Two hours later, the storm began to gradually subside, or rather, it had passed by him.
Various readings were still slowly rising.
"Release fixed mode."
Click, click, the fixed supports began to retract and close.
Qianlong operated the Harvester, stepping out, causing the entire Harvester to lose balance and crash heavily to the ground.
The violent tremor made Qianlong dizzy.
Phantom's voice sounded.
"Scan the machine."
"Harvester, model KC-745, multiple joints frozen, leg hydraulic system's internal lubricant frozen, in a level three paralysis state."
After speaking, a model of the Harvester appeared in Qianlong's eyes, with six areas displayed in yellow and one in red.
The Harvester's operating system only showed a power system failure.
Qianlong opened the emergency repair manual, searching for a solution.
With Phantom providing specific information, it was quite easy to find a solution. Two methods were proposed: one was to wait; since freezing would naturally resolve once it thawed, as long as he didn't force a start, it wouldn't cause much damage.
The second method required injecting dissolving fluid into the leg hydraulic system, which unfortunately needed to be done manually.
As for the other frozen parts, simply running the Harvester at a higher power for a while would naturally resolve the issue.
"I suggest choosing the first option."
Qianlong pondered for a few seconds, "Choose the second option, restore power as soon as possible, or we'll be sitting ducks if discovered."
He didn't like leaving everything to chance.
Qianlong reached out and pressed the activation button on his chest Protective suit, causing it to inflate and start operating, then he put on his helmet.
The Harvester's standard Protective suit was a Level 2 suit, which was quite good, related to the Harvester frequently operating in harsh areas. Of course, the Protective suit also had energy limitations, typically only able to operate for 24 hours, with the option to turn on and off.
Qianlong pressed a few buttons, opening a gap in the lower part of the Harvester's back, where the spare tools were stored.
Then Qianlong opened the cockpit and climbed out.
As he descended from the cockpit and stood on the ground, the surrounding environment came into view.
Qianlong was utterly shocked; the dead, desolate world showed no signs of life. This feeling was something that images could not convey.
After a while, Qianlong came back to his senses and began to climb onto the rear storage box, which had specially reserved indentations for climbing. Although it was not easy, it was still manageable.
Reaching the rear storage box, Qianlong found the dissolving fluid, a hundred-pound barrel. He picked up two barrels and tossed them down.
He searched for tools on the ground, trying to remember the tool models given in the repair manual, and began rummaging through the toolbox.
This should be considered the simplest repair, but even so, Qianlong found it quite laborious.
Mainly due to his lack of familiarity.
After nearly an hour of effort, Qianlong finally completed the injection of the dissolving fluid.
Once done, Qianlong returned to the cockpit, closed it, and restarted the Harvester, increasing the operating power.
The Harvester began to move.
After about ten minutes, Qianlong piloted the Harvester towards the designated operation coordinates.
He attempted to connect with Aina, and after several tries, he succeeded.
"How's it on your end?"
Aina replied calmly, "Nothing's happening, but the situation isn't optimistic. I previously contacted Fatty Fish, and from Fatty Fish, I learned that three teams have completely lost contact in the storm. Guardians have been dispatched to search, and there's a high probability they've perished. If that's the case, part of their workload will fall on us, making our time even tighter."
Qianlong fell silent for a moment and asked, "Understood."
Aina hesitated but finally added a few more words, "This is quite normal; we need to start working. Worrying about those things is meaningless."
"Okay."
The communication ended, and Qianlong continued his work, beginning to accept that this was reality—cruel yet undeniably real.
As time passed, the temperature began to rise rapidly, followed by heat, until it felt like being in an oven.
Qianlong had already taken off his Protective suit, standing bare-chested. The suit, when not activated, was too airtight and not breathable.
Qianlong picked up a bottle of purified water and drank it in one go. One small benefit of being a collector was that water resources were sufficiently allocated during work.
Additionally, it's worth mentioning that Hiberian also had to pay for water resources, and the prices were exorbitant, making bathing a luxury, usually replaced by wiping down.
Qianlong looked at his task progress chart, which showed he had completed 78%, expecting to finish before the next nightfall.
Thinking of this, Qianlong quickened his pace.
When the last Collector was placed in the designated position, his screen displayed task completion.
Qianlong began to return.
Suddenly, Phantom gave a reminder, "I suggest trying to activate the Collector; the storm will affect the previously deployed Collectors."
Qianlong hesitated and replied, "But I don't have the authority."
"I can hack in, but it's not recommended. You can choose to return the same way to check."
"Alright, let's do that." Qianlong responded, knowing there were still plenty of spare Collectors in the Harvester.
Due to the inspection, Qianlong delayed some time, and by the time he returned to the assembly point, Aina and Jones had already arrived.
Aina asked Qianlong and Jones, "Are we all set?"
"No problem."
"Everything's fine."
After hearing their responses, Aina began sending messages to Fatty Fish.
The communication was still not very smooth, and after several attempts, Aina finally established contact.
Quake's image appeared before Aina.
"Beautiful Miss Aina, has your team completed the task?"
"Completed." Aina replied.
"Then start activating the Collectors. Good luck to you all."
Aina's screen began to display the progress chart, with all Collectors starting to connect to Aina's Harvester, while Aina also projected the screen information onto Qianlong and Jones's screens.
"1%, 2%, 3%… 82%." The progress bar suddenly stopped.
Aina was not surprised by this result; there would always be some failed or damaged Collectors.
"Start collecting feedback information; data is uploading."
Fatty Fish began receiving the transmitted information.
This process didn't take long; soon, Fatty Fish successfully received and started analyzing the collected data.
Quake's expression brightened.
"Looks like you all got lucky; rare minerals, Titanium Chrome Ore, have been discovered in your area."
"According to the rules, your team is rewarded with 2000 Points, of course, to be distributed according to your task completion rate."
"Based on the activation ratios, Aina, you activated a total of 80%, Jones, you activated a total of 75%, and Qianlong, you activated 97%."
At this point, Quake's eyes widened; what was this? Luck? A newcomer performed so excellently.
Aina and Jones were also very surprised.
(End of Chapter)