I live in the Martian wilderness!

On the main screen, dozens of data points, such as the drilling rig's torque, axial pressure, and vibration frequency, are being updated rapidly at millisecond speeds.

Gu Yu was completely focused. His hands were not idle; instead, he was constantly making fine adjustments to the drilling parameters on the auxiliary control panel based on the real-time feedback of the rock hardness.

After drilling only two meters, the drilling rig automatically stopped and disconnected from the end of the drill rod.

Tissot's "Mountain Mover" excavator arm, like a tireless and nimble arm, immediately removed a brand-new drill rod from the rig next to it.

It precisely aligns the thread of the new drill rod with the interface at the end of the drill rod that is still in the borehole, and then rotates clockwise to tighten it.

With a "click," the two drill rods were locked together, becoming a single four-meter-long drill rod.

Immediately afterwards, the drilling rig descended again, clamped the end of the new drill rod, and continued to drill downwards.

Connect one more, drill two meters deep. Connect another, drill two meters deeper.

This process is filled with a cold, mechanical rhythm, repeating itself endlessly with precision.

As the drilling depth increases, the powder continuously discharged from the wellhead by the thick auger begins to undergo visible changes in color and texture.

0-5 meters: The discharged material is reddish-brown fine sand, dry and loose. Under the low gravity of Mars, it is blown out of the discharge port like a wisp of red smoke and then falls back down quickly.

5-12 meters: The color of the drill cuttings gradually darkens, turning into dark brown, slightly sticky soil. They are no longer powder, but appear as tiny clumps.

Gu Yu could even see the reflections of tiny ice crystals, like shattered diamonds, mixed in under the searchlight.

On the sensor mast atop the Tissot vehicle, a beam of red laser is precisely locked onto the ever-growing pile of drill cuttings at the wellhead, performing real-time compositional analysis.

"Depth 12 meters," Xuanjian reported. "Raman spectrometry detected that the water ice content in the drill cuttings that were just discharged has reached 15%."

"continue."

12-18 meters: The resistance from the drill bit suddenly decreases, and what is discharged is no longer powder, but large chunks of gray ice mixed with soil.

They gushed out of the well like shaved ice, emitting a white, frigid aura on the ground where the temperature was below minus twenty degrees Celsius.

"The ice content exceeds 60%! We've entered a dirty ice layer!" Gu Yu's spirits lifted.

18-20 meters: Suddenly, the torque reading of the drilling rig plummeted to the bottom, and the axial pressure instantly dropped to zero.

"We...drilled through a hole?" Gu Yu was stunned for a moment.

"No, Captain. According to the data transmitted from the sonar and temperature sensors..."

"We've just drilled through the last layer of permafrost. We've entered the 'high-purity water ice layer'."

"Deep 20 meters. We have penetrated the high-purity water ice layer," Xuanjian reported. "The pilot hole drilling is complete."

"Stop drilling," Gu Yu ordered immediately. "Retrieve all drilling rods."

Over the next ten minutes, Tissot's "Mountain Mover" excavator arm began to work in reverse.

The drilling rig lifts the entire 20-meter-long drill string two meters upwards, and the excavating arm precisely clamps the section that is exposed at the wellhead, rotates counterclockwise to remove it, and then places it on the support.

This process was repeated ten times until the last drill rod with the drill bit was also retrieved.

A straight tunnel, 10 centimeters in diameter and 20 meters deep, is ready.

"Xuan, now, proceed with the core extraction operation." Gu Yu's voice carried a hint of anticipation.

Tissot's robotic arm started up again and removed a "GTY-2 type thin-walled coring tool" with an extremely precise structure from the drilling rig.

The whole process was like replaying the drilling process in reverse.

It first placed the precision "GTY-2 type core extractor" into the wellhead, and then, like building blocks, connected the nine ordinary engineering drill pipes one by one behind it.

Then, it was steadily sent back to the bottom of the 20-meter-deep well.

This time, the drill rod was no longer a rotating blade; its sole purpose was to send the core extractor at the very front to the bottom of the bowl.

Ten minutes later, the deployment was complete.

[We have reached the high-purity water ice layer at the bottom of the well and are preparing for hydrostatic core sampling.]

"Okay, proceed."

There was no rotation, no impact.

The counterweight at the top of the core extractor was released, and using its own weight and the stable axial pressure applied by the drill string, it smoothly cut into the pure ice layer.

[Core sample taken at a depth of one meter; core catcher closed. Sample obtained and sealed.]

"Very good." Gu Yu took a deep breath. "Core extraction and recycling!"

As the command was given, the robotic arm once again began the tedious but necessary "bar dismantling" work.

The drill string was lifted out and removed section by section.

When the last one, the "GTY-2 type core extractor," was finally pulled smoothly out of the wellhead, Gu Yu's breath caught in his throat.

The translucent polycarbonate inner tube was no longer filled with red sand or gray ice shavings.

Instead, it was a meter-long, crystal-clear ice core with almost no impurities!

Gu Yu carefully placed the core sample tube horizontally on the "sample analysis table" on the side of the vehicle, as if holding a priceless treasure.

"Xuan, separate the inner and outer tubes and immediately verify the composition."

"Understood, Captain. Deploying the 'spin-open unlocking unit'."

The robotic arm moves slowly, precisely fixing the rotating chuck onto the unlocking ring at the end of the outer tube of the core extraction tube.

At the same time, the clamps on the analysis table automatically extended and locked the other end of the core sample tube.

[Start the servo motor. Reverse torque setting: 120 Nm.]

"Buzz—"

The chuck begins to rotate slowly counterclockwise at a speed visible to the naked eye.

As the last aperture closed, a crisp mechanical click sounded – the signal that the threads had completely disengaged.

The robotic arm continued to smoothly retract without stopping.

The thick stainless steel outer tube, like a section of precision cannon barrel that has been smoothly removed, reveals the polycarbonate inner tube containing the ice core.

It's like an ice core taken from the purest Antarctic glacier on Earth, filled with countless tiny air bubbles.

Under the intense light of the Tissot searchlight, it refracts a dreamlike, deep blue glow, as if holding a piece of starlight from the ancient ocean.

Gu Yu stared at it blankly, even forgetting to breathe.

"Xuan, begin component verification," he commanded in a hoarse voice.

On the side of the analysis table, a sensor array integrating multiple spectrometers slowly extends out and hovers above the ice core sample tube.

[Raman spectroscopy scanning is in progress...]

A few seconds later, the analysis results were displayed with the highest privileges and displayed directly in the center of Gu Yu's HUD interface.

[Sample composition analysis: H₂O > 99.8%]

Trace element analysis: Perchlorate (ClO₄⁻) concentration is below 0.01 ppb... Sulfate concentration is extremely low...

[Isotope ratio analysis: The deuterium/hydrogen ratio matches ancient Martian ocean models...]

Gu Yu stared at the data for "perchlorate" and could hardly believe his eyes.

"Xuan... I'm not seeing things, am I? The perchlorate concentration... is almost zero?"

"Confirmed, Captain. This value is far below the highest safe standard for drinking water on Earth."

"Based on geological models, we were extremely fortunate to drill into an ancient pure water ice layer formed by the 'sublimation and recondensation' effect."

"Simply put, Mars, through its billions of years of geological activity, has distilled everything for us in advance."

"Of course," Xuanjian added immediately, "even if we drill into high-concentration perchlorate brine, it's entirely within our contingency plan."