On this planet, it rains for two-thirds of the day. Qi Yan followed Lu Fenghan and explored outwards gradually with the pointed long stone cone as the center when the weather was clear. Although he still did not see any traces of living things, this experience was very novel to Qi Yan.
However, after two days, Qi Yan could no longer walk, so he picked up a few pieces of ore and took them back to study.
It was still raining heavily outside. Lu Fenghan threw the gravel the size of a fingernail up at random: "If this kind of ore is not included in the alliance's catalog, you might be the first person to discover this ore."
Qi Yan was recording the external structure of this ore. Hearing this, he looked up and asked, "Is it useful?"
"Of course there are. If a new ore or a new mining star is discovered, the Alliance will give the discoverer a large amount of star coins as a reward. If the value of the ore is very high, then all the profits generated in the first Leto year will be divided among the discoverers."
Lu Fenghan knew a lot about the mess. "So, what many interstellar wanderers like to do most is to drive a tattered small starship with a set of excavation and identification tools to dig on various barren planets. Sometimes there is no result for several months or even half a year, but once they find something, they may become rich instantly."
When he was at the front line, during the truce, many low-level soldiers also liked to do this, and Lu Fenghan always turned a blind eye. They could go looking for minerals and mining, but every time they arrived at a planet, they had to record and submit the specific location of the planet, its surface ecology, atmospheric conditions, and gravitational status.
Therefore, the star map of the Southern Cross region front is extremely detailed and can play a significant role at critical moments.
Qi Yan listened attentively: "Has anyone succeeded before?"
Lu Fenghan told the story like he was telling a story: "Of course there is. Someone I knew before was fighting on the front line. Their entire starship smashed directly into the surface of the planet, creating a big hole." He gestured casually, "After they vomited blood, they found that the ore exposed in the big hole was actually some kind of rare ore. The alliance rewarded them with 16 million star coins, but there were more than 300 people on the ship, and each person only got 50,000, which barely improved the food standard for a period of time."
Qi Yan nodded: "Fifty thousand star coins? It's really not much."
Lu Fenghan choked silently.
If the league didn't deposit his salary into his account on time, all his savings would be "quite less" than this, probably...
One less zero
If you are not careful, you will face the reality of your poverty.
Qi Yan showed the ore in his hand to Lu Fenghan: "Although there is no instrument to observe the internal structure, judging from the embers left after it burned and the cross-section, it should be very valuable."
Lu Fenghan did not doubt Qi Yan's words: "Then make a blind guess about the reserves of this kind of ore?"
"It's very big," Qi Yan pointed at the ground. "The rainwater falls and seeps directly. It doesn't gather into a stream. Maybe there is this kind of ore underneath."
Without hesitation, he said, "If the alliance rewards 16 million star coins, I will give you 15 million."
"You'll suffer if you're so generous," Lu Fenghan laughed at him, with some unclear expectations in his heart, and deliberately asked, "Why do you give me so much?"
Qi Yan gave a reason: "Because I am already very rich."
Lu Fenghan: “…”
That makes a lot of sense.
After studying the ore over and over again, Qi Yan wrapped himself in Lu Fenghan's coat again, projected the screen of his personal terminal into the air, and continued to work on the architecture of "Po Jun" with full concentration.
Lu Fenghan discovered that although Qi Yan was pampered and picky, his pampering and pickiness were very measured.
Moreover, his ability to adapt to the environment was very strong, which made Lu Fenghan mistakenly believe that they were still in Leto's home, rather than under a few stone slabs on a deserted planet, waiting for rescue that would arrive at an unknown time.
Without making a sound to disturb Qi Yan, Lu Fenghan was actually very used to being alone. Following the habit he developed on the front line, he opened the simulated battlefield in his personal terminal, selected a battle from forty years ago as the background, and began to play a strategic game of two armies fighting each other.
The rain kept falling, and the two of them hid under the pointed stone cone, doing their own things.
Three days passed like this. Lu Fenghan tore open a packet of nutrient solution and gave it to Qi Yan. He then swallowed his own portion in two gulps. “What’s the first thing you’re going to do when you get back to Leto?”
Qi Yan didn't even think about it: "Take a shower."
