One
Lin Yuan stared at the bouncing data on the screen and rubbed his sour eyes.
At 10: 17 p.m., the corridor of the New Energy Materials Lab was empty except for a low hum from the ventilation ducts. This is the seventh day of his continuous overtime work. There is something wrong with the electrolyte material of the new generation solid-state battery, and the purity has never reached the theoretical value.
" Forester, why aren't you leaving?? " The security guard Lao Li poked his head in, shaking the flashlight in his hand.
" Wait a little longer. We'll leave after this batch of data is finished." " Lin Yuan did not lift his head.
Lao Li shook his head and left. The footsteps faded away and the whole floor was completely quiet.
On the screen, the curve of molecular dynamics simulation is slowly climbing. Lin Yuan leaned back in his chair, and his mind was still repeatedly deducing another synthesis path-if the calcination temperature was raised by another 50 degrees, would it ...
A blue light exploded without warning.
Lin Yuan didn't even have time to blink. The light gushed out of the reactor in the center of the test bench and instantly engulfed the whole field of vision. He heard the crackle of glass, the twisting groan of metal, the beating of his own heart on his eardrums - and then it was all gone.
A sense of weightlessness.
A bone-chilling chill.
Asphyxia caused by water pouring into the nasal cavity.
Lin Yuan struggled violently, and his limbs fluttered wildly. He couldn't swim, but his survival instinct made him reach up frantically. What soft thing do you touch with your fingertips? Water plants? Or --
Whoosh!
He rushed out of the water, coughing violently, and his lungs seemed to be filled with pepper water. My eyes were so stimulated that I couldn't open them. I could only feel the darkness around me and something cold hit my face.
It's raining.
Lin Yuan lay on the shore and retched for five minutes before barely propping himself up. Pressing his hands down, it felt wrong - not the epoxy floor of a laboratory, not the tiles of a hospital ward, not even any artificial ground he was familiar with.
Cold mud mixed with gravel and dead leaves.
Fear gripped his heart like a hand.
He forced his eyes open. Dark, but not absolutely dark. By the faint light from nowhere, he saw: staggered branches overhead, inclined river banks under his feet, and dark endless mountains ahead.
There are no tall buildings. No street lights. No power.
Lin Yuan looked down at himself-the white coat was still there, wet on his body, and swelling out stuffed something in his pocket. He reached out and took it out: half a pack of matches, damp. A cell phone, black screen, no response no matter how you press. A work permit with his photo and the words " Senior Engineer Lin Yuan" on it.
It's gone.
All over the body, just these three things.
Coldness seeps out of the bone marrow. I don't know if it's freezing in the rain or fear.
" Is anyone-!"
The sound crashed into the mountain forest and was absorbed by the leaves of dense, without even echo.
II
Lin Yuan stood where he was for a full five minutes, his mind blank.
He tried to remember what had just happened. Blue light, explosion, weightlessness, drowning. Laboratory Safety Incidents? Impossible. He knew the power of the reactor better than anyone else, and he couldn't explode that kind of light. Dream? He pinched his thigh so hard that it hurt show one's teeth.
Crossing.
The word floated up from the depths of my mind like a red-hot iron.
He has read those online novels, and his colleagues talk about them in very excited during lunch break. He listens to them while eating, which is a pastime. He never thought that such a thing would happen to himself.
And if it happens to me, why don't you even give me a system?
Lin Yuan laughed at himself, and his laughter was worse than crying.
The rain is getting heavier and heavier. He must find a place to shelter from the rain, otherwise he will not have to wait for the wolf to bite, and the loss of temperature will kill him.
By the faint light of the sky - I don't know if it was moonlight or something - he recognized the direction of the river and decided to follow its banks. Where there is a river, there are people. This is the common sense of survival in the wild. Even if people can't be found for a while, the terrain along the river is usually relatively flat, making it easier to find hiding places.
After walking for about twenty minutes, I slipped and fell into a bush.
Lin Yuan cursed and got up, then froze.
