The dim bedside lamp emits a dim light.

Like the sunset glow of the setting sun, a piece of yellow sand was scattered, covering the entire narrow captain's room.

His eyes swept over inadvertently, and Meng Lei suddenly felt that the captain's room in front of him seemed to be slightly different from before going to bed.

Where the difference was, he couldn't say.

That feeling is like the strange brilliance I saw in a dream just now.

Obviously have a clear feeling, but can not be described in words.

If I had to say one word to describe it, it would be that everything that appeared in front of Meng Lei at this moment became clearer.

It is not the clarity of the visual senses, but the spiritual perception of a certain cognitive level.

"What exactly is going on?"

Meng Lei was shocked and felt very incredible.

Impressive memories of dreams still linger in my mind.

He knew very well that the white light was by no means an illusory product constructed by the subconscious, but it really brought some kind of imperceptible change to him.

"Mysterious white light group? What is that?"

"It seems... this is the third time I have dreamed, right?"

Some fragments of deep memory slowly emerge from the ocean of thinking.

Meng Lei suddenly remembered that the night when he first came to Xier City some time ago, he also seemed to have dreamed of that mysterious and unpredictable white light group.

Once or twice, I said that this thing is some kind of manifestation of the subconscious, and I can barely say it in the past.

Including the dream just now, up to now, he has seen the white light in his dream three times.

And this time tonight, it is undoubtedly closer to the source.

He even saw colors other than pure white, alternative colors beyond the visible spectrum of the naked eye!

This phenomenon obviously cannot be explained by the subconscious mind.

"What the **** is going on? What exactly is that light group? Why did it appear in my dream?"

Meng Lei sat cross-legged on the bed, subconsciously lit a cigarette, scratched his forehead with the cigarette in his right hand, and had deep doubts in his heart.

This kind of thing was beyond his comprehension, and he couldn't explain it with any theory he knew.

"The white light group appeared three times, all in the city of Xier, and in other sea areas, I have never dreamed of anything similar."

"That's the only clue to follow for now."

"Is there something in the city of Searle that is attracting me? Or, is it sending me some kind of special message?"

"But why is it me? Does anyone else have a similar situation?"

Meng Lei frowned, unable to think of a reason.

But he had a faint feeling that the white light would never appear for no reason, there must be a special connection with him.

Moreover, in the days to come, the two sides will meet again in a dream.

And when he can really touch that strange light, perhaps, all the truth will be revealed!

Taking a deep breath, Meng Lei got out of bed wearing pajamas with a cigarette in his mouth.

There will definitely be no results in this matter in a short period of time, and he will never mention it to outsiders until it is completely clear.

This is his secret, and like Goldfinger, it must be kept strictly in his heart.

He didn't want to be caught by the researchers of the Alliance or the Blue Star players as a guinea pig for slice research.

That kind of situation is too scary to think about.

Forgetting about dreams for the time being, Meng Lei stretched.

Looking down, he glanced at the clock on the bedside table, it was already past seven in the morning.

"The biological clock is barely regular, but it can't be like this again in the future."

"In addition, I haven't exercised for many days, so I have to pick it up as soon as possible, and I can't waste my body..."

While thinking about it, Meng Lei bit his cigarette and walked out of the captain's room.

Since the Eugene incident, Meng Lei has required all lighting equipment to be turned on even if the submarine is in energy-saving mode.

At the very least, there should not be any monitoring blind spots.

Compared to the safety of the entire crew, the amount of energy wasted by the lighting is similar to taking a hot bath, which is really not worth mentioning.

Meng Lei walked in the corridor of the living area on the second floor. His slippers stepped on the cold and hard metal deck, making an empty tapping sound.

At this time, someone has already woken up.

Simon and Carl, who both slept early last night, were all dressed up and working on breakfast in the dining room.

The hum of a food processor running rumbles through the hallway through the opened restaurant door.

Surrounded by the aroma of barbecue, Meng Lei kicked his slippers to the bathroom.

The hatch opened, and Hawke came out with a towel on his shoulder and toiletries in his hand.

"Morning Captain!"

Seeing Meng Lei head-on, Hawke greeted politely with a smile on his face.

After this period of contact, Hawke, who was not good at words when he first got on the ship, always had a paralyzed face, and some changes occurred unknowingly.

