The fifth day after leaving Kunlun Station.

Tang Yue trekked on foot on the wasteland, saying that the trek was more like a walk, kicking and tapping, the sun stretched his shadow very long, Tang Yue sat for too long and would often come down and walk, anyway, the speed of the Martian stray dog was not fast, the Mars rover was next to him, the speed of travel was the same as Tang Yue's walking speed, the old cat sat sideways in the driver's seat, crossed Erlang's legs.

"I think you should learn to use a sextant to discern directions, which is a very practical skill, and I've never been in favor of them moving it out of the required training curriculum." "Even if you can't be as precise as I am, you can at least confirm your approximate position." ”

"Aren't you there?" Tang Yue narrowed one eye, imagining drawing a virtual straight line on the ground in front of him, extending into the distance, he was following this straight line, "It's good if you confirm, your observation accuracy is much higher than my naked eye, if you let me navigate, I'm afraid you can bring yourself into the ditch." ”

"I mean when I'm not around."

"Why aren't you there?" Tang Yue turned his head and glanced at the old cat.

The old cat was stunned for a moment, leaned back in the chair, and muttered for a few seconds, "What if...... I mean, what if I'm not with you? It's not a bad thing for you to learn more skills, don't you have more skills, from now on, in this hellish world, you will always encounter situations where you can't find anyone to help. ”

Tang Yue was slightly surprised, he didn't know why the old cat suddenly mentioned this.

How many days do he have to go?

What's the case of not being able to find someone to help?

It's like saying to a terminally ill patient who has only three days left to live, that you should study hard to enrich yourself so that you can have a better life in the future.

Then the other party is afraid that he will be dying and sit up in shock.

Later?

Where did it come from?

"There's no after." Tang Yue looked down at the road under his feet, "One step on this road is one step less." ”

"Are you a man, I don't remember who said that...... For a man, there are some battles in this world, and you are destined to be alone. The old cat didn't answer Tang Yue's words, and said leisurely, his body swaying with the body, "No one knows what will happen in the future, but no matter what happens, even if you are the only one left, Tang Yue, even if you are the only one left...... I also hope that you can identify the right direction and then move on with determination. ”

Tang Yue was slightly surprised, and then smiled, "Say this kind of thing, Master Cat, are you going to abandon me?" ”

"No, I'll be with you until the last minute and do my best...... If you don't abandon me, I won't abandon you, and if you forsake me, I won't abandon you. The old cat shook his head, "Come on, it's almost time to take a walk after dinner and eat, we should speed up." ”

Tang Yue grabbed the front of the Martian stray dog, raised his foot and stepped on the pedal, got into the cab with all his might, sat in the passenger seat, and the old cat increased the accelerator and began to accelerate.

"The atmosphere monitoring is starting to alarm, and the carbon dioxide concentration is continuing to rise." Tang Yue poked the control terminal on the back of his hand, the small exclamation mark was flashing, the emergency oxygen production system worked for a maximum of forty hours in the case of single use, but in actual use, it could not reach this number, Tang Yue was using the third oxygen candle, and at this moment this oxygen candle was also at the end of its life.

The old cat scooped up a brand-new emergency oxygen unit from behind the seat, patted Tang Yue on the shoulder, and motioned for him to turn his back to him.

"This is the fourth one."

"Well, the fourth."

There are only six units in the emergency oxygen system, and they have already consumed half of the oxygen.

The old cat unlocked and removed the exhausted emergency oxygen generator from the bright light armor, the discarded oxygen candle was very hot to the touch, and the metal tank was slightly hot, this was because the decomposition of solid alkali metal chlorate was an exothermic reaction - of course the old cat didn't care about this.

"People have a natural fear of suffocation." Tang Yue took the exhausted oxygen candle from the old cat's hand and looked through it slowly, "When I was on the earth and in Kunlun Station, I never felt that oxygen was a precious resource, and the most worthless thing in this world was the ubiquitous air...... But when you put them in jars and tell me that this stuff will be used a little less, I can't help but feel anxious and panic. ”

There are instructions for use in English on the shell of the emergency oxygen unit, as well as a small accompanying picture, Tang Yue glanced at it and only remembered the "Oxygen" in it.

"I don't need to breathe, so I'm afraid I can't understand how you're feeling." The old cat turned on the safety of the emergency oxygen unit and pulled the switch hard.

"Then you think of oxygen as electricity, and oxygen candles as batteries." Tang Yue said, "Exile you to a world where you can't get electricity to replenish it, and you only have the last battery in your hand, and you can use a little less, can you understand it now?" ”

The old cat held the oxygen generator in his hand, thought for two seconds, and then pressed it into the slot of the bright light armor.

"It's a little imaginable, but I'll turn myself off when I have the last bit of power left."

The old cat installed a new oxygen production unit and carbon dioxide absorption tank for Tang Yue.

With a "click", Mingguang Armor prompted that the oxygen production unit was successfully docked, and the helmet's ventilation and circulation system began to work, blowing oxygen-rich air into the mask, Tang Yue took a deep breath, and then looked at the control terminal of Mingguang Armor, the carbon dioxide concentration in the extravehicular suit had dropped to a normal level.

"Old cat."

"Huh?" The old cat screwed the carbon dioxide absorption tank and checked the life support system of the Mingguang armor by the way.

"I can't fight this battle alone, and if you're not around, I can't even change the oxygen system and carbon dioxide absorption tank."

"Not necessarily." The old cat said, "You can change it yourself in the experimental cabin." ”

"Then I can't drive a stray dog alone, this dog doesn't deal with me, and I will strike at every turn."

"You're a mechanical engineer, you can fix it, it's your job."

"That'...... I can't navigate, I can't find the right direction by myself. ”

"So I hope you can learn to use sextants and stars, and if you learn them, you will be able to find the right way forward."

Tang Yue fell silent, every reason he found was untenable.

"Tang Yue, you have to believe that you are strong enough, predicament can't defeat you, loneliness can't defeat you, and the world can't defeat you, whether you are ......alone or not," the old cat finally said, "You can reach your goal." ”

"I can't live without you." Tang Yue said softly, "If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have been able to go down this road at all, so don't abandon me." ”

"How could I have abandoned you?" The old cat was stunned and sighed, "I'm here for you." ”

"Then no matter what kind of road it will be in the future, you must go down with me." Tang Yue said.

The old cat nodded.

"No matter what kind of road lies ahead, I will definitely accompany you on the way."