"Aow!"
"Whoosh!"
The Little Turtle let out a deep roar, unlike any before, as if from an ancient behemoth, then dove headfirst into the sea!
A light blue energy shield instantly covered its entire body, including the driftwood platform it was pulling behind it, gently pushing aside the seawater and reserving enough oxygen for one person and one turtle to breathe for five minutes.
Chen Mo subconsciously looked at the driftwood platform behind him.
Seeing that the three pieces of furniture on the driftwood platform were as if adhered to the plank, not moving an inch, he finally relaxed.
The next moment.
A powerful aura erupted from the Little Turtle's shell, the light blue shield broke through the waves, and its massive turtle body began to descend gracefully and steadily at an extremely fast speed!
The magnificent panorama of the shallow sea area was thus displayed before his eyes.
The Bull Shark Helmet's 20% underwater vision bonus made Chen Mo's visibility at the bottom of the sea even higher than on the surface!
"Little Turtle, look there!"
"Aow aow!"
The protruding reef area was like an island submerged by the sea.
It was covered with colorful coral reefs, rising and falling in continuous stretches.
Fiery red staghorn corals, like burning giant trees, stood in the very center.
Countless tiny schools of fish, shimmering with pearl-like luster, weaved through the staghorn corals, forming silver spheres at times and scattering like a sky full of stars at others.
The sunlight here was cut into various shapes by the water, scattering speckles of broken gold.
This was a carnival of life.
Chen Mo had never had the chance to see it before.
Now, with the opportunity to personally visit the shallow sea, Chen Mo's eyes held only shock.
The Little Turtle was also so stunned by the beautiful scenery before its eyes that its turtle eyes widened.
"Is this what they call, uh, the Darwin Effect?"
"Aow aow~"
Chen Mo did not forget the purpose of this trip; after the initial shock, he quickly came back to his senses:
"Only five minutes left, we need to hurry, Little Turtle."
"Aow!"
The Little Turtle immediately swam towards a deeper reef area.
It chose a route that tried to avoid the coral as much as possible, and any coral that occasionally blocked its path was directly smashed by its shell.
The coral stones scattered after smashing the coral were, of course, all scooped into Chen Mo's backpack with his fishing net.
Perhaps because they were of the same species, even if their sizes differed by dozens of times, the Little Turtle's passage through the reef area did not cause panic among the fish.
Even the shyest garden eels only curiously approached the shield, pecking at the flowing blue light a few times.
Some schooling small fish even actively followed the Little Turtle, seemingly recognizing it as their boss on the spot.
Chen Mo looked at the countless fish in the coral area and couldn't help but ask:
"Can you eat these fish?"
The Little Turtle nodded, then immediately shook its head.
"Aow aow."
"You can eat them, but there's no need? Why?"
"Aow aow aow~"
"Oh, I understand."
Chen Mo looked at the hunger points all over the place with some regret, but he didn't dwell on it too much; the special mission was still the most important thing now.
As the Little Turtle descended, the objects on the reef area clearly appeared before his eyes.
He barely had to search; with just one glance, Chen Mo spotted a rusty industrial-grade chemical barrel nearby, half-buried in the sand.
The chemical barrel's body was severely deformed, its label blurry, and a viscous, fluorescent, dark green liquid was constantly seeping from the edge of its lid.
This liquid slowly diffused in the seawater, and wherever it went, whether coral or sea anemone, it showed a sickly paleness.
A few small fish floated belly-up at the edge, clearly having died from poisoning.
【Pollutant detected -- Leaking nuclear waste. Please complete the salvage operation as soon as possible.】
Chen Mo patted the turtle shell.
The Little Turtle immediately understood and extended its claws to dig in the sand.
Soon, the waste barrel was dug out.
Chen Mo seized the opportunity to stretch out his arm, used the fishing net to scoop up the iron barrel, and then brought it inside the energy shield.
Once inside the shield, the contents of the barrel no longer leaked, and Chen Mo touched the barrel body with one hand, directly putting the barrel into his backpack.
【Salvage operation complete! Please remove the pollutant from the sea surface as soon as possible.】
Chen Mo glanced at the light screen; the Gui Xu Submersible time still had more than 3 minutes left.
