95: Chapter 95 Water-Repelling Bead

The interface of the Treasure Hunting Radar unfolded in his consciousness; it wasn't a visual image, but rather a three-dimensional sense of space, radiating outward from his current position as the center, while also extending downward.

The scanning depth that he had unlocked as a system reward had already exceeded one hundred meters.

To be precise, one hundred and twenty-eight meters.

For the offshore reef area, this depth was more than enough. The deepest part of the seabed terrain in that reef area was only seventy or eighty meters. He didn't even need to go into the water, wear gear, or struggle against the complex currents and visibility of the reef area to conduct an underwater search. He only needed to be on the deck, turn on the radar, and let it figure out the situation below for him.

The scanning circle expanded outward from the center, like ripples spreading after a stone is thrown into water, except these ripples penetrated downward, passing through ten meters of water, through reefs, through mud and sand, through sediment layers, layer by layer.

He adjusted the focus of the scan, concentrating the target area within the coordinate circle marked on the navigator, a range of about two hundred meters in diameter, and set the scanning precision to the maximum.

The radar began to transmit information back.

The first thing he perceived was the outline of the seabed terrain. The terrain of the reef area gradually took shape in his consciousness, rising and falling with distinct edges. Several reefs protruded from the seabed, with heights exceeding five meters, their tops only about three or four meters from the water's surface—typical potential navigational hazards.

The coral reefs were densely distributed, spreading along a north-south trending reef ridge. On both sides were relatively flat sandy areas, scattered with a large number of shells and coral fragments—traces left by years of seabed ecological activity.

Then, the radar captured an abnormal signal.

It wasn't a reef, it wasn't coral, nor was it ordinary seabed sediment.

The density of the signal was completely different from the surrounding background, like a hard structure covered beneath the sand and mud. The outline was irregular but possessed a certain inherent sense of order; it was not a naturally formed geological structure, but an artifact.

Hu Tian pushed the precision up another notch, focusing entirely on that abnormal signal.

The outline began to become clear.

It was the wreckage of a ship.

The general shape of the hull was reconstructed by the radar. The wooden structure was highly decayed, with most of it having merged with the seabed sediment, but the lines of the keel remained intact, clearly outlining the orientation of the hull. The bow pointed southwest, while the stern section had fallen apart, with wood fragments scattered on the sandy ground next to the reef ridge, extending for about twenty meters.

This was a shipwreck, and not a small boat. Estimating from the length of the keel, the hull should be between thirty and forty meters. This size corresponds to the era of Ming and Qing dynasty merchant ships in the South China Sea. Ships sailing this route in that era had a high probability of carrying cargo including porcelain, copper coins, and gold and silver artifacts, as this area was a traditional maritime trade route.

But the radar had not finished its positioning analysis. The signal that truly perked him up was inside the hull.

In the cabin area of the shipwreck, the radar scanned dense heterogeneous signals, piled up and arranged with a certain regularity, like cargo that had been stacked, buried under about two meters of sediment. The location was slightly forward of the middle section of the keel; that should be the location of the main cargo hold.

The material feedback from the signal indicated—ceramics, a large amount of ceramics.

There was also metal, primarily with the characteristics of copper, mixed with a small amount of higher-density precious metal signals.

Hu Tian controlled his breathing rhythm and let his consciousness linger on that signal for a few seconds, confirming the stability of the scanning results. The signal did not fluctuate; it was not interference, but a solid, real target.

He slowly withdrew his scanning consciousness, exited the depth-focus state, and scanned the entire coordinate circle again to confirm if there were any other abnormal signals.

On the south side of the reef ridge, there was another weak metal signal, located shallower than the shipwreck, on the surface of the seabed sediment. It wasn't deep, but the area was very small; it could be a scattered single item, or something caught on the nearby reef. It had value, but its priority was lower than the shipwreck's cargo hold.

Scan complete.

He opened his eyes. The low-brightness lights of the cockpit required his eyes to adjust for two seconds before he could clearly see the night outside again.

The sea was still the same sea—black, quiet. The surge of waves made intermittent slapping sounds against the reefs. The lights of the small town in the distance were still quietly shining more than ten nautical miles away. Everything looked no different from before he had closed his eyes.

But he knew that just below the ship he was standing on, to the southeast, on the seabed over seventy meters deep, beneath the thick cover of mud and sand, lay a merchant ship that had been sleeping for hundreds of years, along with all the secrets she had carried into the seabed.

He sat in his seat, not acting immediately, but instead organizing all the information he had just obtained from the scan in his mind.

Shipwreck location: sandy ground on the west side of the reef ridge, sediment layer thickness about two meters. He had precisely marked the coordinates on the navigator, with an error margin of no more than five meters.

Cargo hold location: slightly forward of the middle section of the keel. The main items were a large amount of ceramics, accompanied by copperware and a small amount of precious metals. The overall state of preservation needed further confirmation, but judging from the density of the radar signal, the coverage of the sediment layer had actually provided a certain degree of protection for the cargo, and the probability of intact pieces was not low.

