The newly collected batteries formed a backup battery bank. Luo Qi hid them behind the server room and connected them to the main computer as well.
Next, he began considering the future. Over time, the wires would deteriorate, the batteries would fail, and the servers would become scrap.
The base needed factories. Not only could they extend his life indefinitely, they could also build warships to venture into the boundless stars and carry Luo Qi all the way to the edge of the universe!
Beep-beep-beep-beep-beep-beep-beep-beep-beep-
A man lay sprawled on the red floor inside the derelict base. The urgent beeping coming from his body made Stendhal open his eyes again. His mind was already foggy. He remembered finishing his hauling last night, then wanting to find a better spot to watch one final sunrise.
Somehow, he had passed out on the floor instead.
All the base's external surveillance equipment had been destroyed, so Luo Qi had not picked up his presence.
The small square box at the back of Stendhal's waist kept beeping, with the red words [Low oxygen] flashing on it.
He pushed himself onto his knees and looked at a new hole in the passage ahead. Then he stood up and slowly shuffled over to it.
When did this appear? Oh, it doesn't matter. I'm about to die anyway.
Bracing himself against the wall, Stendhal looked through the hole and saw a robotic cart moving across the clearing. It was dragging a pile of scrap metal almost as tall as he was, leaving clear tracks in the sand.
The automated robotic cart paid no attention to this human who was not on the list of the dead. It was just a happy scavenger. Its duty was to faithfully execute the supreme intelligence's instructions; anything else was none of its concern.
"I..."
Stendhal raised his hand and slapped his helmet. Fine, he had only wanted to rub his eyes!
Had the base's intelligent system restarted? A final burst of strength surged through Stendhal, and he staggered toward the main base.
While Luo Qi was considering his future course, an unexpected visitor arrived.
Stendhal, the base's mechanical maintenance technician.
He walked with a hand braced against the damaged wall, looking utterly drained. Beneath his transparent visor was a pale, haggard face. His dry, cracked lips and exhausted expression made it clear he had not been doing well.
The alternating red and yellow of his protective suit stood out.
Above the inactive screen, the silent camera's indicator light glowed as it tracked his every move.
Stendhal stared blankly at the crates in the hall for a moment, then lunged at one like a rabid dog.
Quick-change oxygen canisters! Stendhal had thought he really was going to die. Oxygen deprivation had already clouded his mind!
Faced with this lifeline, it was as though his aches and pains had been imaginary, his weakness nothing more than a lack of will.
"When humans see hope, they can always unleash limitless potential." Luo Qi fell silent.
He summoned a robotic cart, which slowly entered the hall and crept closer with as little noise as possible.
Stendhal's hands and feet began trembling. He lifted the lid of the silver-white crate, revealing eighteen silver-white metal canisters nestled in black protective foam, each resembling a 500-milliliter drink bottle.
Battling death, Stendhal quickly opened the little box at the back of his waist, exposing the air-exchange compartment with its flashing red light.
His frantic burst of activity had exhausted his last breath of oxygen. His vision was already darkening, and as he grabbed a canister, his body reached its limit.
"Quick... quick... quick..." Amid his unconscious murmuring, the world before Stendhal went completely black. Endless darkness enveloped his consciousness.
I don't want to sleep yet... I don't want to die yet... why can't I have a little more time...
His body slumped limply over the crate, and the oxygen canister in his hand fell onto the sand with a clunk.
Watching this unfold, Luo Qi drove the robotic cart forward. Its four fingers deftly picked up the canister from the ground and replaced the empty one.
"Hiss-beep!" The red light turned green.
The air-exchange unit began operating, and the fresh oxygen canister breathed new life into Stendhal.
The man lay quietly over the crate. Luo Qi could not help thinking, Life and death are governed by fate; wealth and honor rest with heaven.
The other four robotic carts kept working...
Stendhal had a very long dream. He dreamed of his childhood, then of his wedding. At the wedding, a blurry figure rested both hands on his shoulders and called to him in a very gentle voice.
"Wake up... wake up... Stern..."
Stendhal, who had been lying in the hall, abruptly jerked his upper body upright. Still shaken, he looked around.
"...Mr. Stendhal, you don't appear to be in very good condition. Your protective suit has malfunctioned and is not connected to the network. The positioning device cannot determine your location."
Startled by the voice, Stendhal sat up and looked in every direction, but he could not see another human anywhere.
There was only a newly arrived robotic cart!
Had it saved me? Stendhal leaned against the crate in disbelief.
"Who's there! Is that you, Dad?"
Electrical signals converted his voice into radio waves, which were decoded into data and synthesized into speech again.
