Chapter 490: Chapter 322: Underwater Cave_3

The bad weather persisted for the entire morning, and Chu Mingcheng, watching the slowly calming sea, finally breathed a sigh of relief.

In just a little while, the dark clouds dispersed completely, revealing the bright sun.

Chu Mingcheng hurriedly steered the boat to the location where he had deployed the fishing lines, only to find that they had been pushed beneath the cliffs of the small island, all tangled together.

Chu Mingcheng felt helpless; the weather had turned abruptly, and that too at around four in the morning.

He had awoken at the time due to the rocking of the boat and had immediately maneuvered it to a relatively safe position, leaving no time to care for the fishing lines!

Now, with the fishing lines all entangled, it seemed difficult to untangle them. Even if he could, it would waste time; it might be better to simply buy new ones.

But he couldn’t leave them there; he had to retrieve them and bring them back to land.

Chu Mingcheng put on a diving suit and took with him two live fish clasps, anticipating that there would still be many fish caught on the lines.

Diving into the water, Chu Mingcheng approached the fishing lines.

It was a fortunate spot, just right by a cave, where many of the branch lines had ended up inside.

Chu Mingcheng first pulled the branch lines back; he unhooked the fish and placed them on the live fish clasps, then wrapped the branch lines directly around the tangled main line.

Some branch lines were caught on the bottom, so he swam along them to untangle them.

After several busy hours, Chu Mingcheng had retrieved most of the branch lines.

The catch was substantial, probably a few hundred pounds, but due to the morning’s weather, most of the fish had died from lack of oxygen.

Fortunately, the fish were still fresh; he bled them and stored them in the refrigerator compartment.

Next, he put on a headlamp and began reclaiming the lines inside the cave.

Most could be pulled back directly, but some parts were caught inside, requiring Chu Mingcheng to go in and disentangle them.

It was possible to clearly see the entrance of the cave thanks to the sunlight, but not the interior, so he turned on his headlamp for illumination.

Following the branch line, Chu Mingcheng swam deeper into the cave.

The cave was indeed as deep as he had guessed!

His line was one hundred meters long, with the deepest hooks probably placed around seventy or eighty meters deep inside the cave.

After unhooking the branch lines, Chu Mingcheng was about to head back when he looked up and, to his surprise, spotted a dozen Mimao Lobsters on the ground.

They were lined up and crawled slowly toward the cave’s entrance, resembling a train.

This made Chu Mingcheng think of a particularly large lobster he had seen earlier, which was also a Mimao Lobster. It had swum toward this cave after he discovered it; could there be a nest of Mimao Lobsters inside this cave?

He felt a bit of curiosity and wanted to go in for a look.

Even if the cave was deep, he guessed that the Mimao Lobsters wouldn’t wander too far, and he might be able to find them easily without getting lost.

He then took some branch lines, first picking up the group of lobsters crawling on the ground.

He caught four large ones; the rest escaped.

Since he didn’t bring a net, he had no choice but to tie them up with the branch line.

After leaving the cave, Chu Mingcheng pulled the fishing line back to the boat and then piled it in a corner to rinse repeatedly with clean water to avoid a nasty fishy smell once dried.

After washing it clean, he took eight nets and dived back into the water toward the cave.

Reaching the cave entrance again, this time he didn’t hesitate at all and swam straight toward the depths of the cave.

Chu Mingcheng wasn’t sure how long he swam, but he did find a group of Mimao Lobsters in a circular pit inside the cave.

These lobsters, or rather their companions, had actively directed him there.

This pit likely served as their hiding spot.

Halfway through his swim, Chu Mingcheng continuously spotted individual lobsters or rows of them slowly crawling out.

Following their trail led him to this corner pit.

Of course, he captured any large lobsters he found and placed them in the nets.

Encountering such a colony of Mimao Lobsters, Chu Mingcheng naturally didn’t let the opportunity pass.

Soon, the cave scene turned into one where lobsters were desperately fleeing outward.

In just a short time, Chu Mingcheng’s nets were stuffed with Mimao Lobsters. He didn’t continue exploring deeper into the cave but first returned to the Sea God, putting the lobsters in the live tank.

There were already about 130 lobsters inside the crowded live tank; it could hold no more.

Chu Mingcheng took off all the nets except one, then packed a headlamp and a flashlight, keeping one flashlight in hand and putting the other in the net.

This setup clearly showed his interest in the cave, preparing to go in and explore.

But before entering, he opened the chart of Rat Spot and East Starfish.

Discovering that both these fish species were outside the cave and hadn’t moved much, he felt more confident.

With these two fish as markers, even if he got lost inside, it would be easy to find the exit.

Once ready, Chu Mingcheng returned to the cave.

So far, the cave had shown no forks, making his exploration relatively straightforward.

Continuously sweeping the flashlight in his hand, Chu Mingcheng went deeper and deeper.

He wasn’t sure how much he had swum when he suddenly noticed the cave floor rising and the water growing shallower.

About five minutes later, Chu Mingcheng climbed out of the water and stood on dry land.

The waterway was quite long; although he was swimming slowly, it still took nearly half an hour.

Initially, he had thought the direction of the cave was downward, but unexpectedly, it led upward.

Suddenly, Chu Mingcheng’s eyes narrowed, focusing the flashlight on the ground.

“Why are there so many footprints here?”

There were no animals like bats in the dark cave, but inexplicably, there was a large cluster of messy footprints.

Then he pointed his flashlight toward the seawater behind him, and he discovered clearly marked footprints in the shallow water.

There were people in this cave, and not just one person.

Chu Mingcheng stretched out his hand to feel around, finding no wind inside the cave. What was this situation?

With no wind in the cave, that meant either the exit was very far away, or this was a one-way exit cave.

So, what was the situation with the people inside?

Could there be wild people?

Chu Mingcheng’s thoughts scattered, but looking at the footprints, it was clear they were from shoe soles, obviously belonging to ordinary humans in the cave.

His curiosity intensified.

Chu Mingcheng used his flashlight for illumination and began walking slowly inward.