Chapter 322
"Treasure?" Haruto Saito's eyes gleamed with excitement, his tone unconsciously rising. "There's treasure nearby?"
"Not just nearby, lad. The vast ocean is filled with treasures! Almost every year, cargo-laden merchant ships capsize in storms—every single year! Normally, when ordinary goods sink to the seabed, they're lost forever. But certain ships, like those carrying gold and silver, become treasure once they go under..."
Bock, who had been a sailor since his teenage years, had spent over twenty years at sea. He had heard too many legends about lost riches, and once the topic came up, he couldn't help but talk endlessly.
"Take the Shark Sea we passed yesterday. Two years ago, a large merchant vessel sank there due to a storm. Rumor has it the ship was filled with gold and silver artifacts bound for the Land of Lightning, where craftsmanship is far less advanced."
"Then there's the Storm Sea, northwest of the Land of Water. That area is plagued by constant hurricanes and torrential rains. No one knows how many ships have sunk there, with the oldest wrecks dating back over a thousand years—the era when large wooden ships first appeared."
"Oh, right! Four years ago, north of Wave Island—you know it, right? The island east of the Land of Fire—about five hundred nautical miles from there, someone found a shipwreck treasure from three hundred years ago. The haul included gold worth nearly two hundred million. But in the end, pirates stole it all."
Haruto nodded occasionally, absorbing the knowledge.
This was no surprise. Even in his past life, the ocean was full of sunken treasures. Back then, during the Age of Exploration, countless European adventurers plundered gold and silver from the Americas and tried to transport it back home. Many of their ships, however, met their doom at sea, giving rise to countless ghost ship legends.
"So, what treasure legends exist in this region?" Haruto asked.
"Here?" Bock glanced at the distant fishing boats on the sea. "They're probably searching for the treasure mentioned in the Edo Legend."
"Edo Legend?" Haruto raised an eyebrow.