As he continued gathering swimming crabs, filling his mesh bag once more, Chu Mingcheng looked up, preparing to surface. That's when he finally noticed it—about ten meters away, beneath a reef, there appeared to be a cave concealed by seaweed.

The distance made it difficult to see clearly. If not for the way light played across the scene, creating a stark contrast between the cave's exterior and the dark opening within, making it resemble a gaping maw, he would never have spotted it.

He estimated the cave's diameter at nearly a meter—a perfect hiding place.

Whenever you discovered a cave like this on the seabed, you had to investigate. You never knew what surprises it might hold.

With average luck, you'd find nothing.

With bad luck, you might get hurt.

But if your luck was exceptional... you'd be feasting tomorrow.

Chu Mingcheng checked his dive time—nearly five minutes. He surfaced for air, popped his head up to reassure Jiang Luoluo, then dove back down, stopping at a safe distance from the cave.

He approached with caution, trying not to make a sound.

When he reached five meters from the entrance, a pair of small, mung-bean-sized eyes met his gaze...

Chu Mingcheng's heart pounded in his chest. He didn't startle the creature—instead, he lowered himself to lie flat against the sandy bottom and carefully crawled backward.

There were no swimming crabs near the cave, so his retreat across the seabed didn't create much disturbance.

Only after backing away more than ten meters did Chu Mingcheng swim to the surface and hurry back to the boat.

He handed the full mesh bag of swimming crabs to Jiang Luoluo, then climbed aboard using the ladder on the rear starboard side.

With so many swimming crabs below, Jiang Luoluo had assumed he would continue diving for them. Seeing him surface, she asked with some confusion, "Ah Cheng, are you finished catching them?"

"Not yet—I found something interesting underwater. I need to get the right equipment." Chu Mingcheng removed his fins and walked barefoot to his tackle box to select the appropriate gear.

For a cave, a speargun or fish spear would be convenient—almost a guaranteed hit—but it wasn't necessary.

Spearguns were mainly for fish swimming in open water, the kind you couldn't normally catch by hand.

Fish hiding in caves were much easier to catch. If you could take it alive, you certainly wouldn't choose to kill it.

"Something interesting?" Jiang Luoluo looked puzzled at first, but when she saw Chu Mingcheng take out a Dyneema line and a hook, understanding dawned on her face. Her voice filled with excitement. "Is it a big fish?"

"Absolutely. A small fish wouldn't be worth all this preparation!" Chu Mingcheng nodded with a smile. He had a fish spear strapped to his back—if it had been small, he would have simply speared it right then and there, not caring whether it lived or died.

"What kind of fish is it?"

"I couldn't see clearly, but judging by its mouth, it's a grouper."

"Wow, a big grouper! You have to catch it."

Jiang Luoluo was already brimming with anticipation. Then she noticed his camera seemed slightly crooked and stepped forward to adjust it.

"You have to catch the fish, and you have to get this shot perfectly. When you post it, it's sure to attract tons of attention."

Staring at the girl so close to him, Chu Mingcheng suddenly felt a surge of motivation.

"Wait for my good news."

"Mm-hmm!"

Unsure of the fish's exact size, Chu Mingcheng played it safe, cutting a length of 8-strand, size 8 Dyneema line and tying on a steel leader and hook.

For bait, he used one of the small squid he'd bought that morning, hooking it whole.

When he was out with Jiang Luoluo, he avoided buying sandworms, and besides, squid was more attractive to large fish.

Ready, he returned to the ladder, put his fins back on, and wound the fishing line coil by coil around his hand.

Finally, including the leader, he left about ten meters of line and slipped back into the water.

This time, he didn't hesitate, heading straight for the cave.

He first checked from a distance to confirm the fish was still inside. Seeing it hadn't been spooked, Chu Mingcheng circled and positioned himself seven or eight meters above the reef cave. The fish, hiding inside, wouldn't be able to see him from this angle.

