Vault 70's submersibles are highly invisible, but not completely invisible.

As Muda had predicted, the Federation Navy's destroyer arrived and quickly locked onto the submarine beneath the surface and salvaged it.

However, what Mu Da didn't expect was that there was no one on the submarine.

By all indications, the two pilots abandoned the submersible after it suffered damage to its power system.

It stands to reason that they shouldn't be able to run far.

The destroyers of the Federal Navy immediately sent frogman units to embed deep sea searches.

But to everyone's bewilderment, they searched for a full hour and found nothing.

The two pilots disappeared into the water as if they had been dissolved by the sea......

"There are some things I need to know from you."

Destroyer deck.

An officer walked up to Muda, pulled out a voice recorder and opened it in front of him, tapping his index finger on the table in front of him.

"Routine, cooperate."

"Yes, you ask." Muda nodded and pulled away

Sit down in a chair.

The officer pulled out his chair and sat down across from him, and at the same time pulled a pamphlet out of his bosom and opened it, glanced at it, and asked.

"First of all, I want to know, this area is not your patrol area, why are you here?"

Having already thought about it in advance, Qun Muda was not in a hurry, and replied in a calm tone.

"I was on duty at the time, and while searching the patrol area, I tracked an anomalous sonar signal, and I followed that signal to this area. On this point, the brothers who were on duty in the nearby waters at the time could testify on my behalf, and I applied to them for passage and reported the situation."

"We know, it's exactly as you say...... But there are still some doubts here."

The officer glanced at him with a piercing gaze, and continued meticulously.

"When we retrieved the communication records, we noticed that friendly ships on duty nearby had proposed reinforcements to you in the communication, why did you refuse?"

Not showing any flaws because of the doubt in his eyes, Mu Da just shrugged his shoulders and said as a matter of course.

"Does that even need to be asked, because we're not sure what it is, what if it's just a piece of garbage washed by the current? If it were you, would you have asked for reinforcements before we figured out the situation?"

There's nothing wrong with that.

No one wants to be a laughing stock for their allies because of a piece of garbage.

The officer couldn't fault it, nodded, and continued to ask.

"So you used two 100-kilogram depth charges to confirm?"

"Yes."

"It's a luxury...... Why didn't you report the situation to nearby friendly ships before firing?"

Mu Da sighed and said patiently.

"The enemy is right under your nose, if it were you, would you shoot first or report first? Please don't ask such inexplicable questions, and if you suspect that I have a problem, please point me out directly."

"No, no, no, I didn't mean that, Lieutenant Muda. We didn't suspect you, you know it's just routine. The officer hurriedly waved his hands and said with a soothing smile, "So the last question...... So you confirmed that the submarine belonged to Vault 70?"

Mu Da stared at him meticulously and said with a serious expression.

"I don't need to confirm this time, this location, it was in our patrol area without any authorization, and he denied us our communication requests. So we dropped the bombs until they stopped completely...... Luckily, we were lucky enough to let them break down with just two rescue bombs, but unfortunately you were still a step too late and let the people above escape.

The officer sitting across from him nodded, and suddenly spoke.

"You know them

Why did you stop?"

"I don't know, I'm not interested," Mu Da looked at him with a blank face and a hint of impatience in his tone, "Also, didn't you say this was the last question?"

The officer put away the recorder and the pamphlet in his hand, got up from the table with a smile and thought about his right hand. Thank you for your cooperation. 「

Muda also stood up, grabbed his right hand and shook it before letting go.

"You're welcome, did I pass my answer?"

"Clear? You misunderstood, Brother Muda, we didn't suspect anything about you. I said at the beginning, it's just routine ......" Shoving the recorder into his pocket, the officer tapped the pamphlet in his hand and said with a slight smile, "I'll contact you again if there's anything new."

Muda nodded.

"Remember to bring my medal next time."

The officer laughed and patted him on the shoulder.

"That's for sure! Also, congratulations, this is at least a second-class merit! 「

With that, the officer turned and left.

Looking at the back of the man turning away, Mu Da smacked his lips with a little regret.

It's only second-class. But--

It doesn't really matter what the credit is.

He only hopes that he will not be fixed on the pillar of shame in history.

