Marvel: A Lazy-Ass Superman

Chapter 745: Chapter 745: The Salvage Operation

”Is that so? Then help me set up my easel, child.”

Katherine Hepburn, a woman with a very clear sense of boundaries, stopped there and turned her attention to her own business.

Some things simply weren’t meant to be pursued too deeply. Sometimes, being a little absent-minded was itself a form of wisdom.

Henry didn’t say another word. He sprang up from the ground, opened the painting case, and set up the old easel and various painting supplies the old lady was accustomed to using.

Just as he’d said himself, there was no need to rush the salvage operation. It was only the first day, after all. Hadn’t even the person whose equipment they were here to recover gone off to play on the beach?

Even Skye had changed into a pair of loose boys’ boxer-style swim trunks and a short T-shirt. She tied a knot around her waist to keep the shirt bunched up, maintaining her usual tomboyish appearance as she went off to play in the water.

Watching her attempt to ride on Kitty’s back as the tiger charged into the sea, Henry could only marvel at how unbelievably bold this girl was.

Such tranquil scenery, accompanied by the sea breeze of the Aegean...

Neither in his previous life nor in this one had Henry ever imagined himself experiencing something like this.

While the old lady painted, Henry took off his glasses and set aside all the data feeds from the spy drones and satellites. He even ignored the notification messages being sent from his own server.

He emptied his mind and stopped thinking about anything.

He allowed his super-brain to enter a rare moment of silence.

The next day, aboard the yacht, everyone except the Eternals, the Spartan, and the Kryptonian stayed behind on the resort island, including the tabby cat Kitty.

There were plenty of activities available on the island, so those who stayed behind certainly wouldn’t be bored. Wellness classes, massages, skincare, stress-relief treatments—everything was available.

When Kingo booked the island resort, he’d purchased the entire package of services.

As for the yacht, it was currently racing toward the target waters at a speed of two hundred knots.

The yacht’s engines naturally weren’t capable of anything like that.

It was because the Kryptonian was pushing it through the water.

Henry had turned a leisure yacht into a super-speedboat. All it needed now was a pair of wings and it could probably take flight.

Once they reached the target area, Henry stopped on a dime.

Only the Spartan powerhouse staggered slightly. The other three Eternals remained perfectly steady.

Henry jumped out of the water and back onto the side of the boat. He was wearing nothing but a pair of swim trunks. His wet hair and beard were sticking out in all directions, making him look somewhat disheveled.

”We’ve reached the destination. Cassandra, do you remember what kind of box you put the equipment in before throwing it into the sea?”

”A wooden chest, bound with iron chains. It was quite sturdy for that era, but I have no idea whether it could withstand more than two thousand years, or what might have happened to it while it was sinking.”

”Do you remember roughly how big it was?”

Cassandra looked around and pointed toward one of the fixed storage boxes on the yacht.

”A little taller than that. All six sides were flat. And don’t go looking for one of those treasure chests with an arched lid you see in movies.”

”Got it.”

After returning to the boat, Henry took some equipment from the pack he’d brought with him and prepared to hand it out.

The equipment was simple: deep-sea flashlights.

Using overly sophisticated instruments in an environment like that would only create unnecessary trouble. Even these simple flashlights had taken Henry quite a bit of effort to make usable at depths below three thousand meters.

With the flashlights, the others wouldn’t have to rely solely on feeling around in the darkness to find the equipment.

While distributing the flashlights and performing a final inspection of everyone’s equipment, Henry suddenly pulled back the flashlight he’d been about to hand to Thena.

”My mistake. When I made that vibranium jewelry for you earlier, I didn’t consider a situation like this. If you followed us underwater at high speed and the jewelry got knocked off, we’d have a serious problem.”

”Could that really happen?”

Thena touched the headband she was wearing today.

Everyone was wearing ordinary swimwear, not professional diving suits that covered them from head to toe.

So Henry said, ”If there’s a risk, I don’t recommend you go underwater with us. The yacht should have someone staying behind anyway. Thena, you stay here.”

The Eternal powerhouse accepted Henry’s reasoning and withdrew the hand reaching for the flashlight.

She really didn’t want to lose the vibranium jewelry suppressing her berserker condition in the ocean. Finding the jewelry again wouldn’t be a major problem. The real concern was having an episode on the seabed.

Kingo and Gilgamesh naturally had no objections to Henry’s concern either. The two of them were already more than enough to help with the salvage. There was no need to make Thena take the risk as well.

They accepted the deep-sea flashlights Henry handed them.

Once everything was ready, Henry produced an iron chain and moved to the side of the yacht first.

”Once we’re in the water, everyone grab onto the chain. I’ll take you down into the deep sea. If you feel like your body can’t take it, shake the chain or let go. I’ll stop and check on you.”

Henry’s words were primarily directed at Cassandra.

The other Eternals probably had no physical weaknesses worth mentioning, apart from being unable to sunbathe in the traditional sense. But Cassandra, an immortal who relied on an Isu artifact to sustain her life, was an unknown quantity as far as her physical limits were concerned.

Nobody objected to Henry’s arrangement.

One after another, they jumped into the water and grabbed different sections of the chain.

Henry immediately dove and began swimming toward the seabed.

The others followed at astonishing speed.

The sudden acceleration surprised everyone, including the Eternals.

Since Henry was leading the group, the others were effectively traveling in the wake he created. This greatly reduced the resistance from the water, while the wake itself generated a pulling force.

That made things much easier for those following him. They didn’t have to worry as much about their grip on the chain failing and being torn loose.

Cassandra, however, had never expected them to descend at such a speed.

Her body was already approaching its limits, and she couldn’t help cursing inwardly.

Cassandra knew perfectly well that, among everyone present, she probably had the weakest physical constitution.

The arrangement of their positions on the chain made that obvious.

She was directly behind Henry, which was the easiest position.

Gilgamesh was third, while Kingo, whose specialty was long-range attacks, brought up the rear.

The two Eternals weren’t frightened by the sudden acceleration, but they were still astonished by Henry’s speed underwater.

Earlier, when they’d turned the yacht into a speedboat, it hadn’t been quite so obvious.

Now that they were actually underwater and could see Henry’s swimming style with their own eyes, they were genuinely surprised.

Henry wasn’t moving his arms.

He wasn’t kicking his legs either.

He simply shot straight toward the seabed.

It looked almost exactly like Ikaris’s flying posture.

Although if that arrogant youngster actually came here, he probably wouldn’t be able to ”fly” through the water at this speed.

In an environment where they couldn’t speak, the Eternals had their own methods of communication.

Gilgamesh looked at Kingo, his eyes asking:

You knew he could move this fast?

Faced with his elder brother’s astonished expression, Kingo helplessly shook his head.

The Kryptonian’s abilities had always been beyond his expectations.

Every time Kingo thought he’d finally discovered the man’s limits, Henry somehow managed to redefine them.

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