Ke Xue: Xiaolan delivers goods to your door at the beginning

"It's okay, you guys just play on the beach, I can go by myself."

"Eh!?" Sonoko loudly expressed her dissatisfaction.

"The garden!" Xiaolan emphasized.

"Oh, I know, I know~" Sonoko couldn't argue and had to wave her hand in defeat. "We can just swim around the island then."

She turned her head and looked at Lin Xiaofeng expectantly: "So, Xiaofeng, are you really going?"

"Go ahead." Lin Xiaofeng shrugged nonchalantly. "I'll definitely be fine on my own. If I can get in, I can get out. You don't need to worry about me. On the contrary, if you come with me and something goes wrong, things will get complicated."

"Hmm..." Sonoko had no choice but to go with Ran.

"Then the question is, what should we do with these two?" Yamaguchi Mikiko glanced at Matsumoto Mitsuji and Izuyama Taro, whose heads were almost beaten to a pulp, and her tone was very unfriendly.

"Their words..."

Lin Xiaofeng said, "Don't worry, I already called the police on this island and told them what happened. They should be here soon."

Ten minutes later, the group drove to the speedboat parking area by the sea.

Although it was just a short trip near the island, diving is not as simple as playing in the water on the beach. It's not as simple as putting on a wetsuit, hanging an oxygen tank, finding a random beach, and walking into the water until it submerges your head. The so-called proximity to the shore is only relative.

The speedboats were moored at a spot surrounded by jagged rocks. The island had hired craftsmen to carve some of the rocks into steps that led down to the sea, creating a makeshift pier.

Looking down from above, the shimmering waves constantly crash against the shore, with white speedboats bobbing up and down in the surf.

Lin Xiaofeng calmly took on all the oxygen cylinders by himself, carrying two cylinders in each hand onto the speedboat. Behind him, Xiaolan and Yuanzi, who were also wearing diving suits, along with a beautiful girl named Shirley, and the diving instructor, only needed to wear their own breathing apparatus.

He gently rolled the oxygen cylinder into the cabin, then stepped in himself, turning around and waving casually to urge them on.

"Let's go!"

"..."

Although it's at a different time, it's in the same place.

As the sole designated diving instructor for the only diving equipment shop on Shinkai Island, Mikiko Yamaguchi is intimately familiar with the waters surrounding Shinkai Island. Without any navigation assistance, she led everyone back to the spot where they had dived last time.

Despite the shark attack that occurred here just yesterday, based on past diving experience, this area is indeed the safest place for diving, and the underwater scenery is also the most beautiful.

"Phew~ This is it, get ready, we're going into the water."

Mikiko Yamaguchi turned off the speedboat, got out of the driver's seat, stretched and relaxed, revealing the beautiful curves she had developed from years of diving. The other two high school girls, who were also in the prime of their youth, couldn't help but look at her with a hint of envy.

Lin Xiaofeng slung the oxygen cylinder over his shoulder, connected the oxygen tube, and waved.

"See you later!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he executed a graceful leaning-back jump shot, disappearing into the sea amidst a massive Filipino-style splash and the rocking of the boat.

However, just as Xiaolan was about to call her best friend Sonoko to go into the water together, she turned around and found that someone was missing from the boat.

"Sonoko!? Have you seen Sherry?"

“She was with us just now, and then she disappeared in the blink of an eye.”

Xiao Lan and the garden's big lark cried out in alarm, "Oh no!" They were all well-behaved, but they were secretly taken away by Xue Li, who hadn't uttered a sound. Xue Li quietly followed Lin Xiaofeng.

368. Atlantis and Mu Continent

The underwater world is quiet and profound, as if it is isolated from the hustle and bustle of the world by a thin layer of sea surface.

Of course, this is only from a superficial perspective, and it is only from the perspective of people who are used to living on land. The real ocean is not as calm as it appears on the surface.

This is a remarkably clear sea area. Bright sunlight falls from the sky, penetrating the surface and reaching depths of tens of meters underwater, where the outline of a massive palace is clearly visible in the underwater sunlight.

Calling it a palace might be an exaggeration. Just like the underwater footage shown in the promotional video for Shenhai Island, the so-called "underwater palace" was originally a cliff above the sea. After the builders hollowed out the inside, they carved the outer walls into square and angular shapes to make it look like a "man-made building." In essence, it is still a cave dwelling, without even the most basic ventilation openings and windows.

