As dawn broke, the light filtering through the rock crevices turned from gray to white. Chen Hao opened his eyes, and the first thing he did was reach for his backpack.
He took out the remaining three packages of food: two compressed biscuits and a bag of beef jerky. The packaging was all crushed and deformed. He counted them; they weighed a total of 420 grams.
Nana leaned against the metal frame, her eyes still bright. She didn't move, but said, "You're awake."
"Hmm." Chen Hao sat up, his neck snapping open. "You kept watch all night?"
"The system is running smoothly," she said. "Body temperature, respiration, and heart rate are all within the normal range."
"And what about Susan?"
"Stable. Carl is in deep sleep."
Chen Hao nodded and put the food back in his bag. He looked up outside; the wind had stopped, and the mountain shadows had faded.
“We need to find food,” he said. “We can’t wait until we’re too hungry to move.”
“Agreed.” Nana stood up, dust falling from the shell. “Yesterday’s monitoring showed signs of vegetation growth on the east side, with high humidity, which is suitable for plant development.”
"So there are fruits?" Chen Hao asked.
“It may not be fruit, and it may not be edible,” she said, “but it’s worth checking out.”
"It's better than sitting." He stood up and stretched his legs. "Let's go, while we still have the energy."
The two didn't wake anyone else. Chen Hao left a note under Susan's backpack, which read, "Go check out the east side, be back before noon." The handwriting was crooked, like an earthworm crawling.
The road was difficult to walk on. Last night's rain had turned the ground into mud pits, and you'd sink halfway down with every step. Chen Hao walked ahead, pushing aside fallen branches with his hands. Some vines were tangled around the stones, and pulling on them would make the whole area sway.
"Watch your right side," Nana suddenly said.
Chen Hao stopped immediately. Three steps away from his feet, a section of the ground had collapsed, revealing a dark hole. Water was still dripping from below, making a muffled sound.
"If you step into that, your legs will be ruined," he said.
“The probability is very high.” Nana walked around and scanned the terrain. “I suggest going to the left. The slope is gentle and the load-bearing layer is intact.”
They changed direction. After walking for about forty minutes, the terrain gradually rose. The air also changed; it wasn't so stuffy anymore and carried a faint smell of damp grass.
“There’s a canopy of trees ahead,” Nana pointed ahead. “The density is more than five times higher than the surrounding area; it’s probably a small forest.”
Chen Hao squinted and looked over. Sure enough, a patch of green was hidden behind the slope, its branches and leaves growing very close together.
After walking for another ten minutes, they reached the edge of the woods.
The tree wasn't tall, only about two meters, with thin branches and large leaves. The most eye-catching thing was what hung on the branches—clusters of purplish-red fruits, round and smooth, with a thin sheen on the surface, as if they had just been wet with dew.
"Can this thing be eaten?" Chen Hao squatted down and reached out to pick it.
"Don't touch it." Nana stopped him. "It's an unknown species. Direct contact may trigger allergies or nervous reactions."
"Then go ahead and investigate." Chen Hao withdrew his hand. "Didn't you say you have everything in your head?"
"The database contains 13,700 common edible plants found on Earth and colonies," she said. "This one is not among them."
"So that's alien stuff?" Chen Hao frowned.
“Highly likely.” She took out a scanner and pointed it at the nearest tree. “Let’s do a surface composition analysis first.”
The instrument beeped. Several lines of text appeared on the screen.
“Sugars, vitamin C, and a small amount of protein were detected,” she said. “No known highly toxic substances, such as cyanogenic glycosides or alkaloid toxins, were found.”
"That sounds pretty safe."
“That doesn’t mean it’s safe to eat,” she said. “Some toxins need to be metabolized before they are released, such as in certain mushrooms.”
Chen Hao scratched his head: "Then what should we do? We can't just watch and not eat."
“Follow the procedures,” she said. “The first step is a skin contact test.”
She plucked a leaf, tore it in half, and stuck the cut surface to her metal wrist. Five minutes passed, but the indicator light didn't change color.
“Non-corrosive, no oxidation reaction,” she said. “The second step is the heating and volatilization experiment.”
She dug a small hole in the ground, put a few leaves in it, and lit it with a flint. The flame burned for a while, emitting a little smoke, which smelled like roasted vegetables.
"No irritating gases were produced," she said. "The initial assessment is that the risk is low."
Chen Hao stared at the pile of ashes: "Should we try a bite next?"
“No,” she said. “An oral observation test must be conducted, but the patient must be isolated for more than twelve hours to confirm the absence of gastrointestinal or neurological abnormalities.”
"Then who will try?"
“We’re not going to do it right now,” she said. “We’ll take the samples back to camp and discuss it.”
