Qianyuan: My crew comes from the world of anime.

It seems I'll have to go see the local stationmaster myself next.

"Ugh……"

Luo Tianming turned and headed in another direction. After taking two steps, he was stopped by a hunchbacked man. He glanced at the patrolling guards around him and said in a low voice:

"Hehe...Sir, do you need 'medicine'?"

"..."

Speak of the devil and he appears—the very person he hadn't explicitly told the old woman earlier was now right there with her.

These guys... you could perhaps call them 'drug dealers'.

Luo Tianming didn't want to get entangled with these guys, so he simply said, "No need, I can buy it at the medical station."

The drug dealer persisted, saying, "Sir, you've misunderstood... We're not selling ordinary 'medicine'."

"The medical station wouldn't sell it to you that cheaply. With so many kinds of medicine, they would only prescribe you a very small amount at most... haha."

When Luo Tianming looked at the drug dealer, he would unconsciously reveal a 'smile' expression, as if he couldn't control his expression.

These are typical symptoms of 'drug dependence'.

That's right, as you probably guessed—the drugs these drug dealers sell are all special controlled substances, including painkillers and hallucinogens that can lead to dependence with long-term use.

"..."

The existence of these people is mostly related to the submariner issue mentioned earlier.

It is well known that everyone serving on a submarine suffers from immense mental stress, and their usual ways of relieving this, besides satisfying their appetite and getting enough sleep, include smoking and drinking...

However, at some point, the Alliance relaxed its control over drugs, leading to a large number of submarine personnel abusing drugs to suppress mental health issues.

The worst of them are these drug dealers, most of whom were once submariners who had to leave the submarine because the drugs ruined their health... But after leaving the high-paying job of transportation, they could not afford the cost of treatment and drugs, and gradually began to sell drugs to support their addiction.

This disaster then snowballed, affecting all submarine workers.

That's why there are fewer and fewer submarines engaged in transportation these days, and it's for this reason that Luo Tianming is unwilling to recruit crew members at such stations.

If even one drug addict gets on board, he will slowly corrupt a whole group of people, and eventually the entire ship will perish at sea due to mental instability.

Therefore, Luo Tianming deeply despised these guys.

He grabbed the guy by the collar and said:

"!"

"Don't think I don't know your tricks. Even the antibiotics you sell have something added to them!"

"I don't trust any medicine other than from official medical stations! Get out of here—! Or I'll call the guards!!"

The drug dealer immediately panicked: "...They're hitting people! They're hitting people...The Alliance officers are beating people up!"

His outburst immediately filled the eyes of those around Luo Tianming with fear.

Whispers...

Harsh words were spoken... It seemed as if chaos was brewing around them.

Just then—someone tapped his shoulder, and Luo Tianming turned around to see: Levi and Wu Jianmiao were standing right in front of him, her face filled with disdain as she looked around.

"What, are these guys giving you trouble? Should we make a hole for them?"

Not wanting to escalate the situation, Luo Tianming simply kicked the object in his hand: "Get lost, or if I see you again I'll drag you outside to clean the ship's hull."

The drug dealer was immediately terrified and scurried away.

-

Hongxing Station, at the end of an inconspicuous alley:

The people here are all wrapped in thick blankets, lying on the ground, all dirty and sprawled out.

They all share common characteristics: their arms and wrists are as thin as sticks, their arms are covered with dense purplish-black spots, and their bodies resemble those of someone with rickets... Perhaps, these people could be called 'drug addicts'.

"..."

Seeing the returning medicine vendor, his companions hurriedly stepped forward and asked, "How did it go? Did you manage to get the new captain to buy the medicine?"

"A lower price is fine, the important thing is that he gets all of us brothers out of here..."

The drug dealer rubbed his buttocks, which bore the shoe print, and spat disdainfully: "Pah, they can't use the medicine!"

Another person said, "How could that be?! How does he relieve stress without medication?"

The drug dealer said, "That guy has two gorgeous women on board who're always throwing parties. He wouldn't even look at something as low-class as medicine! Why would someone like that be involved in submarine transport?!"

"Damn it! Whose young master has gone into the sex industry?!"

Chapter 19 The Dilemma of the Residence Station

After much trouble, Luo Tianming arrived at the stationmaster's office, led by a soldier.

Pushing open the door, you'll find a somewhat familiar decor, smooth and flawless stainless steel walls and floors, and all the tables and chairs with straight and neat right angles. The cabinets standing behind the door make the most of every inch of the room.

Behind the desk was a huge LCD screen, and there were small decorations on the desk that looked like dashboards... This room looked exactly like the standard bridge of a submarine.

The man sitting in what resembled a 'captain's' position was a typical Eastern European, with light blue eyes and a thick beard that covered his lips.

Upon seeing Luo Tianming, he immediately stood up:

"You must be Warrant Officer 'Lo'?"

He was almost a head taller than Luo Tianming, about 190 centimeters tall. I really don't know how someone like that got recruited into the navy.

The stationmaster extended his hand: "I am Major Soloviev, the stationmaster of this residential station, Red Star Station. Thank you for your heroic act that saved this station."

Luo Tianming immediately saluted, after all, this was an officer who was five or six ranks higher than him.

After shaking hands, the major remarked with emotion, "Ah, after hearing your name, I was thinking: these days, besides disciplined East Asians, there are probably no other people left who can serve as submarine captains."

Luo Tianming replied naturally, "On Europa, there are no distinctions of ethnicity or region, Major."

Soloviev was clearly satisfied with his answer and pulled Luo Tianming to sit down at his desk: "Please sit down, Warrant Officer Luo."

Luo Tianming: "Major, um..."

