Chen Hao's foot slipped, the sole of his shoe scraped against something hard, and he almost tripped. He looked down, squatted down, and shoveled some sand, revealing a corner of a cold-looking metal edge.
"Oh?" He tapped it lightly with the tip of his hoe. "It's quite sturdy."
Nana slid a few steps closer, her optical eye scanning the area: "There is a large-scale metal structure underground, about 1.8 meters deep, extending beyond the pre-set boundary of the planting area."
"Does that mean... there's an iron box buried underground?"
"More accurately, it's part of the spaceship wreckage. Based on material analysis, it belongs to the bottom protective deck of a previous generation of colonial transport ships."
Chen Hao didn't say a word. He stuck the hoe into the ground, put his hands in his pockets, and tilted his head to look at the patch of black soil that had just been turned over. This morning, he had been here drawing lines with a stick, marking the spacing between the tomato seedlings, and even piled up the supports next to them, just waiting to plant them first thing tomorrow morning. Now, before he could even swing the hoe three times, the foundation had already sentenced him to death.
He bent down and dug a few more times, clearing away more and more sand, until a complete metal plate gradually emerged, its edges bearing burn marks, as if it had been bitten by the atmosphere when it fell from the sky.
"Why did it have to collapse now, not earlier or later, only sprout when I came to work in the fields today?" He dusted off his hands. "Is this because they think I'm too idle, and they want to give me a little psychological disappointment?"
Nana stood beside her, her voice steady: "Geological displacement has a lag effect. Long-term weathering and groundwater infiltration have reduced the load-bearing capacity of the topsoil. Your trampling action was just a triggering factor."
So I'm supposed to take the blame?
"No need. But the original farming plan can no longer be implemented."
Chen Hao straightened up and looked around. He had spent two whole days choosing this sloping land—sheltered from the wind, with plenty of sunshine, not far from a water source, and he had even thought about the location of the drainage ditch. But now, he couldn't even stick a hoe into the ground.
He walked to the edge of the field, picked up the measuring tape leaning against a stone, and unfolded the planting layout diagram drawn with charcoal. The diagram was densely marked with row spacing, plant spacing, and irrigation points, and in the corner was written "First batch harvest target: thirty jin". The handwriting was messy, but the seriousness was unlike his usual style.
He stared at it for a few seconds, then suddenly laughed, folded the drawing, and stuffed it into his pocket.
“Fine,” he said. “If I don’t want to plant, I don’t want to plant. Anyway, I don’t necessarily have to be a farmer.”
Nana didn't reply. She knew he was just putting on a brave face.
The wind blew in from the dunes, carrying a slightly dry, earthy smell. Chen Hao stood for a moment, then turned around, picked up a hoe, and dug hard at the edge of the metal plate. Soil flew everywhere as he dug deeper and deeper until the outline of the entire protective plate was revealed—it was about half the size of a basketball court, like a rusty sheet metal cover, firmly pressed down beneath the arable soil.
"How did this thing fall down back then?" he asked, panting.
"Preliminary findings suggest it was an orbital deviation accident three hundred years ago. The planet was once on a short-term immigration list, but was later abandoned due to failing environmental assessments. The debris was not recovered."
"So we're not living on a desolate planet, but in a garbage dump?"
"Technically, it belongs to the 'undeveloped resource area'."
"Come on, who would believe that kind of talk?" He wiped his sweat and flicked it onto the metal plate. "What I believe now is that not a single hair will grow on this land."
After scanning the latest data, Nana said softly, "I suggest reassessing the site selection. There are still five potential arable areas around the camp."
"Agricultural?" He sneered. "Who knows if there are nuclear reactors or toilet pipes buried beneath those places?"
He sat down on a rock, took off one shoe, and shook off the sand. He twitched his toes, looking utterly resigned.
"I was thinking last night about whether I could make some sauce once the tomatoes are ripe. I was also considering whether to implement a crop rotation system, planting vegetables in spring, beans in autumn, and... well, there's no winter in this godforsaken place."
Nana looked at him quietly.
"Why do people always like to plan for the future? They don't even know where their next meal will come from, yet they worry about the harvest three months from now." He looked up into the distance. "And what happens? They just finished drawing up their plans, and then God flips the table on them."
