Qianyuan: My crew comes from the world of anime.

"..."

"Money? I'm counting on you to pay me a salary right now. Research findings? Unlikely. If you valued this, you wouldn't have wrapped such precious biological data up like roast meat. Woman,"

Takemi suddenly showed an expression of 'sudden realization':

"Ah, I see... No wonder I didn't see any other men in your submarine, so that's what you were planning."

Luo Tianming: "..."

She had clearly misunderstood something, but... wasn't that a good thing? At least the misunderstanding was in his favor, so he didn't intend to explain anything. He was a master of 'playing dumb'... even when someone threw a direct punch at him, Luo Tianming could pretend he hadn't heard it.

"..."

Wu Jianmiao coughed lightly: "But let me make this clear beforehand, if you're planning to let me trade my body, you'll definitely be at a disadvantage... a woman my age who's still a virgin (very quietly)."

"If you take this back to Earth, even if you want to exercise the 'right of first night' of a nobleman in a certain place (good kids don't search), governments of various countries will hold their noses and allow it."

Luo Tianming: "..."

He can't go back to Earth!

Takemi's values ​​are clearly still at a worldly stage; she doesn't actually realize that:

Compared to Luo Tianming's brutal collection methods, the others wouldn't bother with these things at all, let alone bring the corpses back to the submarine.

Now that Takemi Tae has agreed to board the ship, it's time to put the setting up of a medical room on the agenda.

Miaomiao looked around the room and requested a hospital bed, a computer, and an X-ray machine, and also asked that all the medicines be moved to her room for sorting.

Just as Luo Tianming was about to go out and report the good news to Lei Wei, Wu Jianmiao stopped him and asked a question:

"By the way, I haven't asked you what the name of this submarine is yet?"

Luo Tianming: "'Nautilus'"

"..."

"...Pfft~" She couldn't help but laugh for a moment, then said in a teasing tone:

"Now I believe you're from Earth, otherwise you wouldn't have such a dramatic name, 'Captain Nemo,' heh heh~~~"

Her smile has a sinister feel to it.

Luo Tianming: "..."

She was joking about "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea," and anyone who knows Jules Verne would definitely react to the name "Nautilus."

Compared to Levi's somewhat stubborn personality, Takemi is obviously more humorous and witty, but—she has a natural sense of distance, making her difficult for anyone to approach at present.

Ding ding~ (I feel like my relationship with Takemi is getting deeper...)

-

Chapter 18 Oddities at the Site

After the disinfection was completed, an Alliance soldier wearing a hazmat suit walked up to Luo Tianming and saluted.

"Sir, you and your crew are now free to come and go as you please. Welcome to 'Red Star Station'. We hope you have a pleasant journey."

"Also—our stationmaster, Major Soloviev, wishes to meet with you; he is in his office at the very top of the station."

After saying this, Luo Tianming returned the greeting, and the other party led the disinfection team away from the Nautilus.

"..."

Judging from his appearance, he should be a sergeant, and my rank is most likely 'warrant officer'.

Europa Alliance seems to care a lot about these so-called honorary military ranks. These titles represent a superior-subordinate relationship between officials, but do not have any real power.

However, now that they could go out... Luo Tianming called over Levi, who was maintaining her beloved gun, and Wu Jianmiao, who was tidying up the infirmary, and planned to take them to Red Star Station to browse around and buy some necessities.

As soon as he stepped out of the airlock, Luo Tianming immediately sensed the difference in the Red Star residential station.

The air temperature here is very cold... probably only around ten degrees Celsius.

As soon as she stepped out, Levi shivered: "Damn it! Where am I? Is the air conditioning broken?"

Luo Tianming: "..."

He felt it couldn't be a problem with the air conditioning; to build a station 1000 meters underwater under the ice, the first issue to solve was temperature.