Lu Fenghan smiled and pinched his face: "Tsk, you really are a little mysophobia." Then he thought, "I only brought one day's supply of your medicine. According to the Leto time, you haven't taken the medicine for two days. Will there be any problems?"
"Fortunately," Qi Yan was quiet, "I can't tell which of the memories of these three days are real and which are fake. Different things that happened at different times are all mixed together, but my emotions are fine."
Lu Fenghan frowned: "What is the effect of the medicine?"
After asking, Lu Fenghan thought, it might be because there were only two of them on this planet, seeing each other day and night, so he could now ask questions that he could not ask before due to propriety or other concerns.
"It mainly eliminates negative emotions like fear and terror, allowing me to calmly and rationally distinguish true and false memories. It also has some other auxiliary effects." Qi Yan bit the nutrient and spoke vaguely, "But I'm used to it, it doesn't matter."
Lu Fenghan didn't think it was "no big deal": "Take the medicine when you get back. I'll help you remember it."
Qi Yan nodded, but did not drink the nutrient solution in one gulp. Instead, he took small sips to taste it while continuing to build the structure of "Po Jun".
After writing dozens of lines of characters, he asked Lu Fenghan again: "If, I mean if, you were a soldier on the front line, would you want an artificial intelligence to tell you jokes or stories while chatting with you?"
"It would be nice to have this feature, as you need to relax occasionally."
"What about the little story?"
"That's fine."
"Do you prefer someone who talks a lot or someone who talks less?"
Lu Fenghan thought for a few seconds: "Talk more, otherwise it will be too lonely."
Taking into account Lu Fenghan's needs, Qi Yan quickly typed in the command and also added the "can sing" item so that "Po Jun" could sing for Lu Fenghan at the appropriate time in the future.
It was not clear what Qi Yan was doing. Lu Fenghan saw that he continued to face the pages of characters after asking, and he continued to play the strategy game.
That night, Lu Fenghan woke up from a light sleep and subconsciously covered Qi Yan, who was lying on his legs, with his coat. When he looked up again, he saw a ray of light appear in the dark sky.
He whispered to wake the sleeping person: "The rescuers must be here."
Having said that, he did not rush to stand in the open space to call for help.
Qi Yan rubbed his eyes, sat up, wrapped himself in his coat and said nothing.
It was not until the small starship landed near the escape pod and confirmed that the people who appeared were wearing rescue suits that Lu Fenghan came out of the pointed stone cone with a prayer.
After confirming the identities of both parties, Qi Yan took a piece of ore with him before leaving.
As the starship gradually rose into the air, Qi Yan discovered that the planet they were on was entirely covered by a brown surface. There were no oceans or lakes, only a huge river that cut across the surface like a long line, forming a wedge shape as a whole.
Qi Yan guessed that all the water would eventually seep through the mineral layers and gather underground.
When I came to my senses, I heard Lu Fenghan asking about the starship accident.
The rescuer's dark brown hair was slightly curly. He smiled and said, "You are really lucky! Although the incident happened in the jump channel, the escape pods have withstood the attack and are not damaged. Now that we have found you and the remaining five, we can also withdraw our team."
"Only five people left?" Lu Fenghan keenly grasped the key point, "How long has it been since the starship accident?"
"Forty-three days. According to the Leto calendar, today is the twelfth day of December."
Lu Fenghan and Qi Yan looked at each other.
They had clearly only spent five or six days on that desolate planet.
The brown-haired rescuer understood: "Did you find that the speed of time is different? Many passengers we found encountered the same situation. Some thought they were missing for only three or four days, but they didn't expect that half a month had passed. Some floated in the universe for almost half a month and were almost starving to death, but in reality only a week had passed."
Lu Fenghan understood: "Because of the warp channel?"
"Yes, the planet you are on also has an impact. The speed of time is different. Obviously, you have been delayed in the jump channel for a while. The speed of time on the planet you are on is also faster than outside. This is normal." The rescuer brought out an old saying, "The universe is so big that there are all kinds of things!"
