Qianyuan: My crew comes from the world of anime.

However—Luo Tianming, who immediately returned to the Nautilus, was still somewhat sullen. He muttered angrily under his breath:

"Damn it, the technicians at Chongshan Station are terrible!"

"They can't finish upgrading the submarine's hull... There are still two weeks left, couldn't that old geezer have reminded me sooner?!"

Luo Tianming felt a pang of nostalgia for the chief engineer of the military site, Wohlheim. If the project had been handed over to him, the entire upgrade could have been completed in less than a week.

"..."

It seems necessary to conduct another ship upgrade at the military site.

However, before that, Luo Tianming needs to recruit a reliable 'new crew member'.

Chapter 95 New Crew

The reason for recruiting 'new crew members' is not only because of the manpower shortage that Levi mentioned before, but also because he currently has a lot of recruitment vouchers.

With a total of '25' regular recruitment tickets, even after paying off the loan and acquiring an additional [Anti-ship Missile Stinger], you'll still have 14 recruitment tickets left.

Recruiting a new crew member is more than enough, especially now that the shop isn't refreshing its inventory.

If some good items appear again later, Luo Tianming's 'hamster collecting habit' might flare up again.

"..."

This time, he had already thought it through—the crew members he needed to recruit had to be proficient in operation, so that he could free up Levi as a source of firepower.

There are no other needs. With Levi and him together, they can solve 90% of the problems on the ship, and Lucy, the electrical expert, can handle all the malfunctions.

Even in battle, the fighting order on the ship is Revy > Luo Tianming > Lucy, so there's no need to add more firepower to the ship.

"..."

After careful consideration, Luo Tianming decided that the position he would be recruiting for this time would be [Assistant].

He redeemed a special recruitment ticket, and just as Luo Tianming was about to wait for the scheduled summon, a message from the customer service representative suddenly appeared in his log.

【Honey~ It seems you're planning to recruit a crew member. Are you finally not satisfied with the number of people in your harem?】

Luo Tianming: [What are you doing here?]

He instinctively sensed something was amiss, but couldn't quite put his finger on it.

Customer Service Representative: [Hi, your understanding customer service representative is here to offer you some advice. Why does it feel like you're being treated like a shady merchant trying to scam you?]

Luo Tianming: [It's not just a resemblance, it's a swindler!]

Customer Service Representative: [Crying~ I really came to help... Let me see, your ship's crew is all girls, tsk tsk tsk, this is every man's dream!]

Luo Tianming: [...]

Is not this nonsensical?

Who could play this kind of 'bitter and resentful' game without adding a cute girl mod?

He planned to ignore the guy.

But the customer service representative started analyzing on her own:

【Hmm, safety officer, engineer, ship's doctor, basic life support is all in place, so next we need to recruit an assistant~(^_?)☆】

Its overly businesslike tone made it easy for Luo Tianming to guess its next intention.

Luo Tianming: [What are you trying to say?]

Customer Service Representative: We happen to have someone with S-level potential in terms of manipulation skills to recommend… If only you…

Stop!

Luo Tianming stopped him in time, saying, "You're definitely up to something again to trick me, aren't you?"

Customer Service Representative: [How could that be? This is a rare promotional event! You can get a very rare and beautiful female pilot with just one special recruitment ticket.]

[We understand that the options available based on your requirements are extremely limited, and you wouldn't want to waste your precious recruitment vouchers, would you?]

"..."

That's true. With Luo Tianming's meager intellect, the only beautiful female pilot he could think of was Kallen Kurenai.

But that guy's personality—to put it nicely, he's righteous; to put it bluntly, he's someone who can't tolerate any injustice—if I brought her over, she probably wouldn't let me have an easy time.

Let's think about other possible options...

Asuka?

No, no, no, that's absolutely not going to do. We can't have any more violent people on the ship.

Is it beautiful?

Well, she has a lot of problems; she might turn into orange juice.

Melissa Mao?

That's not bad, if you can ignore her particularly bad luck.

(He has incredible luck, always surviving near-death experiences, but don't ask why he always puts his own body in danger.)

Sword Master Mingye?

Incompatible personalities, pass!

"..."

From this perspective, the conditions are indeed very demanding: either the driver's skills are average, or the girl completely falls outside the concept of a "beautiful girl," or her personality clashes with his...

If what the customer service representative said is true, then it seems that the person she has in her hands is the best choice.

Log: [Thank you for your patronage! Looking forward to our next transaction!]

[Special Recruitment Coupon Deducted -1]

"..."

As a burst of light appeared on the log, human figures gradually gathered in the air.

A long, soft, brown hair, like a fluffy ball, appeared first, followed by a school uniform, black stockings, and small leather shoes (with a lunchbox)...

"..."

When he saw the object appear, Luo Tianming remained outwardly calm, but inwardly he thought:

Wow!

She's a JK (high school girl)!

He couldn't help but cheer inwardly at the extra scent of JK uniforms on the bridge.

.........