Yuko wasn't sure who the inner ghost was and what level of federal authorities it had infiltrated, but in the end he chose to hide part of the truth and didn't tell everything about it.

"Of course...... I've already asked the formal question, and that question was just out of my personal interest."

The officer put away the recorder and the pamphlet in his hand, smiled and got up from the table and held out his right hand.

"Thank you for your cooperation."

Muda also stood up, grabbed his right hand and shook it before letting go.

"You're welcome, did I pass my answer?"

"Clear? You misunderstood, Mr. Muda, we don't suspect anything about you. I said at the beginning, it's just routine ......" Shoving the recorder into his pocket, the officer tapped the pamphlet in his hand and said with a slight smile, "I'll contact you again if there's anything new."

Muda nodded.

"Remember to bring my medal next time."

The officer laughed and patted him on the shoulder.

"That's for sure! Also, congratulations, this is at least a second-class merit! 「

With that, the officer turned and left.

Looking at the back of the man turning away, Mu Da smacked his lips with a little regret.

It's only second-class.

But—

It doesn't really matter what the credit is.

He only hopes that he will not be fixed on the pillar of shame in history.

Unsure of who the inner ghost was and which layer of federal authorities he had infiltrated, he eventually chose to conceal part of the truth and did not tell everything about it.

Including radio communication with the submarine.

Including the spherical detector that was hanging from the bottom of the speedboat with a fishing net, and so on.

He doesn't know if he made the right choice, and he only hopes that his future self won't regret his decision today......

At the same time, a pitch-black single-rotor helicopter slowly landed on the spacious slam of the plane.

Escorted by two exoskeleton-clad bodyguards, Charas, chief of staff of the Presidential Staff, stepped out of the helicopter and walked towards the oncoming destroyer captain with a serious expression.

"Mr. Charas? What is the wind that has brought you here?" Looking at the henchman beside His Excellency the President, the captain stretched out his right hand from afar and greeted him with a smile on his face.

"What else could it be? Why didn't you tell me in the first place when something so big happened?"

Seeing Charas's displeasured expression, the captain awkwardly withdrew his hand and tried to explain.

"It's just a research submersible, and although we found some traces of modification on it, the modification is very crude

It's not a big deal."

In his opinion, the chief of staff did make a big fuss.

It was just a Vault 70 submersible, not an offensive submarine, so there was no need to panic so much.

Not to mention that there are no strategic facilities in the sea area where it appears, only the ruins of an ocean current power station.

This is even less alarming.

Charas narrowed his eyes slightly, staring at the captain standing in front of him.

"Just a submersible?"

The captain was slightly stunned, looked at him strangely, nodded and said.

"Of course, the submarine has been found, and our men are planning to disassemble it...... Would you like to go and see it?"

"Take me there." Charas's eyes moved slightly, and he nodded,

Then he followed in the captain's footsteps and moved from near the tarmac to the stern of the destroyer.

I saw a drum-shaped submarine being hoisted by a hook and hoisted onto a splint.

Several sailors wearing exoskeletons are holding a series of tools such as welding torch cutters, ready to disassemble this guy.

Seeing the thoughtful expression on the chief of staff, the captain standing on the side couldn't help but ask curiously.

"What are the Vault 70 submersibles doing here?"

Charas didn't look at him, just said casually.

"Who knows...... Maybe it's to cover up the incriminating evidence, maybe it's to take something that you forgot here."

"It's kind of weird," the captain looked thoughtfully at the submarine, "if they're going to cover up the incriminating evidence...... Why did they destroy it with all the fanfare in the first place, and now what is the use of them covering it up? No one will believe them at all."

Logically, this does make some sense.

Even more bizarrely, they found the body of a giant sea monster near the submarine.

The creature was stranger than any xenomorph they'd ever seen, like a giant starfish, yet with more tentacles than an octopus.

Based on the identification of the scars on the submersible's hull, they can already confirm that the damage was left by the sea monster.

Coincidentally, the federal patrol dropped depth charges on the submarine, which saved the lives of the pilots on the submarine.

The bomb didn't hit the submersible, and it smashed the sea monster chasing after the submersible.

According to the patrol captain and the other two sailors on the boat, they had no idea what the bomb had hit.

