Chapter 445 - Needle in a Haystack

TL: LifeisaJourney

Your watch fell into the lake, but you have no idea which part of the lake. Then you have the audacity to request this impossible task from me?! Are you crazy?! Cai Hao Chen was screaming an internal monologue. This was such a big lake, where did he even begin the search? Such nonsense! It was a chilly day too...

"Young man, if you can find me that watch, I have something I can reward you with," the wheelchair senior took out the puzzle box from his bag. Clearly, he was baiting Cai Hao Chen with temptation.

Cai Hao Chen reached out to grab it for a closer look. Just like Liu Gan before him, his action was pointless, he just whiffed through it. This wheelchair senior had a piece of the puzzle in his possession. Cai Hao Chen had no choice but to fulfill the senior's request.

"How about my watch? Are you interested in this? I can give it to you instead, how about it?" Cai Hao Chen displayed his own wrist watch for the senior to see.

"I don't want your watch, I only want the watch given to me by my partner. That watch has a lot of meaning to me, so I get it back!" the senior insisted.

Tch, I offer you a better watch, but you don't want it!, Cai Hao Chen cursed internally. He turned to look at the lake one more time and sighed.

Seems like he had no choice, but to dive into the lake if he wanted to complete the task. Moonlight Gulf Theme Park was so cold that on the surface of the lake, there was a thin layer of ice. The temperature had to be close to 0 degrees celsius. That's so cold! He would have to do multiple quick trips underwater for short periods of time. Otherwise, hypothermia would set in before he could find anything.

For the sake of helping Lord Liu accomplish his quest, for the sake of getting the puzzle map... Cai Hao Chen still quivered at the thought of dipping in ice cold water. Eventually, he warmed his body up by stretching before stripping down and stepping into the water.

"Ow! Damn! Damn! Damn damn damn damn damn damn damn damn!"

Jumping into the ice-cold water, Cai Hao Chen felt as if his heart was going crazy; it was beating like an alpaca galloping through the pastures. It was very cold! Like a heart-piercing cold! This was all while he was standing in the water, imagine if he had to submerge his whole body into the water! What a torturous way of suffering!...

Trying to find a watch in such a big lake was no different than searching for a needle in a haystack. Should he wait for Lord Liu first? If he had to do it by himself, it sounded impossible!

No… If his reason for not diving into the lake was because it was too cold, then he might be looked down upon. Real men like Lord Liu would face the challenge head on; they wouldn't push the task over onto someone else.

Cai Hao Chen grit his teeth and dove deeper into the lake. He was using his years of swimming experiences to help him search through the lake debris.

The underwater conditions were very bad; it was murky, making it hard to see through the debris he combed up from the lakebed. If Cai Hao Chen wasn't level 9, then his vision wouldn't have been enhanced to multiple degrees stronger. If his vision was still normal at level 1, the cloudy water would have made it impossible to see.

After searching for awhile, Cai Hao Chen felt that he was at his limit, and he was unable to continue the search. He was on the borderline of going unconscious from hypothermia, so he resurfaced and swam toward the shore.

"Did you find my watch yet?" The wheelchair-bound old man rolled his wheelchair over to where Cai Hao Chen had appeared.

"No, old-timer, the area you gave me is just too big! Where do I even start searching for it?" Cai Hao Chen wiped the water off his face.

"Oh, my watch is special! When the watch strikes twelve, it will play a song. It is a song that my partner recorded herself. If you hear her song, you can pinpoint my watch. There is almost ten minutes left before it strikes twelve again," the wheelchair senior finally gave more clues.

"Oh? Why didn't you tell me earlier?! Are there any more clues? Can you tell me any more details about it?" Cai Hao Chen quickly urged the old man.

"That is all I can remember for now," the senior shook his head. After that, no matter what Cai Hao Chen asked, the senior didn't reply.

With this new clue, Cai Hao Chen had around ten minutes before the watch would start playing the song. Using his body to break through the ice layer, he swam toward the center of the lake. After less than ten minutes of swimming, he reached the center of the lake. The watch would start sounding off the song soon, so he had to listen closely to home in on the sound.

It was still uncertain how long ago the watch fell into the lake, so it was a possibility that the watch wouldn't be able to produce anything audible if it was buried in the mud. Perhaps this instance would ignore all sorts of logic and the watch would produce noise regardless of the surrounding debris.

Thankfully sound waves were louder and faster underwater, so Cai Hao Chen would still be able to hear the song. He would able to determine the general direction of the source, which was better than searching blindly.

Through concentration, players were capable of using their senses to their maximum potential.

Cai Hao Chen took a deep breath and submerged himself. While submerged, his ears were muffled. Cai Hao Chen tried his best to concentrate while ignoring the unnecessary noises and chilling temperature.

Initially, Cai Hao Chen heard useless noises like his heartbeat and water currents. There was too much interference, so differentiating the song over other noises wasn't an easy task.

With the watch striking twelve, it was showtime for Cai Hao Chen. He ceased all unnecessary movement and focused.

『You know that I missed you, I loved you』

『My love for you won't change』

『Have you never thought about it』

『That day's oath』¹

The sound of a gentle song were mixed into the background noise from a certain direction. Cai Hao Chen heard it, but wasn't able to figure out where it was, because the song was too faint.

Exerting himself to his utmost, Cai Hao Chen headed in the designated direction. He would swim, stop to listen, then repeat the cycle. Every time he swam, he would be adding noise of his own.

The song was over as quickly as it began. Cai Hao Chen wasn't able to figure out where the watch was, but he knew the general direction.

Cai Hao Chen had been in the water for a long period of time, and his body temperature had fallen rapidly. Hypothermia caused him to become drowsy, and by the time he realized, it was too late. He wanted to swim ashore, but his rigid body wouldn't obey his commands.