Chapter 262

[Initiating scan.]

A message popped up before my eyes, and with it, I, Lloyd, scanned my surroundings.

Originally, the deep sea floor was an abyss where light dared not venture. Only thanks to Javier’s aura illuminating our surroundings could we barely make out anything with that slight glimmer.

But everything changed when I activated the surveying skill.

Tsststsstsstssts…!

Like using an infrared night vision scope, my vision turned monochrome, and the landscape around us became crystal clear. A deep-sea hydrothermal vent blazing nearby. Apart from that, mostly a flat and tranquil wasteland as far as the eye could see. This was the deep sea floor landscape revealed through the surveying skill.

However, I had zero interest in the mysterious allure of this deep-sea landscape. “In a situation where we need to find the treasure site, who gives a damn about the scenery!”

My gaze plunged to the sea floor.

Five meters below the deep-sea bottom.

I focused on the underground scene visible through ground scanning.

A confident smile played on my lips. “Why bother digging with a shovel for treasure sites when there’s ground scanning?”

The option of the surveying skill that allowed scanning from the surface down to five meters underground had been greatly beneficial to me so far. A mere glance allowed me to see everything down to the underground. There was no need to painstakingly analyze the underground structure by myself. It could easily be considered one of the most conveniently stealthy features among the skills I possessed.

I thought today would be no different. “After all, whether it’s the seabed or whatever, the survey will reveal it. The same goes for the treasure buried underneath.”

That was the plan.

Activate the surveying skill and thoroughly investigate the entire Arctic sea floor. Of course, given its vast area, it might take a month or two, but it would be thousands of times faster than having a few people dig around with shovels.

I was confident.

And precisely one minute later, my confidence began to wobble like the gaze of someone who had just missed the last train home. “What’s this? What the heck is this? The silt… Why is it so thick?”

My eyes darted restlessly.

I scrutinized the underground beneath the seabed in various places.

But all I saw was silt.

Thick silt and mud, nothing more. The only slightly unusual thing visible among them was deep-sea eels squirming through the mud.

Realizing this while watching a live deep-sea eel ascension dance through my surveying skill, I could only think, “Damn, it’s ruined.”

The silt accumulated on the sea floor was much thicker than expected.

Because this was the deep sea.

Because it was minimally affected by currents, resulting in an unchanging environment.

Because it was a place where various organic materials and dust from the far, shallow sea gently fell like snowflakes, accumulating thickly.

“The thickness of the silt exceeds the scanning range of the surveying skill’s underground scanning option. Not just here, but there, over there, everywhere is the same.”

I inwardly clicked my tongue. “This is bad.”

Originally, I pitied and scorned Rotolua for having dug around the seabed with a shovel in search of the treasure site.

I thought I would be different.

Because I had the surveying skill.

Because ground scanning would shine.

Believing in that, I boldly came all this way.

But now that I had conducted the survey, I felt a sense of defeat. “What to do?”

I was at a loss.

In this vast deep-sea floor, where the treasure site might be, was unknown.

But with the silt accumulated much thicker than expected, even the surveying skill became useless.

And beside me, Rotolua was subtly asking, “How does it look now that you’ve come to see for yourself? Do you see any hope of quickly finding the treasure site?”

“No.”

I pressed down my embarrassment and shook my head honestly.

I hadn’t come here to worry about my image or face.

But to prevent the phenomenon of fate restoration.

To find a way to stop it.

I had come all this way to excavate the true treasure site. “Time isn’t exactly on our side either. Three years from now, according to the ending spoiler I saw? Three years might seem long, but it will pass before we know it.”

Truly, that was the case.

It had already been over three years since I had entered this world, the novel of The Knight of Iron.

So, if I idly wasted time, the phenomenon of fate restoration would start soon enough.

I took this to heart and readily admitted my mistake. “Coming here, it’s much wider than I thought. And the silt on the sea floor seems too thick.”

“Indeed. I thought you would say that.”