At present, the Federal Navy is not sure whether the sea monster appeared in this area by accident, or if some kind of human factor has been staying there all along.

If it's the latter, it's a bit intriguing.

It is well known that there are very few xenospecies active near the ruins of the Ocean Current Power Station due to the fact that some of the damaged motors are still working.

There's only one way to force xenos to stay in that area......

Psychic interference devices.

That's the only thing that can do it.

However, to confirm this, the xenomorph's corpse needs to be recovered and autopsied.

Charas gave the captain a faint look, then turned his gaze to the potholed submersible.

"You have to ask Vault 70, maybe they think they can win, but halfway through the fight, they find out that they overestimate themselves, and they plan to clear their hands again and find a cheap substitute for the dead ghost to carry the pot. I don't care for what reason our enemies are attacking us, I just care about how to send them to hell. And you just have to do your job, Mr. Captain."

The captain looked at the chief of staff in a daze.

Although he didn't know why the chief of staff suddenly used such a serious tone, his instinct told him that the gentleman was not interested in the topic he had thrown up, so he quickly ended the topic with great interest.

"Well, I just think it's weird...... Please don't worry. 「

Challa

Si glanced at the captain meaningfully, said nothing, and turned back to the helicopter in the latter's confused gaze.

Two bodyguards wearing exoskeletons sat across from him, not saying a word.

"Back to the North Island."

Throwing a sentence at the pilot, Charas was on the seat, closing his eyes as if he had closed his eyes.

Nobody knows.

The moment he closed his eyes, his consciousness instantly withdrew from his body and escaped into a milky white space.

An old man in a gray robe was standing in the center of the spotless white.

His shoulders were bathed in a holy light, and a soft force blurred the outlines of his features, giving him both the majesty of a thousand miles away and the all-encompassing affinity.

To this guy who does not show his true face, Charas bowed slightly, and sent that false piety.

He's not one of those foolish wastelanders, but he doesn't believe fools.

Strictly speaking, he didn't trust anyone, he never trusted only himself.

But he had to admit that the torch did hold some good things in his hands.

For example, this "sanctuary".

With his eyes closed, he was able to communicate with his allies in Haihuai Province anytime and anywhere, and get the necessary intelligence and other support from them.

And most importantly, unlike the previous "Sanctuary", which only the dead can have, the "Sanctuary" as the second Sanctuary can obtain eternity in it without giving up the human body.

This means that as long as he can obtain his own sanctuary, he can realize the eternity of the gods as a human being!

In the face of the power of the gods, the little power of mortals is too small.

More than anyone else, he longed for that power, to be able to gain eternal power in an eternal capacity.

It is precisely because of this that he, who has never had any faith, has still become the most devout believer of the Torch Church in the southern seas, and loyally and firmly assists all the great plans of the Torch Church in the southern seas.

"Dear Mr. Precursor...... I've confirmed that it's just a Vault 70 submersible, and our ships have intercepted it, so you can rest assured."

With that, he stopped talking, and waited quietly for the bishop to speak.

Quietly looking at the old man in front of him, who was not a few years younger than himself, Arzu groaned for a while and spoke slowly.

"The guard is dead."

His subordinates had already learned about it, Charas replied respectfully.

"You don't have to worry, we'll take care of its corpse, and no one will find out the secrets around it."

Algumi nodded slowly, then continued.

"Vault 70 isn't worth mentioning, but be careful of the Alliance, those people are not easy to deal with. I've seen a Precursor fall into their hands...... Unlike me, who was attached to the flesh, it was a real forerunner. 「

Disembodied Precursors are not reliable, but he must also admit that those who are invisible are virtually indestructible to physical means, unlike himself.

He doesn't feel that the alliance has the ability to shake his ideals, and he is not the kind of person who goes around and around.

But at the same time, he had to admit that those guys were really difficult to deal with, even more difficult than businesses and colleges.

However, unlike Arzu, who was jealous, Charas, who was the chief of staff of the Federal President, only smiled faintly and said indifferently.

"Please rest assured, I have been keeping an eye on them, those people have chosen to camp in the Baiyue Strait, no matter what the hell they have in their hearts, their fate is almost doomed."

