Chapter 234: Lan Qingyou: I Object!

Yeah!

Everyone's eyes lit up.

Come to think of it! He was absolutely right!

Magician's guess was entirely possible!

"If we are going to look for treasure, we better hurry. My skill only lasts for thirty minutes, and at least ten have already passed. That means you only have about twenty minutes to find things."

Sun, whose complexion had improved slightly by now, reminded them.

"Damn! Then what are we waiting for!"

Saying that, Gu Xiaobei, whose mind was entirely set on the dungeon settlement rewards, took the lead and jumped off the ship, giving the others absolutely no time to hold her back.

Consequently, the rest of the group walked over to the bow, only to see more than half of Gu Xiaobei's body sinking into the mud.

It was unclear who laughed first.

Regardless, Gu Xiaobei's miserable state made the whole group burst into laughter.

"Don't just stand there laughing! Hurry up and help me!"

Gu Xiaobei struggled to tilt her head up, glaring at the others who were over ten meters above her.

"Coming, coming."

To avoid repeating Gu Xiaobei's mistake, everyone directly activated their Bubble Beads.

The items originally prepared for naval combat unexpectedly proved useful now. It was a classic case of happy accidents.

Receiving a tap from Lan Qingyou to make her as light as a swallow, Gu Xiaobei was hoisted up by High Priestess in one swift motion.

"You were the first one to laugh just now, weren't you! Take this!"

The moment she was pulled up, Gu Xiaobei hugged High Priestess and began rubbing mud all over her.

"Hey! What are you doing~~! How dare you dirty my clothes, you have some nerve! Take this!"

"Hahahaha~~~"

High Priestess was stunned for a moment before immediately retaliating, and the two of them ended up rolling together in the mud.

Even High Priestess's air bubble was rolled into a filthy black sphere.

As for the others, they were not as carefree as the two girls of the same age. Time was already tight; who would want to waste it?

Even those two crazy girls realized this. After messing around for a bit, they quickly hurried toward the sunken ships.

There were many sunken ships in this sea area.

Fortunately, they were relatively concentrated, saving the group from having to run all over the muddy seabed.

Perhaps because the enemy was just an eyeball and its only attack method was shooting beams, the ships were quite well preserved.

Moreover, since Lan Qingyou had her Magic Eye, the rest of the group borrowed Little Spoon.

Splitting up this way significantly sped things up.

Lan Qingyou had no objections to this arrangement.

However, Little Spoon threw a bit of a tantrum over it.

But in the hands of a Master Chef like Gu Xiaobei, the creature had no choice but to submit.

Twenty minutes passed quickly, but no one had any intention of stopping.

After all, they all had Bubble Beads.

Since they were already here and the dungeon was basically cleared, it would be somewhat of a regret not to thoroughly search the area.

Fortunately, when the seawater flowed back, it rose slowly rather than crashing in as powerful waves. Otherwise, these ships, which had been soaking in the ocean for who knew how long, probably would not have withstood the pounding of the surf.

After over an hour of searching through the seawater, the group finally surfaced, riding their bubbles out of the ocean.

Judging by everyone being wreathed in smiles, it was easy to tell they had secured quite a haul.

"Oh! Pope, you are awake!"

The group had just returned to the ship, ready to divide the loot, only to see the old Pope sitting cross-legged on the bulwark, leisurely fishing.

"I am awake. I woke up not long after you all left."

Pope's voice sounded incredibly lonely. He did not even react when his fishing rod twitched.

It was obvious that the recent events had dealt a heavy blow to the old man.

"Hey now, you were just being mind-controlled, it is no big deal."

High Priestess walked forward and casually patted Pope on the shoulder to comfort him.

However, the old Pope just shook his head.

"Sigh... It is not about that. I already talked it out with Magician earlier. I just did not expect that at my age, I would still have such a deep obsession over a ship that it allowed the enemy to exploit my weakness. Truly... it feels like I have wasted all these years fishing."

Indeed.

As an avid angler who had been fishing for so many years, he always believed his mind was as placid as still water, remaining calm and unflappable no matter what happened.

Who would have thought he still harbored such vulgar earthly desires.

"Alright, alright. You are a grown adult, stop pretending to be so deep and brooding over there. Hurry up and come distribute the gear."

Sun waved his hand and plopped onto the deck, then poured out everything he had stored in his Card.

"Now then, let us see what good stuff we have dug up this time!"

With him taking the lead, the others followed suit one after another. However, Pope remained motionless and even shook his head, rejecting Sun's proposal to share the equipment.

"I will not participate. I did not contribute anything this time."

"Haha, there is no need for that, really no need."

"We all fought together in this operation, and besides, you were a victim."

"Uh... 'victim' might be a slightly inappropriate word to use."

"Hahahaha, it does not matter. I have not read many books anyway, as long as the general meaning is there. Nobody is going to object regardless."

Everyone joked around, trying to persuade Pope to stop being so stubbornly dramatic.

However, right at this moment, someone spoke up.

"I object to giving these things to Pope."

That was right, the person who spoke was Lan Qingyou.

And her words caused everyone to turn and look at her.

"As someone who believes in Equivalent Exchange, I cannot bring myself to make a decision to reward someone who contributed nothing."

As if completely oblivious to the surprised gazes around her, Lan Qingyou deliberately added another sentence.

Her bluntness made the old Pope feel rather ashamed and embarrassed.

"If you put it that way, then I did not make any contribution against the giant eyeball either."

Magician shook his head with a bitter smile.

After all, he had been stabbed right at the beginning and had absolutely no chance to do anything afterward.

"That is correct. Therefore, I also object to giving anything to you."

"..."

At this, everyone fell completely silent.

Although they all knew that what Lan Qingyou said was fair, and understood her code of conduct as an Alchemist, there seemed to be no need to state it so bluntly. After all, they were comrades who fought together.

"Then... then I should not get a share either. I did not really do anything, after all."

Gu Xiaobei weakly raised her hand.

"You participated in the collection process, so getting a share is only natural."

Lan Qingyou looked at Gu Xiaobei with her usual cold, clear gaze.

"..."

Alright then, Lan Qingyou truly was a woman of principle.

Because of Lan Qingyou's interruption, the originally enthusiastic atmosphere grew somewhat awkward and cold.

Everyone sat in place without speaking.

Lan Qingyou was right. Everyone came here for experience and treasures. It was only natural that those who did not contribute would not get a share.

"So my proposal is that we divide these items among ourselves, and give this ship to Pope."

"Huh?"

"Ah!"

"Wait, no..."

Lan Qingyou's words left everyone shocked once again.