He lowered his head and discovered a treasure trove—a forest of waving antennae, each one representing cold, hard cash.

Chu Mingcheng hadn't expected to find a lobster den. The only problem was that he hadn't brought a proper keepnet, just a small mesh bag that wouldn't hold more than a few.

And if he just went in grabbing, he probably wouldn't catch many. The rest of the lobsters would scatter, and he couldn't use brute force.

He thought for a moment and decided not to disturb them for now. He would catch a few fish to take back to the boat first, then rig up some bait to lure them out one by one.

Chu Mingcheng surfaced, memorizing the approximate location. It was easy to spot underwater; this was the only Bawanghua coral formation in the area. A glance in the vicinity would be enough to find it again. 【TN: Bawanghua (霸王花) refers to "King of Flowers" coral, likely a local name for a distinctive coral species. 】

He swam to another area and soon found a huge tiger grouper, definitely over twenty jin—a full-size larger than the Napoleon wrasse on his stringer.

Tiger groupers weren't very active during the day. Once he found one hiding, his chances of hitting it with the speargun were much higher—practically a guaranteed shot.

But the angle on this tiger grouper was bad. Coral reefs blocked its sides, so he could only attack from behind.

The spear pierced its back and exited from the lower left side of its belly.

But the impact sent the fish bolting. The tiger grouper's hiding spot was like a tunnel, and the line immediately scraped against the coral reef above.

Chu Mingcheng quickly reached out, grabbed the other end of the line, and pulled back to prevent severe abrasion.

This made him realize his mistake. He should have shot from the front to avoid contact between the line and the coral.

The fish was hiding inside. Even if he approached from the front, as long as he didn't get too close, it generally wouldn't run. It would think it hadn't been discovered—a biological instinct.

And his accuracy with a stationary target was high now; he wasn't worried about missing from a slightly greater distance.

Experience is built up bit by bit. For now, he had to get this fish back!

A twenty-plus-jin fish was not easy to pull. It was very strong.

Chu Mingcheng checked the time. He had been underwater for a minute and twenty seconds. He picked up the speargun, threaded it through the tunnel-like cave, and took it out from the other side.

This way, the line wouldn't get frayed. Fortunately, the tunnel was large enough. Otherwise, he would have had to surface and pretend to take a breath.

To be honest, his diving experiences these past few times hadn't been great.

With someone watching, there were too many things he had to be careful about. He could only act like a normal person.

After spearing this tiger grouper, today's harvest was good enough.

Unfortunately, there was no boat waiting specifically for them. Going back and forth was too much trouble. He could only hunt as much as possible before returning.

He continued swimming at the surface. A bright red fish in the water caught his attention.

It was a leopard coral grouper. This fish was too famous. Even though the one below was only two or three jin, he still wasn't going to let it go.

Unlike the stationary tiger grouper, this leopard coral grouper was restless, swimming back and forth about a meter above the coral.

Chu Mingcheng raised his speargun and found it difficult to aim, but this was the situation he would often encounter in the future.

He felt the direction of the current, calculated the leopard coral grouper's next move, and, seizing the right moment, he decisively pulled the trigger.

The bolt shot toward the leopard coral grouper not far away, then pierced through its dorsal fin.

Startled, the leopard coral grouper jerked its body, tearing its dorsal fin. After breaking free, it immediately fled into the distance.

The leopard coral grouper's dorsal fin was in the middle-to-back section. The damage greatly affected its balance, making it unable to stay upright.

Its whole body swam at an angle, which meant its speed wasn't very fast.

Seeing this, Chu Mingcheng's eyes lit up. He had thought the fish had escaped, but he hadn't expected this pleasant surprise.

He quickly reeled in the line and chased after it.

After watching the leopard coral grouper hide, he stopped, pulled the rubber bands tight, and dove toward its hiding place.

Only when Chu Mingcheng got closer did he see that it was just leaning against a piece of coral, trying hard to maintain its balance.

