Qianyuan: My crew comes from the world of anime.

Is that all?

No—as if declaring that this was not the case, these anti-ship missiles detonated instantly after their needle-like heads were driven deep into flesh by the thrust of the rocket boosters!

Just like its name suggests, it is a 'poisonous thorn' that is deeply embedded in the enemy's body, and it is impossible to remain unharmed once you are stabbed.

The simultaneous explosion of 80 subcutaneous bombs nearly shattered the Scarlet Queen.

"..."

Yes, so close—!

As the large amount of bubbles generated after the explosion dissipated, Luo Tianming and the others also saw the damage caused by the anti-ship missile Stinger.

The Scarlet Queen... or perhaps now the Rotten Flesh Queen, looked like a dead fish with half its flesh shaved off, half its body missing, some wounds penetrating deep into its bone marrow, and its left appendage missing...

But—it's not dead yet.

The six predator-like eyes, injured, gleamed with an even more intense crimson light than ever before.

The Nautilus had already exhausted all its resources; the Stinger anti-ship missiles had exceeded Luo Tianming's expectations. But if even that couldn't kill it... then let's try another round!

Just as he was about to add another round of missiles to the captain's log.

In the distance, a jet-black, oval-shaped bomb was slowly propelled by a propeller toward the Scarlet Queen, who was undergoing repairs.

It looked so slow, so slow that the Queen could easily fling the bomb to the ends of the earth with a flick of its tail... but the Scarlet Queen's wounds made it ignore the bomb.

At the same time, Lucy seemed to have intercepted some crucial information, and she hurriedly shouted into the channel:

"Captain, switch on the radio channel immediately!"

"?"

Luo Tianming instinctively pressed the switch on the radio channel, and just then, the final repetition of the public frequency came through:

"...Screw, this is the Frozen Tilapia. I have launched a nuclear missile at you. Please be prepared to withstand the impact."

"!"

Before Luo Tianming could react, the pitch-black ocean suddenly became as bright as day!

boom--!!

A flash of white light, almost shutting down all the surveillance footage, followed by a shockwave from the seabed that exceeded three times the speed of sound and spread outwards.

"..."

Once all the monitoring equipment was back to normal, Levi picked at her ear from the shaking and said, "That's crazy. So, did you take down that monster?"

Luo Tianming remained silent as he watched the large number of light spots rapidly disappear from the sonar system...

They all overestimated the power of nuclear bombs underwater... but the heat, radiation, and shockwaves they generated were not enough to kill the Scarlet Queen, who used the moment of shock to escape to the deeper ocean.

The Nautilus couldn't catch up; once it exceeded the crushing depth of 2000 meters, their hulls wouldn't be able to withstand the underwater pressure.

Chapter 59 Mission Failed?

"..."

On the Nautilus, as the flood alarm continued to sound, Lucy proactively cut off the power supply.

Levi put on a diving suit and, together with Luo Tianming, took a welding gun and dived into the cargo hold to waist-deep water, cutting away the corroded hull and welding on temporary patches.

In the infirmary, Wu Jianmiao kept biting her nails as she painstakingly cleaned up the medicines lost due to the turbulence, including some of the 'new drugs' she had created.

Lucy, wearing a three-centimeter-thick lead-lined radiation protection suit, opened the nuclear reactor, extracted the fuel that had deteriorated into uranium-232, and placed it in the lower-level isolated vacuum chamber...

The disaster caused by the Scarlet Queen finally came to a complete end three hours later—Levy collapsed, sitting directly on the floor of the lower warehouse where puddles still remained.

"Finally...it's over. I'm so thirsty—can someone get me a beer?"

Luo Tianming, who was standing to the side, was also close to exhaustion, but he still struggled to get up, poured a glass of water and handed it to Levi, saying, "Drink some water. Those barrels of beer have been soaked in seawater, so it's best not to drink them... See if you can sell them to the major cheaply."

Levi grumbled unhappily, then took the water and drank it all in one gulp.

For three hours, Luo Tianming and she continuously repaired the steel plates that had cracked due to corrosion in the lower layer. Smaller cracks were directly plugged with welding guns and high-density steel plates.

