Qianyuan: My crew comes from the world of anime.

Catherine: "...This..."

Luo Tianming coldly said, "Reject them, remove everyone who leaves Chongshan Station from the register, and make everyone who abandoned you pay the price."

“From now on, Chongshan Station will no longer be a place they can come and go as they please.”

“But,” Catherine hesitated, “now that the giant beast crisis has been resolved, can’t we go back to our old lives?”

Luo Tianming: "No, the inefficiency of the upper and lower houses in the past was just a kind of 'bureaucratic' style similar to an alliance. We must abandon that bad habit."

“From today onwards, Chongshan Station will officially usher in a new system—everyone will unite around the ‘Mayor’ to form a compact and efficient core team.”

Catherine murmured, "Mayor... but where are we going to find someone to be mayor?"

Luo Tianming: "Do we still need to look?"

"!"

Catherine: "Wait, you mean me?!"

He immediately grabbed Catherine's shoulder and said, "That's right, do you think anyone else is qualified to do this besides you?"

"Don't think you can't do it. You're the only councilor who stayed at the station when the giant beasts attacked. Only you have that kind of courage."

Catherine was clearly swayed by him, and she murmured, "Me? Mayor..."

Luo Tianming coaxed, "Yes, Mayor Catherine."

"..."

The people around remained silent, watching as if they were blind as an adult tricked a little girl into a position that didn't belong to her.

Everyone who was called here today was promoted by Luo Tianming and Fang Cen; they had long since become a community of interest.

From here—Luo Tianming will create a safe zone for himself on Europa, a zone unlike any other faction, truly his own.

Chapter 94 New Mission

After Luo Tianming persuaded Catherine to become mayor, and she left excitedly, he opened the captain's log again.

Suddenly, I noticed that the mission "Double Agent," which had no prior indication, now had a "Progress 2" indicator.

"?"

After a brief moment of thought, he concluded that the so-called "two" might indicate that he had already gained the trust of two factions.

Both the Europa Alliance and the Jupiter Separatists now consider Luo Tianming to be on their side, which is the origin of the second phase.

"..."

But if it's 'two', shouldn't this task be over?

No, it doesn't seem that simple.

Luo Tianming pondered:

Double agents don't necessarily have only 'two faces'. True spies move among various organizations and forces, and are eloquent and resourceful...

In other words, the mission of "Double Agent" requires him to gain the trust of all major human organizations on Europa in order to complete it completely.

Currently, the only groups that still harbor doubts about him are those two outlandish organizations: the 'Painted Skin Cult' and the 'Son of the Clown Mother'.

Of course—Luo Tianming could also complete this task now, as long as he could make those two organizations distrust him, he could complete the task even with only [Progress Level 2].

The minimum requirement for the task is probably 'two'... and the corresponding rewards will likely decrease significantly.

If Luo Tianming had been at this progress before the Giant Beast quest, he might have simply claimed the reward and left.

But now he has a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: the 'Painted Skin Cult' is about to hold an 'alternative concert,' and he might be able to gain the organization's trust directly.

Once the task is upgraded to [Progress 3], we'll see if we can claim the reward.

"..."

As for the fourth organization, 'The Clown Saint Mother's Son', he had virtually no hope for them. Those lunatics were far too chaotic; they didn't even have a clear organizational code or system.

If he rashly joins, he will only end up becoming one of those lunatics.

The best-case scenario is to avoid provoking those guys...

Luo Tianming reconsidered his future plans: the most important thing was to attend the 'concert' held by the Painted Skin Cult; there was nothing else that mattered to him.

He's basically not needed at Chongshan Station. Fang Cen and his secretary wife allow him to easily control the flow of most of the power.

When he left Chongshan Station, Catherine, the nominal 'mayor,' was able to help him withstand a lot of external pressure.

Only a select few know that he is the true manipulator of this shadow empire, and those people cannot betray him or reverse Catherine's absolute trust in Luo Tianming... all because he single-handedly saved this site.

…………

Chongshan Station was merely a place in Luo Tianming's plan for him to earn money. If the time was right, he could withdraw the cash stored there at any time.

For example, this time, he took 3 marks in one go.

This is just a drop in the ocean of mushroom revenue... Only by breaking free from the Alliance's notoriously stingy pricing for various missions can the Nautilus truly free up time to do what it wants.

Look at those submarine captains who are treated like dogs by the alliance. In order to earn a meager income of 2000 yuan, they even fight to do tasks like transporting dangerous chemicals. Sometimes they even have to risk smuggling to earn some extra money.

"..."

When Luo Tianming put the money into his pocket, he felt no shame whatsoever. After all, he was the one who provided the spores for these mushrooms, so what was wrong with pocketing a little?

For some submarine captains, 30,000 yuan is a considerable sum of money.

If you use it for eating, drinking, and having fun, you can live a carefree life for a long time.

But if it's used to upgrade submarines... it'll probably be gone in the blink of an eye.

After giving Levi and the others some pocket money, Luo Tianming quietly went to the bottom floor of Chongshan Station.

This is where the Painted Skin Cult is located... It's gloomy and dark, the perfect place for mushrooms to grow.

"?"

mushroom?

Looking at the cluster of mushrooms blooming in the dark corner of the sect, Luo Tianming felt that something was off.

