Qianyuan: My crew comes from the world of anime.

Revy clearly didn't understand any of this, but Wu Jianmiao was different:

"3.6 roentgens?! 1 to 4 roentgens is enough to affect your metabolism. Do you know how many chest X-rays you would need for 3.6 roentgens?"

Luo Tianming said calmly, "400 times, I know."

Wu Jianmiao: "No! That's only the effect of being exposed to it for one minute. If this situation continues, it's equivalent to having to do 400 chest X-rays every minute! And a normal person should not have more than two chest X-rays per year!"

Luo Tianming: "Then let's pray... pray that the reactor doesn't have an accident. Navigation can't always be safe. The purpose of recruiting you is to save lives in case of emergency."

Takemi: "..."

Luo Tianming also knew that doing this was somewhat irrational.

But the near-encounter with 'pirates' taught him a lesson: you can't expect to meet only good people in Europa's oceans.

In the event of an unforeseen accident, the ability to overload the engine and output power far exceeding normal levels is crucial to the submarine's survival.

He can't always rely on Levy to solve all his problems. Isn't this a good opportunity to practice?

"..."

If he can master engine overload techniques, he will be able to avoid many dangers in future voyages.

Europa's oceans aren't just home to threats like algae crawlers and the Mother of Creepers; we haven't encountered any of the real "precious creatures" from the game yet.

Once the engine temperature stabilized at 5000 degrees, Luo Tianming stabilized the inserted fuel rods, adjusted the fission rate and turbine output, and set the power of the power system to 3500 kilowatts.

"..."

The gradually stabilizing power stopped the submarine from sounding any alarms, allowing it to enter an unprecedented state.

Sitting in the weapon control position, Levi felt that the chair behind her was too tight against her back, creating a kind of 'push-back feeling' illusion.

With its engines overloaded, the Nautilus reached unprecedented speeds; if anyone had seen it, they would have thought it was a giant torpedo in the ocean.

This 'torpedo' not only boasts extremely high speed and an excellent target acquisition and guidance system, but also carries a risk of mutual destruction similar to a nuclear bomb. (What a hellish joke.)

"..."

Under Luo Tianming's first engine overload, they arrived at the military station on the navigation system in less than seven hours.

While the control tower personnel were too terrified to speak (obviously, who wouldn't be scared seeing a 'Kaiten nuclear torpedo' hurtling towards them), a radio voice broke into the channel:

"Tower—This is the Nautilus. Lieutenant Commander Luo Tianming, a third-class captain of the Alliance, is here to transport supplies and requests entry into port."

Tower:

"Entry permitted. Please connect to airlock number one."

No one on the radio dared to criticize his queue-jumping behavior.

The submarines that were originally queuing up outside the battle site to enter the port all obediently gave way, and no one dared to provoke this 'bomb' that looked like it could be set on fire at any moment.

Outside the No. 1 airlock, firefighters who had been pre-arranged kept making the sign of the cross on their chests and chanting 'Hallelujah' to pray that the submarine's nuclear reactor would not melt down.

"..."

Chapter 26 First Arrival

At the No. 1 airlock, the dispatched movers, wearing mechanical exoskeletons, began moving the fibrous materials.

Among the arriving movers, a figure in a striking dark gray military uniform was squatting outside the airlock.

People passing by pointed and whispered about him:

"Hey, see that...it's that one."

"What, that?"

"The young man sitting outside the airlock, the captain who looks quite refined."

"Oh, you're quite young."

"No, come here, I want to tell you..." (whispering in her ear)

"What?! He's that hotheaded submarine captain who nearly caused a nuclear meltdown and didn't even have an engineer on board?!"

Luo Tianming: "..."

That's right, the captain squatting outside the door is Luo Tianming himself.

He became famous as soon as he arrived at the military site—most likely infamously.

No one knows what Major Soloviev embellished in his 'resume', but as soon as the airlock was opened, a female civil servant said to him, "You're the 'jinx'?"

