The Legend of the Fishermen of Sicily

Chapter 141 Falling into the Abyss

Leo was unsure whether the strange behavior of the high-end seafood supplier in Syracuse that Aesop mentioned was related to the strange news circulating outside.

But since both of these things point to wealth, you need to be extra careful when venturing into business.

After a period of exploration and experimentation, Leo had almost finished studying the traces of the ocean world under the [Microscopic Eyes].

In addition to greatly improving their ability to find sea urchins and increasing their efficiency, they can also "discover" whether there are VIPs by looking at their tracks.

Moreover, the methods of judgment are becoming increasingly diverse, and the accuracy rate is getting higher and higher.

Sometimes, just by looking at the type, size, and age of the footprints in a crack or hole, you can accurately determine what's inside.

After going into the water today, Leo quickly swam around the area and located the coordinates of several sea urchin nests and a suspicious cave entrance where a lobster might be hiding. He didn't see even a large seashell.

This is actually normal...

During this period, he remained on the outermost edge of this rocky uplift zone.

This area of ​​densely packed reefs is 8 kilometers long in total.

He tried to move forward a little, and the water depth changed significantly, reaching over 15 meters.

According to Natale's description, the water gets deeper the further east you go.

The process will involve two main platforms.

The first platform is located 5 kilometers away, where the water depth reaches 40 meters.

At 10 kilometers, the water can reach a depth of 100 meters. This is also the second platform. Further east, you will leave the near-shore continental shelf, and the water depth will quickly reach 400 meters.

Adhering to the principle of "safety first," Rio remained within 2 kilometers of the shore today and did not venture deeper.

However, though the body remains in the same place, the heart has gone to distant places.

There aren't many good things in shallow waters less than 15 meters deep.

The knowledge he gained in the past two days also told him that limestone reefs and cave walls at depths of 10-40 meters are ideal environments for sponges to grow.

Therefore, to pursue wealth, one must take a step forward.

But before taking that next step, Leo plans to light up the entire map in this area.

There are a few places around here that he hasn't been to before—those "underwater shadow" areas that are more than 20 meters deep.

East of Marzamemi is a rocky uplift, with the highest ridge only two or three meters above the water, but the deepest part... how deep is unknown.

In the past few days, he has read some books and learned that the underwater sinkholes in these shallow reef areas can reach a terrifying depth of 300 meters!

Keep in mind that the water is only 400 meters deep 10 kilometers to the east.

Every time I pass by these deep underwater pits, which range in diameter from 20 to 100 meters, looking into them is like staring straight into a dark abyss.

But Leo decided to face the abyss head-on today.

Having made his decision, Leo boarded the boat to rest, praying that the pits they were going to explore later would be shallow.

Ideally, the depth should be between 20 and 30 meters. This allows you to map the area and prepare for and warm up for activities in deeper waters later on, achieving two goals at once.

A 50-meter pit will do; I'll just treat it as practice for deep-sea diving.

Even if it reaches 70 meters, it's acceptable; it's not a big problem.

"100 meters... let's skip 100 meters, it's a little too dangerous."

He was unaware of the numerical records from that era. The world record for freediving depth in later generations was over 200 meters. After a rigorous assessment of his own situation and swimming ability, the Godfather gave a new definition.

After adjusting his state and checking the lighting equipment several times, Leo slid into the water, relaxed his body, and fell into the abyss.

The first ten meters went smoothly, and then it was a completely new journey.

As the depth of descent increases, the first organ in the body to detect abnormalities is the ear.

Previously, Leo always adhered to the principle of "safety first" and only moved around in areas more than 10 meters deep. When he jumped into water more than 10 meters deep, he first felt a sharp pain in his ears—a signal that his eardrums were being squeezed.

Leo performed several pressure adjustment movements to allow his eardrums to adapt to the gradually increasing pressure.

As soon as the pain subsided, my ears sent out a second abnormal signal—every sound around me became strange and eerie.

Yes, it's weird!

His breathing was as loud as thunder, and you could hear the air flowing in his lungs.

The thumping of my heart echoed throughout my body, turning my body into a musical instrument.

Leo's whip kick was very light, but his flippers made a dull "thump" sound. The sound bounced off the pit walls on both sides and seemed to bounce back, making a strange noise like an echo.

A strange, loud noise came from beside his ear. Leo was certain that it didn't come from his own body. He turned his head sharply and saw that it was just a small fish less than 10 centimeters long passing by. But the sound made it sound like some giant creature 2 meters long was approaching him.

Leo paused his descent and looked around.

