"Shipwreck?" Jiang Hai was momentarily stunned by the girl's words, a flash of realization striking him.
He remembered that a few days ago, during the Winthrop Sea God Festival, he had bought treasure maps detailing shipwrecks.
His initial plan had been to look into them whenever he had the time, as many of them were located in the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico.
How could he have forgotten about them? But now, hearing the girl's words, everything came rushing back.
However, thinking about it didn't help much. Jiang Hai was quite timid. Even if he were asked to dive deep into the ocean to retrieve treasures, he wouldn't dare.
What if he encountered a giant squid, or a sperm whale, or even a group of sharks? What if he swam into a pod of killer whales or, worse, encountered a swarm of jellyfish or a riot of sea snakes?
In fact, if he faced all of that, survival would be nearly impossible.
Still, since he was here, Jiang Hai couldn't just leave without at least taking a look, even if he was a little scared.
Now, the guide mentioned diving in certain areas where treasures had already been recovered, leaving only the sunken ships behind. Jiang Hai was intrigued. He figured he might as well learn more about these shipwrecks, especially since he might as well leave with something.
With this in mind, he signed up for the dive, covering the costs for all the girls. The guide was thrilled—after all, the cost of an hour's dive per person was $150, and it was hard to believe she wasn't getting a kickback.
Nevertheless, with Jiang Hai's money, the guide quickly arranged for a local couple of diving instructors to lead the group.
The couple, fluent in English, made communication easy. Upon hearing that Jiang Hai had a fishing ground and was a frequent diver, they were surprised but pleased to have such a client.
After everyone donned their diving gear, they plunged into the water. Diving has its own rules: you can't dive too quickly, nor can you surface abruptly. The lungs need time to adjust to the pressure at different depths. For instance, if someone dives 100 meters without proper breathing adjustments and surfaces too quickly, the sudden change in pressure could collapse their lungs.
Jiang Hai, however, wasn't an expert diver. He could barely swim, and his diving skills were limited to floating on the surface, so he would be snorkeling.
Two instructors accompanied them—one was assigned to watch over the girls and ensure there were no nearby aggressive creatures. The other coach, a male diver, agreed to take Jiang Hai to the shipwreck site, especially since Jiang Hai tipped him $100 each.
The coaches were eager to please. After donning their equipment, Jiang Hai and the coach descended into the water, mimicking the coach's movements. After swimming a few laps on the surface, they slowly began to dive.
The water here wasn't very deep. The bottom was only about 40 meters down, but the visibility was poor. The water was cloudy due to the popularity of the area with tourists, which made it difficult to see much more than two meters below the surface.
Below 40 meters, the water grew dark. Luckily, there were no dangerous creatures around. Jiang Hai and the coach each carried a flashlight, which helped guide their way.
As they followed the light, Jiang Hai swam forward slowly and soon found himself in front of a sunken ship. However, it was nearly impossible to make out the full shape of the ship.
This was an old pirate vessel, made of wood, unlike modern metal ships. Even though it had decayed over the centuries, Jiang Hai could still make out that it was roughly 20 meters long. Though the size might seem small by modern standards, in its time, this was a formidable ship, equivalent to today's aircraft carriers.
For context, Zheng He's famous treasure ship, the largest of its time, was only 61 meters long and 13 meters wide. And before steam engines, ships couldn't get much bigger than that.
Most pirate ships were no more than 10 meters long. A 20-meter ship like this one would likely have been the flagship of a small pirate group or the second ship of a larger pirate fleet, which was exactly what Jiang Hai had been hoping for.
The pirate ship, originally known as Windwarder, had been a famed pirate vessel in the Caribbean. It had served under the notorious Black Baron, Sehenmamuel Roberts. Later, when Roberts changed his flagship, this ship became a secondary vessel before it was sunk by the Portuguese navy. Over 300 years had passed since it sank here.
The ship was divided into three levels: the first level held the deck and captain's quarters; the second was for the crew, with turrets and the kitchen; the third level contained the drainage systems and the treasure storage.
Pirates typically stored their loot in these warehouses for later division among the crew, though the captain would usually keep his share. This was the area Jiang Hai was most interested in.
Though some might say Jiang Hai had plenty of money already, his desire to earn more was still strong. With over 10 billion USD at his disposal, who wouldn't want more? He also sensed that his future success might lie in the ocean rather than on land, so he was eager to explore further.
Jiang Hai carefully explored the wreck for about an hour, taking mental notes of its layout. Eventually, after receiving a signal from the coach's flashlight, he began to swim back to the surface.
When they reached the surface, the girls had finished their diving. They were more interested in the experience than the wreck itself, more fascinated by the sea creatures they'd encountered and the food they'd eaten. Jiang Hai, on the other hand, remained lost in thought about the treasure beneath the waves.
After changing back into their clothes, Jiang Hai tipped the guide $100. The group then headed back to the parking lot and drove toward the hotel.
The girls continued chattering excitedly, but Jiang Hai's mind wandered back to the sea. He was scared, yes, but suddenly, he felt it might be worth a shot.
If he failed, he could always return, but if he succeeded, it could open a whole new world of wealth.
Determined, Jiang Hai decided that he would give it a try, but only if he armed himself properly. He needed underwater guns, spear guns, anti-cutting suits, and diving gear—things he hadn't used before at Winthrop but would certainly need here.
Fortunately, the non-lethal items were available at local outdoor shops. As for the guns and spear guns, he trusted Moses Adams could help.
Sure enough, by the time they returned to the hotel, Moses had already procured everything Jiang Hai needed, assuring him these were all minor requests. He also delivered a message from their adversaries, stating they were willing to make peace.
Jiang Hai couldn't help but chuckle. He knew they wouldn't dare escalate things too much. After all, if they made a big deal out of it, they'd risk death, not just a minor defeat.
"But these guys aren't the type to back off easily," Jiang Hai mused.
Moses Adams advised Jiang Hai to stay low for a while, especially at night. It seemed their enemies were far from easy to deal with.
(To be continued...)