Chapter 122: Chapter 122: Creatures in the Whirlpool

Xu Xin placed the blue crystal into his backpack, swimming around in search of similar stones nearby.

Though there were many colored stones on the seabed, most were dull and murky, without the clear transparency of the blue crystal earlier, and with his identification ability, each emitted a white glow.

Xu Xin casually picked up a stone that was entirely purple and held it in his hand.

[Purple Crystal (White): An ordinary crystal, can be used for carving.]

White-grade crystals do not affect the “decorative value” of the treehouse.

Xu Xin discarded this crystal casually and started searching for crystals emitting green or even blue light underwater.

After swimming for a long time, Xu Xin eventually found three green-grade crystals of varied colors, namely a purple crystal, a red crystal, and a green crystal. His identification ability allowed him to spot the glow at a glance, making his search very efficient.

However, for others without identification abilities, these crystals weren’t too hard to find, as green-grade and white-grade crystals look very different, with green-grade being clear and transparent, while white-grade is dull and murky, making them easy to distinguish.

With no resources above the green grade around him, Xu Xin surfaced from the water and looked at the giant tornado only two to three hundred meters away.

At such close proximity, the tornado appeared even more menacing.

However, likely due to the tornado pulling the nearby clouds into it, there were no more thunder strikes here; instead, bright yellow lightning occasionally flashed across the tornado.

“Keke said there’s treasure in the tornado and it’s not dangerous, so is she telling me to enter it? But how could I dare to enter…” Xu Xin murmured to himself, staring at the imposing tornado before him.

Entering this tornado? That’s practically a death sentence…

Although only a few hundred meters away, Xu Xin still didn’t feel any suction from the tornado; only the water where he was located was flowing towards the direction of the tornado’s rotation.

The entire surrounding water was rotating along with the tornado.

Diving back underwater and looking towards the tornado, Xu Xin astonishingly found that the underwater part of the far-off tornado was merely a tiny whirlpool at the seabed!

Of course, this “tiny” is in comparison to the tornado’s upper water part.

The narrowest part beneath the tornado’s water surface was tens of meters in diameter, expanding increasingly towards the sky, with its cloud layer affecting an area over a thousand meters across, making the entire tornado look very exaggerated.

But below water, it seemed to be a whirlpool roughly ten meters in diameter, with some objects swirling with the water flow inside, hard to see clearly.

The whirlpool didn’t turn very fast, much slower at least than the wind speed above the water surface.

Xu Xin thought he could move closer to take a look.

But before that, he needed to discuss with the members of [Explorers] to see if he could gather some information he didn’t already know.

With nothing to stand on around him, Xu Xin had to float to the surface and accessed his watch.

Ji Chaoyang: “If any of you are good swimmers, you can try to get closer to this tornado; there’s likely new materials around the tornado that we’ve never seen, which might relate to our next survival phase.”

Ji Chaoyang sent this message right after Xu Xin left the treehouse and hasn’t said anything since, probably out exploring as well.

Xu Xin couldn’t help but feel lucky. Without this Scale Armor suit, he wouldn’t even qualify to explore outside.

With his skill of taking over a minute to swim fifty meters while exhausting himself, he could only wait at the treehouse until the event ended.

Qi Xuefei: “Good luck, I’ll wait for you guys in the treehouse.”

Wang Lei: “Does dog paddling count as swimming? Never mind, I’ll just wander around the treehouse area; I’m afraid if I go too far, I won’t be able to swim back…”

Li Wenxi: “I’ll stay in the treehouse; this event is really unfriendly to people who can’t swim.”

Wen Guixin: “I’ll go out to have a look, my skills are decent, and I’ll inform you if I find any new resources.”

Zhao Xiaochuan: “I’ll go have a look too. There’s a reservoir near my home; before coming to this world, I often swam in it for fun. I’m not afraid of those tens of meters deep; these four or five should be nothing!”