"The interstellar pirates who hijacked the starship—"
"They are all dead. They are dead as dead as can be. They were blown to ashes! But this incident has been on the front page of the Leto Daily for four or five days in a row. It's too noisy. Admiral Klimo accused Admiral Nie Huaiting of lying to the citizens of the Alliance. He kept saying that the space pirates had been defeated by General Lu Jun. But now, the space pirates have caused a big incident at the door of Leto. This is obviously not a state of 'destroyed'."
Lu Fenghan: "What did General Nie say?"
"Admiral Nie believes that the rebels have colluded with the interstellar pirates and have great ambitions. The Alliance should seize the time, concentrate its forces, and defeat the rebels."
The rescuer laughed and said, "We don't really understand what's going on. Anyway, the Leto Daily has been very lively for several days, with all kinds of news. I'm going to tell you a few things here so that you won't be overwhelmed by the news when you return."
Lu Fenghan looked out the window and asked casually, "What about you? Which view do you support?"
The rescuer replied while maneuvering the small starship to jump: "Me? General Lu Jun died so many years ago, how can he explain what happened back then? But Admiral Klimo does have some truth. Besides, we have been fighting for so many years, and every exploded starship is money. It's not that we won't fight the rebels. The rebels are indeed hateful, but we can take a break for a while."
After listening, Qi Yan looked at Lu Fenghan's profile.
He originally thought that Lu Fenghan would be sad, disappointed or angry, but under the countless lights and shadows, this person did not show the slightest emotion, and remained firm, like a green mountain after the rain, undisturbed by the clouds and fog.
When the two of them traveled across countless light years and returned to the capital planet, it was already dark in Leto, and the familiar double moons were quietly adorning the night sky.
Qi Yan's personal terminal was connected to the Star Network, and he received hundreds of messages. He reported his safety one by one. When he returned home with Lu Fenghan, the first thing he did was to go upstairs to take a shower. Before leaving, he asked Lu Fenghan to help him check if there was anything important in the messages he received.
When Qi Yan came downstairs wrapped in a black silk nightgown, Lu Fenghan had already prepared the pills and water.
"Good news or bad news, which one should I hear first?"
Qi Yan held the cup and drank water, "In chronological order."
"Some of the messages are encrypted, so I can't see the content. In the messages I can see, Professor Fu knows that you have returned to Leto safely and reminds you that you have missed more than a month of classes. Please make up for the missed classes and homework as soon as possible, as well as the project content of the research group."
Prayer: "…"
Although he was very fast, the amount was still very large, and Qi Yan was a little worried.
Lu Fenghan continued reading: "Ye Pei said that she and Mondrian came back early and have already finished the research group's work for you, so don't worry."
"Xia Zhiyang said that he has taken notes for you and recorded the course. He has sent it to your personal terminal. If you need it, you can use it to make up for the lessons."
Qi Yan nodded: "Anything else?"
"Bolan said she has returned to Woz. If she has time, she will wait for everyone to play there. She also expressed her apologies for what happened this time." Lu Fenghan flipped through the pages. "The rest are greetings and expressions of concern from people you know. Xia Zhiyang sent 57 messages during this period, Chen Mingxuan sent 31, Xu Min sent 13, and Xia Jiaer sent 16. He is really attentive."
Qi Yan didn't understand why Lu Fenghan would say that Chagall was attentive.
Lu Fenghan: "Yesterday Xia Zhiyang also sent a message saying that Jiang Yunyue and Jiang Qi have been released on bail. The Qi family paid a large fine. The two are restricted from leaving Leto for the next year."
"He's out on bail?" Qi Yan didn't take it seriously. "Okay, got it."
Lu Fenghan raised his eyes: "Aren't you afraid that Jiang Yunyue and Jiang Qi will retaliate against you?"
Those two people are narrow-minded and self-righteous. Although they can't cause any big trouble, they are still annoying.
"Don't be afraid, those problems can be easily solved." Qi Yan sat on the sofa, with wet hair. "Besides, if they can't be solved, you can beat them."
These slightly childish words made Lu Fenghan laugh out loud.
Seeing Qi Yan looking at him with trust in his eyes, Lu Fenghan raised his hand lazily and ruffled the end of his hair, "Yes, yes, yes, whoever bullies our Qi Yan, I will beat them up."