Qianyuan: My crew comes from the world of anime.

Watching her figure leave the airlock, Nan Mengya fidgeted with the hem of her clothes for a moment, feeling lonely.

As the only high school student on the ship, she was forbidden from touching firearms or similar weapons... Although Nan Mengya knew that this was to take care of her, she still couldn't help but feel excluded.

Once everyone else had left, the ship was so quiet that the only sound was the faint murmur of the sea.

"...So boring~"

JK curled up in the control chair and paced around, not knowing what to do with her phone. She simply opened the hacking software that Lucy had installed for her again.

This time, she successfully hacked into the site's internal network.

Even though there is no connection to the external network, a small local area network still exists within the site. The monitoring equipment is still working, inputting all the conversations that are overheard into a secret 'black box' for safekeeping.

Nan Mengya was first transferred to a very remote area:

A: Damn it!

The pirates have entered! Grab your weapons!

']

B: No!

It's not just pirates... Watch out for that woman with dual pistols... Bang!

']

JK frowned and moved the phone a little further away. The sound of the 9mm gun was too loud, and the screams were too realistic, giving the feeling of watching a horror movie.

(The captain and the others probably don't need to worry...after all, they're all very capable.)

Nan Mengya then switched the channel to the next region...

A: Sigh, they've started fighting again...

B: Stop sighing. What does the fighting outside have to do with us? As long as we stay here, it won't affect us at all.

A: When will this end? I want to leave here and go back to Earth.

B: This joke isn't funny. Do you even know what the Earth looks like now? You're just saying you want to leave.

A: Do you think what they're saying is true?

Is there really a huge amount of radiation on the Earth's surface?

Could this be a deceptive tactic by the league?

In fact, humans had already established large-scale colonies on land, but left the excess population to fend for themselves underwater.

B: Then you can go up there... Remember to take a picture of us enjoying the birdsong and beautiful flowers after you get up there.

A: Impossible. We sent a camera up there before, and the radiation killed the electronic chips inside.

... (an unbearable silence)

A: I had a strange dream before. I dreamed of a god or something in the center of the deep sea... He said he could grant all my wishes.

B: Not again?

You know you have hysteria now, go see a doctor and get a prescription for haloperidol.

A: No, it's true... You've heard the rumor, haven't you? In the deepest part of the ocean—there's a mad old vagrant who keeps yelling: 'Too late, it's too late to do anything at this point!'

B: You know he's a madman, right? I heard he used to be a scientist, so anything can happen on Europa.

B: If you don't want me to lock you in the engine room as a cleaner, remember to refrain from spouting this kind of nonsense in the future.

Nan Mengya: "—!"

She recovered from the shock, and the overwhelming joy made her heart race!

(What? What happened?)

(Timeline, the genius at the Yuanyang Center, and that old scientist... they found such an important clue so quickly?!)

(I need to report to the captain immediately!)

Nan Mengya immediately shouted into the communication device, "Captain... I've found information about the timeline!"

"Captain?! Captain...?"

Nan Mengya: "..."

There was complete silence on the other end of the communication device, and no one else reacted either.

(What happened?!)

Did something happen to them...?

(No, I can't let such important information be lost like this, I have to—!)

Nan Mengya: "Captain, can you hear me... I need to go find the information they just mentioned about the timeline. I'll be right back!"

"..."

JK picked up his phone to check the distance to the listening node, then opened the airlock and ran out.

After emerging from the airlock, Nan Mengya heard about the intense fighting taking place on the upper levels. Someone had used controlled explosives, and the huge explosions instantly echoed throughout the entire site.

"ah……!"

Nan Mengya covered her ears in fear, but then she remembered her promise to the captain to find a way back together, so she mustered her courage and continued forward.

As she advanced, the gunshots grew farther and farther away... Those guys were right; no matter what, the fighting wouldn't affect them from where they were hiding.

This is a water storage tank in the lower layer of a nuclear reactor core, embedded in the rock strata. Pipes connect various compartments, but the heating pipes here have long since dried up, and few people know that two assistants who slack off at work are hiding here.

Nan Mengya: "Is anyone there~..."

"..."

The echo carried far, and if it weren't for the still-flickering monitoring signal, she would have almost doubted that anyone was there.

JK brought her ear closer to the phone again:

B: How many times have I told you this!

Don't talk nonsense into the pipes!

A: I swear to God, it definitely wasn't me... What should we do? She's starting to look for us. Should we go out?

B: Don't be silly, she won't be able to find us!

Shh...don't let her hear.

Nan Mengya shouted decisively:

"Hiding won't help. If you don't come out, I'll have someone arrest you!"

"Wait...no!"

"Idiot! She's bluffing you!"

Two voices came from the huge passage behind Nan Mengya. She turned around and saw two furtive figures. Although she was a little scared, she mustered up her courage and said:

"Get out of there right now, or... I'll call for help!"

One of them immediately said, "No, no! Little Miss, please don't shout—if we're really discovered, those pirates won't let us off the hook."