Furthermore, since the entire site sank to the bottom of the sea, it also brought with it a cluster of massive stone pillars that stood nearby, which, like silent guardians, surrounded the palace and actually looked quite realistic.

However, on the other hand, if there were ventilation openings and windows, it would probably have been filled with seawater long ago.

Lin Xiaofeng, carrying a full set of diving equipment, slowly and naturally descended, holding a diving knife in his hand, surveying the entire palace from a distance.

Unlike the two treasure hunters who had explored the area countless times, this was his first time venturing into the waters near the Divine Island. The entire underwater palace was enormous, and its architectural style meant that the entrance wouldn't be as grand and imposing as a real palace. If he were to painstakingly search the rock walls bit by bit, he probably wouldn't find the entrance even after running out of oxygen tanks.

Fortunately, Lin Xiaofeng's luck wasn't too bad. After swimming around the palace for less than half a lap, he successfully found a narrow, dark crack on the side of the palace.

At first glance, it doesn't look like it was created by human intervention; rather, it seems to have broken open on its own during crustal movement. However, upon closer inspection, you'll find some fresh traces of artificial excavation, indicating that it was left recently.

This must be the entrance that those two treasure hunters repeatedly used to enter the palace...

Lin Xiaofeng took a breath of oxygen and exhaled a series of bubbles with a high carbon dioxide content. He adjusted his posture slightly and prepared to dive further towards the target point.

However, at that moment, he felt a cool, soft touch wrap around his ankle!

The surging water lifted Lin Xiaofeng's shoulder-length brown hair as he stared in astonishment at Shirley, who was holding his ankle behind him and wearing diving gear.

Lin Xiaofeng rolled his eyes dramatically through his diving goggles.

It means—how did you manage to follow me?

Shirley rolled her eyes – I'm coming along, it's none of your business.

She even swam past Lin Xiaofeng towards the distant underwater palace.

Lin Xiaofeng sighed softly and quickly followed Shirley, fearing that something might happen to her.

The two, one after the other, entered the palace through a crack in the underwater palace.

The palace was pitch black, with no sunlight shining inside.

Sherry, who was swimming ahead, suddenly felt scared.

Then, Shirley felt a warm, soft sensation behind her, a feeling of complete security.

Lin Xiaofeng gestured to Shirley, indicating, "I'll go up and check the situation first."

Shirley nodded silently, unable to speak even underwater.

Wow!

In the pitch-black space, the sound of water suddenly arose.

Lin Xiaofeng was still mostly submerged in the seawater, with only his head above the surface. He looked around through his diving mask, and all he could see was pitch black.

Lin Xiaofeng turned on the light on his diving suit, and the warm white light immediately shone forward, illuminating the dark space.

He was now in a huge stone chamber, which, judging from the palace-like shape observed from the outside, should be located on the edge of the entire building.

This place should have been a closed room to the outside, but the cracks caused by tectonic movement, coupled with human excavation and widening, allowed the two treasure hunters to forcibly open a passageway from the outside of the palace, which originally had no door, into the inside.

The seawater that flowed in through the passage was suppressed by the air pressure inside the palace and kept below the ground, preventing it from flooding in. At first glance, it looked like a shallow pond in the stone chamber.

But if you taste it, you'll be pleasantly surprised to find that the water is salty.

"Come on up, it's safe."

Lin Xiaofeng took off his diving mask and breathing apparatus and reached out his hand to Shirley in the water.

With Lin Xiaofeng's help, Shirley climbed ashore, removed her breathing apparatus and diving mask, revealing her delicate features.

"Say it. Shirley, why are you following me?"

"You summoned me to Shenhai Island. If I don't follow you, who else should I follow?"

Lin Xiaofeng gently stroked Shirley's delicate nose with his hand and chuckled, "Tell me honestly, Shirley, have you fallen for me too?"

"No way. Who would like a jerk like you?" Shirley made a face at Lin Xiaofeng. "But... you are quite interesting, we can be friends."

"Be friends?" Lin Xiaofeng laughed. "Don't you know that there is no such thing as pure friendship between opposite sexes? In the end, they will inevitably end up sleeping together."

"Nonsense." Shirley scoffed. "You're just a high school student, still a kid. What do you know?"

"I know much more than you do."

"I'm not going to argue with you anymore." Shirley stood up, turned on her diving light, and looked around at the ancient, weathered, yet magnificent ruins. "I never imagined that such a magnificent palace was hidden in this sea area. I wonder how long it has existed. Could it be from the previous human civilization?"

