Chapter 465: Ye Cheng's Second Trap

While they waited for the boat to be repaired and to turn back, they would surely be taken by Ye Cheng.

This time it was a bargain for Ye Cheng; next time we must be more careful.

Just when he thought he was a blessing in disguise, as expected, an accident still happened.

The moving boat suddenly shuddered, then began to sway left and right.

Immediately after, a harsh squeaking sound came from below, and the fishing boat came to a stop on the sea surface.

Lao San raised his head and looked at Zhu Liwen, asking doubtfully,

"Big brother, why did you stop the boat?"

Zhu Liwen's face darkened,

"It wasn't me who stopped it; the boat has a problem and won't move."

He tried restarting the engine; it could still start, but the boat wouldn't move.

Either the transmission is faulty, or the propeller at the back is broken.

"Lao San, keep bailing water; I'll go underwater to check."

Having said that, Zhu Liwen walked to the stern and dove into the water.

After stabilizing his posture, he swam toward the stern; even before reaching it, his heart sank.

The propeller was entangled in a fishing net.

"Damn, this is too unlucky; how could we encounter another discarded fishing net here? Who the hell is so despicable?"

He held his breath and swam over, trying to pull the net apart with his hands, but it wouldn't budge; it was completely jammed, and mechanical force couldn't be overcome by his current strength.

He needed a knife.

Zhu Liwen poked his head out; Lao San and the others were crouched anxiously at the stern,

"Big brother, is the propeller broken?"

"Damn, it's tangled in a fishing net; give me your knife, I'll try to cut it apart."

Upon hearing it was tangled in a fishing net, several faces turned pale.

"This thing is a hassle to deal with; I don't know what kind of net it is—some break with a tug, but the sturdy kind is impossible, damn, even a knife can't cut it."

Lao Er ran onto the boat, gathered all the knives—cleaver and scissors—handed a cleaver to the big brother, then took the scissors and jumped in himself.

If this isn't resolved, they'll eventually be doomed.

Zhu Liwen grabbed a strand of the net and began cutting carefully; already underwater, exerting force was awkward, and the net was somewhat tough, so after nearly ten minutes he managed to sever one strand.

Lao Er's side wasn't better either; the scissors struggled against the tough parts.

"Big brother, it's tangled too tight; we can't do this," Lao Er said anxiously.

Zhu Liwen's gaze had grown hollow; he felt that completely freeing the net was hopeless.

He weakly looked toward the boat,

"Lao San, go check the hold."

Lao San hurried over, then returned with a grim expression,

"Big brother, it's still leaking; we can't plug it."

Zhu Liwen's heart sank; he glanced at the boat's waterline—it was already deep, indicating a lot of water had entered.

"Let's give it one more try, see if we can free the net."

Zhu Liwen dove underwater again.

He swung the cleaver at the propeller; on land or on the surface it would be fine, but underwater the effect was negligible.

After nearly half an hour, the two still made no progress; the boat, having taken on too much water, had begun to list, and at this point human strength could no longer control it.

The four brothers each grabbed a life ring, floated on the sea surface, and watched helplessly as their fishing boat sank bit by bit, with nothing they could do.

That sense of helplessness, that feeling of despair, made the four realize for the first time that even if they could fight, it would be useless.

"Big brother, what are we going to do now?"

"Our boat is gone; how will we go out to fish in the future?"

Zhu Liwen wore a sorrowful face; this time they'd really taken a big fall—no fish caught, the boat lost, and buying a new one would cost tens of thousands.

"Big brother, if we'd known, we should have just left after collecting the fish traps," Lao Er muttered.

Zhu Liwen glared at him,

"Are you blaming me?"

"Of course it is; we had plenty of fish traps already, and if we'd left then we could have made a fortune," Lao Er said, a bit resentful.

Lao San and Lao Si didn't speak, but their eyes conveyed blame.

Zhu Liwen hadn't expected that, by this point, the brothers would start arguing.

"What do you want to do? Rebel!"

He shouted sternly, his eyes flashing with ferocity; added to his usual authority, it instantly subdued the three, who lowered their heads and stayed silent.

"This incident is a trap you didn't notice, and you're still fighting among yourselves like them."

Upon hearing it was a trap, the three blinked, somewhat confused.

Seeing the three's clueless looks, Zhu Liwen said through gritted teeth,

"Didn't you wonder why they placed the fish traps among so many reefs? And, just as we were about to head out, a fishing net happened to snag the propeller—how could such a coincidence exist?"

"Moreover, they knew we were coming to steal and still set the traps—if that's not a trap, what is?"

The more Zhu Liwen spoke, the clearer it became: this damn trap was set by Ye Cheng for himself.

The three, upon hearing and thinking, realized it was indeed true.

"Exactly, big brother, you said they placed the fish traps without hitting reefs—they must have scouted the route in advance."

"I said it all along—they knew we were following behind and still dared to set them; damn, it turns out they were setting a trap for us."

Big brother, go back and deal with them—if you've got the guts, come face to face; what's the point of using dirty tricks?

The three brothers understood, and started cursing Ye Cheng again.

Zhu Liwen glanced at the three brothers, whose intellect was worrisome, and shook his head,

"We should first think about how to get back."

This sea area originally sees few people; they now have no boat, only a lifebuoy—if no one comes, they might drown here.

"Swim to the island, don't stay in the water." Zhu Liwen pointed to the distant small island.

Although it's a bit far, it's still better than waiting here to die.

However, it seemed heaven was looking out for them; they hadn't been swimming long when a fishing boat passed by and rescued them.

Ye Cheng got up later today; besides, he didn't plan to go out to sea that early—he had to leave some time for the Zhu brothers to steal fish, right?

By the time it was past eight, Ye Cheng leisurely walked over to call Xiao Hu,

"Come on, let's go out to sea and see if we can catch those four big fish."

Xiao Hu couldn't wait any longer; he grabbed Ye Cheng and headed for the dock.

Upon seeing Duan Chunsheng, the three exchanged a smile.

Today's catch doesn't matter; the main thing is whether we can trick someone.

It was nine o'clock when the three finally reached the dock; they then searched along it, but truly didn't find the Zhu brothers' boat.

But the problem is they also didn't see the four Zhu brothers.

"Brother, could it be they haven't finished yet?"

"Or maybe they were really scared off and didn't come?"