I live in the Martian wilderness!

"Sulfur has a melting point of only 115°C, making it a perfect thermoplastic binder. It's like natural bitumen on Mars. While its performance is inferior to polymer materials, its reserves are virtually unlimited."

Gu Yu's eyes lit up instantly.

Where can I find it?

"Based on historical data from previous Mars surveys by the Vega satellite," Xuanjian immediately projected a geological map of the surrounding area onto Gu Yu's HUD.

"About 15 kilometers away on the edge of the Hesperia Plateau, there is a remnant of ancient volcanic activity, where there is a high probability of sulfur sublimation deposits."

"15 kilometers..." Gu Yu glanced at the massive size of the Sky Shuttle and its terrifying energy consumption, and shook his head.

He remembered the little car he had parked in front of the shelter. "Xuan, plan the route. We'll take the Sky Patrol."

[Mars Day 11, 15:00 PM]

Gu Yu drove the lightweight Mars rover, like a lone wolf galloping across the red desert.

This is a "treasure hunt" journey.

Guided by Xuanjian, he bypassed the rugged basalt area and headed towards the plateau that appeared yellowish-green on the map.

"Lieutenant Colonel," Xuanjian's voice finally rang out, "we have entered an ancient hydrothermal vent zone. The spectrometer has detected a sharp increase in surface sulfate levels. Please be aware that the geology here may no longer be stable."

Two hours later, as the altitude increased, the surrounding landscape began to undergo strange changes.

As the Sky Surveyer carefully climbed the last sand dune, Gu Yu was awestruck by the sight before him.

The red iron oxide soil is gradually decreasing, and now large areas of grayish-white, hardened ground, resembling saline-alkali land, are appearing.

Ahead was a huge bowl-shaped depression.

The center of the depression is not a monotonous red or white, but rather like an overturned palette.

Large swaths of glaring lemon yellow intertwine with the pale white of plaster and the dark green of certain metal oxides, creating a scene full of ominous and eerie beauty.

Even through the life support system, the sensors detected abnormally high concentrations of sulfides in the air.

"We've arrived, Lieutenant Colonel," Xuanjian's voice rang out. "This is an ancient crater on the edge of the 'Gusev' impact crater."

"The yellow substance you see is a high-purity sulfur deposit formed by the sublimation of sulfur vapor carried out from the inside of the volcano during the eruption when it came into contact with the cold air."

Gu Yu did not rush to mine. He knew that "treasures" on Mars were often accompanied by "highly poisonous" substances.

He first operated the small robotic arm on the Sky Surveyer to collect multiple soil samples from several different colored areas and send them into the "integrated analysis port" on the side of the vehicle.

"Xuan, execute the 'Full Element Exploration Analysis' procedure. Focus on investigating perchlorates and arsenides."

"Understood, Lieutenant Colonel. Elemental analysis is being initiated using X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF), and cross-validation of Raman spectroscopy is being performed simultaneously."

A few minutes later, the final analysis report was generated.

[Sample Comprehensive Analysis Report]

Main components: Elemental sulfur (S) content > 95%.

Hazardous substance screening: Perchlorate (ClO₄⁻) concentration: < 0.1 ppm (safe); Arsenic (As) and other heavy metal sulfides: not detected.

"Good luck." Gu Yu looked at the "clean" report, a weight lifted from his heart. "Extremely high purity, no risk of biological toxicity. Mining can proceed."

"Xuan," he said, looking at the green dotted line on the HUD map that represented a length of 15 kilometers, and issued a new instruction, "Confirm the current link quality of the Fireseed regional network."

"Link self-check in progress, Lieutenant Colonel," Xuanjian responded immediately.

All the core equipment of Project Fireseed—the Shelter, the Sky Shuttle, and the Sky Patrol—are integrated with a "high-gain adaptive networking" communication system.

They are like three giant beasts that can sense each other. No matter where they are, they will automatically search for and lock onto each other, with the device with the strongest signal as the core.

Typically, it serves as the main antenna of the shelter, forming a high-bandwidth mobile communication "iron triangle".

"Self-test complete," Xuanjian reported. "Currently, the signal strength is 98% and the bandwidth is sufficient, thanks to the point-to-point directional connection between the Sky Surveyer and the Oasis-1 main antenna."

"Very good, that means we have the capability to remotely control the Sky Shuttle. Now, summon everyone over."

[Understood, Lieutenant Colonel. Optimal route planning for the Tissot... Route generated. Estimated arrival time: 40 minutes.]

Fifteen kilometers away, in front of the shelter, the dormant steel behemoth—the Sky Shuttle—slowly lit its searchlight…

"Buzz—"

Under Xuanjian's remote control, its massive body deftly completed the turn, and its four tracks began to rotate.

Then, following the safe path that the Sky Patrol had just taken, it automatically drove towards the mining area where Gu Yu was located.

Gu Yu did not waste the 40 minutes of waiting time.

He continued to operate the Sky Surveyor's robotic arm to conduct more detailed sampling and analysis of the surrounding geology, attempting to find the ore vein with the highest sulfur enrichment.

"Xuan, switch to the high-magnification microscope and aim it at sample A-3. I need to examine its crystal structure."

On the screen, the bright yellow surface of sulfur was magnified hundreds of times, revealing a diamond-like, fine orthorhombic crystalline structure.

"The crystals are perfectly formed, with almost no impurities."

"Switch to the Raman spectrometer, turn the power to maximum, and scan its deeper components."

A red laser beam precisely hits the sample, and the resulting scattering spectrum is instantly interpreted by AI.

[Analysis of sulfur allomers... S₈ ring structure accounts for 98.7%... purity is impeccable.]

One person, one vehicle, and one AI—on this desolate wasteland, they embarked on an incredibly efficient collaborative operation.

Forty minutes later.

Gu Yu was focused on analyzing the data when a sudden, low vibration caused the Sky Patrol to shake slightly.

He looked up and saw the massive figure of the Sky Shuttle engineering vehicle steadily parked next to the Sky Surveyer.

Gu Yu had already used AR to highlight three "golden mining points" with the highest sulfur enrichment.

"Xuan, switch the operating permissions to Tianshuo." Gu Yu's voice carried a hint of excitement at the prospect of unleashing his full potential. "Activate the Mountain-Moving Excavator Arm and begin excavation!"

"Understood. Seamless cross-platform transition is in progress..."

The control interface in front of Gu Yu changed instantly. Through the data link, he directly took over the operation of the Sky Shuttle from the small cockpit of the Sky Sweeper.

"Start digging!"

"boom--!!"

The massive mechanical arm of the Sky Shuttle roared out, and the huge alloy bucket at the front plunged deep into the yellow mineral layer!

With a single shovelful, hundreds of kilograms of brilliant sulfur ore are unearthed.

The robotic arm swings, dumping the ore onto the large rear cargo platform of the Tissot.

In just over ten minutes, a small yellow mountain made of pure sulfur had been piled up on the freight platform.