“Yes. But have you been digging through this thick silt by yourself in search of the treasure?”

“There was no other way.”

Rotolua gave a bitter smile. “It’s not that my ancestors and I didn’t think of other methods. If there was a simple and efficient solution, it would have been to seek the help of other merfolk. But even knowing that, it was a method we couldn’t use.”

“Because there were no merfolk willing to cooperate.”

“Exactly.”

Rotolua’s smile grew even more bitter. “You’ve gone around asking the merfolk here about the treasure, so you should know the atmosphere here well. The merfolk here? None of them are interested in the treasure. It’s just a legend from a distant ancient era. How could we find it? Moreover, why would we need to find it? Most think this way.”

“Is it because there’s no inconvenience in their current way of life?”

“Probably so. They think it’s better to swim and train their bodies than to waste effort searching for the treasure.”

“I see.”

I agreed with Rotolua’s words.

Indeed, the merfolk here seemed to have no interest in the treasure.

But then, persuading them to join in the treasure hunt?

That seemed impossible.

“It’s a shame. These merfolk, their physical strength is insane. If we could mobilize them, they could dig through the sea floor all day with their crazy endurance.”

I clicked my tongue in regret.

The more I thought about it, the more regretful I became.

If hundreds of such physically incredible merfolk were mobilized?

Digging up and flipping over the sea floor of this area wouldn’t be a big deal.

Then the chances of finding the treasure spot would significantly increase.

“It’s like the odds of winning the lottery.”

It was a simple problem.

Digging through the vast sea floor by one person versus hundreds.

Buying one lottery ticket versus hundreds at the same time.

Obviously, the latter would have a higher chance of winning.

Of course, there’s no guarantee of winning just because of that.

But still, the odds would definitely increase.

If Javier were to join and turn over the full of silt on the sea floor?

Then it seemed possible to find the treasure spot.

“If only we could mobilize the merfolk, it would be great. Or should I just call Yongyong right away? No, that would reveal my involvement in the last Yongyong incident.”

I shook my head.

This time, I couldn’t call upon the Bond Dragon Yongyong.

And relying solely on Javier, constantly pushing him to his limits, would be inefficient.

“He could send thousands of aura strands to sweep away the silt on the sea floor. But its power would be much weaker than on land. This is the deep sea, after all, with tremendous water pressure.”

The water pressure of the deep sea was beyond imagination.

Not just beyond imagination, but significantly so.

To give an extreme example, if a nuclear bomb were detonated at the bottom of the Earth’s deepest point, the Mariana Trench?

Even if it were the most powerful nuclear bomb in history, the RDS-200, Tsar Bomba?

“I saw a documentary before. Tsar Bomba? That was no joke. With a power equivalent to 50 megatons of TNT, its shockwave circled the Earth three times, and the mushroom cloud reached up to 56 kilometers in altitude.”

That wasn’t all.

The shockwave alone swept and destroyed everything within a thousand square kilometers.

The energy emitted could evaporate an entire medium-sized lake.

The crater formed by the explosion alone was 10 kilometers in diameter.

The top of the crater nearly reached the boundary between the troposphere and the stratosphere.

“But here in the deep sea, if you detonate it? The outcome would be quite different.”

A crater that would be 10 kilometers in diameter on the surface would only grow to about 1 kilometer here.

The immense water pressure and turbulent currents would compress the crater.

The shattered crater would eventually turn into a few warm radioactive bubbles rising to the surface.

“Just a big radioactive fart in the water. That’s all there would be. Even the mighty Tsar Bomba would be subdued by the pressure. Pressed down by it.”

That was the power of deep-sea pressure.

Therefore, even thousands of aura strands Javier could fire?

They couldn’t sweep through hundreds of meters of land in an instant like they could on the surface.

“Of course, a few tens of meters might be possible. It would certainly be better than Mr. Rotolua and I digging with shovels. But it’s still disappointing. With high-quality manpower like the merfolk, who are optimized for this environment, relying solely on Javier seems a waste.”

