A star-spotted snapper—truly a rare find.

Of course, Chen Yang wasn't blaming Chu Mingcheng. Pure envy and frustration at missing the catch.

Now that he'd learned spearfishing, he naturally wanted to hunt some of the more valuable species himself.

"Don't worry, the fish didn't go far." Chu Mingcheng clipped the fish to his stringer, reloaded his speargun, then led him in pursuit of the rest of the school.

He'd paid close attention to their escape direction—under normal circumstances, they wouldn't venture too far.

Sure enough, after swimming just over twenty meters, they spotted the star-spotted snappers again.

Four of them cruised ahead. Chu Mingcheng hung back, letting Chen Yang move forward for the shot.

Two hunters couldn't really work the same school simultaneously. Each fish moved differently, making it impossible to fire simultaneously and each nail a different target.

There'd always be a sequence, and whoever shot second would naturally miss.

This was why Chu Mingcheng hadn't called Chen Yang over before—pointless. He'd just have watched him hunt.

Normally in spearfishing, you find your own spots. Your haul depends entirely on personal skill.

But star-spotted snappers were just too rare, which was why Chu Mingcheng brought him along to bag one.

Bang! Chen Yang pulled the trigger.

The spear struck the snapper dead-on. His accuracy seemed improved—was this the advantage of playing shooter games?

"Haha! A thousand yuan per jin! I rarely get to eat fish this expensive. Let's cook this beauty for lunch." Chen Yang reeled in the fish, voice filled with excitement as he held his prize.

After just two fish, he was already falling for the sport.

Chu Mingcheng looked surprised. "You're going to cook it? Not sell it?"

Chen Yang shook his head. "I'm different from you. I bought a boat and learned spearfishing purely to eat rare, fresh seafood. Eating's the main goal; having a healthy hobby is secondary. Selling fish depends on the situation."

"Fair point. Looks like I'm in for some treats in the future. I can't bear to eat the expensive fish I catch, so I'll just have to come freeload off you." Considering his friend's family background, Chu Mingcheng had to agree.

"No problem—it's just food!" Chen Yang readily agreed. When it came to eating, he was always generous.

The two then separated, each searching for prey.

Chen Yang was hunting in the shallows for now. With a safety line and float, he should be fine.

Chu Mingcheng, however, had to pursue the remaining star-spotted snappers. This was a fish whose price rivaled mouse grouper—he couldn't just let them escape.

But before leaving, he made sure to remind Chen Yang about setting a timer.

Whether he managed to hunt his target or not, after a minute and a half, he had to surface for air.

His current dynamic apnea was just over two minutes. He needed more freediving practice to improve his fitness before that time would increase.

The biggest taboo in freediving spearfishing was greed. When encountering large or valuable fish, even without a good opportunity, you might be tempted to wait just a little longer—which could easily lead to drowning.

But realistically, there were countless fish in the sea. Missing one this time meant there'd always be another chance. You were bound to get lucky eventually. No need to risk your life for a single fish.

After parting ways with Chen Yang, Chu Mingcheng reached the deep-water area and found another star-spotted snapper hiding beside a coral cluster.

Only one here, clearly separated from its companions.

Chu Mingcheng couldn't bear seeing it all alone, so he sent it off to reunite with its friends with a single shot.

Two star-spotted snappers—today's fuel costs were covered. Everything else would be pure profit.

He'd been underwater less than two minutes. To save time, Chu Mingcheng pulled the fish in directly.

But the snapper's struggle seemed to attract another creature's attention. A fish suddenly appeared in his line of sight, rushing toward the snapper at modest speed and biting its tail.

He pulled it in along with the other fish—a catshark.

Only when drawn closer did it sense danger, releasing its bite and immediately trying to flee.

But its speed was truly nothing impressive, and wasn't it a bit late for escape attempts? Chu Mingcheng simply reached out and grabbed its tail.

Though called a catshark, it didn't actually resemble the sharks people usually imagined.

And it was quite small. The longest specimens reached only seventy centimeters, and normal catsharks weighed just two or three jin. Decent length, but rather light.

Fortunately, the price was good—about a hundred yuan per fish.

From that price, you could tell catshark meat was definitely quality; otherwise it wouldn't command so much.

Since he'd caught a live one, Chu Mingcheng swam back to the boat first, iced the star-spotted snappers, and tossed the catshark into the livewell.

Just as he prepared to re-enter the water, Chen Yang's shout rang out.

"Cheng! Quick, I need a follow-up shot! Don't know what I hit, but it's hiding in a cave and I can't pull it out."

"Coming!"

Chu Mingcheng was immediately intrigued. Had to be something big—otherwise Chen Yang could pull it out himself.

He dove in and quickly swam toward his friend's position.

Chen Yang led him to a massive boulder on the bottom with a deep cave beneath it. Peering into the opening, Chu Mingcheng couldn't see what lurked inside.

