Now Jiang Cheng was almost too exhausted to continue the mission, even standing was difficult.

Don't wait for me, you guys start preparing for the drilling. I'll be fine after a short rest.

Jiang Cheng waved his hand to indicate he was fine and let the other astronauts begin their tasks.

Our time is extremely tight, there's a storm expected any time, so we must seize every moment. Let me rest here for a bit.

They didn't have the luxury of wasting time, the storm could come at any moment, causing their entire mission to fail.

So, in the end, Jiang Cheng decided not to rest and just move forward. After all, his body's recovery ability was incredible, and he could return to a normal state after just a short while.

By the time the others were ready for the drilling work, Jiang Cheng would more or less be recuperated.

Jiang Cheng stood there, beginning to recover his depleted energy.

Meanwhile, the others started to get busy, preparing for the drilling work.

They needed to penetrate several hundred meters of ice before they could reach the Alpha Crystal's location.

This part was the most challenging aspect of the entire mission, and figuring out how to quickly get through the ice layer was the biggest hurdle.

Once they could reach the Alpha Crystal, the subsequent transport would be much easier.

Hoisting several tons of material from hundreds of meters below the surface might seem extremely difficult, but for Jiang Cheng and his team, it was quite manageable.

When the time came, Jiang Cheng would have the ship move to a position directly above the drill site.

Then the lander would extend a winch cable and hoist the Alpha Crystal into the craft.

Once they secured the Alpha Crystal, Jiang Cheng's team could leave the planet without needing to land again, heading towards the Pioneer.

This action plan was something Jiang Cheng had planned long before, optimizing to save as much time as possible.

Essentially, the time-consuming portion for Jiang Cheng and the team was getting through the ice and securing the Alpha Crystal.

The rest of the work wouldn't take much time; hence, the main focus of this operation was on that part.

If Jiang Cheng's team could drill quickly enough, they could finish all their tasks and leave this damned place before the storm hit.

At that moment, Jiang Cheng was working hard to restore his energy, hoping to reach a good condition before officially starting the drilling.

The other astronauts were now sorting out the equipment laid on the ground.

They had opened all the equipment and conducted a round of tuning work.

The three astronauts were now making final preparations, with just a few minutes left before the operation would commence.

The astronauts by Jiang Cheng's side were specially selected for this task.

Each of them was among the elite, excelling in physical fitness, experience, and skills among astronauts.

Jiang Cheng needed capable assistants for this mission; otherwise, this tough task was impossible to complete alone. Hence, Jiang Cheng picked the best performers among his astronauts to join him for this crucial mission.

Only these top astronauts could keep up with Jiang Cheng's pace.

If rookies were brought here, it would be surprising if they didn't need Jiang Cheng's care, let alone help him during the mission.

Jiang Cheng watched the three astronauts preparing while working on regaining his strength.

After observing their performance for a while, he silently nodded in approval.

The three astronauts were performing excellently, at least he didn't notice any mistakes.

Even under the extreme conditions of Neptune, they displayed no signs of panic.

From beginning to now, they've remained composed and calm, quite unlike first-timers here.

Jiang Cheng could disregard the environmental pressures, acting no different from usual.

That was because, in a previous life, he often researched on such extreme planets, so he was used to these conditions.

These astronauts had never been in such conditions before, making their performance truly impressive.

If Jiang Cheng were also here for the first time, he might not have performed better than these astronauts.

Clearly, elite astronauts live up to their reputation, readily adapting to any environment and proficiently completing various space tasks.

This is why they stand out among many astronauts.

Soon enough, the three astronauts completed all their preparations, with all equipment debugged and ready for the drilling task.

After a few minutes of rest, although Jiang Cheng was not fully recovered, he was in good enough shape to tackle the coming task.

"Let's start the operation, humanity's future depends on us."

Before taking action, Jiang Cheng loudly encouraged everyone.

He wasn't wrong; humanity's future hinged on the success of this mission.

If the extraction was successful, Jiang Cheng would have several tons of Alpha Crystal.

These Alpha Crystals would allow Jiang Cheng to build a Mecha Fleet, giving humanity enough confidence to interact with other cosmic civilizations.

The universe is filled with conflicts and battles, and without a Mecha unit, Jiang Cheng had no confidence in leading humanity out of the solar system.

Lack of strength is pitiable at any time, only by being powerful can one not fear challenges from other civilizations.

Jiang Cheng quickly sprang into action, operating the pre-set drilling equipment. As the device was activated, it began emitting loud noises.

Then the drill bit began spinning rapidly, gradually moving towards the ice layer. Jiang Cheng focused on controlling the drilling equipment towards the Alpha Crystal's position.

They needed to drill a hole large enough for people to pass through, to secure the cable to the Alpha Crystal.

This way, the lander could hoist the Alpha Crystal from hundreds of meters deep beneath the ice and load it onto the lander.

This drilling phase was the toughest part of the mission.

Drilling a passable hole several hundred meters deep is not an easy task.

The massive drill bit spun rapidly, approaching the ice layer to start drilling.

When the drill made contact with the ice, ice shards flew up all around.

Pieces of ice were flung onto Jiang Cheng's face, and if not for the spacesuit, he would have been injured.