pressure on their faces?"
Nana handed over a second bottle of lubricant, saying, "I suggest injecting it quickly to avoid secondary contamination."
"You make it sound so easy." Chen Hao unscrewed the bottle cap with one hand, using the other to support himself on the countertop, and poured the oil into the drain pipe. The liquid gushed into the pipe, and after a few seconds, the pump suddenly paused for a beat, then hummed and regained its rhythm.
"Piston reset." Nana confirmed with a scan, "Right-side pressure has risen to 86%."
"86%?" Chen Hao laughed, panting. "That number sounds like the passing grade for an exam, barely enough to graduate."
He tried to release the control lever.
The hydraulic column was firmly pressed against the wall, its tilt angle stopping at 3.5 degrees, and it did not go any further.
"Alright." He plopped down on the ground, his legs trembling as he stretched them out. "At least this dilapidated house didn't collapse completely in my hands."
“The foundation problem remains unresolved.” Nana pulled up the underground scan map, where a spot of light marked a shadow on the ground to the right. “The cavity volume has expanded to 4.7 cubic meters, and the seepage rate is 12 liters per minute.”
"Still rising? Does it think it's a reservoir?"
"If the water supply is not cut off, the wall is expected to shift twice within seven hours."
Chen Hao rolled his eyes: "Couldn't you have waited five minutes for me to rest before throwing the bomb?"
"Crisis waits for no one."
“I know, I know…” He pushed himself up from the ground, his knees creaking under the strain. “First control the flood, then fill the pit, the old routine.”
He stumbled to the tool rack, rummaging for a shovel, when he slipped and nearly fell to his knees on the concrete. Nana reached out and supported him, the mechanical arm gently bracing his elbow to steady him.
"Thank you." He looked down at his shoes, the soles of which were covered in mud. "This ground is more slippery than a pancake pan."
"The soil moisture content has reached the critical saturation level," Nana said. "We need to pay attention to slope stability during excavation."
"Understood. Don't dig and end up falling into a pit yourself, becoming foundation fill."
He shouldered his shovel and headed outside. As soon as he opened the door, a wave of damp, cold air hit him. The sky was heavily overcast, the clouds hung low, and the wind carried the earthy smell of rain.
"Is it going to rain?" He looked up at the sky.
"The weather module predicts that there will be moderate to heavy rain in three hours."
"This is truly a timely help," he sneered. "Isn't adding fuel to the fire enough? Now you want to boil it?"
The terrain outside the granary was slightly lower, and rainwater naturally gathered into a muddy puddle. Chen Hao stepped through the puddle to the spot Nana had marked, then raised his shovel and plunged it hard into the soil.
"The first shovel is a tribute to the bed I slept in," he muttered, giving it a hard shovelful, sending chunks of mud flying far away.
Nana turned on her shoulder light, and a beam of white light shone precisely on the seepage path, illuminating the tiny cracks in the ground.
"Dig along the direction of the light, to a depth of 1.2 meters," she directed.
"Are you drawing up construction plans for me?" Chen Hao asked, panting, as he continued digging. "Should we also get a supervisor's whistle?"
"unnecessary."
"Then why are you standing so close? Are you afraid I'll slack off?"
"Ensure operational safety."
"I'd rather you were worried about me being lazy."
The soil grew softer with each dig, and the shovel blade brought up large clumps of mud with every strike. Chen Hao's vest was already soaked through, clinging to his body like a swelled rag. He shook his aching wrists and continued digging.
"It's deviated from the original route by 0.8 meters," Nana suddenly said. "The left side needs to be deepened by half a meter."
"Off-target accuracy again? You previously claimed it was navigation-level accuracy, and now you're telling me it's off-target?"
"The uneven geological structure and groundwater erosion have caused the soil layers to loosen."
"Alright, consider it cunning." He adjusted his direction and started digging again. "Next time, I'll put up a monument and write 'Here lies the soul of a hardworking migrant worker.'"
The ditch gradually took shape, about forty centimeters wide and one meter deep. Chen Hao followed the slope downhill and finally dug a channel leading to the outer flood discharge channel in a low-lying area.
"It's connected!" He wiped his face and shouted back, "Let's run some water and see!"
Nana initiated the diversion procedure, and the underground water flow monitoring showed changes in pressure. A few seconds later, a stream of turbid water slowly seeped out from the bottom of the ditch and flowed into the distance along the newly opened channel.
“Drainage has started,” she said. “The foundation pressure is stabilizing.”
Chen Hao stood by the canal, leaning on his shovel, watching the water carry away the silt little by little, and let out a long sigh.
"We're really going to wrestle with Earth's gravity..." he grinned, his teeth standing out against his muddy face, "and we even won half the round."
"This is only a temporary measure at present," Nana cautioned. "If rainfall exceeds expectations, the existing ditches will not be able to handle it."
"Then dig it wider."
"You have less than 30% of your energy remaining."
"If I have nothing left, how can I possibly have any debt left?"
As he was speaking, a muffled clap of thunder sounded from the sky.
The raindrops began to fall, sparse at first, but soon they connected into lines.
Chen Hao looked up, letting the rain wash away the oil and sweat from his face.
“Come on,” he said. “We don’t have any dry clothes to change into anyway.”
Nana's beam of light traced a clear path through the rain, pointing to the next digging point.
Chen Hao dragged his shovel and walked step by step toward the land that had been softened by the water.
His left leg was so numb that it didn't feel like his own; every step he took felt like walking on cotton.
But he kept walking.
The blade of the shovel carved a new groove in the muddy, rainy water.
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