Chen Ming immediately frowned and closed the door of the storage chamber.
His gaze first turned to the refrigerator where he stored all his food.
The refrigerator door was tightly shut, with no sign of any cold air leakage.
Moreover, the refrigerator must be manually opened and closed by pressing a button on the wall.
A hamster shouldn’t be able to open the button, sneak in to steal food, come out, and then close the door.
So Chen Ming’s gaze turned to the dark corners of the storage chamber.
However, after searching for almost half an hour, Chen Ming was still unable to find the hamster in the 25-square-meter room.
It was like seeing a cockroach in the room, which disappears the moment you turn around, never to be found again.
Just when Chen Ming was about to give up, a slight gnawing sound suddenly echoed in the quiet storage chamber.
Chen Ming immediately became alert, following the source of the sound, looking at an asteroid he had collected before landing on the planet, roughly the size of a human head.
Due to its angular appearance and almost natural twenty-sided shape, Chen Ming specifically brought it back and stored it in the storage chamber.
And the hamster was inside this asteroid.
It had dug through the outer rock layer of the asteroid, creating a tunnel to the inside.
When Chen Ming peered into the tunnel, the hamster was curled up in a ball, fast asleep.
The gnawing sound earlier was made while it was sleeping.
Chen Ming twitched the corner of his mouth and took advantage of still wearing his protective suit to reach in and pull it out.
Grabbing it by the scruff of the neck, despite its futile struggle, he put it into another basket.
Then he took out the terminal and snapped a photo of it.
Quickly, the terminal displayed the search results.
"FC-103 hamster, also known as rock hamster, big-toothed hamster, Fan Chao pet hamster."
"A product of Fan Chao Laboratory, a specially bred pet hamster variety with a gentle, active temperament, strong physical fitness, and survival capability. Teeth and front claws harder than most common metals..."
"Complex cerebral cortex, high intelligence, very easy to train..."
"Low food intake, requiring only a small amount of food and water to survive for a long time..."
"Needs regular supplementation of trace iron elements, otherwise may damage stone or metal items..."
Attached were several photos of the damage caused by the hamster.
Making Chen Ming glance at the basket and the ore next to it that had been dug into, immediately understanding the hardness of its teeth and claws.
However, these photos seemed to have been taken in laboratory-like settings.
It made sense, after all, as a pet it surely lived in the city.
Cities were never short of iron, supplementing trace iron elements was easy enough.
Only a specific laboratory study could uncover such strange behavior.
Chen Ming continued reading.
"...Prefers consuming plant buds, but laboratory staff noted when the pet research was published that consuming buds is just because it tastes good, and it’s okay if not given."
"...Currently, due to some association’s misconduct, this species has spread across many planets, with various mutated varieties..."
Further details were unimportant, Chen Ming glanced through them casually and turned off the terminal.
Then he focused on what was in front of him.
"Artificially bred pet... Hmm... What to do..."
Chen Ming looked at the hamster in the new cage, itching to bite the iron bars, and fell into contemplation.
After thinking for a while, Chen Ming decided to keep it for now as a backup food source.
Even though it was just enough for one bite, even just a bite could be life-saving in a critical moment.
Chen Ming went outside and picked a fresh plant bud, turning back to see the hamster obediently sitting still.
But several places on the iron cage had already been gnawed into gaps.
Chen Ming twitched the corner of his mouth again, opened the lid, and stuffed the bud into its embrace.
The hamster’s eyes seemed to light up, quickly chomping down the bud, and continued staring at Chen Ming.
"I’ll give it to you tomorrow."
Chen Ming wasn’t sure if the hamster understood him.
But it did remain still, obediently crouching in the cage.
Chen Ming nodded slightly,
If it truly stays quietly in the cage, having a pet might actually be a good thing.
Chen Ming discovered the basket had been gnawed through again.
After searching the storage chamber for half a day, he eventually found the sleeping hamster inside the asteroid.
Chen Ming wasn’t sure whether to laugh or be angry.
In any case, he immediately went outside the spaceship and picked a sprout, returning to the storage chamber to pull the hamster out, bringing it to the damaged cage.
Waving the freshly picked bud in front of it, then pointed to the spot it had chewed into the basket.
Finally, he stuffed the bud into his own mouth.
Seeing the hamster’s wide eyes filled with disbelief, Chen Ming felt quite satisfied.
Then he spent some time welding a new cage for the hamster and put it inside.
Finally, he picked another sprout and handed it to it. Thɪs chapter is updatᴇd by NovᴇlFir(e).nᴇt
Watching the hamster contentedly chew on the bud, Chen Ming sighed lightly.
Let’s see, if it can be tamed this way, that’d be great.
If not, he’d better consider it as food lest it damages the spaceship one day.
However, when Chen Ming returned from outside that day, the hamster was still quietly staying in the cage, not continuing to gnaw through it.
Its large, glistening eyes stared at Chen Ming, as if awaiting something.
Chen Ming smiled, turned to pick a sprout outside the spaceship, and handed it to it.
Seeing the hamster satisfied, Chen Ming was now certain, this hamster could be kept as a pet.
Having a little animal around certainly added some flavor to Chen Ming’s monotonous life each day.
In some time, he might be flying alone through the vast space for a long time, having a living animal as company wouldn’t be bad.
Moreover, if the records on the terminal were accurate, the food required for the hamster’s daily survival was very minimal, almost akin to a mere fraction of Chen Ming’s daily needs, multiplied by a factor of 0.1.
The tangible material cost for Chen Ming to keep a pet was negligible compared to the satisfaction he gained spiritually.
Also, as mentioned before, this little creature could truly serve as Chen Ming’s emergency ration in the final moments.
The hamster seemed to sense something, suddenly shuddered, glanced around without finding anything, and continued focusing intently on its food.