Behind the bushes was a dark hole.
Three
The hole is not big, barely enough for a person to bend over and get in. Lin Yuan hesitated for a few seconds - the cave could be hiding wild animals, or it could be a nest of snakes - but the rain was getting heavier and the temperature on his body was rapidly losing.
He picked up a stone and threw it hard into the hole.
Knock.
The sound of stones hitting echoed deep in the cave, and then there was a long silence. There was no growling of wild animals, no flapping of wings.
Lin Yuan gritted his teeth and drilled in.
It's darker inside than outside, so dark that you can't see your hand in front of you pitch dark. He crawled forward, feeling his way, pressing his palms against the cold, damp rock. After climbing for about ten meters, the space suddenly opened up and he could stand up.
After groping around, I judged that this was an abandoned mine. There are obvious artificial chisel marks on the cave wall, and broken pottery pieces and corroded ironware are scattered on the ground. I don't know how many years it has been abandoned, and the air is filled with a stale, mineral-specific smell.
But at least there are no beasts, no snakes.
And, dry.
Lin Yuan groped back to the vicinity of the cave and found a relatively flat corner, in a huddle. Cold, still cold, but at least not in the rain. He took off his white coat, wrung it out and put it back on, shaking uncontrollably.
Half a pack of matches, damp. Cell phone, completely dead. A work permit is useless except to prove who he is.
In the dark, Lin Yuan allowed himself to think about that question for the first time: Can I go back?
No one can answer him.
Four
Lin Yuan woke up from the cold.
I don't know how long he slept, but the glimmer of light at the mouth of the cave told him that it was dawn. The body was stiff as a rusty machine, and every muscle was sore. He struggled to get up, walked to the cave entrance, and looked out - the rain had stopped, the mountains were shrouded in mist, and the air was cold.
The stomach let out a loud protest.
Hungry. Hungry.
Lin Yuan took a deep breath and forced himself into the engineer's mindset: problem breakdown, prioritization. There is only one thing that matters right now: to live.
What does it take to live? Water, food, fire, shelter. Water, there is river water outside, but I don't know if I can drink it directly. For food, there should be wild fruits to eat in the mountains, and there may also be small animals to hunt. Fire, the match is damp, but it may still work when dried. Residence, this hole is temporarily habitable.
Fix the fire first.
Lin Yuan took out the match, and carefully spread it on the Stone at the entrance of the cave, letting the faint sunshine bask in it. Then he began to observe his surroundings - the mine was halfway up the mountain, with a small river below and dense woods on both sides. This season, it should be autumn, and the leaves begin to turn yellow, but they haven't fallen yet.
He walked down the hillside, keeping an eye out for recognizable plants as he went. After walking for more than ten minutes, my eyes lit up-a wild hawthorn tree with red fruits hanging all over its branches.
Lin Yuan rushed over, picked one, hesitated for a moment, and took a small bite.
Sweet and sour, juicy, no strange taste.
He stuffed it into his mouth frantically and ate more than a dozen in one breath before he recovered. Then he took a big pocket with the hem of his white coat and walked back.
Returning to the cave, he checked the match-it had been drying for more than an hour and should be almost dry. He found some dry dead leaves and twigs, and carefully struck a match.
- The flame ignited and then quickly extinguished.
The second one, ignited, he hurry-scurry ignited the dead leaves, watched the flames grow bigger, and then was blown out by a gust of wind.
The third, the fourth, the fifth ...
There were only three matches left in half a box, but the fire still didn't start.
Lin Yuan's hand is shaking. It's not the cold, it's the fear. He knew that if these three matches still didn't light, he might really freeze to death here tonight.
He forced himself to calm down and recall the tutorial on survival in the wild. The dead leaves are too light and the burning time is too short. A fire rack should be built first, with thin branches to form a pyramid shape, leaving gaps in the middle to allow air circulation.
So he did.
Then strike the third match from the bottom.
The flame ignited the dead leaves, and the dead leaves ignited the twigs, and the twigs crackled.
