Chapter 219

Chapter 219

When Evan pushed open the door to the inn room, the sunlight outside had already grown fierce, streaming through the sparse clouds onto the sea, reflecting a shimmering ripple of light. He didn’t rush to leave after returning to the room; instead, he sat down at the table first, touched the fabric storage pouch at his waist with his fingertips, and infused a strand of spiritual energy into it.

A moment later, he nodded slightly—Miss Doll, with the hidden black pearl, was unharmed, and the spiritual links to the butterfly and mouse dolls remained stable, which set his mind at ease.

After a brief rest, Evan changed into dry clothes and securely fastened the three dolls to his waist again. Before leaving, he made sure to buy two wheat cakes from a small stall at the inn’s entrance and tucked them into his chest for emergencies.

By this time, the beach had grown lively. Many pearl divers were carrying tools toward the sand, while fishermen in twos and threes were mending their nets. The air was thick with the salty dampness of the sea breeze and the smell of freshly caught fish.

Evan avoided the crowds, found a secluded spot, and slipped into the seawater as quietly and smoothly as a fish.

Compared to early morning, the midday seawater was warmer, with ample sunlight that clearly showed the seabed dozens of meters underwater. Evan took a deep breath, kicked his legs forcefully, and allowed himself to sink slowly, swimming toward deeper waters. The butterfly doll had already ascended ahead, circling a hundred meters above the sea surface, its pale blue wings faintly visible in the sunlight; the mouse doll, like a brown streak of lightning, swam first into the deep sea, scouting the route and steering clear of currents and dangerous sea life.

As the depth increased, the seawater temperature gradually dropped, and the light transitioned from bright shallow blue to deep ink blue. Evan activated his spiritual energy, forming a spiritual barrier that shielded him from the water pressure and cold.

With an eagle eye, he searched every corner of the seabed using his supernatural night vision. Guided by the mouse doll, he avoided several areas thick with spiny sea urchins and also steered clear of a highly aggressive school of tropical fish—their teeth were as fine as needles, glowing with a venomous green light. A single bite could strip the skin off even a supernatural.

Soon, Evan stopped on a flat stretch of sandy seabed. The sand here was as fine as powder, giving off a faint silvery glow in the dim light. Around him stood several clusters of grotesquely shaped coral reefs, and glowing fish darted through crevices, their bodies emitting a weak blue light like stars, adding a strange beauty to the inky depths.

The mouse doll was lying on a coral reef, its little paw pointing at a slight mound in the center of the sand, sending a spiritual signal of "target found," laced with a hint of excitement.

Evan swam over and drew the short blade from his belt. The blade still gleamed coldly in the deep sea. He gently pushed aside the top layer of sand with the blade, his movements as delicate as if handling a fragile treasure, afraid of damaging any shells that might lie beneath.

As the sand was gradually cleared, the outline of a heavy shell appeared—dark brown with dense spiral patterns, its edges adorned with tiny barnacles and seaweed, clearly having rested on the seabed for quite some time.

This shell was larger than any he had found before, its exterior hard and sturdy. Tapping it with the short blade produced a dull thud, suggesting the pearl inside was likely large.

Evan’s heart leaped with joy, and he quickened his digging. He carefully pried around the shell’s base with the blade, peeling it intact from the sand layer.

This was the fifth shell he had found, heavy in his hands, radiating an unusually strong spiritual resonance, like holding a warm piece of jade. He hugged the shell to his chest and was about to continue searching for the next target when a violent tremor suddenly shook the seabed beneath his feet.

At first, it was just a slight quake, like a distant echo of surface waves reaching the depths, but in an instant, it became violently intense, as if an ancient giant beast beneath the sea was awakening and furiously ramming the earth’s crust.

Evan’s body swayed uncontrollably, and the shell in his arms nearly slipped. His heart skipped a beat. Before he could react, the sand beneath his feet began to cave in. Countless fine grains of sand were whipped up by an invisible force, forming tiny whirlpools that spun madly, like miniature funnels.

