“A’Cheng, is spearfishing tough?” Beneath the bridge pier, watching Chu Mingcheng secure a safety rope to a jutting piece of rebar, Zhao Jun couldn’t hold back his curiosity, his mind on last night's haul.

He fished in his spare time, but his catch was never stable. Some days he'd make a few hundred, even a thousand, but he often came home empty-handed or with just two or three small fish. An extra source of income would be great.

"Brother Zhao Jun, I'm a good swimmer. I can hold my breath for two minutes while moving, and I adapt to water pressure well. That's why I occasionally go spearfishing."

"Freediving requires professional training and certification, and so does spearfishing."

"I really wouldn't recommend it for you. You have a child and a family to support. Just stick to regular fishing and angling. Don't even think about this."

Chu Mingcheng turned and spoke with a serious expression, trying to dissuade him. He only dared to do this because of his "Effortless Swim" ability. Otherwise, without professional freediving training, he would never choose to dive alone. Even if he did, he would go with others.

As he spoke, a thought struck him. If he was selling his spearfished catch, and some people got envious and tried to imitate him, wouldn't he be responsible if something happened to them?

Realizing the seriousness of the situation, Chu Mingcheng decided that when he went to sell his fish later, he would educate the people at the pier. He couldn't have someone follow his example and end up dead.

Zhao Jun was a reasonable man. Hearing his words, he immediately dismissed the idea.

Chu Mingcheng was ready. He had his mesh bag and live fish stringer clipped to his side, and he held his fish spear. At a glance, he looked like the king of the sea. He hadn't forgotten his snare today either. The terrain under the bridge pier was different from the reefs, and he wasn't sure if the spear would be effective.

"Brother Zhao Jun, you go ahead and do your thing. Just come pick me up after you've pulled your nets."

"Are you sure you'll be okay like this?"

"I'm fine. With this safety rope, nothing will happen to me."

"Alright, be careful. I'll come get you as soon as I'm done with the nets."

Zhao Jun nodded. He watched Chu Mingcheng swim a short distance away before steering the boat back and heading off in another direction.

Seeing him leave, Chu Mingcheng took a deep breath and plunged into the water.

Compared to his previous diving spot, the water under the bridge pier was murkier with lower visibility, but there were more fish. He had only descended five or six meters when he saw small schools of fish. A little deeper, and he could vaguely make out the shadows of several large fish.

The bridge pier was indeed the best place for spearfishing. When going out to sea, oil rigs were the preferred hunting grounds.

At a depth of ten meters, Chu Mingcheng untied the safety rope. He needed to go deeper, scout the terrain, and find a suitable hunting spot. The fish were all swimming around the pillars, and he wasn't confident he could spear one under these conditions.

When he reached a depth of about twenty meters, he saw the bottom of the pier. The base was embedded in the seabed, and he could see plenty of fish hiding there as well.

Suddenly, a large fish emerged from the side of a pier, and Chu Mingcheng spotted it. It was even bigger than the red snapper he had caught yesterday. He abandoned his survey of the terrain and immediately swam toward it.

The large fish was very alert. When Chu Mingcheng was only three meters away, it flicked its tail, stirring up a cloud of sand, and shot away.

Without hesitation, he followed, planning to drive the fish toward the connection point between Yanmen Island and the bridge. He had chosen this spot specifically. If he couldn't find good terrain, he would spend some energy herding the fish here, where there were also reefs. Once he got the fish there, he was confident he could spear it.

But the fish was heading toward the center of the bridge. He had to catch up and change its direction first.

Just as he had pursued it for a short distance, the large fish in front of him suddenly stopped, as if it were being controlled by something.

By the time Chu Mingcheng realized there was a problem, it was too late. His momentum carried him to the same spot as the fish, and he instinctively reached out and grabbed it.

Then he felt a powerful suction from his left, and both he and the large fish were instantly swept away.

The fish had paused for less than two seconds, and he had almost no ability to resist.

In that instant, Chu Mingcheng knew he had encountered an underwater current.

A person caught in an undercurrent is almost certain to die.

But Chu Mingcheng didn't panic. He could stay underwater for at least an hour, and he had only been down for five or six minutes, including the chase.

Underwater currents were terrifying, but they couldn't hold him forever.

The large fish was in front of him, and compared to it, which was being spun in circles, he was in better shape, at least not tumbling around.

Chu Mingcheng was waiting, waiting for the current's force to weaken.

Sure enough, after a short while, he could feel the suction of the current weakening. The large fish seemed to have been spun dizzy. It flicked its tail sideways, as if trying to break free from the weakening current.

Chu Mingcheng seized the opportunity, swam over, and kicked it hard in the head, so hard that his foot hurt a little.

With the minimal resistance he felt in the water, the force of his kick was only slightly weaker than on land. It was enough to make the already dizzy fish even dizzier.

As expected, the kicked fish drifted with the current and then turned belly-up.

Chu Mingcheng took the opportunity to snare it, preventing it from waking up and escaping. Then he used his knife to kill it, and once most of the blood had drained, he secured it with a live fish stringer.

It was a grouper with seven dark stripes, which he immediately recognized as a seven-banded grouper.

This type of grouper was not well-known in the country. It was China's only warm-temperate grouper, extremely cold-resistant, and the only grouper found in the Yellow Sea.

Most groupers are found in warm waters, and the larger they get, the tougher their meat becomes. But this grouper was different. Because of its cold resistance, it had a high fat content.

It could grow to over a hundred jin, and the bigger it got, the better it tasted.

Unfortunately, the one Chu Mingcheng had caught was a bit small, about seventy or eighty centimeters long, probably weighing just over ten jin. Its price should be between three and five thousand yuan.

Chu Mingcheng decided to take this fish home tomorrow to treat his parents, letting them taste a truly top-tier grouper.

After dealing with the grouper, the effect of the undercurrent on him had completely disappeared.

Chu Mingcheng began to swim to the surface. He broke through, took a breath, and looked around.

He found he was at least seven or eight hundred meters from the bridge. A normal person, if they were lucky enough to survive the undercurrent, would never be able to swim back.

Chu Mingcheng sighed in resignation and started swimming back, his mind already turning over the potential uses of this undercurrent.

Under normal circumstances, it would be very difficult for him to hunt the seven-banded grouper he was now carrying. He would have to chase it into a corner and wait for it to calm down before he had a chance to spear it. If he missed and it escaped, it would be another chase, wasting time and energy. This was the main reason that, even with his abilities, he had only caught twelve fish the previous afternoon.

Now, unafraid of the undercurrent, he realized he could harness it to aid his fishing.