Qianyuan: My crew comes from the world of anime.

Levi rushed through a corner of a passageway, where a large group of people stood at the end.

“There are some here too!” she said, not holding back her profanity. “You piece of shit! If I had enough bullets, I would have blown your heads into showerheads!”

"..."

But those infected individuals who resembled humans in disguise were completely unafraid of her threats.

They look like living people, but they are actually long dead... The stiff limbs of the infected people can tell that they are not human.

Levi pulled a cigarette from her hot pants pocket, lit it impatiently, and then took a deep drag:

"Hiss...whoosh~"

An epic inhalation followed, and smoke billowed from her nose.

"Ah, time to dance the 'finale'."

Immediately afterwards, two Beretta 92 pistols with 9mm extended slides were drawn from his waist.

The two pistols spun in her hands like tops, their aim precise as if she were using cheat codes, before she pulled the trigger and blew the heads off both infected.

If someone were to watch the station's surveillance footage at this point, they would see that even in the face of a near-desperate situation, Levi still wore a chilling smile.

Although she appears calm on the surface, she can't help but feel a little uneasy inside.

'What if that guy lied to me...? Could he be deliberately sending me out to die so he can escape himself?'

'How much time has passed now? Has it been 30 minutes?'

'Why hasn't he shown up yet...'

In her daze, Levi didn't notice that the infected person she had shot in the head with a gun was not completely dead.

For these parasites, the correct approach is to aim for the throat and shoot them in the same direction, smashing their spine and head together.

As she stepped over a 'corpse'—

A sudden, excruciating pain shot through my calf.

[3 minutes remaining until the agreed time]

Outpost/Medical Clinic.

Luo Tianming glanced at the medicine cabinet, which he had almost emptied, and then at the pocket watch in his hand: time was running out, it was time to meet up with Levi.

Due to the urgency, his search of the infirmary was much more rudimentary. Most of the unlabeled medicines were simply packed into the logbook in boxes, along with many bandages, hemostatic forceps, and analgesics.

But no matter what he did, he couldn't find a single bottle of ethanol disinfectant. He guessed that the station staff here had taken it, diluted it with water, and drunk it like alcohol.

"..."

Just as Luo Tianming got up to leave, suddenly—his foot kicked an empty bottle.

Normally, this kind of medical waste would never have caught his attention, but when he saw the label on the small bottle read: 'Cephalopod Intracorporeal Parasite Removal Agent'.

"...!"

He was stunned for a moment.

This drug, with its tongue-twisting and lengthy medical name, has a catchy alias in the game "The Abyss": Skin Worm Cleanser.

As its name suggests, this is a drug that can eliminate the infection caused by the "skin" of parasites inside an organism, and it is generally only effective in the early stages of infection.

The presence of this bottle on the ground means that someone has used this drug.

However, given that there were absolutely no signs of life in the infirmary, the person who received the medication was probably too late...

Once the tentacles of the infected insect emerge from the throat, the insecticide will not only fail to cure the infection but will also harm the infected person.

Looking at the small medicine bottle, Luo Tianming fell into deep thought.

Even if Levi is incredibly skilled... she probably won't emerge unscathed. In case of any unforeseen circumstances, this bottle of medicine might serve as insurance.

Thinking of this, he got up and went back to the infirmary, carefully searching through the cabinet next to the nursing bed.

Finally, he found an unopened bottle of insecticide in the drawer.

[One minute has passed since the agreed time.]

When Luo Tianming arrived at the airlock entrance where the two had agreed to return, Levi was already slumped on the ground, her back against the airlock door connecting the submarine and the outpost, letting the cold metal floor evaporate the sweat from her body.

Hearing the clearly human footsteps, Levi weakly raised her head, the cigarette between her fingers almost burned out.

“…Hey,” she whistled at Luo Tianming in a roguish manner, “I thought you weren’t coming back, but I didn’t expect you to come back empty-handed.”

"What, are we going to be a pair of fugitives here? How ridiculous..."

Those are mandarin ducks... Luo Tianming has no energy to argue with her right now.

Although her tone still sounded as annoying as ever, it was obvious to anyone with eyes that something was wrong with her current dejected appearance.

It's almost as if he knows he's going to die and is preparing to quietly face it...

Luo Tianming deliberately avoided the topic and asked directly, "What about that painted-skin chimera? Did you get rid of it?"

Levi smiled helplessly: "How could this be... What kind of monster did you find for me? I'm starting to believe we're on an alien planet."

"If you had come any later, I would have been prepared to die with that thing."

She pointed to the entrance at the other end of the passage: "Look, here it is."

"Roar--!"

The roaring, painted-skin chimera leaped down the suspended staircase at the end of the passage.

Seeing this, Levi didn't hesitate at all. She pulled out a red jar from behind her and kicked it.

Luo Tianming: "...!"

If he wasn't mistaken, it was a propane tank.

The red propane tank rolled along, and Levi fired three shots with the gun in her hand.

The bullet hit the propane tank precisely...

