Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Although the visibility underwater was low and there were many aquatic plants that allowed the fish to hide, the microscopic identification from the Data Vision allowed Alvin to spot the Spiny Devilfish.
Many rows of data and markings appeared in his vision. Alvin filtered the useless information such as seawater temperature, brightness, and water current speed.
The Data Vision not only marked the location of each Devilfish, but also projected their outlines on Alvin’s retina.
Without rashly disturbing the large fish, Alvin quietly returned to the surface of the water. He then slowly treaded water by foot and gently adjusted the position of his raft until he was directly above the center of the group of Devilfish.
He took a light breath and pushed the rocks on the raft into the sea. Then he quickly took out a long, metal plate and a pole and dived into the water.
Underwater.
The moment Alvin was under the water, he hit the metal plate with the pole to make noise. The rock traveled slower in water than in air, but it was the opposite of sound waves.
Dang, dang, dang…
The noise and the rocks hit the Devilfish almost at the same time.
The timid-natured Devilfish was frightened by the sudden attack. The sharp splinters on its tails became red instantly and shot off.
After the fins stirred up a large cloud of sand and dust on the ocean floor, the Devilfish disappeared without a trace in an instant.
Alvin floated at the surface and dived in again after the dust had settled down. He found three or four red splinters lying at the bottom of the ocean. He had no idea where the rest had been fired to.
“Yes!”
Alvin was very happy. He hadn’t actually expected that such a clumsy trick would work.
He picked up the splinters. There were two long ones and two short ones.
Devilfish splinters were an irreplaceable supplement ingredient in making medicine, despite the small amount required. Alvin would not have to worry about his stock for years with what he had obtained today.
“Since I’m out here already, I might as well gather the materials for the Black Ocean Medicine too. The raw materials can be found in the Black Ocean Region. Hope I’ll get something today.”
Alvin decided to spend the entire day here as he had not opened his store today. He tried to find all the rare ingredients of the recipes that were almost impossible to buy in other shops.
Thus, Alvin started the circle of dive, scout, resurface, and dive in again. The ocean region of Leopold had plenty of resources. By the afternoon of that day, Alvin had gathered Hexagonal Blue Starfish, three unique types of seaweeds, and Black Thread Sea Urchin.
The last ingredient left was… shark teeth.
Alvin had not encountered any sharks today, and he was very thankful for that. He did not wish to hunt a shark alone on a wooden raft.
There were plenty of fishing boats that hunted for sharks in the ocean region of Leopold. He could just wait at the pier or scavenge the waste disposal grounds near the fisheries for some shark teeth—they were just not as fresh or effective.
He had completed most of his collection mission.
To Alvin’s surprise, he had managed to find lots of other items in the process of collecting the raw materials. Beautiful shells, a rusted copper key, a small fiery red coral, and even a few dull-looking pearls.
They wouldn’t sell well, but they gave him a different kind of satisfaction. Alvin was enjoying this very much and was already on the verge of turning his ingredient-hunting trip into a treasure hunt.
Before he knew it, Alvin had moved away from the initial stretch of water after some time, and the color of the water had quietly deepened.
“Wo…!”
Alvin resurfaced after getting nothing from the water. He looked at the sun that was about to set and decided to give it one last shot before returning back to the shore.
Alvin could breathe much longer underwater as he had practiced the knight’s way of breathing. This allowed him to dive deeper, into places that normal fishermen could not reach.
Alvin tried to test his limit and dived towards the ocean bed while hugging a heavy rock. He gradually stopped as he could no longer see his surroundings clearly and could only rely on his Data Vision.
Even with the help of this superpower, Alvin could not stay underwater for too long. He needed to find any potential treasures fast.
Even though the sunlight could not reach here, there were still fishes and crustaceans of all colors and shapes swimming near the reefs, rocks, and gravel on the ocean bed. This extraordinary world had clearly created an abundance of resilient lifeforms as well.
“What’s that?”
Soon, Alvin spotted a shell larger than a pumpkin hiding in the reef with the help of his Data Vision.
The shell was covered in all sorts of parasitic creatures and was camouflaged with the reef next to it. Alvin would not have been able to spot it without the help of his Data Vision even if he stood right beside it.
He took out the dagger hidden on his calf and pried open the shell. Some pearls came out of it with a soothing light. One, two, three… there were a total of three big, black pearls in it, and one of them was significantly larger than the other two.
Although Alvin was no expert in jewels in this era, he had basic common sense. These three extremely pretty, black pearls would be worth at least a hundred Golden Lion Coins.
That was the price of a six-year-old warhorse at its prime age. A strong warhorse would earn more respect for a knight than a high-class car would in Alvin’s previous life.
For any commoner, if they worked as a squire for a noble, they would already be earning much more than the rest. That would be three Silver Bull Coins a month, which was equivalent to a Golden Lion Coin.
Thus, the pearls were extremely precious.
Alvin tried to suppress his happiness as he carefully pocketed the pearls. He then threw the heavy rocks away and made his way back to the surface.
However, Alvin had forgotten the fact that he was not in a jewelry store with good service. The ocean he was in was full of danger.
Something grabbed hold of his foot and stopped him from moving upwards.
Alvin thought that he was just caught by the seaweed and tried to break free from the entanglement, but he did not succeed.
He knew something was not right… Then he heard a rumbling noise.
He turned around and got the shock of his life.
A gigantic octopus with a body-color like a reddish-brown reef had already lurked by Alvin’s side, and one of its three-meter tentacles had wrapped around his ankle.
Alvin did not panic upon encountering such an unexpected turn of events. The training he had undergone in his childhood had taught him to remain calm when facing an enemy stronger than himself, or his fate would be doomed. It was the same when he faced the berserk lynx. Today, Alvin remained calm in front of the giant octopus too.
The octopus clearly did not have much patience. After catching its prey, its other tentacles grabbed hold of the reef and slowly dragged Alvin downward. It was trying to drown him in the deep ocean so that it could enjoy its meal immediately.
Many ideas came into Alvin’s mind, but he quickly rejected all of them.
Although his brain was thinking fast, his body reacted even faster. He had been training as a knight apprentice for a long time, so his body already had a fighting instinct. With the strong desire to survive, Alvin did not fight against the dragging of the octopus. Instead, he used the force to dive downward. He kicked on a reef and dived deeper.
He knew that there was no way he could outrun this cunning predator underwater. His only hope of survival was to take it down instead. It was just a large, normal sea creature. Unlike a berserk animal, it wasn’t entirely impossible for him to win a battle against it.
Although the octopus was intelligent, there was no way it could have known what Alvin was thinking. Seeing that he had approached willingly, it opened up the rest of its tentacles and waited for the prey to enter its mouth.
Alvin rapidly closed the distance between him and the octopus. Soon, he could see the terrifying mouth of the octopus through its tentacles. He did not hesitate to kick his leg underwater again. His body moved faster with this additional force.
Before the octopus could react, Alvin was at its head, staring at its two big, yellow eyes.
He could observe the octopus clearly at this range.
Alvin smiled and raised his dagger before stabbing it right in the middle of the octopus’s eyes. This was where its central nervous system was located.
The octopus let go of Alvin and started to struggle while making horrible noises. Alvin quickly swam upwards. He would have drowned if he had remained underwater for another half a minute.
Alvin carefully packed his loot after getting back to his raft and quickly rowed it back to the beach.
The ocean was still a dangerous place for him. He had almost lost his life just by leaving the shallow water for a while. However, Alvin was confident that one day, he would conquer the Black Ocean and explore the magnificent views on the seas farther away.