"By the way, you guys can’t come with us, but that doesn’t mean you won’t be involved. I’ll cast a monitoring spell so you can see the conditions out at sea from our perspective," Merlin said.

He raised his right hand high, and a magic circle appeared above their heads.

A beam of light then shot down toward everyone present except Monica, Nivis, and Liora.

The next moment, a magical screen appeared in front of them. It was quite large and divided into six sections, each displaying the viewpoint of Merlin, Lisa, Catrine, Luna, Margaret, and Nysera.

"Wow! I didn’t know something like this was possible!" Nivis exclaimed in awe.

Since she couldn’t use magic, her understanding of it was limited.

"What a brilliant idea! Thank you, Merlin!" Liora said brightly, smiling at him.

It would be a lie to say she wasn’t curious about what lay beneath the sea.

But what could she do?

Her body wasn’t fully mature yet, and the plant roots that wrapped around her prevented her from moving freely.

Only after reaching maturity would she be able to take on her perfect human form—and only then would she dare to dive into the sea.

But luckily, Merlin had found a way for her to see the ocean depths, and it made her incredibly happy.

"You’re welcome." Merlin smiled and patted her head before turning to Lisa, Catrine, Luna, Margaret, and Nysera.

"In that case, let’s go."

The five of them nodded and used their powers to envelop their bodies from head to toe.

This way, they could stay underwater much longer than normal.

One by one, they jumped in until they finally disappeared completely from view.

Monica, Nivis, and Liora shifted their attention to the magic screen.

Now, the view before them had transformed into a bright and beautiful underwater world.

"Wow! Is this the ocean’s depths?" Monica’s eyes widened. It was the first time she had seen something so breathtaking.

From Merlin’s perspective, she could see a school of fish swimming around him.

She desperately wanted to reach out and touch them. Unfortunately, she could only watch. Still, she promised herself that one day, she would.

Liora and Nivis couldn’t take their eyes off the underwater scenery.

Just like Monica, they wanted to touch the fish—especially the colorful ones. They were stunning.

"By the way, if you cooked them, they’d probably taste really delicious, wouldn’t they?" Nivis asked, swallowing hard.

Monica: "..."

Liora: "..."

***

"The depth of this sea might reach twelve meters—no, maybe more."

Underwater, Merlin scanned his surroundings warily. As the saying goes, "Still waters run deep."

Although this was the sea, not a lake, it didn’t rule out the possibility of monsters or wild beasts attacking him if he let his guard down.

Merlin then swam toward a coral reef about thirteen meters away.

The reef looked quite similar to those on Earth, but it was many times larger.

On Earth, coral reefs were usually only one or two meters tall. There were certainly larger ones, but they were rare. Meanwhile, the coral reef in front of him stood three to five meters high.

The fish in the area were also unusually large, reaching one to two meters in length.

Some were even three meters long and had strange appearances, with four fins and two tails.

If creatures like these appeared in Earth’s oceans, Merlin was certain they would become the subject of scientific research.

"Merlin," a voice suddenly echoed in his mind.

He turned and saw Luna and Catrine swimming toward him.

Earlier, Merlin had given them magic bracelets that allowed them to communicate through thought.

Although the range was limited, it was extremely useful in situations like this.

"Have you found it yet?" Luna asked.

Merlin shook his head. "Not yet. This place is huge. Don’t swim too far from the ship. Aside from the danger, the treasure shouldn’t be far from our current location."

The two of them nodded. After exchanging a few more words, they split up and continued their search.

Merlin didn’t want to waste time. He immediately called out, "System, locate the treasure."

"[Ding! Searching for treasure... Ding! Found! It requires 50,000 system points to reveal its location!]"

Merlin: "..."

The corner of his mouth twitched. He had thought it would cost only 1,000 points—or at most 10,000.

Who would’ve thought it would cost 50,000 system points?

It was practically robbery!

Merlin suppressed his frustration and asked bitterly, "System, are you kidding me? That’s way too expensive!"

The reward for this mission was 50,000 system points. If he had to spend all of it, it would be the same as gaining nothing.

"[I’m sorry, Master. That is the set price, and it cannot be changed,]" the system replied helplessly.

