I live in the Martian wilderness!

With the processing of AI, the grayscale image was instantly given color.

The extremely cold background was rendered as a deep, dark blue, while the outlines of the slightly warmer equipment were presented as a more easily distinguishable dark purple.

This transformed the entire underground world in Gu Yu's eyes from a monotonous sketch into a temperature distribution map full of cold, technological sophistication.

"Very good." Gu Yu nodded. "Now, lock it."

The crane arm lifted again, hoisting the newly modified "water-collecting tree manhole cover" covered with interfaces.

The heavy manhole cover was placed over the composite umbilical cable extending from the manhole and slowly lowered, pressing it firmly onto the flange at the manhole opening.

It is then securely locked to the pre-buried anchor points on the ground via an electromagnetic lock.

Finally, Gu Yu manually connected the cables and water pipes branching off from the umbilical cable to the corresponding interfaces on the "water collection tree" and tightened them one by one.

At this point, a complete, sealed, and controllable water extraction system, from the wellhead to the well site, has been assembled.

"Xuan, execute the 'Environmental Replacement' procedure," Gu Yu issued the next instruction.

[The vacuum pump is being activated to extract the remaining Martian atmosphere from the wellbore.]

As the command was given, the vacuum pump on the water sampling tree began to emit a low hum, extracting the remaining carbon dioxide from the wellbore.

The pressure gauge reading is rapidly returning to zero.

"Captain, vacuuming is complete."

"This operation can maximize the efficiency of subsequent thermal radiation and the rate of water vapor condensation."

"Currently, we have created a pure 'reaction chamber' for the 'hot melt condensation' cycle."

"Very good, establish a slight positive pressure."

[Received, high-purity carbon dioxide is being injected in reverse...]

A small amount of gas was slowly injected into the wellbore, and the pressure gauge pointer eventually stabilized at 0.1 atmospheres.

"A slight positive pressure has been established. The current well pressure is higher than the triple point pressure of water (611 Pa)."

"Under this environment, ice will preferentially melt into liquid water when heated, rather than sublimating directly into gas. Sublimation loss has been effectively suppressed."

[Environmental replacement complete. Wellhead fully sealed. Operations can begin at any time.]

[Sol 8, 19:30 PM]

He returned to the warm cockpit of the Tissot and leaned wearily against the seat.

"Xuan, report on the total time spent on work today."

"Reporting to the captain, drilling began at 12 noon today, and the deployment and sealing of all downhole components have been completed in a total of 7 hours and 30 minutes."

Gu Yu nodded. From forging to drilling through the frozen soil, to building the well wall, and finally installing the water pump, he spent the entire afternoon working on a high-intensity precision project.

But now, all physical operations have ended.

Gu Yu's voice carried a hint of barely suppressed excitement: "Xuan, connect the main power bus of the Sky Shuttle to the Zhurong No. 1 heating core underground through the 'Water Tree' interface."

[Understood. Establishing a high-power energy link... Link connected.]

Gu Yu issued the final instruction: "Activate 20 kilowatts of power and begin the thermal melting-condensation cycle. Switch the thermal imaging feed from the downhole camera to the main screen."

As the power switch was turned on, the thermal imaging screen on the main screen was filled with a bluish hue.

Gu Yu could clearly see that the U-shaped heating rod instantly changed from its original dark purple to a bright orange-red.

Then, within seconds, it turned into a blinding, almost overflowing bright white!

It's like a mythical scepter that's been ignited, bursting with astonishing heat in the eternal darkness 20 meters underground, challenging the ice layer that has been dormant for hundreds of millions of years!

"Xuan, give me a real-time input-output analysis report."

[Calculating, Captain.]

Xuanjian's voice was calm and precise, "Considering the insulation efficiency of the porous carbon casing in the well wall, as well as the 'cold end' effect of the surrounding permafrost."

"About 40% of our heat will inevitably escape into the surrounding strata. The current hot water conversion efficiency is stable at 60%."

"According to thermodynamic calculations, for every 1 kilowatt-hour (kWh) of electricity consumed, we can melt and ultimately obtain approximately 4.8 liters of liquid water."

Gu Yu pressed further, "So... if we use 20 kilowatts of power to continuously heat for one Martian day (24.6 hours), what is the expected total output?"

The logic core of Xuanjian was running at high speed, and a few seconds later, a message was highlighted in the center of the screen.

"We expect to receive... 2300 liters of liquid water by this time tomorrow."

Two tons and three!

Gu Yu was stunned, and then a huge surge of joy welled up in his heart.

This means that as long as Tissot's nuclear reactor is still running, he can obtain a continuous supply of water every day, enough to support a small base!

Just as he was awestruck by the number, the miracle underground was being revealed to him in real time through the camera.

Large amounts of water vapor rose from the bottom of the well. They had no chance to escape and instead crashed into the still-cold inner walls of the carbon tubes at the top of the well.

The hot steam condenses rapidly into pure liquid water droplets the moment it encounters the cold air.

Gu Yu could clearly see on the screen countless glistening water droplets, just like the beads of sweat in a sauna, condensing and gathering on the smooth black carbon wall.

Then, following the well wall and the cable in the middle, it flows back to the bottom of the well like tiny streams.

But in the actual footage from the underground camera, he saw an even more shocking scene—

The condensed water droplets were "drip, drip" gathering into a stream, making the entire dark underground world dripping with moisture.

This is the "thermal melting and condensation" cycle, a natural water cycle that takes place underground on Mars, controlled by human will, and accelerated billions of times!

"Xuan, if we maintain a continuous heating power of 20 kilowatts, how long will it take us to obtain the first batch of samples that can be extracted?"

"Calculating, Captain."

「根据当前4.8升/千瓦时的热水转化效率，融化10升水需要电能约2.08千瓦时。以20千瓦的功率加热，理论耗时6.25分钟。」

"Considering the cold end effect and pipeline preheating during the initial system startup, it is expected that the bottom fluid level will reach 10 liters within 15-20 minutes, meeting the minimum startup conditions for the submersible pump."

"Twenty minutes..." Gu Yu looked at the countdown on the screen, his anticipation reaching its peak.

Instead of resting, he paced back and forth in the cramped cockpit like a father waiting for his child to be born.

[Countdown complete. Bottom well fluid level has reached 10.3 liters.]

"Start the submersible pump." Gu Yu's voice trembled slightly with excitement. "Pump 5 liters and send them directly to the shelter. I need a very raw sample."

"Understood! Switch the pipeline to the shelter supply valve!"