The Legend of the Fishermen of Sicily

Unlike Aesop, Leo couldn't sense any abnormal air pressure just by taking a couple of breaths outside his house.

But Rosalia said that underwater visibility had worsened, so he paid extra attention to the underwater conditions, especially the condition of his flashlight.

At first, he could clearly see a round, bright white halo underwater.

Then the warm white turned into cool white, and the edges became blurred, but this did not affect the observation.

The cold white halo quickly turned bluish-white, and suddenly a small wave crashed in, causing the light to disappear. Leo immediately stood up in alarm.

As the wave receded, the small point of light reappeared, only now it had become a faint, cold light the size of a mung bean.

Upon seeing the tiny green bean, Leo breathed a sigh of relief and sat back down, inwardly mocking himself—he was making a big fuss over nothing; what kind of weak mentality was this?

He put his hand in the sea and swung it around to splash the "little green bean," while mentally calculating the time.

But as he was playing, he suddenly stood up again and nervously peered down.

The mung beans are gone, really gone!

The sea was calm, but it was gone!

Another wave crashed in, but the little green bean still hadn't appeared...

"Rosalia!" Leo shouted anxiously as he searched from the bow to the stern of the ship.

......

Sea urchins prefer to grow in rocky reefs, crevices, and hard seabeds where algae thrive.

Rosalia dived into an area with a very noticeable rocky reef, but she didn't go there; given her swimming ability, it would be difficult for her to get stuck and escape.

She used this reef as a reference point, following its outer edge to collect scattered sea urchins and shells.

I was lucky today. I found a dense area of ​​sea urchins in an open field. After collecting them in this area, my harvest will almost equal my daily haul.

Rosalia was extra careful during the salvage operation, not only because she had to be careful not to wander into the reef area, but also because the visibility was even lower.

Lacking experience, she only noticed the visibility problem and failed to notice the changes in the water flow.

Before the rain, the air pressure drops sharply, and the upper and lower layers of seawater begin to disturb each other. The originally stable water layers are disrupted, and offshore currents that pull outward are especially likely to form near the shore.

She spent more time underwater—to fight off the undercurrents.

The undercurrent was not obvious, and Rosalia mistakenly believed that it was because she had exhausted herself.

But no one expected that during the ten or so minutes she surfaced to rest on the ship, while the sea was calm and still, the situation underwater was quietly "out of control".

During this dive, she focused on quickly harvesting sea urchins until she realized that although she wasn't moving, her body was slowly shifting to the side uncontrollably... She immediately stopped and prepared to surface.

After determining her location, she realized she was rapidly approaching that dense rocky reef area, and she immediately panicked.

When her emotions fluctuate, her breathing immediately becomes disordered, and she begins to feel suffocated long before she reaches her limit of holding her breath.

To fight the current and avoid the rocky reefs, she kicked her flippers even harder against the current, which doubled her energy expenditure.

When she finally realized she couldn't float up normally... the air in her chest was almost completely depleted.

Exhaustion and offshore currents—either one could be fatal, and today she encountered both.

In her panic, as she fumbled for a rope cutter to cut the counterweight bag, Rosalia thought pessimistically—she probably wouldn't be able to go back today.

She is truly unafraid of death.

Marzamemi has become numb to the fact that several fishermen die every year.

But she didn't want to die today...

Because the child said—be careful, we're going back soon.

Why today?

Why not listen to him and take a day off?

Why...

Amidst countless "whys," the rope-cutting knife that had never left her side since her husband's death slipped from her hand and fell into the sea.

But her body floated up.

Something stubbornly tilted her head back and pushed her upward from behind.

She saw the light...

The light grew brighter and brighter.

......

"Underwater unconsciousness is mostly caused by excessive breath-holding, resulting in surfacing blackouts. The whole body relaxes and loses consciousness. Usually, they do not struggle, but if water enters their mouth and nose, they are very likely to drown. It is necessary to keep their mouth and nose high in the air."

"After boarding, lay people flat on their backs with their heads turned to one side to prevent vomit or seawater from entering the trachea."

While mechanically reciting the first aid knowledge he had learned before, Leo turned Rosalia's head to one side and felt for her pulse.

When he noticed that the halo of the high-powered flashlight had disappeared, he immediately realized that something was wrong.

It had already been deduced that the underwater depth would not exceed 8 meters. Even if Rosalia dived down another 2 or 3 meters, the spotlight of the powerful flashlight should still have remained.

The sudden disappearance of the "little green bean" indicated a sharp drop in visibility in a short period of time. Leo finally realized that in those short ten minutes, the underwater world must have "changed dramatically."

Although the undercurrents weren't dangerous enough to affect the performance of [Beginning of Control], and Rosalia was fortunately rescued, this incident served as a resounding wake-up call for Leo—

Theoretical knowledge alone is far from enough; otherwise, one would become like Angie II.

He's so inexperienced!

Experienced fishermen can immediately deduce underwater danger by noticing unusual entry times and hearing signs of reduced underwater visibility.

Leo only realized there was a problem underwater when a real danger occurred.

The last two weeks have been incredibly smooth.

It only took a little over a week from wanting to go to sea to finding a way to go on my own.

Diving was an area he had explored before, and he was fortunate enough to obtain the "Beginning of Mastery," which made Leo confident that his journey to become the "Pirate King" was about to begin.

In reality, he still has many shortcomings...

As Uncle Sorberto said, going into business without someone to teach you, guide you, or impart experience is incredibly dangerous.

It's practically impossible to learn about sailing from the locals; they don't take outsiders "on." This lesson will most likely have to wait until Solberto returns to teach him.

Therefore, before returning to Marzamemi from Solberto, always maintain a sense of awe for the sea—safety first, and never be blindly confident.

.....

As Leo was checking Rosalia's pulse, his subordinate suddenly coughed violently and curled up into a ball.

Before Leo could take any further action, Rosalia sat up, gripping the ship's side, and asked a question before she was fully awake:

"Why did you go down there? What if you couldn't save him and ended up getting yourself killed? Why do you always have to go looking for trouble? How many times has this happened?"

Leo innocently said:

"I've discovered something amiss; I can't just stand by and watch someone die, can I?"

"You saved my life, and I have to repay your kindness, but how can I repay such a heavy debt of gratitude?" Rosalia asked, trembling all over.

Seeing her loud voice, Leo knew that she wasn't seriously injured and didn't need emergency treatment.

He picked up the oar and silently rowed the boat toward Marzamemi:

"You should rest for a bit. You just drowned, and getting too excited could cause you to suffocate again."

......

The two stood one in front of the other, each lost in their own thoughts, neither speaking a word.

The surroundings fell silent once again.

The silent Marzamemi was right in front of me, getting closer and closer.

Judging that the people behind him had calmed down, Leo began to comfort her:

"You don't need to think about how to repay my favor. Actually, I've been inquiring about the details of going to sea, and this time I came with you and basically figured out the situation, so... we're even again."

"Go back and get some rest. Wait until the rain stops before coming out again. If possible, find something else to do. This job is too dangerous for you. Look around, who goes out to sea alone at night? Especially since you're a woman. I'm not saying women can't do it, but there's no need to take such a big risk—"

Rosalia interrupted Leo's rambling:

"It is more difficult for outsiders to go to sea than for women."

Yeah, it's driving me crazy... Leo muttered to himself in reply:

"We're trying to figure something out."

After a moment of silence, Rosalia asked:

"Is there anything I can do to help you?"