The sudden change in the communication channel made Meng Lei feel a strong sense of danger.
In just a few minutes, hundreds of people had been eliminated from the sea route area he was in.
It was difficult to imagine how many people would be buried in the endless abyss under the ice of the entire alien planet.
Such cruel gameplay had forced Meng Lei to steer the submarine and leave the sea area near the birth point as fast as he could.
Although he still could not figure out the pattern of the threat mechanism, whether it targeted only the vicinity of the birth point or had already spread to the entire sea region, Meng Lei dared not take the risk.
There was no benefit in winning the bet, but if he lost, he might perish here.
"I've to get out! I've to leave quickly. At least, I've to start the submarine first!"
Meng Lei took a deep breath and stopped hesitating.
After calling out the control interface of the submarine and a brief fumbling around, he quickly became familiar with the control mode.
Fortunately, perhaps to make things easier for the players, the submarine was operated with foolproof controls, which were very convenient and did not require overly complicated operations.
Forward, backward, up, and down could all be achieved through the buttons on the central console.
Then, Meng Lei drove the submarine forward, without deliberately choosing a direction.
A faint rumble sounded.
The submarine started to move slowly.
The faint light emitted by the pale searchlight illuminated the scene about 20 to 30 meters ahead.
The white flocculent organic matter was expelled by the water flow. Like cotton flying in the air, it flew rapidly to both sides outside the porthole.
However, in the pitch-dark and dead deep sea, nothing could be seen except for the white floating objects.
Outside the range of the searchlight, there was endless darkness in all directions.
When the light shone through the water, there was no reference point at all. It was as if he was in a boundless void.
Not to mention the alien planet sea monsters, he could not even see a fish.
Such a scene gave Meng Lei a very bad feeling.
Under normal circumstances, no matter what the light shone on, it would always receive feedback signals from a reference object, making one feel at least a sense of existence.
But now, the submarine's searchlight could not illuminate anything.
There was nothing but darkness around him.
It was impossible to tell what was waiting for you in the depths of the darkness.
Humans' fear of the unknown was the deepest fear.
Meng Lei finally understood this deeply.
The scene in front of him made him almost develop a deep-sea phobia.
Moreover, the sea area he was in seemed to be very barren. There were no fish or aquatic plants. Everything was empty, and it looked extremely desolate.
Fortunately, after about ten minutes, the submarine gradually approached the seabed.
The light reflected on the beach. Such a real sense of presence made Meng Lei feel much more at ease.
However, the gentle seabed was as dead as ever. It was covered in yellow sand and black reefs.
Apart from that, there were no traces of any creatures. It was like a dead zone.
The only thing that made Meng Lei feel at ease was that the sea monsters encountered by the other players did not seem to exist here.
After navigating for more than ten minutes, the surrounding scenery did not change.
During this period, Meng Lei took the time to take a few more glances at the regional communication channel. He found that most people had already reacted from their panic and gradually started to set sail.
As the players continued to leave the birth point, the frequency of sea monster attacks also decreased greatly.
The significance of those sea monsters appearing earlier seemed to be as the Black Pearl had judged. It was purely to force the players to move, and there was no intention of pursuing them to the end.
Only then did the survivors finally heave a sigh of relief. They were temporarily relieved.
However, the communication channel was still in a clamor.
No one felt any joy from surviving the calamity. Instead, it caused a great panic.
At this moment, everyone realized the seriousness of the matter.
The bewildered people suddenly became alert. This was no longer the world they were familiar with.
Everything had changed. Fatal killing intent was lurking everywhere!
If they could not adapt quickly and master the law of survival, probably not more than one-fifth of the total number of people would be able to reach the first outpost alive!
As Meng Lei piloted the submarine, silently peering at the screen.
After watching for a while, he found that the first crisis seemed to have been completely resolved, and there was no more valuable information to spy on, so he closed the communication channel.
After repeatedly checking the sonar detection system to confirm that there were no sea monsters nearby, Meng Lei gradually slowed down his advance and started to think of his exploration plan.
Currently, the key problems in front of him were food and fresh water.
Only when the basic conditions for survival had been secured would he be able to boldly search for resources in this sea area and upgrade the other facilities.
For the source of food, he could use edible fiber and fresh water to make energy bars through the manufacturing station to satisfy his hunger.
Or he could catch small fish and make grilled fish to fill his stomach.
However, Meng Lei had lived in an inland city since he was young. He had not even been to the seaside, let alone fishing in the deep sea. He had no experience in this aspect.
