The fog closed in. The dim light from the stars was just enough to light the road in front of the party. With the help of the compass, they crossed a calm river and came to a fork in the road. They turned to the branch on the left. The road was like a snake, with many sharp turns. And soon they noticed that its height was changing too. Seen from a distance, their figures rose and fell like curves of simple harmonic vibrations. After climbing countless "mini hills", they finally came in sight of a huge clock. The compass signaled them to stop.

Everyone looked at the clock. Behind the dial, which was about 10 meters in diameter, lurked an innumerable number of gears of varying sizes, methodically rotating at their own frequencies. There were two large hands and a small one on the dial, and the second hand was the smaller one. Its tip was arrowhead-shaped, and it was turning slowly and regularly. The hour hand and minute hand were much slower. Since the clock was made, it had never showed wrong time.

"Do you guys like it?" They were startled by a voice from behind the clock.

The party looked in unison to the place where the voice came from. A man came out from behind the clock. Thanks to the light of the compass, William was able to examine him. Around his neck, he wore a pair of folded glasses with diamond lenses. He was wearing a coat with many pockets and carrying a toolkit. Inside those pockets and the toolkit were a bewildering array of tools with which the man repaired clocks. The black shoes on his feet and the friendly smile on his face gleamed under the night.

"Nice to meet you. I am Crick, the skeleton's son." Said the man in a very amiable voice, "You must have seen him."

"Yes, Mr Crick." William replied.

"Come in, please, and sit down for a while." Crick invited them to behind the clock. There was actually a very well hidden door. Open the door and Crick's watchmaker's would be reached.

Small lamp beads on the wall automatically lit up as soon as they entered. Almost at the same moment, the chime rang clear across the room. "You came in just before the hour, so you can hear the clock striking the hour." Said Crick, pointing to a tall grandfather clock.

Ranran approached it slowly. She saw that its shell was fragrant rosewood, with some carved designs. The dial was made of glittering diamonds and a layer of gold. On the dial, the numbers protruded, surrounded by golden circles. Around them were gold scale lines. The hour hand and minute hand stretched out their huge arms, while the second hand enjoyed only a small area that belonged to it -- the place below 12 o'clock. If the lights were turned off, the numbers, scales and hands would glow blue-green because they were coated with fluorescent material. Below the dial were a pendulum and three heavy hammers that were almost made entirely of gold and also intricately carved. The pendulum was swinging slightly from side to side, slowly driving the hands to rotate. The heavy hammers came down slowly, but their movements were barely visible to the naked eye.

"Wow, this clock must be very expensive, right?" She asked.

Crick replied, "Not very, only $500(conserved), although it's the best clock in my store. I also make and sell desk clocks, watches and so on. They're all over there." Then he walked to another corner of the room, opened a cupboard, and lit a light inside. Watches of various shapes attracted the attention of everyone. Some of them were working quietly, while others were resting; some consisted of complex mechanical structures, while others displayed the time digitally. William was attracted to a watch; he could see the gears under the dial and a golden tourbillon. Photon, Natalie, Rebecca and Aria stopped in front of a digital watch.

Then Crick showed them his workbench. The table was neatly arranged with a variety of tools and some spare parts. There were more countless tools and parts in the cabinet below the table. "I only keep the most commonly used tools and parts on my desk or in my pocket," Crick explained, "but that's enough to solve almost any problems about manufacturing and repairing."

"You have a very nice store, Sir." Aria said politely, "I can tell that you're a good watchmaker."

"Oh, don't flatter me. At my current level, I can guarantee that the error of a grandfather clock is less than one second in 1,000 years. Electronic clocks are certainly more accurate."

"Amazing!" William applauded, "You would have become the best watchmaker on my planet."

"Ha ha, I hope so." Crick laughed, "I don't make clocks to make a lot of money or to have a high standard, although I make a decent income. My goal is simple -- I just love it."

William admired Crick more than ever. He went on, "To tell you the truth, there are very few watchmakers like you on my planet. Either they are not as good as you, or they are after fame and money. Very few people see their loves as their purposes and motivations."

"Oh? Really?" Asked Crick, shocked. He couldn't believe his ears. He added, "Why can't they do that?"

"Maybe they just want to do it their way." Said Ranran, "If conditions permit, I would even like you to work on our planet so that our compatriots can enjoy better service."

"Ha, ha, you don't have to. And they make a good choice."

Rebecca nodded.

Crick's next words surprised and delighted everyone. He said,

"My friends, I have a new idea. I've recently been working on how to connect clocks and AI to create a 'clock robot' that can do more than just tell the time. I'm making relatively good progress. I wonder what you think."

"Ah, that's good!" Natalie clapped her hands, "That's a really good idea. What are you going to do?"

Crick told them about his plan, "I'm going to make a robot and put a clock in it. This way, if the user needs another type of service, the robot can serve him; if he wants to check the time, or play with it, the robot will hand the clock to the user. Do you think my innovative idea is feasible?"

"It's simply excellent, Sir!" Photon said, "You will expand your business, get a better reputation and get more income. Kill many birds with one stone!"

"I think so, too. For me, if I like something, it's hard to give it up, like the clock. I was interested in it very early on, so I'm still a watchmaker now. I feel that when I combine clocks and AI, I will be even more unable to give them up. At this point, I seem to understand why none of the watchmakers on your planet are like me. Maybe it's hard for many of them to like clocks."

"Yes." Ranran said.

"Did my father give you any gifts?"

"Yes, Sir." Photon said.

"That's good. And I have a gift for you, too, because you are the first aliens here this year." As he spoke, Crick took a grandfather clock from a tall cupboard.

William said in surprise, "What are you doing, Sir? We don't need such expensive gifts."

"No, no, no, it doesn't look very valuable to me. And considering that it might not be easy to carry, I added tires and a battery pack. Then it can go with you." The grandfather clock that Crick took out did indeed have four tires and a battery behind the pendulum.

"Here you are." He said, pulling out a removable hard disk, "It has the installer in it. Once you have it installed and set up, your computer can be connected to the grandfather clock. It can then receive instructions from the computer to move."

William and his party thanked Crick repeatedly. "That's all right. It's very kind of you. You said just now that your watchmakers should learn to like from us, while perhaps politeness is the one thing we should learn from you." Crick joked, and everyone laughed.

William completed the installation and setup at Crick's watchmaker's. Now the grandfather clock could follow them.

They looked again at the watchmaker's, the tools and parts, watches, desk clocks, as well as grandfather clocks, and reluctantly went out on to their next destination.

Checkpoint 31 is cleared. Energy charge: 3%.

However, they did not notice that behind them, under the huge clock, stood a man in a coat with many pockets and black shoes. He had a watch on his hand, and said,

"Aliens are nice. I hope they will come again."

The party returned to the fork in the road and went to the branch on the right. The wind was now stronger and the temperature dropped slightly. Strong winds blew Ranran's long black hair, moving Photon's and Rebecca's propellers. Natalie's and Aria's tires span slowly.

They could smell a salty smell in the distance, and the wind was very wet from that direction. "Are there seas on this planet, too? But I didn't see any before I landed." William thought, puzzled. Yet in order to shoot down the drone fighter as soon as possible, they had to quicken their pace and go ahead according to the instructions of the compass.