8: A difficult choice

[Scanning initiated... Scanning in progress...]

Pale blue ripples spread out from the escape pod into the surrounding void. The feedback data quickly generated a rough star map, showing only basic outlines. Most areas were empty darkness. But about three hundred meters away, the scanning waves captured a sparse debris belt slowly rotating, composed of metal fragments of varying sizes and frozen gases. It was likely the remnants of some ancient battle or ship disintegration, captured by the weak gravity or inertia of this place, forming this space junkyard.

[Target detected: Metal debris belt. Primary components: Titanium steel alloy (low purity), plastic polymers, ice crystals (water), trace amounts of unknown organic residue. Weak electromagnetic radiation background noise detected. Threat assessment: Low (no active energy signals, loose structure).]

A debris belt! There's metal inside, possibly water ice! Although scattered, frozen, and mixed with unknown organic matter, for him now, it was nothing less than a treasure trove!

"Calculate the optimal approach route! Assess if the escape pod's remaining power is sufficient to reach it and perform preliminary material collection!" Han Zhe's heart pounded wildly.

[Calculating... The escape pod's attitude control engine has enough remaining propellant to support one minor orbital adjustment. Reaching the edge of the debris belt is feasible. Warning: The escape pod lacks external robotic arms or collection equipment. If the host needs to perform extravehicular activity (EVA), they must rely on the onboard emergency spacesuit (status: unknown), and face risks of depressurization, low temperature, radiation, and debris collision. Extremely high risk.]

No robotic arms... spacesuit status unknown... high risk. But staying inside the pod meant certain death. Heading to the debris belt offered at least a sliver of hope, a chance to obtain life-sustaining resources for the system and for himself.

"Prepare to execute orbital adjustment! Target: a relatively stationary point at the edge of the debris belt. Also, inspect the onboard emergency spacesuit!" Han Zhe made his decision.

[Command confirmed. Orbital adjustment procedure initiated. Countdown: 10...9...]

The escape pod shuddered slightly as the tiny thrusters on its side emitted a brief burst of gas, pushing the small metal capsule towards that slowly rotating death carpet of fragments and ice crystals.

Han Zhe struggled to unfasten his seatbelt and moved through the cramped space to a storage locker on the bulkhead labeled "Emergency Equipment." The door was slightly rusted; he forced it open. Inside, folded neatly, was a grayish-white, bulky-looking hard-shell spacesuit that appeared quite old, with scratches on the helmet visor. Next to it was a simple repair toolkit with magnetic locks and storage pouches, containing a few basic manual tools.

[Scanning spacesuit: The airtight system has minor leaks (estimated leak rate: 3% loss of standard atmospheric pressure per hour). Life support system battery: 12%. Heating unit functionality: impaired. Comprehensive evaluation: Can provide limited support for short-duration extravehicular activity (estimated not exceeding 30 minutes), but carries high risks of hypothermia, oxygen deprivation, and decompression sickness. Strongly not recommended.]

Thirty minutes... It would have to be enough, and it must be enough. Han Zhe began the arduous task of putting on the spacesuit in the confined space. The process was clumsy and stumbling; he bumped into the sleeping Oleg or Lina's body several times. Oleg groaned unconsciously in his sleep but did not wake.

After donning the bulky spacesuit, movement became even more restricted, and his vision was limited by the helmet. He checked the toolkit, secured the sturdiest-looking alloy wrench onto a tool loop on his waist, and attached several empty storage pouches.

At that moment, the escape pod shuddered again as the attitude control engines fired for the last time, reducing its speed to almost zero. Outside the observation window, the debris belt was now close at hand. Metal fragments of various sizes, twisted beams, frozen plates, mixed with glistening ice particles and dust, tumbled and collided slowly under the starlight, silently performing an eternal dance of destruction. The nearest large piece of debris, which looked like a fragment of a small spacecraft's engine casing, was only about twenty meters away.

[Arrived at designated position. Relative velocity: approximately zero. Warning: The debris belt is in a state of micro-motion; collision risk increases over time.]

"Preparing for EVA. System, continue scanning, mark locations with high-value metal or water ice concentrations, and guide me." Han Zhe took a deep breath, tapped the side of his helmet to confirm the communication system's wireless link with the escape pod (though it might soon be lost). He laboriously moved to the inner airlock door—the escape pod only had a simple, small airlock with dual manual valves.

He twisted the inner valve, and the heavy metal door swung inward, revealing a tiny airlock chamber barely large enough for one person to stand. He squeezed in, closed the inner door, and manually began pumping out the air. The vacuum pump emitted a strained hum as the pressure gauge slowly dropped. The sensation of weightlessness became pronounced.

When the pressure dropped to near vacuum, he forcefully turned the wheel on the outer hatch.

The hatch swung outward.

Silent, absolute cold instantly enveloped him. The starlight suddenly became incredibly sharp and clear, yet offered no warmth. Below (or in any direction) was the rotating, death-trap-filled debris belt; above was the boundless dark abyss. A sense of loneliness, as tangible as a physical force, pressed against his chest. The temperature inside the spacesuit began to drop slowly, and frost quickly formed along the edges of the visor.

