Chapter 1 The New Equipment

Ma Hailong was indeed a master; he had already guessed that the boss would provide us with new equipment for this voyage.

When I received my gear, I lowered my head to look. The diving suit in my hands was completely different from the one the Xiaoling Guard had issued me before; in fact, you could say they weren't even the same thing.

The diving suit issued by the Xiaoling Guard previously was lighter and made of thinner material. The oxygen tank was also a smaller model, convenient for moving in the water.

But this time, the equipment from the new boss was quite thick, and it came with a diving helmet on the head that was bigger than a basketball. The oxygen tank was also extra-large, with an air duct as thick as sugarcane in the middle, connecting the oxygen tank to the diving suit.

Ma Hailong told me that this air duct was nicknamed the "umbilical cord," and it was the most important and fragile part of the entire set of equipment. It must be carefully protected after going into the sea.

Of the previous divers, only six out of ten would return. Those who didn't come back weren't because they encountered ferocious animals in the sea or encountered undercurrents or whirlpools. A large number of them simply failed to protect this "umbilical cord."

Because there were many broken masts and decks on the sunken ship, and coupled with the age, many parts had become severely petrified, and the broken ends had become exceptionally sharp. Once this "umbilical cord" was cut, a large amount of oxygen would be lost, eventually leading to the diver's suffocation.

After all, we were going to operate hundreds of meters underwater. It was impossible to surface from this depth in a short time, which meant that once the "umbilical cord" was severed, the person would be ninety-nine percent gone.

After listening to Ma Hailong, I quickly touched the "umbilical cord" and said, "I understand now, no wonder this thing is called the umbilical cord. If the umbilical cord is cut, we'll have no oxygen."

"That's right." Ma Hailong said seriously, "So you must be careful underwater. Even if you see valuable treasures, don't rush or grab. A slightly reckless move could sever the umbilical cord on your back."

Me and Uncle Mei nodded repeatedly.

At this time, the crew members distributing the equipment shouted some words to the divers. They were all speaking Thai, and I couldn't understand a word.

Yu Xiaobo translated for us, saying that the person was telling us the approximate location of the Ayutthaya shipwreck underwater. He also said that the oxygen tanks they provided us could last about eight to nine hours, and we had to return within nine hours, otherwise, there would be a risk of suffocation.

In addition, he pointed to the other side of the cabin, where several bamboo baskets were placed, with numbers on the baskets corresponding to the numbers on our diving suits.

The crew member said that when the time came, we should put all the treasures we salvaged into that basket. When settling the accounts, those who wanted 50,000 yuan could take 50,000 yuan, and those who wanted to pick a treasure could choose one to take away from the treasures they salvaged.

I glanced at the number on my diving suit and almost cursed on the spot.

I was number 14. This number 14 is not auspicious in our country because its homophone means "want to die." (yao si)

Uncle Mei's was number 11, which was a little better than mine. Yu Xiaobo had the best luck, getting number 18, which sounds like "want to prosper" (yao fa). Ma Hailong was number 3, which was also acceptable.

Looking at my number plate, I kept saying, "Unlucky."

Uncle Mei glanced at me and also exclaimed "Oh dear," saying helplessly, "Rongsheng, how did you get such an unlucky number?"

"I didn't notice there was a number on the diving suit at the time. If I had, I wouldn't have wanted number 14 no matter what," I said with a bitter smile.

Yu Xiaobo quickly comforted me, saying, "It's okay, don't overthink it. We're in Thai waters now, so when in Rome, do as the Romans do. The pronunciation of 14 in Thai isn't 'want to die,' so there's no taboo."

What else could I say? I could only accept my fate. Even if I wanted to exchange numbers with someone else now, no one would be willing to exchange with me.

In the end, I could only reluctantly put on this number 14 diving suit and climb down the ship's side with Uncle Mei, Yu Xiaobo, and Ma Hailong to start diving.

Although we had sailed far from the port, the sea in this area wasn't actually very deep. According to Yu Xiaobo's translation, the Ayutthaya shipwreck was at a depth of about three to four hundred meters below the surface.

If the shipwreck was any deeper, it would be impossible for us divers to dive down manually. At a certain depth, the underwater pressure would be unbearable for ordinary people; the human body might not be able to withstand it.

Following Yu Xiaobo and Ma Hailong, I went all the way underwater. At first, I thought diving was a very romantic thing, and I would be able to see many fish and corals in the sea.

Later, I realized I was thinking too much. There was nothing in the sea in this area. After diving for about ten minutes, I hadn't even seen a single fish.

Going further down, I gradually encountered some schools of fish, but these fish were all small and had no ornamental value.

After diving a little further, I suddenly saw a huge dark shadow not far below. The dark shadow looked like an underwater palace, looming in the shimmering light.

Because it was night, there was no sun at sea, and the underwater was pitch black. We could only rely on the divers' headlamps for lighting.

The light from these headlamps couldn't illuminate the entire seabed space at all, and the dark shadow remained unclear.

But I understood in my heart that this should be the silent Ayutthaya treasure ship.

I really wanted to communicate with Uncle Mei, but because I was wearing a diving helmet, they couldn't hear me, so I could only be excited by myself and speed up my descent.

At this time, the divers in front had already arrived near the dark shadow. As the searchlights on their heads shone over, I vaguely saw the outline of the dark shadow.

Sure enough, this was the Ayutthaya treasure ship. With the help of the dim light from the divers' headlamps, I saw that the ship was about twenty meters long and less than ten meters wide. It was split in the middle, broken into two sections, with the bow and stern stuck deep into the sand and soil on the seabed.

Witnessing such a huge ancient shipwreck in person was still very shocking. I quickly sped up again, descending towards the location of the shipwreck.

But just then, I vaguely saw several dark shadows emerging from the ship's hold as the divers in front approached the treasure ship.

These dark shadows looked like some kind of fish, but I couldn't see clearly what they looked like. After they came out of the hold, they began to swim away in all directions and disappeared into the surroundings in the blink of an eye.

I was startled at first, but I quickly stopped paying attention to them. After all, this ship had been sunk on the seabed for hundreds of years, so it was only natural that there would be some parasitic things on board.

I didn't expect that if I didn't bother them, they would actively swim towards me. Because the four of us were acting separately from the group of local divers, these dark shadows must have been trying to avoid the Thai divers and were rushing towards us instead!