I live in the Martian wilderness!

"The first paddy field?" Gu Yu stood there, not moving for a long time.

The hum of the water pump, the gurgling sound of bubbles rolling, and the faint pinkish glow...

The sword of Damocles, known as hunger, that had been hanging over their heads finally vanished completely at this moment.

"Xuan," Gu Yu's voice carried a relaxed and cheerful tone, "If I don't post something on social media to let people on Earth see at a time like this, it's like wearing fine clothes in the dark."

"Understood, Lieutenant Colonel. Optical components are calibrated, wide-angle lens is activated."

Gu Yu took two steps back while holding the helmet, finding an excellent angle for taking the picture.

"Click—"

First photo: [The Aurora Borealis Underground]

The image shows the running track pool covered with black carbon fiber. Although covered, the light pinkish-red lamps penetrate the texture of the black cloth, projecting circles of dreamy pinkish-purple halos.

"Click—"

Second photo: [The Scale of Life]

Gu Yu walked to the edge of the pool and lifted the small cover of the feeding port, pointing the camera at the shallow pool of emerald green water inside.

In close-up shots, countless bubbles carrying green algae churn and swirl, representing the only life on Mars besides Gu Yu!

"Click—"

Third photo: [Martian Farmer]

Gu Yu turned around, facing away from the track pool and the "candlelight" heat source behind him, and raised his right hand to give a big "thumbs up".

"Photo generated. Lieutenant Colonel, would you like to edit the caption?"

"Of course. Xuan, you edit it for me."

Gu Yu pondered for a moment, and then wrote the following:

[Blog Title: Shennong Project - Completion Report & Reply to Everyone]

[Recipient: Mars Alliance Special Mission Team/Fire Seed Squad/Qin Nuannuan]

To the Command Headquarters and Commander-in-Chief Zhang:

The order has been received. 158 days is a very generous time window. Rest assured, I will use this time to pave the smoothest possible road home for the Long March 9.

In addition, I would like to thank the organization once again for its trust in granting me the position of lieutenant colonel.

To Colonel Qin Manying:

Captain, please don't worry about my breathing. The carbon dioxide level here is indeed very high, but I'm adapting well.

I will stay lively and energetic until I salute you on the track.

To my brothers and sisters in the Fire Seed Squad:

Remember to keep the compressed roast duck and fish oil you brought safe; they're for our victory celebration. But I've already taken care of my own meal before that.

To Nuannuan:

That mysterious gift, QN-1024, is safe and sound, sleeping peacefully in a 4°C incubator. When the time is right, I'll wake it up and take a picture of its first bloom.

Finally, here are a few photos of my backyard.

The GZ-05 lighting module works incredibly well. It turned my command module into an old-fashioned disco and also illuminated the first paddy field on Mars!

Spirulina has been sown, and the production line has been started.

My survival crisis is over!

—Gu Yu, on Utopia Plains, Mars.

……

"Mysterious, package and encrypt. Send to Zhu Rong."

"Command confirmed. Data packet has been transmitted to the Zhurong satellite's buffer queue. It will be automatically sent to Tianwen-1 the next time the communication window opens."

"Xuan, now that this letter is sent, the people on Earth should finally be able to breathe a sigh of relief, right?"

He took one last look at the runway pool that was in operation, listening to the rushing sound of the water circulating, then turned and walked towards the airlock back to the control room.

"Going back to sleep! I'll think about what to do tomorrow. Looking forward to the next 150 days of living alone."

[Earth·BJ Space Flight Control Center]

[Time: Martian Day 16 / Earth Time November 6, 2047]

On the giant main screen in the command center, three photos from 60 million kilometers away are being displayed.

The oppressive atmosphere and anxiety of a dozen days ago have vanished, replaced by the exhilarating feeling that comes with the perfect execution of a task.

"Look at this image, the 'Underground Aurora,'" the head of the image analysis team said excitedly, pointing to the black box on the screen that was shrouded in a light pink halo.

"Without spectral data to corroborate it, I would have thought this was a concept art from a movie. He somehow managed to create a modern greenhouse inside a completely empty lava tube!"

"And this 'Life Scale,' look at the density of those bubbles and the color of the algae liquid. This means that its water circulation, air circulation, and temperature control systems are all working perfectly."

The final image captured was Gu Yu giving a thumbs-up to the "Martian Farmer".

The sheer vitality that overflowed from the screen sent a tingling sensation through the entire staff, whose eyes were red from exhaustion.

"Comrades," Commander-in-Chief Zhang Jianguo's voice broke the silence, "facts have proven that we made the right bet on that debate back then."

Everyone knew he was referring to the "mandatory survival safety package" clause in the "Manned Deep Space Mission Survival Support Regulations".

"Back then, the transportation department and the life support department almost slammed their fists on the table over the issue of carrying those few hundred kilograms of load."

"Some said it was a waste of transport capacity, others said it was unfounded worry. But now it seems that these seemingly insignificant redundancies played a crucial role at critical moments!"

"The safety regulations were written in blood, but this time, they stopped the bloodshed," Zhang Jianguo said in a deep voice. "I suggest that they not only be retained, but also expanded!"

"Immediately after the meeting, we will start the revision and discussion of 'Survival Pack 2.0', and add everything that Gu Yu used this time, as well as everything that he didn't use but was logically necessary."

"For example, lighter light fixtures, anti-fog films, and more chemical catalysts, nitrogen fertilizer solutions, etc."

I second that.

I second that.

There wasn't much applause, because for these top minds, the validated solutions were a thing of the past; what they needed to solve were the problems of the future.

Zhang Jianguo turned around, his gaze sharp, and looked at Zhang Zixuan, the chief engineer of the transportation system: "How long until Qin Manying's Fire Seed Team arrives?"

Zhang Zixuan immediately brought up the orbital dynamics model, and the red and blue lines on the screen were slowly approaching each other in the star map.

"Report to the Commander-in-Chief: The Fire Seed Squad completed resupply and re-ignition at the Moon Palace four days ago."

"Thanks to the full liquid oxygen and methane refueling provided by the moon, they adopted a higher-energy Hohmann transfer entry orbit."

"The current relative speed is 18 kilometers per second. Excluding the time required for mid-course correction and orbit insertion braking, it is expected to enter Mars orbit in 154 days."

"154 days..." Zhang Jianguo calculated in his mind, "Gu Yu's food reserves are enough to last until then. But we can't just sit idly by during this period."

Zhang Jianguo looked around, his gaze lingering for a moment on the empty seat in the first row for the strategic planning team—the seat of Chief Physicist Academician Wang Tianyuan.

"Academician Wang did not attend the meeting today," Zhang Jianguo explained. "With the cancellation of the Kuafu suicide interception plan, that nuclear thermal engine no longer needs to be used as disposable cannon fodder."

"Old Wang is currently leading his team at the western base to modify and verify the solution for a fully reusable version of the Kuafu engine."

"But now that it's no longer needed for suicidal supply drops, what are the subsequent supply plans?"