This time, it was a perfect target, and the bolt pierced its body.

At the same time, the coral on its other side was also chipped by the bolt, creating a small hole.

This was very damaging to the bolt. He had to use it as little as possible.

Those who could sharpen their bolts were fine. Those who couldn't would have to replace them once they became too dull to be effective.

With another leopard coral grouper in the bag, Chu Mingcheng now had about thirty-five jin of catch on him. It was a bit heavy while swimming. He decided to catch one more fish of about ten jin and then head back.

He passed a large reef. Just as he rounded a corner, he found it was a drop-off, and below, at a depth of about twenty meters, two fish were kissing, mouth to mouth.

This wouldn't do. I'm still single—how can I let fish show off their affection in front of me? I have to send them to the icebox to cool down!

He pulled the rubber bands, loaded the speargun, and was just about to go over when he realized he had misunderstood.

The two fish had their mouths wide open, biting at each other. One of them had its jaw immediately gashed by the other's sharp teeth.

So they were fighting. In that case, he should go over and mediate even more.

They're all fish in the sea—why be so aggressive? They still need to go to the icebox to calm down.

Both fish looked very large, definitely over ten jin, but he wasn't sure if they were over fifteen.

They didn't seem to have noticed Chu Mingcheng, who had come within about five meters of them. When a sharp bolt pierced one of the fish, the other realized danger was near and quickly fled.

Chu Mingcheng immediately grabbed the line and chased after it, pulling the speared fish along.

The speared fish died after a short struggle. It was very unlucky to have been hit in the brain.

So Chu Mingcheng had a very easy time pulling it, as there was no drag.

After chasing for a while, the fish's escape speed was too fast, and he almost lost sight of it.

Chu Mingcheng looked back in the direction of the crewman and found that he was still floating by his buoy on the surface and hadn't followed him.

He must have seen how good his freediving was and relaxed.

At this distance, as long as he was diving, the other person couldn't see him. So he secretly untied the safety rope from his body, suddenly accelerated, and immediately caught up with the fleeing fish.

After fleeing for a while, the fish in front seemed to think there was no danger and gradually slowed down.

Chu Mingcheng took this opportunity to quickly close the distance, retrieve the dead fish and secure it with a fish stringer4, and load his speargun.

He got to within five meters, but this time the fish was more alert and ran away.

He had no choice but to continue following it. When it stopped, he didn't dare get too close, stopping seven or eight meters away.

He raised his speargun to aim, and with a bang, he successfully hit it. Chu Mingcheng made a YES gesture with his left hand.

Fighting is wrong. If you're wrong, you have to accept punishment together, so you'll have a companion.

But this time, he didn't hit the fish's head, so it struggled violently.

Chu Mingcheng pulled the line to wear it out and slowly approached.

Injured and with its stamina rapidly draining, it soon quieted down.

He took out his diving knife and sent it to repent with its companion. Only then did Chu Mingcheng go back, find the safety rope, and tie it back on. Then he surfaced, slowly swam back, and at the same time examined the two fish.

They were all pink, with a large fleshy bump on their heads and another on their chins. They were ugly, and their appearance was a bit like a birthday star【TN: Chinese folklore figure depicted with a prominent forehead bump, symbolizing longevity】.

Their teeth were not much different from a Napoleon wrasse's.

This fish had left a very deep impression on him. When he had looked at the information Lu Zheqiang had given him, he had remembered it at once.

They were both Asian sheepshead wrasse. As for why a pink fish was called golden, Chu Mingcheng wasn't too sure.

[TN: In Chinese, this species is commonly called 金黃突額隆頭魚 (literally “golden protruding-forehead wrasse”), where “golden” refers to its yellowish-orange juvenile coloration and the prominently protruding forehead hump. In English, however, it’s known simply as the Asian sheepshead wrasse, so “golden” does not appear in the English name.]