Encountering Danger

Although underwater visibility was poor, the terrain complex, and seaweed everywhere, making it difficult for predators to spot fish hiding here, this school of Spiked Devil Fish still had nowhere to hide under the microscopic identification of Data Vision.

Lines of data slid through his field of view. After filtering out useless information such as seawater temperature, brightness, and current speed—

Data Vision not only marked the location of every devil fish, but also projected their outlines onto his retina.

Without rashly alerting the large fish, Evan quietly returned to the surface. Treading water beneath him, he gently adjusted the raft's position and moved above the center of the devil fish school.

Taking a light breath, he shoved the four or five large stones loaded on the raft into the sea, then swiftly pulled a long, thick iron plate and an iron rod from his backpack before slipping back underwater after the stones.

Underwater.

The instant Evan entered the water, he held the iron plate in one hand and gripped the iron rod tightly in the other, smashing them together with all his strength. Stones fell far more slowly in water than in air, while Sound Wave traveled much faster through water than through air.

"Clang, clang, clang..."

Almost at the same instant, the deafening noise and the stones descended upon the devil fish.

Startled by the sudden "attack," the naturally timid devil fish all raised the spikes behind their tails. The spikes instantly turned red, shot high into the water, then violently launched outward.

Their fins churned the current and stirred up a vast cloud of sand from the seabed. In an instant, the school of devil fish vanished without a trace.

Evan floated on the surface and waited until the sand had fully settled before diving down again. Sure enough, he found three or four red spikes lying quietly on the seabed. As for the others, he had no idea where the fish had fired them.

It worked!

Evan was overjoyed. He had only meant to give it a try, yet this clumsy trick had actually fooled them.

He immediately collected two long and two short red spikes without any mishap.

As supplementary materials for brewing potions, these spikes were not needed in large quantities, but they were irreplaceable. With this haul, he would not have to worry about shortages for the next few years.

"Since I came out to sea anyway, I might as well gather the other materials needed for the Black Sea Potion. Most of its ingredients can be found in the Black Sea Waters. Hopefully, I can find something else today."

Since he had not opened the shop that morning, Evan decided to spend the whole day here. He would try to find all the rare and peculiar parts of the potion formula that were nearly impossible to buy from apothecaries himself.

So Evan began repeating the process of diving, observing, returning, changing locations, and diving again. It had to be said that Leopold's waters were incredibly rich in biological resources. By afternoon, he had found Six-Pointed Blue Starfish, three unique kinds of seaweed, and Black-Striped Sea Urchins one after another.

The only remaining Main ingredient was... Shark Teeth.

Evan had not encountered any this time. Well, he did not want to encounter them in the sea anyway, especially while alone on a raft...

After all, sharks were occasionally caught by fishing boats in Leopold's waters. He could simply wait at the docks when the time came. Even if there were no fresh ones, he could find some at the nearby place where discarded fish-processing waste was dumped, though their effectiveness would be a little worse.

The collection task was more or less complete.

What Evan had not expected, however, was that he had also found quite a few Unexpected Joys while gathering ingredients: beautiful shells, a rusty copper key from who knew whose home, a small fiery-red coral, and even several pearls of mediocre quality.

They were not worth much, but they gave him a different kind of satisfaction. Carried away by his excitement, Evan was already showing signs of turning this herb-gathering trip into a treasure hunt.

As he continued searching, Evan unknowingly drifted far from the waters where he had started, and the seawater gradually deepened in color.

"Whew!"

He surfaced without finding anything and glanced at the slanting sun. Evan decided to make one final dive. Whether he found anything or not, he would begin the Return Voyage afterward.

Years of training in the Knight Breathing Technique had allowed Evan to hold his breath underwater far longer than ordinary people and dive much deeper. He could reach places ordinary fishermen could never access.

Wanting to test his limits, Evan hugged a stone and descended along the endlessly extending seabed. He stopped only when his vision gradually became restricted and he could barely see with the aid of Data Vision.

Even extraordinary power could not allow Evan to remain at the bottom of the sea for long, so he hurried to search for any possible "treasures."

Looking around, although sunlight was scarce here, fish and crustaceans of all colors and shapes still wandered among the reefs, aside from the seabed's rocks and gravel. The World of the Extraordinary had clearly created tenacious life to match it.