Larger holes are more troublesome... It requires cutting open the entire surrounding brittle metal, filling it little by little with reinforcing ribs, and then welding a temporary patch on top.

During this time, they also had to continuously deal with the influx of seawater and salvage the supplies in the lower warehouses.

The damage to the Nautilus from this flooding incident wasn't too severe. Most of the supplies were stored in Luo Tianming's 'Captain's Log', and only less important items like food and some resources were lost more seriously.

Fortunately, his Bohemian hop barley didn't rot from the seawater. After changing the purified water a few times, green shoots sprouted on it again.

"..."

At that moment, Takemi Takahashi opened the door to the infirmary with a heavy heart... She was wearing a mask, so her expression was unreadable; she was probably the one who had suffered the most damage in this incident.

Lucy was carrying steel several times her own weight, constantly correcting the bent parts of the submarine's structure.

And all of this was caused by that damned 'Scarlet Queen'.

Four hours have passed since it dived into the deep sea... There seems to be no trace of it left in the area.

"...?"

On the radio channel, music played from the nearby Frozen Tilapia was playing... It was clear they wanted to comfort the crew of the Nautilus.

However, of all things, the song in question was "My Heart Will Go On." Luo Tianming turned on the radio microphone and shouted loudly:

"We're leaking water, not hitting an iceberg!"

"..."

The music stopped abruptly, and the mischievous voice from the Frozen Tilapia rang out:

"Oh dear, seeing how energetic you are, the damage to the ship shouldn't be too bad to be heartbreaking... How are you? Can you still move?"

Luo Tianming: "It's not serious... I'm just a little upset that that guy got away."

"..."

Yes, he is extremely unwilling... The 'Crimson Queen' has escaped, what happened to her dignity as a behemoth?

Where did that arrogant attitude go?

How did they end up injured, drooling, and running away on a different map... and yet they still couldn't catch up with them.

The Frozen Tilapia next to it replied somewhat helplessly:

"You're lucky enough to have survived the 'beast,' why would you want to kill it?"

Luo Tianming: "If it weren't for..."

He was about to say, "If you hadn't been launching nuclear missiles recklessly, I would have destroyed it long ago..."

But then he thought again: judging from how that guy was unharmed after being hit by a mushroom bomb, he figured another round of Stinger missiles wouldn't be enough to kill it.

The Frozen Tilapia was acting out of good intentions... They risked their lives to come back, hoping to scare away the giant beast. Fortunately, Luo Tianming and the others beat the 'Crimson Queen' badly enough, otherwise they probably would have been doomed too.

While the Nautilus was repairing itself, the Frozen Tilapia stayed nearby to keep watch.

Because of Luo Tianming's previous help in delivering fuel, they also provided him with a large amount of hull repair materials.

"Alright, stop complaining," the Frozen Tilapia said over the radio. "Since your engines are working fine, you should be able to reach the nearest station... How about we grab a drink?"

Luo Tianming was reluctant to go to their invitation—mainly because such gatherings would inevitably involve both sides bringing their entire crew, and he didn't want Miaomiao and the others drinking with the other guys.

then……

Luo Tianming: "No, let's inform the nearby stations about the 'new hunting ground' as soon as possible. You're planning to go back to Chongshan Station, right? Then let's go to Hongxing Station for resupply..."

The other party agreed with what he said.

"You're right. I'll send you the coordinates of the new hunting grounds. Hope we meet again someday... Good luck."

Luo Tianming: "Good luck."

Ships don't usually say 'goodbye' or 'bye-bye' to each other, especially rescue ships and those on dangerous missions that are prone to accidents. Therefore, 'good luck' has become a common blessing among captains.

…………

After bidding farewell to the Frozen Tilapia, Luo Tianming returned to the captain's seat and opened the captain's log:

He wasn't interested in looking at the task that had already been crossed out.

[Regular Recruitment Voucher Inventory: 6]

His attention was drawn to the red text below that read 'Mission Failed,' which pierced his pupils deeply.