Before making a fishing net, it was not an easy thing to eat grilled fish.
Therefore, the only choice left for him was to make energy bars.
However, there was another prerequisite for making energy bars, which was the need for 100ml of fresh water.
In other words, before that, he had to make the freshwater extractor first, otherwise, he would not even be able to eat an energy bar.
"It looks like the foundation of everything has to start with the freshwater extractor. Then, my primary goal now is to find five parts of iron and five parts of copper."
"Or, according to the hints given by the System, I have to find something like the nest of the deep sea swimming crab and catch a few crabs to fill my stomach."
Meng Lei pondered for a moment and focused his gaze on the sonar screen beside him.
After the desperate flee earlier, he was already far away from the sea area of the birth point.
In more than ten minutes, he had steered the submarine for about two to three kilometers. The sonar detection system could no longer detect the few anomalies earlier.
It was obviously impossible to return to the nest of the swimming crab.
However, with this period of navigation, there were new anomalies refreshed on the three-dimensional virtual map.
However, there were only three of them.
Meng Lei looked over.
(320 meters away, there is a pile of resource-poor iron ore. Hurry up and grab it. If you miss this resource point, it is not known when you will encounter one again.)
(445 meters away, you are very lucky to have discovered a patch of seaweed that has taken root in the barren zone. It has no special intrinsic value, but it is a natural hotbed for some crustacean creatures. Look carefully, and you might find something good!)
(478 meters away, a storage box floating aimlessly with the sea current is lying quietly at the bottom of the sea. Before opening it, no one knows what is stored inside. It might be a pile of rotten junk, precious weapons and ammunition, or rare survival supplies. Everything is unknown…)
This time, Meng Lei was indeed very lucky.
The three anomalies were free of alien planet sea monsters, and all have exploration value.
Apart from the iron mine, although the resource display for the other two anomalies was not clear, in the early stages of exploration, even if it was a pile of junk, it could still be of some use.
And iron ore was a key material for the production of the freshwater extractor. He could not let it go no matter what.
Immediately, Meng Lei did not think too much. He piloted the submarine directly toward the nearest pile of iron ore.
After about five minutes, the three-dimensional virtual map showed that the submarine was only 40 meters away from the iron mine.
The anomaly was marked at the entrance to an underwater crevice diagonally ahead of the submarine.
With the submarine's size, it was impossible for it to pass through the narrow underwater crevice. Moreover, there was a protruding reef terrain nearby, making it difficult for the submarine to approach.
At this moment, he could only dive in personally.
Meng Lei slowly docked the submarine above the coral forest and got up from the pilot's seat.
At this point, he no longer hesitated.
He came to the entrance of the airlock and spent a long time putting on his diving suit.
Then, he took out the mining tools.
Meng Lei had also slung the diving knife and the harpoon over his body.
Even though the sonar detection system had not indicated the existence of dangerous creatures nearby, Meng Lei had no choice but to be on guard.
It was better to be safe than sorry. In this completely unknown deep sea of an alien planet, he could not let his guard down.
Everything was ready.
Meng Lei took a deep breath, opened the door to the airlock, and walked in.
Then, the hatch to the living quarters behind instantly closed.
He pressed the button on the door again, and the gate on the outer wall of the submarine slowly opened.
Instantly, the dark and cold seawater poured in from the outside and instantly submerged Meng Lei.
Immediately after, the huge pressure and brutal impact instantly caused him to lose his balance. His feet went limp and he lay horizontally in the airlock.
"Damn!"
Meng Lei, who had no experience at all, fell hard the first time he went into the water.
Caught off guard, he only had time to curse.
In the next moment, as the seawater continued to surge in, an unparalleled pressure instantly enveloped his entire body.
Meng Lei felt as if he had jumped into a pressure cooker. His entire body was assailed by great pressure, and even his alveoli were about to explode from the pressure!
Fortunately, this feeling only lasted for a short moment.
When the oxygen system in the diving suit started to work, the metal frame started to resist the deep sea pressure.
The suffocating pressure was finally relieved, and all that was left was coldness and nervousness.
Meng Lei panted violently. He held the edge of the submarine's outer wall with both hands for a long time before he finally adjusted his state.
Feeling the bone-chilling cold gradually spreading throughout his body, he could not help but shiver.
After looking around, he could not help but curse.
"Is this the deep sea of the alien planet 2,000 meters below the ice layer?! It's damn cold!"