Culinary God in Wilderness

Chapter 363: Chapter 231: Unexpected Psychological Obstacle

’Impossible... Absolutely impossible!’

Lin Chen sat slumped on the bamboo raft, utterly dejected. His gaze wandered aimlessly over the sea, refusing to give up hope.

The sea surface had long since returned to calm. He had been drifting in the area for a full three hours.

Forget seafood; he hadn’t seen a single thing.

The only thing he’d managed to scoop up was an empty scallop shell, probably tossed by some inconsiderate person after they finished eating.

’How could I possibly get skunked?’

Although he had a faint premonition last time, he’d held onto a sliver of hope, thinking that bad luck on the shore didn’t necessarily mean bad luck out at sea.

But these three full hours of drifting on the ocean had definitely taken a toll on his confidence.

’Whew... It’s fine!’

He took a deep breath, consoling himself.

’After all, very few marine creatures are active on the surface. This is a shallow area near the shore, so it’s normal to come up empty. Once I dive down to the seabed, I’ll definitely find something!’

The habits of marine creatures are quite different from those of land animals; they are active twenty-four hours a day.

Some species prefer to be active during the day, others at night. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t active at other times—their activity levels are just relatively higher during those specific periods.

’If I remember correctly, Lobsters seem to be nocturnal creatures. Right, I’ll go back and get some sleep. The battle resumes tonight!’

...

「Midnight.」

After half a day, it was now the second high tide, and the ocean current’s speed had stabilized.

The next low tide was at least four or five hours away, giving him enough time to make a trip out to sea.

During low tide in the afternoon, Lin Chen had found time to come back to the shore. He had set up a bamboo pole where he hid his raft to secure a tow rope. This way, even if the raft drifted out during high tide, it wouldn’t be a problem; he could just pull it back with the rope.

Not only that, but he had also carved his name onto the surface of the post on the raft.

Although the cameras were monitoring them and theft was unlikely, the show’s rules didn’t explicitly forbid taking other contestants’ belongings.

And with many contestants currently moving toward this area, if he ran into someone who didn’t care about their reputation, he honestly wouldn’t have any good way to deal with it.

More than theft prevention, carving his name was about giving the raft an identity and meaning. After all, it was the first seafaring vehicle he had ever built with his own hands; it couldn’t just go without a name.

He had just boarded the raft and hadn’t paddled far when a head popped out of the water nearby.

"Lin?"

Bartel wiped the seawater from his forehead, his face full of envy as he stared at the bamboo raft beneath Lin.

"Out so late? Hunting for Lobsters?"

"Tonight’s the last night."

Bartel nodded grimly. Without further conversation, he took a few breaths and then plunged back under the water.

’Has it already been seven days?’

Lin Chen scratched his head. He couldn’t quite remember when he had met Bartel; it felt like he’d only known him for a few days.

’But I wasn’t the one who forced him into this bet about quitting if he can’t catch the Lobsters. He proposed it himself. If I remember correctly, he’s only given me one Lobster so far.’

’If he doesn’t catch the other two tonight... what will he do?’

To be honest, he didn’t have high hopes.

North Americans generally liked to talk a big game, but when push came to shove, they’d often try to weasel their way out of it and deny everything.

Compared to the millions of US Dollars in prize money, he didn’t think two small Lobsters would influence the guy’s decision.

He knelt in the center of the raft, gripping a bamboo paddle in each hand and stroking with a synchronized rhythm.

On each side of the raft, he had attached a section of bamboo tube with an angled cut. He then carved a curved notch into the middle of each one, creating a makeshift oarlock just wide enough to hold a paddle.

When paddling, he only needed to control the back-and-forth movement of the paddle blades and avoid moving them up and down. It wasn’t too difficult to manage.

The beam from his Hat Lamp swept back and forth across the nearby water. The calm night sea offered exceptional visibility; he could even see small fish swimming below.

As the raft drifted further out, the depth of the seafloor increased noticeably, and faint, dark red shadows began to appear.

"Folks, we’ve reached the coral reef area!"

He suppressed his excitement and continued to paddle forward.

The resources at the edge were scarcer. He had to go a bit deeper to where the opportunities were more plentiful.

It wasn’t that he was being overly cautious; he was just terrified of getting skunked again. Another failure like that would be a devastating blow to his confidence.

Slowly, the color of the water changed from azure to a deep, dark blue. The once-faint shadows of the coral reef below became blurry, until all he could see were vast patches of dark red.

’This deep... it must be over ten meters, right?’

The water depth in areas with coral reefs isn’t usually extreme. Especially for those growing in shallower waters, the depth is typically between 10 and 30 meters. This is also the average depth for amateur free divers.

Diving deeper than 30 meters not only requires a certain level of physical fitness but also professional training to achieve.

According to the diving knowledge in his head, most recreational free divers stay within the 10-20 meter range, which is also the safest depth.

He took a deep breath. After pulling the paddles back and laying them flat on the raft, he took off his shirt and clipped the camera under his Hat Lamp, which would give a perspective nearly identical to his own line of sight.

He first tossed the bamboo basket into the water. To make sure it would sink, he had intentionally placed several large rocks inside to weigh it down.