Soloviev: "No need to say anything more."

He reached out to interrupt Luo Tianming, then took a clear glass bottle from a drawer beside him, pulled out two small wine glasses... filled each one, and then raised his glass, saying:

"Come, this toast is to your bravery and courage."

Luo Tianming: "..."

He knew it! These Eastern Europeans were all heavy drinkers. Before they had done anything else in broad daylight, they pulled out bottles and started chugging.

"Come on, this toast to the Alliance... Cheers!"

"..."

"Come on, for peace... let's do it!"

"..."

"Come on, let's toast the Earth... Cheers!"

"Major! Stop!" After downing three cups of filtered, high-proof seaweed liquor, Luo Tianming's face was visibly flushed.

Luo Tianming quickly grabbed the hand that was pouring the wine, suspecting that this guy had nothing better to do than drag people over to drink.

"Your Excellency, I have many things to do today... I cannot drink any more."

Soloviev's hand holding the bottle visibly paused. He felt he had only drunk a fraction of the wine, but he had no choice but to tilt his head back and drink the rest in one gulp, saying with lingering relish:

“Alright, Lieutenant Luo, you must have a lot of things you want me to ask you.”

Luo Tianming nodded: "Yes, actually I'm more interested in knowing—did you intentionally acquire those building materials?"

He had always been curious why the station would spend 5000 marks to buy the building materials from his ship. After all, those things weren't particularly valuable, but they were incredibly heavy, and transporting them was a thankless and laborious task.

Soloviev: "Deliberately? No, no, no! Warrant Officer Lo, you've misunderstood. The batch of building materials your ship delivered was a huge help. Without those materials, Red Star Station wouldn't have been able to start the long-planned expansion project."

"Expansion?"

Luo Tianming looked at him, somewhat puzzled.

Soloviev sighed: "Well, you find it incredible too, don't you?"

"Given Europa's current population situation, why would there be any expansion plans..."

"In fact, this is also the latest decision of the Alliance. Since losing contact with Earth, in order to ensure that the human race can continue, we must make humanity prosper again."

"Therefore, the officials made a decision—currently, Europa has a severe population shortage and a very low birth rate—and they intend to close some small trading posts and establish more centralized posts and personnel management in the hope of raising the birth rate to a higher level."

Major Soloviev stood up and said with some worry, "Six months ago, submarines docked at Red Star Station one after another. They kept dumping civilians on board onto me, but never took any more building materials."

“For the past six months, every time those refugees see me, they ask, ‘Where are our houses?’ I’m so worried that I can only drown my sorrows in alcohol.”

"Fortunately, your ship came. At least I can give those people an explanation now."

Taking advantage of the situation, Luo Tianming asked what he really wanted to know: "So, is the current low temperature in the residential area also due to energy shortages caused by population growth?"

"Insufficient energy?" This time it was the major's turn to be puzzled. "No, no, no, that's not it. I think you've misunderstood."

As he spoke, he had someone raise the office temperature a little.

“Hongxing Station has no shortage of energy; we have several tons of fuel here.”

Luo Tianming: "?"

"Then why not raise the temperature a bit?"

Soloviev: "..."

The major seemed to have something on his mind, picked up the bottle he had just put down, unscrewed the cap, and blew straight into the bottle.

This is how they usually drink; the further north and into colder regions they go, the more exponentially their demand for alcohol increases.

"Pfft... Ha~!"

"Oh, by the way, where were we?"

"You mean the low temperature?"

Luo Tianming: "..."

He was very worried about whether the major would be able to have a normal conversation in this state.

However, it seems that the more the major drinks, the more energetic he becomes... At least for Luo Tianming, this is a good opportunity to gather intelligence.

Soloviev: *hiccup*

"Those damn submarine captains...! I didn't mean you, I meant those submarines that specialize in transporting personnel, and when they're transporting residents to their own stations, they just throw away any crew members they don't need from the submarine."

“Those guys, after getting off the ship, they took drugs and turned themselves into unrecognizable people, and they still want to harm others... I have given the order to drive them to the low-oxygen area, forbidding them from trading with any residents, and to let them fend for themselves.”

"What...you're asking me why I don't kill them?"

"As you know, the Alliance is deeply obsessed with preserving the human race, saying that every life is precious."

"Pah! The Alliance has brought their Earth-based prohibition of the death penalty here. If this were Moscow—these scum would turn into fertilizer after a winter out there!"

Luo Tianming: "..."

Listening to the drunken major discussing such sensational topics, he guessed the reason why the Red Star Station was maintaining a low temperature:

Those drug addicts are obviously in worse physical condition than normal people. As long as the station maintains a low temperature, the goal of 'survival of the fittest' can be achieved.

After Major Soloviev started chugging from the bottle, he quickly finished all his drinks.

"Where's the wine?" he mumbled to Luo Tianming, still half-asleep. "Do you have any more wine?"

Luo Tianming: "...Uh, I've already finished drinking, Major."

Soloviev: "Huh? What kind of wine? Why didn't you call me when you were drinking it?"

The major looked drunk, so Luo Tianming could only reply, "Just a bottle of Johnnie Walker."

"Oh, Johnny Walker... Johnny Walker!!"

The major's voice suddenly rose eight octaves!

He leaped up to Luo Tianming, grabbing his shoulders with both hands like a vise, his eyes no longer showing any of the drunkenness from before.

The major exclaimed excitedly, "Are you serious?! Johnnie Walker whiskey... No, no, no, we're on Europa, how could we possibly have that stuff!"

Luo Tianming had no choice but to carefully pull his hand out: "Major, it's all gone... It was a rare bottle brought from Earth, and it's been kept in a safe."