"You mean...Atlantis?"

Atlantis, also known as Atlantis, the Great Western Continent, or the Great Western Kingdom, was an island in the Atlantic Ocean near the Strait of Gibraltar, located between Europe and the Atlantic Ocean. Legend has it that it was an ancient continent, nation, or city-state with a highly developed civilization. The earliest recorded description appears in the dialogues of the ancient Greek philosopher Plato, who claimed that it was destroyed by a prehistoric flood around 10,000 BC.

"Atlantis isn't in this area. I think it's more like the remains of the lost continent of Mu."

"Mu Continent?"

"That's right. Mu was a continent on Earth in ancient times, known as ThePan and closely related to Japan. The Japanese archipelago is suspected to be a remnant of the Mu civilization. However, 50,000 years ago, Mu sank into the sea for some reason."

"I've learned something new."

Lin Xiaofeng had only ever heard of Atlantis; this was the first time he'd ever heard of the Mu Continent. According to Shirley, Japan has a 50,000-year history—isn't that ten times more impressive than the 5,000-year history that some major power boasts about every day?

369. Adventure with Sherry

"Regardless of whether the palace is the prehistoric civilization Atlantis or the continent of Mu, let's explore the palace first." Lin Xiaofeng took Shirley's hand directly, and Shirley did not refuse.

"So, you're here to find treasure, just like those treasure hunters," Shirley asked.

“Aren’t you curious?” Lin Xiaofeng brandished his diving knife and carved another arrow on the rock wall. “The most obvious example is that the two treasure hunters stole the pistol and machete from the island’s museum. From a common sense perspective, they must have encountered a mechanism that required these two treasures to open while searching for Anne and Mary’s treasure.”

The two walked and stopped frequently; the palace was like a maze, and Lin Xiaofeng had no choice but to wear X-ray glasses to better explore it.

Why are you still wearing glasses?

"These are not ordinary glasses."

Lin Xiaofeng gave the glasses to Shirley to wear, but Shirley did not gain the ability to see through things. To Shirley, the glasses were just ordinary glasses, and they did not even have the attribute of correcting vision.

"..."

"no feelings."

"No.".

"It seems... only I can use the items produced by the system."

Lin Xiaofeng put the glasses that Shirley was wearing back on his own head.

With X-ray vision glasses, the winding palace was easily accessible.

"Okay, here we are."

Lin Xiaofeng suddenly stopped.

Upon hearing this, Shirley looked up. They had been walking straight ahead the whole way, and now they had arrived at a three-way intersection. Three paths with 217 stone steps converged here, and on the only wall was a pirate skull carved with a picture that was still clearly visible despite the erosion of time.

On the ground, piles of stark white bones lay scattered about.

“Skulls…skulls!?” Sonoko exclaimed in surprise, “And so many of them…”

"Well--"

Lin Xiaofeng adjusted the angle of the light, his gaze sweeping across the skeletons.

"They don't seem to have any obvious external injuries, and there's not even any damage to their clothes, which means they didn't die in a fight. So the most likely cause is... gas."

"poison gas?"

Shirley quickly covered her mouth and nose.

“That won’t do.” Lin Xiaofeng patted the oxygen tank behind her. “From now on, you’ll breathe with the oxygen tank. If it’s not enough, you can use mine.”

"And what about you?" Shirley asked, her mouth full of air as she bit down on the respirator.

"I...don't need it."

Lin Xiaofeng hesitated for a moment, then wisely chose not to explain further. Instead, he swept all the skeletons on the ground aside with his foot, then crossed the three-way intersection and continued walking forward.

He took Shirley's hand and continued walking forward until they came to something that looked like a door. As they approached, it was indeed a door, a heavy, mechanical stone door.

Four sets of intersecting grooves for swords and spears leap onto the door, mirroring each other left and right, and up and down.

Lin Xiaofeng took out the knife and pistol that Ann and Mary had brought with him and compared them to the shape of the groove, then felt something was wrong.

"what happened?"

"I'll try."

Shirley took the pistol and the machete from Lin Xiaofeng, placing the pistol in the upper left corner and the machete in the lower right corner.

From a distance, the weapons were positioned at the exact angle of the two female pirates fighting back to back!

Click!

As if confirming the girl's guess, with the sound of a mechanism being activated, a few fine dust particles fell from above the stone door, and the seal that had been sealed for hundreds of years was reopened at this moment.

The stone gate opened by itself without anyone pushing it.