Can I Swear?

The Black Pearl hovered above the Blue Hole, its mysterious, dark blue hue causing many, like Russell, to feel uneasy, their scalps tingling, and they wished they could grab the ship's helm and turn back.

The blue opening resembles a giant mouth, poised to swallow the Black Pearl in the next second, or perhaps extend a giant hand to drag it into the abyss.

There's always a way...

Russell's eye twitched. He had just used the system's Great Maelstrom Skill Card to create a passage to the seabed, but the damn system prompted him again that he had to touch the surface of the sea to use it.

To be honest, there's no need for this pretense. Could you please be lenient?

Russell glanced down at the sea. The pale blue water was bottomless, and the eerie darkness seemed to hide monsters from the abyss. Just one look and his legs went weak.

"Barbossa, Jack, are you sure the Trident is down there?" Russell asked, still unwilling to give up. "Actually, I've heard a rumor that in the sea where the Trident is located, there's an island made of diamonds that corresponds to a star in the sky. I think it's very plausible. Think about it carefully!"

Barbossa and Jack exchanged a glance, then shook their heads in unison. "Captain, the trident is down there."

"Alright, order the sails to be lowered, and I'll open the first channel immediately." Russell stood on the ship's side with a dark face, and before jumping overboard, he threatened menacingly, "You'd better have the Trident down there, or I'll throw you into the sea and have the Flying Dutchman come and take you to hell."

A splash followed by screams and curses came from below the boat, but Barbossa and Jack pretended not to hear, picking their ears and looking up at the blue sky and white clouds. They were intelligent men, knowing what they could and couldn't hear; for the moment, they were deaf.

"Barbossa, is the captain afraid of the sea?" Turner asked in a low voice from the side.

Upon hearing this, Barbossa turned and ran away. Jack approached Turner with a serious expression and patted him on the shoulder. "Turner, you must remember that the captain is fearless. If he is afraid of the sea, then Barbossa and I are afraid, and everyone on this ship should be afraid, understand?"

Turner instantly understood and nodded quickly. Just then, the calm sea suddenly trembled, and the sea in front of the Black Pearl twisted and spun, with Great Maelstrom slowly forming.

Russell jumped onto the deck, looking pale, and walked back to the captain's cabin. Behind him, the sea surged with white waves, and the spiraling current opened a channel, guiding the Black Pearl forward.

Barbossa and Jack fought over the helm as they navigated the Black Pearl through the deep sea. This legendary experience was likely to happen only once in a lifetime, and neither wanted the other to outdo them.

Ultimately, Turner and Elizabeth pulled Jack away and handed the helm over to the more experienced Barbossa.

"What? He's more experienced? How did you figure that out?" Jack's eyes widened as he pointed at himself in disbelief. "Are you blind? Just because his beard is whiter than mine?"

Elizabeth argued logically, "The previous naval battle was Barbossa on the Black Pearl, which was also in Great Maelstrom."

Jack: "..."

That makes sense, but... it's about time it was my turn!

The Black Pearl cut into the fast-moving current and plunged into the depths of the Blue Hole at an extremely high speed. Barbossa struggled to maintain the ship's balance, occasionally letting out a few excited screams.

Just like Old Driver speeding along a winding mountain road at night, the unfamiliar mountain road is more exciting and gives a greater sense of conquest than the few tracks you usually drive on.

Similarly, Old Driver enjoy trying out all sorts of new cars!

With the currents surging and sharks and corals frequently crashing onto the deck, Turner and Elizabeth hurriedly returned to their cabin, leaving behind the screaming Barbossa and Jack, who refused to leave even at the cost of his life.

Russell sat in the captain's cabin, opened the window and looked around, when he suddenly remembered something very important... how to get up there later?

"There's always a way out," Jack and Barbossa often said. "It doesn't matter if you don't know your destination, just raise the sails." A seaman who could say something like that certainly didn't care if he didn't return. Russell thought about it and decided not to tell them.

As the Black Pearl dived deeper and deeper, the sky gradually shrank into a single point of light. Just as the current began to weaken, the ship suddenly pierced through an invisible membrane.

Russell saw hollow, man-made doors on either side of the Blue Hole, the enormous portals separating two worlds, which reminded him of his last trip to the End of the World.

Jack was right, the trident does not exist in the human world!

"Boom! Boom! Rumble—"

The ship entered a high-speed waterway, where the surrounding seawater was blocked by an invisible barrier. The deafening roar disappeared instantly, and the deep sea was eerily quiet.

Russell rushed onto the deck and saw an inverted blue sky that separated a world from the sea, where sunlight refracted and converged, illuminating the deep sea as if it were daytime on land.

"So there's a world like this beneath the ocean!"

In a moment of distraction, Barbossa loosened his grip on the rudder and discovered that the Black Pearl was unmanned and could navigate automatically, allowing him to admire the vast underwater world.

