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

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He made up his mind that a comprehensive inspection was a necessary precaution, although it was time-consuming and laborious, it was safe and reliable.

As Han Jing and Sergei climbed the mountain with the rope, and the winch of the "Rock Jumper" began to slowly release the line, Song Xingye kept a close eye on every inch of the cable as it slid out of the drum, constantly alert to any tiny flaw.

"You're just going to sit here and watch it slowly finish?" Sergei's incredulous voice came through the radio. "Not a single inch will be missed?"

"It's every centimeter."

"Wow!" Sergei exclaimed, "I can't tell for a moment whether this is dedication or stubbornness."

Song Xingye shrugged and said into the microphone, "We've already lost a teammate because of a tiny flaw, and I absolutely will not allow this tragedy to repeat itself."

This job is definitely not easy.

……

On the other side, Han Jing and Sergei struggled to climb up the trail, both of them securely attached to the microfiber safety ropes connected to the winch of the "Rock Jumper".

Song Xingye strictly ordered them to keep their ropes fastened at all times, fearing that the loose rocks under their feet might suddenly collapse and drag them down into the abyss along with the hundreds of tons of boulders. The two of them also carried an extra roll of microfiber cable and a rock drill.

The cliff was far more treacherous than it appeared from the foot of the mountain. It took the two of them four hours of arduous trekking to finally reach the bottom of the vertical rock face. Even after resting several times along the way, Han Jing's clothes were soaked with sweat.

In the biting Martian wind, his spacesuit was operating at full capacity with its thermal control system working overtime, desperately trying to dissipate heat. Sergei pulled back the excess ropes, and the two were finally able to catch their breath for a moment.

"It really is a river!" Sergei exclaimed excitedly. "Look! Look!"

The sandy area where they were resting was as flat as a mirror, almost perfectly circular, and surrounded by low sand dunes except for the gap they had just climbed up. It was the remains of a deep pool at the bottom of an ancient, dried-up waterfall.

With Sergei pointing it out, the outline of the pool became so clear that it was impossible to deny. In fact, Han Jing had a premonition. The smooth stones polished by the water, the obviously eroded riverbank, and the winding course all suggested that they had been climbing along an ancient streambed. And this dried-up pool in front of them was undoubtedly the final word.

"This place has definitely been flooded," Han Jing nodded in agreement, "without a doubt."

Sergei was searching for stones on the riverbank.

"I wonder if we can find any fossils here?" he muttered.

After a brief rest, Han Jing turned and walked to the base of the cliff. He started drilling holes in the cliff face to create anchor points for the microfiber cable. Once the expansion bolts were in place and the anchor points were firmly secured, he immediately reported to Song Xingye via radio:

"The microfiber rope is anchored; the winch can be started to retrieve the line."

"Received, anchor point confirmed." Song Xingye's calm voice came through the earpiece. "Wind is ready and can be operated at any time."

"Take it slow," Han Jing reminded him.

"Understood," Song Xingye replied, "Let's proceed steadily."

After giving his instructions, Han Jing turned around but found that Sergei had disappeared. He sighed helplessly, thinking to himself that this kid was indeed not going to stay put. This was just like him.

……

At this moment, Sergei was looking up at the natural chimney-shaped crevice in the cliff face, thinking that climbing this cliff should be effortless, although the journey was long, the technical difficulty was extremely low.

He wanted to climb to the summit immediately to prove to everyone how perfect the path he had found was, but after weighing the options, he held back. Song Xingye would definitely yell at him again for "violating safety regulations" and order him to stop taking the risk.

He looked back to make sure Han Jing was still within his sight. Han Jing was focused on hammering anchor bolts into the rock strata. His bright purple spacesuit, even with the mottled marks of Martian dust, was still eye-catching against the crimson backdrop.

It seems he can wander a little further without provoking Song Xingye to yell on the radio.

That said, shouldn't we start calling him "Commander Song Xingye" now? Song Xingye himself has never mentioned this, and compared to the late Commander Sheng Tianhong, he doesn't seem to care much about such official titles.

