Five days had passed since Jiang Luoluo's last video shoot, and the final cut had been released yesterday.

Compared to the live performance, the video's dancing was more fluid, and the transitions were stunning. The special effect of falling snow halfway through elevated the dance's artistic mood, and the reception was exceptionally positive.

Chu Mingcheng naturally liked, tipped, and shared it, leaving a dozen glowing reviews below. His praise was so over-the-top that it embarrassed Jiang Luoluo into storming over to his house, demanding he tone it down.

In the end, he made her give him a shoulder massage in exchange for deleting a few of his most cringeworthy, toe-curling comments.

There was other good news: his boat license had finally arrived.

The exam had posed no challenge for him, and the practical portion was a breeze.

Chu Mingcheng moved all his sea fishing gear onto the boat for convenience.

As soon as he had the license in hand, he decided to head out to sea.

His customers had been messaging the group chat for the past two days, asking if he had any high-end catches.

Without a license, Chu Mingcheng had been stuck fishing from shore or in small lakes. How could he possibly have any premium goods?

He hadn't even encountered large fish, and his daily income had dropped to around a thousand yuan. He was getting anxious himself.

Thankfully, with his license secured, he could now search for prime fishing spots and land quality catches.

Jiang Luoluo had just finished a commercial performance two days ago and officially started her break yesterday, so she was free to join him.

He first called Wei Jianguo, intending to invite him along, but learned he'd just left with friends for a deep-sea trip and wouldn't return until the next day.

Since that was the case, Chu Mingcheng drove to the market to buy groceries for lunch before heading back to his neighborhood to pick up Jiang Luoluo.

The weather was perfect today, with clear skies. When they arrived at the pier, Chu Mingcheng was surprised to find the water exceptionally clear.

Perfect weather for diving.

He checked the sea temperature: 23 degrees Celsius now, expected to reach 25 degrees by noon.

"Luoluo, it's great weather for diving today. Want to buy a wetsuit and come play in the water?"

Jiang Luoluo hesitated. "Won't it be cold?"

This year's weather was indeed strange. After a few days of rain, she'd thought it would gradually cool down and had started wearing thin long-sleeved shirts. But now, everyone was back in short sleeves.

Still, the seawater felt icy to the touch.

"It'll be a little chilly, but with a wetsuit, it's not too bad. You'll want to try diving eventually anyway, so it's not a waste to buy the gear now."

"Okay, I'll listen to you."

Jiang Luoluo had been wanting to try diving herself, and his words dispelled her last bit of hesitation.

They found a large outdoor store and selected a full set of diving equipment, spending eight thousand yuan, with the wetsuit alone costing four thousand.

Next, they visited an electronics store and each bought an underwater camera.

Chu Mingcheng's was still a head-mounted model, which would be convenient for filming future spearfishing videos.

Once Jiang Luoluo became proficient at diving, she could even act as his underwater camera operator when she had time.

With all the gear purchased, they had to consider how to store their catch.

Chu Mingcheng bought a large amount of crushed ice to preserve the fish he would spear.

He also remembered to buy shrimp bricks and bait for fishing, plus a bag of rubber bands.

Once they were certain everything was ready, they boarded the boat and set off.

This time, heading out to sea felt completely different for Chu Mingcheng. It was the feeling of a bird set free.

With a license, he no longer had to stare at his boat, unable to sail it, nor did he need to call Wei Jianguo for help.

From now on, he could go fishing whenever he wanted, and he wouldn't have to worry about small or nonexistent catches.

His career had finally stabilized.

"Ah Cheng, where are we going?"

As the boat sailed on the vast sea, Jiang Luoluo looked at the identical scenery surrounding them, feeling a little lost.

"To the same place we went night fishing before."

"Huh, you know the way?"

"I saved the coordinates in the navigator. I just have to set the destination, and the boat will sail itself there."

"The boat can sail itself? What about reefs or oncoming boats?"

"Yep, boats have had autopilot technology since the last century. The navigation map accurately marks where reefs are. When you set a destination, the system automatically avoids them and chooses the best route."

"As for oncoming boats, you have to adjust your position yourself. That's why someone always needs to be at the helm."

Jiang Luoluo understood. This autopilot was much more primitive than the kind she'd imagined, which could automatically avoid dangers.

This technology could only be used on the open sea, which was a major reason why car autopilot was still under development and not yet widespread.

The isolated reef from last time wasn't far, and they arrived in just half an hour.

Chu Mingcheng's main purpose for coming here was to catch swimming crabs.

As for why he wasn't using crab pots, it was because he didn't plan to stay here long.

If there were crabs, he'd catch them. If not, he'd continue heading out to the open sea.

He had enough fuel in the tank for another five hours of sailing, which was more than sufficient.

"Luoluo, you can fish this morning. I'm going to get in the water and see if there are any swimming crabs. If there are, I'll catch some. At noon, we'll go to a more distant spot, and when the temperature's higher, I'll teach you how to dive."

"Okay, I understand. Be safe."

Chu Mingcheng went into the cabin to change. Soon, he emerged fully equipped.

With Jiang Luoluo around, he had to put on all the gear to keep up appearances.

He didn't forget the camera; he had to film the crab-catching video.

He'd already posted five videos—three of Mimi and two of his fishing trips. He hadn't had a chance to film any spearfishing yet.

He currently had fifty-six followers. He definitely needed to promote his channel. With a dance vlogger right beside him, even though their content was completely different, a recommendation from her would certainly have some effect.

