Chapter 16: Digging Half a Meter Deep
Back at the camp, Noah finally understood what was happening after listening to Vic's explanation—they had stumbled upon a cave that might contain hidden treasure.
Noah retrieved two sets of diving suits, four oxygen tanks, and two portable floodlights from the storage room. He handed them over and told the group to be cautious.
At the mountain platform, Vic passed the diving suits and oxygen tanks to Joshua and Anthony. After suiting up, the two of them grabbed their weapons and floodlights, then headed into the cave.
The entrance to the cave was lined with stone stairs.
After descending about a dozen steps, they reached the bottom.
In the light of the floodlights, a large hall came into view, its walls covered with the marks of earlier digging.
Suddenly, Anthony spotted some writing on one of the walls. He wiped away the dust with his dagger.
"Treasure half a meter beneath our feet?"
"Wait, Anthony—does that mean the treasure is right under us?"
"Stay alert. Something doesn't feel right." Anthony's voice carried a note of unease.
Joshua hesitated. "So, what do we do? Dig? Or walk away?"
"We didn't come all this way to give up now. But let's not both dig at once. I'll start, and you keep watch."
Anthony put away his dagger and pulled out a longer blade, carefully scraping away the surface dirt, bit by bit.
Joshua remained on high alert, his Observation Haki constantly focused on anything unusual beneath the soil.
After about half an hour, Anthony had only scraped away about 30 centimeters when his knife hit something solid. A few more scrapes revealed a flash of gold reflecting in the light.
"Wait, is that… actual gold?"
Anthony used his long knife to carefully lift out a golden object—a necklace. But he suddenly froze, his forehead breaking out in cold sweat.
The necklace was wrapped in fine, thin needles. Even after all that time underground, the needles still shimmered with a sinister glow.
"Joshua, don't come any closer! These treasures might be booby-trapped with poisoned needles."
Joshua cursed under his breath. "What kind of twisted bastard hides treasure like this? So damn sinister."
They fetched some wooden crates from above and used chopsticks to carefully transfer the treasure into the crates. After more than an hour of work, they had filled 12 crates to the brim.
Back at the platform, Anthony removed his helmet and looked at the 12 overflowing crates with a grin. "Whoever buried this treasure was sneaky as hell, but once refined, all this loot's worth at least 80 million Berries."
Vic moved to lift one of the crates, but it suddenly cracked open, scaring him into tossing it aside to avoid getting pricked by the poisoned needles still tangled in the treasure.
Crash!
The crate shattered into pieces, scattering gold, silver, and jewels everywhere.
Anthony jumped in surprise. "Watch it! Don't get too close."
They hurriedly grabbed an empty crate, carefully using chopsticks to transfer the spilled treasure back inside. Vic then split a bunch of wood, and using vines from the nearby forest, reinforced the crates to prevent another break during transport.
Suddenly, Anthony stared at the crates, frowning.
"What's wrong?" Joshua asked, curious.
"Something's off. There are 13 crates here, but we've only filled 12 with treasure. That means there's still another batch of treasure buried below."
Anthony's eyes lit up as he recalled something. "Damn it, we almost got tricked again."
"Tricked? What do you mean?" Joshua was still confused.
"Remember the writing on the wall? It said the treasure was half a meter down. But I only dug 30 centimeters and found treasure. Clearly, the real treasure is still buried another half-meter deeper, in that last crate."
Joshua's face brightened in realization. "Ah, I see now. That bastard really was sly."
Once again, they put on their helmets and ventured back into the cave, feeling even more tense than before
After another half hour of careful digging, they finally discovered what was hidden below.
Two small chests—one long and rectangular, the other square.
Neither Anthony nor Joshua dared open them inside the cave, fearing more traps from the devious treasure-hider.
They carried the chests back to the temporary camp.
After hearing Anthony and Joshua's story, Noah understood the full danger of the treasure. The traps were so layered and complex —anyone less cautious would've ended up dead.
Noah instructed Jay to sort through the gems first, then use the graphite furnace to melt the gold, silver, and poisoned needles together, separating the metals. The extreme heat would destroy most of the toxins.
Meanwhile, Noah performed a tarot reading on one of the chests.
"This one's safe." Casually, he opened it, revealing a Devil Fruit inside.
The group was stunned.
"A Devil Fruit? No way!"
"I wonder what kind of fruit it is?"
"We can check the encyclopedia later and find out."
Noah then did a reading on the second chest, and the result shocked him. "A 50% risk?"
Even with his strength, a 50% risk was surprising. Whatever was in that chest was completely beyond his expectations.
Jay created a small graphite room, and Noah focused his Observation Haki on the chest while Jay controlled a graphite puppet to open it.
"A sword?"
Suddenly, a dark, ominous aura began to seep out from the blade.
"A cursed sword?"
No wonder there was such a high risk. If it was a cursed blade, that definitely explained the danger.
Especially this particular cursed blade.
A faint voice whispered in Noah's mind.
"Pick me up…"
"With me, you'll command limitless power…"
"Limitless power? From you? A mere sword? How laughable!" Noah's Conqueror's Haki ignited like a blazing firestorm, flooding into the cursed blade.
In an instant, he drew the sword, and the overwhelming force of his iron will crushed the sinister instincts of the blade.
"Disappear!"
His Conqueror's Haki ground the cursed blade's malevolent spirit into dust. As the blade's will shattered, it slowly absorbed the remaining Conqueror's and Armament Haki from Noah.
"I don't care what your old name was. From now on, you'll be called 'Crimson Heart.'"
The others finally snapped out of their daze.
Anthony, in particular, looked shaken. He was relieved they hadn't opened the chest in the cave, because back then, his mind had been filled with strange, unsettling thoughts—clearly the sword had been trying to seduce him.
Noah sheathed Crimson Heart, then gave a stern warning. "This is a legendary cursed blade. Without enough mental strength, anyone who wields it risks being consumed and turned into a slave to the sword. Be careful if you ever come across something like this again."
"Brother Noah, what do we do if someone gets controlled by a cursed blade?" Jay asked, concerned.
"As long as you take the blade away or destroy it, the person will return to normal," Noah explained.
This was the same method that used to break the curse of the Seven Star Sword—destroy the cursed blade, and all its curses would disappear like cutting the roots of a weed.