Qianyuan: My crew comes from the world of anime.

Without saying a word, I pulled him directly to the disinfection table and scrubbed his hands clean with the force of scrubbing his skin off.

"..."

Is there any connection between the scent on her hands and Levi's inexplicable breast rubbing?

Luo Tianming pondered the question for a moment.

Feeling that he couldn't draw any conclusions, he simply stopped thinking about it and decided to check what he had gained this time.

He retorted to Levi, "Who said I didn't find any treasure? Aren't the things I brought in treasures?"

Upon hearing this, Revy immediately perked up: "What treasure? Where is it?!"

She rushed to the diving suit next to the return capsule, only to find two algae-covered corpses that he had dragged in.

Revy: "This is the treasure you were talking about?!"

While she was away, Luo Tianming tore a page from the 'Captain's Log', which slowly transformed back into a box of pink pearls.

He walked up to Levi and handed it to her, saying, "This is the 'treasure' you've been looking for."

After saying that, he went to check on the condition of the two corpses.

"—!"

Behind her, Levi's voice, louder than any of the Nautilus's machinery, boomed: "Holy crap!! We've struck it rich...we've struck it rich! Hahahaha!"

Seeing Levi's incredibly tasteless laughter, Luo Tianming sighed helplessly.

She's beautiful in every way, except for her mouth, which she doesn't know how to keep quiet about.

Especially her style of doing things, she's more like a tomboy than a woman... like the way she's putting her arm around Luo Tianming's neck right now, which is definitely not something an ordinary woman would do.

"Hey," Revy said 'domineeringly', bringing her head close to her face, "since I saved you, you should at least share some of this bead with me, right?"

"We're practically family... How about I forgo my salary this month and just give me pearls instead?"

She raised an eyebrow...

Luo Tianming said with a calm expression, "...Hmm, really? Since you want it so much, then I'll give you a whole box."

Levi: "!"

"Really?!" A look of doubt flashed across her face for a moment, then was quickly replaced by joy.

Those pinkish-white pearls, each the size of a pigeon's egg, could be used as an adornment for a king's crown. If sold on the black market, they could probably fetch tens of thousands of US dollars each.

You could make a fortune just by hiding one...

However, Luo Tianming casually gave away a box, and these pieces could be strung together to make a pearl necklace.

She looked at Pearl with undisguised delight.

But she soon realized another problem: Why was Alo being so nice to her?

Was it because of the so-called 'life-saving grace,' or did he have ulterior motives towards her?

"..."

Levi couldn't understand it, so she simply asked him, "What exactly is your purpose?"

"If you're planning to bribe me with money, you'd better watch out. Loyalty that can be bought with money is the most fragile. If I can be bribed by you, I can also be bribed by others."

Luo Tianming: "..."

Seeing Levi's serious expression, he realized that she must have misunderstood that he had given away so many pearls at once because he had ulterior motives towards her.

He scratched his head and decided to tell Revy the truth that he had only realized later:

"Okay... I admit I've taken advantage of you a bit too much. I'll still pay you your salary this month as usual, so you won't kill me because you didn't get paid."

Levi: "Huh?"

Luo Tianming: "Hmm, how should I explain this to you... For example—that box of 'marbles' you're holding, at most you can only trick kids into giving you candy."

Levi: "..."

She was even more confused.

Luo Tianming said she was holding a box of children's marbles, but these were clearly the highest grade pearls; she couldn't possibly be mistaken.

Even if it's a fake, its value is comparable to that of artificial pearls.

Seeing her 'naive' look, Luo Tianming took the opportunity to tear off another page, revealing an entire cabinet.

"..."

Levi even missed asking him how he managed to take out the entire cabinet.

She stared blankly at the cabinet full of colorful pearls, which lay there one drawer after another.

If we follow her conversion method, there could very well be ten million US dollars worth of pearls here.

Seeing her completely freeze, Luo Tianming still relentlessly attacked, "You see? That box of pearls is worthless here."

"If you want to play pinball with the kids at the next stop, I can lend you some..."

Before he could finish speaking, Levi tossed him a box of pearls.

"asshole!!"

Levi's values ​​as a normal person collapsed... In fact, this was something Luo Tianming had experienced before. When he thought of this, he went crazy and questioned the 'Captain's Log'.

Fortunately, this time I earned a lot of recruitment vouchers, which I can use to recruit new crew members when we reach the next stop.

Aside from unlocking the 'Business is Business' system, the biggest gain this time was the two corpses of the algae crawlers.

After Luo Tianming processed them, he wrapped them in aluminum foil and threw them into the freezer where the corpses were preserved... These creatures had very precious 'alien blood plasma' on them.

While it's not bad to exchange it for recruitment vouchers, its true purpose is as a universal blood transfusion agent.

Its versatility allows it to effectively treat blood loss in any living organism.

However, it also has certain side effects... After use, it can cause certain mental illnesses and organ damage, so it should not be used unless absolutely necessary.

But in a life-or-death situation, this is a treasure that can save lives.

He didn't plan to exchange this for the system's currency until he reached the next station where he could find more reliable healing medicine.

Chapter 15 The Mother of Algae

Restarting its engines, the Nautilus left the entire wreck behind in just half a minute.

If Luo Tianming doesn't plan to release the navigation recorder in the future, it's likely that no one else will ever discover this shipwreck.

The vast ocean is boundless... The probability of a submarine encountering another submarine sailing side by side on Europa is infinitesimally close to zero. Moreover, in a sea with visibility of only a few dozen meters, finding a specific shipwreck is no less difficult than finding a needle in a haystack.