Merlin rolled his eyes. He knew it was just nonsense.

But he also knew it was impossible to argue with it, so he refused firmly.

"No need. I’ll find it myself."

Who said he couldn’t find it without the system’s help?

He would prove he could do it!

He quickly swam deeper into the coral reef area.

A three-meter-tall coral formation stood in front of him, gray in color and surrounded by seaweed nearly four meters high.

Merlin tried to swim closer, but a sense of foreboding instantly crept over him.

He hurriedly swam backward. Sure enough, a tentacle shot out from within the seaweed and lunged toward him.

Luckily, he dodged in time. Otherwise, he would have been caught and dragged inside.

"That was close," he muttered warily.

The tentacle slowly retreated back into the seaweed. But with his system, Merlin could clearly see what kind of creature was hiding within.

[STATUS!]

Name: Black Muscle Octopus

Level: Sixth

Ability: It can release powerful tentacles to pull its prey into its territory. Once ensnared, it is nearly impossible to escape unless the target is far stronger than it.

Note: It’s best to avoid it, as it is extremely agile and can release venom from its mouth that can paralyze you for one minute.

Merlin hastily swam away. He was confident in his strength, but that didn’t mean he was reckless.

He was underwater, where his movements were much slower—and this was the octopus’s territory.

Fighting it would only waste time and energy. It simply wasn’t worth it.

He then swam to the right. More coral reefs lay ahead, and he was certain the treasure was somewhere in that area.

***

About thirty meters from Merlin’s position, Catrine was searching through a smaller patch of coral reefs.

She examined every area carefully. Unfortunately, she couldn’t find any sign of the treasure.

"Could it all just be nonsense?" Catrine muttered, her eyebrows furrowing.

She didn’t truly believe the legend in the first place. It was hard to imagine treasure being hidden in a place like this.

"Catrine, have you searched that area yet?"

Margaret’s voice echoed in her mind.

"I have," Catrine replied indifferently. "There’s nothing there except fish and coral."

She raised her hand and gently stroked the body of a fish that swam past her.

"I see. I didn’t find it either. Try looking about twenty meters to your left. Maybe it’s there," Margaret suggested.

Catrine said nothing and immediately swam in the direction Margaret indicated.

Meanwhile, Margaret didn’t give up. She continued searching, moving rocks, broken coral, and other obstacles aside in hopes of finding the entrance to the treasure ruins.

According to the female sailor who had sold the treasure she found at the Beethoven family’s trading house, treasure was usually buried underground.

Most of it was either hidden among the coral reefs or buried beneath the seabed.

That was why Margaret didn’t bother searching areas with only a few coral reefs.

After five minutes of searching, she still hadn’t found anything, leaving her somewhat frustrated.

"Hmmm... This is harder than I thought," she muttered helplessly.

No wonder only a few people in history had ever managed to find treasure—just searching for it was already exhausting.

Only the truly lucky could succeed.

Just as Margaret was wondering where else to look, a voice suddenly echoed in her mind.

"Everyone, hurry over here! I found something."

Margaret froze. It was Nysera’s voice.

She turned to her left and saw the girl in the distance. Without a second thought, she swam toward her.

And it wasn’t just her—Merlin, Catrine, Luna, and Lisa quickly gathered around as well.

"What’s going on? Did you find something?" Merlin asked.

"Mm!" Nysera nodded. She pointed at the coral reef beneath her and said, "My instincts are telling me there’s something behind it. But I’m afraid it might be a trap—or a monster—so I called you all over."

Merlin and the others didn’t scold her. Instead, their curiosity grew.

Nysera was a dragon, and her instincts were far sharper than theirs.

’Could it really be behind this coral reef?’ Merlin wondered.

"Everyone, step back. I’ll clear the way," Lisa said.

The others nodded and swam away.

Lisa clenched her left fist. A bright blue aura flared around it, and without hesitation, she swung it at the coral reef.

Boom!

The coral shattered into pieces, and black smoke instantly obscured their view.

Lisa waved her hand, dispersing it in an instant.

When they finally saw what lay beyond, they froze in shock.

"A gate?" they exclaimed.