Qianyuan: My crew comes from the world of anime.

"..."

Seeing that the negotiations had broken down and the crazy woman wouldn't listen to any explanations, Luo Tianming resorted to his own shameless tactics: "Fine, come on—shoot me right here in the forehead!! Then you can just sit here and wait to die with my corpse!"

"Would you rather starve to death or suffocate?!"

"Don't blame me for not warning you, we're currently 1000 meters below the ice. If you kill me, you won't be able to leave here!"

Levi: "..."

"Tsk!"

She clicked her tongue in annoyance, but obediently put the gun away.

"FUCK!" She raised a middle finger at Luo Tianming. "You bastard, you win. I really don't know where this area is, but don't try to fool me, or I'll kill you and drag you down with me!"

"..."

A woman with a good figure who constantly uses the vulgar word "fuck" – if I really asked you to, would you do it?!

Luo Tianming buried these dark thoughts in his heart and cleared his throat again: "Alright, let me reintroduce myself—I am Luo Tianming, the captain of this Nautilus submarine."

Levi: "Luo... Fine, you'll be called Alo!"

With a wave of her hand, she erased the latter half of the name.

"...Hey, Alo, this is your territory, right? Why don't I see any of your crew members?"

It's like a female boss recruiting her underlings...

Luo Tianming looked at her again and said in a very serious tone, "You are my crew member, Levi."

"Get lost!" she waved her hand. "Where are the rest of the crew besides me?"

Luo Tianming pointed outside the submarine: "They're all dead."

"..."

After a long silence, Luo Tianming explained, "Those who went out to their deaths, those who disobeyed orders, those who abandoned their comrades, and the only courageous safety officer all died before I even understood the situation. I'm the only one left who made it back to the submarine."

Levi: "..."

She got up and searched the surroundings. There was no lingering smell of blood, nor any signs of a struggle, so it was basically certain that there had been no conflict.

Confirming whether a new boat is 'clean' is her most basic professional skill as a veteran.

As Luo Tianming watched Levi crouch down to examine him carefully, his heart began to race...

The main reason was Revy's outfit; her healthy, tanned thighs were almost completely exposed at the edge of her hot pants, and half of her rounded breasts could be seen peeking out from under her tactical vest. If viewed from the side, one might even see...

"Hey!" Levi stomped her thick-soled military boots in front of him. "Where are you looking?! Look again, and I'll punch a few holes in you!"

However, Luo Tianming showed no sign of being flustered by the warning. Instead, he said in a righteous manner, "I'm just testing whether you're suitable as a new crew member."

"Very good. You have quick reflexes and excellent shooting skills. It seems you are well-suited to be the [safety officer] on a submarine."

Revy: "What's a security officer?"

Luo Tianming: "The security officer is responsible for the security and firepower of the entire submarine. He is allowed to carry a gun and has the right to fire freely when encountering intruders in order to protect the safety of the entire ship."

At this point, Luo Tianming paused for a moment.

"And the most important responsibility is—to eliminate any traitorous crew members immediately upon discovering betrayal or infection..."

Revy gave a cruel smile: "Great... I love this job the most."

She loaded both Beretta 92 bullets into the chamber.

"So, where are we going now?"

"By the way, you still haven't told me what the purpose of hiring this ship is?"

Luo Tianming recalled the main gameplay of "Dive into the Abyss". The captain will operate the submarine to transport supplies to various stations, and sometimes transport personnel. There will be various different landscapes and events along the way.

He said what he could say, but as for the things he couldn't say, Luo Tianming decided to wait and see what the next station was like first, in case things were different from what he knew.

Levi seemed very impatient with this explanation.

"Simply put, it's delivery, OK! I don't care where you deliver, but you should pay the due amount, right? Let me make it clear, I won't do anything below $20,000!"

Luo Tianming: "...US dollars?"

The currency in "The Abyss" is the Mark, but no one knows the exact exchange rate between it and the US dollar, since they're cut off from Earth now and the US dollar is useless to them.

