10: Mobile Refining Core

[Warning: host's vital signs are dropping rapidly! Initiating emergency life support... Energy outputting...]

A faint warm current surged from the system core, barely protecting his heart which was about to stop beating and his nerves on the brink of collapse. He was almost oblivious to the process of manual air pumping until the inner hatch was pushed open (he didn't know how he had opened it). He rolled into the main cabin and curled up on the cold floor, gasping and coughing violently like a fish out of water.

After a long time, the darkness before his eyes slowly receded. He struggled to take off his spacesuit and found that his fingers and toes were already frozen purple, almost losing all sensation. Holding the last bit of filtered water, he took small sips, feeling a faint warmth spread through his body.

Having rested for what felt like a century, he finally regained a bit of mobility. Looking toward the airlock, that heavy metal plate was still stuck there.

"System... convert it."

[Command confirmed. Target: High-density alloy fragment, mass approximately 25 kg. Initiating conversion.]

Blue light mist emerged again, enveloping the metal plate. This time, the conversion speed was much faster, perhaps because the material was "purer." The metal plate quickly corroded, disintegrated, and turned into dust.

[Conversion complete. Resource points acquired: 210 points. Energy level: 9.7%. Current total resource points: 517 points.]

517 points! It exceeded the minimum requirement of 500 points! The energy was also close to 10%!

Hope, like a cold spark, reignited in his nearly frozen chest. Though faint, it was real.

"System, resource points have met the requirement. Energy is still insufficient. Now, begin evaluating and preparing the site modification plan for constructing the 'Manufacturing Core (Prototype).' Goal: Utilize the airlock and part of the main cabin's non-load-bearing structures to build a stable initial environment with basic power interfaces and protection." Han Zhe's voice carried suppressed excitement and hoarseness.

[Command confirmed. Scanning escape pod internal structure... Analyzing load-bearing and system integration... Formulating modification plan...]

[Plan generated: Suggest removing the manual pump and some redundant pipelines (non-critical) in the airlock, using that space as the core construction base. Need to dismantle a small number of metal supports from non-critical areas of the main cabin (such as some decorative panels and redundant storage racks) to reinforce the base and energy guidance frame. Modification process estimated to consume resource points: approximately 30 points, for material reinforcement and energy guidance line laying. Continue?]

"Continue! Start immediately!" Han Zhe did not hesitate. He picked up tools and began dismantling the heavy, manually operated pumps and some seemingly insignificant pipes inside the airlock, following the precise locations and steps marked on the system's light screen. These metal parts could serve as spare resources themselves, but the system instructed to keep them for the modification for now.

The modification process was clumsy and difficult. In a zero-gravity environment (the escape pod did not fully simulate gravity, only relying on rotation to generate weak centrifugal force, and the modification area was affected), performing precise dismantling and installation with simple tools was a huge test of physical strength. Sweat kept seeping out, only to quickly turn cold in the low temperature. But with his tenacious will to survive, he executed the system's instructions step by step.

When he followed the instructions to fix the last L-shaped alloy support dismantled from the main cabin to the designated position on the airlock base using the system's temporary "welding" (which consumed 5 resource points and produced a faint blue electric arc), the modification was preliminarily complete.

The interior of the airlock had changed significantly. The originally crowded pumps and pipes were removed, making the space relatively open. A simple frame structure, made of dismantled metal parts and laid out by system guidance with flickering faint blue veins, was fixed in the center. The frame was connected to a temporary interface drawn from the escape pod's main power lines (which the system guided him to connect carefully). The entire structure looked crude, rough, and even somewhat ugly, but it exuded a cold, function-first mechanical feel.

[Modification complete. Construction environment ready. Energy level: 10.1%. Resource points: 482 points. Warning: The construction process will consume a large amount of energy and resources at once and may generate unstable energy fluctuations. Once started, it cannot be interrupted. Success rate assessment updated: 43%. Initiate core construction?]

43%... still less than half. Failure would mean the exhaustion of resources and energy, potentially causing unknown accidents or even destroying this final refuge.

Han Zhe looked at the crude frame, then at the boundless darkness and debris belt outside the window. He went to the storage cabinet, took out the two sets of folded uniforms and the gear amulet, and gently stroked the cold fabric and metal.

Then, he turned around, his gaze becoming sharp as a knife once again.

"Initiate construction."

[Final command confirmed. Initiating 'Manufacturing Core (Prototype)' construction protocol.]

[Resource points injecting...]

[Energy guidance beginning...]

[Matter reconstruction field generating...]

Buzz—!