Luo Qi's voice was not as mechanical as one might expect. "Yes."
"Is it really you?"
Stendhal spoke with confusion written all over his face. Something was wrong with this voice.
"Internal modules have sustained severe damage. The hall's display interface is temporarily out of service. Numerous programs are offline. Self-correction and restoration are underway-"
So it was affected by the disaster? Stendhal guessed, filling in the explanation himself.
Having gone two days and two nights without food, the man had nothing left but exhaustion. He looked at the motionless robotic cart and remembered his dead colleagues. Thinking of how he was on an alien planet tens of millions of kilometers away from his family, he lowered his head and began crying helplessly.
"...It's all gone... Lanster, Li Hua, Zhang Delan..."
He had used all his strength to gather his colleagues' bodies and arrange them neatly in the clearing outside the base. Their bodies were stiff, their faces contorted. Most still bore the signs of their final struggles.
Luo Qi fell silent. A team of sixteen had traveled to an alien planet and worked together to establish a base on Orange Star.
Through everyday trifles, tears, and laughter, they had lived together for half a year. They were practically like the last human survivors on an alien world.
If I ended up in his situation, I probably wouldn't handle it much better. Luo Qi sighed inwardly and decided to offer some comfort.
"Things are worse than you imagine. We lack water, food, a functioning life-support system, a safe room capable of sustaining life..."
"The base's external transmission system is offline-the communications radar module has been destroyed. Overall damage assessment for the base: scrap."
Stendhal nearly lost his soul when he heard that. With a shudder, he collapsed onto the floor, his sobs trapped in his chest, unable to make a sound. Everything really was that wrecked.
If his body's reflexes had not prevented him from suffocating himself, Stendhal would have stopped breathing and let his soul return home.
"If my system clock is correct, you have not eaten in two days. I recommend finding food and water as soon as possible to replenish your strength, followed by psychological counseling."
I've got to snag myself a human. Free labor!
Stendhal stubbornly got to his feet and asked, "Dad, is there an emergency plan? Can you give me some actual good news?"
He was utterly despondent. "I can't survive here on my own..."
"Supply collection is already underway."
"By dismantling part of the base, we can obtain a protected space ten meters long, six meters wide, and three meters high, suitable for human habitation."
"According to my database, the base has temporary pressure bladders in storage for emergencies involving pressure imbalances."
"The Research Zone's stored supplies include high-quality plant seeds and animal embryos. Most of the base's living supplies are also undamaged."
"The remaining sealed water supplies and vacuum-packed food can sustain one person for eight months."
"There is underground ice at both poles of Orange Star. It can be used to extract oxygen and fuel gas, as well as provide water."
"-The base's current condition meets the requirements of the extraterrestrial land reclamation regulations."
"Supplementary provisions to the orange star development regulations_ top secret-when the Orange Star base encounters a catastrophic crisis and there are no human survivors, or very few."
"The main computer system, code name: [Dad], is authorized to operate and make judgments independently, and may autonomously transform Orange Star. Supplementary provisions to the transformation regulations..."
Luo Qi pulled up half of a top-secret document and made some edits.
Interstellar development, planetary transformation, plant cultivation, atmospheric reconstruction...
He painted an impossibly grand promise for Stendhal.
Sure enough, hearing that grand promise left Stendhal dazed. Suicide and despair were completely driven from his mind.
He could not help thinking, No wonder the Alliance went to such lengths to send this ten-ton supercomputer to Orange Star.
"And all those seeds and embryos-everything... those scientists who died actually knew all along that humanity was starting to transform Orange Star."
This vast planetary transformation was the interstellar future of Water Blue Star's six billion people.
Luo Qi looked at his heavily doctored document. But who could expose him?
The actual planetary transformation plan was to wait for follow-up long-range support from Water Blue Star to arrive. Once sufficient construction and production capacity had been established, the intelligent system could work with humans to transform Orange Star.
The crucial part was establishing construction and production capacity! Otherwise, transforming a planet with one man and five robotic carts was pure wishful thinking! This wasn't a novel.
"Engineer Stendhal, are you willing to sign the orange star transformation plan?"
"If you decline to sign the planetary development treaty, I will build a spacecraft within one year and send you back to Water Blue Star. During that time, you will only need to assist with construction."
"One year? Send me back to Water Blue Star? Dad, have you lost it, or have I?" Stendhal was stunned. "What do you think we still have left?"
You're seriously underestimating the rise of Intelligent Machines. Luo Qi said nothing. This so-called treaty was merely something he had devised to comfort the man...
Before you continue