It was still the familiar reef area, the familiar waters, only he had dived to a greater depth... Had things changed that much?

He looked down at his feet. The abyss was still as dark as ever, but he no longer felt afraid. He only felt that what lay below would be even more interesting.

So without hesitation, I continued diving!

Rosalia doesn't have the equipment to measure water depth, but she can estimate the approximate depth based on the water temperature.

The water temperature will not drop smoothly, but will plummet.

It's summer now, and the water temperature in the 10-meter shallow reef area of ​​Sicily is between 24 and 26 degrees Celsius. Soaking in it will make you feel hot.

Suddenly, Leo felt the water temperature around him drop sharply, a signal that he had broken through the thermocline, indicating that he had reached a depth of 20 meters.

Leo didn't stop and continued to descend.

At one moment, a bone-chilling cold spread from my back to my whole body, as if I had suddenly fallen into an ice cellar. This was the signal that I had broken through 30 meters.

Be careful once you exceed 30 meters.

30 meters is the critical depth for nitrogen narcosis during freediving. Although this varies considerably from person to person, most people will experience a mild nitrogen narcosis reaction.

The perception of time slows down, making one feel as if they have been underwater for a long time, when in reality only a few tens of seconds have passed;

My reaction time slows down, my hands and feet become clumsy, and sometimes I forget what I'm supposed to do.

A strange sense of excitement makes everything seem wonderful, and you want to stay underwater a little longer.

Leo thought he wouldn't experience nitrogen narcosis, but it turned out he was quite severely affected.

He thought it must have taken a long time to dive down, but when he checked his watch, he found it had only been a dozen seconds. According to his free breath-holding data, he could have stayed in the pit for a long time after this dive.

Why would I use the word "play"?

Oh right, what was I doing down here again?

Haha, this cave is so much fun... The Godfather excitedly continued diving down.

Don't worry, this thought of nitrogen narcotics was quickly overwhelmed by the excitement surging in Leo's heart.

Leo also knew that he absolutely could not stop at this moment. The colder he was at the bottom of the pit, the more he needed to keep moving, otherwise he would quickly lose his temperature even if he was wearing warm, wet clothes.

He also remembered that the Godfather hadn't come to play in the abyss; he had come to find treasure!

And so, my eyes started to get swollen.

The godfather excitedly looked around and found that the entire underwater world was now only composed of different shades of blue and gray; all other colors had disappeared.

The yellow-mouthed barracuda turned into a white-mouthed barracuda, and the white-striped seaweed turned into blue-striped seaweed; everything in the deep water became strangely yet systematically colored...

Leo looked up at the water and could only see a bright, circular halo, like a well.

The area around the aperture was surrounded by dark rock walls, and he and the small fish that occasionally swam slowly overhead were like the frogs at the bottom of a well.

"Interesting, very interesting." In the pitch-black pit, the Godfather happily blew out a few bubbles.

The overwhelming excitement extinguished the last trace of nitrogen narcotics, and reason regained control.

As Leo continued to descend, he activated [Microscopic Eyes].

We've now reached a depth of 30 meters underwater, in a secluded underwater sinkhole. We should be able to find some valuable items that don't usually appear in shallow water.

[The Eye of the Microcosm] is activated, and the surroundings transform into a world of traces familiar to Leo.

Various shapes and patterns appeared in his eyes.

Leo was already familiar with all of this, and quickly performed several operations: blocking out the traces of fish, crabs, shrimp, shells, and octopus.

Wait, undo the operation. Let me check if there's an octopus first.

Okay, no octopus, let's continue.

Shield the sea cucumber from everything, then shield the barnacles...

Beautiful! The world has become clean all of a sudden!

Let me see if there's anything unusual.

Leo's gaze swept quickly across the dark underwater surface, then suddenly stopped in his tracks in a certain direction.

He saw a strange mark in a huge crevice—no, it couldn't be described as a "mark".

It was a slowly writhing phantom several meters thick and several meters wide.

The traces are presented as dots, while this phantom is a large area, seemingly a whole.

Leo deactivated the [Gaze of the Microscopic Eyes] and did not approach rashly, but instead pondered what it was.

This was something he had never seen before.

If it's not a trace, what could it be?

He opened the system and clicked on the skill description for [Microscopic Eyes].

[Peek-a-boo: Your eyes finally know where to look. Current effect: You can detect faint clues in complex environments and have a low probability of discovering hidden objects.]

Two seconds later, Leo's body became scalding hot in the icy seawater.

Could it be something hidden?

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