He lowered the squid, placing it three meters from the cave entrance. Then, while unwinding the line from his wrist, he ascended.

The visibility in the water was about ten meters, so he needed to maintain a greater distance. He finally stopped mid-column at a depth of roughly fifteen meters.

With food delivered right to its doorstep, a grouper's brain simply wasn't wired for suspicion.

Sure enough, just as Chu Mingcheng settled into position, he saw a dark shadow emerge from the cave below.

At the sight, the sound of currents in his ears gradually faded, replaced by the accelerating beat of his own heart.

The shadow was nearly as long as the cave's diameter was wide—meaning even if it wasn't a full meter, it was close.

A grouper of this size, even the cheapest variety, could sell for over 2,000 yuan. It had to weigh at least thirty jin.

Suddenly, a powerful force yanked on Chu Mingcheng's hand, pulling him down several feet.

An immense force threatened to drag him away. The fish was hooked.

Chu Mingcheng quickly gave the line a sharp tug to set the hook deeper.

Then he gripped the line with both hands and began kicking, trying to pull the fish up slightly.

A nearly meter-long grouper, uninjured, wasn't easy to pull up directly.

But the fish was dangerously close to its hiding place. If he didn't use brute force to pull it away from the cave, it might retreat inside and cause the line to rub against the reef and snap.

For now, Chu Mingcheng had to pull hard to get the fish into open water.

Size 8, 8-strand Dyneema line had a tensile strength of roughly 36 kilograms. Normally, as long as the fish's pull plus various water resistances didn't exceed 36 kilograms, the line would hold.

But in reality, when fishing, the rod, reel, and angler's technique all played crucial roles. Without just brute-forcing it, this type of line was used for big game fishing.

For Chu Mingcheng to be pulling a thirty-plus-jin fish like this, it would hold for a short while.

As he swam upward, occasionally tugging the line, the fish darted around blindly in pain, and he slowly managed to pull it into the middle of the water column.

Now Chu Mingcheng could relax slightly.

He stabilized himself in the water, letting the fish circle him as he reeled in line bit by bit.

When it pulled hard, he would release a little line to buffer the force.

When he had reeled the line to less than ten meters, Chu Mingcheng finally got a clear look at the fish. He hadn't expected it to be an extremely valuable tiger grouper.

The tiger grouper, also known as the brown-marbled grouper, could sell for at least two hundred fifty yuan per jin as a live, wild specimen, with prices increasing based on size.

This one was nearly a meter long—definitely over thirty jin, possibly even forty.

Wild tiger groupers grew extremely slowly. This specimen might be older than Chu Mingcheng himself.

On the boat, Jiang Luoluo held the camera, her eyes anxiously fixed on the water's surface, occasionally glancing at her watch.

Chu Mingcheng had been underwater for four minutes now. Unaware of the situation below, her worry intensified.

Just then, the water's surface suddenly churned. Chu Mingcheng finally broke through, even managing to wave at her.

Jiang Luoluo's heart settled, and a radiant smile bloomed across her face. She called out, "Did you catch the fish?"

Chu Mingcheng nodded and gave her a thumbs-up.

Then he submerged again to continue reeling in the line. The fish was still seven or eight meters away—he had to keep working.

As for whether any predators might arrive to steal his catch, it was impossible.

These were nearshore waters where fish resources were scarce.

Whether dolphins, sharks, or seals, none would appear here because the lack of fish couldn't sustain them.

If they remained in these waters, never mind the various fishing nets set by coastal boats, the lack of food alone would starve them.

Therefore, when diving in China's nearshore waters, except for a few specific areas, you generally didn't need to worry about encountering predatory sharks.

As he pulled the tiger grouper closer, although it still had the strength to struggle, once Chu Mingcheng clamped a hand on its gills, it completely lost its ability to resist.

