Reborn in 2011, I am the chief designer of aerospace.

"This is Sheng Tianhong," the commander's voice came through the radio. "Do you have any reports to make?"

Song Xingye slowed down the car and pressed the communication button.

"The road conditions are pretty good," he replied. "The area is mainly compacted sand, with some scattered rock outcrops and boulders, but you can get around them."

"Received. We're all packed and ready to go. Stay in touch."

Behind them, the Rock Jumper also embarked on this journey.

……

At first, Sergei found the journey very exciting. For the entire morning, the scenery outside the window kept changing, and every kilometer they drove felt like arriving at a brand new planet, filled with endless novelty.

Occasionally, Song Xingye's serious voice would come through the radio as he earnestly reported the landmarks ahead, while Mira rarely spoke.

The six-wheel suspension system ensured the Rock Jumper's stable posture, and as it traversed the Martian landscape, it resembled a ship sailing against the wind and waves rather than a wheeled vehicle.

However, this feeling of being lost made Sergei somewhat uneasy. He felt that something was wrong. He was supposed to be heading north, but his intuition told him that he was heading south.

Every time he glanced at the inertial navigation readings on the control panel, he couldn't help but exclaim, "Something's wrong! We're going the wrong way!"

But when he looks up at the sun, he suddenly realizes, "No, the direction was right before."

Immediately afterwards, the entire planet seemed to rotate 180 degrees around him, and his sense of direction became confused until his brain readjusted its orientation.

Mars completely disrupted his intuition.

The cockpit of the "Rock Jumper" was originally designed for only two seats, but now three people have been crammed in, making the space extremely cramped. They are squeezed together like sardines in a can, and if Sergei moves even slightly, his elbow will bump into the person next to him.

Staring at the surface of Mars for a long time can create a hypnotic illusion, where all the sights appear the same: brownish-yellow rock ridges slowly descend to form low walls, then disappear into the sand, only to be replaced by another identical rock ridge.

As they approached a certain rock ridge, they saw that its surface had been polished smooth as a mirror by thousands of years of wind and sand, and had even turned into a soft sand dune.

The sky, however, resembled a bronze slab struck by a giant hammer, appearing extremely somber.

"That rock looks like a bear," he murmured.

No one paid him any attention. It was a huge rock, about the size of a spaceship, half-buried in the sand, with a rough surface and an almost black shape. Could it be a piece of lava rock that was smashed down during the eruption of some ancient supervolcano?

Sergei felt a pang of regret. He should have consulted the geologists more during his training on Earth. Back when they went on a field expedition to El Paso, the experts had enthusiastically explained the differences in rock morphology and texture to them, speaking fluently and knowledgeably. But he had long forgotten all of that knowledge.

However, the rock did indeed resemble a bear, with its head down and its back facing them.

Sergei hummed a song softly, afraid of attracting the attention of his companions. Because the space inside the cabin was too small, he couldn't even stomp his feet to keep the beat. He could only curl his toes in his shoes and tap them lightly to the rhythm in his mind.

The sound of wheels rolling over Martian rocks intertwined into a rhythmic percussion, while the bass and drums of the band "Negative Ions" played in harmony with it in his mind:

Even if the voyage has no end, even if the gale blocks our way home, our road continues to extend forward, and we must keep moving forward.

……

Meanwhile, Mira was driving her off-road vehicle at top speed across the wasteland. She paid almost no attention to the scenery around her, and she had switched the communication channel to "emergency mode," where only the highest priority calls would trigger an alert sound.

She needs some peace and quiet to sort out her thoughts.

Country A's Mars exploration mission never expected to bring back any samples from the beginning. Perhaps in the initial planning stages of the project, sample retrieval was indeed a possibility.

However, by the time "Pirate 3" actually started construction, Country A was already mired in debt and even its emergency reserves were stretched thin. The essence of this spaceship was nothing more than a public relations show to gloss over the fact that this bankrupt country still had a strong scientific research foundation, in order to fool investors in wealthy regions.