It's burning.
Lin Yuan stared at the fire, his eyes sore. He added thicker branches to it and watched the fire grow bigger and bigger until he was sure it would not go out, and then let out a long breath.
The problem of hunger has been solved for the time being. The cold problem has been solved for the time being. The problem of water - later with the stone heat, into the hollowed-out tree trunk, can boil water. The problem of living, this hole ...
Lin Yuan stood up and looked carefully at the mine for the first time.
Five
The fire lit up the cave wall. Lin Yuan approached and looked closely, and his pupils suddenly contracted.
This is no ordinary rock.
White, yellowish ore that glimmers in the firelight. The texture is clear and the bedding is distinct. He scraped it with his fingernail, and the powder was fine and greasy.
Kaolin.
Lin Yuan's heart began to beat violently. He walked along the cave wall, and the fire lit up more places. Not just the kaolin, but its companion - he squatted down and picked up a translucent, light-coloured stone.
Alunite.
What does it mean that kaolin and alunite are associated?
Lin Yuan's hand is shaking. This time it's not fear.
Bauxite.
This is bauxite.
His brain was racing. Aluminum, the most basic metal in modern industry, is the third most abundant in the Earth's crust, but in ancient times it was more precious than gold. Because the extraction of aluminum requires electrolysis, a steady current, high temperature, a technology that was born in the 19th century.
Before the 19th century, aluminium was " silvery clay", a mineral that could only be seen but not used. In order to show honor, Charles Louis Napol é on Bonaparte entertained the most distinguished guests with aluminum tableware, while others could only use gold tableware.
If you can extract aluminum --
Lin Yuan forced himself to stop fantasizing. Refining aluminum? Refined with what? Electrolysis requires electricity, and he can't even charge his cell phone. Chemical methods require active metals such as sodium, potassium and magnesium. Where can he get them?
He needs to take it step by step. Live first, think of nothing else.
Lin Yuan went back to the fire and continued to warm himself and eat hawthorn. My stomach is full, my body is warm, and I feel sleepy. He added enough twigs to the fire to burn until dawn, shrank in a corner and closed his eyes.
In his sleep, he vaguely saw blue light, heard explosions and felt weightlessness.
And then everything goes dark.
Six
The next morning, Lin Yuan was awakened by a strange sound.
He sat up sharply and pricked up his ears. The sound came from the direction of the cave opening - what was digging? Or ...
He quietly touched the hole and looked out.
On the hillside more than ten meters away, a grayish brown animal is arching the soil. Like a dog, but larger than a dog, with upright ears and drooping tail.
Wolves.
Lin Yuan's whole body blood seems to have been drained. He knew there were wolves in the mountains, but he didn't expect to meet them so soon. The wolf had obviously not found him yet, and was intently digging something - perhaps a rat hole, perhaps a hare's nest.
Run? Where to? There is no second exit in the hole. Hide? By the time it finds the human scent, it's too late.
Lin Yuan's eyes swept over the fire and suddenly had an idea.
He grabbed a burning branch and flung it out of the hole.
The torch fell near the wolf and sparks flew. The wolf jumped away and turned to look. Lin Yuan grabbed the second one and the third one, and roared as he threw it.
The wolf stared at him for a few seconds, then turned and ran into the woods.
Lin Yuan slumped on the ground, panting for breath. He knows that wolves are not so easily scared away. They will observe, test and wait for opportunities. He had to find a way to get rid of it completely, or-
He looked at the fire.
Fire is the natural enemy of wild animals. As long as the fire is not extinguished, the wolf will not dare to come in. But if the fire goes out, or he has to go out and find food and water -
Lin Yuan gritted his teeth. He can't be trapped in this hole.
He began to act. First, move the fire to the deepest part of the hole to ensure that the fire illuminates the hole so that animals outside are afraid to approach. Then he found as much dry wood as he could and piled it by the fire. Finally, he began to survey the terrain, looking for an escape route.
