Hearing my shouting, one of the firewatcher crews that standby near my tent come to my tent to check me.
"Master Henry! Are you alright? I hear you shouting. May I come in?"
Oh shit, it seems I'm shouting too loud and someone hears it. So I lay on my bed and pretending just wake up from a nightmare
"Yes, you may come in"
That crew opens my tent door and come inside
"Master Henry, is everything alright?"
"Oh yeah, I'm fine and everything is alright. Just have a bad dream that someone sabotages our salt cooking pot there. Is the cooking process still ongoing?"
"Report to master Henry, the water level in the pot already reaches half of the pot. It would be completely evaporated within a couple hours"
"Okay, keep alert. Maybe my bad dream is nothing but it also could be a bad omen. I don't want anything bad to happen, you understand?"
"Yes, master Henry. We will keep our eyes on the pot safety. Rest assured master Henry"
"Alright, you can leave now"
The crew leaves my tent after gives a respectful bow. Phew, at least he believes what I'm said, maybe I also have the talent to be an actor too. Oh well, since it's still a couple hours before the salt in cooking pot finished, it's better for me to collect some seaweed again. Besides, I haven't take a bath this morning, diving looking for seaweed and pearl and also bath, three birds in one stone. So I trip my clothes and put it in my personal chest, wearing only pant, I'm heading to the old pier with a sack in my hand.
I jump from the old pier and dive into the sea. It's so peaceful in the sea with no one around, fishes swimming around, watching colorful sea plants in the seabed. This time I try to swim and dive in the area under the cliff that has many birds nest. I swim to that area from the old pier without feeling tired. I watch my arms, it seems more muscular than before, no wonder I'm not feeling tired.
After arriving in the area under the cliff, I look at the view above. I can see many birds come in and out of the caves in the cliff. I also can see the cave where I found the magic sword and the skeleton of that honored master. After taking a deep breath, I start to dive to the bottom of the sea. This area has a deeper bottom than the area near the pier, it's quite steep without any place to step on it. Just like seeing a wall in front of me, but this wall was made from rocks and have uneven surfaces.
The depth of area under this cliff is getting deeper, the shallowest depth is ten meters and getting deeper in the area further from the pier. After resurface and take a deep breath again, I start to dive again to explore this area. There's not much vegetation on this area, mostly are rocks and corals. Suddenly my eyes stared on something like a big dark spot near the walls in 15 meters depth. Slowly I dive to that dark spot and after I'm getting close, it's actually a cave! Under dim sunlight that still reaches that area, I sure that dark spot is a cave and the entrance is quite big. What troubling me is, the interior of the cave is too dark, I can't see anything from the outside cave.
Damn! What should I do? Just barging inside without any preparation at all? Oh no, it's too risky, what if there's sea snake nest in there? Sea snake is more poisonous than the snake in the ground. With low medical technology in this era, I doubt there's serum for snake poison exist in here. No way, I'm not risking my life for something uncertain like this. So I have to swim back and return to the pier, it's a pity there's no flashlight or underwater light that I can use here, or else I will able to explore that cave.
This time I'm going ashore with empty handed, nothing I can get from today sea exploration. Well, can't expect every time I dive I can get something new right? Still, my mind can't leave that cave behind, what I needed most to be able to explore that cave? It's light! So how can I bring light into that cave? Torch? Impossible. My phone flashlight? Are you kidding me? that's not a waterproof phone, so forget it.
Or should I catch fireflies and put in a bottle and bring it down? I remember still have PET bottle for drinking water in my backpack but how many fireflies I needed to give enough light in that cave? My brain thinking hard to find another solution, leaving that cave feels like to have food in front of your face when you hungry but your hand can't reach it. Hmm, what should I do, what make fireflies can make light...of course! That's it, Phosphors! Fireflies can make light because they have some phosphorous substance in their belly, which make them able to make a light. But where can I find this phosphor in this world? Damn! Thinking about that alone already makes me depressed again.
Fortunately, in time when I'm feeling depressed like this, one firewatcher crews run toward me with good news.
"Master Henry, the water level in the pot only remains a quarter of it, what's your instruction?"
"Alright let me take a look first"
We both go to the stove and I'm looking at the pot contains. Like what that crew said, the water is only a quarter left and its color already milky white.
"Okay, don't add more firewood on the pot. Let simmer the pot just to keep the pot warm, this salt solution is almost done, don't make it burnt"
"Yes, master Henry"
I return to my tent to put on some clothes and then return to the stove. I wonder after this salt cooking done, how much salt I can get from there.