Jiang Luoluo could see the fish now. She hadn't expected it to be so massive. After a moment of amazement, she quickly raised the camera to film, wanting to capture this part of the scene.

Chu Mingcheng gripped the fish's gills with both hands, his fins kicking gently as he began swimming toward the boat.

Having fins at this moment proved invaluable. Without them, with both hands occupied controlling the fish, he really wouldn't be able to swim effectively.

Catching such a huge fish made them both ecstatic.

Chu Mingcheng swam to the boat's side. Jiang Luoluo brought over a large landing net, lifted it, and was embarrassed to discover that while she could lift it, she couldn't get it up onto the boat.

Normally, she could lift fifty or sixty jin out of water, but this fish—probably less than fifty jin—proved incredibly difficult to pull up.

This was mainly because leaning forward made it hard to generate force, and the boat's gunwale was somewhat high, leaving her without sufficient strength.

"Don't worry, don't worry—let's try the ladder at the back."

Chu Mingcheng had also discovered a serious problem. The boat lacked a winch. How was he supposed to bring up large fish in the future?

It seemed he'd have to visit the shipyard after returning to see about installing a small crane or winch.

The deck space was ample. Since he didn't plan to rent out the boat, having so many fishing stations was pointless. He might as well install something practical.

Arriving at the rear deck ladder, with their combined efforts—and since the fish could just fit through the small gate at the ladder opening—it was finally hauled up.

"Phew... phew..." Jiang Luoluo was sweating from the exertion. She had been the primary force pulling up this fish. Chu Mingcheng, in the water, couldn't exert much force and could only lift the fish slightly to make her job easier.

After catching her breath for a few seconds, she quickly headed to the cockpit to retrieve the scale and measuring tape. "Ah Cheng, hurry and measure it—let's see how big it is."

"Okay!" Chu Mingcheng was equally curious. He first measured the fish's length—eighty-seven centimeters, just short of ninety.

Then he transferred it to the large scale he'd recently purchased and weighed it. A full forty-three jin and five liang—the largest wild tiger grouper he'd ever encountered.

However, tiger groupers could actually grow to one and a half meters. This one was far from breaking any records.

For it to be found here, Chu Mingcheng suspected it had something to do with the school of swimming crabs below.

With abundant food available, it wouldn't naturally venture to the more dangerous open sea.

But it was a case of "live by the swimming crab, die by the swimming crab." The tiger grouper probably never imagined some crazy person would come diving for swimming crabs.

And with just one glance, its fate was sealed!

For convenience, Chu Mingcheng cleared the crushed ice from one of the fish boxes, placed the fish inside, added seawater, and activated the oxygen system.

The live well would have worked too, but extraction would have been difficult.

Jiang Luoluo had captured enough footage, so she temporarily shut off the camera. "Ah Cheng, how much can this fish sell for?"

"I'm not entirely sure. A live, wild tiger grouper can sell for two hundred fifty per jin. This one is actually worth more—maybe three hundred or three hundred fifty per jin, and people would still want it."

Chu Mingcheng shook his head, considering potential buyers.

Selling to a seafood restaurant or the wealthy bosses in his group chat would definitely fetch a high price.

But he was considering whether to sell it to Sea King. Selling to him would mean a lower actual price—he'd only get the standard market rate.

The sole benefit was gaining exposure, taking the path of leveraging traffic to build clientele.

Selling to the bosses meant seeing an extra few thousand yuan immediately. Selling to Sea King might mean a few thousand less, and the popularity gained was uncertain—a complete unknown.

"Luoluo, do you think I should sell it to the wealthy bosses or Sea King?"

Jiang Luoluo immediately understood his meaning and smiled. "Don't you already have a preference? Why not ask Sea King first? He's filmed tiger groupers before—maybe he doesn't want it!"

Hearing her response, Chu Mingcheng smiled too. "You're right. I'll contact him and see. If he wants it, I'll sell it to him. If not, I'll sell to a seafood restaurant or customers in my group."