The gray fog in the surveillance footage advanced twenty meters, like a slowly opening mouth.
Chen Hao stared at the screen, his finger still pointing at the temperature data. Nana's finger slid across the terminal, bringing up a new analysis chart. A few seconds later, she looked up. "The heat source isn't a living thing, nor is it generated by the operation of equipment. It's the heat released by the oxidation reaction of underground minerals."
“So,” Karl said, walking over and lowering his voice, “this place itself is generating heat?”
“Accurate.” Nana nodded. “It’s similar to spontaneous chemical combustion, but smaller in scale and longer in duration. At present, it does not pose a threat.”
Susan breathed a sigh of relief and closed the notebook. "Can we go now?"
"Let's go." Chen Hao stood up and dusted off his pants. "If we keep looking at the fog here, I'll start to get depressed."
The four packed their equipment. Backpacks, detectors, water bottles, spare batteries—they were all stuffed into their bags. Chen Hao snorted as he slung his bag over his shoulder, “This thing is heavier than I weighed myself last time.”
“You last weighed yourself two years ago,” Susan said, handing him a bottle of water. “Now it’s probably doubled.”
"Don't discourage your teammates." Chen Hao unscrewed the bottle cap and took a swig. "This is my reserve food, understand? It can last me a few more days in critical moments."
Nana had already started the remote-controlled car. The wheels spun a few times, and the camera lit up. This car was assembled by Chen Hao the day before yesterday; the outer shell was crooked on one side, but it could still move and transmit signals.
"The signal is stable," she said. "There are no obstacles ahead for three kilometers."
“Then let’s go.” Carl zipped up his coat. “As planned, we’ll head to the first observation point first.”
The wind wasn't strong outside, but there was a lot of sand and dust. The group put on goggles and headed northwest along the route marked on the map. The ground became increasingly hard, and each step made a slight crackling sound, like stepping on burnt crust.
After walking for less than an hour, Nana stopped.
"The area in front has collapsed."
A deep, bottomless crack appeared where there should have been a gentle slope, with loose rocks still falling from the edges. The planned route was now blocked.
"This pit isn't marked on the map." Chen Hao squatted down to take a look. "Who dug it? Did aliens practice shoveling dirt?"
“Geological changes.” Nana scanned the surrounding terrain. “It’s probably a structural collapse caused by long-term erosion of underground cavities.”
"Shall we go around?" Susan asked.
“There’s no way around it.” Karl pointed into the distance. “Both sides are steep slopes, and the sand is too loose; it’s easy to slip and slide down.”
Nana brought up the elemental distribution chart and suddenly stopped.
“Wait a minute.” She zoomed in on the valley area on the right. “The iron-nickel alloy signal strength is more than seven times higher than expected, and it is concentrated on the flank of the collapse area.”
"How tall?" Carl leaned closer.
"Enough to build two smelters."
Chen Hao grinned. "The machine says there's material over there. Shall we go check if fate has changed the delivery route?"
No one objected.
They changed course and went right, walking close to the edge of the crevice. The terrain gradually descended, the air became dry, and their throats felt a little itchy when they breathed.
After walking for another hour or so, vegetation began to appear. It wasn't ordinary withered grass, but rather some low-lying vines that twined around the rocks, with thick leaves and a dark green color.
“These plants shouldn’t be growing here.” Susan crouched down and picked a leaf. “How do they survive in this environment where water evaporates so quickly?”
“Maybe there’s groundwater down there,” Carl said.
"It's also possible that the mineral veins affected the soil composition." Nana pulled up her portable testing device. "I'm analyzing the organic matter content."
The results came out a few minutes later.
“It contains no toxins.” Susan looked at the data. “It has five times more protein than ordinary wild vegetables, and its fiber structure is also easy to digest.”
"Edible?" Chen Hao's eyes lit up.
"Theoretically, yes."
“That means it’s edible.” He casually plucked a vine. “I’ll stir-fry a plate of it later and call it ‘Hope Vine with Eggs’.”
"First, confirm the safe zone." Nana released the drone. She had assembled it last night; it was small and had a short flight time, but it could fly into narrow areas.
The drone took off and flew through the valley entrance. Footage was transmitted back—
The exposed rock face gleamed with a metallic sheen. Patches of purple-stemmed plants grew in the cracks, their roots gripping the ore tightly. Scattered on the ground were ore chunks of varying sizes, some reflecting the sunlight intensely.