Another person said, "Those pirates are almost all dead now. Listen—someone is leading them in a suicide charge."

"..."

Inside the pipe they were in, came the sound of a dense hail of bullets—but the counterattack from the other side was even more powerful, with the deafening sound of shotguns every few seconds sweeping away the debris like a broom.

"..."

Nan Mengya doesn't have time to care about those things right now; she only wants to know one thing:

"Is what you just said about the 'expert,' the 'senior scientist,' and the 'time point' true?"

The two men looked at each other in disbelief, never imagining that a little girl had overheard their conversation.

"Uh... this kind of crazy talk happens all the time. It's normal for people to go crazy from time to time after being cooped up in the submarine for so long."

Another person chimed in:

"Young lady, if you'd like to hear more, I can introduce you to a few clowns; those are the real lunatics..."

Nan Mengya: "...No, I just want to ask you...how much of what you said is true?"

The two looked at each other again, their eyes conveying the same message: 'This young girl is too naive; she must have been spoiled rotten somewhere.'

'Why don't I lie to her...'

'Don't rush, watch me.'

"Ahem!" he said, feigning seriousness. "Little girl, are you curious about the secret of the timeline? As long as you pay me..."

“No need,” Nan Mengya refused swiftly, her disdainful gaze piercing through them like a sharp sword.

At the same time, she also used a feigned indifference to move forward.

In desperation, another person shouted:

"Actually, we don't know if this is true or not! We've only heard about it from people who have passed through this station!"

Nan Mengya: "You heard? How could you overhear such news?"

The two said, "Because of the structure here!"

Then, they showed Nan Mengya the place: a huge water tank located under the core of the nuclear reactor, which used to be the cooling tower water circulation facility for the nuclear reactor.

The cooling water that does not directly contact the reactor is heated to over 80 degrees Celsius here, and then circulates throughout the site through huge copper-lined water pipes. The cooled water then returns here, thus completing the heating and cooling cycle of the site.

However, the pirates who occupied the site didn't understand these things. Before long, they put the nuclear reactor into an automatic low-power state and emptied the site by automatic sluice gates to prevent water from freezing in the pipes.

And they, the two assistants who originally belonged to this station, secretly hid here.

During their time hiding there, they discovered that these copper-coated water pipes had excellent sound conductivity; they could hear clearly when someone was leaning against them and talking.

The area with the clearest sound was the area where the station chief's office was located... therefore, they often overheard some secrets there, such as:

The Alliance's previous exploration of the ground failed again, and after the supply to Jupiter's separatists was cut off, they are now facing a food supply system with severe shortages of resources, the Painted Skin Cult is making big moves, and the Jokers are plotting pranks again...

Similarly, they were also very familiar with what was happening at the site.

Assistant A: "Let me tell you..."

He said mysteriously to Nan Mengya,

"Don't be fooled by the fact that these pirates who have taken over the station all seem like madmen. In reality, apart from the first mate and the chief engineer who are most loyal to the stationmaster, everyone else is just paying lip service to him... They have secretly hidden a batch of food, and after the pirate stationmaster has divided up the loot, those people will secretly hold a feast behind his back."

"And another thing... the Jupiter separatists are no longer a monolithic entity. The radical faction has now taken the lead, and the other two factions are almost forced to wage war against the Europa alliance."

"Furthermore, do you know how many people in the upper echelons of the alliance are actually..."

Nan Mengya: "Boring... I'm leaving."

Unfortunately, JK has absolutely no interest in the dirty secrets of such human infighting.

"Hey hey hey~" Assistant B on the other side stopped her and said, "Don't go. Even if you go back now, the fighting is still going on. It won't be over anytime soon. Those pirates have been instigated by someone and they've been fighting the radicals to the point of being brain-dead."

"Is it really necessary to make such a fuss over a site that's already abandoned by the alliance?"

Nan Mengya: "Have you said enough? I'm going back..."

Assistant A earnestly advised, "Young lady, why won't you listen to reason? Why do you want to go back? Why don't you come hide here with us? We know where those pirates hide their food. Why go back to the ship and live a miserable life?"

What is your job on the ship?

Nan Mengya: "[Assistant]"

“Tsk tsk tsk,” Assistant B said, shaking his head. “It was too tough. When I think back to my days as an assistant, it was inhuman. I worked day and night, ate krill junk food that smelled musty, and slept less than six hours a day.”

Assistant A: "We also need to wash the captain and the others' smelly socks!!"

Assistant B: "Yes, and smelly socks... See, we were all originally assistants, why go back and make things harder for ourselves?"

"Your captain must have treated you very badly, right?"

Nan Mengya immediately defended her, saying, "Captain, she's not that kind of person!"

"Haha~" Assistant B laughed dismissively, "If that's the case, how much salary does your captain pay you each month?"

Assistant A, oblivious to the situation, interrupted, "Let's not talk about this. Some captains don't pay their interns, ostensibly to gain experience, but in reality, it's 22nd-century slave exploitation!"

Faced with their ridicule, Nan Mengya silently said a number: "5000 marks a month."