Chapter 83
Su Jing stood in front of the heating boiler control panel in the living room, her fingertips rapidly swiping across the light blue screen—the "Automatic Heating" module on the panel was flashing a green light indicating it was ready for setup.
She clicked "Coal Addition Timer," adjusted the interval to "once every 2 hours," and checked "Furnace Temperature Linkage": "When the furnace temperature is below 22℃, it will automatically trigger emergency coal addition, prioritizing the coal pile at the entrance. If the coal pile is insufficient, it will link to the space material area to ensure that the indoor temperature is not lower than 20℃."
"The automatic coal feeding robot arm has been calibrated, the pipeline sealing has been checked, and there is no risk of gas leakage."
The patrol robot's robotic arm rested on the metal pipe on the side of the heating furnace, and the screen displayed "Pipe pressure normal, insulation layer intact".
Su Jing bent down to check the automatic closing device of the furnace door. Her fingertips touched the slightly cool metal latch, and after confirming that the latch could automatically lock after adding coal, she straightened up and turned to the main control panel next to her.
Next, she turned off unnecessary equipment: she clicked "Standby for Household Robots", and the screens of "Kitchen 1" and "Kitchen 2" instantly went dark. The robotic arms retracted and quietly leaned against the corner of the kitchen wall. "Turn off unnecessary power supply to solar panels", and the solar panel icon on the panel changed from green to yellow, leaving only the basic power monitoring function.
"Backup battery prioritizes monitoring and automatic heating." The backup battery indicator light in the corner changed from "all on" to "two lights always on." The screen displayed "Current backup battery power is 95%, which can support monitoring and automatic heating for 72 hours. The space energy is in standby mode and will automatically switch when the power is low."
Finally, the monitoring was confirmed: the monitor projection screen on the white wall of the living room lit up, and the four images of the entrance to the deep mountain, the moat, the coal pile, and the villa's doors and windows were clear and noise-free. The red indicator light of the infrared alarm was flashing in the image. The system prompted "The monitoring resolution is maintained at 720P. It will automatically capture a picture every 10 minutes. Abnormal dynamics will be pushed to the participant's awareness panel in real time (which can be viewed in the copy)."
Looking at the courtyard in the screen, which appeared normal, Su Jing lightly tapped "Confirm All Settings" on the panel. A message popped up on the screen: "The villa's automatic operation mode has been activated and can run stably for 15 days without human intervention." Only then did she breathe a sigh of relief and turn to walk towards the center of the living room.
As soon as she stood still, the system panel suddenly unfolded before her eyes. The pale blue light membrane had a serious texture, and a bold "Notice for Participating in the Dungeon" popped up. Each word seemed to be engraved on the light membrane, making it particularly eye-catching:
1. This "Alien Mineral World" instance requires participants to enter with their real bodies, not in a consciousness projection mode. Physical damage and energy attacks received within the instance will be simultaneously reflected back to the real body.
2. Death within the instance is considered real-world death; there is no resurrection mechanism. Participants must carefully handle environmental hazards and hostile targets.
3. Participants can bring their personal space into the instance. The rules for accessing resources within the space are the same as in reality. Space functions (such as planting and breeding) will operate in a low-power state, which will not affect the storage and retrieval of resources.
4. The instance lasts for 72 hours. Those who fail to complete the basic tasks or do not voluntarily exit within the time limit will be automatically "eliminated" by the instance, and the consequence of elimination is the same as death.
Su Jing's gaze lingered for two seconds on "entering with a real body" and "death is real death," her fingertips unconsciously rubbing her cuffs—this wasn't her first time entering a dungeon, but the rules of "real body" and "synchronized death" were something she was encountering for the first time.
However, considering that alien minerals could power cyber devices and enhance cultivation tools, and that they would provide stronger self-protection capabilities in the extreme cold of the apocalypse, she had no hesitation, only a calm and prepared mind.
"Personal space has been adapted for dungeons. The resource area, planting area, and breeding area have all been switched to low power mode, with only basic temperature and humidity control remaining. These can be activated through consciousness after entering the dungeon."
