Black Blood

Su Ming kept his word. Early the next morning, he brought the convoy to the forward camp.

The wind had yet to pick up. The wheels rolled over the ground with a faint rasp, crushing the sand and gravel until they glinted.

The trucks carried a complete small-scale well-drilling system.

Besides the main unit, there was supporting equipment, drill pipe, and assorted accessories. Once everything had been unloaded, it made an impressive pile in the open space.

Brimming with curiosity, Qiluo hurried over at once and demanded to watch the whole process.

"All right, then. First, help carry the survey equipment."

With that, Su Ming picked up the GPR ground-penetrating radar, the high-density resistivity meter, and a bag of electrode stakes, and started hanging them on the unicorn.

With a poof, she transformed into her little-girl form.

"No way!"

"Then you don't get to watch," Su Ming threatened.

Qiluo puffed out her cheeks, but ultimately gave in.

"Hmph, fine, I'll carry it!"

She was loaded down with equipment, and Su Ming piled the cables on top, turning her into a walking Christmas tree.

"You-actually-made me-carry cargo!" Qiluo jabbed Su Ming with her horn as she walked. "Bastard!"

But Su Ming didn't go far. He only went to the other side of the camp, to an open area where no facilities had been built yet.

He lifted the GPR main unit out of its case and switched it on to set it up.

It wasn't complicated to use. He simply dragged the radar antenna steadily across the sand, and cross-sectional data appeared on the screen.

The patterns of the shallow windblown sand, the gravel lenses buried not far below, and the reflection boundaries of the transition zone at the fan's edge formed overlapping layers on the display, like the earth's skin