Chapter 834 - 372: Cracking the Treasure Site Code! (8K Combined - )

Chapter 834: Chapter 372: Cracking the Treasure Site Code! (8K Combined Chapter)

They were all wearing sailing clothes that had become stiff from being soaked in salt, their eyes dark, lips chapped, faces roughened by the sea breeze and scorching sun.

But the look in each of their eyes was like that of soldiers guarding the last stronghold, staring intently at the laptop on the central chart table.

One second, two seconds... One minute, two minutes...

Each jump of the progress bar was like a heavy hammer, pounding mercilessly on their already fragile hearts.

"Ding!"

A crisp, pleasant notification sound, at this moment, sounded as terrifying as the sound of a guillotine blade falling. The data had finished loading.

Lin Yu’an moved the mouse and opened the file that would decide their ultimate fate. The latest storm prediction path map, like God’s final verdict, appeared on the screen.

At that moment, time seemed to come to a complete standstill. In the cabin, there were only the heavy, suppressed, near-halted breaths of three people.

They were all stunned.

On the screen, the red predicted path that had been pointing like a sharp sword directly at the north coast of Dominica, directly at their course.

Had suddenly, in the 24-hour future node, made a giant near-ninety-degree turn! Charging into the depths of the North Atlantic Ocean.

"What... what is this?" Riven was the first to break the silence, her voice filled with indescribable shock.

She rubbed her sore, stinging eyes hard, almost thinking it was an illusion from two consecutive days without sleep. "The model went wrong?"

"No... no mistake." Lin Yu’an’s fingers flew across the touchpad.

Bringing up high-altitude weather charts, sea temperature maps, and atmospheric wind shear diagrams, he cross-referenced these complex weather data with that incredible path map.

Seconds later, he found the answer. The tired and tense face he had worn for two days finally showed a relieved smile.

"Look here," he pointed to a section north of the storm on the isobar map, "Subtropical high pressure in the North Atlantic. It has unusually strengthened and extended southwest in this season."

"It’s like an invisible wall, blocking Artemis! It has no choice but to roll away!"

Mike exhaled deeply, a breath filled with all the fatigue and torment of the past 48 hours.

He wiped his face forcefully with his calloused, rough hands.

Then he looked at the two young people before him and smiled. "Did we win?"

"We won!" Riven almost screamed as she jumped up!

She threw her arms around Lin Yu’an beside her, giving him a hard kiss on his stubbled cheek, then turned and hugged her father tightly. The immense pressure of the past two days was entirely released at that moment!

Watching the two young people cheer and leap, Mike’s eyes were filled with relief, murmuring to himself: "Yes, kids, we won. The sea got angry, but it spared us in the end."

The long-awaited joy, like sunlight piercing through clouds, instantly filled the entire ship!

Lin Yu’an shut down all the alarm systems and reduced the engine RPM to a leisurely cruising mode. The sound of Polaris cutting through the waves seemed to become gentle.

"I’m going to get the rum!" Mike leaped off the sofa and rushed to his treasured liquor cabinet with agility that belied his age.

"I’m going to cook a real meal!" Riven also cheered and ran into the kitchen, vowing to use up all the fresh ingredients on the ship.

An hour later, the three sat on the aft deck.

The morning sun dyed the sea a magnificent gold, and the aroma of grilled grouper mixed with the richness of Mike’s "Mount Gay XO" rum filled the air.

Mike poured some of the rum into each of their cups, the amber liquid reflecting a golden sheen in the splendid Caribbean morning light.

"To Polaris," Lin Yu’an softly raised his glass.

"To Polaris!" Mike and Riven echoed in unison.

Mike sipped the rum, his face holding that serene calm that follows surviving wild storms, making his wrinkles appear particularly deep.

"When I was young, in the Gulf of Mexico, I encountered a storm that didn’t have time to be named. In six hours, it upgraded from a tropical depression to a Category 1 hurricane."

"We were on an old sailing ship then, and the weather forecast was a joke."

"The mast broke, the radio failed, and we drifted for three days and nights on the sea like a discarded bottle by God."

His gaze turned to the distant, gradually rising sun, his eyes holding no fear, only a reverence and reminiscence of the past.

"We almost died there. So since then, I’ve made a rule for myself: never gamble with the weather."

He turned, raising his glass to Lin Yu’an and Riven in turn.

"But today, we didn’t gamble. Instead, with precise calculations and a mad race, we won this contest."

"We respected it, and it spared us."

"To the graceful turn of Lady Artemis!" Mike raised his glass.

"To Artemis," Lin Yu’an and Riven said simultaneously.

Now, they no longer needed to race against time.

The voyage to Los Haitises National Park had transformed from a desperate flight into a truly anticipated Caribbean adventure cruise.