Not only did he talk a lot, but the expressions on his face were richer than before.

"Morning Hawk!"

With a cigarette in his mouth, Meng Lei responded with a smile.

"How's your leg injury, do you feel better?"

As a leader, Meng Lei expressed his due concern for his employees, but also his concern among friends.

The Hawks are still pretty good, as you can see from the incident at Molten Rock Outpost.

At the very least, after the explosion and chaos, he didn't leave Meng Lei and others behind, and drove the boat to escape alone.

"It's much better. Dr. Gina's operation was timely and successful. With proper treatment, it may be cured in two or three days."

Hawke seemed very happy. When responding to Meng Lei, he bounced twice to prove his recovery effect.

"Look, it's no longer a problem to walk normally now. All external wounds have healed, but the bones haven't fully grown."

Meng Lei nodded slightly in surprise, and felt a little incredible about Hawke's recovery speed.

It is a famous saying of the ancestors.

In order to recover from the damage on the bones, it requires a long period of rest and conditioning, otherwise it is easy to leave sequelae.

Hawke was attacked by Xunmenglong at that time, which caused a broken leg and was severely deformed.

Such a serious injury, it has only been less than a week, and it is a miracle that he can recover to this extent!

However, this also proves from the side that the medical level on Alien is superb.

To be precise, it is the development of pharmaceutical technology.

After a brief chat with Hawke, Meng Lei went to the bathroom to take a hot shower.

Bathing in the steaming shower, the warm water washes away the anxiety and fatigue of the past few days, this feeling is really comfortable.

Meng Lei, who returned to the captain's room and put on clean clothes, immediately felt refreshed and refreshed.

Coming to the restaurant with a handheld tablet, Meng Lei sent a message to Chen Yu, asking if the other party was up, while eating a delicious breakfast.

The iron head shark bean sauce is paired with tomato salad, spread on the rosin and soft glutinous bread, with a piece of fried yuzu in the middle, and a piece of crab claw meat for decoration.

In one bite, the umami of seafood is mixed with the sweetness of tomato.

Meng Lei found that the types of food on the alien planet were in addition to the seafood that was not on the blue star.

Many vegetables and crops bear a great resemblance to Blue Star.

Such as potatoes, tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, etc., these most basic vegetables, almost everything.

But most of the time, it's hard to get fresh.

Under normal circumstances, these vegetables are stored in dehydration, which saves space and is easy to transport.

Moreover, the price of vegetables is many times higher than that of most ordinary meats!

It is said that in response to the necessity of food diversification, the alliance has opened a special undersea farm to grow various crops to meet the health needs of the people.

Of course, the seeds of these crops were all transported from the parent planet before the parent planet lost contact, and have been multiplying to this day.

In addition, animal husbandry is not completely extinct here.

If you have the money, you can even eat delicious chicken and beef!

Aunt Jinsili's restaurant once launched a popular beef brisket dish. I heard that it caused a sensation in the nearby Sea Area Alliance's aristocratic circle, and they rushed to check in.

But the price of all livestock meat products is ridiculously higher.

Even many economically underdeveloped outposts cannot even obtain import licenses.

And the people at the bottom who rely on the subsistence allowances provided by the alliance to survive, may not know what beef is like for the rest of their lives. It is a noble ingredient belonging to the real upper class, similar to the deep-sea caviar on Blue Star.

The value changes brought about by environmental differences are fully reflected here.

The deep-sea caviar charged by the gram in Blue Star has become a common dish on Alien, while the chicken, duck, beef and mutton that can be bought casually in the vegetable market has become a luxury that ordinary people cannot reach.

It has to be said that this is a very realistic irony.

During the banquet, after Huo Ye finished his breakfast, he became somewhat idle.

After finishing the dishes, he sat opposite Meng Lei, hesitating and asking:

"Captain, today... are there any other activities? Do you need me to participate?"

Meng Lei thought while eating, shook his head and said:

"It should be fine until it starts again."

Some of the things that Meng Lei will be busy with next are all internal problems of the fleet. Simon and the others are not suitable to intervene, nor can they help.

In the final analysis, these external crew members still belong to the citizens of the Alliance, and the relationship between them and Meng Lei belongs to the employer and the employee.

