I'm doing bidirectional science popularization in American comics

The sudden, immense force disrupted the balance between the sand and the cave.

Golden sand flowed down into the cave like a gentle stream.

Looking at the cave in front of him, Daye was a little confused. "Shouldn't we... find a rope or a ladder or something?"

Depp held up his index finger and waved it, saying, "I don't think it's necessary at all."

"Are we just going to jump off from here?"

Daye stared wide-eyed, looking completely bewildered.

"That's it, relax, you'll soon witness the true power of the exiled people."

As Depp spoke, he began to control the surrounding air, causing Daye to float in the air.

This unbelievable scene made Daye panic.

"What's going on?" Daye asked nervously. "Brother Depp, did you do this?"

He waved his arms and legs frantically in the air, trying to find a way back to the ground.

But Depp jumped straight into the cave and controlled the surrounding airflow, bringing Daye in with him.

"Aa ...

As Da A Ye was carried into the cave by the wind and began to fall, he let out a heart-wrenching scream.

Beside the cave, the camel Sanna dug a few holes in the sand with her powerful hooves before calmly lying down.

Ten minutes later, Depp was the first to land.

Subsequently, Daye, who had been brought here by the wind and love, also landed safely.

Thanks to the wind's control, Daye and Depp's landing speeds were not too fast, and they were not harmed.

Depp looked around. Unlike the narrow and cramped cave, this was a rather spacious place.

The massive stone gate stood tall and imposing, and around the hall were countless enormous weapons and warships.

Clearly, this is an armory.

However, after tens of thousands of years of erosion, these weapons were already dilapidated and all were destroyed along with the vicissitudes of time.

Not far ahead, a huge disc with intricate patterns stands against the wall.

The disc has intricate patterns and many gears, making it look quite precise.

The disc was covered in dust, as if it had been waiting for Depp for tens of thousands of years.

Daye, whose emotions had calmed down slightly, also noticed the strangeness here. He came to Depp's side and asked, "Is that the mechanism that records the information about Neptune's Trident?"

Depp nodded and said, "That's right, this is it. By the way... how are you feeling?"

Daye rolled his eyes speechlessly and said, "It's alright. I thought I was going to die just now! By the way, you said you wanted me to see the true power of the exiled people. Did you mean that just now? Was that... the power to control the wind?"

Depp nodded again, then said shamelessly, "That's right, but this is an ability that only exceptionally gifted members of the exiled nation can awaken. If you have enough talent, Daye, you too can possess your own supernatural power in the future."

“I really hope so!” Daye said, then lowered her head. “But I’ve always been the dumbest of my siblings, so I guess there’s no hope for me in this lifetime.”

"Don't be too pessimistic, Daye. Nobody can predict the future."

Depp offered a simple word of comfort and then walked to the front of the disc.

He couldn't wait any longer!

He took the ancient recorder out of the system space and inserted it into the slot at the front of the disc.

"what is this?"

"Daye asked."

Depp explained, "This is an ancient recorder that can activate this mechanism. If the program is correct, you may witness a miracle."

I think I've already witnessed it!

Daye thought to himself, "It doesn't seem to have changed at all. Could there be a problem with the program?"

Depp smiled but said nothing upon hearing this.

He took a bottle of mineral water from the system space and poured it onto the ancient recorder.

Instantly, blue fluorescent patterns lit up from around the ancient recorder, gradually spreading to the entire disc.

The ancient recorder slowly sank, and the gears around the disc began to creak and turn.

Depp even suspected that if he had arrived a little later, the thing might have become unusable due to its age and disrepair.

As the gears turned, the central rings of the disc slowly rose, emitting a clear, azure light like the ocean.

As the azure light reached its peak, a projection of the King of Atlan appeared above it.

In the projection, the elderly King of Atlantis wore a golden crown and golden armor, and held Neptune's Trident.

Even though it was just a projection, it still exuded a powerful aura and pressure, which made it almost impossible for Daye, an ordinary person, to stand up.

