"Splash!..."
In the span of a single breath, Old Sea Turtle had dived a dozen, nearly twenty meters down, then returned exhausted from the deep. Holding a breath for that long meant, for an ordinary person, several dozen seconds; for an experienced Pearl Diver, two minutes. But for Old Sea Turtle, who had dived since childhood and possessed an unusual natural gift, that breath was almost the human limit—nearly three minutes!
Yet in less than three minutes, diving twenty meters down, any unnecessary movement could prove fatal. Old Sea Turtle's first dive could only confirm the underwater location of the "Great Thunder Ritual Artifact" and silently memorize the fastest route in his mind. After resting for two quarters of an hour, he hugged another large stone and once again leapt from the little boat.
"Splash!..."
"Splash!..."
"Splash!... Hah!..."
"Hah, hah... hah..."
Diving and salvage was a long process, especially at a depth of more than twenty meters, requiring many preliminary probes. And at such an unimaginable depth, the drain on his strength was just as astonishing!
Over a full half day, Old Sea Turtle dived a total of five times, for less than a quarter of an hour altogether, and was utterly spent. Afterward, he collapsed limp in the little boat, blue veins bulging all over his body, even his eyes pressed bloodshot. And this was already the limit of what he could attempt today, going into the sea to explore and trying to deep-dive!
Of those five dives, the first four were spent confirming the location. Only on the fifth, at the very limit, did he barely reach the 8-pounder Cannon more than twenty meters down and lightly touch it. Then, when he had returned only halfway up, he completely ran out of air and exhausted all his strength!