Sergei looked up at the cliff and vaguely saw a hanging rock above. He bet there was another cave hidden behind it, a huge fissure in the rock wall that was mirror image of the cave on the south edge of the canyon.

The tragic accident that killed the former commander completely extinguished his desire to explore the South Edge Cave, but now, as long as he climbs up the pile of rubble leaning against the cliff, he can catch a glimpse of the true face of this hidden place.

Does this count as a violation of safety regulations? He asked himself the question and answered: 100% yes.

Does this count as a violation of safety regulations? He asked himself the question and answered: 100% yes.

Forget it. Han Jing and Song Xingye, who have been to the South Rim Caves, said it was incredibly boring inside. All they could see were large patches of white salt crystals, and they couldn't even find a single stalactite.

So he abandoned the idea and instead circled around to the right along the bottom of the cliff. Although it is easy to lose one's way on Mars, as long as he kept his right hand close to the cliff face, he would eventually be able to find his way back to the deep pool at the waterfall.

The scenery along the way is dazzling. The steep scree slope below looks like an extreme ski run that plunges straight down from hell. This steep downhill stretches for at least several kilometers, or even further.

Because of the great distance and the huge drop, he couldn't see the "Rock Jumper" parked on the slope below at all. Bored, he changed the channel to listen to what Han Jing and Song Xingye were talking about, only to find that the two were still having a boring discussion about the stress on the microfiber cable, so he decisively cut off the communication.

The geological structure of this cliff is exceptionally unique, quite different from the single sandstone layer he had initially envisioned. It presents a variety of colorful rock strata, including smooth gray-blue sandstone and conglomerate composed of various gravel cemented together.

He vaguely remembered seeing this kind of rock layer in geology class. There was a similar landform near St. Petersburg, with a smooth gray rock layer lying beneath the conglomerate belt. It looked like slate, or maybe shale. He always confused the two.

The rock bulged outward, forming a small platform a few centimeters wide. It looked quite sturdy and could be used as a stepping stone. He had considered jumping up and testing its weight-bearing capacity, but then he thought that such a reckless act was unwise, so he gave up.

He speculated that this must be a trace left by a flood in ancient times, or more precisely, the bottom of a lake or even an ocean.

Over millions of years, layers of silt have accumulated at the bottom of the water, and were subsequently compacted by layers of rocks that covered it. Eventually, the immense pressure squeezed the soft silt into hard rock layers.

In the distant past, this area was once a murky ocean, until eventually, all the lakes, floods, and vast seas dried up completely over time.

A thought flashed through his mind: Yes, shale, or whatever you call it, shale layers, are the perfect hiding place for fossils!

He excitedly searched carefully along the edge of the rock strata, but was greatly disappointed. The surface was smooth and uniform, without a single pit or crater, utterly boring.

As mentioned in class, sometimes you have to split a shale layer in the middle to find fossils hidden in the interlayer. At this moment, he desperately wanted a genuine geological hammer. Mira definitely had one, but unfortunately, she was still on the "Rock Jumper" below.

He looked around helplessly, his gaze settling on a brick-sized piece of conglomerate above the shale layer. The stone was teetering on the edge, as if it might crumble at any moment. Sergei stuck his finger into the crevice and pried it back and forth a few times. With a "click," the stone actually came loose.

He simply used the stone as a makeshift hammer, smashing it against the rock layer. The shale was fragile and easily shattered, peeling off layer by layer like old book pages.

He held his breath and carefully examined each peeling stone slab by the light, hoping to make out the outline of the fossil, but even as his hands ached, he still found nothing.

His arms ached from swinging the stone, so he casually placed the "stone hammer" on the edge of the rock shelf and stopped to catch his breath. His gaze remained blankly on the rock layer he had just broken open for several minutes before his brain slowly started to function again. Then, he finally realized that there seemed to be something extraordinary hidden inside.

The conglomerate he held in his hand had a smooth surface with dents, clearly imprinted by something. Although it was difficult to identify exactly what left the marks, it was definitely not naturally formed. He rushed back to the location where he found the rock, where the shale fragments clearly marked its original location.

