Thirty-Ninth Chapter: Thousand Meters Underwater

Ten frogmen, in pairs, divided into five groups, descended into the sea. Xu Hang intended to have Ye Yuan go down with one of the groups, but Ye Yuan refused. If they went together, how could he act alone?

"Give me the tools and I can get the job done!" This saying was incredibly fitting for frogmen. Looking at the professional diving equipment, Ye Yuan knew each set cost a fortune.

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After changing into a diving suit, strapping on an oxygen tank, putting on diving goggles and a mask, and donning flippers, they even prepared a underwater propulsion device for Ye Yuan. Ye Yuan hadn't brought one himself; it was simply too heavy.

Descending into the sea, Ye Yuan truly didn't want to equip himself like this. This entire set of gear weighed at least a few dozen pounds.

But there was no other way. Without it, how could he explain staying underwater for so long?

Moving away from the frogmen, he quickly swam towards the seabed. Glancing at his watch, it showed he had already reached a depth of 130 meters.

Due to the lack of pollution, the water here was exceptionally clear, though the light was somewhat insufficient. This didn't trouble Ye Yuan; his underwater vision was excellent now. While ordinary people could only see a few meters, he could see objects tens of meters away.

Ye Yuan clearly saw fish and shrimp swimming below. A small sea snake swam past Ye Yuan, over 2 meters long and looking rather ferocious.

Sea snakes were generally venomous, and their venom was potent. Ye Yuan directly took the sea snake into his spatial storage, exchanging it for 60 points.

Here, Ye Yuan was primarily searching for that black-red stone.

Reaching 150 meters, this was generally the limit for frogmen. The water pressure at this depth was something very few could withstand.

The scenery here was simply breathtaking.

The plant life was rich and colorful, with diverse hues of purple, red, green, and more. Their shapes were also complex, ranging from tiny diatoms to giant kelp reaching tens of meters tall.

Ye Yuan didn't have time to continue admiring the underwater scenery; he began meticulously searching along the seabed. Before descending, the frogmen had reminded him that the stone had been buried in the sand three times before and was only discovered when someone stepped on it. Ye Yuan, of course, didn't need to exert himself so much.

He activated his perception to its fullest, covering an area of several dozen meters around him. Hmm~ nothing. Changed location to continue searching. Still nothing. Changed again. Unknowingly, Ye Yuan had ventured to the edge of a trench.

Looking at the trench, Ye Yuan suddenly had a daring idea. He found a reef, placed his oxygen tank in a crevice of the reef, and took off his flippers. He only kept his diving mask, storing everything else in the reef.

He directly charged into the dark trench. Initially, there were many small fish swimming around Ye Yuan, but they gradually became fewer, and soon only a few large creatures could be seen. Now, he rarely saw any fish here.

The mysterious underwater world always held unexpected things. As Ye Yuan dove into the dark world at 1000 meters, he saw a huge, deep red plastic bag in the distance.

At first, Ye Yuan paid it no mind, but in the blink of an eye, this red plastic bag actually started moving on its own. After observing it carefully, Ye Yuan realized it wasn't a plastic bag but possibly a dangerous marine creature.

This creature strongly resembled the "Kongming lanterns" we release. At this moment, a strange fish swam past the "plastic bag." The "plastic bag" enveloped the small fish, slowly contracting its body until it was fully enclosed. The small fish was visibly consumed by it.

Ye Yuan knew that thing was very dangerous and quickly moved away. He truly didn't know what kind of creature that "plastic bag" was; his knowledge base didn't contain it. He'd have to search online when he got back to see if he could find out.

After moving away from the "plastic bag," Ye Yuan's perception detected a stone nearby that looked very much like the one he was searching for. Ye Yuan immediately swam over.

He brushed away the seabed sand and found a stone twice as large as the one the middle-aged man had shown him. He placed it directly into his net bag and continued searching.

The frogmen had searched for so long without finding anything, possibly because their depth was insufficient. Ye Yuan knew Xu Hang must have many things he hadn't told him, otherwise, he wouldn't have kept the stone's purpose a secret.

Ye Yuan searched this area of the sea for a long time, finding a total of three such stones. The two found later were very small.

Finally, Ye Yuan decided to leave the large one for the country and keep the two smaller ones as his labor fee. He put them into his spatial storage, not exchanging them for points yet. Ye Yuan feared that at such a deep depth, if the system activated any new functions, he wouldn't be able to manage. He decided to wait until he returned to shore and avoid conducting any dangerous experiments underwater.

Time was also running out. Ye Yuan went to where he had left his equipment. After getting dressed underwater, he returned to the warship. If it were anyone else, the act of changing equipment underwater would be impossible, but for Ye Yuan, he felt more agile in the sea than on land.

On the warship, all ten frogmen had already come up to rest. Xu Hang was anxiously watching the sea.

"I say, Colonel Xu, where did you find such a guy? Not only does he act alone, but he doesn't report back on time. Could something have happened? This kind of rogue shouldn't have been called in," one of the frogmen said mockingly.

"Shut up."

Seeing Xu Hang's displeased expression, the other frogmen exchanged glances and said no more.

At that moment, the sea's surface churned with splashes, and Ye Yuan's head emerged from the water.

Xu Hang's anxious heart finally settled.

He knew Ye Yuan was a good swimmer, but that was just a guess. He hadn't truly seen it. If Ye Yuan had met with an accident during this mission, he wouldn't know how to explain it to Ye Yuan's family.

Ye Yuan was pulled onto the warship. A naval soldier helped him unload his equipment and handed him a bottle of mineral water, which he drank in one gulp.

This was all an act by Ye Yuan. Otherwise, if he carried dozens of pounds of equipment underwater alone for so long and came up without a scratch, how would anyone believe him?

"Did you find it?" Xu Hang asked, not holding out much hope.

Ye Yuan took out the larger stone from his net bag and handed it to Xu Hang.

"Take a look, is this it? I couldn't see clearly below, but it looked like it, so I brought it up."

When Xu Hang saw the stone in Ye Yuan's hand, his eyes widened. He knew the use of this item; it was of great benefit to those who practiced martial arts.

This piece Ye Yuan had found was larger than the three pieces salvaged previously combined. Xu Hang was in command of this salvage operation, and the higher-ups had already agreed to give him a portion if there were any findings.

With such a large "stone," he could personally receive at least 5cm worth, which would mean his cultivation speed over the next year would be three to four times faster than others.

Xu Hang walked over to Ye Yuan and laughed heartily, saying, "You're still the best. Those frogmen searched for so long and didn't find as much as you did alone." The frogmen nearby glanced at the stone in Xu Hang's hand. Those who had just mocked Ye Yuan lowered their heads in embarrassment.

ps: Thanks to brother 08a for the reward.