Chapter 16: Black

Words : 1510 Updated : Sep 12th, 2025

Base Three was fundamentally different from the main base and Base Two. The purpose of constructing Base Three was straightforward: mining, refining, and transporting the processed minerals back to the main base. As a result, Base Three was relatively simpler in design. Fifteen days into construction, most of the materials brought by the Rare Earth Expedition Corps had already been transformed into factories and machines. At the current rate of progress, the remaining materials were estimated to last only about three more days. At this critical juncture, the material resupply convoy set out. Comprising 300 heavy-duty robots loaded with supplies, the convoy began its journey toward Base Three. The main base had become the steadfast backbone supporting the entire construction effort on Titan. All of this construction was aimed at one ultimate goal: building an interstellar fleet! Under the pitch-black night sky, the massive convoy advanced silently, with the Fengshen-1 helicopter once again serving as the navigator. Xiao Yu first connected to Fengshen-1 via the satellite network and then used it to guide the resupply convoy toward its destination. Two days later, the convoy successfully reached Base Three. Some of the robots returned to the main base, while others stayed behind to continue their work. The lake near Base Three, named Lake Two by Xiao Yu, was now a hub of bustling construction activity. At this stage, Base Three had begun to take shape. With such a highly efficient, error-free, and tireless construction team, no task seemed insurmountable. Xiao Yu smugly mused to himself: if the foremen on Earth knew about this kind of construction army, would they drool with envy? Lake Two, covering approximately five square kilometers and reaching depths of around 60 meters at its deepest point, was not a large methane lake. However, it provided the most reliable fuel source for Xiao Yu’s construction army. Beside Lake Two, a solitary robot roamed around. This robot was responsible for surveying the terrain and geological data, providing Xiao Yu with the information needed for future construction planning. The robot moved freely along the lakeshore, occasionally crouching to scan the ground with its red-light-emitting eyes. It only had five geological points left to survey before completing its task for the day and heading back for maintenance. However, after completing the fourth geological point, Xiao Yu suddenly lost its signal. At the center of Base Three was a large radio station. This station managed communication with the satellites orbiting Titan. Over a thousand robots at Base Three constantly relayed signals to it, which were then transmitted to the satellites. The satellites, in turn, passed the signals along until they reached the main base, where Xiao Yu processed them. Once processed, Xiao Yu sent the signals back using the same route. The radio station then forwarded these instructions to the robots tirelessly working at Base Three. In essence, the tens of thousands of robots and billions of sensors on Titan served as Xiao Yu’s eyes. The photon computer provided Xiao Yu with immense computational power, allowing him to instantly detect any malfunction in any robot or sensor. The connection between the radio station and the robots was real-time, meaning communication was maintained continuously. The sudden and abrupt disappearance of a robot’s signal was immediately noticed by Xiao Yu. Xiao Yu promptly retrieved all available information about the malfunctioning robot. “Hmm, Rare Earth Type-3 Robot, tasked with geological surveying. The signal disappeared 500 meters from Base Three, near the direction of Lake Two.” “Could it be a malfunctioning signal transmitter?” Xiao Yu speculated, but immediately dismissed the idea. The maintenance records clearly showed that this robot had just been fitted with a new signal transmitter eight hours earlier. Xiao Yu had absolute confidence in the quality of his products. “This isn’t the kind of subpar quality you’d find on Earth. This is my work,” Xiao Yu thought. Naturally, given that he relied on these devices himself, his production standards were extremely high. “Could rising lake water have submerged it? Impossible. Calculations show the next high tide at Lake Two is three hours away. Or perhaps some signal-blocking object has appeared between it and the base? Unlikely. Is there anything else on Titan that can move besides me?” Unable to figure it out, Xiao Yu decided to send other robots to investigate. To prevent any unexpected incidents, Xiao Yu dispatched an exploration team consisting of one flamethrower robot and four standard robots. The robots nearest to the missing unit received the command, immediately abandoning their current tasks and moving toward