Luo Tianming: "..."

In any case, the name 'Evil Star' seems to have spread far and wide, and everyone knows that a ruthless person who could almost blow up the entire site's overload reactor has entered the military site.

The key point is—you can't say anything about them.

Luo Tianming also had an excuse: 'The goods I'm hauling are crucial military fiber materials that are in extremely short supply at the station; it's absolutely urgent.'

"..."

Therefore, the female civil servant's original idea of ​​directly charging him with 'dangerous driving' was abandoned on the spot, and she could only give him the order to 'stand by'.

"..."

While waiting for the shipment, he didn't sit idle. Relying on the tobacco that Levi and the others had obtained before, he easily became close to the laborers who did manual labor.

According to the workers, there has been a sudden shortage of high-pressure diving suits from Europa Alliance recently, and the natural fiber produced from hydroponic tanks is the key raw material for manufacturing the lining and waterproofing materials of the diving suits.

The ton of fiber he brought was arranged in advance between Major Soloviev and the military station here.

A single transport costs 2000 marks... That's the downside of the Alliance; they earn too little and do too much work. No wonder submarine captains are willing to work for Jupiter's separatists.

"..."

Seeing that the workers had finally finished moving the ton of supplies, Luo Tianming finally felt relieved.

He took out his 'Captain's Log' and eagerly checked the box for the second task, 'Transport Cargo,' adding 1 recruitment voucher to his inventory.

However, before he could even warm the recruitment ticket, he immediately used it to exchange for a [Yohar/Yoha No. 2 Type B Special Recruitment Ticket (1/10)] in the shop.

Even though it was only a tenth of a fragment, the moment it fell into his collection, he felt confident.

"...Phew~"

The tension that had been building throughout the journey was finally released. I checked the store's refresh time; there were still more than two hours before the next batch of items would be available.

"I hope there will be more fragments..." Luo Tianming thought unrealistically.

He checked the time; since there was still plenty of time before the refresh, he figured he might as well take Levi and the others to explore the site.

Without hesitation, he ran into the infirmary and dragged out Takemi Mio, who was practically growing mushrooms from staying at home all the time.

Wu Jianmiao said with dissatisfaction, "Why do you have to drag me along? Don't you know the experiment has entered a critical stage? I'm still manufacturing a new drug for your next experiment."

Luo Tianming: "..."

Well, thankfully we pulled Miaomiao out, otherwise her deadly experiments would have definitely killed Luo Tianming.

However... being a lab rat isn't all bad; at least the 'reward' for surviving the experiment is quite enticing.

…………

Walking through the station's passageway with two strikingly different beauties, Luo Tianming would probably be dead hundreds of times over if looks could kill.

Amidst envious glances from onlookers, he led Levi and Miaomiao from the store to the medical station, replenishing a large quantity of medical supplies that were unavailable at the Red Star Station.

Of course, when it comes to military sites, the most worthwhile things to see here are military supplies.

Upon arriving at the dedicated military supplies sales compartment, one finds only an old man with a full head of white hair.

Without even looking up, he asked, "Military rank? I only sell things to officers here."

Luo Tianming: "Second Lieutenant."

"Lieutenant? Ha~" the old man said with a disdainful tone, "Sigh, these days anyone can become a submarine captain. And who are you, the illegitimate son of some high-ranking official?"

Luo Tianming: "No, I'm fine... If you're well-informed, I think you've already heard—I'm the 'jinx' you're talking about."

The moment that name was uttered, the people around him seemed to realize what was happening and instantly moved far away from him... as if he had some clock running backwards on him.

The old man finally looked up at him and said, "Hmph, jinx... These young people aren't ashamed at all, giving themselves titles like jinx, disaster star, sea monster killer, and so on."

"It's just an engine overload, what's the big deal? Back when we were colonizing Europa, every submarine captain wanted to speed up their ships, and the reactor temperature never dropped below 5000 degrees!"

