Courtyard House: Primordial Chaos Pearl

The moment the Starship-1 left Earth's gravitational well, Lin Xiangyang lingered by the porthole for a long time.

It's not a porthole—it's an "observation screen." The actual porthole is only opened in emergencies; normally, to protect against radiation, all external views are captured by a high dynamic range camera before being displayed. On the screen, the Earth slowly shrinks from a blue disk into a point of light, like a glass bead casually placed on black velvet.

"Stop daydreaming, Commander-in-Chief." Yan Jiecheng's voice came through the communicator, with a hint of deliberate relaxation. "Has the Lighthouse V3.0 self-check completed? We're about to enter the edge of the asteroid belt, where the density of micrometeorites will increase by an order of magnitude."

Lin Xiangyang immediately sat back down at his workstation, his fingers flying across the keyboard. The interface of the Lighthouse Autonomous System opened, and the red "Risk Index" curve steadily climbed, but remained within the safe threshold.

"Self-check complete," he replied, then added, "I've changed the micrometeorite avoidance strategy from 'passive protection' to 'active avoidance + localized reinforcement.' The starship will prioritize avoiding high-density dust streams, while simultaneously pressurizing the nano-repair gel in vulnerable areas of the outer shell to 80%."

He Yushui checked the crop status inside the ecological cabin. The Starship-1 ecological cabin wasn't large, but it was fully equipped: improved interstellar rice, salt-tolerant forage grass, a miniature vegetable cultivation rack, and a miniature protein synthesis device. She looked at the CO₂ concentration curve, her brow furrowing almost imperceptibly: "Xiangyang, the CO₂ absorption rate in the ecological cabin is 2% lower than the model. It might be due to the microgravity affecting the bacterial activity. Try raising the temperature control by 0.5°C on your end."

"Received." Lin Xiangyang immediately adjusted the parameters.

Lin Dong did not participate in the specific operations. He sat in the captain's seat, mostly acting as an "observer"—observing every attitude adjustment, every energy allocation, and every system self-consistency of the starship. The power of the Chaos Pearl gave him a deductive advantage, but he understood even more clearly: what truly allows humanity to go far is a system, standards, and a well-trained team, not a person's "flash of inspiration."

The Starship-1 is powered by a miniature nuclear fusion reactor, with an output as stable as a heartbeat. The navigation system integrates the deep space version of Beidou with interstellar coordinates derived from Chaos Beads, and the flight path is divided into countless "controllable arcs," each with a backup plan.

On the twenty-seventh day after departure, the starship entered the edge of the asteroid belt.

On the observation screen, tiny bright spots began to appear on the previously empty black background, as if someone had scattered a handful of sand into space. Those weren't stars, but rocks—asteroid fragments ranging in size from centimeters to tens of kilometers in diameter.

"Micrometeorite warning." The system notification sounded. "Density: Medium. Estimated encounter window: 12 minutes."

Yan Jiecheng stared at the screen: "Xiangyang, execute the evasion plan."

Lin Xiangyang pressed the confirmation button. The Starship-1's attitude fine-tuning engine emitted pale blue flames, and its trajectory shifted slightly, like an arrow that had been gently deflected. At the same time, the nano-repair gel on the outer shell was pressurized to a predetermined value, ready to "stop the bleeding" like skin.

Twelve minutes later, the dust storm swept by.

On the observation screen, tiny bright spots streaked across the side like a silent rain. Slight vibrations emanated from the starship's hull; the sensors recorded multiple minute impacts, but none penetrated.

"The outer shell is intact," the technician reported. "The local repair gel has automatically filled the two micro-cracks."

Yan Jiecheng breathed a sigh of relief: "This wave is over."

Lin Dong looked at the system logs and felt a little uneasy: "The dust flow density just now was higher than predicted. This means that the local dynamics of the asteroid belt are more complex than our model. Xiang Yang, launch the 'Dynamic Density Prediction' module ahead of schedule."

Lin Xiangyang nodded: "I will immediately access the offline learning library from the lighthouse and retrain the model using the observation data from the past 27 days."

In the days that followed, the Starship navigated like a fish swimming through a sea of ​​rocks, constantly dodging dust storms, correcting its course, and replenishing its energy. The waste heat from the nuclear fusion reactor was recovered for temperature control in the eco-cabin, the water recycling system treated domestic wastewater into potable pure water, and even the air inside the cabin circulated in a closed loop.

Ninety days after departure, Asteroid finally appeared on the observation screen.

It is not as dark and broken as Bennu, but more like a quiet gray planet with obvious bright spots on its surface—those bright spots are light reflected from water ice.

"Target: Asteroid. Distance: 100 million kilometers." The navigator reported the data, his voice unconsciously softening. "Relative speed: stable. Preparing to enter flyby mapping phase."

Lin Dong stood up and walked to the observation screen. The bright spots on Asteroid Apocalypse stared at them like eyes, as if silently asking: What are you doing here?

He recalled the nights in the courtyard house, and the moment he first used the Chaos Pearl to deduce agricultural machinery. Back then, all he wanted was to survive. Now, he carries a ship full of technology, systems, and hope, and asks the universe: Can we grow crops here too?

