Dead on Mars

Tomcat didn’t know how to use shovels to collect water. Many uses for shovels flashed through its mind.

Fighting.

Cleaving.

Digging a hole.

Shoveling.

And cooking an egg.

Combine them together, the shovel’s usage was likely—fight with Tang Yue, cleave him dead, dig a hole to bury him, and then cook an egg with the shovel over his grave.

But what did this have to do with collecting water?

As Tomcat was in thought, Tang Yue had begun forming a circle with the shovel. He looked down at his feet while circling the Eagle. As he circled, he used his feet to test the sand beneath. He looked like he really was finding a spot to dig a hole.

Tang Yue walked about six meters away and stuck the shovel into the land before turning around to shout for Tomcat, “Tomcat, over here. Come over here!”

Basalt was too hard, making it impossible to dig through it with shovels. Tang Yue had found a spot where there weren’t any large rocks beneath them. This region’s upper layer comprised of gravel, and the bottom layer was a mixture of fine sand. Tang Yue had stabbed the shovel in, and after confirming that it was digable with human strength, he called for Tomcat to help him in his hole-digging endeavor.

“How big do you want the hole to be?” Tomcat held the shovel and stood to the side. It wasn’t much taller than the shovel.

Tang Yue looked down, spread his palm and gestured. Then, he drew a circle on the sand with the shovel. “Hmm… Let’s dig a hole with a diameter of a meter, and half a meter deep.”

Tomcat glanced at him and said, “Return first. Don’t waste the oxygen and power of the Radiant Armor. I’ll do the digging.”

“No.” Tang Yue categorically objected to it out of fairness. He picked up the shovel and said, “We can dig together. This will be faster!”

Ten minutes later.

“If you plan to continue using the shovel like a soup spoon, I suggest you return now.”

“…”

…

Tang Yue returned to Kunlun Station.

“Tang Yue, why are you back?” Mai Dong asked. “Where’s Mr. Cat?”

Tang Yue closed the airlock’s hatch, took off the life support system, and got out of the Radiant Armor.

“Tomcat is outside digging a hole. It said I don’t know how to use a shovel, and that I use it like a soup spoon. I was then chased back… But can’t it spare a thought for me? I was in the Radiant Armor; I couldn’t even bend down, so how could I be as agile as it?” Tang Yue curled his lips.

“Dig a hole?” The girl was intrigued. “What for?”

“I plan to dig us a grave,” Tang Yue said. “I’ll just lie down there when I can no longer live on…”

Mai Dong’s expression instantly changed.

Tang Yue knew that his joke had gone wrong.

“It’s to collect fresh water,” he hurriedly explained. “The goal of digging a hole is to collect fresh water. As we need water for planting tomatoes and carrots, and we don’t have enough water… we were planning on using the reaction of the propellant from the Eagle’s Descent Vehicle to obtain water. However, the reaction produces steam. We need to be able to collect that.”

Mai Dong heaved a sigh of relief.

Her greatest fear was that the man and cat on Kunlun Station would suffer any mishap.

“Have you finished today’s work?” Tang Yue asked. “How’s the space station?”

Mai Dong nodded. “I just did my rounds. I discovered that an inner insulation lining in a module had fallen off. I used tape to paste it back. The other modules are fine… But the Dawn remains a problem. I still haven’t found the crack in the module’s body.

Three months ago, during the resupply mission, the Eagle spacecraft had collided with the United Space Station. This dealt the Dawn module severe damage, and a fissure had opened up in the outer wall. Back then, Tomcat had sealed the hatches in time, cutting the flow of air and power supply. This prevented the entire space station from losing pressure. However, Mai Dong alone couldn’t inspect the damaged Dawn module.

During the last three months, Mai Dong had attempted entering the Dawn module under Tomcat’s guidance.

She donned an IVA suit and a life support system before closing the other hatch in the Crystal module to stop any airflow between the Crystal and the other modules before opening the Dawn module.

The instant the Crystal and Dawn modules connected, air began to leak.

The Dawn module, which had remained silent for two months, was pitch-black. It was in a completely cold, vacuum state. After Mai Dong entered, she closed the hatch behind her and attempted to search for the fissure.

The fissure wasn’t easy to find. It was on the outer wall of the space station, and Mai Dong was unable to directly see it. The module’s walls had a thick inner lining, and experiment boxes and control panels were blocking the way. To mend the fissure, she needed to find its exact location, before dismantling the apparatus and inner lining. The difficulty involved was immense, and the workload was great. It was impossible for Mai Dong to finish it alone… After she searched the Dawn module for two hours, Tomcat called it off.

Mai Dong had once suggested mending the space station from the outside, but considering the difficulty and danger levels, Tomcat gave up the idea.

Now, the United Space Station had completely abandoned the Dawn module. Thankfully, this module didn’t affect the space station’s normal operations—its original purpose was deep-space observation and high-energy physics research. This wasn’t something Mai Dong needed at all.

“Tang Yue… Over the past few days, I’ve been thinking. If Earth has really disappeared, as the last two humans in the Universe, shouldn’t we do something?” Mai Dong asked. “For example, we can make a record, to leave some signs of human civilization.”

“Make a record?”

Mai Dong nodded.

“Are you thinking of writing a memoir? A memoir for all of human civilization?”

Mai Dong nodded in response.

“We should leave something behind; otherwise, when we aren’t around any longer, what is there to prove that Earth and humanity once existed?”

Tang Yue thought this a great idea. A memoir that talked about humanity, one that reviewed the developmental process of human civilization, a conclusion for all of humanity. Although this was the work of God and he probably lacked the standards and qualifications, there wasn’t anyone who could accomplish this apart from them.

Finally, they could come up with a lofty-sounding name, such as “Earth Chronicles.”

This was the evidence that human civilization had once existed.

It was to make the Universe remember humanity.

That we once existed.

Regardless of the endpoint, we worked hard to survive.

“But my history isn’t that great…” Tang Yue scratched his head. As a guy with a STEM background, he had some idea of Chinese history, but he knew nothing about ancient Egypt.

Without a doubt, chronicling human civilization was a massive endeavor. It was impossible with just Mai Dong and Tang Yue alone. They could only do as much as they could.

“We can ask Mr. Cat things we don’t know,” Mai Dong reminded. “Mr. Cat will definitely know it.”

“That’s right. We can ask him.” Tang Yue turned to look out the window. Beneath the Eagle was a tiny white cat shoveling, working hard at digging a hole.

Tomcat threw the shovel to the ground and crawled out of the pit.

“Tang Yue—! The hole is done!”