...the probability of encountering pirates is probably higher.

"..."

The Nautilus continued to autopilot in the direction recorded by the navigation system. There were no new problems along the way, and the log itself became as still as stagnant water. Luo Tianming would not give it another chance to cause trouble.

He nearly lost his life after his first time going outside the cabin, and he will never go outside again until he can ensure his safety.

The tedious flight soon bored Levy again.

She came to the bridge where Luo Tianming was once again, holding a carefully selected pearl in her hand.

I carefully wiped away any non-existent dust.

Luo Tianming: "..."

He looked at the pearls that Levi had polished so brightly they reflected light and sighed, "No matter how much you polish them, you can't get the price you want at the exchange."

"..."

Levi now knows that these so-called pearls are actually worthless here. She counted the entire cabinet of pearls in the storage area over and over again, and even at night she wished she could take a few home to put under her pillow.

After so much time had passed, seeing that Luo Tianming didn't care about those things at all, but instead treasured the two green corpses, Levi was pretty much certain that these pearls were indeed worthless on Europa.

She replied somewhat dejectedly, "Of course I know... but this trip is so boring, I have to do something."

"My two beloved guns are so clean that there's not even a trace of gunpowder left. You can't expect me to polish the bullets until they're shiny and shiny... At least polishing these pearls will give me the illusion of being a multi-millionaire."

Luo Tianming shook his head; a real millionaire wouldn't do such a thing.

After wiping the pearls again, Revy sighed once more:

"I'm so bored~~~ Please, give me something to fire a couple of shots, I feel like I'm going to rust if this keeps up."

"..."

If nothing unexpected happens on the entire submarine, then Levi, the 'safety officer,' has the most relaxed job.

Luo Tianming took care of all the work, including operating the submarine and maintaining its electromechanical systems, leaving her only to sit in the ship's weapon aiming window and stare blankly.

They are currently in the 'Cold Cave' area 1000 meters underwater on Europa, where there aren't many monsters... Their current journey is also nearing its end, and Luo Tianming has even seen the lighthouse of their next destination. The radio frequency is also about to reach its access limit.

What could possibly go wrong...?

—?!

Suddenly, the radar panel in front of Luo Tianming started to sound an alarm. A band-like reaction appeared 200 meters ahead, forming several rice-grain-sized dots of light under the reflection of the sonar, and several dark shadows kept circling around the lighthouse.

"...!"

Luo Tianming immediately looked at the 'jinxed' Levi, and now her wish had come true.

"Get to the weapon control window quickly!!"

As the captain, he immediately gave the order, and Levi dared not delay, entering combat mode in just 3.3 seconds.

At the same time, based on his previous experience in the game, Luo Tianming judged: "Use the proximity fuse to release the safety restriction at the 11 o'clock position of this ship, and then fire at full power within a 50-meter range."

Levi: "..."

Seeing her puzzled look, Luo Tianming quickly completed the weapon settings for her.

To put it simply, this submarine only has two low-powered repeating guns.

He roared again, "You just need to have fun! I'll steer the submarine to avoid the monsters and keep them away from our ship's hull!"

Now she understood—a signature cruel smile spread across her face; the madwoman known as 'Lay' was back.

Meanwhile, Luo Tianming's job was also quite demanding. He had to maneuver the nearly 50-meter-long submarine alone to evade enemy attacks, while also coordinating with Levi to create suitable firing angles.

"..."

As soon as Levi pulled the trigger, the ship's bow cannons unleashed a barrage of fire, firing 900 rounds per minute. The icy seawater near the muzzle was scorched and boiled by the trailing flames of the incoming ammunition.

At that moment, Levi's maniacal laughter echoed from the weapon control window:

"Hahahaha! Come on, come on—! You scum, all of you, die!!"

"F*ck!" She gave them the middle finger with her right hand. "You malformed aliens! Go to heaven and shout Hallelujah!"

Luo Tianming: "..."

He calculated the time and it seemed to be about right.

The next second, the two rapid-fire cannons that Levi was controlling suddenly stopped firing, and no matter how she pulled the trigger, it had no effect.

Seeing this, Luo Tianming explained:

"The weapon is overheating... You should have the two cannons fire intermittently and alternately."

Levi: "..."

However, he was no longer worried about those dark figures. The lights on the sonar system had completely disappeared, and the monsters that had surrounded the lighthouse of the settlement had been blasted apart by the blast wave from the near-detonation shells when they rushed over.

However, he was also quite curious as to why the settlement didn't take matters into its own hands and deal with the monsters.

Judging from their size, these appear to be just some algae crawling on the surface.

He soon found out why the settlement wasn't firing.

...As the Nautilus slowly advanced, the edge of the sonar system detected a medium-sized spot of light!

Based on the algae crawler that was just killed, it can be inferred that this was clearly the clan matriarch of the algae crawler race, also known as the 'Mother of the Crawlers'.

This organism is more than five times the size of a common algae crawler, with a body length of over ten meters. Its distinctive features include a crown-like ring of horn-shaped protrusions on its head, a bloated belly containing rapidly hatching algae crawler larvae and highly acidic eggs that can corrode metal.

Although the Mother of Reptiles, at a size of over ten meters, is far from enormous on Europa, it is practically a regional tyrant in the shallow, cold cave regions.

Especially for a novice captain like Luo Tianming, if they were to encounter each other head-on elsewhere, they would likely only end up with their ship destroyed and everyone dead.

"..."