"This trident contains the power of Atlantis."

In the projection, the King of Atlantis began to speak to himself.

"If it falls into the hands of bad people, it will bring annihilation to the whole world."

"But if it falls into the hands of the true successor, it will unite the power of all the kingdoms on land and sea."

"If you want my power, you must prove your worth."

"Journey to the dark sea beyond the ends of the earth, and find a voyage route within the bottle."

"Only in the hands of a true king can one see all of that."

After saying all this, the entire disc mechanism, like a game that had been completed, lost all its brilliance and returned to the starting point.

The ancient recorder was also brought out again.

At the same time, another opening appears in the ground in front of the disc mechanism.

A green bottle containing a map, buried in the sand, was hidden in the gap.

And this bottle is the real purpose of Depp's trip.

Compared to the King of Atlantis's repetitive illusions, this bottle and map are the real key items for finding the Dark Sea.

Depp quietly picked up the bottle and casually put it into his system space.

Daye, who was standing there dumbfounded, didn't notice anything at all.

It took Daye quite a while to recover from his shock. He said, "Is this the legendary King of Atlantis?"

Depp said, "That's right, this is King Atlantis."

Daye continued, "So... is that Neptune's trident in his hand?"

"Of course, but it seems there's only this projection here. As for the trident... there's not even a trace of it."

As he spoke, Depp picked up the old recorder, then pretended to curse before slamming it to the ground.

"Nothing!"

Clap!

The ancient recorder shattered on the ground, and Depp wasn't prepared to share this secret with anyone else.

As for Daye, he was just a lucky ordinary person.

Furthermore, Depp suspected that Daye, who had been in shock the whole time, hadn't even remembered what the Atlantean king in the projection said.

When Daye saw Depp smash the old recorder, she almost burst into tears.

"No! Why are you throwing it? I wanted to look at it a few more times! I was so shocked that I didn't remember a single word King Atlan said!"

Upon hearing this, Depp patted Daye's head and said, "King Atlantis didn't say anything. Good boy, let's go back."

Daye stared at the fragments of the ancient recorder on the ground, tears welling in her eyes, and asked, "Shall we go back? This place seems so far from the surface."

"Of course we'll go back the way we came!"

Depp said.

On the sand, the camel Sanna was idly licking her eyes with her tongue.

Suddenly, two soft, smacking sounds came from the sand.

Depp and Daye returned to the ground.

“If you ask me, you really shouldn’t have smashed that black pillar,” Daye grumbled. “After all, it would have been a keepsake. Why were you so impulsive?”

Depp looked at the kid, feeling both amused and exasperated. He said, "It's already broken, and no amount of nagging will fix it. Instead, you should think about how to awaken your own power."

"Power that belongs to...me?"

Daye asked, bewildered.

Depp ruffled Daye's hair and said, "Of course, just like I showed you."

“But I really don’t have any talent,” Daye said sadly.

Depp certainly knew this; Daye was now just an ordinary person, and the chances of him awakening superpowers were almost zero.

With that in mind, Depp took out a dose of Perfect Compound No. 5 from the system space and handed it to Daye.

Daye took the Perfect Compound No. 5 and asked, "What is this?"

Depp said seriously, "This thing can forcibly activate the abilities within you, but if you rely on it to awaken your powers, you are very likely to experience some unexpected mutations. So... unless it's an emergency, you absolutely must not rely on this thing to awaken your powers, understand?"

Chapter 274 I have too many skills!

“Distortion?” Daye asked. “Will it make me deformed?”

“The probability of that is not small,” Depp said. “But physical deformities are not the most terrible thing. If it causes a distortion in your mind, that’s the real trouble.”

What does it mean to have one's mind become distorted?

"It means you'll become less human; simply put, you might go insane, or even kill your own family and friends."

Depp made things sound very serious so that Daye wouldn't use Compound Perfection out of curiosity.

After all, no one can say for sure what kind of superpower is awakened by this thing.