Although temperatures in the teens Celsius won't kill you, this is definitely not normal. At least the outposts that have already fallen have temperatures of around 25 or 26 degrees Celsius. It's impossible for the temperature here to remain this low.

Is it due to insufficient energy, or... something else?

"..."

Judging from the people at the station who were bundled up in thick layers of clothing, he could hardly guess the reason.

But on the other side, Levi was already covered in goosebumps from the cold. If she wasn't given some clothes soon, she would probably catch a cold.

Just as Luo Tianming was about to pull her to buy a coat, Wu Jianmiao, standing behind him with her hands in her pockets, spoke up:

"In the infirmary, I found a new, unopened nautical jacket that has been disinfected. You can wear it if you don't mind."

Levi: "..."

Just when Luo Tianming thought she would stick her neck out and refuse to admit it, Levi didn't say a word, went back into the airlock, and put on the jacket.

Although her fair thighs were still exposed, she didn't seem cold. One has to admire the strange things women have about fashion; some women will wear only stockings to keep warm even on snowy days.

"..."

After leaving the station again and locking the airlock and submarine connection with a key, Luo Tianming, accompanied by two flamboyant beauties, began to stroll around from Hongxing Station.

Hongxing Station truly lives up to its reputation as a residential station for hundreds of people; every street in this station is filled with various small vendors.

They sell everything: from oxygen masks that divers no longer need to guns, to ammunition and gun parts that are missing from rifles. The local soldiers seem to ignore these items, suggesting that even the trade in weapons is legal at this site.

Following behind Luo Tianming, Laiwei and Wu Jianmiao watched curiously, finding this sales method quite novel to them.

Luo Tianming had long since graduated from the street vendor shopping model. He knew that these people rarely had truly good stuff. Those who really knew how to sell good products had their own unique shops at each location.

Only people with unappealing goods would put all sorts of strange-looking things on the street to sell.

"..."

However, when he turned his head, he found that his two crew members seemed to have been attracted by the street vendors.

……

Levi and Takemi stopped in front of an old woman's stall, where some things that looked like dried seaweed were placed on a piece of cloth she had spread on the ground.

Revy: "What is this?"

She leaned in and smelled it; it seemed strangely familiar…

Takemi Taeya curiously picked up a piece and sniffed it: "The smell of tar, and... nicotine?! This is tobacco? Aquatic tobacco!"

The old woman smiled and said, "Hehe, this young lady has a very good eye. She recognized it right away. It is indeed the aquatic tobacco I grew myself."

Levi: "Tobacco?! I knew this stuff looked familiar!"

She took another sniff, and then—the old woman actually handed her a piece of paper, crushed a portion of it, and skillfully made it into a cigarette, which she then gave to Levi.

She skillfully held it between her fingers, about to take a puff, when she realized that her lighter had perished along with the propane canister back at the outpost.

Fortunately, the old woman was also an expert in this field, and she skillfully picked up an arc lighter and lit a cigarette for Levi.

She had quit smoking for more than two days, and this sudden puff made the cigarette taste especially sweet.

"?!"

After taking a drag, Revy exclaimed in surprise, "This isn't tobacco!"

The old woman flashed her white teeth and said, "Because it doesn't irritate the throat or have an unpleasant burnt smell, right?"

Takemi Takashi deduced the answer from her appearance and the smell of tobacco in the air: "Aquatic tobacco...a genetically modified crop that reduces the tar content in tobacco?"

The old woman said, "It has almost completely removed the harmful tar, and it contains special aromatic hydrocarbons that are harmless to the body, so my teeth are still pretty good."

Dr. Takemi immediately became interested: "How did you do that?"

It is important to know that tar is a major carcinogen and disease-causing substance in tobacco. If a tobacco leaf that completely removes tar could be obtained, it would be a benefit to billions of smokers on Earth, and even the harm of secondhand smoke could be completely eliminated.

But the old woman shook her head: "This is an old woman's trade secret. If I tell anyone, how will I make money in the future?"

