"Just forget about it. You deserve to be beaten. Remember, don't mess with Qin Chuan again, or you won't even know how you died."
She didn't care if Wang Tianming lived or died. She was afraid that Wang Tianming's suicidal actions would implicate her and their child.
Wang Tianming was also confused. He couldn't understand why his wife, who was usually so stubborn and overbearing, became so timid when facing Qin Chuan.
What he didn't understand was:
It was precisely those who relied on bullying others who were most sensitive to power.
They knew very well who they could afford to provoke and who they couldn't.
This was how they could protect themselves and avoid seeking their own demise through ignorance and arrogance.
But Wang Tianming didn't understand.
Before the apocalypse, as a nouveau riche who made his fortune in coal mining, he had donated an entire mountain of coal resources to the Lighthouse.
It was thanks to this that he and his wife could live comfortably on the Lighthouse. Apart from their house and food being slightly worse than before, everything else was basically the same as before the apocalypse.
However, even so, the Lighthouse's continuous price hikes on electricity and other energy consumption had rekindled his desire to trade in energy.
Qin Chuan was at the forefront of this.
As long as he could handle Qin Chuan, the person in charge of mining, everything else would be a breeze.
But Wang Tianming never expected that he would fail before he even began.
As Wang Tianming stumbled back to the Lighthouse with his wife,
Qin Chuan and Zhou Zhe had already donned their protective suits and were descending into the underground cave, secured by a lifeline.
"Boss, I feel like you've changed a bit since going down this time."
The voices of the two men became exceptionally hollow in the constantly deepening cave.
The echoes of their conversations filled the space around them.
"What's wrong? How have I changed?"
Zhou Zhe looked at Qin Chuan, "I can't quite say, but you seem to have become much gentler this time."
After saying that, Zhou Zhe couldn't help but shiver, feeling that something was off.
He was afraid Qin Chuan might hit him with his hammer and send him to his death.
Qin Chuan didn't react to Zhou Zhe's words. He just quietly thought of someone.
"Boss, did anything happen to you while you were down there?"
"I'll tell you more when we get back. After we're done, help me investigate someone."
"Who?"
"Chu Yu."
Zhou Zhe paused for a moment, as if trying to recall who Chu Yu was.
Seeing Zhou Zhe's reaction, Qin Chuan knew that Chu Yu was someone significant.
They had clearly greeted Chu Yu face-to-face, yet Zhou Zhe had no memory of him.
"The top ten finishers of this expedition competition live next to Xu An's house. Go and investigate this person first. Find out if they have returned, how they got onto the Lighthouse previously, and who they interacted with. I want every single detail."
Zhou Zhe understood and nodded. The two of them descended from the rope.
"Boss, here's your flashlight."
Qin Chuan took the flashlight from Zhou Zhe, feeling that having Zhou Zhe by his side was much more convenient.
The cave was pitch black, and water droplets kept falling from the darkness, hitting the ground.
Making a "drip, drip, drip" sound.
After taking a few steps, Qin Chuan felt a water droplet land on his hair.
He frowned, his expression grave. This was an unexplored cave they had discovered among nearby reefs.
A technician had accidentally slipped, creating a large hole in the ground.
If his teammate hadn't reacted quickly to pull the technician back, that person would have fallen straight in.
Zhou Zhe recalled, measuring the depth before him.
"If that little technician hadn't been caught, and had fallen in, even if he didn't die from the fall, he would have been at least half crippled."
Qin Chuan, standing beside him, asked, "How deep is the cave?"
"At least 20 meters. We're probably already in the deep sea."
Upon hearing this, Qin Chuan's frown deepened.
"Do you think this cave formed naturally?"
Zhou Zhe shook his head.
Qin Chuan glanced at him and asked, "You don't think so?"
"No, I don't know," Zhou Zhe expressed his doubts.
"This cave is too large. If it was artificially excavated, then a significant team must have been here to dig it. But it's not far from the previous fishing village. If such a large-scale excavation had occurred, wouldn't the people there have noticed?"
"But if it's natural, the cut surfaces of these cave entrances are too smooth, not at all like natural formations. Yet, there are stalactites inside that have been weathered naturally."
Finally, Zhou Zhe sighed, concluding, "I don't know if this cave was artificially excavated or naturally formed."
Qin Chuan listened, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. He simply rubbed the wet spot on his hair with his fingers. The slick sensation made Qin Chuan instinctively rub his fingertips back and forth.
He brought the substance on his fingertips to his nose, sniffing its scent.
A faint, sharp smell of gasoline subtly entered Qin Chuan's nostrils.
He squatted down and shone his flashlight on the liquid on the ground. As expected, the liquid was black.
But the scent of the liquid was already very faint, almost undetectable.
Zhou Zhe didn't know what Qin Chuan was doing but didn't disturb him.
"Captain, what is this?" Seeing the liquid illuminated by Qin Chuan, Zhou Zhe also squatted down.
He followed Qin Chuan's example and brought the liquid on the ground to his nose.
"Damn, Captain, this looks like oil!"
Qin Chuan nodded, "But we don't know where this is seeping from. If we can find the source, perhaps we won't have to go through the trouble of mining it from the sea."