It was time to check the water samples he had brought back.
Aiden placed the sealed containers onto the work surface and powered up the analysis tools. The process was a bit slow, but he still watched the readings without rushing anything. He Numbers settled in steadily and the indicators stayed stable through and through. Nothing spiked or warned him of anything.
The results were clean.
The water showed no harmful traces. No toxins. No dangerous organisms that the ship systems could detect. It was very safe to consume as is.
Aiden let out a slow breath that he did not realize he had been holding.
"This is good. This solves one of my biggest problems."
He leaned back slightly and looked at the data again, just to be sure. The readings did not change. Clean water meant he no longer had to depend only on stored supplies or risky boiling methods. It meant he could plan without fear of running dry on such resource now.
He pulled up the terrain data next. The drone records filled the screen, layered with elevation lines and distance markers. He compared them with the ship's location and traced the path from the lake back to the base. His eyes followed the slope carefully, checking every rise and drop along the way.
The water source sat higher than the ship, and the elevation difference was clear once he compared the readings. That confirmed what he had been hoping for since the moment he found the lake. He straightened and let his shoulders ease slightly, the tension leaving them bit by bit.
"This is workable. The height difference means I don't need to build a pump or waste power moving water uphill. If I guide it properly, the water will reach the base on its own."
With that settled, he began planning the system in his head while sketching rough lines on the terminal. Near the lake, there would be an intake placed deep enough to stay submerged even if the water level dropped. A stone filter bed would sit around it to block mud, sand, and debris. From there, pipe sections would run downhill toward the ship.
He marked several points along the route where pressure could build up. At those spots, he planned to place small tanks to break the flow and release excess pressure. The water would spill into each tank and continue on, steady and controlled. Near the ship, a final filter and a storage tank would catch everything before it entered his supply.
He also planned how to protect the line.
The pipes would be buried shallow, just deep enough to keep animals from biting or crushing them. He did not need them far underground. He needed them easy to reach, easy to repair, and safe enough to last. Digging deeper would only waste time and energy.
He paused and calculated the workload.
With the exoskeleton assisting him, the digging, cutting, and placement were possible. It would not be fast, but it would not break him either.
"It will take time. About a week if I keep moving. That should be fine, right?"
For the first time since arriving on this world, Aiden felt something close to stability settle in his chest. Power had been his first limit. Water had been the second. With both now within reach, survival no longer felt like a daily gamble.
The next day, he started with upgrades.
He entered the workshop and powered down the exoskeleton before opening its core housing. The seven fragmented cores that had been feeding the system were still functional, but they were not ideal. They drained unevenly and required careful management.
Aiden removed them one by one and set them aside.
In their place, he installed half of the Grade E core taken from the smaller deer he had hunted near the lake. Instead of using it whole, he had already split it into two balanced segments and shaped the housing so the energy flow would remain stable.
The connection stabilized almost at once, and the power flow evened out as the system came back online. The response felt smoother than before, with no sudden drops or delays.
The output was stronger, but more important, it was steady and reliable. As he sealed the housing, he already knew what he would use the other half for. The laser cutter would need the same level of stable power if he wanted to cut and shape large sections of the ship without stopping.
"This will last longer. I will not need to hold back every time I move."
With the upgrade complete, he ran a short movement test. The exoskeleton responded cleanly, supporting his weight without hesitation. The added power meant he could activate more systems at once without worrying about sudden drops.
Next came the laser cutter.
The tool rested on the workbench, its surface marked by scratches and heat stains from earlier use. It had been built from one of the ship's extra thrusters, reshaped and reinforced to focus energy instead of pushing mass. It had already proven useful by cutting the steel trees, but Aiden knew its limits well.
The cutter had never failed because of its design. It had been built from a research vessel's ship thruster, and the quality of that part was beyond doubt. The tool itself was top tier, but the power limits he had worked under before had always held it back.
This time would be different.
Aiden opened the cutter's housing and exposed the internal channels. He adjusted the feed lines with care, then seated the core segment into its slot. The fit was tight and deliberate, shaped earlier so there would be no wasted space and no loose movement. He secured it in place and closed the housing, sealing every latch by hand.
When he powered it on, the difference was immediate.
The cutter came alive with a deeper hum than before, steady and confident instead of strained. The sound carried weight now, and the energy output felt sharp and controlled. He picked up a scrap piece of metal from the floor and held it steady.
The beam cut through cleanly.
There was no hesitation, no flicker, and no need to slow down. The metal parted as if it had been waiting for the blade.
Aiden nodded once.
"This changes the pace of my work. I will not need to stop every few minutes, and I can finish large sections now."
With this level of stable power, the cutter was no longer just a tool for careful work. It was something he could rely on for long hours. It meant he could start dismantling unused sections of the ship without stopping every few minutes to manage output. It meant pipes, frames, and structural pieces were finally within reach.
He moved through the ship and marked sections that could be dismantled without harming core systems. Unused cargo areas. Redundant panels and frames. Spare equipment bays that had never been opened since the crash. Storage compartments with heavy mounts that served no purpose now. Even extra hull layers in some areas could be cut away carefully.
