Chapter 38: Salvage
The Witch's Eye had an overall spindle-shaped structure, narrow at both ends and wider in the middle.
War Hammer had mentioned in the letter that the magical energy fluctuations were probably at the center of the lake.
So, Hua Mi first controlled the drone to float on the water's surface, pushing it towards the "pupil" of the Witch's Eye, and then slowly descended.
Hua Mi stood on the shore, operating the drone controller while keeping his eyes fixed on the screen in the middle of the controller.
The screen displayed real-time footage captured by the drone.
At first, the light was quite abundant, and while the lake water wasn't exactly clear, the visibility was around two to three meters.
But as they descended, the available light rapidly decreased, and soon the visibility shrank to less than a meter.
Particles and tiny bubbles in the lake water danced around the drone as they obstructed its view.
During the descent, Hua Mi even saw a few fish darting by.
"There seem to be quite a few fish down here. Why is it so difficult to catch them?"
After descending a bit further, it was time to turn on the lights.
Hua Mi pressed the light control switch.
The screen instantly brightened up.
The drone's spotlight had two parts: one encircled the body of the drone and couldn't be adjusted, while the other was positioned in front of the drone and could be oriented within a certain angle range.
"Wow, it's so deep, over 20 meters already."
The depth of the Witch's Eye was deeper than Hua Mi had imagined. The screen showed a depth of 21 meters.
This depth was beyond what his body could handle if he were to dive without equipment. The water pressure at depths greater than 20 meters could easily harm a person's organs without proper equipment.
The screen gradually showed an increase in aquatic plants. Hua Mi had to control the drone more carefully to avoid getting entangled in the vegetation.
Finally, at a depth of 26.7 meters, the drone touched the lake bottom.
The good news was that the lakebed was covered with soft, loose sediment that could be easily excavated with the drone's two mechanical arms.
The bad news was that the aquatic plants were incredibly dense here, making it challenging to see through them as they swayed in the water, creating a forest-like underwater environment that severely obstructed their vision.
Hua Mi could only keep moving the drone forward while continuously using its mechanical arms to push the aquatic plants aside.
According to War Hammer, the source of the magical energy fluctuations was buried under the sediment. However, there was no need to start digging with the drone right away. Digging blindly would take forever, and they might not even find it in the end.
Hua Mi planned to let the drone make a rough survey first. Although he couldn't sense the magical energy fluctuations himself, the area around the source of such fluctuations would surely be different from other places, possibly showing some anomalies.
Hua Mi focused intently on the screen, operating the drone with heightened concentration, more focused than when playing games.
After a period of controlling the drone, and with the added benefit of the concentration ring, his mental acuity far exceeded that of an average person, at least twice as strong.
After about half an hour, Hua Mi locked onto a suspicious location, causing the drone to stop.
It wasn't due to any anomaly caused by the magical energy fluctuations. Instead, he had discovered a human skeleton.
Most of the skeleton was buried under sediment, with only half of the skull, some arm bones, and leg bones visible.
If he were to dive in person and stumble upon a skeleton, Hua Mi might have been creeped out. But separated by the screen, he felt nothing, as if he were playing a game.
He had seen plenty of similar scenes in games and movies; this was nothing special.
Hua Mi immediately controlled the drone to approach the skeleton, preparing to excavate it.
What was rather strange, however, was that there were almost no aquatic plants around the skeleton.
In theory, the substances produced by the decomposition of a human body should have enriched the area, causing aquatic plants to flourish. Yet, in this case, not only were there no aquatic plants, but the skeleton itself was clean and shining white.
Hua Mi controlled the drone to land just below the skull and started using its mechanical arms to scrape away the sediment.
Soon, bits of fabric began to float around in the water. It seemed to be the person's clothing, which had already disintegrated when touched.
The mechanical arms continued to dig, and suddenly, they hit something hard.
It wasn't bone; it was a small, round metal box, connected to a rusty chain that hung around the skeleton's neck.
Hua Mi had intended to use the mechanical arms to remove the metal box, but with a slight tug, the skeleton's head tilted, and the skull rolled to the side.
"..."
No problem, the result was the same.
After all, the person had been down there for so long; maybe their neck was sore. Helping them move a bit was the least Hua Mi could do.
Hua Mi instructed the two mechanical arms to grasp the metal box firmly.
Regardless of whether this was the source of the magical energy fluctuations detected by War Hammer, he decided to bring it up to take a look. If needed, he could make another trip with high-tech assistance.
As he was about to turn the camera to ascend, his mind suddenly jolted, realizing that he had seen something unusual in the video footage just a moment ago.
He turned the camera back.
In the midst of the underwater vegetation, there was a faint silhouette of a face, motionless and facing the camera.
Hua Mi's scalp tingled.
When the spotlight completely turned in that direction, the face drew back a little.
Hua Mi could now see the face clearly.
Pallid.
It wasn't a human face.
Six eyes were neatly arranged in two rows, with layers of eyelids that resembled human ones. There were many shadows moving behind it.
The face shrank back when the bright light hit it, and then the upper and lower parts of the face split open, revealing a round hole filled with rows of sharp teeth. It lunged forward and snapped at the drone with a single bite.
The screen shook violently.
Fortunately, the drone had a smooth, disc-like design, and the creature's bite didn't latch onto it.
Hua Mi immediately adjusted the drone's posture and ascended at full speed.
The camera pointed down, allowing him to see the water creature chase after the drone for a while before giving up and disappearing into the darkness below.
Perhaps it was sensitive to light and could only operate in the dark depths of the lake.
In any case, Hua Mi breathed a sigh of relief.
It also crossed his mind that maybe the skeleton at the lakebed had been stripped of its flesh and blood by that water creature, which explained why it hadn't contributed to the fertility of the area.
But why were there no aquatic plants around it?
Hua Mi contemplated this as the drone resurfaced and quickly made its way to the shore.
He retrieved the drone from the water, noting the distinct bite marks left along the edge. The creature's biting force was astonishing and could easily sever his arm with a single bite.
Hua Mi controlled the mechanical arms to open the metal box, allowing a swarm of bees to approach and investigate.
The space inside was small, containing only a black "stone."
It was about the size of a red bean, oval in shape, and had a smooth, unblemished surface.
At that moment, Xiao Zi flew by, taking one look at it and concluded, "This is a seed."
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