He grabbed the edge of the hatch, gave a gentle push, and his body floated out into the complete void.

Weightlessness. Silence. Only the sound of his own heavy breathing echoed inside the helmet, along with the faint friction of the spacesuit's joints moving.

[Scanning guidance activated. Marking target: 11 o'clock direction, distance 15 meters, that engine casing fragment (titanium steel alloy, relatively high purity, mass approximately 50 kg). Secondary target: 2 o'clock direction, distance 8 meters, small ice crystal aggregate (estimated water content about 2 liters). Avoid moving fragments.]

The system's cold voice became his only guide. Han Zhe clumsily operated the few miniature compressed gas nozzles on the spacesuit's waist to adjust his posture, drifting towards that engine casing fragment. His movements had to be extremely gentle; any excessive thrust could send him spinning uncontrollably into the unpredictable depths.

A distance of fifteen meters felt incredibly vast in space. He carefully avoided several small rotating fragments that swept past and finally, his fingers touched the cold, rough metal surface. The sensation transmitted through the glove was hard and real. He immediately used a magnetic lock from the toolkit (its power indicator faint) to attach himself to the fragment, stabilizing his body.

There was no time for a detailed inspection. He pulled out the alloy wrench, found a relatively weak connection point on the edge, and struck with all his might!

"Clang!" A dull impact transmitted through his arm. Silent in the vacuum, yet it sent a numbing shock up his arm. The fragment remained unmoved.

Again! Clang! Clang! Clang!

He mechanically swung the wrench. Each impact consumed precious physical strength and the life support system's energy. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead, turning icy cold in the low temperature. The frost on his visor thickened, and his vision began to blur.

After an unknown number of strikes, finally, with a *crack*, a metal plate about the size of a washbasin, with jagged edges, was pried loose! He quickly used the magnetic lock to secure it. Without time to inspect it, he immediately turned to the next target—the ice crystal aggregate.

The ice crystal aggregate looked like a dirty snowball mixed with dust and unknown black residue. He drifted over and carefully chiseled off a large chunk with the wrench, stuffing it into a storage pouch on his waist. The pouch quickly swelled. Some of the ice sublimated rapidly in the vacuum, but most was collected.

[Warning: Spacesuit life support battery: 5%. Leak rate increasing. External temperature: -270°C. Immediate return recommended. Detected a debris fragment approximately 0.5 cubic meters slowly approaching the host's trajectory. Estimated contact time: 120 seconds.]

Han Zhe's heart tightened. He glanced at the attached metal plate and the pouch holding the ice. Not enough, far from enough to restore much of the system's functionality, let alone escape their predicament. But he was out of time.

"Return!" He made a decisive decision, released the magnetic lock (the metal plate remained attached to the fragment), pushed off forcefully from the larger debris beneath his feet, and simultaneously activated the waist nozzles, drifting back towards the escape pod.

The return journey was equally perilous. The warning piece of debris nearly scraped past the soles of his feet. He precariously grabbed the handrail on the escape pod's outer hull, unscrewed the outer airlock door, squeezed inside, and shut it behind him. Pumping air manually, he felt the pressure slowly rise, and a sense of weight returned to his body.

When the inner hatch opened and he stumbled back into the crowded main cabin, he was almost completely spent. The inner lining of his spacesuit was soaked through with cold sweat, clinging icily to his skin. He struggled to remove his helmet, gasping for the cabin's murky yet 'warm' air.

Oleg remained unconscious, oblivious to everything that had just happened.

Han Zhe couldn't spare a moment to rest. He immediately poured the ice crystal chunks from the collection bag onto a metal tray. The ice crystals rapidly melted in the cabin temperature, turning into a small puddle of murky, dirty water with black suspended particles. Using a simple filter (also from the emergency kit), he strained it as best he could, obtaining about one and a half liters of relatively clear liquid. He eagerly gulped down several large mouthfuls, soothing his parched, burning throat, and his spirits lifted slightly.

Then, he looked at the metal plate he had brought back. It lay quietly at his feet, exuding the coldness of space.

"System, absorb this metal plate, and... these remaining tools." He placed the alloy wrench and a few small tools from the toolkit that were unlikely to be useful next to the metal plate.

[Command confirmed. Initiating resource conversion (efficiency: 3%).]

Pale blue threads of light once again spread from his palm, covering the metal plate and tools. This time, the absorption was slightly faster than inside the pod. The metal plate rapidly lost its luster, rusted, and began to crumble from the edges as if weathered for millennia, turning into fine, grayish-black metallic powder. The tools met the same fate.

[Resource conversion complete. Basic resource points obtained: 85 points.]

Resource points! Pitifully few, but this was a breakthrough from zero to one!

[Energy level: 6.1% → 7.8% (partially from energy dissipation during material conversion).]

"System, using the current resource points and energy, can we repair or enhance a critical system of the escape pod? Such as navigation, communications, or extending life support?" Han Zhe asked urgently.

