Learn one small skill every day

Compared to Shiyan's behavior, Holker and Kaguya are considered quite normal.

These three are all more troublesome than the last.

Bai Miao felt that he had successfully attracted the attention of these mermaids. Whenever he entered the waters four thousand meters below, the mermaids would attack him.

This greatly disrupted their construction plans.

Bai Miao was waiting, waiting for Shi Yan to come to him on her own initiative.

Or perhaps one day these mermaids will stop thinking about attacking them and instead be willing to have a proper chat.

Language differences can be addressed by learning more; currently, there's a lack of sufficient data for learning.

After jumping back and forth several times, the group of mermaids finally gave up their attack and instead began frantically sending hand gestures at Bai Miao.

It was almost entirely swear words.

This data is still collected by Bai Miao and returned to the Endless Energy, whereby the Endless Energy converts it into a learning format for Bai Miao to understand.

"Captain, what did you do to them? Why did they insult your parents, grandmother, wife, and children?"

"I don't know. At first, I just wanted to talk to their leader. Anyway, I don't have any of these things, so feel free to curse me."

Through extensive study of gestures, Bai Miao successfully mastered this sign language.

I also understood what I had originally meant.

"Oh, it was all a misunderstanding. I hope you can understand how difficult it is for someone who has just learned your language to do this. Now we should be able to communicate happily."

Bai Miao officially began normal exchanges with the mermaid civilization.

Chapter 140 Machinery

Bai Miao went to great lengths to convince the group of mermaids that he was a good person, and that the previous misunderstandings were due to language barriers.

But the mermaids remained somewhat wary.

Bai Miao asked if anyone had warned them beforehand that a meteorite would fall here, and inquired about how they had developed such a civilization in the sea, but received no reply.

Having no other choice, Bai Miao had to resort to his trump card.

Among the rewards received from the donkey village was a Teth-level luminous pearl. This pearl had no other use besides emitting light, and even the Teth level didn't make its light immune to various strange rules. If it encountered areas that completely absorbed light, it would still remain dark.

Using this opportunity to pry open the mouths of these mermaids is a good choice right now.

The luminous pearl instantly illuminated the sea within a ten-meter radius, its brilliance far surpassing that of the stars and the moon compared to the small stones carried by the mermaids.

Bai Miao was stunned when he saw the mermaid.

"Want it? Answer my question and I'll give it to you. This thing isn't easy to find. We're trapped in a cycle now. If we want to escape, at least give us a chance to see the person who caused it, okay?"

The shiny object seemed to have a strong attraction for the mermaids. Soon, Bai Miao noticed that some of the mermaids in the group were becoming uneasy and gesturing to him, indicating that they were willing to answer Bai Miao's questions, but they were quickly stopped by the other mermaids.

It possesses basic organizational skills... but individuals can still be attracted by temptations.

It's also possible that Shi Yan never even considered bribing these mermaids.

Before long, the group of mermaids reached a consensus—the leader should receive the bright bead and answer Bai Miao's questions as much as possible.

"Does your civilization have such a person in its development? Who can give you some hints on what to do next?"

"It's not a person, it's just a round thing."

The mermaid leader drew a circle in the water for Bai Miao.

“We have priests who ask this creature where to hunt in the coming days and how to avoid racial casualties.”

This group of mermaids may have a misunderstanding of the definition of "human." Bai Miao explained further, "They're things that look similar to me, right?"

The leader looked Bai Miao up and down: "He's far from good enough."

Did it turn into a box like Holker? Or is it round?

"So, you already knew that a meteorite would fall in the future and cause a crisis for the entire race, so you made preparations in advance?"

"indeed so."

"You don't really think you can stop the meteorite by building this metal shield, do you? Last time I saw one of your people shoveling dirt around a meteorite and then suddenly die. There's something on this meteorite that can kill you and make the predators that eat you even crazier."

The leader mermaid was shocked: "Huh? Is this really the case?"

"Didn't your priests tell you? Or did they not give you specific details about that thing?"

“We…don’t know what will happen in the future. We just solve the problems that arise. If it doesn’t work, the priest will tell us. For example, before we came out, the priest said we couldn’t get close to the meteorite and it would be best not to let it fall. Then we discussed and came up with a new plan and implemented it.”

"So you're thinking of building a shield to block the meteorite from hitting the ground?"

"Is there a problem? As long as it doesn't fall to the bottom of the sea, it's fine."

"..."

Bai Miao was starting to get a headache.

This civilization seems to possess some wisdom, but not much.