Though Zhao Xiaochuan’s words sounded like he was bragging about his swimming skills, Xu Xin could see he was mostly motivating himself. After all, that tornado certainly looked daunting.

Qin Yunlong and Qin Yunhu have been silent; both have excellent swimming skills and probably like Xu Xin, started exploring underwater early.

Li Wenxi also sent him a few private messages.

“Xu Xin, what do you think? Can that tornado really be approached?”

“But I can’t really swim, it’s over a kilometer away on that side, I definitely can’t swim there; whether it can be approached or not doesn’t mean much to me…”

“Have you already gone out?”

These messages were sent almost half an hour ago.

Xu Xin replied: “I’m already only two to three hundred meters away from the tornado.”

Li Wenxi was bored in the treehouse playing with her mutant cow when she saw Xu Xin’s reply and her almond eyes widened: “You’re already so close! Two to three hundred meters, won’t you get sucked in?”

“No, but the water around the tornado is always spinning. Don’t come near if you’re not a good swimmer; you’ll easily be swept right in.”

“Have you discovered any new resources?”

“Indeed, I’ll tell you when I return.”

“Oh great, stay safe!”

While privately messaging Li Wenxi, Xu Xin continued to closely observe the nearby tornado. At that moment, objects continued to fly out of the tornado sporadically, mostly stones, wood, and some animal carcasses.

Xu Xin sent messages to Qin Yunlong and Ji Chaoyang seeking to exchange information, but unfortunately, neither replied.

…Their exploration progress was probably lagging behind his, it seemed he had to rely on himself again.

Suddenly, a long piece of wood thrown from the tornado splashed near Xu Xin, creating a huge splash and surfacing, being carried along with the water flow.

Xu Xin immediately swam over.

He discovered this wood was nothing like any type he’s seen before; it was darker in color, and the texture of its cross-section seemed more regular.

Grasping the floating wood, Xu Xin relaxed his body. Finally, he could rest a bit.

This single piece of rosewood was as large as a tree trunk, much bigger than regular wood, logs, or slender pieces.

[Rosewood (Green): A high-grade timber; sturdy, with fine texture and bright color, a superior material for carving, can be used for making furniture, enhancing the treehouse’s decorative value.]

More decorative value!

While leaning on the rosewood let him rest, it gradually drifted closer to the tornado’s interior with the water flow. Xu Xin stored the rosewood, continuing to float.

There were many floating rosewood pieces turning with the water nearby, likely all thrown from the tornado.

Whenever these pieces rotated near him, Xu Xin swam over to collect them. Soon, he had gathered twelve pieces of rosewood.

Xu Xin figured he had enough and planned to venture to the tornado’s center.

Blue Water Grass provides half an hour of underwater breathing ability; he consumed it under the dining table’s effect, granting him forty-five minutes duration, but even so, its effect had long worn off.

Xu Xin replenished the breathability effect, dove underwater, and swam towards the whirlpool center.

As he approached the underwater whirlpool, Xu Xin noticed the water’s pulling force growing increasingly strong; at a distance less than a hundred meters, his body started unconsciously spinning with the water flow.

Xu Xin ceased his actions, letting the water carry him towards the center.

The spin wasn’t fast; he could fully control his body underwater.

Suddenly, a familiar sense of crisis arose slowly from within, abruptly tensing his relaxed body.

Xu Xin nervously scanned the surroundings, searching for the danger’s source.

Underwater remained calm, the water spinning in a circle around the whirlpool center, with seabed stones gradually being swept into the center.

As he moved closer to the center of the unseen internal whirlpool, his sense of crisis grew more acute.

The danger unquestionably arose from within the whirlpool!

While intently gazing at the whirlpool, ripples suddenly appeared in the previously serene swirl, followed by a four-meter-long fish emerging suddenly!

Its sharp spikes on the mouth were incredibly sharp, like a long, sharp sword, directly aimed at Xu Xin!