That's right, it was originally embedded in the rock strata. It was a fragment he pried off when he used it as a hammer to strike the rock, like a relief protruding from the wall.

But what exactly is this?

It is about six centimeters long and about the thickness of a thumb. It is perfectly cylindrical with a slight curve, just like a piece of macaroni. Upon closer inspection, you can see fine textures on the surface that resemble the skin of a pumpkin.

He tried to pull it off, but couldn't. However, it didn't matter anymore. He had found a fossil. Fossils do exist on Mars, and there used to be life on Mars.

And he, Sergei Petrov, found it.

……

The crowd gathered at the bottom of the cliff, gazing at the layer of shale containing fossils, carefully examining his discovery. Sergei felt incredibly proud; he had truly done it! While everyone else gave up easily, he was the only one who persevered. It was he, Sergei, who discovered the fossils of Martian life.

"This is a truly great discovery, Sergei," Song Xingye said, almost jumping for joy. "You have such sharp eyes."

Sergei touched the surface of the fossil again through his gloves, hoping to capture some kind of message from the distant past through the touch of his fingertips. Unfortunately, the gloves were too thick, or perhaps there was no message at all.

This thing looks like just a six-centimeter-long, ordinary dark brown hose that somehow got stuck to the rock, but that's obviously impossible; there's no such thing as a gardening hose on Mars.

"Mira," Song Xingye said, "you're the rock expert here, what do you think?"

"Me?" Mira seemed somewhat surprised by the question.

Sergei suddenly realized that she looked exhausted, and her haggard face surprised him. The pain in her arm must have been agonizing for her. He thought that perhaps Han Jing should prescribe her some stronger painkillers.

"It's obviously a fossil," Mira said. "I think so."

"What do you mean by 'what you think it is'?" Song Xingye pressed. "Is it or isn't it?"

"Let me think about it." Mira's voice sounded somewhat ethereal, revealing an undeniable weariness.

"The entire rock formation is located beneath the ancient seabed," she explained. "We're currently below a salt layer, right? These are rock formations formed from seabed sediments, this..."

She touched the smooth, blue rock layer. "It's siltstone, made of dried, compacted mud. And this..."

She pointed to another layer, "It's sandstone. This should have been a very shallow body of water. The layer where the fossils were found is conglomerate, formed by the tight compression of various sediments. It's located right above the shale layer and is also a layered mudstone. Saint Lucia Shale usually has a high carbon content, so we need to use a mass spectrometer to check for any organic residues."

"But what exactly is it?" Song Xingye repeated. "Is it a fossil?"

"To be honest? I don't know." Mira shrugged.

Through the helmet visor, Sergei could see from her expression that even the simple act of shrugging her shoulders caused her extreme pain.

"The only way to be sure is to see if there are any more of these around."

Song Xingye shook his head.

"We can't do it, we don't have enough time." He looked around at everyone and emphasized again, "It's really not possible. We've been delayed here for too long. You know how tight our supplies are. We've been traveling for ten days straight and haven't even reached a third of the waypoint. Sergei may have indeed found fossils, but..."

"They like me," Sergei thought. "If I don't speak up now, I'll never have the chance again."

He suddenly interjected, "Um, Commander Song Xingye? I've been thinking, could you do me a favor?"

"Of course, Sergei," Han Jing blurted out, "anything is fine, just ask."

Song Xingye's reaction was slightly hesitant: "I think it depends on what it is, Sergei."

Sergei's throat tightened, and he even found it incredibly difficult to say his own name.

"Call me Sergei," he finally said.

What?

He took a deep breath; the air he inhaled was cold, dry, and had a metallic, icy feel.

"Sergei? But your name is Sergei, isn't it?"

He bent down and kicked a stone, watching it fly down the slope, bounce twice, and turn into a puddle of dust before sliding down.

Han Jing looked at Song Xingye, who shrugged helplessly.

"Of course, from now on you're one of our team members, Sergei." He turned and looked around at everyone. "But we need to get everyone up the cliff quickly, secure the ropes, and hoist the 'Rock Jumper' up. It's already afternoon, and time is of the essence."

"So, shall we begin now?"