Hopefully, sooner or later, we'll have a fight with them, but the later the better," Arzu continued, dressed in gray, after a pause, "I need your men to continue searching for the pilot of that submarine...... Whatever they find or not, keep them in the sea."

Charas bowed his head again and whispered in agreement.

"Yes."

Just as the Federal Navy was expanding its search area and launching a carpet search within a radius of 10 nautical miles, a nearly 200-meter-long nuclear-powered submarine was slowly sailing underwater in uninhabited waters about 100 nautical miles away from the wreckage of the Ocean Current Power Station.

Unlike the boiler-burning nuclear submarines of the 21st century, the USS Dolphin uses second-generation controlled fusion technology, which uses helium-3 and mass captured in the ocean to provide cruising power for fusion fuel.

Although at the end of the boom era, the second-generation controlled nuclear fusion technology was almost replaced by pure cyanide triple fusion, which had a simpler energy structure, two centuries later, the technology is still quite advanced, at least far more advanced than the synthetic oil power system commonly used by the Southern Islands Federation Fleet.

At this moment, neither Charas nor the more than a hundred sailors on the destroyer knew that the person they were looking for had already fled.

And it slipped out under their noses......

The buffer compartment of the submarine USS Dolphin.

The abundant sea water gradually empties outward.

Immediately afterward, the walls on both sides sprayed atomized detergent, and the extended spray guns blew high-pressure air currents that washed away the algae and dust hanging from the two visitors' deep-sea wetsuits.

Seeing the green light dancing above his head, Sis exchanged glances with the tail beside him, and walked through the open gate one after the other.

Directly across from the gate is a long, narrow room of less than ten square meters, with a long partition window on the left that gives a view of the surprisingly spacious interior of the submarine.

The expansive space is flanked by suspended escalators and corridors, and in the center are long containers.

Above the dome are hook locks that are only connected to the rails, and several workers in overalls walk in the suspended corridors.

Siss's face couldn't help but show a hint of surprise.

She had never seen such a strange submarine, which completely subverted her stereotype of submarines as a means of transportation in the narrow air.

Nearby, two men in exoskeletons stood on either side of the door at the end of the room, armed with assault rifles identical to those of the Federal Navy.

However, the exoskeleton with a thick humeral structure did not look like a military model, and it was somewhat similar to the exoskeleton used by the stevedores in the port of the roundabout. And the temperament of these two people is not like professional soldiers, but more like temporarily recruited security guards.

And in the middle of the two, there was also a man in a blue coat, who looked a little majestic just by looking at his appearance and demeanor.

Looking at the two divers approaching him, the man briefly introduced himself and held out his right hand. -

"Welcome to the Dolphin, my name is Chen Jianhong, and I am the captain of this submarine."

Taking off his helmet and tucking it under his armpit, Sisi gently shook off his loose hair, shook the man's outstretched hand and shook it.

"Siss, this one next to me is Tail, and we're all residents of Vault 404."

"Oh! You can call me Ah Tail! He also took off his head, and his tail looked around with a look of novelty, and he couldn't help but say in surprise, "Gioo! I thought you didn't have a weapon...... I didn't expect you to have such a powerful big guy! 「

Looking at the two people with unique temperaments in front of him, the captain named Chen Jianhong was obviously stunned, but it was only for a moment.

"What do you mean...... Is it this submarine? This is really not a weapon, just an ordinary cargo submarine.

"Cargo submarines?!"

I've never heard of such a strange concept, and Tail's eyes widened in surprise, "Ah......h Why use submarines to transport cargo? Won't it be a hassle?"

Chen Jianhong shrugged his fan and continued.

"I think so, too, although this thing was originally built to facilitate logistics between the undersea settlement and the surface settlement, it is obviously much easier to build an elevator that goes up and down than to use a submarine to transport things. But for now, I'm glad that the original designer Gao Wanyuan belonged to him, otherwise we and the more than 500 inhabitants of Coral City on the submarine would have been buried at the bottom of the sea...... Anyway, shouldn't you explain your own business before you ask us? 「

tail

Ba asked, looking at him in confusion.

"Explain?"

