Chapter 231: Return to the Sea Bottom Cave

This time Ye Cheng still called Xiao Hu up, so the two of them going down would have someone to look out for each other.

Li Lao arrived quickly, and Section Chief Zhao was also there; his gaze at Ye Cheng remained as contemptuous as ever.

Cui Shuran came along, but Xiao Rou didn't; she had come just to play last time as well.

「Xiao Ye, are you confident today? 」 Li Lao saw Ye Cheng a bit excited; Ye Cheng had made him wait so many days, to say he had no expectation at all would be a lie.

「Should be fine. 」 Ye Cheng nodded; with 100 Luck Value, finding a few boxes should be no problem.

「Don't worry, once you find it, I will definitely give you the money right away. 」

Ye Cheng nodded.

This feeling of being expected by everyone is not great; the pressure is huge. No wonder, even with Baggio's ability back then, he would miss a penalty kick—not due to lack of skill, but when everyone's eyes are on you, that pressure can make you unable to breathe.

Of course, Ye Cheng's pressure wasn't that great; he just sat silently by the boat, smoking.

「A Cheng, be careful going down; if it really doesn't work out, just forget it. 」 Cui Shao walked over and said softly.

Ye Cheng nodded, indicating he understood.

Speaking of Cui Shao, aside from being a bit pretentious, he's still okay.

The boat soon reached the designated sea area, still that familiar spot.

Ye Cheng and Xiao Hu changed into their diving gear, strapped on their oxygen tanks, and prepared to enter the water.

Li Lao once again gave Ye Cheng some instructions,

「Xiao Ye, our target is a few boxes, about this size; if you find them, be extremely careful and try not to damage them. 」

Ye Cheng nodded, exchanged a glance with Xiao Hu, and the two rolled into the water.

Today's seawater was still the same blue as always; the water embraced Ye Cheng's body, feeling very comfortable.

Soon, Ye Cheng saw that large sea-bottom cave.

He threw the oxygen tank to Xiao Hu, fearing Xiao Hu might encounter danger, then went down alone while Xiao Hu waited above.

The deep cave was still as quiet as inside, completely unlike the lively seabed outside.

After Ye Cheng went down, he didn't rush to explore the passageways; he was reminiscing.

Last time that mysterious sea turtle, he remembered its last appearance was when he was leaving, appearing at the cave opening to his lower right.

After confirming the cave opening's position, Ye Cheng swam down without hesitation.

You don't know until you go down; upon looking, this opening differs greatly from the one last time.

This opening is tiny—too small for a person to enter—but the sea turtle could get in fine.

Ye Cheng stared at this tiny opening and began to worry—damn it, I can dive but I can't blast through rock.

If we were on the surface we could consider using an impact drill or something, but now we're tens of meters underwater—what's the point of trying to drill?

To be honest, if he hadn't personally seen that sea turtle go in, Ye Cheng would have turned and left upon seeing this opening.

But now, he seems equally powerless.

Just then, the light ahead shifted, and a black shape slowly swam out of the cave.

Ye Cheng focused his gaze—it was exactly the large sea turtle he had seen during his previous dive.

Holy shit!

So spiritual—did it know I was coming and came out to greet me?

The problem is,

Brother,

your front door is too small—I can't get in.

Ye Cheng gently stroked the turtle's head with his hand—so spiritual...

He hadn't even finished saying the two words 'spiritual' when Ye Cheng shut his mouth.

He saw what was on the turtle's body; before, from a distance it was fine, but now he could see it clearly.

Barnacles!

The turtle's shell was covered in barnacles—no wonder it moved so slowly.

Barnacles, also called horse teeth, are a parasitic species that attach to marine life and ships; though small, they have extraordinary reproductive power, quickly covering an entire host's surface and killing it.

This turtle must be miserable, constantly rubbing its head against Ye Cheng's hand; there's a barnacle at the tip of its head that appears to have been there for quite a while.

Ye Cheng drew a dagger from his waist, turned on the searchlight, and gently pried at the edge of the barnacle.

Damn, it didn't budge.

These barnacles really aren't just for show.

Although it didn't move, the large turtle still winced and shifted a bit.

Ye Cheng gently soothed it, then made a second attempt; this time he inserted the blade deeper and gave a hard pry, bringing out some mucus and tendrils, and only then did he manage to pry the barnacle loose.

Once the turtle was free of that headband-like barnacle, it instantly felt much lighter, rubbing its body against Ye Cheng nonstop, hoping he'd keep helping.

But Ye Cheng was diving—he didn't have that much time.

He pointed at the opening ahead and made a gesture of going inside.

The sea turtle actually understood, swam to the opening, lightly scratched, and actually knocked loose a piece of rubble.

After that scratch, Ye Cheng figured it out—these were just piles of rubble.

Ye Cheng swam closer and saw that above the opening were some rubble; it felt like these stones had fallen from a crack above and blocked the entrance, making it look from outside as if a big stone had sealed it.

After confirming, Ye Cheng reached in and cleared away the stones; after a few tries, he opened the opening and revealed what lay inside.

He had thought it would be a passage like last time, leading to some other sea-bottom cavern.

But after clearing it, he found instead a small rock cave, only a few meters deep.

Ye Cheng glanced at the large sea turtle—little guy, this is your den, right?

Ye Cheng swam in, didn't even need to search thoroughly, and found five boxes right there in the cave.

These boxes have an old style, somewhat like those in ancient TV dramas; they must be what Li Lao said.

Seeing Ye Cheng pull out the boxes, the big sea turtle rubbed against him as if seeking credit; Ye Cheng smiled and gestured with his hand, roughly meaning that after surfacing he would come help it clean its barnacles.

Of course, I don't even know if it understands.

Having found them, Ye Cheng began swimming upward.

After just a few strokes, Ye Cheng saw a guy cutting straight ahead; the big sea turtle actually followed him upward, and its speed wasn't fast either.

Ye Cheng chuckled; this guy is quite interesting—is he planning to follow me?

After swimming upward a bit longer, he saw Xiao Hu.

Xiao Hu pointed at the big sea turtle on the sea bottom, looking quite surprised.

Ye Cheng, meanwhile, gave an OK hand signal, indicating he should surface first before talking.

On the deck, Cui Shuran accompanied Old Li as they anxiously watched the sea surface.

"It's already been half an hour," Li Lao muttered, his words full of apprehension.

"Li Lao, it's only been half an hour; sit a while, there won't be results so soon," Cui Shuran advised.

Director Zhao waddled over with a big belly, speaking in an official tone: "Li Lao, don't worry; even if we don't succeed this time, next I'll bring over a few robots—robots aren't afraid of deep water, and they'll definitely be stronger than this village kid."