Those accustomed to the pressure of this place.

The merfolk, who could effortlessly exert their strength here.

If manpower was to be used, he wanted to mobilize such beings.

That would significantly increase the chances of discovering the treasure spot.

But the way to persuade and mobilize them was elusive.

“It’s a shame. Merfolk would be too good to just give up on.”

From that moment on.

“Move, brain. Spin, frontal lobe!”

I began to rack my brain and ponder with desperate yearning.

I contemplated methods and strategized.

And before I knew it, I found myself aimlessly drifting, swimming along with the waves as if wandering.

How long had I been lost in thought?

How far had I swum?

Suddenly, I realized that the scenery around me had slightly changed.

“Huh?”

A strange sight unfolded before my eyes.

Chimney-like pillars rising from the bottom.

At the top of the pillars, hot, dark streams of water gushed out vigorously.

Around the dark streams, deep-sea creatures swarmed in a frenzy.

And then, the pungent smell of sulfur hit me.

It was a place I had briefly seen from afar when I activated the surveying skill earlier.

“Deep-sea hydrothermal vents?”

Hydrothermal vents are essentially underwater hot springs, where groundwater seeps down to magma-heated areas below the seabed and then shoots back up, heated to high temperatures.

“Tsk, let’s avoid this place.”

Somehow, lost in thought and swimming aimlessly, I had ended up here.

The toxic seawater full of hydrogen sulfide gushing from the hydrothermal vents.

Startled by the pungent smell and the heat, I hastily turned back.

But it was then.

“Wait a minute.”

Spark.

A brilliant idea flashed through my prefrontal cortex.

I stopped my retreat and looked back at the hydrothermal vents at the speed of light.

“Hey, Rotolua? I have a question for you.”

Rotolua, who had followed me here with a worried look, listened.

“Do merfolk like you suffer from joint diseases as you get older?”

“What?”

“I mean, joint disease. Like arthritis, where your joints constantly ache.”

“Well, generally speaking… yes.”

Rotolua hesitated, then nodded.

“As you’ve probably seen, we merfolk are exceptionally strong. Most merfolk suffer from joint issues due to their excessive strength. Especially as they age, the accumulated strain leads to an increase in those suffering from joint pain.”

“Is that so? I thought as much.”

A slight smile curved the corners of my lips.

I was recalling an incident from a while back when I was asking merfolk about the treasure.

Specifically, a time when I was being treated as a nuisance, and an old mermaid lady had been particularly annoyed with me.

“That old mermaid lady said so. She was already in so much pain from her joints, why was I bothering her?”

She was constantly rubbing her shoulders and back.

She really seemed like someone suffering from severe joint pain.

But upon reflection, it wasn’t just that old mermaid lady.

“The old merman, the middle-aged merfolk, too. Most of the merfolk I had detained beyond their youth showed signs of aches and pains somewhere.”

Like office workers who sit at a desk all day.

Like taxi and bus drivers who have to hold the steering wheel all day long.

No, more like athletes who push their bodies to the limit under the guise of training and then retire with injuries.

The habit of rubbing or tapping their sore joints was a common sight.

So I speculated.

I guessed.

Maybe the merfolk here are always overworking their joints due to their excessive strength.

And maybe as they age, they naturally suffer from joint pain.

“That guess was right. Then, there’s a good chance.”

I had an intuition.

I connected the dots.

I combined them.

The chronic joint pain suffered by the merfolk.

The hot, deep-sea hydrothermal vents I had just discovered.

The information I had gathered from this place.

Situations and elements that seemed unrelated at first glance.

I wove them into a single narrative.

Mixed, assembled, combined.

Finally, I conceived it as a single business venture.

I also thought of a way to achieve my goal through that business.

To prevent the restoration of fate.

To find a way to do so.

To excavate the true treasure site.

I grasped, pulled out the key to mobilize the labor of many merfolk.

“Hey, what if we set up a steam bath here? It would be a hit, don’t you think?”