As for Song Xingye's boastful plan to "bring back 200 kilograms of rock samples," it was a complete fabrication of lies.

The original design purpose of this spaceship from Country A was not to transport even a kilogram more rock. One night, Yuri patiently explained to her that any slight overload would prevent the spaceship from entering the return trajectory.

She remained silent about it. Since Song Xingye didn't mention it to any of the crew members, and even kept the crucial matter of "the current plan can only save two people at most" to himself, why should she break the silence?

Song Xingye's deliberate concealment was more terrifying to her than the desolate planet itself, meaning that he knew better than anyone else that they were in a hopeless situation with no chance of survival.

In his view, sacrificing some crew members was better than losing the entire crew; he was just afraid that things would completely spiral out of control once everyone found out.

At this moment, she was more certain than ever that the shadow of death had completely enveloped them.

Could Song Xingye really be unaware of this? The true specifications of "Pirate No. 3" are classified and have not been made public, but how could he be so naive as to believe that a spaceship originally designed for two people could be crammed with five? That's simply a fantasy.

Mira turned her head and took a sip of water from the nozzle of the drinking tube. These spacesuits were not designed for long-term wear, and before taking off her helmet, this bland electrolyte drink in the tube was her only source of nutrition.

She secretly warned herself not to overindulge in alcohol and to be frugal until the end, but the more she thought about it, the stronger her thirst became.

Following another, more sinister line of reasoning, assuming that Song Xingye already knew that only two people could return to Earth alive, what reason would he have to conceal it?

It was obvious that he had already decided that he was one of those two.

Even though this was a well-supplied and meticulously planned polar expedition, successfully crossing the Martian surface was an incredible feat, and the teamwork of the five members was an indispensable asset in reaching the destination.

Once they arrive at the Arctic launch site, three out of the five people must be "convinced" to stay on Mars and wait to die. The most effective way to "convince" them once and for all is to ensure that three of them are already dead before they arrive.

She knew all too well what it felt like to kill in order to survive. When truly pushed to the brink of life and death, anyone would instinctively learn to lie and kill.

No matter how you look at it, Song Xingye is now a potential murderer in her eyes.

……

Han Jing, however, felt unusually excited.

The desire to explore the unknown is practically an incurable disease. Although Han Jing contracted this "disease" later than most of his peers, he was still terminally ill.

Being able to travel across the Martian desert in the "Rock Jumper" was the ultimate realization of his wildest fantasy, and everything around him made his blood boil.

The eerie colors in the shadows, the rusty red of the weathered sand, and the bizarre textures of every rock all constantly proclaimed to him that this was definitely not Earth. Every kilometer the wheels rolled forward unfolded a picture he had never seen before.

After driving for two hours, Sheng Tianhong signaled to stop and rest so that everyone could stretch their muscles. Being crammed into that small pressurized cabin, which was originally designed for two people, for so long was indeed quite suffocating.

Everyone desperately needed to get off the bus and stretch their cramped bodies, even if it was just to walk a few steps, to relieve the soreness in their stiff muscles.

Song Xingye drove the SUV closer, got out of the car, and his spacesuit was covered in a thick layer of dust, making him look dusty and dirty.

"It's yours now, Commander," he joked. "I was going to hand over the car keys along with it, but I think I lost them halfway there. Looks like you'll have to use jumper cables to start it up."

He handed over control of the off-road vehicle to Sheng Tianhong, who would take over the next shift's forward reconnaissance mission. At the same time, Sheng Tianhong returned command of the "Rock Jumper" to Song Xingye, and then got into the off-road vehicle, wobbling and driving a short distance to test its handling.

"How does it feel outside?" Han Jing asked, leaning closer.

"Desolate, wild," Song Xingye replied, "but with an indescribable violent beauty."

Through the mask, Han Jing saw him shake his head slightly and joke, "But, this godforsaken place isn't suitable for raising children."

Han Jing felt it was rather incongruous for him to say these words. As everyone knew, Song Xingye was a complete bachelor with absolutely no interest in having children. Although he was never short of female companions, he seemed to have no intention of settling down, let alone starting a family.

