Marvel: A Lazy-Ass Superman

Chapter 748: Chapter 748: Isu Equipment

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As for this batch of emeralds and peridots that might date back to the Roman Empire, Henry’s options for selling them were either to offload them to jewelers at a bargain price as inventory or keep them at home as paperweights. There really weren’t many good ways to dispose of them.

The two intact pieces of red coral, however, were another matter. Even at a Sotheby’s or Christie’s auction, they could fetch an excellent price. They were genuine rarities for which there was more demand than supply.

Even Cassandra, an immortal, had never possessed red coral of this caliber in her collection. She was tempted. After thinking it over, she decided that rather than selling it for money, she might as well use it as a decoration in her new home.

That was also why the Spartan woman had no objection whatsoever to Henry keeping the spoils. Expecting everyone to put in the work for nothing and take nothing except the target Isu equipment was simply unrealistic.

Kingo immediately said, ”If you don’t know how to dispose of these gemstones, you can leave them to me.”

As the only person present with both a vast fortune and vast expenses, there was no way he wouldn’t be interested when he saw treasure. Besides, Kingo was footing almost the entire bill for this trip. His request was perfectly reasonable.

Seeing everyone’s eyes turn toward him, Kingo smiled and said, ”We’ve already hauled these things up. Throwing them back into the sea just because we have nowhere to put them would be such a waste. I don’t have a good way to handle artifacts either.

”But gemstones and coral beads like these? I know plenty of people who’d want them. Even if they don’t make them into jewelry themselves, donating them to a temple would earn them plenty of prestige. So, does anyone want to keep any of these for themselves?”

Henry was just about to ask whether Kingo really had connections when he suddenly remembered the man’s identity and homeland—the great Indian subcontinent, once the brightest jewel in the British Crown.

As long as they were colorful stones, and as long as they came from Kingo, would anyone in that land really ask where they came from? Unless he wanted to ruin his own reputation, Kingo could probably even sell them at a premium.

Since Kingo had a way to dispose of them, Henry was more than happy to accept. As for his question, he answered honestly, ”Red coral is extremely rare. I’d like to keep one at home as a decoration.”

Cassandra added from the side, ”I’d like one of the red corals too.”

Kingo said, ”Perfect. There are exactly two pieces, so you can each have one. For whatever we find afterward, donate the artifacts that should be donated, keep anything you want as souvenirs, and I’ll handle the rest.”

Gilgamesh and Thena, still sitting as steadily as mountains on the sofa, expressed no opinion. Henry and Cassandra nodded, and Kingo’s proposal was approved.

Although things had turned out somewhat differently from what they’d originally planned, every stage of the operation—salvaging, opening the crates, and disposing of the goods—now had someone responsible for it. The operation had consequently become even more carefree.

There were still two crates on deck that hadn’t been opened, so Henry left them to Cassandra and Kingo. He himself dove back into the sea to retrieve the crates he’d previously gathered.

Gilgamesh was getting bored. ”Henry, take me down too. While you’re bringing the crates up, I can continue searching the seabed.”

”Sure.”

Henry tossed him the chain. Gilgamesh caught it with one hand and wrapped it twice around his arm. The two jumped into the sea once again, one after the other.

Without Cassandra slowing him down, Henry descended even faster.

Gilgamesh, a close-combat Eternal, had an absurdly strong physique. He handled the effects of Henry’s speed with ease.

Naturally, they weren’t going to haul everything off the seabed, and not everything they found was valuable.

Several crates turned out to contain a chaotic mess of rotten material that spilled everywhere when opened, accompanied by an appalling stench. The people who had remained aboard the yacht actually spent quite some time scrubbing the deck before they managed to get rid of the smell.

Henry’s salvage operation was even called to a halt so they could figure out what exactly they had found.

Based on the clues, the crates had most likely contained textiles. Early textiles contained no synthetic chemicals; they were all woven from natural fibers and could therefore be digested by organisms. Apparently, the fabric had been eaten away.

What remained inside the crates might have been scraps of cloth, or the excrement of creatures that had consumed the fabric. It was even possible that they were colonies of deep-sea microorganisms that had suddenly been dragged to the surface and exposed to sunlight, causing them to die en masse and release the foul odor.

After opening several booby-trap crates, Henry could roughly guess what their contents might be from their texture and the speed at which sound waves traveled through them. Moreover, relatively few crates could actually have remained settled on the seabed.

Some crates, if they weren’t heavy enough, might have been carried elsewhere by powerful underwater currents or large marine animals playing with them. In that case, they would have had to expand their search area to find the target.

Fortunately, that headache never materialized. After the fourteenth crate was hauled aboard, the Isu equipment Cassandra had sunk into the sea all those years ago finally saw daylight again.

Seeing this, Henry first returned to the seabed and brought Gilgamesh back up. He had no intention of completely stripping the Aegean Sea floor of its treasures. Once they had their target, it was time to stop.

However, the Isu equipment Cassandra had left behind was far from being in perfect condition. The fabric components, just like those in the other crates they’d opened, had rotted away over the long years. The moment they left the seawater, they fell apart.

The other components, made from some unknown material, were sturdier than either wood or iron. Not only had they retained their original shapes, but their functions were largely intact as well.

At the very least, when Cassandra picked up a single-piece short sword from one of the crates and brushed its blade against her arm, the weapon immediately erupted in blazing sparks.

No one knew what mechanism was responsible, and it didn’t seem to contain any fuel oil. Yet the high-temperature flames could burn an enemy without harming its wielder.

The strange phenomenon naturally aroused Henry’s curiosity.

”Can I take a look?”

”Of course.”

Cassandra handed him the weapon. At the same time, she said, ”But after being sealed beneath the sea for so long, the weapon’s power has clearly diminished.

”In the past, it could produce flames at a much higher temperature. And be careful. Although this Isu equipment isn’t like the Pieces of Eden and won’t affect the user’s mind as strongly, they share the same origin. If you show any signs of something going wrong, I’ll stop you.”

Before taking the short sword, Henry gave a wry smile upon hearing this.

If he really went insane, who among them could handle him?

Maybe he shouldn’t take it after all.

Still, Henry had complete confidence that a madman couldn’t be driven any crazier, so he took the short sword from Cassandra’s hand.

Whether it was some shutdown mechanism triggered during the transfer or some other unknown reason, the flames on the blade instantly went out once the short sword entered Henry’s hands. It became nothing more than an ordinary metal weapon.

Cassandra wasn’t surprised in the slightest.

”Looks like you’re one of those people who simply can’t use it.”

Henry examined the weapon in his hand and asked, ”What does that mean?”

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