Qianyuan: My crew comes from the world of anime.

"..."

Lucy was pleased with his quick answer. She smiled and said, "Then what other questions are there? Since you've entrusted me with the engine room, which is the 'heart' of the entire ship, I certainly won't let you down."

Luo Tianming: "No, I'm worried about the radiation here..."

Lucy gave her a look that said, "You're overthinking it." "That's an exaggeration. The radiation here is consistently less than 1.6 roentgens. Do you know how high the radiation levels are in areas outside Night City?"

"You have no idea what happens to the skin of people who live in high-radiation areas year-round..."

“I’ve been all over the world… Night City is awful. It’s a prison made of neon lights, but outside of Night City, countless people dream of getting into that prison.”

Luo Tianming: "But..."

Lucy: "No one is more suited for this job than me. My body has been highly cybernetically modified. The prosthetics in my arms and legs can shield me from some of the radiation, and my lungs will not inhale radioactive dust."

"Heat? Part of my body doesn't flow with blood, but with coolant—Captain, you can add some when it's low, I can't reach it myself."

"Noise? The noise here won't affect our conversation at all. I can mute it if needed... I'll also go to bed properly when I sleep~~"

"..."

She said this with her eyes closed, looking just like a mother comforting a child who was crying because they lost their candy at kindergarten.

Luo Tianming: "..."

"Hehe~" Lucy smiled smugly.

"Don't worry, I won't put myself in danger. I chose this place because I feel that only I can handle it."

"We finally escaped from Night City, and we can't afford to waste this precious life."

"..."

"Well said~ Clap clap clap clap..."

—Applause came from behind them; it was Takemi Myo.

She was wearing that white coat, and she took something out of her pocket and tossed it to Lucy.

It was something like a bag of jelly, with thick, dark red blood flowing inside.

“Those are blood bags,” Miao Miao explained. “The problem with the alien blood plasma that was given to me before has been solved. We used some salt and stabilizers to remove its side effects, so it can be used to give blood transfusions to anyone at any time.”

"You have quite a few prosthetics installed, so you should know how to use them, right?"

Lucy, holding the blood bag, thanked her sincerely, saying, "Thank you~"

Takemi: "Don't be so polite. We'll be working together from now on... If you feel unwell, feel free to come to me. I'm also very interested in these highly modified prosthetic bodies."

Luo Tianming: "..."

You're not just interested, you want to cut her open and study her!

"..."

Luo Tianming knew that Miaomiao was just like that; she wasn't good at being thanked... and her way of showing concern for others was always a little strange, even showing her unique 'personality'.

For example, if she gives you medicine, it's because she doesn't want you to get hurt; if she keeps saying "dissection, dissection," it means she wants you to be careful and avoid going to her operating table.

However, at least her concern was somewhat evident... The way the other person on the ship interacted was rather baffling.

As they were talking, Revy's voice came from the corridor:

"Hey, newbie, do you drink?"

"..."

Lucy said somewhat irritably, "I'm not calling you new, Miss Revy. I have a prosthetic body that metabolizes alcohol. If I want to get drunk, I can just turn it off."

Revy hoisted a huge keg of beer and slammed it down in front of everyone: "Since you can drink so much, let's have a cocktail party!"

Luo Tianming: "emm..."

The most unpredictable person on the entire ship has appeared. Sometimes even Luo Tianming finds it hard to understand Revy's thoughts. Her interactions with people depend entirely on whether they are on the same wavelength.

Just like before, she and Wu Jianmiao had a bit of an unpleasantness when they first met, but ever since they strolled together at Hongxing Station, their relationship has become like sisters, and she can occasionally be seen smoking together with Miaomiao.

Speaking of cigarettes—he remembered Lucy also…

as predicted!

When Lucy saw them skillfully pull out cigarettes, her eyes lit up—the three of them quickly mingled together, while Luo Tianming seemed somewhat isolated.

At this moment, Lucy, who had just joined, turned back to Luo Tianming with some concern and asked, "Isn't the captain coming over?"

“Ignore him,” Levi rolled her eyes at him. “That guy just has to pretend to be a gentleman.”

Takemi Taeya seized the opportunity to tease, "What was that again? He's like a 'celibate guardian of morality,' I really don't know how he relieved the pressure on the submarine before~"

Lucy asked with some regret, "Doesn't the captain want to come over?"

Luo Tianming: "..."

Strictly speaking, he dislikes things like cigarettes and alcohol.

I especially hate cigarettes. I hate those young people who run around with a cigarette in their mouths, thinking they're all grown up.

As for alcohol—it's not that he doesn't want to drink, it's just that he doesn't want to drink with Old Deng.

When you're being flattered and forced to drink by someone a generation older than you at a dinner table, everything tastes bad.

As for his crew members—they were all beautiful girls, and beautiful girls can be forgiven.

"..."

Levi needed to relieve tension before going to the battlefield, Takemi Tae needed to find inspiration because of the immense pressure of doing research, and Lucy needed to relax because she was constantly on the verge of being hunted down... In short, they all had reasons to relieve stress.

For submariners, whose jobs are full of pressure, these relaxation methods are relatively harmless.

However, if Luo Tianming doesn't join them soon, he'll probably only be able to inhale secondhand smoke in the future.

"..."

He had no choice but to join the party to welcome the newlyweds, spurred on by the three women's calls.

He felt that he must have done something terrible in his past life to be surrounded by "bad women" in this life.

Chapter 42 Reunion with the Major

Before leaving the military station, Luo Tianming quickly sold all the belongings he had.

Of the total official allocation of 31,000 marks from the alliance, 13,000 marks were the inflated prices from the sale of the relics.

In the end, he received 18,000 marks, but even then, Luo Tianming still felt he had lost out.