Once the recruitment contract expires and commissions are no longer provided, the two parties will inevitably part ways.

The behavior of the lifetime buyout system does not exist in the alliance system.

Because before the Blue Star players arrived, this kind of buyout system was not in line with the social status of Alien, and there was no bounty fleet that would spend a lot of money to recruit a non-staff crew member.

They pay more attention to the training of the internal crew, and the non-staff only exists as a temporary supplement.

Therefore, there is no such thing as a buyout system in the league at present.

Of course, you can also renew the contract all the time, which is not much different from a buyout.

Although everyone has experienced so many life and death crises together, Simon and the others are employees after all, not part of the Chongming fleet.

Therefore, confidential information about some fleets needs to be kept secret from them.

However, everyone has been getting along very well.

If there is a chance, Meng Lei will also try to bring them under his command, but now is not the time.

At this moment, Meng Lei put down his knife and fork, feeling that there was something in Simon's words.

After a pause, he looked up at Simon and asked:

"What's the matter? What are your plans?"

Simon scratched his head, and said a little embarrassedly: "If there is nothing else, I want to make time to go to the training ground to exercise. Anyway, I have nothing to do on the boat."

When the voice fell, Simon added:

"You know, people like us who go out to sea to run missions must constantly improve their skills, and only relying on accumulating actual combat experience during the mission process, the improvement of shooting and fighting skills is really limited.

Many times, after a mission, you can't fire a few shots, and you can only train at the training ground in the city. "

This was the first time Meng Lei heard of such a statement, and he felt curious and hurriedly asked:

"Is there a place where you can practice guns in the city of Xi'er? Why haven't I heard of it?"

Simon nodded and affirmed:

"Yes, otherwise, where are we nominal security officers trained in the alliance? In addition to firearms, the training ground can also provide various weapons to practice melee combat skills.

Even a big city like Syr City has not only ordinary training grounds, but also underwater training grounds, including the training of ship-based weapons.

Every registered onboard safety officer needs to exercise his ability on the training ground to deal with various risks when going to sea. "

Hearing this, Meng Lei nodded thoughtfully.

I feel that this design is also more in line with the environment of alien society.

At the same time, after learning that there was a place like the training ground, Meng Lei was also a little bit eager to move.

The development and security of the fleet also require military support.

After all, there are very few people in the fleet who have been soldiers and carried guns. After all, there are very few people who have certain actual combat experience. It is impossible to pay for every submarine purchased in the future to hire people from the alliance to take the position of security officer.

If there is a training ground for professional training, then every member of the fleet can be trained to a certain extent, at least there is no need to recruit through the talent market.

Meng Lei secretly kept this detail in mind.

When the base area develops in the future, a large-scale training ground must also be established in the city, and even professional training institutions will be established to continuously export various types of talents.

In this way, even if there is a falling out with the alliance one day, the alliance will not be stuck in the neck, resulting in a large-scale shutdown.

"It's okay, if you want to exercise, just go, and remember to report back on time every day."

Meng Lei nodded and immediately agreed to Huo Ye's request.

This is not a mess, and he has no reason to refuse.

When Huo Ye heard the words, he immediately laughed happily, and said on the spot that he would never delay the sailing, and then left excitedly.

After this little episode, Meng Lei continued to eat.

Not long after, Chen Yu sent a reply.

It means that Ning Wen and Wang Qi have arrived and are waiting for him to have a meeting at Guixu, and have new information to report.

Meng Lei immediately ended his breakfast in a hurry, tidy up briefly, and turned a corner to the living cabin of the Guixu.

The sea locust and the Guixu are berthed very close together, so it can be said that they are next to each other, which is very convenient.

In the cramped cabin, Chen Yu and Ning Wen were lying on the floor, cooing together, not knowing what they were doing.

The sound of the hatch opening came, and several people got up and turned back.

Meng Lei finally saw that, in the middle of the three of them, there was a map spread out on the floor with something densely marked on it.

"Brother Lei, you are here!"

Seeing Meng Lei stepping in, Ning Wen immediately came forward excitedly.

No matter what it is outside, at least in front of Meng Lei, this fledgling college student has always been like a little fanboy who will never grow up.

"Well, what are you looking at?"

