Chapter 975: Paying Tribute to the Legendary Damage-Tanking King, Uesugi!

The bottom of the Blue Hole was reached very quickly.

The moment his feet stepped onto the sandy bottom, a scattering of fine points of light surged up from beneath the sand layer.

We're going to get rich!

Uesugi Muneyuki reached his hand toward the bottom of the hole and groped around; he fumbled for a while, then pulled out a... Kirin Beer bottle from the bottom. So this thing is what's reflecting light?

Uh...

Uesugi Muneyuki looked at the Kirin Beer glass bottle in his hand, truly not knowing what he should say.

【So you can understand why we feel humans are the cancer of the Earth, right?】 Arimura Hana manifested in the water, she couldn't help but retort: 【It's because of excessive human activity that the Earth was ruined by you lot!】

【Well, what's it got to do with me...】 Uesugi Muneyuki retorted directly in the water: 【Wasn't me who did it!】

He tried to speak, but the CCR regulator made it difficult for him; he simply pulled the regulator off his mouth. Then, nothing happened.

Uesugi Muneyuki inhaled and exhaled underwater just like a normal person; the water pressure at sixty meters deep had no effect on him whatsoever.

Yes, Uesugi Muneyuki can breathe underwater, and he can even survive in any water not exceeding 800 meters deep.

Because he possesses the "Great Virtue Wisdom King" Dharma Image; the Dharma Image not only repels curses, but fundamentally changed his relationship with "water". He doesn't need to rely on air to breathe underwater like ordinary people, and there is no concept of pressure differential for him — seawater is no different from air to him. As for decompression sickness? That only occurs when returning from high pressure to low pressure, but his body fundamentally doesn't follow this physical law. It doesn't exist.

He took a deep breath of water — as seawater entered his lungs, it was as if purified by some invisible filter; dissolved oxygen was directly extracted, and the water was expelled through another path, with no choking, no sensation of suffocation.

His body was like a natural aquatic creature, suspended steadily in the dim yellow water mist of the Blue Hole.

"These people are quite united and friendly. First thing when something happened was to save people, and they specially had me stay put and not move, afraid I'd cause trouble." Uesugi Muneyuki couldn't be bothered with the CCR anymore; he spoke directly to Muraka Hana at the bottom of the Blue Hole.

"Indeed, I hate crowded places, and I hate being squeezed together with other cockroaches; this is just fine, quiet." Muraka Hana rarely showed some goodwill toward human behavior: "They're doing this for your sake."

"Since we're here, it's the New Year, the kids are still small, go home often, go home often." Uesugi Muneyuki continued walking toward the depths of the Blue Hole. He stayed underwater for about thirty minutes, circled the inner wall of the Blue Hole once, watched a group of palm-sized tropical fish shuttle through the coral thickets, and also picked up a shell smoothed by the water and stuffed it into his swim trunks pocket.

Until he felt "about time," he then unhurriedly ascended toward the surface along the slope of the cave wall.

When he surfaced, the dive instructors on the boat were sweating profusely with anxiety — they had already counted all the surfaced tourists, only Uesugi Muneyuki was missing, and they were preparing to organize a second underwater search and rescue.

Only to see Uesugi Muneyuki calmly remove his regulator and wave at the instructors on the boat: "I'm here. It's pretty down there; I picked up a shell at the bottom, that's okay, right?"

"Hah????!!" The dive instructor froze.

The bottom?

The bottom is sixty meters from the surface!

This guy ascended directly from sixty meters? How did his lungs not explode???

And, this guy's been down there for nearly forty minutes, right?

Without a guide rope, how did he get up?

"You... Mr. Uesugi, are you... are you okay?" The dive instructor asked dumbly.

"I'm fine, what's up?" Uesugi Muneyuki looked like he had absolutely no difficulty breathing; he blinked, face full of indifference: "Can I go up now?"

"Oh, oh, oh oh oh!" The dive instructor remained dazed, watching Uesugi Muneyuki board the boat and take off his diving gear.

Just what is going on?

That tall thin man stood on the other side, watching Uesugi climb up from the water, his face pale; his gaze fell on Uesugi's CCR regulator — that supply valve was clearly loosened!

And when he secretly checked the CCR afterwards, he felt even more baffled.

The oxygen switch had never been turned on at all!

He returned to the cabin, took out his phone and sent two characters to Fujido:

"Failure. He didn't die. Reason unknown!"