“But we don’t have any containers.” Chen Hao looked around. “We can’t exactly use our clothes to hold them.”
Nana removed the outer panel of her arm and took out a sealed bag from the inner layer. The bag was transparent, with a faded serial number printed on the corner.
“An emergency sampling kit,” she said. “It was originally intended to hold rock fragments.”
She carefully picked three fruits, put them in a bag, and sealed it. She also scraped off some bark and soil samples, and put them in separate bags.
"You're really well-prepared," Chen Hao said.
“Standard field operation procedures,” she said. “The last mission failed because toxicological screening was not performed.”
"What happened that time?"
"The team member ate the blue berries, started convulsing ten minutes later, and died on the way to the hospital."
Chen Hao swallowed hard: "...Then let's move away from each other now."
They took a few steps back and sat down on a dry rock.
"If this fruit were poisonous, someone would have been poisoned by now if it were so obvious," Chen Hao said, looking at the forest.
“Not necessarily,” Nana said. “Maybe the animals don’t eat it, or maybe it’s only available during certain seasons.”
"Where are the rats? Didn't they say there were rat activity yesterday?"
“The surveillance only captured footprints, not feeding behavior,” she said. “Moreover, rodents are immune to certain toxins.”
Chen Hao sighed: "So I still don't dare to eat it."
“Science is not a gamble,” she said. “We can record the location, bring back the information, and let the team decide whether to collect it.”
“That’s right.” He stood up, patted his pants, and said, “Anyway, I can’t carry a whole grove of fruit back by myself.”
They were about to leave when Chen Hao suddenly stopped.
"Wait a minute," he said, pointing to the tree roots. "What's that?"
Nana walked over and squatted down to look. There was a crack in the soil, with several small pits inside, neatly arranged, as if something had dug them.
She shone her flashlight inside and saw broken leaves and fruit pits at the bottom of the pit.
“These are signs of eating,” she said. “They formed recently, no more than twelve hours ago.”
"So there really is something to eat?" Chen Hao's eyes lit up.
"It's highly likely." She scanned the residue and found no toxin accumulation, indicating that the consumer was not poisoned.
"That's proof of safety?" Chen Hao grinned.
“Indirect evidence,” she said, “but species-specific tolerance cannot be ruled out.”
“I know, I know,” Chen Hao waved his hand. “You just won’t say ‘this is edible’.”
"All I can say is that the risks are manageable, but I suggest further verification."
"Alright then." He stretched. "At least we didn't come for nothing. Let's go back and have them discuss how to harvest."
He took one last look at the orchard. The sunlight shone on the fruit, making them shine a purplish-red, like strings of little lanterns.
"You know..." he suddenly asked, "If this thing really is related to mulberries, would it be sweet?"
Nana glanced at him: "You care a lot about the taste?"
“Of course,” he said. “The life-saving food tastes terrible; every bite is torture. If it were sweet, people would have something to look forward to.”
“Emotional value is also a survival factor,” she said. “Note: The target fruit looks like a berry, suggesting it will taste sweet.”
“That’s right.” Chen Hao smiled. “When we get back, I’ll tell you we’ve found the Hope Fruit.”
“The naming is not in accordance with the guidelines,” she said.
“I don’t care.” He turned and walked back. “Anyway, it sounds better than ‘Unknown Edible Plant A-7’.”
Nana followed. Her right leg made a slight rubbing sound as she walked, a little louder than yesterday.
Chen Hao stopped halfway through the journey.
"Do you still have enough batteries?"
“Thirty-nine percent,” she said. “Low power mode lasts for eight hours.”
“Enough for round trips,” he said. “Once this is over, I’ll find you an outlet to charge it for a while.”
There are no electrical outlets here.
“I know,” he said. “I was talking in my sleep.”
They continued walking. The mud gradually hardened, and their footprints stopped sinking in.
As they approached the campsite, Chen Hao suddenly turned around.
"Do you think... we might be among the first to taste this fruit?"
Nana thought for a moment: "According to geological data, this area only emerged from the ground three years ago; before that, it was covered by glaciers."
"So no one has ever been here?"
"The probability is extremely high."
Chen Hao chuckled: "Then haven't I discovered a new continent?"
"You've just found a wild fruit grove."
“But the first person to discover it should be given a title, right?” he said. “From now on, this fruit will be called ‘Brother Hao’s Fruit’.”
"The right to name a name does not belong to an individual."
"You don't understand." He patted her shoulder. "Isn't the point of living to leave a name behind?"
Nana didn't speak. Her indicator light flashed, as if she were calculating something.
They climbed the last hill, and the camp was now in sight. Susan was still asleep, while Carl rolled over and started snoring.
Chen Hao held up the sealed bag and waved it in the sunlight.
"Look, breakfast is sorted out."
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