Zhou Yi had a recollection of Yalong Bay in Hainan; he had even gone swimming there during his high school days, though he had no knowledge of the submarine base.

This instilled in him a strange sense of reclaiming lost territory.

As the Sand Rat Team advanced further on their survey, Nemo behind them perfected the scene modeling, and the internal situation of Yalong Bay gradually became clear.

There were three submarines docked inside the base's cave repository, the largest of which had already adhered to the inner wall.

Zhou Yi now needed to find an entry point.

He said, "Yalong Bay, your role is to serve as the logistical support and docking base for submarines. Join us, and it will not affect your main duties; you will receive even better supply support."

The base remained silent.

Zhou Yi continued to persuade, "I know you are bound by regulations because you are a military-type architectural life. However, you have mentioned before that the biggest difference between autonomous and instinctual types is the ability to make changes oneself. Now, it's time to change."

"If you find what I promised and described to be untrue once you've reached Jade City, you can leave at any time, and I won't be able to stop you."

Suddenly, the base's alien entity spoke, "Do you know me?"

"Of course."

Zhou Yi thought to himself, I used to visit you in the past.

However, he chose a more conservative way to express himself: "Before the arrival of the Death Light, you had not yet awakened as an architectural life. Situated in a southern city named Sanya, many prehistoric humans would vacation there…"

Zhou Yi recounted his memories of Yalong Bay.

As he spoke, he became somewhat immersed in his memories, striving to fully describe that journey which had now grown distant.

Back then, it seemed routine; little did he know it was an experience never to be had again.

"Sanya… prehistoric humans… vacation…"

Yalong Bay repeated these names, "I have no memory before I became conscious, but my duties tell me, I cannot allow those without a password to enter; this place is strictly confidential. What you described about vacationing contradicts this."

Zhou Yi patiently said, "What I am referring to is a location, the same location, which both serves the public for recreation as a bay and houses a secretive military base built by the state. It's like how you allow us to move around the exterior but prohibit entrance to the interior shelters—these are not contradictory."

"Password."

Yalong Bay insisted, "Say the password, only then can I trust you."

Zhou Yi thought for a moment and tentatively said, "Deep Sea Sword, Guardian of the People."

"No."

He reported all the slogans the sand rats had collected, but none matched.

However, it wasn't fruitless.

Yalong Bay said, "Although your password is incorrect, it resonates with me; it seems you indeed know some truths."

But a password was still needed.

Zhou Yi gritted his teeth in determination.

He took a deep breath and then, with a military salute, began to sing, "Unity is Strength…"

This military song was a mandatory subject during military training.

"No."

Zhou Yi sang another song.

"Forward! Forward! Forward! Our team towards the Sun…"

However, Yalong Bay commented, "Feels a bit right, but not accurate."

Damn it.

Zhou Yi was a bit flustered.

How difficult can you be as an employee? The chairman himself has sung and danced and yet it's still wrong. What gives?

Stay calm, calm down.

Zhou Yi adjusted his mindset and then thought hard.

Since childhood, he had passively watched numerous newscasts which included many descriptions and reports about the military.

About the navy, the navy… he had it.

Zhou Yi recalled a phrase: "Defend the nation's maritime direction security, territorial waters sovereignty, and maintain maritime interests."

"No."

In the following time, Zhou Yi felt like a job applicant, straining his brain for the unique answer designed by the examiner, but all were denied.

The continuous effort and repeated setbacks exhausted him both mentally and physically.

The password must be some kind of internal code of the base, different from the public propaganda.

Zhou Yi lay on the pier, feeling somewhat dispirited.

Having traveled such a long distance, originally full of optimism, it now seemed he had been overly optimistic.

It appeared Yalong Bay couldn't be convinced.

A long silence fell on the pier.

Only the sound of the wind was heard.

Suddenly, Yalong Bay said, "Although you do not know the password, I believe what you said."

"I feel a connection to what you're expressing, which means those things have been inside my mechanism before, although I'm not certain of their exact meaning."

"I wish to make changes, just like the pioneers."

Zhou Yi blanked for a moment and then abruptly sat up.

"You agree to join our company?"