Meng Lei walked into the cabin carelessly and stood under the bright light.

Ning Wen picked up the map from the ground, spread it out excitedly, placed it in front of Meng Lei and said:

"Brother Lei, you asked me to investigate the situation of the hydrothermal wasteland yesterday. I already know about it. This is a local map I bought from a small business. It marks the general situation of the sea area near the hydrothermal wasteland. , look."

Meng Lei took the map and glanced at it roughly.

It was found that this is an older flat print, marked with distorted lines and words, showing a more intuitive appearance of the sea.

Among them, the ore vein sites represented by dark red dots were densely covered with most of the area on the map, and Meng Lei was puzzled when he saw it.

He pointed to one of the signs, turned to look at Ning Wen, and asked:

"What are these red dots? What do the mine sites mean, how come there are so many?"

Ning Wen explained with a smile:

"Speaking of this question, Brother Lei, have you heard of the deep sea black chimney?"

Meng Lei looked dazed, shook his head, and admitted without shyness:

"I don't know, I've never heard of it! What is that?"

Ning Wen put on the preaching demeanor of an old professor, cleared his throat, and said:

"The so-called deep-sea black chimney actually refers to a landform in the high-temperature hydrothermal active area on the seabed, because when the hydrothermal fluid spews, it looks like black smoke, and after the hydrothermal precipitation, minerals rich in various metal elements are formed. Substances continue to precipitate, forming a chimney-like landform.

Therefore, such places are called deep-sea black chimneys! "

"Hydrothermal activity area? Mineral precipitation?"

Meng Lei still couldn't understand. This type of knowledge was beyond his scope. In his previous life, he had never accumulated reserves in this area.

Ning Wen saw that Meng Lei was still a little confused, so he continued to explain bitterly:

"Deep-sea hydrothermal fluids, also known as hydrothermal sulfides, are a relatively special deep-sea phenomenon.

The formation of this phenomenon is that seawater intrudes into the fissures in the ground, heated by the high-temperature activity deep in the earth's crust, dissolving various metal compounds in the earth's crust, and then erupting from the surface volcanic crater on the seabed. A special phenomenon formed after the condensation of the eruptive material.

To put it simply, it is an act of seawater passing through the cracks, dissolving the metal minerals in the earth's crust, and then spraying them onto the ground. "

Hearing this, Meng Lei nodded thoughtfully.

If he said that, he would be able to understand, at least have a relatively intuitive concept of this phenomenon.

"You keep talking!"

Meng Lei lowered his head and continued to look at the map, motioning for Ning Wen to give a more detailed explanation.

Ning Wen cleared his throat and said:

"These hydrothermal craters have also been discovered on Blue Star, and they contain a large amount of mineral reserves. They are a kind of very precious deep-sea resources, which generally exist in the waters with a depth of about two kilometers.

And, it mainly occurs on the central ridge and fault active zone.

In Outer Star, the situation seems to be similar to Blue Star, but the depth of the sea area has changed, and the average depth of the hydrothermal wasteland is about 3,500 meters.

There are a large number of hydrothermal vents here, forming numerous submarine hydrothermal deposits.

In the early days of the Tia people's colonization, this sea area was once called the hydrothermal ridge, which brought great help to the development and construction of the initial colony! "

After a pause, Ning Wen added:

"It can be said that more than 90% of the construction resources in the first half of the entire 66671 channel come from here!"

Hearing this, Meng Lei couldn't help but exclaim:

"So exaggerated?! The metal compounds ejected from the crater are not the original ore in the rock formation. How many things can there be?"

Ning Wen shook his head, looked at Meng Lei with a trace of ignorance, and explained:

"Brother Lei, you are wrong about this!

These mineral depositional belts formed by the eruption of seabed hydrothermal fluids contain higher and purer minerals than those raw stone ore!

Just a sediment deposit with a width of more than 160 meters and a depth of more than 10 meters can mine more than 1.8 million tons of various metal resources!

It's tons, not tons!

Do the math, how rich are the mineral resources accumulated over hundreds of millions of years in this vast sea area? ! "

Meng Lei was shocked when he heard the words, and he hurriedly lowered his head to look at Ning Wen's mocking gaze.

Through the calculation of the scale, the coverage area of ​​the entire hydrothermal wasteland sea area is about 120,000 square kilometers!

