Three days later.

Simbady rose up out of the sea as the basket slowly moved up.

"How do you feel?" Mulley asked in excitement as soon as he took off the heavy helmet. "Is the undersea world fun?"

It was actually not any better than the desert. Although there nestled many weird animals and plants, he did not quite enjoy the experience. Every time he sank to the bottom of the ocean, he felt as if being engulfed by a suffocating darkness that pressured him in every direction. Simbady wanted to communicate his real feeling. However, seeing Mulley's antic.i.p.ated look, he swallowed his words and blurted out, "Well... the scenery down there is not bad."

"That's so nice... if only I could go down there and take a look," Mulley said on a sigh.

Looking at her hazel eyes, Simbady suddenly remembered that a year and a half ago when his clansmen had departed the Port of Clearwater for the southern end of the desert, she had been wearing the same look as she had watched them leave on the concrete s.h.i.+p. At that time, n.o.body had known what was awaiting for them. Everybody had been agitated about their uncertain future, but she had still attempted to cheer them up.

Somehow, Simbady felt uneasy.

"Good job. I'm really impressed," Rex commented as he rose up out of the water a second later. He clapped his hands as he climbed off the basket. "You have a good balance, a good vital capacity, and a good sense of direction. You're also able to stay chill. In other words, you have all the qualities an excellent diver needs. Is it because you're a Sand National or you're just a natural? No offense. Miss Mulley told me that you aren't the strongest warrior in your clan."

Mulley poked out her tongue at Simbady and went off to chat with Rex's a.s.sistants.

"There's a pond in the oasis where the Fishbone Clan used to live. When we were little, we often had compet.i.tions to see who could dive the farthest, so I sort of have some diving experience..." Simbady answered dryly. "But Mulley was right. I'm not the best diver in the clan. If Carlone did that, it would probably just take him one day."

"Carlone? Who's he?"

"The strongest warrior in the younger generation. He's an excellent hunter and combatant, and he's as good as those warriors in big clans. Yet he only worked here once. Now he should be working somewhere at the Port of Clearwater. It's too late to seek him now."

"Really?" Rex said, shrugging. "I don't think so though."

"About what?"

"I don't think he's stronger than you," Rex replied as he pulled off the diving suit. "The most important quality for a diver isn't skills but an open mind."

"An... open mind?" Simbady echoed perplexedly.

"That is, accepting the unknown and overcoming yourself. That's the difference between a pond and the sea," Rex said while gazing at the Festive Harbor. "This place is undergoing drastic changes. The man named Carlone has only been here once. From what I see, you're more open-minded than him. "If I asked him for help, I probably couldn't persuade him to dive in the first place."

Simbady rolled his eyes at him glumly and said, "If it wasn't because of Mulley, I would never have agreed to help you."

He had wanted to leave after getting that ten gold royals, but Mulley was very curious about this strange suit. Knowing that they still needed an a.s.sistant to salvage the treasures, she immediately offered to help.

Simbady thus had no choice but to explore the cave with Rex. Before confirming that the diving suit was absolutely safe, he did not want Mulley to risk her own life and deal with this Fjord person alone. Although he knew Mulley would eventually partic.i.p.ate in the salvage herself, it would be much safer if he checked the suit first.

"Haha," Rex laughed airily. "But you overcame yourself in the end and took a step further to the new realm, didn't you? That's probably why Mulley prefers you."

"Hang on, what... what did you say?"

"Didn't you find it?" Rex said while spreading out his hands. "That girl talked a lot about you when she chatted with me. She said you were pretty timid when you were a kid and was often bullied into crying. However, you were curious about everything, though you are now much more reserved."

A muscle in Simbady's face twitched. He said, "Well, she just told you everything, eh?"

"She probably feels more comfortable with strangers," Rex said, grinning. "But I don't really know much about Sand Nation's customs. Perhaps fighting capacity is a big factor to a.s.sess a person, but you may be too modest as well."

"You don't know anything," Simbady grumbled.

To be honest, Simbady did not hate Rex very much. It was incredible that within just a few days, he could chat with a Fjord person so comfortably, as opposed to the beginning, he had just wanted to keep an eye on Rex to protect Mulley.

Now Simbady noticed that Rex was not talking to him with an air of condescension. Instead, Simbady felt very relaxed when communicating with him. Compared to those haughty northern n.o.bles and Fjords merchants, Rex was very different. Perhaps that was the reason why Mulley often visited the campsite of the Society of Wondrous Crafts.

After a moment of hesitation, Simbady asked Rex why he treated him as equal.

Rex said thoughtfully, "You asked why... There's no particular reason. We've suffered enough discrimination and comtempt ourselves."

Simbady was a little surprised at Rex's answer. As a person who promised to pay 30 gold royals, he should be a wealthy and respected man. Why was he discriminated? When he was about to make a further inquiry, one of Rex's a.s.sistants came over and said, "Sir, all the tests are done. We can go ahead anytime."

"Do you want to have a shot?" Rex said as he turned to Simbady. "You should have been very familiar with diving by now."

He fought down his curiosity and answered, "As long as that thing you invented works."

"Of course it works. I've been doing research for nearly 10 years. To make sure it will work, I bet everything on it..."

"What?"

"Ahem, no, nothing. Nevermind," Rex said evasively, turning away. "Now, we're going to enter that cave in the afternoon and start our first adventure!"

He chose to dive in the afternoon simply because they could have a clear view at that time when the sun was right above their heads. By then, sunlight would reach the bottom of the pond 50 meters down the water, including the cave at the waist of the cliff.

If they took actions in the evening when the water receded, they would easily get lost.

"I'm waiting for you at the entrance," Rex said as he put on a helmet and gave him a thumbs-up. He then clambered into the basket and sank into the sea.

After around 15 minutes, Eyemask nodded at Simbady and said, "Your turn."

Simbady took a deep breath and put on a heavy helmet as well. Mulley moved over to secure the helmet on his head and then shouted, "You can do it! I'm waiting here for you."

He cast her a glance, turned away and walked to the basket.

The steam engine roared. As Simbady gradually dropped and got closer to churning waves, he had a feeling that the entire ocean was about to devour him.

For a split second, terror flooded over him.

However, he immedately regained his composure.

"Accept the unkown and overcome yourself."

He remembered Mulley's sparkling eyes and Rex's words.

Simbady breathed out a sigh and was ready to embrace the ocean.

In an instant, the whole world became a clear, transparent blue. Sun rays spilled across the water and splintered into flickers of light.

After he dropped 20 meters, the basket suddenly stopped.

A chilly, fathomless cave materialized in front of him.