Is it because the brain is not allowed to develop too much in the deep sea?

Putting aside whether the cover can actually block it, what's the fundamental difference between falling onto the cover and falling into the sea?

"I'd like to see your priest, and perhaps see that thing as well, may I?"

"Absolutely not."

Bai Miao knew it was hopeless.

In their eyes, this was something that could shake their very foundations.

"Okay, have a nice day."

Bai Miao didn't say anything more, but returned to the ship and briefed the others on the general situation.

"What we need to do next is to find out where their hometown is, and then find Shi Yan directly and confront her face to face."

Bai Miao asked about Kaguya Toki's appearance again to make sure that what the mermaids were saying was the same thing he was asking.

"A circle... Actually, our shape is liquid metal, which can change within a certain range, so turning into a circle is not a problem."

Emma added at the opportune moment: "By the way, I can't change my appearance; I can only restore it after it's been damaged."

"Send more probes down to search the seabed in this area for signs of marine life. Once we find the location, we'll go there."

The failure rate of seabed searches is extremely high, but even so, Bai Miao still managed to find nearly ten areas that met the criteria using an exhaustive search method.

Then, someone would personally determine the location.

"Captain, I need to remind you in advance that some locations are incorrect, but that doesn't mean they are empty. Rather, something is affecting the detector's judgment, so you can have other crew members go into the water to confirm for you. Sending ten people at the same time will save a lot of time."

Seeing that Bai Miao was planning to try it himself, Irina couldn't help but say, "This is the responsibility of the Operations Management Department, so please don't shirk your responsibility this time."

Bai Miao could tell that Irina was terrified of dying in the sea.

Even with the reboot in place, Irina was still afraid.

Because nobody knows if this will be the last time it's restarted.

What if those mermaids actually succeeded in messing things up?

"Alright, let the crew members from the Operations Management Department confirm this separately first."

Bai Miao was confident in his eyesight; as long as there was light, he could see very distant scenes clearly, and he didn't need to go to any deep places at all.

However, since Irina has already gone this far, it would be unreasonable for me to act so recklessly.

This time, Bai Miao did not choose the person who knocked on the door in the Operations Management Department.

The selected crew members, upon hearing their assigned tasks, made no complaints, nodded, and sailed away alone in their small boat towards their designated location.

A day later, Bai Miao received two replies on the ship.

One place indicates that traces of civilization have been found, while the other indicates that nothing has been found.

There was no response from the other eight locations, and calls went unanswered.

After silently mourning for a moment, Bai Miao immediately organized a team to proceed to the designated location for the handover.

It must be said that these mermaids are quite sturdy; carrying metal plates of various sizes, they can traverse more than a hundred nautical miles in about a day to reach the meteorite landing site.

I remember this place, near Bai Miao; it's the island where the fisherman lived.

The island is not large, and there is a civilization on it, but it is not in the direction Bai Miao is following; it can only be considered a civilization encountered along the way.

Bai Miao did not devote much energy to this civilization.

As Bai Miao descended, he saw luminous areas laid out on the seabed.

The luminescent area is surrounded by a thin, bubble-like membrane that keeps the deep-sea water out.

Inside are low-rise houses built entirely of stone, metal, and other materials, and the city has a diameter of about ten kilometers.

On the streets, there were hardly any mermaids to be seen; most of them had gone to the meteorite impact site, more than a hundred nautical miles away, to deal with the situation.

The impact range of the meteorite reached more than 100 nautical miles. The previous meteorites traveled even further. Deep-sea jellyfish and anglerfish were also affected and moved to the surface. Bai Miao did not find it too strange.

Bai Miao arrived outside the membrane and politely greeted the passing mermaids.

Most of the mermaids who remained inside were either very old or very young.

"Can I come in? Will coming in break this membrane?"

The old merman who was passing by was initially surprised, but after seeing that Bai Miao could use his civilized language, he lowered his guard.

"You also need to come in wrapped in an air membrane."

"An air-supported membrane structure? Where can we get one?"

"There is a civilization on land nearby that is building the air-supported membrane needed to descend into the deep sea."

When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Bai Miao nodded and returned to the place where he had met the fisherman last time.

Since they arrived many days early, the fisherman was still there and greeted Bai Miao and his companions warmly.

"Can you make air-supported membrane structures here?"

Upon hearing Bai Miao's words, the fisherman's expression changed: "You actually know that another civilization exists down there? Very few outsiders would know this. Did you go to the seabed first?"

"Wait...does your wife like things that glow?"