"My hard drive!" Fu Shiwu hurriedly held the hard drive in his hand, feeling the indentation. He lamented, "Could this be damaged?"
Miao Jia, seeing his concern, sympathetically remarked, "Are there important data inside? It might be damaged, but some data might still remain."
Fu Shiwu looked up, his eyes brightened. He urgently said, "Miao Jia! Your computing skills are great. Can you try to fix it for me?"
Miao Jia hesitated. Normally in such situations, they'd discard the damaged device. Even he couldn't do everything. But seeing Fu Shiwu's urgency, Miao Jia brought the external hard drive and found a data cable.
"The structure inside has been damaged," Miao Jia regretfully shook his head.
Fu Shiwu felt disheartened. He murmured, "There's software in here that lets me contact my parents. Without it, I can't reach them."
Tang Xuhai was surprised. He glanced at Fu Shiwu through the rearview mirror and asked, "The method you mentioned for contacting, is it stored in this hard drive?"
"Yes," Fu Shiwu nodded dejectedly.
Tang Xuhai pondered for a moment and comforted him, "Don't worry. When we rest, I'll try to recover this hard drive. If we can restore the metallic data recording part, maybe we can retrieve that software."
Hope rekindled in Fu Shiwu's heart. He said, "Okay, let's hope for the best."
Miao Jia glanced at both of them, hesitant to speak. Even if they restored the metallic core, the data on top couldn't possibly be fully recovered!
Throughout the journey, Fu Shiwu felt increasingly anxious, feeling time dragging until they set up camp in a higher terrain spot as dusk approached.
With over ten thousand people trailing behind them, these people, despite marching tirelessly in a long queue, couldn't match the speed of those traveling by car.
Tang Xuhai got off and retrieved three large tents from the storage compartment of the vehicle. With the sleeping bags they found, they wouldn't worry about rain or cold during the night.
Fu Shiwu assisted in setting up the campfire. Their camping gear had been damaged, but Tang Xuhai repaired everything. Horn Ting provided water, preparing a large pot of thin porridge directly over the fire.
Liu Peiqi, unaware of what happened in Fu Shiwu's car, stretched and moved about after being seated for half a day. These past two days and nights, he hadn't exerted much effort compared to others or suffered any injuries. Feeling uneasy, he decided to gather some wild food for everyone.
Though Liu Peiqi grew up in the city, his ancestral home was in the countryside. His grandfather was skilled in hunting, and Liu Peiqi had learned how to trap rabbits and catch wild chickens with him.
The vegetation in the mountains during autumn grew exuberantly due to the molecular source's influence, experiencing less human interference. The wilderness environment was swiftly recovering, with rabbits breeding rapidly and prolifically.
On the hillside, Liu Peiqi keenly spotted traces of wild rabbits. Armed with self-made tools, he stealthily approached the rabbit, but his skills couldn't match his grandfather's. The rabbit, alert, darted away.
"Oh, damn!" Liu Peiqi gawked at the seemingly turbocharged rabbit beneath his feet. Was this even a rabbit? Had it turned into something supernatural?!
He couldn't catch up to the rabbit, but noticing many rabbits in the area, he soon spotted another. However, this rabbit's resistance was considerable. When he grabbed its ears, it kicked back forcefully, nearly knocking the wind out of him.
After being attacked by the rabbit and inadvertently releasing it, Liu Peiqi felt humiliated. Was this rabbit mutated, making life difficult for everyone?
Unable to overpower it physically, Liu Peiqi decided on a more cunning approach. He started setting traps in the grass, a simple method to funnel the rabbits towards him. As a rabbit rushed into the trap, its neck got caught.
Finally, he succeeded in catching a rabbit and also gathered a bunch of grass seeds.
"Rabbits!" Liu Zhao watched Liu Peiqi return, carrying two plump rabbits. His mouth watered.
"Are there rabbits nearby?" Tang Xuhai was surprised. "Great, I'll catch a couple too. We'll have roasted rabbit tonight, a good supplement for those injured."