According to the original plan, Han Jing was supposed to take over from Mila to drive the other off-road vehicle at this juncture, but now there is no sign of Mila at all. Song Xingye explained that Mila just reported on the radio that she had already gone a full 20 kilometers ahead and felt that there was no need to turn back to meet up.

She decided to stay put and wait for the main force to catch up before taking over.

As a result, Han Jing could only continue to huddle back into the cramped pressurized cabin of the "Rock Jumper". Well, this behavior is really very "Mira" - impulsive, selfish and self-serving. But fortunately, he doesn't have to crawl back into the car immediately.

"I want to take a walk around the neighborhood," Han Jing said to Song Xingye.

"Go ahead, but don't go too far. Stay within the reconnaissance vehicle's line of sight," Song Xingye instructed. "Only stop for fifteen minutes, don't exceed the time limit."

"Understood," Han Jing replied.

He was not far from the ridge. Although there were loose pebbles scattered on it, climbing it was not difficult. However, he knew in his heart that time was running out.

The terrain here is a typical basin-ridge structure. He had expected Mars to look like this. This is by no means an ideal place to find fossils of life. Even so, he carefully examined three rocks that were suspected to contain carbonate nodules, and even pried one of them open to observe its cross-section.

Just then, the call to return to the living quarters suddenly sounded, more abruptly than expected.

He stared at the cramped pressurized chamber and had a bad feeling. He really didn't want to go back in. It was too crowded inside. He had already reached his limit and had no energy left to squeeze back into that confined space.

He climbed onto the "Rock Jumper" rover, making his way to the roof, and finally found a foothold at the highest point.

He spread his legs apart. On the crew cabin, there are even fasteners on the surface of the cabin that can be used as handrails.

"Song Xingye? I can stay outside."

The reply came through the radio: "No, we're ready."

After a brief pause, the other person asked, "Where are you?"

He looked down and saw Song Xingye standing below, looking around.

"Look up," he said.

"What?"

Song Xingye had his back to him, looked up at the ridge, and turned his body left and right to carefully search the hillside.

"Stop looking, it's right here!" he shouted. "On the roof of the 'Rock Jumper'!"

Song Xingye suddenly turned around and stared intently at the roof of the car.

"You can't possibly get up there!"

He smiled slightly: "You bet I can't do it? You think you can pull me off? Besides, I still have to drive fifteen kilometers with you. If I'm riding on it, I can just jump off and relieve Mira when we get there, and you won't even have to open the hatch. Of course, except when it's time for her to get in."

Sergei was already waiting inside the cabin. Song Xingye stared at him silently for a moment, and finally relented:

"If you fall, we won't stop to rescue you."

After saying that, he turned and jumped into the hatch of the pressurization chamber.

He knew in his heart that if it really came to that, Song Xingye would definitely stop, and he would never abandon any team member.

However, he would never let himself fall; he had won this round.

"Understood, sir," he replied smugly, "I will not fall behind."

"Damn it, those kids will definitely want to climb up there and have a go next time, I bet you do," Song Xingye muttered over the comms channel.

The "Rock Jumper" started up, the vehicle jolted violently, and then began to sway from side to side.

"Holy crap!" he exclaimed in surprise.

The roaming vehicle suddenly braked sharply, and he hurriedly grabbed the buckle to barely keep his balance.

"Can you still hold up up there?"

"No problem!" he shouted. "I'm fine, let's go."

This time he gripped the buckle tightly. After he gradually got used to the swaying of the vehicle and found his balance, he found that it didn't feel so bad. It wasn't much harder than skiing or skateboarding, and it was much easier than when he tried to ride a camel before.

That's more like it, he thought, to cruise around Mars in style.

Not only is the space spacious, but it also boasts the most unbeatable view on the planet, making it the most exciting seat on the entire bus.

"Yay!" he shouted.

He deliberately turned off the voice activation microphone before shouting, but there was no response from the surroundings, not even a slight echo. There should have been an echo here, otherwise it would have been perfect.

"Yay!"