He carefully checked his pockets; there were only 500 marks... Thinking of this, he flipped back to the last and latest page of the 'Captain's Log' and wrote:

[I took a job transporting building materials to the α2 residential outpost, and I'll get 5000 marks. These days, you don't see these kinds of easy, high-paying jobs anymore.]

"..."

In other words, we have no money right now.

He closed the unresponsive 'Captain's Log' and said, "Of course, you will receive your full reward, provided we arrive at the next station safely."

Revy: "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!"

Luo Tianming: "...There's still a 'life-or-death' problem that hasn't been solved yet."

Levi: "?"

"To get to the next station, we need fuel rods. Unfortunately, we only have 10% fuel left. To make matters worse, the submarine's power is critically low, and the oxygen generator will soon stop working. With your arrival, the rate at which we both run out of oxygen and die is increasing exponentially."

Revy: "...Bastard!!"

Chapter 3 Assigning Work

Under pressure to survive, the two had no choice but to start discussing countermeasures.

The only challenge at present is how to open the hatch to return to the outpost and obtain the necessary supplies.

First, you definitely need to get the fuel rods.

Without fuel, the submarine cannot generate electricity. Without electricity, Luo Tianming and Levi will eventually die from lack of oxygen.

Fortunately, this submarine uses highly compressed uranium fuel rods, which can be easily moved by one person. If it were still burning diesel, it would take two people working themselves to death to move enough fuel to start the submarine.

Secondly, they need to use the fuel they obtained to reach the next station, and the food and fresh water in the cabin will eventually run out; they can't just stay here and wait to die.

As for other necessities like medicine and bullets, we can only try our luck.

Upon arriving at the point where the outpost connects to the airlock, two heads are squeezed onto a small monitoring panel... The mutated skin in the video has not left, but is moving back and forth in the narrow corridor.

"..."

"This thing looks like a monster from The Thing," Levi said with a disgusted expression. "Are you sure we're not in some horror movie right now?"

Luo Tianming: "..."

If it were a horror movie, that would be fine... at least it would be over in two hours. But now they're in a fictional horror game, and if they're unlucky, they might be stuck here forever.

However, she doesn't need to know this information now; all she needs to do is cooperate with me to escape from this site.

He suppressed his fear and spoke in a deliberately provocative tone: "So even the fearless Revy can be scared? I thought you would pull out your dual pistols and fight it without hesitation."

She gave him the middle finger without any hesitation: "Fuck! I usually shoot people, who the hell knows where these monsters will die! Plus, I only have two magazines of bullets left. If you give me a flamethrower, I'll kill whatever it is!"

"..."

This kind of nonsense is meaningless. If you gave Luo Tianming a shotgun, he would dare to rush out and smash this monster to pieces.

He shook his head: "Enough of the small talk. Let's devise a strategy now. That guy is obviously patrolling the corridor of the outpost. Once it's a bit further away, I'll open the airlock door, we'll rush out, and then split up."

Luo Tianming looked at Levi.

"I'll go find fuel rods and gather as many supplies as possible. You go distract the monster and try to stall it for as long as you can."

He glanced at the timer on the monitor: "I'll be back in thirty minutes, whatever the outcome. You shoot that monster's leg then, and we'll use that time to get back to the submarine."

Levi was clearly dissatisfied with the assignment of Luo Tianming as captain.

She said with a suspicious look, "Why aren't you the one to lure the monster away? I'm not familiar with this place at all. You're not trying to trick me into going to my death, are you?"

"..."

Luo Tianming knew why Levi suspected him: she didn't trust him.

Or perhaps... she doesn't trust anyone.

She had been a robber and a murderer, so she wouldn't hesitate to pull the trigger when asked to aim at someone.

The two have completely different lifestyles, so expecting her to believe in herself in such a short time is asking too much.

Seeing this, Luo Tianming handed her the gun hanging on his waist without hesitation and said to Levi, "There's only one bullet in there. It's for suicide. Before you came, I was thinking of pressing it against my mouth and pulling the trigger."

