Culinary God in Wilderness

Chapter 379: Chapter 239: Underwater Shipwreck

The moment he saw the giant creature, Lin Chen’s expression changed, and he hastily backed away.

A moray eel!

He wasn’t sure of the exact species, but he knew that moray and sea eels were not creatures to be trifled with. They were practically Overlord Level predators in the coral reef region.

They don’t actively attack humans, but that doesn’t mean they won’t fight back.

Judging by its mouth of sharp, steel-like teeth, a single bite would likely tear off a chunk of his flesh.

Most importantly, it was most likely inedible.

A moray eel from a normal marine environment would be edible, but this was a coral reef. Since it lived here, it undoubtedly fed on the local marine life.

Coral reefs naturally harbor ciguatoxins. Small fish ingest it, then are eaten by larger fish, and the toxin ultimately accumulates in the bodies of large predators like this moray eel.

It was the same principle with groupers from reef areas—best to avoid them altogether.

Ciguatoxins don’t disappear with cooking. A single bite, and you could basically kiss this beautiful world goodbye.

He resurfaced for a breath of air, thinking, ’What rotten luck.’

’This is a bad start. I can’t stay here. I’ll switch directions in a bit and head for a spot farther from the coral reef.’

He dipped his head below the surface, shone his light around, and quickly found the boundary between the coral reef and the seabed not far away.

A normal seabed looks much like a sandy beach, with only a few scattered rocks.

Any marine life here would surely be much safer to eat than the creatures near the reef.

His goal remained exceptionally simple: Lobster, Lobster, and more Lobster.

Large abalone and the like were also acceptable. As for sea fish... he had brought his spear, but he had no idea if it would be of any use.

He had already changed the material of his spear, switching to ordinary wood. At last, it wouldn’t suffer from excessive buoyancy.

The propulsion issue, however, was still unsolved, and he suspected it might be a problem without a solution.

He didn’t rush to dive, instead floating quietly on the surface, his gaze sweeping back and forth across the seabed below.

Rays and stingrays loved this type of terrain. They would sometimes bury themselves in the sand to ambush their prey, leaving only a pair of eyes exposed.

Perhaps because it lacked the natural cover of the coral reef, the seabed seemed completely barren. Only sparse patches of seagrass grew, and as far as he could see, there wasn’t a single decent fish in sight.

’This can’t be right. Am I going to get skunked again today?’

At that thought, his heart tightened. He quickly took a breath and plunged into the sea, ready to take a closer look and see if he might stumble upon an unexpected prize.

’If I can’t catch any fish, I can at least gather some shellfish, right?’

For a full half hour, he scoured every inch of the visible seabed, but he found absolutely nothing.

The only shell he found was home to a hermit crab, and he had no interest in eating the little guy.

’This isn’t working. I need to change spots, and fast. If I still find nothing, then my only option is to head back and search the area beneath the coral reef.’

He abandoned his unrealistic fantasies and locked onto his target: the spiny lobster. Those creatures loved to hide in rock crevices, so he needed to find an area with a high concentration of rocks.

He climbed onto his bamboo raft, first glancing back to get his bearings from the rocky shore in the distance. Then, he started paddling toward a cluster of reefs that he recalled being exposed at low tide.

Of course, he could only move parallel to the coast. Getting closer to the shore was out of the question, as it would be hard to find anything in shallower water.

To conserve energy, he would dip his head underwater every five minutes to observe the terrain below.

Finally, after paddling for twenty minutes, he arrived above a submerged cluster of jagged, strangely shaped reefs.

This area was on the outer, deeper side of the coral reef. The water was so deep that even if he sank a ten-meter-long fish trap, it still wouldn’t touch bottom, stopping several meters short of the seabed.

This depth was a challenge, but with his Basic Diving Mastery skill, he wasn’t worried about failure.

SPLASH!

Water sprayed in all directions.

Amidst a torrent of dense white bubbles, Lin Chen shot toward the seabed like an arrow.

With powerful flutter kicks, he reached the reef cluster in the blink of an eye.

He steadied himself with one hand on a pillar of rock, sweeping his light beam across the algae-covered surface of the reefs.

There were plenty of fish, and they were of a considerable size. The discovery made him breathe a sigh of relief.

He picked a random direction and began to swim, his gaze carefully focused on every crevice in the rocks.

After coming up for his third breath, he was just about to dive again.

Suddenly, a strangely shaped rock on the seafloor ahead caught his attention.

As his headlamp swept over it and he made out the object’s overall shape, Lin Chen’s eyes went wide with shock.

He immediately abandoned his plan to dive and shot back up to the surface.

"PFUUH!"

Wiping the water from his face, he still couldn’t believe his eyes.

"Folks, what did I just see? My eyes must be playing tricks on me, right?"

He dipped his head back underwater to look a few more times before finally confirming that he wasn’t hallucinating.

The wreck of a speedboat!

The medium-sized speedboat was still relatively intact. From the outside, it looked almost undamaged, resting quietly among the cluster of reefs. There was no telling what had caused it to sink.

He took a deep breath, his heart pounding with excitement, and dove again. He reached the speedboat’s deck with incredible speed.

The spot where a lifebuoy should have been secured was empty, with only the nylon rope still wrapped around the railing.

Without a second thought, he took out his combat knife and sliced the rope free. After coiling it up, he stuffed it into his pocket.