Each piece was potential pipe material.
The ship was massive, built to last long missions, and it carried far more structure than he needed to survive inside it. Taking from those sections was a cost he was willing to pay. Water mattered more.
He made his first cut that day, sparks lighting the dim corridor as metal parted under the beam. The work was loud and tiring, and the heat built up quickly, but the exoskeleton held steady and the cutter did its job.
This was only the beginning.
He would need many sections. Many days of work. Careful planning to avoid weakening the ship. But with the power he now had and the tools upgraded to match, it was possible.
******
Cold water ran over his fingers as he held his hands under the stream.
It flowed clear and steady, guided by the pipes he had set into place over the past week. He watched the water wash away dirt and dried blood, then rubbed his palms together slowly. The chill bit into his skin, but it felt clean.
He lifted his hands and let the last drops fall back into the stream as he watched the water flow without interruption.
"Finally finished everything..." he said quietly, listening to the steady sound. "No leaks, no pressure spikes, and nothing strange in the taste."
The piping work had taken longer than he expected, with each section needing careful adjustment and testing. Still, it was finished now, and it worked exactly as intended. Water moved through the system in a steady flow, clean and stable, with no leaks or strain anywhere along the line.
He had also cleared paths between the base and the lake while doing the work. Tall grass was cut down, and small trees that blocked the way were removed. The paths were narrow but clear, made only for movement, not comfort. One led straight to the lake, and another brought him back to the ship. After days of walking the same routes, the ground had flattened and firmed under his steps, making travel faster and safer.
He had decided to do this after seeing fish in the lake the second time he went there. Long shapes moved under the water, calm and unbothered. That sight made him think ahead. The lake was not just a source of water. It held food as well, and he wanted easy access when he was ready to use it.
The hunts had also gone well over the past few days, even if they had taken their toll on his body. Five more deer had been brought down, cleaned, and stored with care. Their bodies were larger than the deer he knew from Earth, with thicker muscle packed tight around heavy bone. Cutting through them took more effort, and his arms often ached by the time he finished.
Four of the deer carried F rank cores. One carried an E rank core.
He felt the difference the moment he cracked the E rank core free. The energy inside was denser and steadier, pressing against his senses in a way the others did not. It felt heavier in his hand, not in weight, but in presence. He stored it separately, wrapped and marked, knowing it would be more valuable later.
The bunnies surprised him even more.
They were small and quick, easy to overlook once they stopped moving. He expected nothing from them beyond meat and fur. Yet during cleaning, his fingers brushed against something firm inside one of them. He paused, cut more carefully, and found a core no larger than a pebble.
It was not even close to an F rank core. The energy was weak and faint, and he almost missed it entirely. When he held it in his palm, it gave off a soft pulse, barely noticeable.
"So even the small ones have them..." he said quietly. "That changes things."
Aiden realized he had ignored quite a few smaller creatures over the past few days, and the thought left a faint sense of regret in his chest.
He had seen them often, darting through grass or vanishing between roots, but he had let most of them go. Bunnies in particular were harder to deal with than they looked.
Even with aim assist, their sudden movements and low profile made clean shots unreliable. More than once, he decided it was not worth the effort and moved on.
Now, that choice felt short sighted.
If even one of them carried a core, then others might as well. The energy would be small, but small did not mean useless. Enough of them could still support tools, sensors, or backup systems.
"Hmmm... I cannot rely on chasing them though..." he said quietly.
Traps made more sense. Simple ones. Something that worked without constant attention. Something that could turn speed and numbers into an advantage instead of a problem. The idea settled in his mind as a clear next step, something to plan once his current tasks were done.
He wrapped the tiny core he got from the bunny with care and marked it for light tools only.
Water had been the biggest win so far, and he treated it with the care it deserved.
He moved one of the ship's spare water storage units outside and placed it near the intake line from the lake. Dragging it across the ground was slow and punishing, even with the exoskeleton supporting most of the load.
The weight pushed through his legs and settled deep into his spine, forcing him to stop more than once to let the motors cool and his breathing steady. He did not rush it. Dropping or damaging the unit would have been a costly mistake.
Once it was in place, he connected the lake intake to the container instead of routing the water directly to the ship. Even if the lake looked clean, he refused to take chances. This container existed for one reason only, to clean and test everything before it ever touched the ship's reserves.
The water passed through layers as it filled. A rough strainer caught leaves and debris. Finer mesh followed, slowing the flow and removing smaller particles. After that came filtration, steady and quiet.
He installed monitoring units on the container itself, not the ship. They watched the flow and tracked basic levels he trusted, checking balance and stability without needing constant input.
He adjusted the system until the readings held firm.
If anything shifted, if the water changed in a way he did not like, the system would cut the flow immediately so that nothing bad would reach the ship.
Only when everything stayed stable did he connect the clean output line back inside.
Now, the ship drew water from the lake through his safeguards.
He stood there for a moment, watching the display update in real time. The numbers did not move. No warnings appeared. The system stayed quiet, just the way he wanted it.
