Chapter 174: Chapter 174: Discovered a Treasure Cave
"Not bad, not bad. I’ll put this goodie away for now. It’ll definitely be useful later."
Faye Yardley cheerfully stored the digital box in her warehouse. Then she took the plate, ready to finish off the large lobster first. It couldn’t be wasted.
She hadn’t grown tired of seafood even after eating it for over a month. After all, every meal was different, and she was a huge seafood lover to begin with.
Of course, loving seafood didn’t mean she liked being adrift at sea for long periods.
Thankfully, she had Willow Yardley and Eamon for company. And with the system, she was practically connected to a nationwide network, so it wasn’t like she was in a completely isolated environment.
Taking a bite of lobster meat, Faye Yardley said, "Oh, you used cheese! Is this half cheese-baked lobster? What about the other half? Salt and pepper? Have our seasonings suddenly become so abundant?"
"Yes, Miss Jonas provided a lot of seasonings because you requested that most of the dividends be paid out in spices. So you’re not short on seasonings at all. The cheese just arrived this morning, and I hadn’t decided what to make with it for lunch."
"You did a great job. It’s delicious."
Faye Yardley really did finish most of the lobster by herself. She sent the rest to her brother, so nothing would go to waste.
She clapped her hands clean, cast out the line from her special fishing rod, and set it aside, eagerly anticipating the next thing it would catch.
Faye Yardley felt she was once again experiencing the joy of an angler.
So, she spent the rest of the time fishing until 6 p.m., and her haul was quite substantial.
The only thing the special fishing rod caught after that, however, was a rusty, broken blade.
’What’s the use of that thing?’
’Am I supposed to give my enemies tetanus with it?’
Although it seemed useless, Faye Yardley had Willow Yardley take it and place it on the fireplace mantel, to keep the Bronze Cat Statue company.
As for treasure chests, she’d had a pretty good afternoon, netting six wooden chests and two iron ones.
’Let’s save up the chests. I’ll have enough for a ten-pull soon.’
Faye Yardley placed all the treasure chests she’d fished up today into the room downstairs, only to find two more unopened Wooden Treasure Chests in the corner.
’Just like that, I have 10? But I don’t feel like opening them today.’
She was thinking of getting ready and making a trip into the sea first, trying to be back within two hours.
That way, it wouldn’t be too late, and the dangers of the seafloor should be manageable.
With that in mind, she took out the Water-Repelling Pearl, put it in her pocket, and jumped into the sea. She wasn’t hungry anyway, and if she did get hungry, she had plenty of food in her backpack.
Upon entering the water, the marine life indeed became more abundant. Schools of small fish swarmed around her transparent bubble.
She didn’t plan to stray too far from her raft, so she chose to descend straight down without wandering.
The deeper she went, the larger the sea creatures became.
After diving for more than half an hour, Faye Yardley saw a beautiful coral reef.
She broke off a few pieces of blue, pink, and black coral—colors she didn’t have—with her bare hands.
Not only could they be used as decorations, but coral also had some medicinal value. Faye Yardley didn’t know how to prepare it as medicine, but the physicians of Veridia probably would.
So it was a good idea to grab some while she was here.
She searched around the coral reef, picking up some conches and sea cucumbers, but found no treasure chests.
Continuing downward, the fish swimming by were now mostly in the ten- to twenty-pound range.
The light in the sea had faded to almost nothing.
Of course, there were still some bioluminescent jellyfish and fish, but the light they provided was minimal.
Fortunately, Faye Yardley had a Luminous Pearl.
Deeper and deeper she went. Thanks to the protection of the Water-Repelling Pearl, Faye Yardley felt no discomfort.
However, more and more large fish began to attack her unprovoked.
Faye Yardley was a little worried that her protective bubble would be broken by them.
So she actually took out Light Wound, ready to fight the fish attacking her.
’Why are the deep-sea fish getting darker in color? Some are completely black.’
’Is it because of pollution?’
’Is there a source of pollution under my raft?’
But her descent was anything but fast.
She also had to keep an eye on the time, making sure not to exceed her limit and to leave enough time for the return trip.
When she saw a stable cluster of light on the almost pitch-black seabed, there was no second-guessing what to do. People are drawn to light, so naturally, Faye Yardley moved toward it.
As she got closer, she discovered it was the entrance to a cave.
An undersea cave—the combination gave Faye Yardley an inexplicable thrill of adventure.
She went straight to the entrance and peeked inside. A system prompt appeared: [You have discovered a Treasure Cave].
’A Treasure Cave?’
’I have to go in and take a look!’
She had to admit, the entrance to the Treasure Cave was interesting. A thin membrane shrouded in white light blocked the seawater from entering.
Faye Yardley reached out and touched it, but it was as if she’d touched nothing at all. Her hand passed right through the membrane. After thinking for less than 0.3 seconds, Faye Yardley walked straight through.
The moment she stepped through the entrance, the Water-Repelling Pearl’s protective bubble automatically vanished, as there was no water inside.
An undersea cave with no water. She turned to look back at the entrance, where the white, glowing membrane was still diligently doing its job.
’So it only blocks water?’
No, that wasn’t right. Marine life couldn’t get through either. Faye Yardley had seen a large fish chase her and charge straight at the membrane. BAM! The fish was stunned and sent spinning, its body tumbling over.
After watching the big fish’s performance, Faye Yardley turned back to look inside the cave. It was also filled with a soft light, a faint glow emitted by some kind of White Light Stone.
It was not only dry but also very clean. More importantly, it wasn’t empty; there were clear signs that an intelligent creature had lived there.
A little further in, there was a seashell bed, an exquisite stone table, and coral chairs, all with a distinct marine theme.
Faye Yardley scanned her surroundings and murmured, "The system identified this as a Treasure Cave, so what’s the treasure? This furniture with the strong marine theme?"
The sea-blue blanket on the bed was woven from some kind of seaweed, but miraculously, it was not only soft but also smooth to the touch, and it had no strange smell.
She lifted the blanket. There was nothing strange hidden underneath.
’What is the treasure?’
’Wait a minute, the system said I discovered a Treasure Cave. Don’t tell me the entire cave is the real treasure?!’
’If the whole cave is the treasure, how do I collect it?’
Faye Yardley poked and prodded around the not-so-large cave. She opened every piece of furniture and box she could, but she really didn’t find anything special.
After a fruitless search, she plopped down onto a coral chair and slammed her hand on the stone table in frustration. To her surprise, the stone table, which had looked quite sturdy, actually cracked.
"No, you’ve got to be kidding me..."
The cracked table then put on a show for her, crumbling into a pile of rubble right where it stood.
Revealing a long, narrow, stone-white rectangular box inside.
With a mix of confusion and anticipation, she reached out her hand...