Time was still ample, so it shouldn't be wasted.
This was 5% hunger!
Chen Mo directed the Little Turtle to continue swimming forward, intending to gather some more coral stone and also see if there were any hidden treasures in the coral reef.
Just then, a cold, mechanical electronic sound suddenly rang in his ears.
【Ding! Side quest "Clownfish in Distress" triggered, automatically accepted for you!】
Chen Mo was stunned for a moment and looked around.
Not far from the chemical barrel, several brightly colored Clownfish anxiously lingered near the source of pollution; when they saw the Little Turtle and Chen Mo, signals of distress immediately erupted in their fish eyes.
They swam towards the man and the turtle, calling out as they did so.
"Beep beep beep! Beep beep beep beep beep!"
Wait, do Clownfish make that sound?
Chen Mo couldn't help but complain.
He opened the system panel, and sure enough, a new entry appeared under daily quests.
【Side Quest: Clownfish in Distress】
【Description: Observe carefully, the Clownfish need help!】
Chen Mo: "..."
What's the difference between this description and no description at all?
The Clownfish were still anxiously:
"Beep beep! Beep beep beep! Beep beep!"
Chen Mo couldn't speak fish language.
He could only look at the Little Turtle.
Little Turtle: "Aow aow."
Clownfish: "Beep beep! Beep beep beep!"
Little Turtle: "Aow aow aow!"
Chen Mo: "..."
After some communication, the Little Turtle probably understood what the Clownfish meant, turned to look at Chen Mo, and then extended its front limb, pointing to its mouth.
"Are you saying you don't have enough hunger?"
The Little Turtle nodded: "Aow."
Chen Mo immediately pulled out a piece of shark meat, and the Little Turtle swallowed it, looking up.
After a brief digestion, the Little Turtle opened its turtle mouth, and a deep vortex immediately formed in front of it.
Then, like a whale, it easily sucked in the surrounding polluted seawater, sand, and several small fish carcasses into its mouth.
"Gulp..."
A muffled swallowing sound came from the Little Turtle's esophagus, and then:
"Yue!"
【Devoured pollutant, Hunger +6%!】
【Black Tortoise (Juvenile Stage) Hunger: 93.5% → 99.5%】
【Warning: Black Tortoise (Juvenile Stage) Hunger has reached critical point!】
Chen Mo looked at the sharply dropping hunger, his scalp tingling, and immediately pulled out three more pieces of shark meat for the Little Turtle to swallow, not feeling a little relieved until the hunger dropped from 99.5% to 95%.
My turtle, good thing his turtle was a smart one with a brain!
If it didn't have a brain, with that one gulp it just took, both the man and the turtle would have died right here!
The entire polluted area was completely cleansed of pollution, the seawater regained its vibrant blue vitality, the coral was no longer withered, and the sea anemones slowly stretched their limbs.
The Clownfish excitedly circled the man and the turtle.
【Side quest complete, rewards being issued!】
【Obtained: Incomplete Treasure Map (Purple) x1!】
【Obtained: shell coin x50!】
【Because you acted righteously and helped the Clownfish family return home, your Sea Affinity has increased!】
Purple item and 50 shell coins!
It was worth it!
The rewards far exceeded Chen Mo's expectations, but thinking about it, it made sense; it involved both diving and pollution control, which was clearly not a task most people could complete in the early stages.
Just talking about pollution control alone, with the current level of technology unlocked, Chen Mo had no clue how to do it; it was most likely something he would only have a chance to deal with in the mid-to-late game.
As for what Sea Affinity was, now was clearly not the time to investigate.
The Gui Xu Submersible's remaining time was running out.
Chen Mo patted the Little Turtle's shell, and the Little Turtle immediately lifted its head, pushed off with its two hind limbs, and quickly floated up, swimming towards the surface.
Behind them, four Clownfish, in a very human-like manner, stood upright on their fish tails, their two fins continuously waving in the direction the man and the turtle had left.
"Great King, travel safely!"
"Long live the Great King! Tonight I can sleep on my favorite coral again!"
"Great King, come play often!"
"Goodbye, Great King!"
Chen Mo: "..."
He seemed to, possibly, should, maybe.
Know what Sea Affinity was.