Sooner or later, they'll find an alien ruin that the Alliance hasn't discovered, develop it themselves, and sell it for money.

"..."

He had just made a profit on one side, and immediately began purchasing large quantities of supplies from the military site.

Basic supplies include ammunition for rapid-fire cannons and pulse lasers, both of which must be purchased every time you stop at a station. In addition, there is a brand new diving suit, replacing the worn-out one worn by Levi.

As the [Safety Officer], she needs a combat diving suit.

In addition, there were some throwing weapons—I bought some phlogiston grenades and fragmentation grenades, which proved quite useful in dealing with enemy invasions.

Lucy said she knew the most basic combat skills, so Luo Tianming gave her his almost forgotten pistol.

At this point—the aftereffects of missing out on the items he had seen earlier began to appear, and Luo Tianming began to regret not buying the pistol whose name he couldn't recall.

This time, no additional medication was provided.

Since Miaomiao started making medicine, the expenses in this area have decreased significantly. She is truly a thrifty and hardworking woman... but the price is that the expenses for all sorts of strange things have increased.

Equipment made up the bulk of this purchase; he was finally able to get medical equipment like X-ray imaging machines for Miaomiao.

Other items, such as medical processing tables and complete surgical instruments, were also purchased.

Lucy's suggestion to purchase a batch of spare parts for the ship's electrical equipment gave Luo Tianming a feeling that things were finally on the right track, and the submarine was truly complete at this moment.

Back in Europa's ocean, the Nautilus appeared even more arrogant than usual.

Luo Tianming drove his active sonar around looking for monsters, feeling as if the active sonar was a 360° all-around loudspeaker harassing the surroundings.

The Nautilus was like a flamboyant "ghost fire motorcycle," hoping to bump into some clueless people.

He desperately wanted to take down a few foolish monsters and then use the contents of their corpses to make a deal with the system.

After overcoming his fear of insufficient firepower, Luo Tianming even wanted to kick the dogs on the street to test their power.

Unfortunately... things often don't go as he wishes: before the ships were unarmed, they always had to be careful to avoid monsters.

Now that we want to cause them trouble, those guys have all gone into hiding. Sometimes, as soon as the sonar detects a trace, they immediately disappear without a trace.

With Luo Tianming looking so frustrated he felt like he was about to vomit blood, they arrived at Red Star Station.

"..."

The batch of fibers that Luo Tianming brought to the military site earlier has clearly been effective; now, submarines entering Hongxing Station have to queue up to enter the port.

The voice from the control tower guided them to airlock number 2. As soon as they exited the airlock, Luo Tianming received a warm welcome from the soldiers.

"Sir!" As soon as he stepped out of the airlock, two soldiers behind him said, "His Excellency the Major hopes you will go to his office for a talk later."

Luo Tianming returned the greeting, and he suddenly realized that the two soldiers looked somewhat familiar.

It seems to be those two soldiers he casually paid off before...

So, this time he once again took out 100 marks and handed them to them, and the two soldiers happily accepted them.

Luo Tianming glanced around and asked, "Your site seems a bit more lively now?"

One of the soldiers replied, "Yes, sir. After you left, many submarines came here immediately, and they brought a lot more people with them."

"After the new automatic cannons and air circulation system were installed, most people felt more confident about the safety here. In addition, since other stations were struggling financially, they all wanted to try their luck at Hongxing Station."

Another soldier chimed in at the same time, "Sir, I've also heard that there are some people nearby who have 'repented' and joined the Alliance because they didn't want to stay in those rebel sites any longer."

"People from the other two organizations also seem to be looking for a foothold in Red Star Station."

Luo Tianming: "..."

He was somewhat surprised to hear this news—a rebellious act of 'returning from the wrong path'?

As far as he knew, most of those who defected from the Alliance were not willing to return voluntarily, and the Alliance never showed leniency towards traitors.

If those people do return, they will face a year and six months of hard labor. Some would rather die than be caught by the Alliance again.

However, since some people were willing to come back on their own initiative, did something happen that forced them to return?

He was quite curious about this, but the two soldiers only knew the bare minimum, and even if he asked them further, they could only tell him trivial details.

Luo Tianming waved his hand, telling the two of them to continue their duties.

Turning around, Luo Tianming seemed to see a hunched figure in the crowd.

"?!"

He almost thought he was seeing things, but because he remembered that rickets-like guy so vividly, he didn't doubt his eyesight at all.

Luo Tianming quickly caught up with him.

However, the other person seemed to be afraid of him, only glancing at him in the crowd before being dragged away as if by someone.

"..."

With many people now present, the Red Star Station was unusually crowded, with people everywhere in the corridors, making it difficult for Luo Tianming to track them down... Moreover, they knew the station better than Luo Tianming did.

Soon, he was stopped by a crowd and lost sight of the guy.

Luo Tianming: "..."

He wasn't frustrated, but simply found it strange—why did the drug dealer he had swindled out of 3000 marks run away when he saw him?

It was clearly his fault, and the other person's gaze towards him in the crowd was obviously hostile, so why did he run away? Luo Tianming couldn't understand it at all.

But it doesn't matter—since the other party is still at Red Star Station, he still has a way to find that guy and ask him why.

Luo Tianming walked towards the captain's office on the top floor...

Hongxing Station - Old Residential Area.

Since the new residential area was filled with fresh, clean air, people are less willing to stay in the moldy environment of the old residential area.

However, some people are exceptions—those who are new to Hongxing Station, the rebellious ones who have 'repented' can only be arranged to live here.

During the day, they would work 10 hours a day on intensive construction in the new residential area, and then return to the old residential area at night to continue living in the moldy and smelly environment.