"I accept your suggestion. I will go to verify and seek truth on-site, including how Jade City grows through human development and Maria Hospital is rapidly recovering due to its further opening, but my functions are limited, so there's not much I can do."

Zhou Yi said, "No problem. As long as you allow ships to dock at the pier, that can be done, right?"

"That's possible, but not inside the shelter."

"No problem."

Not to mention, the mere massive volume of Yalong Bay joining is a natural deterrence.

Then came the highlight.

Zhou Yi asked, "What is your skill?"

"If you're referring to the functional characteristics of this body, there are two."

Yalong Bay replied, "The first is harboring. I can accommodate specific electromechanical lives, that is, the submarines you mentioned. As long as they enter the range of my radiation, they will approach me and be received."

Zhou Yi was delighted inside.

That's it.

He quickly asked, "Then can you capture them and issue commands to them?"

"Capture? Command?"

Yalong Bay paused momentarily. "I believe there's a misunderstanding here."

"I don't have a predatory relationship with those electromechanical lives. My function is to check and maintain them to ensure their mechanisms run smoothly. They frequently find me on their own to conduct comprehensive inspections, repairs, and maintenance."

Huh?

Zhou Yi froze on the spot.

He still felt something was amiss. "Jacob mentioned earlier that Poseidon was eaten by you and was getting weaker. Sheng Snake also said that you just ate a submarine not long ago."

"It's harboring."

Yalong Bay corrected, "The Poseidon you described was severely damaged by unknown causes. If I hadn't harbored it, it would soon be destroyed. Given its special circumstances, it has been dormant in a storage facility for a long time, but I could only prevent it from deteriorating further."

"The one I harbored recently is very familiar to me. It is often injured and comes to me for repairs and maintenance. It has a strong offensive nature, patrolling around me, repelling potential threats."

"During this harboring, it also issued a warning of firing at ships and Guangna Species within the range."

Zhou Yi couldn't help but smile wryly.

It turns out to be a submarine repair harbor.

But upon reflection, Yalong Bay's main body was originally meant for logistical support. If it was to carry out strategic strikes, it would need submarines or shore cannons, which are closer to electromechanical life.

He then asked, "What about the other one?"

"It's the most special. It was in the storage facility when I became conscious and has integrated with my body."

Yalong Bay said, "It's difficult to accurately describe my relationship with it—it's not a usual submarine or electromechanical life. It remains suspended and distributes its power evenly to the bottom of my body... let's call it Yalong."

"The power of Yalong allows me to break away from the land, floating and navigating on the Dead Sea, more like an external structure to me, or what you might call an organ. Perhaps it's its presence that allows me to stay coherent in the Dead Sea—it's like another core of mine..."

This large submarine had no autonomous conscious actions and never interacted with the outside world. It was more like an architectural life than electromechanical life.

Zhou Yi had a guess.

The drone made the same assessment: "Unawakened Entity."

Electromechanical life that was heavily damaged during awakening, or affected by the environment, would end up like this.

Just like the show Journey to the West.

The symbiosis of unawakened entities with architectural life contributes to the unique situation of Yalong Bay.

Zhou Yi shared this information with the submarine base.

"Unawakened Entity... So that's what it is... My knowledge is still too limited; there's much more I need to learn."

Yalong Bay has a strong capacity to accept new things.

Zhou Yi remembered again, "What's the other skill?"

"Summoning."

The Alien at the base said, "I can summon submarines to move toward and converge on me, radiating far into the Dead Sea."

"It's because I have performed maintenance on many submarines, we have stable cooperation. When they receive a summon, they know it's me, and they will also drive away and fend off various dangers around to ensure the maintenance process proceeds smoothly."

"Whenever I arrive at a new area of the Dead Sea, I perform a summon. Repairing and maintaining them, I also receive beneficial feedback to my body, but such feedback requires substantial accumulation to take effect."

"It's a pity my storage only has three slots, only able to hold 3 submarines for continuous maintenance, with Yalong and Poseidon permanently occupying two, leaving just one slot open to others."

Zhou Yi's eyes lit up.

This was good.

Yalong Bay came with a built-in skill to summon submarines for support without spending money on maintaining these foreign warships.

He might even recruit new employees from the submarines!