[Analyzing... The escape pod's systems are highly integrated. Localized repairs require precision components and specialized interfaces, which cannot be met under current conditions. Suggestion: Apply resources and energy to direct survival assurance for the host, or attempt to activate more core functionalities of the system.]

More core functionalities... Han Zhe recalled the system's vast initial construction sequence, the glimpse of the almost miraculous 'basic reconstruction' capability he saw on the 'Tenacious,' which could seemingly create something from nothing. But that required massive resources and energy.

"Evaluate: If all currently available and potentially obtainable resources from the debris field are converted into points, and energy is concentrated, can we construct a minimal, operational 'manufacturing core' or 'resource refinement unit' inside the escape pod? Even if it can only produce the most basic components or refine water resources?" He shifted his approach. If he couldn't repair the escape pod, then he could turn the escape pod into... a miniature forward base?

The system fell silent for a few seconds, seemingly calculating the feasibility of this plan with full effort.

[Plan evaluation... Based on existing database fragments and core protocol logic... Feasible. However, the following conditions must be met:]

[1. Acquire at least 500 basic resource points (Current: 85).]

[2. System energy level must be restored to above 15% to maintain construction process stability (Current: 7.8%).]

[3. A relatively stable construction environment is required, providing a basic energy interface (e.g., electricity) and a degree of physical protection. The escape pod's main cabin is crowded, but the airlock chamber or partial dismantling of non-critical internal structures could be considered.]

[4. The constructed product will be an ultra-simplified 'Manufacturing Core (Prototype),' with highly restricted functionality, low efficiency, and inherent risk of construction failure (Estimated success rate: 41%).]

Five hundred resource points, doubled energy, and modifying the escape pod interior... Extremely high risk, with less than half success rate. But once successful, he would gain a 'production' capability, however rudimentary, which would be entirely different in significance.

"Calculate how much material needs to be collected from the debris field to obtain five hundred resource points?" Han Zhe asked, his gaze turning to the slowly rotating field of fragments outside the window. His life support battery was almost depleted, and his spacesuit couldn't withstand many more extravehicular activities.

[Based on current conversion efficiency and estimated average material value of the debris field, collection equivalent to the volume of a standard Imperial Transport Container (1m³) of metal/composite materials, or ice crystals/other usable materials of equivalent value, is required. Considering debris dispersal, collection efficiency, EVA risks, and time cost, task difficulty: Extremely high.]

Han Zhe's heart sank. Container-sized supplies... In the weightless, freezing, hazardous debris field, with crude tools and a failing spacesuit... His eyes swept across the cabin. Past the unconscious Oleg, past Lina covered by a cloth, past every cold, crowded corner exuding an aura of despair.

Then, his gaze settled on Oleg, and on Lina's remains.

A cold, cruel, yet exceptionally clear thought surfaced uncontrollably.

The human body... is also matter. Complex organic material, containing water, minerals... No! Han Zhe shook his head violently, driving away this terrifying thought. He could do whatever it took to survive, but some lines... once crossed, he would truly cease to be 'Han Zhe,' perhaps even cease to be 'human.' Was Kahn's sacrifice meant for him to become a monster that devours his comrades' corpses?

But... what if Oleg died too? If they all died, leaving only him... At that moment, Oleg, who had been unconscious, convulsed violently. A series of strange gurgling sounds came from his throat, and then his eyes snapped open. His gaze was no longer unfocused or crazed, but an eerie, vacant calmness, staring fixedly at the cabin ceiling, pupils dilated, showing no reaction to Han Zhe's presence.

His chest stopped rising and falling.

Han Zhe held his breath, slowly moving closer, his fingers trembling as he reached for Oleg's carotid artery.

Cold. Still.

Oleg had died quietly in his unconscious state. Perhaps due to dehydration, organ failure, or physiological shutdown caused by complete mental collapse.

Inside the cabin, now only he remained alive, with two cold bodies.

A deathly silence descended, heavier than the vacuum of space.

Han Zhe sat there, motionless, looking at Oleg's gradually stiffening face with its vacant, almost relieved expression, then at Lina covered by the cloth beside him. Tears welled up unexpectedly, scalding as they traced down his cold cheeks, dripping onto his filthy uniform.

They were all dead. Only he was alive.

The system's blue light interface remained coldly suspended at the edge of his vision, awaiting his command.

He slowly raised his hand, wiping away the tears. His fingers touched his cheek, feeling rough skin and prominent cheekbones. The reflection in a mirror would surely resemble a ghost not far off.

He looked out the window at the debris field, then at Oleg and Lina's bodies.

After a long while.

He took a deep breath, his voice hoarse and dry, like metal grating:

"System."

"Scan... all non-living matter within the cabin... including... usable organic residue."

"Calculate... the maximum conversion efficiency plan."

"Prepare... to construct the 'Manufacturing Core (Prototype).'"

"Energy and resources... prioritize... ensuring construction process stability."

He closed his eyes, no longer looking at the two companions who had once struggled alongside him for survival, now reduced to cold 'resources.'

To survive.

To prevent their sacrifices... and Kahn's sacrifice... from becoming meaningless.

Pale blue light began to glow faintly, stubbornly once more, within the crowded, deathly silent escape pod.