Industrial Cthulhu, starting from the island lord

Chapter 284 Isn’t this hidden too deeply?

"Have you ever looked underwater?"

"Underwater?"

The two banshees were stunned for a moment, and after thinking about it carefully, they showed shocked expressions.

This is really a case of the lamp shining brightly. The banshees are a water race, but they subconsciously went to look for it on the shore. They thought that humans are a land race, and the things should also be on land.

But Hughes is a human being, and he knows that humans like to hide things in places that are inconvenient for them to go.

Especially since these people in Gem Bay are pirates, it is normal for them to hide something in the sea.

If there is no such thing on land, then either dig three feet deep into the ground and hide it, or find a way to hide it in the intricate waterways between the archipelagoes.

But these complexities are only for humans. After getting advice from Zeus, Ash only spent half a day to find clues underwater.

Banshees live in the deep sea all year round. The water perception and dark vision that Zeus obtained through the symbiotic contract are their innate abilities. The underwater world that is pitch black to humans cannot hide any secrets in the eyes of banshees.

In Gem Bay, after getting advice from Hughes, Ash immediately had the Banshee patrol the sea.

"Lord Ash, we searched the nearby sea area and found nothing, but..."

The banshee swung her tail excitedly.

"There seems to be a water vein beneath the Pirate King's Court."

"We sensed a long, narrow water vein beneath the Pirate King's Court. There's a natural cave underground here. I suspect it leads all the way to the sea!"

Ash nodded, "Let's go take a look."

The banshees came to the place where they first arrived, which was the pirate king's court with a big hole blown out of it, and the original location of the pirate king.

Ash closed her eyes and activated her innate ability of water perception. Her perception was instantly amplified, and the distribution of nearby waters quickly took shape in her mind.

Soon, she opened her eyes and looked at a huge rock below.

There were no signs of artificial excavation on this huge rock, but Ash could vaguely sense the presence of metal inside.

Well, it should be some kind of mechanism. Once triggered, this huge rock can be moved away, revealing the passage underneath.

Ash swung the boulder directly, turning the rock into mud, and soon a hole appeared.

Looking at the steps leading down, the banshees cheered.

It seems I found the right one.

Ash led the way as the banshees entered the cave. A few steps down were the sea water. Ash had not walked far when he suddenly stopped.

"What's wrong, Master Ash?"

"wrong."

The several banshees behind him quickly became alert. After observing the area but not finding anything unusual, they asked Ash in confusion, "What's wrong? Did you find anything?"

Ash, still frowning in thought, heard the question and said without turning around, "It's all seawater here."

"It's all seawater, what's so strange about that? Just swim over there!"

The banshees also noticed something unusual. They were banshees, and the sea water and air didn't matter to them, but the ones who built this passage were pirates.

No matter how much contact the pirates have with the sea, they are still human beings and cannot breathe in sea water. This passage is quite long and far exceeds the range of movement they can achieve by holding their breath. How did these pirates get through?
"I see. Big low tide."

Ash suddenly spoke.

"Big ebb tide?"

"I heard from the sailors that there is a low tide every month in the Ocean of Storms, when the sea level is much lower than during normal low tides. If I'm not mistaken, the sea level in this passage will just recede to a level where people can enter." As Ash explained, the other banshees nodded. Many people knew about the low tide, which was one of the unique characteristics of the Ocean of Storms. The islanders of Castel would take this opportunity to go to the sea and pick up some seafood.

After resolving their doubts, the banshees swam forward along the channel. They didn't need to wait for the tide to recede.

Soon, they reached the deepest part.

When you reach the deepest part, there is no sea water. Instead, it is an upward air chamber, like an upside-down bowl in the water, filled with air.

This is a space as big as several rooms. There are some traces of artificial excavation inside, and many boxes are placed in an orderly manner.

The box was made of metal and had some waterproofing measures taken. Ash tried to open the lid, but found it was locked.

Well, human locks.

Ash wrapped her snake tail around the box, grabbed the lid with her six hands, and with a sudden force, the lid and the lock were pulled off.

"Wow"

"It's just like in the novel, full of gold coins!"

"Are all these boxes like this?"

"So much money, what can money do?"

"Well, at least it can earn you praise from the Lord."

"That's not bad!"

The banshees were dazzled by the gold coins in the boxes. Ash opened several boxes one after another, most of which contained various coins, jewelry, and some valuable antiques and artworks.

It is obvious that these things are not what pirates would buy, they must have been obtained from looting.

Ever since the Pirate King unified the Storm Ocean, the speed at which the pirates accumulated wealth has actually been declining.

They no longer plundered ships on the Storm Ocean at will, but instead collected maritime taxes. But how much maritime taxes could they collect?

Castel, the entire island has a population of several thousand, and the maritime tax is nothing more than the local sweet fruit wine and various seafood.

It’s not that the Pirate King doesn’t want to collect more, but there are only so many coins in the entire Castel. If he collects them, they will not be able to circulate and trade normally.

Many islands have almost no communication with the outside world. If pirates want to make money, they still have to rob merchants, and these islands cannot make much money.

But since the establishment of the Pirate Court, the Queen has blocked all maritime trade. Although killing one thousand enemies resulted in eight hundred casualties on her own side, the empire could afford the loss.

Therefore, most of these treasures were actually accumulated by the pirates in the past. After the empire blockaded the sea borders, the pirate kings could not spend the money even if they wanted to, and there were not many merchants coming to trade.

Now all of this is a bargain for Xiu Si.

The Pirate King couldn't spend the money, but Zeus could, because he had a legal title. As for whether Tis, who had established an independent country, would recognize him or not,
Imperial Truth be told, they will definitely agree to free trade. If they don't, we can only let the Skitarii reason with them.

Therefore, the banshees were also smiling happily. It was the first time for them to see so many treasures, and they happily hung themselves with various jewelry.

Ash didn't fool around with the banshees. She opened the boxes one by one and roughly recorded what she got.

When she opened the last few boxes, her brows suddenly furrowed.

This box
Ash shook it gently, and a few muffled sounds came from the box.

She no longer hesitated and pulled open the lid of the box.

The banshees stopped fighting and gathered around after seeing what was in the box.

Inside the box was a girl with blue hair.

(End of this chapter)