This is a JK uniform, a creature that only exists in men's fantasies.

A girl's most beautiful years, a pure being growing up in the carefree yet vibrant youth, make her arguably the undisputed No. 1 on the list of men's "white moonlight" ideals.

Of course, the reason it's so 'wonderful' is because it's a completely fictional existence...

Yes, JK (high school girl) does not exist in reality.

Don't judge those who casually do "dad work," desperately attend cram schools to prepare for university entrance exams, and wear makeup thicker than putty.

Even if someone loses their innocence in middle school, calling them a JK (high school girl) is just a realistic description of a female high school student.

"..."

Because this matter is very important.

So Luo Tianming wanted to repeat himself: Right now—there is a JK on the Nautilus!

"..."

After the initial excitement subsided, Luo Tianming began to carefully examine the JK who had appeared on the Nautilus.

Her fluffy, slightly curly hair made her face look especially small, and there was still a trace of baby fat on her cheeks.

And that skin... no wonder she's a young girl, it's so smooth...

Like...

A peeled egg?

Forgive his poor vocabulary; Luo Tianming simply couldn't find any good adjectives. Even the girl's still-soft downy hair seemed to shimmer in the light.

Other parts: school uniform - incredibly cute, black stockings - 20D (Daniel) is as textured as mature dark chocolate, little leather shoes - how did my 'lunchbox' end up on your feet?

"Where...am I?"

Like a small animal, she cautiously stared at Luo Tianming, who had suddenly appeared in front of her, with her emerald-green eyes.

Without a doubt, this reaction is exactly like a typical JK (high school girl) girl, and her name is Nan Mengya.

She comes from a world that leans towards tokusatsu, "SSSS Denko-Kou," a world where monsters and giant radishes exist.

And she was one of the drivers.

However, since she is this 'South Team Member', her piloting skills should be beyond doubt. As a beautiful girl who can pilot the Dyna Wing even while crouching and using her cute sleeves, her piloting talent cannot be described as genius, but as divine!

……

Although he already knew her name from the knowledge in his mind, Luo Tianming still smiled, pretending to be a 'gentleman,' and introduced himself:

"Hello, I am Luo Tianming, the captain of this ship, the Nautilus. Welcome aboard."

Nan Mengya: "..."

Her eyes revealed suspicion, resistance, and a hint of panic. The guy dressed like a cosplayer in front of her looked suspicious no matter how you looked at him.

JK took a step back and then realized that the surrounding environment was almost completely enclosed.

She looked around curiously, then continued to watch Luo Tianming with a wary gaze.

It's normal for a girl to react this way; after all, not everyone can adapt quickly to a new environment...

She took two deep breaths.

Seeing that Luo Tianming remained in the same spot, making no rash moves, she then asked:

“Um…” Nan Mengya’s voice was as clear as a kingfisher’s, “You just said what this place is? The ship Nautilus?”

Luo Tianming: "Yes, to be precise, this is a submarine. We are currently at a depth of about 1500 meters."

Nan Mengya paused for a moment, then looked at him cautiously again: "But I didn't hear anything. If this is inside a ship, there shouldn't be a lot of noise, right?"

Luo Tianming: "Because this ship uses very advanced technology. Nowadays, submarines use miniaturized nuclear reactors as their power source, and the old-fashioned noisy equipment has been almost completely phased out."

"Of course, there will still be some noise if it is near the water pump and power room."

Unwittingly, Luo Tianming continued to reveal to her that we are now living in a different era.

Nan Mengya asked, still somewhat uncertain, "Then... you just said you were a 'captain,' so are you a soldier in some country or army?"

Luo Tianming: "Well, I can't answer this question too directly. I can tell you that there is no political institution similar to a country on Europa, where we are located."

"I am currently a formal officer of the 'Europa Alliance,' but don't have too many righteous ideas about the so-called military. The people here are at the level of recyclable waste, which is worse than so-called scum."

"Hmph~" The JK girl was amused by his words, but she immediately realized that it was not a good idea to do so.

"Sorry, um..."

"You can call me 'Captain,' 'Captain Luo,' or 'Lieutenant Luo.'"

“Well, Captain…” Nan Mengya finally chose a more distant way of putting it, “You just mentioned that we’re on Europa, right? What’s that? Is it the name of some kind of technology exhibition?”

"..."

Since things had come to this, Luo Tianming had no choice but to explain to her word by word: what is Jupiter's second largest moon, a possible planet entirely covered in oceans, and how humanity entered the space age after leaving the moon and engaging in large-scale development...

Of course, he didn't forget the most classic story of losing contact with Earth.

Luo Tianming's intuition told him that the person who came this time seemed a little different from the others... She looked like she had been 'kidnapped' here.

After listening to everything, Nan Mengya's brain was clearly somewhat blank.

"what……"

She looked dumbfounded and stared at Luo Tianming with great suspicion, saying:

"Isn't this some kind of science fiction setting? We're in some kind of simulated theater, right? Huh?"

Luo Tianming: "..."