"Sure!" Liu Zhao was excited. He was one of the injured, so this was a treat for him.
Fu Shiwu leaned against the door, holding the hard drive, waiting for Miao Jia to come over.
Tang Xuhai told him, "The metallic chip inside should be fine. Let Miao Jia take a look at it."
Fu Shiwu nodded. Tang Xuhai grabbed his machete and left. He had stored the dragon bones and giant sword inside his body since finding it convenient.
Olande approached Fu Shiwu, noticing his low spirits. "What's wrong?"
Fu Shiwu clutched the hard drive, forced a smile, and said, "It's nothing." Then, after a pause, he added, "Nothing concerning you guys."
This matter with the hard drive was his own affair. He added the extra sentence to avoid worrying Olande.
Even Olande, who was good at socializing, was somewhat speechless at this response.
At that moment, Miao Jia ran over. This guy had gone to hassle with Horn Ting, now returning refreshed.
"Fu Bro, let me take a look," Miao Jia eagerly reached for Fu Shiwu's hard drive, but he added, "But I think, Fu Bro, you should be mentally prepared."
Fu Shiwu took a breath and said, "Okay, I understand."
Olande stood nearby, curious. Miao Jia extracted the small disk and connected it to a data cable, manipulating it for a while.
"Fu Bro, most of the data here is missing. The entire software is fragmented," Miao Jia regretfully concluded.
"Then... can you rewrite the program based on these remnants?" Fu Shiwu asked.
Miao Jia looked troubled. "I have no idea about the structure of this software... only these residual coding fragments. It's impossible to recreate a program similar to this from scratch. Of course, if this is the video software used to contact your parents, it might not be difficult. However, I also found a portion of self-destructive warning functions integrated into this hard drive. The software is perfectly linked to these elements. Without a reference sample, achieving that effect and establishing contact with your parents would be impossible."
Miao Jia pointed out the real difficulties. Fu Shiwu felt disheartened.
At this point, Olande couldn't help but say, "Is it something crucial? Do you want me to take a look? My previous company dealt with software, and I know computer programming."
Miao Jia glanced at him disapprovingly and said defiantly, "Is your expertise superior to mine? Go ahead, then."
Olande responded with a good-natured smile to Miao Jia's challenge. He turned to Fu Shiwu and
said, "Maybe I can find a solution."
Fu Shiwu couldn't refuse, even though he also believed that Miao Jia probably couldn't do much, just like everyone else.
Miao Jia crossed his arms, quite disdainful of Olande's overly confident technical skills.
It couldn't be helped; in certain technological aspects, the country Olande hailed from did indeed surpass others. The country of Hua Xia had started its development many years later.
After a while, Olande furrowed his brow, looking embarrassed and apologetic at Fu Shiwu. "Unfortunately, there's no way to salvage this."
Fu Shiwu sighed inwardly, pushing up his glasses without much expression. "It's okay."
Miao Jia stifled a laugh, understanding Fu Shiwu's tendency to appear indifferent, but this attitude didn't seem like it at all.
Luckily, at that moment, Tang Xuhai returned with a bountiful harvest—two rabbits and a wild chicken.
At night, around the campfire, they ate the savory roasted game meat and thick rice porridge, feeling all the fatigue dissipate from their bodies.
By then, more survivors arrived, huddling around their camp, but even with their gathering, it wasn't easy in this non-plain terrain; they were still scattered across several peaks.
After a while, a few young people approached.
Seeing them, Zhen Zi stood up. "Is something wrong?"
One of them awkwardly touched his neck and nervously addressed Tang Xuhai, "I wanted to ask about the nighttime defense arrangement."
Though Tang Xuhai had mentioned everyone being responsible for their own safety, with so many people, they couldn't rely on just eleven individuals to protect them.
Tang Xuhai nodded knowingly. While not responsible for their lives, certain necessary defensive plans had to be made. After all, if this group went astray, it would also affect them.
Tang Xuhai beckoned a few others over, and using the cleared space, drew a rough map of the nearby terrain.
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