"This is one of the behavioral characteristics that distinguishes humans from other species."
“Features? I think it’s a problem.”
He stood up and kicked a pebble away. The pebble hit the metal plate with a dull thud and bounced a long distance across the open slope.
Then he suddenly stopped moving.
That voice... sounds familiar.
He walked over, squatted down, and pressed his palm against the surface of the metal plate. It was cool, but not the cold of stone. More like… the feel of a warehouse iron door.
He knocked twice more, listening for the echo.
"Is this... hollow underneath?"
Nana immediately initiated a penetrating scan: "There is a hollow cavity inside, about 2.4 meters high and estimated to be over 20 meters long. The structure is relatively intact, with no obvious signs of collapse."
Chen Hao's eyes lit up for a moment, then dimmed again: "Don't tell me this is an underground warehouse where seeds and fertilizer are stored."
"The possibility is extremely low. It is more likely to be a remnant of the spacecraft's living quarters."
"Sigh." He sighed, "If only it could be converted into a greenhouse. Sealed, insulated, and able to block acid rain... It's a pity we can't dig it up."
"If thermal cutting tools are used, the entrance can be opened within six hours."
“We have the tools, but the problem is—” He pointed to the ground, “Do we really want to settle down in a place like this? There’s a half-destroyed ship on top of us, and we’re standing on a sheet metal shell. We’re afraid of getting an electric shock if the wind blows.”
Nana paused for two seconds: "You just said you didn't want to rely on luck to choose a location anymore."
Chen Hao was taken aback.
"You mean... I should just move in?"
"The logic holds true. There is already a sheltered structure, so there is no need to build a new one; the temperature conditions are better than those in the open air; and it is far from the risk of surface erosion."
"But that's spaceship wreckage! Not a fully furnished apartment!"
"You can think of it as... a field with a roof."
Chen Hao opened his mouth, but no words came out.
He looked down at the metal plate, as if realizing its significance for the first time. This wasn't an obstacle; perhaps it was an opportunity. It just came too suddenly, shattering his original plans and forcing him to take a different path.
He slowly squatted down, placing his palm on the boundary between the sand and the metal.
“I originally wanted to plant something nice.” His voice lowered. “Not to survive, and not for the mission. I just… wanted to see if I could turn a barren land green.”
Nana looked at him, and the data stream in her optical eye slowly rolled.
“The land didn’t reject you,” she said. “It just accepted you in a different way.”
Chen Hao looked up, a smirk playing on his lips: "If you had said that sooner, I would have scolded you less."
"Emotional release helps relieve stress. Your blood pressure is now 12 percentage points lower than it was 10 minutes ago."
"You're monitoring my blood pressure?"
"All vital signs are under monitoring."
"How thoughtful."
He stood up, brushed the dust off his trousers, and took one last look at the neatly marked patch of black earth. The wooden stakes were still there, the ropes were intact, and even the makeshift sunshade was undamaged. Everything was ready; only the sowing was needed.
But now, all of these have become mere decorations.
He walked over, pulled the hoe from the ground, and hoisted it onto his shoulder. The metal plate gleamed a dark red in the setting sun, like a cooled branding iron.
"Let's go somewhere else," he said. "We don't have any other options anyway."
Nana activated the terrain mapping mode and began marking the surrounding usable areas.
Chen Hao took a step forward, glanced back at the piece of wreckage protruding from the ground, and suddenly said, "Wait."
He put down his hoe, took out a marker from his backpack, and wrote several large characters on the nearest wooden stake:
"This place is not suitable for farming."
After he finished writing, he took two steps back, looked at it, and nodded.
"At least next time someone comes, we can avoid taking a detour."
A gust of wind blew, causing the wooden stakes to sway slightly. The shadows of the distant sand dunes stretched longer and longer, covering part of the loosened soil. A small clump of dust accumulated at the edge of the metal plate, like a stamp left quietly by time.
Chen Hao stood still, his gaze sweeping over the abandoned field and landing on the cracked earth further away.
A shallow crack runs across the area, like the earth's gaping mouth.
He lifted his foot and stepped into the rubble at the edge of the crack.
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