Hearing the old man's tone as if he were reminiscing about his glorious past, Luo Tianming knew that he must have been on a ship when he was young.

Luo Tianming said to him:

"I know you're the most experienced diver on the entire site. For the sake of a senior, please help me get some good stuff for the submarine."

The old man grunted, "You've got some sense. I was once the renowned chief engineer of the entire alliance, Wollheim. Now, tell me—what do you want?"

Luo Tianming: "First, help me do some repairs on the ship, both inside and out. I don't want any malfunctions when it goes to sea. Of course, I'll pay you 2000 marks directly."

"Secondly, I need two pulse laser cannons."

Wohlheim immediately showed a look of disgust: "What's the point of that thing? We might as well get two railguns. The laser power is high but it's not very useful."

Luo Tianming: "I'd like to too... but my submarine is only so big. If I install two railguns, the ship's center of gravity will be off. For now, I'll just add two pulse lasers to tide it over."

Wohlheim: "Alright, the internal wiring of the ship also needs to be modified, let's do that while we're at it... Are there any other structural changes?"

Luo Tianming: "Then help me renovate the power room and add a lead-plate sandwich door."

The old man retorted, "Pah! I knew you black-hearted captains, infested with maggots, had no good intentions. You're going to lock the engineers and the meltdown core together once the reactor inside has a problem, right?"

"..."

A classic submarine joke: Each voyage consumes one engineer.

This has almost become a regular activity for offering sacrifices to the sea god.

Luo Tianming: "How could that be... I love my crew deeply, I would never do such a thing."

Just as Wohlheim was about to retort, he noticed the two strikingly different female crew members behind him and snorted dismissively.

"Alright, those are the requirements..."

Have you obtained the license?

Now it was Luo Tianming's turn to be puzzled: "What license?"

The old man told him helplessly, "If you want to modify the submarine, you naturally need to back up the information on the Alliance website. Alright, hurry up and find your superior at the site to get a license. I'll prepare all the modification materials for you first!"

Chapter 26 My Colonel Uncle

Military Site - Station Chief's Office.

The station chief here is a colonel, who is extremely busy every day and naturally has no time to receive a lieutenant like Luo Tianming.

He was received by the female civil servant who had previously served him.

Don't let his status as a civil official fool you; he's a proper military staff officer, and his rank is many times higher than his.

Therefore, Luo Tianming could only sit respectfully in the chair, waiting for the female civil servant with red-rimmed glasses to speak. Every now and then, she would adjust her glasses with her right hand and brush her elbow against the chest of her women's military uniform, which was stretched almost out of shape.

Each time he trembled, he felt as if the other men in the room were about to have their eyes pop out of their sockets.

Luo Tianming thought to himself, 'Is it really necessary?'

This female civil servant was unremarkable in appearance, with a standard Western face, full lips, fluttering eyelashes, and long, wavy blonde hair... Well, by their standards, this might be considered a beauty.

"...You're Lieutenant Luo, right?"

The female civil servant adjusted her glasses once again, her elbow unconsciously brushing against her chest.

Sometimes Luo Tianming couldn't help but think maliciously: This room is full of people like this: a private who never finishes sorting through the documents, an orderly who looks up every two sweeps of the floor, a seemingly experienced civil servant who actually spends half an hour reading a single document, and a certain lieutenant who keeps pacing back and forth in the corridor...

Are all these people waiting for that lucky moment, hoping to see her undone the button on her chest?

He couldn't expose these people, so he could only honestly answer:

"Yes."

The female civil servant pointed to a report and said, "But this report says that you were promoted to second lieutenant just eight hours ago, through a promotion by a major, and your military merit record is... for preserving the spark of human civilization?"

"That major was full of praise for your resume. You didn't use any 'bribery' methods, did you?"

Luo Tianming: "..."

Bribery? That old guy is more likely to bribe me!

He abandoned his nonchalant attitude and said, "My resume is all verifiable. If you have any doubts about the contents, please provide evidence instead of interrogating me here, sir."