It is simply unimaginable, in this vast sea area, what kind of amazing mineral resources are there!

Ning Wen said that more than 90% of the resources for the construction of the base in the first half of Channel 66671 came from here. Thinking about it now, it is still conservative.

"Then... the ore vein ruins mean that these red dots represent metal deposits that have been fully mined?"

Knowing the principle of undersea hydrothermal fluids, Meng Lei quickly realized what the dense markings on the map meant.

Ning Wen nodded, raised his finger to one of the points on the map, and said:

"These marked red dots are all high-quality deposits explored by the Alien Pioneers back then, and they contain a lot of resources, at least at the level of one million tons!

In the course of years of development, these exposed deposits formed by metal deposits have been exploited by the Alliance.

Only a large number of abandoned mining sites are left, which is no longer the grand occasion of the past.

Later, many pirates and private forces secretly patronized, trying to pick up the leaks, and finally looted the sea area completely.

Today, in the once prosperous sea area, only a few key outposts remain in operation, and everything in the past has been abandoned.

This is where the name hydrothermal wasteland comes from. "

Meng Lei listened carefully and nodded thoughtfully.

Finally, I have a general understanding of this mysterious sea where the channel 66671 is interrupted.

At this time, Chen Yu, who had been smoking a pipe silently beside him, leaving all the performance opportunities to Ning Wen, Chen Yu, who had never said a word, suddenly said:

"The Barona Colony is located in the depths of this sea area. If you want to take out the batch of eggs, this time, it seems that you must lead the team yourself and make a trip here.

But before you go, be sure to be fully prepared! "

Chen Yu's voice was a little dignified, he sighed and continued:

"Don't look at the mineral resources in this sea area, which have been artificially exploited, but the number of marine biomes and alien sea monsters here is by no means as barren as its name!"

Meng Lei listened silently and kept it in his heart.

At the same time, his eyes kept scanning the map, carefully observing other labels on the map.

It was found that almost all the open sea areas on the entire map had warning reminders of frequent occurrence of sea monsters.

Even in those narrow waterways, there are also red markings, indicating that there are traces of large sea monsters.

Meng Lei took a deep breath, feeling very difficult before he left.

Sure enough, as Hans said before, it is simply impossible for individual forces to travel through this sea area.

But at the same time, Meng Lei was also very curious.

Why are the alien sea monsters in this sea area so concentrated, and what is the reason?

There has to be a reason!

In this regard, Ning Wen gave a reasonable explanation, saying:

"Because of the existence of a large number of submarine craters, the temperature in some areas of this sea area is higher than that of other places, which is more suitable for the reproduction and evolution of organisms.

Therefore, the density of ordinary marine biomes here is much higher than that of other sea areas.

This attracts more alien sea monsters, and regards this sea area as a paradise, which is convenient for hunting and survival.

It can be said that the sea area of ​​the hydrothermal wasteland is the natural hunting ground for the alien sea monsters.

The richer the common harmless biome, the denser the sea monster population, which is directly proportional!

There are even many abyss sea monsters that feed on alien sea monsters, and they will leave the deep waters and come here for predation and hunting!

Therefore, this sea area has become the most dangerous area in the entire 66671 waterway.

Even the deeper waters bordering the flat zone in the second half of the channel are not necessarily dangerous here. "

Speaking of which, Ning Wen patted Meng Lei on the shoulder and added:

"Brother Lei, in addition to the alien sea monster, you have to pay more attention to the alternation of ocean currents.

Changes in ocean currents due to temperature differences are also one of the pervasive dangers in this area.

Many rapids can even completely hinder the navigation of submarines.

With the engine power of the F-class exploration boat, it is often pushed backwards by the ocean current, and it is quite difficult to steer!

It is very likely that if you are not careful, you will not know where you are being carried by the ocean currents.

Therefore, the risk factor evaluation of this voyage can definitely reach the A. level!

Lei Ge, be careful and be careful! "

Hearing this, Meng Lei was suddenly dumbfounded, put down the map in his hand, and said with a bitter face:

"Why do I suddenly feel that I don't want to go?"

The new revision and upgrade address of the mobile station: https://, data and bookmarks are synchronized with the computer station, no ads and fresh reading!