I live in the Martian wilderness!

[Lunar Guanghan Palace Research Station]

[Time: November 14, 2047 Earth Time]

The night sky on the far side of the moon is always a deep, chilling darkness.

But at this moment, launch pad number 1 at the Guanghan Palace base was illuminated by spotlights as if it were daytime.

Without the skyscraper-like first-stage booster it had when it took off from Earth, it now looks like a giant, truncated bullet, standing alone on the lunar surface.

But this is precisely its most terrifying state!

"Liquid oxygen and methane loading rate: 100%. Total propellant mass: 1200 tons."

Ma Guoliang stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window in the central control room, looking at the data, a confident smile curving his lips.

On Earth, gravity acts like an invisible shackle.

Even with its skyscraper-like first-stage booster providing initial acceleration, the fully loaded Long March 9 rocket remained in a suborbital state after the booster separated.

In order to reach the first cosmic velocity of 7.9 kilometers per second and avoid falling back into the atmosphere, it must immediately activate its own engines for a full-power relay.

According to calculations, in Earth-based launch mode, more than 92% of the 1200 tons of propellant will be burned up during the ascent to orbit.

When it is truly stable in space, there is often less than 100 tons of fuel left in the tank.

Want to fly to Mars? It has to wait for Earth to launch five or six more refueling spacecraft to supply it with fuel, which could take weeks or even months.

But on the moon... the situation is completely reversed.

This is a depression of gravity, and also a springboard to deep space.

The Moon's gravity is only one-sixth that of Earth's, and there is no air resistance.

According to calculations, this spacecraft only needs to consume less than 150 tons of fuel to easily escape the moon's gravity and plunge into deep space!

This means that when it finally embarks on its journey to Mars, it will still be carrying more than 1000 tons of propellant!

This 1000 tons of fuel is enough for it to ignore the window limitations of the Hohmann transfer and perform a high-energy-consuming rapid orbit change, forcibly compressing the long journey to 160 days.

Furthermore, the remaining fuel is enough to support a full-thrust soft landing on the surface of Mars, and after the mission is over, it can take off again and return to space!

"Ignite it," Ma Guoliang ordered softly.

There was no earth-shattering roar, because there was no air here.

Only a dazzling, pure blue-white beam of light instantly shot out from the six vacuum-mounted engines at the bottom of the spaceship.

Under the weak gravity of the moon, this behemoth weighing thousands of tons did not climb with the difficulty it would have on Earth, but instead appeared unusually light and erratic.

It left the ground almost like a catapult, and with astonishing acceleration, it shot straight into the sky!

The tail flames left a straight streak of light in the dark void, pointing directly towards Mars.

"Takeoff normal! Telemetry signal stable!"

"Main engine shutdown. Propellant remaining: 88%."

"Estimated time to enter the Earth-Mars transfer orbit: 45 minutes later."

"Estimated time to reach Mars orbit: 160 days."

As Ma Guoliang gazed at the bright star that was growing ever more distant, the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes seemed to smooth out a bit.

"Go," he murmured to himself, "the children are waiting for you."

……

【Mars, Utopia Planitia, Oasis 1】

[Time: Mars Day 20, 10:00 AM]

Gu Yu was standing in his backyard, welcoming the moment of his harvest.

Without looking at the calendar, it would be hard to believe that only five days have passed. The once crystal-clear 5-square-meter running track pool has now completely changed.

Under the light of the lotus root pink lamp, the pool water is no longer a transparent liquid, but a pool of thick, dark green slurry.

A layer of oily foam covered the surface of the liquid, and as the aeration bubbles burst, an extremely strong smell wafted out.

It was a fermented smell that was a mixture of the fishy smell of kelp, the earthy smell after rain, and the unique aroma of high-concentration protein.

"Optical density (OD value) 3.2, peak chlorophyll fluorescence intensity."

"Lieutenant Colonel, they're already suffocating. If they're not harvested, the cells at the bottom will be unable to see the light due to the self-shading effect, and will begin to die and decompose."

"Then let's harvest."

Gu Yu licked his slightly chapped lips, his eyes shining.

He had already prepared a homemade tool: a filter bag made of 300-mesh nylon mesh, which was fixed to a simple titanium alloy bracket.

"Start the drainage pump to pump the algae solution into the filter bag, and control the flow rate at 20 liters per minute."

"Buzz—"

With the low-frequency roar of the water pump, the thick guide pipe began to vibrate. Dark green slurry gushed out from the pipe, crashing heavily into the white filter bag.

"Splash..."

The clear filtrate flows through the fine mesh of the net, cascading down like a waterfall back into the collection bucket below, ready to flow back into the pool for continued circulation.

The green essence was retained layer by layer.

The filter bag quickly swelled up and became full. Gu Yu, wearing rubber gloves, would occasionally reach out and squeeze the filter bag; it felt smooth and thick, like kneading a huge ball of green dough.

One hour later.

Gu Yu looked at the wet, sticky, green mud-like substance in the basin, his expression somewhat complicated.

This was the result of his hard work over the past two weeks. Although it looked terrible, like sediment from a sewer, it was his lifeline on Mars.

Xuanjian reported, "The wet weight is approximately 4.8 kilograms. The moisture content is 85%, which is completely in line with expectations."

Gu Yu picked up the heavy basin of "green mud," walked back to the command cabin, and came to the SY-02 scientific research-grade freeze dryer.

He carefully spread the algae mud evenly on the stainless steel tray, smoothed it with a scraper, and kept the thickness within 5 millimeters.

"Start the freeze-drying process, first freeze to -40℃, then sublimate under vacuum."

This is not only for dehydration, but also to utilize the principle of ice crystal expansion to physically break down the cell walls of spirulina and improve the absorption rate in the gastrointestinal tract.

Another long wait of several hours.

When Gu Yu opened the dryer's hatch again, an even more concentrated fishy smell wafted out.

Those clumps of mud have disappeared, replaced by crisp, dark green flakes.

He picked up a piece and gently rubbed it between his fingertips.

"Click."

The thin flakes shattered instantly, turning into an extremely fine, dark green powder. This is 100% pure spirulina powder.

Gu Yu scooped up a large spoonful, put it into a cup, and poured in warm water.

The powder dissolved quickly, but instead of turning into a milky consistency like milk powder, it became a dark green liquid with tiny suspended particles, looking like a potion in a witch's cauldron.

He picked up the glass, looked at the strange liquid, took a deep breath and held it, as if he were about to down a glass of strong liquor.

"Let's give it our all!"

He raised his head and drank it all in one gulp.

"Glug...cough! Cough cough!"

Although he was mentally prepared, the strange taste—a mixture of dead fish, moss, raw eggs, and a slightly salty, earthy flavor—still hit him like a ton of bricks, instantly contorting his features.

But he didn't vomit; instead, he forced himself to swallow it.

Then, something amazing happened.

In less than ten minutes, a distinct warmth rose from my stomach; it was pure energy, the body's welcome of high protein!

That solid feeling of fullness is far more intense and real than those finely synthesized nutritional pastes.

"I have to say... it tastes awful..." Gu Yu grinned, revealing a row of green-stained teeth, his smile incredibly bright.