How could they not feel jealous, watching others make a fortune while they got nothing?
Besides, they had not forgotten that the gold buried in the Golden Sea was finite.
Only so much gold had fallen from Sky Island into the sea.
The haul was so large now because so much gold had fallen into the water. The pieces lay close together, densely scattered across the seabed.
Some people could walk just a few steps along the seafloor with a metal detector and pick up a signal.
But as time passed and more gold was dug up, that density would fall.
Finding gold would only grow harder.
The enormous hauls of the present were a dividend of the times.
The earlier they got in, the more they would earn.
The later they entered, the smaller their share would be, and the higher their costs.
The sea was vast, and the waters around Jaya Island were dangerous, with whirlpools, reefs, and the Grand Line's bizarre weather.
Plenty of people had died at sea in accidents during this rush.
No one had stabbed them in the back. Natural hazards alone had killed them.
After all, searching for gold meant sending someone hundreds or even thousands of meters beneath the surface. Any accident was possible down there.
One mistake, and they might never come back up.
Sea Kings even appeared in the deep.
If a Sea King surfaced, there were plenty of ways to deal with it.
Underwater, however, it was far harder to fight. Most people would become its prey.
That was where dedicated salvage ships held an advantage.
No one had to enter the water.
The ships had mechanical claws that could reach the seabed.
The claws were fitted with metal detectors and cameras.
Whenever a detector picked up metal, the