Oh!
Everyone's eyes lit up.
No kidding! You really can't rule that out!
The Magician's hypothesis was entirely possible!
“If we're going to look for treasure, we'd better be quick. My skill only lasts for thirty minutes, and at least ten have passed. That means you only have about twenty minutes to find anything,” The Sun reminded them, her complexion looking a bit better now.
“Holy crap! Then what are we waiting for?!”
As she spoke, Gu Xiaobei—the girl who was single-mindedly focused on getting a full dungeon clear—was the first to leap off the boat, giving no one any time to pull her back.
The others followed her to the bow, only to see Gu Xiaobei mostly submerged in the sludge.
“Pfft!”
It was unclear who started it.
In any case, Gu Xiaobei's pathetic appearance made the whole group burst out laughing.
“Don't just stand there laughing! Come help me!”
Gu Xiaobei struggled to tilt her head back, looking up at the group over ten meters above her.
“Coming, coming.”
To avoid repeating Gu Xiaobei's mistake, everyone used their Bubble Beads.
Items originally intended for 'sea battles' were now proving useful here. It had to be said that this was quite the happy accident.
After a quick pat from Lan Qingyou, the light-as-a-feather Gu Xiaobei was hauled up by the High Priestess.
“You were the one who laughed first, weren't you! Take this!”
The moment she was pulled up, Gu Xiaobei lunged at the High Priestess, rubbing her muddy self all over the other girl.
“Ow! What are you doing?! How dare you get my clothes dirty! Take this!”
“Hahahaha!”
The High Priestess was stunned for a moment before immediately retaliating. The two of them ended up rolling around in the sludge together.
Even the High Priestess's bubble was rolled into a black sphere.
The others weren't as idle as these two girls; with time running short, no one wanted to waste a second.
Even the two wild girls quickly hurried toward the shipwrecks after their brief play.
There were many shipwrecks in this area.
Fortunately, they were fairly concentrated, so they didn't have to run all over the sludge on the seabed.
Perhaps because the enemy was just an eyeball whose only method of attack was rays, the ships were remarkably well-preserved.
Since Lan Qingyou had her Magic Eye, the others borrowed Spoon.
Splitting up like this allowed them to move much faster.
Lan Qingyou had no objections.
Spoon threw a bit of a tantrum, though.
But in the hands of a chef like Gu Xiaobei, it could only submit.
Twenty minutes passed quickly, but no one intended to stop just yet.
After all, they all had Bubble Beads.
Since they were already here and the dungeon was finished, it would be a shame not to search thoroughly.
Fortunately, when the seawater reflowed, it rose slowly rather than coming in as waves. Otherwise, these ships that had been soaked for who-knows-how-long likely wouldn't have withstood the battering.
After over an hour of searching underwater, the group finally stepped out of the sea on their bubbles.
From their beaming expressions, it wasn't hard to see that they had all reaped significant rewards.
“Oh! Hierophant, you're awake!”
Just as the group returned to the boat and prepared to distribute the loot, they saw the old Hierophant sitting cross-legged on the gunwale, fishing.
“I'm awake. I woke up not long after you left.”
Hierophant's voice sounded incredibly lonely; he didn't even react when his fishing rod twitched.
Clearly, this incident had been a significant blow to the old man.
“Aiya, you were just being controlled. It's no big deal,” the High Priestess said, stepping forward and slapping Hierophant's shoulder to comfort him.
Hierophant simply shook his head.
“Sigh... It's not that. I already talked it out with the Magician. I just didn't expect that at my age, I'd still have such an obsession with a boat that I'd let the enemy find a weakness. Truly... I feel like all those years of fishing were in vain.”
Yes.
As an old angler, he had spent years believing his heart was as tranquil as still water, capable of facing anything without a ripple.
He hadn't expected to still harbor such vulgar desires.
“Alright, alright, you're a grown man, stop acting so gloomy. Come on, it's time to split the gear.”
The Sun waved her hand and sat down on the deck, dumping out everything she had stored in her cards.
“Now then, let's see what good things we got this time!”
With someone taking the lead, the others followed suit. Hierophant, however, didn't move. He even shook his head, declining The Sun's offer to share the loot.
“I won't participate. I didn't contribute this time.”
“Haha, there's no need for that, really.”
“This operation was a group effort. Besides, you were a victim.”
“Uh... the word 'victim' is a bit inappropriate.”
“Hahahaha, whatever. I haven't had much schooling anyway, so as long as the general meaning is there, it's fine. No one's going to object.”
Everyone joked around, trying to persuade Hierophant not to be so modest.
However, at that moment, someone spoke up.
“I object to giving these things to Hierophant.”
Indeed, it was Lan Qingyou who spoke.
Her words caused everyone to turn toward her.
“As someone who values equivalent exchange, I cannot bring myself to give items to someone who made no contribution.”
As if oblivious to the shocked looks around her, Lan Qingyou added another comment.
Her words made the old Hierophant flush with shame.
“If you put it that way, then I didn't contribute anything against that giant eyeball either,” the Magician said with a bitter smile, shaking his head.
After all, he had been stabbed right at the start and hadn't been able to do anything afterward.
“Correct. So I object to giving any to you as well.”
“...”
The group fell into a complete silence.
Although they knew Lan Qingyou was right and understood her principles as an alchemist, it seemed unnecessary to be so blunt. After all, they were comrades who had fought together.
“Then... then I won't take any either. I didn't really do anything,” Gu Xiaobei said, weakly raising her hand.
“You participated in the collection work. It's only natural for you to get a share.”
Lan Qingyou looked at Gu Xiaobei with her cool, clear eyes.
“...”
Fine, Lan Qingyou truly was a woman of principle.
Because of Lan Qingyou's intervention, the originally warm atmosphere turned a bit chilly.
Everyone sat in their places without speaking.
Lan Qingyou was right. Everyone came here for experience and treasure; it was only natural that those who didn't contribute wouldn't get a share.
“So, my proposal is that we split these items among ourselves, and we give this boat to Hierophant.”
“Huh?”
“Ah!”
“Wait...”
Lan Qingyou's words shocked everyone once again.
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