There is an obvious path trampled by animals under the hillside, leading to the river. The terrain along the river is open, and it is not easy for wolves to ambush. If you can run to the river and walk along the bank, maybe you can find -
A long wolf howl interrupted his train of thought.
From the depths of the woods. Then, another wolf howl sounded from the opposite direction.
They're echoing.
They're surrounding.
Lin Yuan's palms are all sweaty. He knew he had made a mistake: wolves are social animals. That one just now, it could be a scout. Now, the wolves are coming.
Seven
The twilight is in full swing.
Lin Yuan shrank in the deepest part of the cave, and the fire burned brightly in front of him. In the darkness outside the cave, a pair of green eyes flickering. He counted at least five.
They're not attacking. They're waiting.
Wait for the fire to go out.
Lin Yuan looked at the pyre beside him. Is it enough to burn until dawn? Not enough. Until the middle of the night at most.
He had to do something.
His eyes fell on the ore on the cave wall. Kaolin. If you can burn kaolin into ceramics and make containers, can you hold water? Can you--
No, it's no use thinking about it now.
His eyes continued to move and fell deep into the mine. The traces left by the ancient alchemists - pottery pieces, iron tools, and some unrecognizable things. It suddenly occurred to him that when he walked in yesterday, he seemed to see some pattern on the cave wall.
Lin Yuan grabbed a burning torch and walked inside.
After walking for about thirty meters, there was indeed something engraved on the cave wall. He held up his torch and looked closer-it was some symbol, a non-Middle-earth symbol, something like Sanskrit, somewhat-he couldn't say clearly.
Below the symbol was a clearly pried stone slab.
Lin Yuan squatted down and pried the stone slab hard. The slab came loose, revealing a shallow pit underneath.
In the pit lay several objects: a stack of charred, inscribed silk books, a sealed pottery jar, and a fist-sized, metallic tripod?
Lin Yuanxian picked up the pottery jar and shook it. There's liquid in it.
He opened the mouth of the jar carefully and sniffed closely - there was no smell. Pour a little on your fingers, silvery white, flowing.
Mercury.
Lin Yuan's heart almost stopped beating. Mercury, one of the key raw materials for refining aluminum! Materials commonly used by ancient alchemists for alchemy!
Trembling, he put down the pot and went to get the metal tripod. It's heavy, much heavier than it looks. The color of the surface-not like copper, not like iron, not like any common metal.
But that's not the most important thing.
Most importantly, if there is mercury here and these tools, does it mean that someone in this mine has done some kind of experiment?
Lin Yuan's eyes fell on the charred silk books. He unfolded a piece of carefully, and the fire lit up the handwriting on it.
Not in Chinese. It's not Sanskrit.
But he understood.
I didn't understand the words, but the pictures. A crude, but clear enough picture: a furnace, a pile of ore, and a twisted line of symbols-
A chemical reaction equation in a sense.
Lin Yuan's hand is shaking. It's not fear.
It's because of excitement.
The ancient alchemists of this world may have gone further than he imagined. And their legacy, it may be that he lives, even -
The howl of the wolf at the mouth of the cave interrupted his thoughts. Closer.
Lin Yuan carefully put the pottery pot and metal tripod back into the pit and covered it with a stone slab. Then he got up, took the torch, and walked back to the cave.
The wolves are still there. More eyes.
He looked at the pile of firewood that was about to burn out, at look at fiercely as a tiger does's wolves outside the cave, and looked back at the secret pit deep in the mine.
Live.
You have to live.
He added the last handful of firewood to the fire, and then began to plan how to go out tomorrow to find more firewood, how to use the pot of mercury, how-
The fire throbbed.
Lin Yuan raised his head.
At the entrance of the cave, the largest wolf was slowly approaching. Its eyes stared at Lin Yuan, and the green faint light was like two jack-o' -lantern.
The fire is burning. But it didn't go back any further.
It's testing. It's gambling. Bet on how long this fire will last.
Lin Yuan held the thickest burning stick, and his palms were full of sweat.
The long night has just begun