“But with you here, there is hope for both of us to survive. I absolutely do not want you to die, otherwise no one can control the submarine... We are in the same boat now, and your death will not do me any good.”

Levi: "..."

She took the gun and opened the viewport.

A bright yellow bullet lay in the chamber of a gun, ready to fire, its casing so shiny it reflected her face.

Killing someone is simple; all you have to do is pull the trigger on someone's head.

But it's difficult to 'trust others' because you can't be sure that someone won't shoot you in the back of the head when you have your back to them.

Luo Tianming had the opportunity to coerce her with this pistol when she was off guard, from the submarine bridge to the airlock, he had countless opportunities... but he chose to give the gun to her, saying that it was a 'cowardly gun' for cowards to end their own lives.

Click—!

Levi ejected the bullet and returned the gun to Luo Tianming:

“Okay, you’re right—we’re all in the same boat now, so there shouldn’t be any questioning of the captain’s orders.”

She pulled out her two Beretta 92 pistols, put her hands in a ready position, and crouched down as if she could rush out at any moment.

Luo Tianming also entered the key into the airlock leading to the outpost. He still didn't tell Levi the key, after all, it was the only thing that could truly save his life as the captain.

The sound of the airlock valve turning would surely attract the Painted Skin mutant. Taking advantage of this final waiting time, Luo Tianming was giving Levi some final instructions:

"Once you exit the airlock, there are only two paths: one is the direction the monster came from, and the other is a straight passage. At the end of this passage, it splits into two sections, and we'll have to go our separate ways."

"Try to run to your left as far as possible. That's usually where the living quarters and cabin doors are located. Most of the fuel and essential supplies are there."

"We are currently at the lowest point of the outpost. When you can't tell which way you are, just run down and you'll definitely get back here."

Levi nodded, while Luo Tianming seemed to already hear the echo of the Painted Skin Chimera striking the metal floor with its chitinous carapace.

He continued, "The monster you're facing is either a mutated form of a painted skin or a 'chimera' stitched together with multiple monsters. Be careful, it runs very fast and has a strong regenerative ability... but it's very slow to climb the suspended ladder. If possible, try to use the ladder to delay it."

"If you have no other choice, you can shoot its leg to give yourself some time to escape."

"Remember to keep enough bullets to break another leg, otherwise we won't be able to get back into the cabin."

"Alright!" Levi interrupted impatiently, "Are you my mother? Men shouldn't be so indecisive, clench your balls and get out here!"

Sizzle—!

As the airlock opened, Luo Tianming was grabbed by the collar and shoved out by Levi, who followed closely behind.

At the other end of the corridor, the painted chimera, its body covered in red from the carnage, resembled a blood-red mantis. It opened its split, three-lobed mouth and rushed towards them.

"Run!"

Luo Tianming let out a desperate cry, grabbed Levi, and ran into the narrow passage, all the while reminding her:

"remember--!"

"Absolutely do not let it bite you, and it's best to keep it away from you. It's an infectious monster, and if you don't want to end up like it, whatever you do, don't get hurt!!"

Levi probably didn't have time to listen to any of that; she raised her hand and shot the Painted Skin mutant in the head.

Bang-!

She lived up to her reputation as a 'dual-wielder,' and even in haste, she accurately hit the monster's head with a single shot, causing blood to splatter... Then, granulation tissue grew at a visible speed, rapidly repairing the wound.

The monster's speed did not decrease at all; instead, it accelerated even more furiously.

At the same time, Levi muttered, "Horror movies are just for show. It turns out that only Hollywood zombies die from a single shot to the head."

Luo Tianming saw the connecting passage in front of him and shouted, "Split up and run!!"

After saying that, he ran to the right and quickly found the suspended ladder and ran all the way to the next floor.

"........."

Levi sneered and said to the painted-face chimera:

"Alright, you bastard—let's dance a high-energy 'tango' (a dance that requires close face-to-face contact), do you need me to teach you?"