landing

Titan possesses a dense atmosphere, whose total mass even surpasses that of Earth's. Composed primarily of nitrogen—up to 95%—such a thick atmosphere signifies intense atmospheric friction. Xiao Yu gradually adjusted his posture, aligning himself at the perfect angle to penetrate the atmosphere.

Under the immense friction, the ship's outer shell swiftly turned red. Yet, this was anticipated; Xiao Yu remained unfazed.

As the altitude decreased from three thousand kilometers to one thousand, and further down to one hundred kilometers, the ship entered Titan's troposphere.

The speed began to plummet—from two kilometers per second to one and a half, then one, and finally six hundred meters per second...

When the altitude reached three thousand meters above ground, Xiao Yu deployed the parachutes. The thick atmosphere filled the parachutes, reducing the speed to three hundred meters per second.

This velocity, akin to a snail's crawl in the vastness of space, was still too fast for landing. Xiao Yu's ship was fragile, unable to withstand any violent impact. His ideal landing scenario was a slow descent. Thus, after the speed dropped to one hundred meters per second, Xiao Yu ignited the retro rockets.

With a series of maneuvers, the spacecraft began descending at a few meters per second, and it continued to slow down. Finally, when only two meters above the ground, Xiao Yu's speed had decreased to mere decimeters per second.

This speed was within the acceptable range. The high-temperature exhaust from the retro rockets melted Titan's surface, causing a cloud of material to vaporize and then condense into a misty white fog. Amid this ethereal mist, Xiao Yu descended like a celestial being from the heavens.

As the fog dispersed, Xiao Yu opened the hatch. Six robots, peering out cautiously, emerged in formation like a squad of soldiers.

Before Xiao Yu's eyes lay a wondrous world.

It was night on Titan, and the sky was enveloped in darkness. The thick atmosphere obscured most of the stars, with only a few bright ones visible.

Thankfully, there was a giant 'moon.' This massive figure stood out conspicuously.

It was Saturn, faintly yellow in hue.

Viewed from Titan, Saturn appeared as large as the Sun seen from Earth.

Saturn, 1.2 million kilometers away from Titan, enveloped the moon in its own magnetic field, providing protection from the solar wind. Titan orbits Saturn every sixteen days.

The landscape was shrouded in an all-encompassing darkness, a void so profound that one could not see their hand in front of their face. The six robots aligned before Xiao Yu's spacecraft would have captured nothing with optical detectors.

Xiao Yu activated his night vision. And then, an awe-inspiring scene unfolded before him.

A lake lay just a few hundred meters ahead. A vast expanse of water rippled under the winds blowing across Titan. At the shore, waves lapped against the banks, creating a soft, rhythmic sound.

"This lake is beautiful," Xiao Yu murmured. "I'll name you Azure Lake."

Nearby, a winding river slowly fed liquid into the lake from an unknown source.

Beneath his feet was a slightly mottled ground, resembling sand and stone, much like a desert back on Earth. Behind him, a small hill, not very tall, lay low like an ancient beast from a distant past.

This was 1.5 billion kilometers from Earth, where the planet was no longer visible to the naked eye. Here, no human had ever set foot; indeed, no life form had likely ever set foot here. This place was entirely the work of grand nature, untouched by any manmade force. As a sentient, self-aware being, Xiao Yu was the first to arrive and witness this place.

Above him loomed the vast Saturn. In front of him, the lake stretched like a sea. Behind him, the low hill stood guard, and beside it, the winding river flowed. Suddenly, Xiao Yu felt an urge to weep.

Then, a sensor on one of the robots detected liquid falling from the sky, followed by the other five robots registering the same. Xiao Yu immediately realized the situation.

It was raining.

Yes, it rained on Titan too. But the rain on Titan was not composed of water; it was liquid methane. The lakes, the rivers—all of it was liquid methane.

As the rain intensified, Xiao Yu, amused yet helpless, commanded the six robots to retreat to the ship, postponing the exploration until after the rain stopped.

Activating the collection devices and various sensors on the ship's exterior, Xiao Yu stood still, absorbing the sensation of alien rain. The feeling was strange, as if he had returned to a time when he lived carefree on Earth.

"I no longer have a home," Xiao Yu thought bitterly. "Nor do I have any companions."