Chen Yang gestured for him to get ready, then began pulling the fishing line, trying to coax whatever was inside out a little.

After a moment, Chu Mingcheng saw a dark shadow being drawn slightly from the cave. He immediately pulled the trigger, and his spear found its mark.

Then both began pulling together.

To their surprise, the creature inside was unexpectedly stubborn. Even with both of them pulling, they couldn't extract it immediately. Its resistance was formidable.

Seeing Chen Yang about to run out of air, Chu Mingcheng gestured for him to surface first, then took both lines and held them together.

He braced one hand against the boulder and began pulling with steady, controlled force.

Too much force might tear whatever was inside.

Steady pressure could temporarily avoid this, though prolonged struggle might still cause damage.

But there was no choice. One spear cost several hundred yuan; two together were over a thousand. Cutting the line and abandoning them would be wasteful.

When Chu Mingcheng got serious, the creature inside couldn't match his strength. Combined with its injuries, it was gradually drawn out bit by bit.

Chen Yang had returned and grabbed the line to help pull.

But the creature's strength was indeed impressive. By the time he ran out of oxygen again, they still couldn't see it clearly, forcing him to surface once more.

He was somewhat dumbfounded by Chu Mingcheng's breath-holding ability—he hadn't known his friend could stay underwater so long.

Not until his third descent, with their combined effort, was the creature finally pulled free.

Only then did they realize what had been hiding inside—a giant octopus.

Its head alone was basketball-sized. With tentacles spread, it would easily span a meter in diameter.

Both spears had pierced its body, but with barbs engaged, no amount of pulling could extract the spears.

Together, they brought the octopus to the surface.

After breaking through, Chen Yang immediately asked, "Cheng, honestly—how long is your breath hold?"

"My dynamic apnea's average—only about five minutes! Haven't tested my limit, but should be over six minutes."

"Average? That's insane!"

"Hey now, why the profanity!"

"How's that profanity? I'm praising you! Look, I had to surface three times, but you didn't take a single breath."

Chen Yang felt even more envious of his childhood friend's various physical talents. Compared to him, he was complete trash!

"I really envy your breath-holding ability. I have to swim back up for air after every shot, but you can nail several fish. Man, comparisons really are depressing!"

Chu Mingcheng didn't like that last comment. "Listen to yourself! How many people envy your talent for being born into the right family and can never have it?"

Chen Yang paused, then laughed. "You're absolutely right."

His family environment had indeed saved him decades of hard work. Envying others really was pointless.

Chen Yang then hauled the octopus back to the boat.

All that pulling and constant surfacing had left him quite tired, so he decided to rest for the morning and started prepping ingredients for lunch.

Since he was still planning afternoon spearfishing, he just did a quick rinse, dried off with a towel, and made do for now.

Outside, the octopus, temporarily placed in a fish box, was still writhing. These creatures' vitality was truly tenacious.

Chen Yang was actually quite tempted by it. An octopus this size would be perfect for braising.

Unfortunately, there was no suitable pot on board. He could only pour ice over it and take it home to cook that evening.

So he took out his star-spotted snapper and the black sea bream from earlier, killed and processed them, then waited for Chu Mingcheng to return and handle lunch.

When it came to cooking, both he and Zhang Wei were mediocre at best.

After Chen Yang returned to the boat, Chu Mingcheng was finally unrestrained.

He swam directly to the coral reef's deep-water section, dove to the bottom, and searched for suitable prey.

To his left, a sixty-centimeter grouper caught his attention.

A grouper that size was definitely over twenty jin.

He swam over for a closer look but felt slightly disappointed—the cheapest Pearl Gentian Grouper.

Pearl Gentian Grouper was a hybrid of giant grouper (male) and tiger grouper (female). Those encountered in the sea were all escapees from aquaculture farms, so technically could be considered wild.

But this grouper was very cheap, and the bigger it got, the cheaper it became.

This twenty-plus-jin specimen was only about forty-five yuan per jin, but still worth over a thousand yuan, so Chu Mingcheng naturally had to take it.

He approached slowly. Only when within three meters did it become alert and begin moving away.

But this movement revealed an opening.

Instantly, his spear pierced through chest and abdomen, and fresh blood immediately flowed.

Though the Pearl Gentian Grouper was an aquaculture escapee, its size meant its struggle and strength were considerable. Chu Mingcheng couldn't manage it immediately.

So he pulled the line and swam to the surface, bringing the fish to open water in the middle layer.

This way, he could breathe normally, and it would be easier for the fish to exhaust its stamina, preventing it from finding suitable hiding spots and increasing the difficulty of the fight.

Before long, the seriously injured Pearl Gentian Grouper didn't last much longer before going limp.

Chu Mingcheng retrieved the fish and checked the time—only ten past ten in the morning. He could spearfish another half hour, so he'd just keep the fish with him for now.