He stepped back and looked at the palisade wall.
The palisade stood taller now, with each log sunk deeper into the ground and locked in place by solid cross supports. The gaps between them were tighter, leaving little room to slip through without effort.
The earth at its base had been cleared and packed down, removing cover and making approach harder. It would not stop everything that might come, but it would slow most threats long enough for him to react. That alone made the work worth it.
Morning light filtered through the trees in thin, pale lines, casting soft shadows across the ground. The forest was quiet but not silent. Birds called out in low, unfamiliar sounds that drifted through the air and then faded.
He rolled his shoulders, feeling the weight of his gear settle into place, and gave everything one last check.
"South today huh..." he said to himself. "North and west are pretty much covered, at least at a distance... and there is no reason to delay this any longer."
He looked past the palisade toward the trees, already measuring the land in his mind. There was still a lot he had not seen. The area around the base was only a small part of this world, and leaving gaps in his knowledge felt dangerous. He needed a clear picture of what surrounded him, not just nearby, but in every direction that mattered.
Once the south was checked, only the east would remain. After that, he could finally stop roaming and start focusing inward. Food was secured for now. Water flowed clean and steady. Power reserves were still limited, but they were in far better shape than when he had first arrived.
Before that, though, he wanted to see if the land still had more to offer. Materials. Useful plants. Anything he might have missed while rushing to survive. Every resource he found now would make the next stage easier.
He prepared carefully before setting out.
Four throwable spears rested against the workbench, laid out with care. Each one had been carved from the femur of a giant deer, the bone thick and heavy in his hands. He had ground the tips down to narrow points and smoothed the shafts until they fit his grip.
When he lifted them one by one, he tested their balance, letting the weight settle into his palm before giving a short practice motion. They felt solid. Heavy enough to hit with force. Light enough to fly true when thrown.
His gun remained holstered at his side. He trusted it, but he also understood its limits. The weapon could punch cleanly through a skull if he aimed well, ending a fight in an instant.
Against larger bodies, the shot could tear through flesh and still fail to stop the target. The damage was serious, but if the hit was not clean or well placed, it was not enough.
He remembered shooting a deer in the body and seeing it keep charging despite the injury. But if shot on the head, it would be one shot, one kill. That memory stayed with him and made him careful about when and how he used the gun.
The exoskeleton came next. As he sealed it around his body, the frame locked into place with soft mechanical sounds. Power flowed through the system, and a low hum followed as the motors synced.
He checked the readings and nodded when everything stayed within safe limits. Burst mode was available, waiting at the edge of his controls, but he treated it with respect. Using it drained energy fast and sent harsh strain through his muscles and bones, even with the frame taking most of the load. It was not meant for casual use, only for moments when nothing else would be enough.
He stepped past the gate and moved south.
The land did not change much at first.
Trees stood close together, their bark rough and dark. The ground dipped and rose in slow waves. He walked at a steady pace, eyes moving, ears open.
He stopped when he saw something new.
A plant with thick leaves and pale veins grew near a fallen log. He knelt, cut a small sample, and sealed it away. Further on, a stone outcrop showed signs of heat stress. He chipped a piece free and marked the spot.
After fifteen miles, his legs felt it.
The exoskeleton carried most of the load, but his body still worked. Sweat gathered under the frame. His breath came heavier. He slowed and took water, then moved on.
That was when he noticed the smoke.
A thin gray line rose between the trees, climbing straight into the air without breaking apart. It was too steady. Too controlled. Nature did not make smoke like that.
He stopped at once and lowered himself to the ground.
His heart began to pound as he moved forward inch by inch, keeping his body low and close to cover. The smell reached him soon after. Burned wood, sharp and dry, mixed with the heavier scent of cooked food. His breath slowed as he focused.
He reached the edge of a small rise and carefully lifted his head.
Below him, a clearing opened up.
Tents were spread across the ground, made from rough cloth stretched over wooden frames. Fire pits burned at the center, sending heat waves into the air. People moved between the tents, talking, carrying things, tending to the fires.
There were many of them.
He counted quickly, then counted again to be sure. Aiden counted almost a hundred. Men and women moved through the camp, with children staying close to adults and older figures sitting near the edges.
Their clothing was simple, made from leather and thick cloth, worn and patched from long use. Nothing about them looked advanced. What tools he saw were basic and handmade, meant for daily life rather than war.
At his initial check, they had limited weapons, and the camp did not look particularly threatening.
Rough swords hung at the sides of about ten people, their edges uneven and clearly worn from use. A few carried shields made from layered wood and stretched hide, marked with cuts and dents.
Two held bows, the strings loose, arrows resting at their sides instead of notched. Everyone else moved through the camp with empty hands.
"What the... are they humans?" he whispered.
Saying it out loud felt unreal.
His chest tightened as the weight of it settled in.
"There are other people here???" he muttered quietly, the thought leaving him baffled as it sank in.
He stayed where he was and watched the camp in silence, forcing himself to slow his breathing and think clearly. Whatever he chose to do next would matter, and once he made a move, there would be no simple way to take it back.