Chapter 249 - Sol Three Hundred and Forty-Two, Don’t Die on Mars (2/2)

“Then forget it…”

Sleepiness was creeping up to him and Tang Yue couldn’t be bothered about the shovel. To be precise, his brain had already lost its ability to think. Tang Yue didn’t feel cold and even found his body warm. It felt like he was snuggling in bed on Kunlun Station or soaking in a bathtub. It was serene and tranquil.

How comfortable.

It’s really comfortable…

Tang Yue slowly curled up and closed his eyes.

“Tang Yue! Tang Yue!” Tomcat crawled over and smacked Tang Yue’s visor.

“Ah… What are you doing?” Tang Yue opened his eyes and saw the huge cat face plastered on his visor. “I’m so sleepy. I need some sleep. Don’t disturb me.”

“Tang Yue, listen to me. We deviated slightly from the correct direction! I just realized that we need to head fifty meters east! Heard that? We need to walk fifty meters east!” Tomcat roared as it shook Tang Yue as hard as it could. The latter looked at him blankly, his eyes glazed. He felt that its voice was indistinct and distant as though there were thick walls and glass between them. “Heard that? Tang Yue!”

“Okay, I got it.”

Tang Yue nodded.

“Then get up! Get up and walk! Fifty meters!”

“Nope. I can’t even walk five meters. So what if we deviated? I don’t care.” Tang Yue slurred and turned around. “I’m exhausted. I can’t move… I’m not even moving if God comes. I’m not going to move for the rest of my life.”

“Come on! Get up!”

“I want to sleep…”

Tang Yue’s brain was rejecting every command as his clarity of thought turned murky.

“Don’t you sleep!” Tomcat tried to help Tang Yue up again, but its repeated attempts all ended in failure. Tang Yue’s body was slumped on the ground like a bag of heavy mud. Helpless, Tomcat could only place his torso over its hind legs. Then like a lone soldier on the battlefield, it moved backward, dragging a casualty away from the front lines. “Don’t you sleep! Tang Yue! Make sure you don’t sleep! If you sleep, I’ll strip you naked and put you on Olympus Mons!”

Tang Yue was slightly jolted awake.

“But I’m too sleepy…”

“Recite some poems if you are sleepy!” Tomcat crawled one step forward and pulled Tang Yue along. “Repeat after me! Repeat whatever I say!”

“Okay… I’ll repeat… whatever you say…”

“When heaven is about to confer a great responsibility on man!” Tomcat grabbed Tang Yue by the neck with one paw as it used another paw to reach deep into the sand as it tried its best to crawl forward.

Tang Yue’s body was limp. He tried moving his arms to aid Tomcat, but they were like noodles. He wasn’t able to exert any strength at all. It was as though he was boneless—perhaps a nice description of a woman to describe their soft hands, but completely odd for a man.

“When… heaven… is about to… confer a great… responsibility on man…” Tang Yue muttered.

“It will exercise his mind with suffering!” Tomcat yelled.

“It… will exercise… his mind… with suffering…” Tang Yue repeated after it.

“Subject his sinews and bones to hard work!”

“Subject his… sinews and bones… to hard work…”

“Expose his body to hunger!”

“Ex… Expose… I’m so hungry…”

“Expose his body to hunger! Do not go gentle into the night!”

“You are messing up your lines, Tomcat…”

“Do you still remember what Miss Mai Dong said to you? If you were given three sols to live! Darkness and death will ultimately arrive. You should angrily raise your torch with a roar and face it!” Tomcat dragged Tang Yue, passing through the sand and blizzard, yelling furiously, “Listen up, Tang Yue… No matter what, no matter what happens, don’t you die on this goddamn Mars—!”