My health recovery is incredibly fast.

"We usually call this the ocean observation room."

Chapter 51 Underwater Operations

Inside the marine observation room, white curtains are used to divide the area.

The curtain's fabric has been enchanted to change sunlight, which has been dyed blue by seawater, back to its normal color, making the surrounding lighting environment similar to that of land.

At the same time, the curtain can also isolate the transmission of sound, odor and vibration, and the area behind the curtain will form a small, relatively enclosed space to prevent the marine plants and animals in the cultivation tank from being affected by the outside.

Mars discreetly lifted a few curtains to peek inside. "They must be conducting experiments in the alchemy lab. Let me see where Master Hillenburg is..."

He picked up a schedule from a desk. “Master Hillenburg is working in the experimental field… I’ll call him up.”

Mars walked toward a horn made of white coral and said:

"Master Hillenburg, Chazor has arrived."

Half a minute later, a faint voice came from the speaker, mixed with a slight bubbling sound, as if someone was talking while blowing bubbles:

"Okay, thank you for your trouble, Mars. I'll be right up."

Mars looked down at the unfathomable ocean beneath the floor.

Several metal chains, adorned with faintly glowing alchemical lamps, extend from the ocean observation room to the seabed.

As the two watched, a much smaller glass room rose steadily from below and finally came to rest on the side of the ocean observation room.

“This glass room is our usual diving room,” Mars explained from the side.

The diving room rose to the same level as the ocean observation room.

Its glass walls melted like wax with the glass walls of the ocean observation room, merging into one and connecting the two rooms. Then the walls became like some kind of adhesive film, which was pried open by the figures inside the glass rooms with their hands. After the people came out, the walls were glued back together.

High-level mages and above can use spells to move at depths of 20 to 100 meters underwater.

But there's no need to expend energy and effort to go diving.

The alchemy school has readily available alchemical diving equipment, allowing them to use their magical energy in better ways.

It's just that... the alchemical diving gear looks a bit ugly.

Master Hillenburg was wearing an extravagantly designed diving suit.

Its surface is coated with a luminescent oil, emitting a bright, hazy white glow that stands out against the dark seawater.

The diving suit's head is covered by a rounded diving helmet, with a visor twice the size of a normal human face, providing a very clear frontal view.

The joints and key stress-bearing areas of the wetsuit have been reinforced with additional metal components to enhance support, making the entire wetsuit look unusually bulky…

Hillenburg said in a buzzing voice through the vent on his diving helmet, "Wait a minute, you two. I need to take this off first."

Mars stepped forward. "Let me help you, Master Hillenburg."

After Hillenburg stepped onto a circular metal platform, he used the control panel to operate two robotic arms to remove Hillenburg's diving suit part by part, and then soaked it in a disinfection pool to disinfect it.

The alchemical diving suit has the property of repairing itself with light energy.

The alchemical lamps above the disinfection pool provided ample light for repairing the diving suits.

Xia Zuo obediently stood by, using his detection spell on the novel object to record both Hillenburg and the template of the diving suit, to be studied later.

Hillenburg took a comb out of his shirt pocket and tidied his messy hair, revealing a very composed-looking middle-aged man's face.

“Master, this is Shazo,” Mars introduced to Shazo from the side. “This is Master Watson Hillenburg, the leader of the Marine Ecology Observation Group.”

"Good day, Master Hillenburg." Xia Zuo bowed respectfully to the other party.

“Hello, Shazo. I’ve already heard about your deeds from Mars.” Hillenburg gave Mars a look, and the latter understood, quietly pulling back the curtain and leaving.

"Come, have a seat. Let's have a quick chat." Hillenburg gestured to the seat opposite the desk and used his Wind Hand to bring over two cups of tea that smelled slightly salty.

There was a small piece of something resembling algae sediment in the teacup, and the faint salty taste was emanating from the algae sediment.

Xia Zuo held his teacup, examined the algae mud briefly, took a sip of the uniquely flavored tea, and was surprised to find that it had a salty and savory cheese taste, as if he were drinking some kind of beverage made with cheese. A look of novelty appeared on his face.

"How about it, pretty good, huh?" Hillenburg slurped down a large mouthful of tea and laughed.

"You can't find this kind of cheese-flavored algae mud anywhere else. It's my secret treasure, a gift from the ocean."

Hillenburg put down his teacup, bent his arms and rested them on the desk, interlacing his fingers in front of him. "Alright, let's get back to the point. Xia Zuo, have you heard of me before?"

Xia Zuo scratched his head, feeling that this question was a bit difficult to answer…

Based on Mars's description of Hillenburg, Hillenburg should be a renowned alchemist within the alchemical school.

However, Xia Zuo, who was not good at socializing, had never heard of him.

Out of politeness, he should say something like "I've heard about it before."

But Xia Zuo chose to be honest, "To be honest, sir, I had never heard of your deeds before I came to Lumington."

Hillenburg tapped the table, making a soft, resonant sound. “Very well, my intuition tells me you’re not lying. You’re not one of my followers, which will save you a lot of trouble. Followers, while they will strictly follow my instructions and obey my every word, lack independent thought and are unlikely to offer useful, unbiased advice.”