And he still hadn't managed to connect with the Sea King. That's where the real numbers were.

But with so few videos, it wasn't the right time yet.

Tying a safety rope to his float, Chu Mingcheng slipped into the water.

The visibility today was about ten meters, so the water was quite clear.

If it were any clearer, it would be considered blue water.

Once underwater, he could see the full view of the isolated reef. It was just as he'd guessed—mostly sand and mud below.

The part of the reef visible above water wasn't actually that large. There was no reef cluster below, just a few scattered rocks.

No wonder there had been so few fish before, but so many swimming crabs.

Swimming crabs live in sandy and muddy bottoms at depths of 10 to 30 meters.

From the looks of it, this was a habitat for a group of swimming crabs. Just then, one swam brazenly past him.

Its paddling hind legs reminded him of a song: Row, row, row your boat…

If it hadn't been so small, Chu Mingcheng would've definitely taught it the consequences of provoking him.

Steamed, stir-fried, pan-fried, or raw-marinated—it could take its pick.

The depth here was about fifteen meters, not very deep, and the light was good. Chu Mingcheng dove directly to the bottom for some underwater foraging.

Swimming crabs bury themselves in the sand, forming small mounds.

He also didn't need to worry about being pinched. Their claws weren't as strong as a mud crab's, and since he was wearing diving gloves, he wasn't afraid.

As soon as he reached the bottom, he saw small mounds everywhere. There were so many!

Freediving breath-hold time was limited, and Chu Mingcheng had to keep up the act, so he didn't delay.

He reached into an oval-shaped mound and immediately grabbed a swimming crab by its head and tail.

Just as he'd expected, the crab's pinch felt like a tickle.

Unfortunately, this one wasn't very big, only about five or six liang.

He put it in his mesh bag and continued.

He reached for the next mound, but the swimming crab inside shot out with a "swoosh," moving incredibly fast.

It was Chu Mingcheng's first time catching buried swimming crabs on the seabed. He hadn't expected it to dart out so suddenly. Lacking experience, he let it escape.

Good thing there were plenty here; losing one was no big deal.

He was much more careful after that, and the third one didn't get away. He caught it successfully.

He couldn't tell if they were plump or not on the seabed, so he put every one he caught into his mesh bag.

In a flash, he'd caught five. Two minutes had passed, but his mesh bag was still more than half empty.

After a moment's thought, he swam back to the surface and returned to the boat. He handed the mesh bag to Jiang Luoluo and, spitting out his snorkel, said, "Luoluo, there are tons of swimming crabs down there. I'm going to catch more. You sort through the ones I bring up. Keep the plump ones and throw the skinny ones back in the water."

Jiang Luoluo nodded, took the mesh bag, and poured the swimming crabs into a bucket. "Okay, I will. You be careful."

"I will. By the way, I might stay underwater a bit longer, so don't worry. My dynamic apnea is over five minutes, which is how I was able to save that firefighter."

Chu Mingcheng said this to reassure her and also to give himself more time in the water, saving him the trouble of constantly surfacing.

Jiang Luoluo frowned at his words. She thought back to when he'd caught the catfish and suspected that his claim of only staying underwater for two minutes had been a lie.

But in the end, she didn't bring it up again, only reminding him, "We have a deal then. Come up every five minutes. I'll be watching the time."

"If you don't come up, I'll pull on your float."

"Alright, I have a dive watch. I'll keep track of the time."

Chu Mingcheng returned to the water. This time, because he could stay down longer, he caught nine crabs.

But since his mesh bag wasn't full, he took a breath and dove again.

The deeper he went, the larger the swimming crabs became.

With this discovery, he went directly to the deepest area, which was a full thirty meters down.

Most spearfishers wouldn't choose this depth unless they spotted a large fish, in which case they might dive down temporarily.

But for Chu Mingcheng, any depth within a hundred meters was probably safe distance.

The mounds here were all large. When he grabbed a swimming crab, he could feel its pinch more distinctly.

It turned out the swimming crabs here were all over a jin—a pleasant surprise.

When his mesh bag was full, Chu Mingcheng returned to the boat. Jiang Luoluo poured out the crabs, her eyes widening in surprise. "Whoa, these are huge crabs, bigger than the ones we caught before."

"Yeah, there are lots of these big ones in the deeper water. Luoluo, get that bag of rubber bands I bought. I'll teach you how to tie the crab claws so they don't bite each other."

Chu Mingcheng stayed by the boat, not leaving the water. The bag of rubber bands he'd prepared came in handy.

"Okay, wait a second!"

Jiang Luoluo quickly went back to the cockpit, brought out the rubber bands, and picked out a large, fat crab for him.

Tying a swimming crab's claws was simple. You just had to press down on the claw and slip a small rubber band over the pincer arm. The main challenge was how to press down the claw, which Chu Mingcheng explained in detail.

But Jiang Luoluo's hands weren't as large as his, and she couldn't get a firm grip on some of the bigger crabs.

In that case, you could step on the crab's body to make the claws stand up, which made them very easy to tie.

Once she'd learned, Chu Mingcheng flipped back into the water and continued his crab-catching enterprise.

He returned to the spot where he'd caught the large crabs. Every time he reached out and pressed down on a mound, he had a catch.

He didn't notice that he was getting closer and closer to a large reef, and at the base of this reef was a large cave…