Dead on Mars

Tomcat muttered. It took another deep mouthful of oxygen and injected it into Tang Yue’s lungs. Then, using immense force, it pumped his chest to circulate it. Finally, he raised his paw and slapped Tang Yue heavily in the face.

“Earth is restored! Old Wang and Mai Dong are back! Bastard, come back to life—!”

Tang Yue’s limbs twitched as his facial muscles moved. His pupils suddenly constricted as he snapped awake from his deep coma. Then, he began coughing violently.

Tomcat hurriedly stuffed the EOG’s tube into Tang Yue’s mouth and pressed down on him. “Don’t move! Don’t move! Listen to me. Take a deep breath! Take a deep breath!”

Tang Yue hugged the oxygen candle and sucked at it with all his might. As he took deep breaths, he shivered from the cold.

Tomcat got him to hold his breath and stuffed the EOG back into the Radiant Armor. Then, it closed the visor and raised the Radiant Armor’s air circulation and temperature control to its highest output.

Tang Yue lay slump on the ground, drained. He rested for quite a long while before he had the strength to speak. He had just gone to hell and back, surviving a life-threatening disaster.

Tomcat heaved a sigh of relief.

“Carbon dioxide poisoning,” Tomcat said. “The Radiant Armor’s carbon dioxide collection canister was used up, causing the EVA suit’s interior to be full of accumulated carbon dioxide. When ordinary people are exposed to such concentrations of carbon dioxide, they will suffer a hypovolemic shock and stop breathing within thirty seconds.”

Tang Yue silently sat on the ground.

“Without the carbon dioxide collection canister, we have to ventilate your suit every now and then to release the thick carbon dioxide out,” Tomcat said. “When the carbon dioxide concentration reaches 5%, you have to take note. Anything above this will lead to poisoning.”

“How… far… do we have left?” Tang Yue asked softly.

“Not much further,” Tomcat replied. “Less than a kilometer.”

“Good… Good… Let’s continue…” Tang Yue pressed his hands to the ground in a bid to stand up. However, his knees buckled and he sat back down. He wasn’t able to muster any strength from his body.

“I’ll help you.” Tomcat crawled over and placed Tang Yue’s arm around its shoulder. The latter leaned against Tomcat as he slowly straightened his body. He slipped several times on the sand but eventually managed to find his footing.

“Is… the direction… correct?” Tang Yue had his head bowed, his voice weak.

“It’s correct.”

Tomcat held onto Tang Yue as they proceeded forward with tottering steps.

“We’re almost there. Tang Yue… Just a little bit more. This is the final leg! At such a close distance, we can reach it even by crawling.”