Dead on Mars

As a person who had grown up in the city, Tang Yue had never done any farming before. He had seen tomatoes in supermarkets or vegetable stalls, but those red fruits were placed neatly in baskets. Tang Yue knew that tomatoes were planted in the ground, but he was clueless as to how they were planted.

Without a doubt, tomatoes were planted in the ground.

But what kind of soil was needed?

Tomatoes also needed water and fertilizer.

But how was he to fertilize and water them?

Also, was there a way to prevent plant diseases? How long did they take to sprout? How long did they take to flower? How long did they take to bear fruit? All these questions appeared in Tang Yue’s mind. It was truly a case where different professions meant different worlds. As someone with a science and engineering background, planting tomatoes was a difficulty.

Tomcat asked the most crucial question, “Where do we get the seeds?”

Without seeds, what were they using to plant?

Mai Dong took a moment to recall. “My cabin still has seeds. They were supposed to alternate samples for the experiments but weren’t used in the end. I left them on the Kunlun Station… Didn’t you see them?”

Tang Yue suddenly recalled seeing such things. While he and Tomcat were rummaging for food, they had overturned nearly the entire Kunlun Station. He had indeed seen tiny glass bottles in Mai Dong’s cupboard. They were filled with black seeds, but since they were experimental samples, Tang Yue didn’t pay too much attention to them. Even though he lacked food, he wasn’t bold enough to randomly eat things from the laboratory.

Otherwise, he might just die of food poisoning.

Tomcat entered Mai Dong’s room and carried out all the seeds and placed them on the table.

There were a total of six tiny glass jars. Each bottle was about the size of a perfume bottle. They were filled with seeds of different colors and sizes.

“That bottle with dark brown, oblate seeds. Those are tomato seeds.” Mai Dong pointed at the bottle on the table. “By its side is thale cress. Thale cress is used to study the hereditary and mutation aspects of plants. They can’t be eaten, but they aren’t poisonous or harmful… By the side of the thale cress is that bottle with black, thin long seeds; that’s lettuce. Beside the lettuce is prickly lettuce. Beside prickly lettuce are carrots, then crown daisies. They were seeds I meticulously selected. There’s a high chance of survival and they are specimens that can reproduce.”

Tomcat was surprised that most of the vegetation that the lady had brought were vegetables. Was she really not here to be a farmer?

“It… It’s not that I was especially choosing vegetables. I had chosen specimens from mustard, daisy, nightshade, and other species, but these were the only specimens that could be eaten and happen to have a bit more…” The girl scratched her head.

Only then did Tomcat suddenly recall that she was a lady from Guangdong—famed for its inhabitants that eat anything and everything.

Tang Yue poured out all the tomato seeds in the bottle and did a careful count. There were a total of 56 seeds.

The other bottles had roughly the same number of seeds.

Back then, Mai Dong had probably left the seeds behind unintentionally, but this unintentional act might end up saving Tang Yue.

On this desolate planet, seeing fresh vegetable seeds was like the lovely feeling of seeing one’s parents.

Tang Yue felt hot tears well up in his eyes.

“Not only can you plant tomatoes, but you can also plant carrots, lettuce, and prickly lettuce.” Mai Dong brightened with joy. “The carrots are delicious, crispy and sweet. Same for the lettuce and prickly lettuce. They can all be eaten raw. You can even make vegetable salad! Tang Yue, do you know that I chose giant tomatoes Type 11. The colors are bright, and they have a sourish-sweetness to them. They are tender and succulent…”

“…”

“They are really delicious.”

Tomcat and Tang Yue nodded silently.

“I’m not lying.”

…

Planting vegetables needed a medium, water, and nutrients.

The space station’s cultivation used culture techniques for microgravity and soilless environments, but the Martian surface didn’t have these conditions. If they used a soilless culture on Mars, the water expenditure would be too excessive for the Kunlun Station.

Tomcat checked the remaining quantity of fresh water in the water tank and felt that the situation wasn’t optimistic.

The Kunlun Station’s water reserves had 1,200 liters. Tang Yue used 3.68 kilograms of water daily, and the Water Reclaimer was able to reclaim 3.4 kilograms. Under ideal conditions, the water tank’s reserves could support 4,000 sols.

But reality was never capable of reaching the ideal conditions. Now that three months had passed, there were only 1,150 liters of fresh water left in Kunlun Station. More than 50 liters of fresh water had been lost.

The water expenditure was greater than they imagined. If this continued, the water they had left was only enough for 2,000 sols. Tang Yue wasn’t the only one who needed water in Kunlun Station. The 50-liter water expenditure might have come from other places. It was unavoidable to have such unknown expenditures.

If they were to use the little bit of freshwater they had left for cultivation, the expenditure would only accelerate.

“We don’t have enough water,” Tomcat said. “If we want to use water to plant tomatoes, I believe Kunlun Station’s water will last not more than 1,000 sols… The more you plant, the greater the water expenditure.”

Tang Yue sat in a chair as he fell into thought.

The worst thing was that water was needed.

It truly was the case that a man without water is no man at all.

“Apart from the Kunlun Station, where else can water be found?” Tang Yue asked.

“There is. There’s water on the two poles of Mars, and they are huge chunks of ice. You won’t be able to finish them in your entire life,” Tomcat answered, “but they are thousands of kilometers from us.”

Tang Yue slowly got up, walked to Tomcat, and pressed his hands on its shoulders.

“Tomcat.” Tang Yue wore a solemn expression.

Tomcat was taken aback. “What’s up?”

“You don’t have to eat, drink, breathe, nor are you afraid of radiation, right?” Tang Yue asked.

“That’s right.”

“Now, the organization is handing you a glorious mission. This mission is extremely difficult, but the Party and the People trust that you can complete it!” Tang Yue spoke in all seriousness. “Please head to the North Pole to bring some ice back. You can use the Mars Wanderer as you wish, likewise for the solar panels. You can take anything you want with you. I hope you won’t let down the expectations of the country and the people!”

“Sure. I’ll pull some ice blocks back from the North Pole for you.” Tomcat shrugged its shoulders and walked off. “However, the Mars Wanderer can only travel 60 kilometers a day, and the journey to the North Pole is about 6,000 kilometers. The round trip would take at least six months. I hope you won’t have attained deification and become the Great Salvation Bodhisattva.”

“Sir Cat, please hold back.” Tang Yue pulled it back. “Daresay we discuss this over again?”

Which was more important—water or tomatoes?

The answer was both.

The tomatoes needed to be planted, but Tomcat and Tang Yue wished to do so by minimizing the expenditure of fresh water, or by finding other sources of water to replenish the Kunlun Station’s expenditures.

With his afternoon work at hand, Tang Yue donned the Radiant Armor and went out.

He continued thinking about the problem of the fresh water. He walked to the Battery Farm, passed through the neat array of solar panels, circled around it, and subconsciously walked to the Eagle.

He was used to taking this path.

Tang Yue stood under the Eagle as he stroked the hull of the lander.

“Buddy ol’ Pal, where do you think I can find…”

Tang Yue was suddenly stunned.

“Tomcat.”

“Yes?”

“I know… where there is water.”