The system's synchronized notification sounded, and Su Jing focused her mind. She could clearly sense that the spiritual herbs, vegetables, and livestock in the space were all in a stable state, as if they had been put on "pause," maintaining only basic life activities and not consuming extra energy.
She took a deep breath, her chest filling with the warm air of the villa, carrying a faint scent of coal and the refreshing aroma of spiritual herbs. She raised her hand and clicked "Confirm Entry to Instance" on the panel. The pale blue light instantly dissipated, replaced by a soft white light—not as dazzling as ordinary light, but rather carrying a warm, enveloping feeling, gently enveloping her body. It was weightless, yet she could clearly feel her body slightly floating, as if being lifted by an airflow. The heaviness she felt in the villa gradually disappeared, and even her breathing became light.
She was enveloped in white light, and the surrounding scenery began to blur—the living room heater, the surveillance projector, and the robot's figure gradually faded into tiny specks of light. The sounds of wind and snow and the "whooshing" of the heater also gradually faded away, leaving only a low-frequency sound like a "hum," as if it were a resonance during a spatial transformation.
Su Jing closed her eyes, not nervous, but silently sensing the transition. Occasionally, she could still catch fragments of the surveillance footage in her mind: the snow was still falling at the entrance to the deep mountain, the ice on the moat was still hard, and everything was operating according to the mode she had set.
After an unknown amount of time, the feeling of being enveloped by the white light gradually weakened, and my body began to feel a real downward pull. The low-frequency sounds around my ears disappeared, replaced by an unfamiliar aura—neither the warmth of the villa nor the cold of the outdoors, but a dry, chilly smell with the scent of metallic rust, like the smell of iron ore that had been exposed to the sun.
She could feel her feet touching the hard ground, not the solid wood flooring in the villa, nor the cement floor in the yard, but a rough, grainy rock surface, slightly warm, as if it had absorbed some unknown energy.
Su Jing slowly opened her eyes. The white light had completely dissipated, and the scene before her eyes had changed completely—there was no snow, no ice, only an endless expanse of dark red rocks, stretching from her feet to the distant horizon. The surface of the rocks was covered with irregular cracks, from which faint red light shone, like solidified magma.
The air was thick with a metallic smell, and inhaling it brought a slight burning sensation to the lungs. The distant sky was a deep purple, without the sun, except for a few stars that emitted a pale red glow, hanging in the sky, their light weak but enough to see clearly.
Just as she adjusted to her environment, the system panel popped up again. This time, the light panel had an orange-yellow tint indicating the tasks, clearly displaying the basic tasks and rules:
[Basic task: Obtain 100 kg of hematite crystals within 72 hours. Hematite crystals only exist in rock fissures in hematite veins and must be manually mined or obtained from ore deposit areas.]
Danger warning: There is a 3-meter-tall alien guard inside the mine. The guard has no sight and tracks targets by vibration and metallic smell. Touching it will trigger an attack, which can penetrate ordinary defensive equipment.
Special Reward: Participants who complete the basic tasks and rank in the top 10 will receive "Ore Ability" (the ability to control a single type of ore, with the specific ability type matching the type of ore obtained).
Current number of participants: 500,000; Landed in: Hematite Vein (Area 1); Remaining landing time: 10 minutes.
Su Jing's gaze swept over the mission prompts, and her fingertips gently touched the dark red rock beneath her feet—the rock's warmth emanated from her fingertips, and the red light within the cracks seemed to flicker slightly with her touch.
She didn't act immediately, but first checked the status of her personal space: with a thought, she could sense that the laser gun, backup battery, and healing pills were all in place, and she could even feel the slight fluctuations of the spirit herb leaves in low power mode.
“Alien guardians track by vibrations, so we need to control the force when mining.” Su Jing muttered to herself, bending down to pick up a small rock with a sharp edge—the only “tool” she could find at the moment. Her gaze fell on an area in the distance where the rock fissures were more concentrated, and the red light there was brighter, clearly indicating that the hematite crystals were more concentrated there.
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