Chapter 1236: Four Thousand Meters Under the Sea
At the ruins of the Golden Orange Building, Craig's eyelid twitched uncontrollably!
(◞ㅎyiㅎ) "Tomorrow it is! This time I'll accompany you as well, just to make sure no more accidents happen!"
"I'll contact someone to handle the follow-up arrangements!"
If they delayed any longer, those major powers that refused to let go of the Lantis treasure would surely make another move!
The night hadn't even passed yet, and two battles had already broken out!
If they dragged it on for a few more days, who knew what the Imperial Capital would be dismantled into?
Wherever Jiangnan went, everything got destroyed?
Was he really here to undergo a tribulation?
[From Craig, Resentment Value +666!]
Jiangnan rubbed his hands together, grinning slyly.
(ㅅ⁼̴ꇴ⁼̴) "So, uh, about this building of mine... don't you think you should fund the repairs?"
Craig glared: (͡ಠkou͡ಠ) "You broke it, why should I pay to fix it?"
Jiangnan's expression turned serious!
(｡･᷅～･᷄) "That's where you're wrong!"
"I only stepped in to protect the Lantis clues and Princess Hattie's safety because I had no choice, right?"
"Just now, Alice was almost snatched away! Hattie was nearly killed!"
"When your own princess's safety is threatened, it's because the royal family's protection is insufficient. I stepped up out of goodwill. Asking you to fix a building isn't too much, is it?"
Hattie rested her chin on her hand, deep in thought, nodding repeatedly.
(｡˘ก˘) "I think Brother Jiangnan has a point!"
Craig: ???
Your Highness, you can't just lean outward like that!
He scowled and said, "Fine, fine! I'll fix it for you!"
[From Craig, Resentment Value +666!]
Yao Hong couldn't hold back her laughter and secretly gave Jiangnan a thumbs-up.
Just then, Damon crawled out of the rubble. When everyone saw him, they shuddered violently!
Feeling nauseous, they almost threw up!
There was a huge shoe print on Damon's face!
(꜀꜂ଳϠଳ꜆꜄)…
Making his already hard-to-look-at face even worse!
Damon: ???
Why are they throwing up again? I only got to be human for two days!
Rhod kicked me back to my original form?
Dammit!
Rhod! Damon swears an undying enmity with you!
"Boss Nan... do you still sell those beauty pills?"
At the Raffles Hotel, Liuhua was playing cat's cradle with the silly old man, looking distracted.
Sakura-chan had been gone so long and still hadn't returned?
Had that Jiang devil caught her and hung her up for a beating?
Just then, Qian Benying teleported back into the bathroom, turning on the faucet to scrub her face frantically.
"Damn it! What the hell is this stuff? Why won't it come off? Aaah~ So annoying!"
Liuhua dashed into the bathroom like a gust of wind, only to see Qian Benying scrubbing her face wildly with soap.
Her pretty face was stained black as if splattered with ink, and even her pink hair was smudged!
(✹˃᷄◠˂᷅✹)…
She had been sprayed with ink by Rhod, blocking her vision. Though her sight had recovered, the ink on her face wouldn't wash off!
Liuhua glanced at her, then burst out laughing!
(✽థжథ) Pfft~
Qian Benying looked just like a Siamese cat right now!
Qian Benying's face darkened!
(✹°᷄min°᷅) "What are you laughing at? Stop it!"
Liuhua shrank her neck, but staring at Qian Benying, an inexplicable anger welled up inside her.
Her big eyes rolled around slyly. She ran back to the room, pulled out a ballpoint pen, and scribbled on her palm.
Then she ran back to the bathroom, looking worried.
(✽･᷄～･᷅) "Still can't wash it off?"
Qian Benying fumed, "It's hideous! That damn octopus is disgusting!"
No sooner had she spoken than Liuhua slapped her hard on the head with a big hand!
Qian Benying was knocked sideways, her expression frozen!
(ರ△ರ✹) "Liuhua! Even you're hitting me? Are you getting cocky?"
Liuhua quickly opened her palm to show Qian Benying!
(‧̣̥̇´ﾟㅂﾟ)っ҉̛
"Look! A mosquito! I was just trying to stop it from biting you, for your own good!"
There was a tiny black dot on Liuhua's palm...
Qian Benying scratched her head: ୧(✹•᷄ࡇ•᷅) "Next time, don't hit so hard, okay~"
Liuhua was overjoyed inside! Hitting Sakura-chan felt so good, so satisfying!
She really didn't notice! I'll go draw another one!
Just then, Liuhua stared at Qian Benying in shock!
"Sakura-chan, you have grass growing on your head, huh?"
Qian Benying blinked, dumbfounded as she looked at herself in the mirror!
(꒪ོ꒪‧̣̥̇)?
Why was grass growing on top of her head? What was this?
Liuhua reached out to pick it, "I'll pull it off for you!"
Qian Benying quickly teleported away, shielding her head!
No! Something's wrong!
She recalled how Rhod had charged at her earlier even knowing he couldn't win.
It was like he'd been hit with a taunt skill. Maybe this grass was the culprit!
Did Jiangnan do this? To make her pull Rhod away and ease his burden?
"Kusō! This grass can't be picked, got it? Something's off!"
Liuhua looked disappointed and mumbled weakly.