"Begin the fly-around survey," Yan Jiecheng ordered.

Starship-1 entered orbit, and its mapping radar swept across the surface of Asteroid like a fine net. Data was continuously transmitted back: topography, gravity anomalies, ice reserves, mineral distribution... Among them, the most crucial data was the purity and burial depth of the water ice.

"The water ice reserves far exceed expectations." The radar operator's voice was filled with excitement. "In some areas, the purity is as high as 90%, and the burial depth is less than 50 meters!"

He Yushui's eyes lit up: "This means we can quickly establish supply stations, and even carry out water splitting and fuel replenishment directly on Gushen Star."

Lin Xiangyang, however, was not blinded by excitement. He stared at the gravity anomaly map and pointed to a noticeable depression: "The gravity anomaly here is very strange, like there's a cavity underground. It could be a cave formed by the collapse of an ice volcano, or it could be... a more complex geological structure. If we choose to land here, the risk is very high."

Yan Jiecheng frowned: "Then where do you suggest for the landing site?"

Lin Xiangyang pulled up multiple sets of overlaid data maps: "Choose a flat area near the bright spot. It has high ice reserves, stable terrain, and is far from gravity anomaly zones. The downside is that it's a bit far from potential mineral veins, but we can use the Starship's mining arm for remote operations."

Lin Dong felt reassured after reading his son's analysis. He didn't make a decision immediately but instead gave the team the choice: "Xiangyang's plan is reasonable. Everyone, please vote."

The voting results were unanimous: the landing site was selected in the flat area near the bright spot, designated "L-Zone A".

Over the next three days, Starship-1 prepared for landing: deploying the landing module, unfolding the anchoring device, and testing Red Star-130's gripping ability under the low gravity of Asteroid. Asteroid's gravity is slightly greater than Bennu's, but still much less than Earth's, requiring more precise force control for the mechanical gripper to grip.

"Landing countdown: 60 minutes."

"Ecological cabin seal check: normal."

"Resource processing compartment preheating: Normal."

"Lighthouse System: Standby."

Lin Xiangyang conducted a final check of the emergency module of Lighthouse V3.0. He reconfirmed the response priorities for the four scenarios of "solar storm," "micrometeorite," "communication interruption," and "cabin leakage" to ensure that the system would prioritize saving people even in the most extreme circumstances.

"Dad," he suddenly spoke, "if there really are caves on Planet Gushen, should we build the supply station underground? The radiation on the surface is too strong; it's safer underground."

Lin Dong looked at him, his eyes shining: "This is a great idea. We can use drilling robots to explore the cave first, and after confirming that the structure is stable, we can build the 'underground ecological cabin'."

Hearing this from the side, Yan Jiecheng immediately made the decision: "It's settled then. Phase one of the Gushen Star Supply Station: surface mining + underground ecology."

The landing countdown has entered its final ten minutes.

On the observation screen, the bright spots of Asteroid Osiris drew closer, like beams of white flame burning on the gray surface. The Starship-1's engines spewed pale blue flames, maintaining a stable attitude and precise heading.

「10、9、8、7、6、5、4、3、2、1—— 着陆点火！」

The buffer engines started, and the landing capsule slowly descended. Red Star-130 followed closely behind, its mechanical claws gripping the surface debris, and its anchoring device deployed, piercing the soil of Asteroid like a steel needle.

"Landing successful!" "Anchoring successful!" "Lighthouse beacon established!"

On the observation screen, the surface of Asteroids bore the first human imprint: a silver modular cabin, a red star emblem, and a mining arm that was being deployed.

Lin Dong gazed at the splash of red and suddenly recalled the slogan on the courtyard wall: "Labor is the most glorious." Back then, he thought it was just a slogan, but now he understood that labor not only allows people to survive, but also enables them to reach for the stars and the sea.

"Begin mining," Yan Jiecheng ordered.

The mining arm of the Red Star-130 drill rig is aligned with the bright spot area, the drill bit rotates, and ice chips are carried out. The resource processing chamber begins its work: thermal sublimation, condensation, electrolysis, mineral separation... Water is decomposed into hydrogen and oxygen, and metal ions are extracted, ready for 3D printing.

The ecological capsule was carefully lowered into a pre-drilled shallow hole by a robotic arm, ready for future expansion into an underground ecosystem. He Yushui watched the first seedling inside the capsule unfurl its cotyledons under the red LED light and said softly, "We have planted the first seed on a new planet."

Lin Xiangyang didn't speak, but simply exported the Lighthouse system's logs and wrote a new comment:

"The bright spots on Asteroid Enceladus are not reflections of ice, but reflections of humanity's future."

Upon seeing this sentence, Lin Dong suddenly felt very certain.

The journey to Asteroid Saturn has only just begun. The secrets of underground caverns, the dust flows of the asteroid belt, the promotion of Alliance standards, the large-scale expansion of the Mars base... all the challenges lie ahead.

But he knew that as long as the lighthouse remained lit, the red star would continue to shine.