"What's that?"

Guided by Data Vision, Evan soon discovered a shell in a crevice between the reefs—a shell even larger than a pumpkin.

The shell was covered in all kinds of Marine Organisms and had nearly become one with the reef beside it. Without Data Vision, Evan would not have noticed it even if he had passed right by.

He took the dagger tied to his calf into his hand, inserted it into the shell's gap, and pried hard. A soft pearly glow spilled out. One, two, three... one large and two smaller Black Pearls were pried out by the dagger.

Although Evan did not know much about jewelry in this era, he still possessed basic common sense. Even by the lowest estimate, these three excellent Black Pearls were worth at least one hundred Gold Lions.

At the current prices, a six-year-old warhorse in its prime was worth only one hundred Gold Lions. To a knight, a sturdy warhorse was even more prestigious than owning a mid-to-high-end sedan in his previous life.

As for an ordinary person's income, a noble attendant considered to be among the higher earners generally made only three Silver Bulls a month, equivalent to one Gold Lion.

One could imagine just how enormous a fortune this was.

Suppressing the joy in his heart, Evan carefully placed his haul into the small pouch at his waist, tossed away the stone, and prepared to rise back to the surface.

Clearly carried away, Evan had forgotten that he was in a perilous seabed, not a jewelry shop with attentive service.

His upward momentum was abruptly halted as his ankle tightened slightly.

Evan thought he had been tangled in seaweed, but when he struggled hard and failed to break free, his heart sank.

Gurgle, gurgle...

When Evan turned around, he was so horrified that he nearly let out the breath in his mouth.

A Giant Octopus, its coloration like reddish-brown reef rock, had somehow crept to Beside him. What had wrapped around his ankle was a thick arm more than three meters long.

Faced with this sudden change, Evan did not struggle futilely like an ordinary person. His training since childhood had taught him that if he panicked before fighting an enemy stronger than himself, the outcome was already decided. That had been true when facing the Ferocious Mountain Cat, and it was true today against the Giant Octopus.

The Giant Octopus was clearly impatient. After entangling its prey, its other arms clung to the reef and slowly dragged Evan downward, as though it intended to pull him into the deep sea, drown him, and immediately enjoy its feast.

In that critical moment, one method of escape after another sprang into Evan's mind, only to be swiftly rejected.

But no matter how fast his thoughts were, they could not surpass the body of an Apprentice Knight forged through countless trials into battle instinct. Driven by a powerful survival instinct, Evan did not resist the Giant Octopus's pull. Instead, he borrowed that force, kicked off the reef, and charged downward.

Because he knew that on the seabed, he could never outrun this cunning predator. The only way to survive was to Take Down it! It was merely a huge ordinary Marine Life, not a ferocious beast. Who would win was still uncertain.

Though the Giant Octopus was highly intelligent, it could not guess what Evan was thinking. Seeing him swim toward it voluntarily, its remaining tentacles spread wide, waiting for the prey to deliver himself to its mouth so it could feast to its heart's content.

Using the pull to launch himself forward, Evan drew extremely close to the Giant Octopus and saw the terrifying beak-like mouth hidden amid its tentacles. He dared not hesitate any longer. His strong legs kicked fiercely, accelerating his body once again.

Before the Giant Octopus's spread tentacles could react, Evan had pressed himself against its head, staring into its two fist-sized yellow eyes at close range.

The suckers on its arms and the pigment patches beneath its skin were all clearly visible.

With a grin, Evan drove the dagger in his hand without hesitation between the Giant Octopus's eyes, where its neural center was located.

"Eee—"

Ignoring the dying Giant Octopus behind him as it thrashed and flailed its tentacles, Evan shot toward the surface. If he waited another half minute, the Giant Octopus would not need to eat him—he would drown on the seabed anyway.

With a splash, he burst from the water and climbed onto the raft. Evan did not forget to carefully secure all his gains, then grabbed the oar and rowed frantically toward the beach.

The ocean was still far too dangerous for him. Straying only slightly beyond the shallow shore had nearly cost him his life. But Evan firmly believed that one day, he would conquer this vast Black Sea and even explore the more magnificent and fantastical sights in the distance!