Then, an even more terrifying sight appeared—the water around Evan began to spin wildly. Whirlpools of all sizes emerged one after another, some as large as millstones, others no bigger than fists. They intertwined, forming a vast net of whirlpools, like greedy mouths trying to devour everything around.

The water current grew faster and the impact stronger. Evan, spun by the whirlpools, lost his bearings, his vision blurring, his breathing becoming difficult. He could clearly feel a powerful suction pulling from the center of the whirlpools, trying to tear him apart and swallow him.

Evan knew that once sucked into the core of these whirlpools, even a supernatural would find it hard to break free. The force of the whirlpools was enough to grind hard rock into powder; his body was as fragile as paper against such power. At this critical moment, Evan stayed calm. Drawing on his supernatural willpower, he steadied his mind and sent an urgent mental command: "Anchor! Pull!"

Almost as the command was issued, the mouse doll’s forepaw shot out a sharp silver nail, with a hair-thin but extremely tough wire attached to its base.

This steel nail had been specially forged by Evan from fine steel, its tip extremely sharp, capable of penetrating hard rock; the wire, infused with spiritual energy, was both tough and capable of bearing immense tension. The nail shot out like a bullet, whistling through the water, hitting a large outcrop of rock not far away and burying itself three inches deep into the hard surface, extremely secure.

At the same moment the nail shot out, Evan grabbed onto the mouse doll’s body tightly. His fingers clamped down like iron pincers, holding the doll’s back firmly, afraid a slip would cost him his hold.

The next second, the wire between the nail and the doll retracted sharply with a hissing "zzz" sound. A powerful pulling force came from the wire, dragging Evan out of the swirling chaos.

Evan arced through the seawater and slammed heavily against the back side of the outcrop, producing a dull thud. Though the impact left him winded, with a trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth, he had at least escaped the immediate threat.

He leaned against the cold rock, panting heavily. His heart pounded as if trying to break out of his chest. He looked down at the waters below, where the whirlpools continued to spin wildly, their range growing larger and larger. The roar of the rushing water echoed through the deep sea like thunder, making his eardrums ache.

The back of the rock formation formed a relatively safe dead zone, blocking most of the current’s impact, but Evan could clearly feel the rock vibrating slightly, indicating that this upheaval was far from over.

He wiped his face, his fingertips coming away with warm blood from the impact. He ignored it, keeping a sharp, wary watch.

He didn’t know what had caused this upheaval—a seabed earthquake, or some other unknown force?

He tried to contact the butterfly doll above the sea surface, but found the spiritual link had grown faint. He could only catch intermittent "danger" signals, distorted by violent spiritual fluctuations—the surface situation was clearly dire.

Meanwhile, chaos had already erupted on the sea surface.

The once calm sea was now boiling—massive waves surged and churned. Waves several meters tall, like angry beasts, pounded the sea surface, sending spray flying everywhere.

All the pearl divers, whether they were underwater or resting on their boats, were caught off guard by the sudden chaos.

One diver who had just surfaced was knocked senseless by a massive wave, his body thrown into the air like a broken kite before crashing heavily onto the sea surface with a dull impact.

He struggled to resurface, but another wave rolled him under, and he gulped down salty seawater. Another diver resting on his wooden boat was overturned by the wave before he could react, falling into the sea. His tools scattered into the water and drifted away.

The fishermen from the pearl farms were terrified out of their wits.

Most of them were ordinary people, unable to withstand such huge waves.

Many fishermen abandoned their tools and frantically paddled their boats, trying to escape this dangerous area. Terror showed on their faces as they cried out desperately, praying to make it safely to shore. But in the face of the towering waves, their small boats were like fragile leaves on a stormy sea, in danger of capsizing at any moment.

"What’s going on? An earthquake?" A diver finally steadied himself, wiped the seawater from his face, and stared in horror at the scene before him. He could clearly feel the vibration underfoot, and the sea beneath him was churning as if boiling.

"Not an earthquake! Look over there!" Another diver pointed toward the center of the sea, his voice trembling with barely suppressed terror. His face was ashen, his eyes wide with fear.

Everyone followed his finger and saw an enormous whirl