After acquiring ownership of the "Bird's Nest" base, the first thing Zhang Fan did was to take inventory of all the supplies within the base.
To survive alone on this desolate planet, the "Bird's Nest" was his only means of support.
First and foremost, oxygen and water.
The "Bird's Nest" base has two oxygen supply systems. One is a renewable oxygen generation system that produces oxygen through water electrolysis. Theoretically, as long as there is electricity and water, this system can provide the base with an unlimited supply of oxygen. This system relies on solar panels outside the base for power; it is large in size and stationary.
The other system is a portable oxygen generator that produces oxygen through the chemical reaction of perchlorate. However, perchlorate is a consumable; it is depleted as it is used up and cannot be regenerated.
Water and oxygen are equally important.
Inside the "Bird's Nest," water and oxygen are produced in a cycle. The oxygen production system generates oxygen by electrolyzing water, while the freshwater system produces freshwater using hydrogen and carbon dioxide.
At the same time, all wastewater within the base will be recycled, including breathed water vapor, excreted urine and feces.
Zhang Fan took a sip of water, some of which was mixed with the excrement he had passed 10 minutes earlier, a thought that made him feel nauseous. However, some of it was also from Professor Su's excrement from a month ago, which, after several cycles, had ended up in the cup he was holding now.
Thinking about it this way, it's not entirely unacceptable, as long as you don't think that other astronauts have been to the base.
This is easy to understand; the cost of extracting fresh water from this waste is far lower than the cost of transporting fresh water from Earth to Mars.
Earth itself is a large water cycle system. Theoretically speaking, every water molecule that humans drink has been mixed with the excrement of another 6 billion people.
Thinking about it this way, the water on Mars is actually quite clean.
Zhang Fan consumes about 3.7 liters of water per day, and by collecting wastewater, he can regenerate about 3.4 liters of water, meaning he consumes about 0.3 liters of water per day. The original freshwater reserves of the "Bird's Nest" base are 20 tons, enough for him to use for 100 years as long as he doesn't do anything reckless.
There's no need to worry about electricity either; as long as the equipment isn't broken, solar power provides an unlimited supply of electricity.
Next, we'll take inventory of the food.
The "Bird's Nest" is fed by 10 production modules at the base, which you can think of as greenhouses on Earth. The production modules grow various crops, including grains, vegetables, and fruits, using hydroponics.
The robotic arm inside the cabin will handle all field management tasks, harvesting mature crops and transporting them to the automated restaurant via an internal conveyor belt. The automated restaurant will process the ingredients, deliver the food to the astronauts' tables, and freeze any excess food.
To enrich the food supply, the crops in the production cabin are changed every season. Here, "season" differs from that on Earth; on Mars, a "season" lasts for one month. Utilizing the unique conditions of Mars, scientists have already overcome the safety issues of genetically modified crops, compressing the ripening time of genetically modified crops cultivated on Mars to once a month.
Based on the output of 10 production modules, there is more than enough to supply 10 astronauts, so Zhang Fan has no need to worry about food at all.
For the past month, the automated restaurant's cold storage has been full of ingredients and there's simply no more room. To speed up the consumption cycle, the system now provides Zhang Fan with food in portions for 10 people each meal.
What can we do? We can only eat whatever we can find.
One person consumes too little fresh water, while the fresh water system produces too much water every day. The water purification tank is already full, and it will burst if it is filled any more.
What can we do? We can only use it blindly.
Zhang Fan now brushes his teeth in the bathtub, eats one bite of steak and throws it away, and lives in the "Bird's Nest"—which is practically a detached villa, right? In short, he's living the most affluent life he's ever had.
Damn it!
All I do every day is eat and sleep, sleep and eat. If this continues, I'm really going to become a total couch potato.
After eating his fill, Zhang Fan returned to his living quarters, lay down on his bed, and went to sleep. This kind of life was just too boring.
Zhang Fan was half-asleep, his mind racing through his entire life. From his earliest memories to elementary school, middle school, and university, joining Shenyu Company felt like a dream. Traveling 60 million kilometers from Earth to this godforsaken place, after the other ten astronauts left, he felt like a child abandoned in the wilderness—weak, lonely, pitiful, helpless, and utterly maddening…
Zhang Fan suspected that this was a conspiracy by Shenyu Company, and that no one could possibly return alive to get the 3 million.
The "Bird's Nest" base stands quietly in the red desert like a silver factory, looking no different from an ordinary oil refinery in the desert of Blue Star.
But this is Mars.
Mars is now just me alone.
Zhang Fan lay in bed, half-asleep, his thoughts drifting further and further away...
Bilibili——
Zhang Fan instantly sobered up, feeling a chill rise from his back.
Why?
Why is this sound coming from here?
Why is there an incorrect password notification sound outside my room?
Bilibili——
Zhang Fan pulled the blanket over his head, curled up inside, and broke out in a cold sweat.
who?
Who is it?
Who's outside my room?
Something was entering a password on his cabin door. Zhang Fan wasn't sure if it was a "person," but he was certain that something or some creature was working on his cabin door's combination lock.
Bilibili——
Who exactly is it?
The 10 astronauts who landed on Mars with him have already left in the Firebird spacecraft, so there can't possibly be anyone else in the Bird's Nest base.
Even if there were other astronauts, he had been living at the "Bird's Nest" base for more than a month. It was impossible for them not to eat for a month, and it was impossible for him not to have met them.
That means it wasn't any other astronaut.
Could it be aliens?
Holy crap, are there really aliens?
What should I do? Should I greet the other person?
Nice to meet you? Howdoyoudo?
Will I be kidnapped and used for research? As the last human being, my research value should be significant, right?
I'm going to die. I hope I won't be vivisectioned.
Will they force me and my female alien to have offspring?
While it's true that being single for too long makes even pigs look pretty, the aliens described in science magazines all look so ugly, I don't want to...
Click!
"You have entered the wrong password three times. The hatch is locked."
The hatch made the sound of the electronic lock locking, and then it fell silent.
Listen carefully, but there was no sound outside for a long time.
Zhang Fan felt a little safer; it probably wasn't aliens. If aliens couldn't even open a combination lock, that would be incredibly pathetic, wouldn't it?
Could it be Professor Su? This is the last other human Zhang Fan has ever seen in the solar system, but Professor Su is on "Firebird," and "Firebird" is gone.
That could only mean that Professor Su died and then returned as a vengeful ghost to haunt him...
Seriously? Do ghosts really exist? But thinking about it, I used to flirt with her a lot. She must hold a deep grudge against me, a terrible student. It's normal for her to come back to me.
Zhang Fan had been snuggled in bed for too long and felt a strong urge to urinate, but he was too afraid to get up. He thought of many urban legends—Hanako in the toilet, Sadako on TV—and felt that if he opened his eyes, Professor Su would be standing by his bed in a white coat, his long tongue lolling out…
I'm going to die! ...
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