And then... nothing happened.

Luo Tianming: "What are you doing? The sparks from the bullet won't ignite propane!"

Revy: "Of course I know!"

She took out her Zippo lighter, lit it, and threw it forcefully toward the end of the passage.

The spark ignited the propane in the air in an instant, turning the end of the passage into a sea of ​​fire!

Faced with the flames, the painted-skin chimera showed obvious fear.

Levi took a deep drag on her cigarette and said, "I only found two propane canisters in the kitchen. I used the first one to burn those infected people."

"This is the last bottle... Hurry up, I think if we don't use corpses as fuel, the propane will probably run out in less than a minute."

Luo Tianming quickly entered the submarine's key into the panel again, and the airlock's sealing valve made a creaking sound as always.

Finally—after Luo Tianming's constant urging, the airlock slowly opened.

"..."

He eagerly stepped through the gate and waited for Levi to come in.

But... after waiting for a while, Levi still didn't enter the airlock.

Luo Tianming crawled out again and yelled at her, "What are you doing?! Get back in here right now!!"

He grabbed Levi's hand and pulled her inside.

Levi, however, shook off his hand with an annoyed look and said in an impatient tone, "You can go in by yourself. I'm staying here."

Luo Tianming: "!!"

After a brief silence, anger broke through his rational defenses.

He roared at the top of his lungs, "What's wrong with you, you crazy woman? Get over here!!"

Levi seemed so frightened by the title of "crazy woman" that she dropped her cigarette butt, and now she didn't resist as Luo Tianming dragged her along.

But just as she stepped into the airlock, she suddenly mustered a bit of strength to resist and forcefully pulled her hand out of Luo Tianming's grasp.

"I can't go back with you..." She hesitated, showing him a bite mark on the back of her calf. "I can't hurt you. I've already been bitten, and I'll probably turn into one of those... monsters soon!"

The fist-sized teeth mark on his wheat-colored skin was like a sharp thorn, piercing Luo Tianming's heart.

He asked incredulously, "How much time has passed?"

Levi hadn't intended to speak, but answered him with a cough.

"Cough cough...!"

Luo Tianming knew that this was the initial symptom of the painted skin beginning to parasitize.

In ten minutes at most, Revy will also become a corpse unable to control her own body.

Fortunately, she hasn't started scratching her throat yet, which means there's still hope.

So he simply stepped forward, grabbed Levi's leg, and hoisted her onto his shoulder.

Due to the infection from the parasite, she now has almost no ability to resist it.

After a dizzying moment, she realized she was being carried on Luo Tianming's shoulders, and immediately struggled in shame and indignation:

"Hey! You bastard, put me down."

Levi punched his back and kicked her legs repeatedly...

“I never expected to survive, but I made a promise with you before, so I had to see you at least once.”

"At first I thought you weren't coming back... Now I admit, you are indeed a captain of your word, just not very punctual."

"Put me down right now... I'm beyond saving, and I don't want to die a pathetic death in front of you!"

"..."

Luo Tianming ignored Levi's words, which sounded like her last words, and instead carried her to press the button to shut off the airlock.

As the last ray of light disappeared behind them, the airlock was completely sealed.

The entire outpost returned to tranquility.

Chapter 6 Charging

After disinfecting the airlock, Luo Tianming first placed Levi on the ground.

He pulled out the page with the insecticide and injection gun from the 'Captain's Log', tore it open, filled the magazine with the bottle labeled 'Cecilomycota Intra-parasitic Organism Remover', and injected Levi's arm with the injection gun.

"..."

He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the words "Injection Complete" displayed on the syringe gun screen.

Levi's forehead is still very hot; whether she can fight off the infection remains to be seen.

But Luo Tianming still has a lot of work to do before he can stay by her side until she fully recovers.

"..."

He continued to rummage through the logbook for the things he needed.

First, there are the fuel rods.

He went to the engine room, inserted the uranium enrichment fuel rods into the empty sockets, and the entire reactor was instantly started, with the generator continuously supplying electricity to the entire submarine.

Then we arrived at the bridge.

Turn the life support system to maximum and set the internal water purification device to purify some seawater for drinking.

Finally, there's the food. Space food is very durable and easily absorbed. After simple heating, it becomes a nutritional supplement that quickly replenishes energy.

Luo Tianming half-squatted down, lifted Levi's head slightly, and squeezed the heated space food into her mouth.

Fortunately, Levi was still conscious. She gulped down the food and then complained without hesitation, "What is this? Dog shit... It feels like I ate a mouthful of synthetic rubber."

Luo Tianming: "..."

He had tried it before, and the nutritional value of this space food should be fine. As for the taste... he would rather eat tree bark than eat space food with a strong chemical taste.

As soon as Levi woke up, she realized that she was lying on Luo Tianming's chest and immediately tried to struggle.

But feeling dizzy, the more she struggled, the further she leaned in...

In the end, she half-reclined in Luo Tianming's shoulder, while the other half of her body limply wrapped around his legs.