"Why reason unknown? What does reason unknown mean?"

"Don't know. Theoretically the GCR only lasts 20 minutes of activity time before malfunctioning; at this point if he persisted, he could drown; if he didn't persist and surfaced immediately, he'd get decompression sickness! Needs to be sent to Shizuoka Hospital for emergency treatment immediately!"

"So I'm asking you why reason unknown???" The other party replied quickly.

"Don't know, maybe Uesugi Muneyuki is especially good at holding his breath?" The tall thin man sent a casual message.

Then the two almost laughed simultaneously.

What a joke!

The human breath-holding limit is roughly 25 minutes with prior pure oxygen inhalation, 10 minutes breathing only normal air, and untrained normal males won't exceed 3 minutes; let alone that's underwater at 60 meters! Six atmospheres of pressure, oxygen consumption increases multiplicatively!

Fujido replied with four characters ten minutes later:

"Prepare the next plan."

The "Dragon Hua Pavilion" on Asuka 11 is the only Chinese cuisine paid restaurant on the ship; the decor is exquisite, with imitation Song Dynasty landscape paintings hanging on redwood carved partitions, warm yellow lanterns hanging from the ceiling, casting the whole space like an old Peiping teahouse.

The banquet was a "VIP Exchange Dinner" arranged by Fujido through the cruise ship's Public Relations Department — inviting over a dozen "influential passengers on the ship" including Uesugi's group, Shimura Sayuri, Akimoto Manatsu, Eto Miyabi.

Uesugi Muneyuki sat in the middle of the long table, Mai on his left, Sakura on his right, Asuka beside him.

The seat opposite him was empty — Eto Miyabi arrived five minutes late, wearing that gold-embroidered horse-face skirt; her gaze lingered on Uesugi for an instant, then she sat down diagonally opposite as if nothing happened.

Fujido sat at the head of the long table, raised a cup for a toast, said some set phrases like "thank everyone for participating" and "hope we share a wonderful voyage." His gaze showed not a ripple when sweeping over Uesugi — he even smiled and raised his cup toward Uesugi.

Uesugi Muneyuki raised his cup in return.

Tonight he was drinking Shaoxing Yellow Wine, warmed, with plum candy added; sweet and mellow on the palate.

Dishes were served one by one.

Crab Powder Lion's Head, Braised Sea Cucumber, Steamed Grouper, Dongpo Pork — every dish was exquisite, heat control and seasoning all spot on.

The restaurant was semi-buffet style; soon a truly famous dish came up.

This is precisely the famous Wuhan dish! Authentic Durian Cheese Mustard Three-Cup Chicken!

The chef from across the sea demonstrated the preparation method on the spot: heat sesame oil in the wok, fry ginger slices until curled, fry cheese and whole garlic heads until fragrant, pour in soy sauce paste, rice wine and rock sugar, authentic Wuhan-style three-cup base, then generously scatter handfuls of basil into the wok for flavor.

Then large chunks of chicken, mixed with cheese, large amounts of mustard, and lumps of durian, letting the durian sauce coat the chicken pieces. As the saying goes, the simplest ingredients only need the simplest cooking method.

The self-strengthening Wuhan people eat just such simple home cooking and walk toward the world!

Of course, besides that, there was also a dish of Hu Jian famous cuisine — Dragon Fruit Stir-fried Tomato also served up.

Uesugi Muneyuki tasted the flavor of home, couldn't help but eat quite a bit more.

"Oh? I didn't expect Uesugi-san to actually like Chinese food?" As he was eating, he suddenly felt his vision blur, and a strong jasmine scent rushed toward him.

It was Eto Miyabi, who had also come, holding a plate of mapo tofu and Dongpo pork, plus spicy rabbit head, then she smelled the authentic Wuhan Island durian cheese mustard three-cup chicken, immediately frowned tightly, stepped back, and pinched her nose: "Yue! Kou qu! What is this smell, so strange?" "It's okay." Uesugi Muneyuki laughed: "Did you find out anything?"

"Actually, I found out..." Eto Miyabi deliberately sold a secret, her eyes bright and crystal-like as she looked at him, lightly raising her silk-stockinged foot, and gently kicked his pants with her toe: "Let's talk later, this place isn't suitable... Speaking of which, Uesugi-san, I always thought your Yonezawa Uesugi family observed fasting and ate vegetarian, just like Lord Kenshin."