"500 marks for every 50 grams, how about it? How much do you want? The quality of my tobacco is better than the cigars supplied to the upper-level officials of the Union. It's famous throughout the Red Star Station."

Just as Levi was about to agree, another voice came from behind her: "Too expensive... Don't try to fool my crew members by thinking they're naive. They're just not very familiar with things at the station."

"..."

The group turned to look and saw that Luo Tianming had arrived.

The old woman picked at the newcomer, and upon seeing the dark gray military uniform and the insignia on the collar, she dared not openly object, and could only say:

"Sir, I'm just running a small business... The tobacco leaves are all dried by my wife little by little in the shade, which is why they don't have the charcoal flavor of regular tobacco, so it's normal that they're a bit more expensive."

Luo Tianming said, "Yes... I doubt there's another place selling tobacco leaves in the entire Red Star station."

She was about to speak when he interrupted her: "Because—most people tend to gravitate towards something else, something that provides pleasure more quickly."

"Since the alliance deregulated the products, traditional entertainment has been unable to meet people's needs. Cigarettes and alcohol have gradually disappeared from the scene, so the cigar tobacco that was once exclusively for the upper class is now being made available to the general public."

The old woman: "..."

She sighed, looking somewhat helpless, and said, "Well, I didn't expect that the officer in front of me would be a 'chemical ecstasy' enthusiast."

Luo Tianming shook his finger: "No, in a way, you can call me a 'guardian of abstinence,' I also despise those guys."

The old woman looked at him suspiciously: A moral guardian? Wouldn't he develop some kind of mental illness from being cooped up on a suffocating submarine?

Suddenly, she looked at the two ladies... then nodded as if she had just realized something:

"Okay, at what price are you planning to buy it?"

This deal was clearly still open to negotiation, so the other party simply asked Luo Tianming to name a price.

He looked helplessly at Levi, who was showing off with the cigarettes she was holding, and could only nod and say, "The same price as before, but I want 200 grams."

The old woman nodded with a slight pang of regret. She could still make a profit at this price, but missing out on a customer meant losing a potential long-term customer for someone like her who couldn't leave the station.

After weighing the pros and cons, she readily agreed to the deal.

Levy, meanwhile, held the tobacco leaves with obvious delight...

Just when Luo Tianming thought it was over, Levi suddenly asked Wu Jianmiao from behind, "By the way, I saw you were quite interested before, do you smoke?"

Takemi: "..."

Luo Tianming had never considered this question... but Miaomiao, appearing with a 'punk' look, should also be related to several key elements: rebellious spirit, smoking, drinking, and heavy metal music, right?

Being watched by two people at the same time made her feel a bit pressured... She covered her neck with her hand and looked away, saying, "In principle, doctors are not allowed to smoke."

The two: "..."

(In principle... that is to say, I don't object.)

Then, to Luo Tianming's surprise, Levi handed a large bag of tobacco leaves to Wu Jianmiao, saying, "I'll share half with you when we get back. I think you're quite interested in studying it anyway."

Takemi: "..."

She silently accepted the large bag of tobacco.

Not refusing means that the past is over.

Luo Tianming knew that the slight resentment between the two of them had completely disappeared at this moment.

From the moment Takemi offered her a jacket, to when Levi offered her tobacco, their initial confrontation and subsequent cold war... all the conflicts vanished without a trace.

As the captain, Luo Tianming was happy to see this: after all, everyone would be working together on a submarine, so it was best not to dislike each other.

"..."

After their 'reconciliation,' the two quickly indulged their feminine instincts: shopping sprees.

Levi: "Let's go check out the market over there. I'm still missing a lighter..."

Takemi Tae: "Do you have any mugs? I'm very interested in the local handicrafts..."

Luo Tianming: "..."

Watching the two walk side by side, it was clear they didn't take him, the captain, seriously.

(I'll get my hands on you sooner or later!)

-