Extraction method—this was a problem.

A depth of over seventy meters had already exceeded the safe range for amateur scuba diving, though professional mixed-gas diving could technically reach it.

Hu Tian withdrew his scanning consciousness, leaned back in his seat, and quietly looked at the night sky above. He pondered the problem of the extraction method for about two minutes, then laughed to himself.

He had almost forgotten one thing.

System rewards.

The last time, the system had given him two things in succession: one was the extreme diving ability, and the second was the Water-Repelling Bead.

At that time, when he received them, he had only scanned through them generally and hadn't studied them in depth. But over the last two days, he had specifically researched them. With these two things combined, a depth of over seventy meters was simply not an obstacle for him.

The extreme diving ability was easy to understand: it allowed his physical functions to be maintained in a state far exceeding that of an ordinary person in a deep-water environment. Lung capacity, blood oxygen maintenance, and pressure resistance had all been enhanced by the system. Combined with standard diving equipment, he had enough capacity to go down to one hundred meters.

The Water-Repelling Bead sounded like a prop from a fantasy novel, but the actual functional description was much more down-to-earth.

He retrieved the Water-Repelling Bead from his System Space and looked at it in his palm. It was the size of a thumbprint, grayish-white, with a warm, lustrous sheen on the surface. It felt like some kind of natural mineral to the touch, but the system had not labeled the material, only stating it was an ancient object.

He went over the functions in his mind again: after activation, it generated a protective ripple circle around the holder. The ripple circle had three functions. First, it balanced and offset external water pressure, allowing the actual pressure around the holder to be maintained in a range close to normal pressure. Second, it shielded the holder's scent and bio-electric field, preventing the perception and approach of large marine creatures, and had a certain repellent effect on sharks, large moray eels, etc. Third, the ripple circle had a slight interference effect on the refraction of light, which would reduce the holder's visual exposure in dark waters.

It wasn't the kind of water-repelling divine artifact from novels that allowed people to breathe underwater, but combined with diving equipment, this thing solved the two most core risks of deep diving: one was physical damage caused by deep-water pressure, and the other was the threat of large predatory creatures in deep-water areas.

Hu Tian weighed the Water-Repelling Bead in his hand for a moment and then returned it to his System Space.

He sat up straight in his seat and began to seriously plan the next steps.

There was diving equipment on the boat. Before setting off, he had prepared a full set according to high-standard maritime operation configurations: open-circuit diving suit, double-tank mixed gas, waterproof headlamp, underwater propulsion vehicle, spare knife and cutting tools, and waterproof storage bags. They were all kept in the storage compartment at the stern. There was a reason he had prepared this set; he knew that sooner or later he would encounter situations requiring underwater operations, he just hadn't expected to use it so soon.

The only question was what time it was now.

He glanced at the ship's clock: 12:20 AM.

He had observed the sea conditions near the reef area for over an hour. The waves weren't large, the swells were regular, and there were no signs of strong currents. The sea conditions were suitable for entering the water at this time, but visibility would be a problem. The degree of darkness in the deep-water area depended on the quality of the headlamp. His headlamp was professional-grade; theoretically, it could cast a light cone of over ten meters in clear waters, but the middle-layer waters of the South China Sea had a lot of organic matter, so the actual visibility was hard to say.

He spent nearly two more hours doing preparatory work.

First, he repeatedly checked the precise coordinates of the shipwreck, marking them on both the navigator and the spare handheld GPS. Then, he mentally rehearsed the descent route several times. Using the reef ridge as a reference, his yacht's current anchored position was roughly northwest of the shipwreck. After entering the water, he would need to swim about thirty meters to the southeast to reach the keel position of the shipwreck. The cargo hold was slightly forward of the middle section of the keel. He needed to conduct an initial exploration there to confirm the actual condition of the cargo.

He didn't intend to move the cargo tonight. Tonight's goal was exploration and positioning—to figure out the actual situation of the cargo hold, confirm a feasible plan for extraction, and then decide how to operate subsequently.

He confirmed this plan in his mind, felt it was sound, and then began to put on his gear.

Putting on the diving suit took a bit of effort. He was operating alone at the stern without any help. Fixing the double-tank combination on his back by himself required some technique. It took him about twenty minutes to get everything done. Regulator check, pressure gauge check—both tanks were full. Based on his estimated air consumption, at a depth of seventy meters, it could support him for about forty to fifty minutes. This time was enough for exploration.

The waterproof headlamp was fixed to the front of the helmet, and the spare light was fixed to his left wrist. He tested the handheld grip of the underwater propulsion vehicle; the battery was full, and the thrust was normal.

The waterproof storage bag was folded and hung on the side of his belt, the cutting tool was fixed to his right leg, and the spare knife was fixed to his lower leg.

Finally, he took the Water-Repelling Bead out again. The activation method was very simple: hold it in the palm of his hand and mentally think "activate." Then, he felt a slight, warm sensation in his palm, indicating that the Water-Repelling Bead had entered its working state. He could put it into the waterproof inner pocket, keeping it in contact with his body was enough.