This is what it felt like to dive into the ocean.

Chu Mingcheng had swum at the beach many times before. Still, being able to stay underwater for at least an hour, to observe the underwater scenery, and to swim alongside the fish—it was a truly wonderful experience.

Slowly, he made his way to the spot where he had been rock fishing earlier.

The depth here wasn't the seven or eight meters it had been when he was fishing. It was morning now, and the tide was still going out.

Chu Mingcheng swam to the bottom and found a few small blackhead seabream hiding among the reefs.

Seeing the terrain now, he felt his previous snags had been completely justified.

He did a quick search in the rock crevices and found the very hook he had lost. It was bent out of shape, but the sinker was still attached.

He didn't know whether to laugh or cry. With this "Effortless Swim" ability, did this mean he would never have to worry about getting snagged again?

But he ignored the lost hooks for now. He could always come back and collect the sinkers after he finished catching fish.

Now that he was personally diving for fish, Chu Mingcheng had no interest in the small blackhead seabream here. When you go spearfishing, you go for the big ones.

He had been in the water for about twenty minutes but felt no discomfort or need to breathe, so he didn't surface for air. Instead, he swam directly toward deeper water.

The coastal resources were indeed scarce. As Chu Mingcheng swam, he didn't encounter any schools of fish—not even many small ones.

As for encountering sharks while diving? They'd have to get through the fishermen's gauntlet of nets first. Even if he did run into one, he had his diving pole. Nothing to be afraid of.

It wasn't like he was going to run into a great white or tiger shark over five meters long in these coastal waters. If something that impossible happened, well, he'd just have to feed it.

He swam slowly for two or three minutes, found a reef area about twenty meters deep, and then finally surfaced for a breath.

He still didn't feel any discomfort, but since he would be spending a long time hunting underwater, getting some air was necessary.

But when he surfaced and looked back, he was shocked to find he had traveled nearly a hundred meters from the shore.

The world record for the 100-meter swim was under a minute, but he had been swimming slowly, in the ocean, and had covered that distance in two or three minutes with almost no effort. This "Effortless Swim" ability was truly incredible.

Turning back, he now had to try diving to a depth of over twenty meters.

He had been swimming at a depth of three or four meters without any issues. Now, if he could dive to over twenty meters without feeling dizzy or having ear discomfort, it would mean he could make a living from spearfishing.

Chu Mingcheng began to slowly descend. He soon reached a depth of ten meters.

Then he slowed down even more, carefully monitoring his body.

So far, no discomfort at all.

He continued deeper. Eleven meters, fifteen meters, twenty meters, twenty-four meters...

He only stopped when his hand touched the reef at the bottom.

It had taken him about a minute to go from ten to twenty-four meters.

He could feel a slight pressure from the surrounding water, but it was negligible and didn't affect him at all.

Chu Mingcheng felt he could probably get a four-star freediving certification right now. Diving to seventy meters would be no problem at all.

He unclipped the snare pole from his body and began to search for prey on the reef and sandy seafloor.

Here, Chu Mingcheng could occasionally see large fish swimming slowly in the distance, but without a speargun, he couldn't catch them.

His visibility at the bottom wasn't great, so he rose a bit, positioning himself about two meters above the seafloor.

Then he kicked his legs, searching for fish hiding in holes and crevices.

After swimming about five meters, he finally spotted a target of at least three jin on the side of a large reef—a blackhead seabream.

Chu Mingcheng slowly sank to the bottom and approached it from behind.

He slowly extended the snare pole, inching it past the blackhead seabream's tail. At that moment, he instantly triggered the switch.

Swish!

The snare tightened abruptly. The blackhead seabream, finally realizing the danger, thrashed its tail wildly, trying to escape.

Fearing the snare on its tail wasn't tight enough and it might break free, Chu Mingcheng quickly pressed its body against the reef with his left hand.

The blackhead seabream's dorsal fin flared in a threat display, but pinned against the reef, it was helpless.

Chu Mingcheng released the snare pole with his right hand, took out his live fish stringer, opened it, passed it through the fish's gills, and fastened it.

Now, even if he let go, the blackhead seabream couldn't escape unless it was willing to part with its head.

Fish on a stringer usually don't struggle much. It's better not to move; moving only hurts.

With one blackhead seabream of about three jin successfully secured, Chu Mingcheng continued his search for the next target.

His stringer had twelve clips; he would try to fill them all before heading back.

Perhaps because it was daytime and the fish were active, it took him another seven or eight minutes to find his second target.

It was a yellowfin seabream of about two jin, a species he hadn't caught before.

But this yellowfin seabream wasn't resting. The moment he approached and extended his snare, it flicked its tail and darted away.

Emmm...

Sure enough, spearfishing without a speargun wasn't easy. Even though he was fast in the water, he couldn't possibly catch it.

Chu Mingcheng suddenly remembered what he had forgotten to buy earlier—a fish spear!

In that situation, he might have been able to spear it.

Anyway, live or dead, as long as it was a freshly caught wild fish, the price was the same.

After all, you don't see live wild fish at the market. If you do, you should be wary.

Just then, a small school of sea bass, each about sixty or seventy centimeters long, swam arrogantly above him. Their slow, leisurely pace made Chu Mingcheng's mouth water.

It was like watching an armored truck drive by without an AK to make it stop.

As he watched the sea bass swim away, Chu Mingcheng turned his head and found that a surprise had delivered itself to his doorstep.

A cute green spiny lobster was slowly crawling from his front into a rock crevice below. He couldn't catch the fish, but a lobster was easy prey.

Chu Mingcheng immediately dove down and peered into the crevice.

The green spiny lobster was curled up inside, its antennae twitching outside as if observing something.

Chu Mingcheng reached for it...

He missed. The lobster shot out of another exit and swam quickly into the distance.

Chu Mingcheng immediately gave chase, his legs kicking powerfully. He was surprisingly able to keep up.

A lobster's backward dart is fast, but it has pauses, and it won't run continuously in the water. It will quickly hide in another rock crevice.

And Chu Mingcheng, at full speed, was no joke. He never let the lobster out of his sight.

When the panicked lobster hid in a new crevice, this one had no other exit. He successfully caught it.

A seven or eight-liang green spiny lobster was a nice catch. He put it in the small mesh bag he was carrying.

This small mesh bag was originally for any scallops, whelks, or large oysters he might find, but it worked for a lobster for now.