[Quest: Scarlet Queen (Failure) Current Penalty: 0, Cumulative Penalty: 1]

[Note: Users are advised to take each subsequent request seriously. Failures will result in accumulated penalties, and a penalty mechanism will be activated when a certain threshold is reached.]

"..."

Luo Tianming initially wanted to close the message that was bothering him, but his sharp eyes immediately noticed new words appearing in the log:

[New Mission: Revenge (She left deep marks on your ship, and you inflicted unforgettable scars on her. No one has ever made the Queen remember you so vividly... You two are a pair of star-crossed lovers... Have you forgotten what happened in the past?)]

[Mission Objective: To completely kill the Empress!]

[Mission Rewards: (Not yet determined) One [item], 10 Common Recruitment Tickets]

"!!"

Luo Tianming was overjoyed when he saw the newly appeared mission!

This 'revenge mission' not only gave him two more recruitment tickets than the previous mission rewards, but also a reward that is currently unknown.

Is there such a good thing?

"..."

But then Luo Tianming thought again: No, mission failures result in cumulative penalties, and we still don't understand what the penalty mechanism is...

However, a failed hunting mission will be converted into a 'revenge mission', which offers even greater rewards...

Did we lose money or make a profit?

Chapter 60 Spread

In fact, besides being closer, there was another reason why he chose to go to Hongxing Station: he could find some 'free' labor to repair the boats there.

Jupiter makes money through alliances, and all the capital works for me.

"..."

As soon as the Nautilus arrived at the airlock of Red Star Station, the entrance was tightly surrounded by guards. As soon as Luo Tianming stepped out, the soldiers said:

"Lieutenant Luo, hurry to the stationmaster's office—the big shots at the top are all waiting for you."

Luo Tianming: "?"

He was escorted all the way to his office, and only after the door opened did he realize what the so-called 'waiting for him' meant.

Two huge electronic screens had been set up inside the room at some point. Major Soloviev sat in the middle of the screen, with Colonel Ivan, whom he knew, on his left and a lieutenant general he had never seen before on his right.

The moment Luo Tianming entered, all three of them immediately focused their attention on him.

This pressure, akin to a 'trial by three judges,' made him somewhat reserved.

Colonel Ivan was the first to greet him: "Lieutenant Luo, you should have successfully infiltrated those Jupiter separatist sites by now, right?"

Luo Tianming: "I have successfully completed my mission. I have now gained the trust of Chongshan Station and will soon be able to take control of the high-level information network."

Colonel Ivan: "I look forward to that day. The intelligence you sent earlier about spies within the internal system is quite important. We've already started trying to encrypt the information of high-ranking officers..."

"cough!"

At this moment, the lieutenant general on the right interrupted, saying, "Colonel Ivan, we are not here today to discuss espionage. Our topic today is 'the behemoth'."

"..."

Even before arriving at Red Star Station, Luo Tianming had used a secret transmission network provided by the Alliance to transmit part of the video of the battle between the Nautilus and the 'Scarlet Queen' to Colonel Ivan, who was in charge of espionage.

Ivan relayed the message to the upper echelons of the alliance, who then passed it on to the lieutenant general who was clearly in charge of the entire region.

By the time he arrived at Red Star Station, the shockwaves from the news had already reached Major Soloviev's level.

The lieutenant general stared at Luo Tianming with sharp eyes and said, "Lieutenant, how credible are your videos?"

Luo Tianming: "1000% true. We used 55 lasers and nearly 2000 rapid-fire shells to barely repel it. If it weren't for a Jupiter separatist submarine that happened to be passing by and fired a nuclear missile, I think the Nautilus might not have been able to escape."

His account was far more exaggerated than the truth, but it was precisely this kind of rhetoric that made the higher-ups feel that the existence of the behemoth was more real.

Colonel Ivan was somewhat skeptical, while Soloviev was completely unconvinced—he had been a submarine captain and knew how exaggerated Luo Tianming's figures were, but he wouldn't point out any errors: this behemoth was within his jurisdiction, so naturally the higher-ups would feel the more dangerous it was.