At this time, news of his arrival at the sect was quickly spread within the sect.

Soon, the missionary came out to greet him.

"Captain Luo..." His voice, like a persistent leech, was something one could never get used to, "You've come here to have a long talk with us about the 'savior'?"

Luo Tianming felt no liking for these cultists. If it weren't for gaining their trust, he would have loved to give them a good bath with insecticide.

"I think you guys are a bit too 'carefree'."

Luo Tianming suppressed his disgust and said in a calm voice:

"You're planning to hold your concert right under the League's nose. Aren't you afraid of being wiped out by the League?"

The missionary let out a chilling laugh:

"Hehe, you're overthinking it."

"Nobody knows where we'll be holding this event right now; the alliance has no idea where we're going."

"Yes, even I, as a participant, didn't know."

Luo Tianming smiled sarcastically.

"..."

That's right, he came here to find out where this 'concert' was going to be held.

Half of the month they mentioned had passed, yet the missionary had still not made any moves, and there was no news of an unusual increase in the number of cult members. This made him somewhat suspicious of this so-called 'concert'.

What exactly do the believers in the painted skin want to do?

As is well known, the Painted Skin Cult was once active, but since being suppressed by the Europa Alliance, its members have dared not show their faces in public.

Because in the past, the alliance only had one way to deal with so-called cultists: throw them into the incinerator together, and let their so-called saviors and foul language go to hell.

Thanks to the Alliance's governance, these members of the "Painted Skin" cult have become much more restrained and only dare to preach in some secluded places.

Even the Jupiter separatists treat them with scrutiny rather than cooperation.

Now, those cult members from the past have resurfaced... and even want to put on another 'alternative concert' to expose their promiscuous, sacrificial, and parasite-eating behaviors.

Luo Tianming couldn't help but ask: 'Are these madmen missing the temperature inside the incinerator?'

Openly provoking the alliance's security, I think these guys are doomed.

"..."

The missionary coughed awkwardly:

“Ahem, Captain Luo, your concerns are valid. Indeed, some believers are quite worried that the Europa Alliance you mentioned will come uninvited, so we must be very careful with this concert.”

"Even I don't know the exact location of the meeting until I actually attend it."

Luo Tianming wasn't buying it: "Then there should at least be a general location."

"I don't believe it—with less than two weeks until the 'concert,' how are other people who want to attend supposed to get there if you choose such a remote location?"

“Online meetings are impossible. If you dare to go online, the Alliance can easily find your archbishop.”

Missionary: "Well...you are absolutely right."

"However, since you've already guessed part of the answer, I won't answer this question. Captain Luo probably can guess it too."

Luo Tianming: "?"

Can you guess it?

What is this guy talking about?

Just as Luo Tianming was about to question him, he suddenly noticed a flaw in his words.

"..."

Yes, if the location of this 'concert' were so remote, the missionaries would have been eagerly urging themselves to set off long ago.

The inability to make a pilgrimage is far more urgent for believers than for unbelievers like Luo Tianming... yet the missionaries have taken no action so far, which means—!

Does this mean their gathering place isn't far from here?

Seeing the astonished look on Luo Tianming's face, the missionary said with satisfaction, "Dealing with intelligent people is so simple."

Luo Tianming hesitated for a moment and said, "It can't be here, can it?"

"You want to cause trouble right under the noses of the Europa Alliance?"

The missionary shook his head: "You're overthinking it. Not to mention the Alliance's disagreement, if I dared to go to Miss Catherine and say, 'The sect plans to hold a concert here,' she would have the cannons at Chongshan Station tear every passing submarine to shreds."

"Moreover, the Cold Cave region is the area most tightly controlled by the Europa Alliance, and it is impossible for us to risk such a great danger by gathering here."

As he spoke, the missionary pointed down.

"The venue for this concert is even further down..."

In an instant, Luo Tianming knew where he was talking about.

Europa, a massive moon of Jupiter, is an oceanic moon with four times the amount of water as Earth. It is divided into several regions based on different depths.

First, the place they are currently in is known as the 'Cold Caves' area, which is named for its extreme cold and numerous caves due to the presence of several kilometers of ice adjacent to the surface.

Its range extends from approximately one thousand meters to two thousand meters underwater, and this region was firmly controlled by the earliest interstellar colonists.

The area extending from 2,000 meters down to 3,000 meters underwater is called the 'Europa Ridge'.

This is a new region composed of rocks and ice floes, and due to its open geography and abundant ocean currents, civilization was quite common here.

However, unlike the cold caves, which are almost entirely controlled by the Europa alliance, the ecosystem below is in a more chaotic and disordered state.

Radical Jupiterists, dangerous clowns, and the Painted Skin Cult are scattered across the hills there, and a considerable number of pirates are also active in the region.

Meanwhile, the members of the "Painted Skin Cult" planned to hold their own 'concert' on the Europa Ridge.

"..."

Upon hearing this news, Luo Tianming immediately started running towards the Nautilus.

It wasn't that he was afraid, but rather that there was a very serious problem:

The Nautilus's maximum diving depth is around 2300m, so it definitely can't reach the Europa Ridge!

They need to start upgrading the submarine's structural strength immediately!