Hillenburg resumed the interlacing of his fingers and said:

Have you ever spent an extended period of time underwater?

"Note that I am not asking if you can swim."

"In fact, our alchemy diving suit has a power-assisted system and is equipped with a thruster with 6 blades. It has a storage space inside that holds more than a dozen air tanks, so there is no need to worry about breathing or moving underwater."

"I need every researcher to have the ability to remain calm in dark, oppressive environments where the five senses are greatly diminished."

Helenburg paused for a moment, "And one more thing. Because of our proximity to the plane junction, any unauthorized spellcasting will be detected by the underwater sentinels. So, most of the time, we can only rely on our alchemical diving suits to move or operate alchemical instruments, and we can't use spells like Trickle or Flow that can manipulate seawater."

Do you think you can adapt to this situation?

Xia Zuo loosely clenched his hands under the table.

He wasn't sure if he could do it.

In my previous life, I almost never had the opportunity to go into the water, let alone dive or work underwater. These kinds of things required professional training and certification.

Now they're actually going to dive directly for operations...

“Master Hillenburg,” Xia Zuo said, spreading his hands, “Perhaps I should try to find out the answer. Could you give me this chance?”

Hillenburg intertwined his two thumbs and twirled them together. After thinking for a few seconds, he said:

"You can give it a try. I happen to have a relatively easy job on hand."

He pointed to the alchemy diving suit parked on the circular platform, "I'll help you put on this general-purpose diving suit first, and then you'll follow my instructions step by step. If you can complete all the steps within the allotted time, then you've passed the interview."

"Yes, Master."

Xia Zuo had previously observed the process of taking off the diving suit and had a basic understanding of how to put on and take off the suit.

He stepped into the foot area of ​​the diving suit, which was spraying out numbers.

"Crack, click."

Each of the feet was secured by a lock.

“Good, that’s it.” Hillenburg nodded almost imperceptibly. “Now straighten your upper body, put your arms into the sleeves of your wetsuit, and let the buckles lock naturally.”

"Click, click." Xia Zuo did as instructed.

"Very good, keep your arms outstretched."

Hillenburg operated the robotic arm to install the remaining parts of the diving suit on Shazo, and then checked the air chamber, thrusters, and emergency rescue devices located on the back of the diving suit.

Hillenburg walked to the front of the diving suit, looked at Shazo through the circular observation mask, and asked, "You don't have an elemental body yet, right?"

Xia Zuo nodded and mumbled, "Yes, Master."

"Then feel it. Inside the gloves, at the base of your thumbs, there is a noticeable metal protrusion. You are evenly pouring attribute-free energy into them."

Xia Zuo entered a shallow meditative state, smoothly guiding the energy and sending it to the metal protrusion.

A very faint starting sound came from inside the diving suit.

Xia Zuo instantly felt that his wetsuit was much lighter, and the air became fresher, no longer making him feel suffocated.

"The control buttons on the wetsuit are on your front."

Hillenburg gestured across his chest and said:

"Try all the buttons: the diving light switch, the air chamber check button, the energy management check button, the pressure and depth detection button, the communications check button, and the emergency rescue button. Make sure they're all working properly."

"If you have an elemental body, you don't need to go through all this trouble. This alchemical diving suit can be attached to the elemental body, and you can operate it using energy signals."

Xia Zuo reached out and groped around in front of his chest, turning on and off the buttons one by one.

When the diving light is turned on, a very bright beam of light will shoot out from his forehead, making everything in front of him appear white, and a clear luminous outline will appear around his body.

All other buttons are working properly.

“We’re all set. Any questions?” Hillenburg asked, arms crossed.

Xia Zuo shook his head, "No, Master, I'm ready."

Hillenburg led Shazo into the diving room, then back to the control panel in the observation room, speaking through the trumpet-shaped coral:

"Begin your descent. Your objective is to proceed along the path on the platform after reaching the designated depth, searching for the lost toolbox in a seaweed field."

“I’ve searched most of the places, and now I’m sure the toolbox is in the remaining few fields.”

He pressed the button to activate the diving chamber and looked at Xia Zuo, who was slowly descending, and said:

"I will use the orb on the control panel to pinpoint your location and see your surroundings, so don't panic. If anything goes wrong, I will come to your rescue immediately."

"Yes, Master."

Xia Zuo's voice was calm, a benefit of entering a shallow state of meditation. As long as he could maintain this state, he could remain calm and composed, completing tasks like a ruthless machine.

For him, the darkness of the deep sea was merely a profound painting.

This alone is equivalent to several years of vocational training, which is the advantage that mages have in engaging in dangerous professions.

However, it should be noted that in a shallow meditative state, energy will be continuously depleted, approximately every hour until 18 PM.

Xia Zuo had taken this into consideration.

He used his mind to manipulate the Elementary Life Alchemy Stone, took several doses of enhancement potion, and obtained the [Full of Energy] special effect.