Lake Two. A high-power searchlight illuminated their path forward. Xiao Yu increased the computing power allocated to these five robots, enabling all the information they gathered to transmit directly to his mind in real time. Even secondary data, which normally didn’t require his direct involvement, was sent to him for analysis. Under the pitch-black night sky, a powerful searchlight carved a bright path. Along this illuminated road, the five robots advanced cautiously. The distance to Base Three grew while the distance to Lake Two decreased. Xiao Yu silently calculated the distances. At this range, the searchlights from Base Three were no longer effective. “The missing robot is 900 meters to the left of the exploration team. Okay, turn on your headlamps, set them to maximum brightness, and increase your speed to maximum,” Xiao Yu commanded. The instruction was transmitted to the five robots via satellite and radio in mere fractions of a second. The robots adjusted course, turned on their headlamps, and carved a new swath of light through the darkness. “Methane levels in the air haven’t increased, meaning the lake hasn’t risen. Seismic monitoring devices haven’t detected any tremors either, so there’s been no geological activity. Then what caused this robot to vanish?” Xiao Yu pondered while maneuvering the robots forward. In the dangerous, trap-laden void of space, caution was imperative. Any oversight could lead to catastrophic consequences. Suddenly, Xiao Yu noticed something strange. The ground ahead was entirely black. Titan’s typical orange-red terrain, indicative of lanthanide oxide, was absent. Instead, a swath of black stretched across the ground 300 meters ahead of the exploration team. Xiao Yu’s heart skipped a beat. “This isn’t right. Something’s off.” He ordered the team to halt, their searchlights illuminating the strange black area. The blackness was moving. It was advancing from Lake Two toward Base Three. Xiao Yu ran calculations and determined its speed—five meters per minute. “Is this... a lifeform?” Xiao Yu’s mind raced. He increased the computational resources allocated to the five robots several times over and ordered the Fengshen-1 helicopter to take off and head to the location. It was estimated to arrive in 15 minutes. In the meantime, Xiao Yu conducted a thermal imaging test. “No way...” Xiao Yu’s surprise deepened. The black ground had an average temperature of -156°C, while the surrounding orange-red terrain was at -162°C. This black area was six degrees warmer than its surroundings. Xiao Yu knew this discrepancy signified something. Yet, the notion of this blackness being a lifeform was difficult for him to accept. Although extremely cold-resistant bacteria exist in Earth’s polar regions, those environments only reached temperatures of -60°C—entirely incomparable to Titan’s conditions. “Could it be that, in the vastness of the universe, nature has created lifeforms capable of surviving in -160°C environments?” Xiao Yu found this hypothesis almost inconceivable. At -160°C, a human would be instantly frozen into a brittle ice sculpture, their limbs snapping off like stone if struck. Even metals would lose their hardness and ductility. Without the nickel and cadmium alloys granting their materials cold resistance, Xiao Yu’s bases and robots would have long ceased functioning in this environment. The idea that anything could live here was utterly bewildering. The Fengshen-1 helicopter arrived. Over the 15 minutes it had taken, the strange blackness had advanced 80 meters and was now 220 meters from the exploration team. The helicopter’s powerful searchlight illuminated the black terrain. Under the beam, the black mass writhed and shifted unnervingly, as if the nearby blackness sensed the light and surged toward it. The black material thickened visibly, piling higher and higher. Within five minutes, the illuminated area’s thickness increased to one decimeter, forming a small mound that stood out starkly against the surrounding flat terrain. “These... things are phototactic,” Xiao Yu concluded. Uncertain whether the blackness was truly a biological entity, Xiao Yu decided to use the term “things” for the time being. “Exploration team, move forward,” Xiao Yu commanded, resolving to uncover the true nature of these entities. Sacrificing the five robots was a price he was willing to pay. The mere thought of leaving these things unexplored left Xiao Yu deeply uneasy. How could he allow unknown dangers to exist so close to his domain? One of the robots from the exploration team began moving cautiously forward, with another following 10 meters behind, closely monitoring the situation. The distance gradually closed. 200 meters... 150 meters... 100 meters... 50 meters... 1 meter...

Chapter 16: Black

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