"Of course! I've always been fasting and vegetarian!" Uesugi Muneyuki smiled slightly after hearing Eto Miyabi's teasing, then said confidently: "Eh? Really?" Eto Miyabi blinked, then looked at the bowl of authentic durian cheese mustard three-cup chicken in front of Uesugi Muneyuki: "This isn't..."

"Oh, this one, this is chicken, chickens belong to birds, eating birds doesn't count as breaking the fast." Uesugi Muneyuki said naturally. "Then this one..." Eto Miyabi pointed to the braised pork sauce in Uesugi Muneyuki's plate.

"This one, this is mountain whale meat, belongs to fish, so naturally it doesn't count as breaking the fast either."

"Does this one count too? Then this one?" Eto Miyabi pointed again to the deer meat sauce beside him.

"This is red leaf meat, naturally it doesn't count as breaking the fast." Uesugi Muneyuki said seriously.

"Then this one?" Eto Miyabi continued pointing at horse meat.

"This one is called cherry meat in our Wu family, of course it doesn't count as breaking the fast." Uesugi Muneyuki blinked his eyes: "Miss Eto, you're an NHK host, haven't you heard of it?"

"Oh! So Uesugi-san is still a vegetarian?!" Eto Miyabi suddenly realized!

"That's right, I've long been a vegetarian."

"What about this wine?"

"This wine? Wine is brewed from grains, and the preserved plum inside is fruit, so naturally it's vegetarian wine!" Uesugi Muneyuki continued explaining: "Vegetarian! Vegetarian wine! I didn't expect Uesugi-san to be so self-disciplined! Truly admirable!" Eto Miyabi laughed so hard she couldn't straighten her waist, she and Uesugi Muneyuki leaned close, able to smell the rich snow cedar wood scent on him, as she smelled it, she subconsciously clamped her legs, a flush flashed on her face, and her gaze became dazed: "Actually, Uesugi-san, there's something you still don't know."

"What is it?"

"Uesugi-san likes vegetarian food and vegetarian wine so much, but you actually don't know, actually I, I'm also vegetarian." Eto Miyabi whispered in Uesugi Muneyuki's ear: "I'm also a material person."

Uesugi Muneyuki's eyes lit up immediately: "Originally like this, in that case, indeed, Miss Eto... also doesn't break the fast."

"Hahahaha ah hahahahahahaha~" Eto Miyabi covered her mouth and smiled secretly: "Then, Uesugi-san, do you want to try vegetarian fasting?" "Hehe~ If there's a chance."

The banquet continued, Fujido left early with several core members halfway through the dinner.

They personally confirmed that Uesugi Muneyuki had eaten the Wuhan-style authentic three-cup chicken, and were certain in their hearts.

Aconitine had been added to it.

It was when the chef handed Uesugi Muneyuki the plate, secretly adding aconitine to it, aconitine has an extremely low lethal dose, and symptoms appear slowly, about forty minutes to two hours after ingestion before heart arrhythmia and nerve paralysis occur, making it hard to immediately suspect food poisoning. Uesugi Muneyuki would collapse within two hours, at which point there would be a "forensic doctor suddenly ill" accident on the ship, rushed urgently to the medical room, whether "treatment ineffective" hastily concluded or whether there was an antidote and rushed to hospital, they didn't care, they only needed to return to prepare the final stage of the ritual.

However, when the banquet ended, Uesugi Muneyuki and Mai Xuejie walked out side by side from Dragon Hua Pavilion.

His steps were steady, his complexion normal, and he even joked with Akimoto Manatsu: "You didn't sing tonight, truly fortunate."

At the hallway corner, the thin tall man with gold-rimmed glasses saw Uesugi walking out from afar, his face turned pale again.

What fat thing?

Poison also ineffective???

No way! Wrong again!

We clearly gave Uesugi Muneyuki more than a lethal dose of aconitine!

How does this guy always seem like nothing happened?

What legendary kill-resistant king???

And just as the thin tall man was preparing to send a message to Fujido, saying how this guy Uesugi just won't die.

A sharp cry suddenly spread throughout the entire cruise ship!

"Dead person! Dead person! Dead person! Save me! Save me!!!"

Uesugi Muneyuki heard this sharp cry and blinked, he turned his head, and saw almost everyone looking at him.

Uesugi Little Blessing Star, you???

Uesugi Muneyuki's gaze was blank.

No way?

Clearly just came out to play, why can I also encounter a case on the cruise ship?

Could it be, I really am the Death God Little Blessing Star???