Facing Jiang Ning’s concern, Gu Tinglin’s smile grew even brighter. 

Perhaps sensing his easygoing nature and goodwill, Jiang Ning added inexplicably, “Don’t take it lightly. Only with good health can you better serve the country and the people.” 

To be honest, she admired such people who dedicate their whole lives to the country. 

Such a large base is equivalent to a county town, and not everyone can carry it on their shoulders. 

There are very few people Jiang Ning admires: He Tianming, Ma Guangnian, Professor Li, and… 

He should be one of them for being able to manage the base so well. 

Gu Tinglin nodded, “Alright, I’ll listen to you.” 

Uh… the way he said that seemed a bit strange, but Jiang Ning couldn’t quite figure it out and left through the door. 

Outside the door, Huo Yishen, Doudou, and Coke were waiting, which made her finally breathe a sigh of relief. 

Secretary He escorted them downstairs. The instructor of the submarine group was already waiting and drove away with three people and a dog. 

He went back upstairs and found Gu Tinglin standing by the window, watching Jiang Ning and the others gradually disappear. 

An important meeting was about to start, and the secretary didn’t forget to remind him while reporting on the leader’s personal matters. “Chief, your wife just contacted me and asked about your health.” 

Gu Tinglin wondered, “She only asked about my health?” 

“She mentioned that the weather has been unusual lately and was worried that you might not have enough change of clothes. She wanted to send a few sets over but was afraid it might disturb your work.”

 

“And what did you say?” 

“I said you were in a meeting and would soon be inspecting the military factory, and I would be receiving and honoring scavengers on your behalf. Family members cannot enter military zones without prior application.” 

Gu Tinglin didn’t speak further and turned to leave the office for the meeting. 

Recalling Jiang Ning’s words, he instructed, “Help me schedule a doctor for a physical examination.” 

Secretary He was surprised; the chief, burdened with heavy responsibilities and had health problems everywhere. He reminded him to get checked regularly, but the chief was always busy with endless tasks that he ended up missing the appointments. 

Now that he was taking the initiative, it was truly a rare occurrence. 

Secretary He was quite relieved, “I’ll arrange it immediately.” 

… 

The submarine group is located at the deep-sea port, and it takes half an hour to get there by speedboat. 

Jiang Ning wore a life jacket and held the dog on the sea. 

The speedboat’s motor was very loud. Seeing that the instructor was concentrating on driving the speedboat, she leaned close to Huo Yishen’s ear and whispered, “What did Chief Gu ask you?” 

“Aside from the verbal commendation, he asked where we found the rare metals and if we could provide more.” 

The two had already made up an excuse, saying that they had bought it from others with all their wealth. 

As for how many times others had bought it, according to the rules of buying and selling on the road, they are not allowed to ask. Huo Yishen said that he had swept everything in the other party’s hands. 

Jiang Ning frowned. “Didn’t he ask about your past?” 

“He did; he asked about family, my upbringing, and past experiences.” 

However, Gu Tinglin said something very strange, mentioning that he and Jiang Ning seemed like a married couple and hoped they could continue to stand by each other in the apocalypse. 

Huo Yishen was also asked the same question, which made Jiang Ning feel a little relieved, but she still felt something was wrong. “He asked me if I was interested in joining the army, and after I refused, he gave me his contact information.” 

If it were someone else, the strange remarks could be explained as the result of the disasters and the apocalypse driving them mad. 

But why would the esteemed military district chief say such odd things? Being approachable doesn’t mean behaving like this.  

Jiang Ning felt that Gu Tinglin was still suspicious and that his concern was just a tactic to deceive them. 

However, despite his genuine emotional display, the poorly crafted script made it easy to see through. 

Jiang Ning’s mind was filled with doubts, but with the submarine instructor present, it wasn’t convenient for the two of them to discuss things in detail. 

In the distance, the deep-sea dock was visible, with dozens of submarines protruding from the water like grayish-black lumps. 

What was visible to the naked eye was just a fraction; the entire sea floor was densely packed with submarines. 

The medium-sized military submarines were quite large, about 50 meters in length and 10 meters in width. 

Instructor Xu called his assistant to introduce the appearance, function, and power of the submarine to Jiang Ning and the others. 

According to regulations, pets weren’t allowed on submarines due to their tendency to cause trouble and get frightened in emergencies, which could lead to unintended mishaps if they touched control buttons. 

Jiang Ning insisted, “It’s fine; we’ve trained it as a military dog over the years. When it first arrived at the base, it almost got taken by the dog training team.” 

Instructor Xu gave a final reminder, but seeing her persistence, he didn’t object further, especially since the chief had specifically instructed otherwise. 

One must take responsibility for their own choices, and since she said it was okay, it was okay.

 

The hatch opened, and Instructor Xu led everyone down the ladder. 

The submarine looked big, but a lot of the volume was occupied by built-in equipment. The actual control cabin was only about 30 square meters. There were also two lounges, a pantry, a supply room, and a bathroom. 

It was quite spacious for three people and a dog, but it seemed crowded for ten people. 

However, transforming the submarine into an indestructible steel beast during special times and fitting it with a “seed box” containing the wisdom of humanity was already a miraculous invention and creation. 

Jiang Ning had read the instructions and had no complaints about the nuclear fuel power of the submarine. 

Operating a submarine in the deep sea was no joke, and Instructor Xu started with the basics… 

It involves professional terms that can’t be learned in just one or two days; memorization is key. 

The instructor team has taught countless students and has long summarized the most concise and easy-to-use methods. Jiang Ning and Huo Yishen have good comprehension abilities. Doudou has not neglected her studies in the past few years, but his brother and sister-in-law only taught the basics and skipped the more complex physics and chemistry. 

Therefore, she had a hard time listening, but she had a good memory and notes.  

Coke, on the other hand, was struggling. It sat on the ground with wide eyes, occasionally tilting its head in thought, but it truly didn’t understand. 

After stubbornly enduring for two hours, it collapsed on the ground and fell asleep. 

A week of training had been compressed into the time available. Except for sleeping, eating, and going to the toilet, the rest of the time was spent learning. 

There was no need to think about going back and forth to the independent housing every day. Everything was done in the submarine. 

“Time is precious. Submarines need to consume a lot of kinetic energy to surface, dive, or go out to sea, and our nuclear fuel is in short supply, so it must not be wasted.” 

After teaching the theoretical operation, Instructor Xu asked the three people to practice repeatedly. “If you don’t understand, you can ask at any time. You will become familiar with it after practicing more.” 

Jiang Ning felt like she was back in the classroom in a dream. The three years of college entrance examination and five years of simulation began to weigh on her. 

The three people and the dog lived in the submarine. The room had a simple iron bunk bed, which was welded to the hull for stability. 

They had one room, and Instructor Xu and his assistant had another. 

Jiang Ning and Huo Yishen didn’t bring much with them since they hadn’t informed in advance about staying on a submarine. Fortunately, they were used to carrying a large backpack when they went out.

 

Both she and Huo Yishen had large, discreet backpacks, so getting a change of clothes was not a problem. 

But she didn’t expect that Instructor Xu would cook noodles and ask them to come over to eat…