"Huang Guangwei", the captain stared at the guy intently, and then looked at the woman named Siss, and said with an unkind expression, "The biometric information registered on that submarine is called this name, but the person we found on it is you, I want to know where the original owner of that submarine is, and...... Is he still alive? 「

The atmosphere at the scene was a little stiff for a while.

But only for a moment.

"Of course he's still alive and doing well, otherwise the person who is suffering here wouldn't be us."

In order to avoid Ah Wei saying something superfluous, Si Si quickly picked up the conversation before she could speak, and looked at the captain who looked at her, and continued,

"He's in the Alliance right now, staying with Sun Yuechi, the director of your shelter."

Hearing this, Chen Jianhong was stunned again, and then in less than half a minute, a surprised expression appeared in an instant.

「…… In the Union? Wait a minute! Coalition?! Our managers are also there

There? But this ...... How is this possible! Didn't he go to the Great Rift Valley?!"

At this moment, he finally realized where the sense of disobedience in his heart came from when he heard the guy named Tail say those words just now.

Until the entrance to Vault 70 was blocked by the ships of the Federation of the Southern Islands, the whereabouts of the manager Sun Yuechi and the lockdown of the weapons depot were all the biggest secrets of Vault 70, and only a few people knew about it!

And yet these guys seem to know about it!

"His original destination was indeed the Great Rift Valley, but he changed his mind while passing through Dawning City and handed over the authority of the administrator to us......

Looking at the stunned Captain Chen and the two soldiers beside him who also looked surprised, Si Si spent half an hour patiently explaining the matter to him.

Including how Sun Yuechi got to Dawning City, and how he shoehorned the management authority to their manager.

also includes how that Huang Guangwei ran aground on the north shore of the Baiyue Strait, and how they happened to pick it up and brought it back to Dawning City......

After listening to her statement, Chen Jianhong stretched out his index finger and pinched his eyebrows, only to feel that his complex emotions were blocked in his chest, and he couldn't say a word for a long time.

He couldn't take it.

Their manager would rather trust his hopes with an outsider he had met than choose someone he knew well.

And what made him even more unacceptable was that when they were hiding in the sea, gambling with their lives and playing hide and seek with the Federation fleet, that guy had already started a new life in Kouguang City?!

Are you kidding!

"So...... That guy is eating and drinking spicy food from you now?"

Retracting his index finger in the center of his shoulder, he squeezed the words out of his mouth with a trembling voice.

Not wanting to hit the dutiful captain in front of him, Siss's expression was slightly subtle, but he still nodded honestly.

"Yes...... Including the owner of the submarine, Huang Guangwei, who gave the submersible to us for disposal before boarding the airship to Dawning City-

"These bastards!"

An angry scolding interrupted her half-talk, Chen Jianhong clenched his head, couldn't hold back the emotions in his heart anymore, and said through gritted teeth.

"We're here to endure claustrophobia, evade the Fed fleet, and live on a modest supply of supplies! And the culprit of all these mistakes is enjoying life on the land! Isn't there a little guilt in this guy's heart! 「

Are you kidding!

It's so unfair!

Sisi coughed lightly.

"I think...... Your manager must have felt guilty about it, which is why he commissioned us to investigate the wreckage of the Ocean Current Power Station.

Chen Jianhong said angrily.

What's the use of investigating that thing! This is clear to everyone except the idiots on the island, who did it with a torch! But if he still has a bit of backbone, he should come back and take charge of the overall situation, or at least open the door to the arsenal! 「

Looking at this guy who was carried away by anger, Si Si didn't know how to comfort him for a while, and there was a helpless expression on his face.

A 180-degree U-turn immediately after a fatal mistake is not necessarily the best remedy, and it can lead to another, more fatal outcome.

The war against the Torch Church requires the support of the survivors of the southern seas, and it is not in the interest of the Alliance to watch the survivors here kill each other.

The most important thing they need to do now is to put the brakes on this train that has gotten out of control, and not let the scale of the war continue to grow.

So she didn't tell the captain in front of her, who now had the key in her hand that would open the door to the arsenal.

It's not time to use it yet......

Just as Si Si was thinking about what to do next, Tail, who had been standing next to her for a while, suddenly spoke.

"Oh! Anyway, your managers are all with us, so why don't you go to us too!"