"I don't even have a body anymore; I'm not truly human."

As the rain poured down, Xiao Yu's thoughts drifted far away. For the first time, he set aside his fervor for exploration and found the energy to contemplate other things.

For the first time, Xiao Yu yearned to speak with someone. But here, apart from himself, the only other being remotely considered alive was 'Number One,' captured from Jupiter, stored in a metal box.

In a moment of mischief, Xiao Yu sent out a high-frequency pulse, watching Number One grow restless and agitated inside the box, crashing about. Strangely, it lifted his spirits.

The heavy rain continued for days. The rising lake water nearly reached Xiao Yu's location. Yet, Xiao Yu wasn't concerned; he had full confidence in the seal of his spacecraft. Moreover, the water would eventually recede, allowing him to collect more methane as a reserve.

Xiao Yu dismantled one of the engines on his ship, made some modifications, and converted it from burning liquid hydrogen to burning methane. After testing it, everything seemed to be in good order.

The rain passed, and Titan's daylight arrived.

Titan's sky was a mesmerizing, deep blue. When Titan orbited to the side of Saturn facing the Sun, sunlight would reach Titan, and after most of it was reflected away, a small portion would penetrate to the surface. This light, diffused by Titan's dense atmosphere, turned the sky this particular shade of blue, much like the blue sky on Earth.

However, daylight on Titan remained dim, akin to a clear, moonlit night on Earth. But at least with optical detectors, Xiao Yu could now see a little more. Due to the inertia of human perception, Xiao Yu never fully adapted to night vision imagery; visible light scenes were still more beautiful to him.

As sunlight filtered in, the temperature rose slightly, and liquid methane began to sublimate into gas, just like the evaporation of water on Earth. The swollen water levels gradually receded. Xiao Yu knew this was Titan's unique methane gas-liquid cycle.

The once damp and muddy ground started to dry. Xiao Yu redeployed the six robots, who formed a team and began a ground survey of the surrounding terrain.

For practicality, Xiao Yu had designed his robots to be battery-powered. A single charge could support six to eight hours of field operation. To adapt to the demands of field exploration, Xiao Yu made some modifications to the robots. Two robots remained on standby inside the spacecraft, ready to intervene should anything go wrong, ensuring he wouldn't lose all of them.

Under Xiao Yu's unified command, the six robots moved in a circular formation, using the ship as their center, and began exploring the terrain.

Titan's landscape was remarkably flat, with no major elevations. According to the three-dimensional images captured earlier from orbit, Titan's highest peaks did not exceed three hundred meters.

The reason for this phenomenon remained unclear to Xiao Yu, though he speculated it might be related to certain unique geological activities or possibly the influence of Saturn.

The terrain survey proceeded slowly, reaching up to a thousand meters from Xiao Yu's position. Earlier, they had identified an iron deposit in this region, and Xiao Yu was now searching for the optimal mining point.

Ahead, a large patch of dark red caught Xiao Yu's attention. He directed one of the robots to approach, kneel, and activate its flashlight. The image data transmitted back to Xiao Yu.

He immediately began analyzing.

It was dark red hematite. A thought flashed through Xiao Yu's mind. His heartbeat quickened.

"Could my luck really be this good?"

Xiao Yu looked at the data in disbelief.

It was hematite, primarily composed of iron oxide, which could be separated into iron and oxygen through technological means. The iron could be used for steelmaking, and the oxygen could serve as an oxidizer.

Xiao Yu had plenty of fuel, even with virtually unlimited reserves of methane on Titan. The one thing he lacked was an oxidizer.

The discovery of this hematite precisely filled the gaps in Xiao Yu's resources. This find made him marvel.

Moreover, Xiao Yu discovered that most of this hematite was in an open-pit deposit, accompanied by a rich assortment of associated minerals.

These included copper, tin, gold, silver, silicon, chromium, nickel, and more.

"This… This is a gift from the heavens. Could it be that the universe finally felt my recent hardships and decided to bestow this grand gift upon me? Yes, that must be it."

Overjoyed, Xiao Yu immediately ordered the six robots to regroup and began transporting the mining equipment.

Mining, refining, building a base, constructing spacecraft…

A new era of great construction was about to begin.