Reborn as the Genius Son of the Richest Family

Chapter 842: Gift or calamity?

Even Michael couldn’t hide his surprise. ’What? Is that true?’

Serena nodded, the grave consequence of the jewel reflected in her expression. ’It is true that it will bring great prosperity upon the ocean, but it does so by bringing forth a great and intense creation power that instantly increases all marine life in the world—including the ocean itself.’

Michael raised his eyebrows as he started to piece together the implication. ’If that happens... the entire world will be submerged in water.’

The picture of that future was grim and desolate. Mortals would be the first to die off, unable to survive in the onslaught of tsunamis and waves that reached the high heavens.

If it was just a normal ocean, then perhaps a portion of humanity would still be able to live, thanks to the power of magic and mana. However, the oceans in this world weren’t as kind as the oceans back in his previous life.

The seven seas here were filled with catastrophic weather that would destroy even modern naval ships into pieces of scrap metal. That was the reason why travel between continents was so difficult, and why the cooperation between the Draconic Queen and the Ocean King for easier travel was so important.

Michael could only see Maugnetics being able to live in such a future.

And they only represented 0.01% of all living life on earth, or probably even less.

Suffice it to say, it would be apocalyptic, one that would even trump the catastrophic event that separated the Ancient Era from the modern one.

Michael looked at her, trying to see if the future painted on his mind was the same as the one she was implying.

She pursed her lips, as if she didn’t want to believe it herself. After all, they’d been taught from their childhood until their deaths that Mariana’s Jewel was a relic with an ethereal power that must be treated with great reverence.

They all say that bringing the wonders of the ocean to the entire world would be a gift, a glorious bestowal of the greatest power on Earth.

But as someone who has always been fascinated with the surface world, especially now after she saw the virtue of humans in Reborn, she questioned whether it was really a gift or a calamity.

There was beauty in the surface world that couldn’t be found in the oceans, and vice versa. The two could coexist peacefully without one having to destroy the other.

’Then does that mean that everyone who wants to find Mariana’s Jewel wants to destroy the world?’

Serena chuckled and shook her head. ’Believe it or not, most of them think that they’re doing everyone a favor.’

’By killing them off?’

’By saving them. Mermen believed that finding Mariana’s Jewel would signal the return of a paradise once lost. And in that heaven, humans, Mermen, Beastfolks, and all manners of living things would be able to coexist in one shared space, completely free from worries and heartbreak.’

If they were to be believed, then one could say that they were indeed trying to help everyone by ushering in a new era of peace in paradise.

But if they were wrong, they would send a catastrophic apocalypse that destroyed the entire world.

Both were two sides of the same coin, and Michael didn’t like to gamble.

Now that he knew what possible consequences that the Mariana’s Jewel could bring, he would rather let it be buried in whatever space it was hidden in, untouched for millions and millions of years.

’But we don’t have to worry,’ Serena said, trying to return to her lighthearted mentality. ’Everyone’s been trying for thousands of years, to no avail. Even my father, and your professor, have not come close to figuring out if it even exists or not.’

Michael didn’t really feel comforted by that. He didn’t know why.

Actually, he did know why, he just didn’t want to admit it to himself.

After all, whether he wanted to admit it or not, he was a special being in this world. He didn’t conform to normal standards. He was blessed by two gods or godlike beings, as far as he knew.

First was the bratty goddess, who sent him into this world in the first place and gave him all his powers and his talents.

And second was Gaia or now known as the Iron Maiden.

Blessed or cursed by them, one could see it either way.

After all, thanks to their blessing, he was able to get powers that shouldn’t have existed in this modern world.

The bratty goddess gave him the power to control Unity, something that was previously lost and could only be found in the Ancient Humans.

Then, Gaia appeared, manifesting as his Diva for one instance, which basically jump started his whole Maugnetic cultivation.

And would you have guessed it, both powers were found back in the Ancient Era.

Somehow, he attracted everything that related to the mysteries of a bygone era as if he was actually magnetic to them.

From liberating an ancient Original Vampire, to awakening demi-humans with powers from Mythical Beasts, to entering bones and retrieving an all-powerful tesseract cube, he seemed to get everything that most thought to have only been found in legends.

Somehow, he had a feeling that he would also stumble upon this Mariana’s Jewel.

Or perhaps, he already had.

A thought popped up in his mind, one pertaining to a certain object back in his Drone’s Pocket Dimension, before he quickly shook his head and buried the thought deep down into his subconscious.

Can it be? he pondered. No, no. If it was the Mariana’s Jewel, then it should have caused a catastrophe.

He nodded, as if trying to console himself. By all accounts, he should have nothing to worry about. After all, he wasn’t seeing signs of an apocalyptic tidal wave coming anytime soon.

But he couldn’t help but think.

What if it hasn’t been activated yet because he hasn’t brought it out to the real world?

The giant, iridescent pearl that Cthulhu gave him was his leading candidate for this Mariana’s Jewel. The ancient leviathan monster gave it to him as a ’gift’ for helping the poor girl Nixie from her curse.

Back then, he met Cthulhu in the void of Nixie’s mind. And there, he was given the pearl, which he subsequently stored immediately in his Drone’s Pocket Dimension.

Technically, he hasn’t brought it out to the real world just yet.

I’m overthinking things, he tried to convince himself. Cthulhu seemed like a nice guy...all things considered. He wouldn’t have given me a world-ending relic without warning me first, right?

He was holding onto the hope that an ancient leviathan monster had humanity’s best interest in mind.

It was a very precarious thought. It may very well be possible that a monster simply gave him a key that basically would unleash it and every beast in the water to feast on the remains of the sunken world.

He shuddered.

Thankfully, that didn’t seem all that likely as well. If it was, then why keep it secret for so long?

He shook his head. Thinking about such harrowing things was stressing him out.

’Michael? Are you okay? You’re spacing out...,’ Serena called out to him.

’I’m fine,’ he replied. ’I’m just thinking about how I’m very thankful for my drone right now.’