(✽･᷄~･᷅) "Oh~"
"So did you successfully snatch back the spirit pearl?"
Qian Benying's expression stiffened: (✹･᷄ㅂ･᷅) "Uh..."
Then she puffed up proudly: (︶.̮︶✹) "Hmph~ I was this close to succeeding! If Craig hadn't shown up, Jiangnan would have been done for this time!"
"He's not that hard to handle!"
Liuhua: (yi_yi) Eh~
But that Siamese cat face of yours completely ruins any credibility!
"So what do we do now?"
Qian Benying clenched her fists and ground her teeth.
"Heh! We wait! When Jiangnan goes treasure hunting, we'll sneak along behind!"
"When the treasure appears, we'll be the mantis stalking the cicada, with the oriole behind! Grab the loot and run!"
"Then, with the treasure in hand, we can negotiate with Jiangnan however we want. If I want the spirit pearl, he'll have to hand it over obediently!"
The plan was absolutely perfect!
Early the next morning, at the Blue Moon Harbor in the Fish Country, a large cruiser was docked at the shore.
Three destroyers were also accompanying it!
Onboard were over a thousand elite Fish Country frogman spirit martial soldiers, all elite-level!
The Fish Country's frogman troops were renowned internationally!
Experts at underwater combat, they were already on standby aboard the cruiser.
A deep-sea nuclear submarine was also parked nearby, ready for deployment.
Jiangnan stood on the dock, his mouth twitching. "Do we really need to make such a big scene?"
Bringing troops and a cruiser? He'd planned to travel light!
He only brought Yao Hong from the Dandelion.
Damon and Hattie were also coming, along with Hesther and Roberta as bodyguards.
The rest were Emma, Yuna, Mila, and Lan.
And Alice, of course.
Craig boarded the submarine, "His Majesty the Sea King places great importance on this matter. Since we know little about the current state of the ancient Lantis kingdom..."
"It's better to be safe than sorry. Get on the submarine."
Jiangnan shrugged. Fine, let Craig have his way.
The group boarded the submarine and submerged into the sea, with the cruiser escorting them straight toward the Lantis ruins.
Inside the submarine, Jiangnan looked around curiously, his eyes sparkling. This was a good piece of equipment!
But it was too big to store in the alternate dimension.
As soon as Jiangnan's exploration team set off, informants from various major powers at the dock hurried back to report.
After all, many forces were interested in the Lantis treasure.
Even just getting some stone tablets inscribed with incantations counted as ancient Su relics.
They'd fetch a decent price on the black market too!
Once Jiangnan moved, a large number of forces concealed their tracks and followed.
The submarine traveled underwater for half a day.
It had now descended to a seabed depth of four thousand meters!
Sunlight from the surface couldn't penetrate this deep.
So the sea was pitch black, with extremely low visibility.
Only the submarine's lights illuminated the dark depths.
Jiangnan looked bored: (꒪ͦᴗ̵̍꒪ͦ) "How much longer until we reach the Lantis ruins?"
Hattie said excitedly: (∗❛ั◡❛ั∗) "Almost there! The Lantis ruins are huge, located at the edge of our Fish Country's territorial waters, and they haven't even been fully explored yet!"
After all, this was a deep-sea zone, extremely difficult to explore.
Four thousand meters underwater, the water pressure was a full 40 MPa!
Equivalent to 400 atmospheres!
An ordinary human exposed to this environment without protection would be instantly crushed by the pressure.
Hattie was incredibly excited. Going to deep-sea ruins to find treasure was just too cool for words!
Just then, a submariner reported: "We've arrived at the Lantis ruins. Which direction now?"
Jiangnan was taken aback. They were already there? Outside it was pitch black—he couldn't make out any scenery at all!
Everyone's eyes focused on Alice.
Alice frowned.
(๑･᷄◠･᷅) "Inside this tin can, I can't recognize anything. I need to go outside."
Craig nodded, taking out a bag of platinum-grade wave-repelling pearls and distributing them to everyone.
"For those who can't breathe underwater, use these pearls! Remember to infuse them with spiritual energy!"
Jiangnan quickly grabbed one and stuffed it in his pocket, then pulled out an even bigger one!
It was the starlight-grade wave-repelling pearl that Uz had given him at the banquet.
Lan also clutched her wave-repelling pearl like a treasure, her big eyes sparkling.
Jiangnan raised his hand and shot out void chains, wrapping them around everyone's waists.
"Everyone ready? We're going out, okay?"
Yao Hong was startled: "How are we getting out—"
The next second, everyone had already appeared in the deep sea outside the submarine!
The intense water pressure made Hattie, Roberta, and the others extremely uncomfortable.
But for Jiangnan, the pressure at four thousand meters deep was just a piece of cake!
He infused spiritual energy into the wave-repelling pearl, and it emitted a faint blue glow.
The seawater was instantly repelled, forming a spherical bubble of air around him.
Oxygen continuously surged from the pearl for breathing.
For ease of movement, most people only used the bubble to cover their heads.
Leaving their bodies exposed to the seawater, relying on physical strength to withstand the pressure!
Since Lan was only at Silver rank and her body couldn't handle the water pressure, she needed the bubble to cover her whole body. But with her teleportation ability, movement wasn't affected.
As for Craig and Damon, who could beast-transform, they could breathe directly in the water!