Above the dome of the sky, countless marine creatures roamed: dark schools of fish, rows of enormous whales, magnificent coral reefs, and... Barbossa's expression changed slightly. He saw several shadows even larger than the Kraken, not schools of fish but a single entity.

The Black Pearl sailed along the waterway, its deck teeming with pirates who marveled at the sight of the dark, towering figure. It turned out the Kraken had relatives.

After about ten minutes, the waterway slowed down, and the Black Pearl entered the deep sea. On both sides of the waterway were strangely shaped corals and rocks, and a gray city could be vaguely seen in front.

At the city entrance, two towering pillars stand tall, each over a hundred meters high. Such pillars are not uncommon in the city.

Russell's mind raced, and an ominous suspicion crept into his head. "Could this world... be connected to Saint Seiya?"

The Black Pearl along the waterway past two pillars. Russell stood on the deck, wondering if these pillars were the city's gates. The strange symbols carved on them were neatly arranged, which could be seen as the city's laws, requiring outsiders to obey and not make mistakes.

The gray city revealed its true face: a dilapidated city with broken walls and ruins, neatly paved with stone bricks, and collapsed pillars and palace ruins everywhere. A network of waterways, still functioning today, crisscrossed the city, suggesting its former glory.

The pirates gasped in astonishment, their eyes wide with profound shock, marveling at the grandeur of the magnificent city. Never before on earth had any city made them feel so insignificant.

"The lost civilization... Atlantis..." Russell murmured softly, convinced that the trident was here. It was like the desolate underwater world in the original story, with only a few corals to fill the space and not even a decent palace. The budget must have been spent on special effects.

The Black Pearl drifted toward the city center. The pirates wanted to disembark and search for treasure, but even lowering the anchor couldn't stop the Black Pearl. The only thing they could do was turn the rudder to make the ship continue deeper into the city.

Finally, as more and more dilapidated palaces appeared on both sides, the Black Pearl automatically docked at a berth, revealing a vast plaza paved with bricks. Its length and width were impossible to estimate, but it was safe to say that accommodating three or five large contingents of ten thousand men would be a piece of cake.

At the far end of the square stands a colossal stone statue of a giant clad in armor, riding the waves and wielding a trident. His face is obscured, as the statue crumbles from the shoulders up, leaving it bald and headless.

Behind the statue is a well-preserved palace, supported by hundreds of pillars, with tall doors that allow even giants to pass through freely.

Russell leaped down and strode toward the palace, the imposing center of the city and the most likely hiding place for the Trident.

The pirates lowered the ropes and followed them off the ship in a swarm. Jack, Barbossa, Elizabeth, and Turner followed closely behind Russell, and after a brisk five-minute walk, they finally arrived at the palace gate.

The moment they stepped into the palace, the others looked up at the stone walls and felt incredibly small, while Russell once again sensed the barrier. The magnificent city had been in ruins for who knows how long, and they hadn't encountered any signs of life along the way, yet the magical barrier continued to operate, forcing him to proceed with extreme caution.

The roof of the main hall seemed to have a layer of flowing water, shimmering and casting blue light, with a faint pressure lingering in the air, making everyone afraid to make a move.

The pirates took a few steps, then swallowed hard, their fear causing them to retreat from the hall and search for treasure elsewhere. Russell and Barbossa continued deeper, and at the far end of the hall, they saw another statue.

The gleaming white statue, its material unknown, is identical to the one in the square. However, this statue is well-preserved and its size is not much different from that of an average person. Poseidon holds a trident and gazes up at the sky.

The statue of Poseidon depicts a handsome, robust man with a sharply defined face and well-defined muscles, so lifelike that he seems ready to come to life at any moment.

Russell glanced at it twice, then his attention was drawn to the trident in his hand. It was entirely black, except for the three blades at the tip that gleamed coldly.

Although this trident is rather plain and not flashy at all, it is a hundred times better than the cheap props in the original work. At least it won't break at the slightest touch in close combat.

Russell took a deep breath, suppressing the pounding in his heart, walked to the statue, and touched the trident.

It's a bit chilly!

[Bite]

[Host has come into contact with the Trident of Sea King, triggering Lottery Draw. Would you like to draw now?]

Secretly pleased, Russell kept his expression unchanged and silently instructed the system to start the lottery.

[Item Card: Sea King's Trident - Fragment (A broken divine artifact; collect seven to fuse and repair)]

What's with collecting all seven? Are you making a wish?

Russell scoffed, and Turner, seeing the artifact that would save his father from suffering, also touched it. The touch was icy cold, startling him so much that he quickly withdrew his hand, only to bump into a statue of Poseidon.

"Buzzing..."

The trident emitted a hum, and a deep blue light instantly filled the entire hall. A powerful pressure swept across the city in an instant.

[Bite]

[The host has come into contact with Sea King Poseidon, triggering Lottery Draw. Four chances to draw are granted. Do you wish to draw now?]

Russell: (￣△￣;)

Holy crap, can I swear?