“Is that ilmenite?” Karl’s voice changed.
“A high-purity symbiont.” Nana quickly checked the knowledge base. “It can be used directly in alloy smelting without complex purification.”
"How much?"
"Preliminary estimates suggest that the exposed area contains at least eight tons of reserves. There may be even more underground."
Chen Hao plopped down on a rock. "I said... aren't we rich?"
“They haven’t started digging yet,” Susan reminded him.
"But I can already smell the rice in the pot."
They cautiously entered the valley. The ground was hard, and they could feel a slight vibration when they stepped on it. Nana walked at the front, holding a detector to monitor the changes in the electromagnetic field in real time.
After taking only a few steps, the instrument sounded an alarm.
“Some ores have weak electromagnetic interference,” she said, “which can affect electronic readings.”
“Then let’s sample manually.” Karl took out a shield made of non-conductive material from his bag and put it over the analyzer.
He crouched down, pried off a small piece of ore, and placed it into the container. The instrument restarted, and the data stabilized, showing 62% iron, 28% titanium, and very few impurities.
“This quality…” he looked up, “is even higher than pre-war industrial standards.”
Susan was also collecting plant samples. She discovered that these purple-stemmed plants had particularly well-developed root systems that could penetrate deep into rock crevices to absorb minerals. The leaves had a waxy film on their surface to prevent water loss.
"It has obvious radiation resistance characteristics," she said. "If it can be successfully cultivated, it will be an ideal food crop for disaster relief."
"A double harvest!" Chen Hao stuffed a bunch of ore blocks into his backpack. "We can even hold a press conference when we get back, and the title will be 'How a fat man changed his fate by walking.'"
"Don't pack it up yet," Nana suddenly said.
She was watching the last footage transmitted back by the drone. At the far end of the screen was an unexplored cave, its entrance half-hidden by rubble, and its interior pitch black.
“There is still space there,” she said. “The detectors show that there are still mineral signals deep inside.”
"Shall we go in and take a look?" Chen Hao asked.
“Not now.” Carl shook his head. “There’s no lighting, no backup power. What if the structure inside is unstable and collapses, we won’t be able to get out.”
"Let's make a mark." Susan took a glow stick from her toolbox and stuck it next to a rock at the entrance of the valley. "It'll be easier to find next time we come."
"What's your name?" Chen Hao took out a marker and drew a smiley face on the stone. "We can't keep calling it 'that lousy mountain valley with food,' can we?"
“Hope Valley,” Nana said.
Everyone fell silent for a moment.
“Okay.” Chen Hao wrote three words on the stone: Hope Valley.
Then he added: Chen Hao was here.
"Are you a primary school student?" Susan laughed.
“I am the founder.” He patted his backpack. “This doesn’t contain stones, it contains the future.”
They continued collecting samples and creating a temporary file. Nana uploaded all the data to her portable terminal, generating the first resource assessment report. Carl checked the safety of the surrounding environment, confirming there were no signs of activity or potential hazards. Susan sorted the plant samples and labeled them. Chen Hao was responsible for counting the ore, and while doing so, he secretly slipped a piece of ore shaped like a chicken leg into his pocket.
"What?" Susan saw it.
"I'll keep this as a souvenir," he said. "I'll put it on my desk to remind myself that I'm not useless."
The sun was setting in the west, its rays slanting into the valley, making the surface of the ore shimmer with a silvery light. The four people sat on the rocky platform, drinking water and resting.
"Today's harvest exceeded expectations," Nana said. "The value of the resources for development has been confirmed, and the conditions for sustainable mining have been initially established."
"Can we start work as soon as we get back?" Chen Hao asked.
“We need to prepare equipment, transportation, and protective measures,” Carl said. “It will take at least two weeks to prepare.”
"Then let's start tomorrow."
"Didn't you say you wanted to do extra training?"
"Train first, then do it."
Susan smiled and shook her head, "You two finally thought of the same thing."
Nana opened the navigation system and planned her return route.
"The signal is stable," she said. "We expect to return to base in five hours."
Chen Hao looked up at the sky. There were few clouds, and he could see the stars beginning to appear.
He touched the ore in his backpack and then looked at the three people beside him.
No one spoke.
But they both knew that something was different.
He put the empty water bottle on the ground.
In the distance, a startled small animal darted out from a crevice in the rocks and knocked over a glow stick in the corner.
The light went out.
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