Su Wei took his phone out of his pocket with one hand, ready to check the route on the satellite map.
The moment the screen lit up, a new message notification appeared at the top.
Not Matt.
It's not fulfilled by Amazon.
Next to the sender's name is a small profile picture.
Blonde hair, blue eyes, the person in the photo is wrapped in a thick down jacket, the tip of their nose is red from the cold, but they are smiling.
Emily.
Su Wei's thumb hovered above the screen for half a second.
He opened the message.
A white speech bubble popped up, with a line of text marked with an exclamation mark.
"I heard you're building Noah's Ark on Kodiak Island. Do you need a free animal behavior consultant?"
The second message follows immediately below the bubble.
An emoji.
A chubby cartoon polar bear is holding up a sign that reads "Working people, please take us in."
Su Wei's thumb hovered above the input box. The Raptor pickup truck was traveling at forty kilometers per hour through an icy downhill bend, and the vehicle skidded slightly to the side.
He placed his phone face down on the passenger seat and returned his hands to the steering wheel.
Outside the windshield, the greyish-white skyline is being covered by a faint layer of orange-red. The brief winter sunrise on Kodiak Island is about to begin.
The light from the phone screen shone on the black center console; Emily's chat window was still open.
The cartoon polar bear held up a cardboard sign and waited there quietly.
Chapter 191 Primitive Swamp, Top Niche
The screen's light illuminated the dimly lit carriage.
The polar bear emoji holding a cardboard sign stopped at the bottom of the chat box.
Su Wei's finger hovered above the virtual keyboard.
He smiled slightly, knowing that Emily had probably heard about his situation through Aruk.
He quickly typed three words.
"I'd be happy to."
Click send.
He placed his phone face down on the leather passenger seat and ignored it.
The pickup truck bumped along the gravel road.
The road conditions are extremely poor; it will take him four hours to drive here.
The Raptor's engines roared on and on.
Four hours later.
The Raptor landed on the south side of the Pilan Creek estuary, at the edge of the black sand beach.
Su Wei pushed open the car door, and the cold wind, mixed with the salty smell of the sea, rushed into his collar.
He pressed the record button on the GoPro on his chest, and the red indicator light started flashing.
"First stop, black sand beach. Let's get some materials for the foundation skeleton."
He pulled an entrenching tool and two heavy woven bags from the back of the truck bed.
I strode quickly toward the dark gray mudflats.
[ Substrate Analysis LV1] is enabled.
His gaze pierced through the surface snow and the tattered seaweed.
The various data points then began to scroll rapidly along the edge of the retina.
Porosity, mineral composition, and salt residue.
Su Wei simply ignored the dead rocks that were not sufficiently weathered.
The pores of these stones were long blocked, making them unsuitable as a breeding ground for nitrifying bacteria.
He stopped in front of a strip of basaltic volcanic rock debris that had been eroded by the sea over a long period of time.
The entrenching tool cuts diagonally into the mudflats, its blade scraping against the rocks with a screeching sound.
With a flick of the wrist, a shovel full of dark gray porous rock was dug out.
The demand for 200 pounds was met with a rapid loss of energy in the extreme cold.
He mechanically repeated the digging motions.
Half an hour later, the two woven bags, each weighing one hundred pounds, were tied up tightly.
He grabbed the handle of the woven bag and dragged it back to the pickup truck step by step.
Grasp the bottom of the bag with both hands, your upper arm muscles bulging.
"Bang."
The first bag hit the back of the truck, causing the pickup truck to sag.
Then came the second bag.
After several more trips, a total of eight bags were collected.
Su Wei then stopped, panting heavily.
He brushed the black grime off his leather gloves and gave a brief statement to the camera.
"Physical drainage materials for the marine area and woodland subsoil have been collected."
Get in the car and start the engine.
He opened the inner pocket of his work clothes and pulled out a piece of white paper covered with coordinates.
His gaze then swept over the second set of data.
The Pillar Mountain are the real core challenge.
The pickup truck turned around and drove north for three kilometers along the tracks it had come from, then turned sharply and cut onto an undeveloped forest road heading east.
Road conditions deteriorated rapidly.
There were no compacted tire tracks, and the snow layer was extremely thick.
The wheels rolled over the bare branches hidden under the snow, producing dull cracking sounds from time to time.
The perception effect of [ Mechanical Repair LV2] is activated.
Su Wei judged the road conditions beneath the chassis by the subtle vibrations transmitted through the steering wheel.
Shoot left all the way, avoiding a hidden rock.
Apply the brakes lightly and cross a half-meter-wide crack in the frozen soil.
The pickup truck could only move forward slowly.
Two hours later, the spruce forest ahead became even denser.
The distance between the tree trunks has narrowed to less than two meters, leaving the Raptor's large body with no room to maneuver.
Su Wei stepped on the brake, pulled the handbrake, and turned off the engine.
He got out of the car, pulled out a military green waterproof pannier from the back seat, and slung it over his shoulder.
He strapped the KA-BAR 1217 secondary knife to his left thigh and checked the Ruger Super Redhawk missile pod on his chest again.
Ahead lies a three-kilometer hiking trail through an undeveloped, pristine landscape.
He stepped out and sank into the knee-deep snow.
Beneath the snow layer lay rotten fallen logs and hidden pits.
With each step he took, he needed to expend more effort to pull out his snow boots.
A chill crept up my trouser leg.
Breath condenses into white mist in the air.
[ Gathering Module LV2] Cut out.
A pale green scanning wave emanated from him and spread outwards for thirty meters.
He actively filtered out the data for ordinary plants.
He only seeks out micro-ecological settlements that meet specific age and pH requirements.
After walking for an hour.
The surrounding trees began to thin out.
The ground was no longer hard frozen soil; when you stepped on your boots, you felt a slight sinking and rebounding sensation.