A low vibration, as if from deep within the Earth's core, came from the center of that crude frame. The entire escape pod trembled slightly with it. Those faint blue veins on the frame suddenly lit up, light flowing and becoming brighter and brighter!

The lights in the main cabin dimmed instantly as all power was forcibly drawn and gathered toward the airlock. Dazzling electric sparks erupted at the temporary interface!

In the center of the frame, space began to twist and fold. Countless minute, blue-glowing particles emerged from the void, drawn like they were by an invisible vortex, frantically surging into the frame. Under the influence of a power that transcended existing physical laws, these particles began to collide, combine, and take shape!

A blurry, constantly changing outline gradually appeared in the center of the light. At first, it was just a flickering polyhedral light core; then, a metallic luster began to cover it, the structure extending outward to form a basic shell, input and output ports, the prototype of a crude processing probe arm, and the faint shadows of energy conduits and matter processing units inside that were complex enough to make one dizzy... The construction process was violent and magnificent, filled with the brute force of creation. But at the same time, it was extremely unstable. The frame vibrated violently, the light flickering, and some parts of the newly formed structure would occasionally collapse, only to be quickly repaired as more particles surged in. High-frequency humming and the crackling of energy overload echoed throughout the escape pod.

Han Zhe gripped the handrail on the cabin wall tightly, enduring the violent jolting and blinding light, staring unblinkingly at the creation taking shape. He could feel the system's energy being consumed rapidly, and resource points decreasing like a flood. Every structural collapse made his heart tighten.

[Energy level: 7%... 5%... 3%...]

[Resource points: 200 points... 80 points... 10 points...]

Just at the moment when the energy was about to run out, the resources were almost exhausted, and the newly formed mechanical structure once again showed large-scale unstable cracks, with the light flickering violently as if it would go out completely the next second—

The humming stopped abruptly!

The blinding blue light receded like a tide, leaving only the frame and the newborn creation within it, its surface flowing with a stable, soft, ghostly blue halo.

It was a success!

In the center of the airlock stood a device about half a person tall, irregularly shaped, looking like a collection of crude metal blocks pieced together. Its shell was unpolished dark gray alloy, covered with natural patterns and fine bumps left by energy flow. On the front was a bowl-shaped crude processing platform and a retractable mechanical arm (currently drooping) with various tool interfaces at the tip. On the side were a matter input port and a refined product output slot. The back was connected to complex pipelines and data interfaces, faintly resonating with the escape pod's power system and the system core in Han Zhe's mind.

It had no magnificent appearance, no smooth lines, and even looked somewhat clumsy and ugly. But it truly existed, exuding a cold, unique aura belonging to a "creation."

[Construction complete. 'Manufacturing Core (Prototype)' is online.]

[Energy level: 0.8% (Extremely dangerous, only maintaining core basic circulation).]

[Resource points: 0.]

[Core status: Stable. Function list (simplified):]

· Basic matter analysis/classification.

· Inefficient resource refining (can purify low-grade metals/composite materials, efficiency approximately 15%).

· Ultra-simple parts manufacturing (requires precise blueprints and sufficient corresponding resources; blueprint database is currently empty).

· Energy extraction efficiency improvement (through the core interface, conversion from external energy sources such as stellar radiation and ship power is more efficient, efficiency increased to 5%).]

Han Zhe slid to the floor in exhaustion, leaning against the cold cabin wall and gasping for air, but a genuine smile of relief—his first since crossing over—appeared on his face. Though weak, though the energy was at rock bottom, and though the road ahead was still bleak.

But he had a starting point. A starting point where he could "produce," "refine," and accumulate and create bit by bit.

He was no longer a survivor entirely dependent on wreckage and scavenging.

He had a... crude, but his own, prototype of a "base."

His gaze fell outside the window; that debris belt no longer seemed like just a mixture of death and resources, but had become a potential "mine." And the stars flickering in the deeper reaches of space no longer seemed like unreachable, indifferent points of light.

He struggled to get up, walked to the refining core, and reached out a trembling hand to gently touch the cold shell that carried a faint energy pulse.

The touch was solid.

"System," he whispered, his voice carrying a long-lost, faint yet real hope, "formulate... a recovery plan. Step one: Use the core to obtain safe drinking water from the debris belt. Step two: Accumulate resources to repair or strengthen the escape pod's life support system. Step three..."

He paused, his gaze passing through the observation window and into the boundless deep space.

"Find a way."

"Survive."

The faint blue system light screen flickered silently before his eyes, reflecting the ghostly blue halo of the refining core. In this silent, cold, and peril-filled space coffin, it stubbornly lit a small spark... belonging to civilization and hope.