Chapter 2 Underwater Practice

  Dong Hao walked up and smiled apologetically, "Captain, this gentleman is Lin You, a special advisor for this operation." Then he turned to me and said, "This is Captain Wang Anjin, a native of Shaanxi. Mr. Lin, is this your first time on a cruise ship? The first rule of cruise etiquette is that all actions must follow the captain's orders, and without his permission, you cannot move around freely."

  I heard Dong Hao say "first time on a cruise" with some disdain and contempt, and saw Wang Anjin's arrogant attitude, which was very annoying. In my heart, I muttered that the captain is nothing special, this ship isn't even his, in the future when I have money, I'll also buy a cruise ship and scold the captain to vent my anger.

  But since he said it was "cruise etiquette", one can't help but bow their head under someone else's roof, so I forced a smile and said: "Captain Wang, please don't mind me, this is my first time on a ship, I don't understand the rules, forgive me, forgive me."

  Wang Anjin glanced at me and said, "What's with the literary nonsense! You're just a bookworm!" After that, he didn't bother with me again and went into the driver's cabin on his own.

  Dong Hao smiled politely at me, but the smile made me feel uncomfortable. The group of people gathered around and followed him to wipe their shoes and enter the cabin. I didn't expect this cruise ship to be so big. The second floor had luxurious decorations with a strong Italian flavor, including living rooms, bars, and activity rooms. The third floor even had five rooms, and it was said that there were crew quarters and storage rooms below.

  Dong Hao saw me staring around with wide eyes, and smiled: "This yacht is designed by the famous Nuvori-Lenard company in Venice, Italy, with a luxurious and elegant noble style. All the bulkheads here are made of high-quality teak wood; the living room floor and the back panel of the handmade leather furniture are all made of Brazilian cherry wood; the kitchen uses customized oak fine-grained wooden boards, embedded in granite countertops. The entire lower deck of the yacht is covered with thick carpets, and the master bathroom and shower compartment are decorated with Spanish marble tiles, exuding a strong artistic atmosphere."

  In my admiration, Yang Shuo let Jiang Nan and Xin Xiaoxin move all the household items onto the boat. Xin Xiaoxin responded with a "yes" and turned to ask Dong Hua if he had prepared everything he was asked to buy. Dong Hua replied indifferently that everything was ready.

  Mingying and Zhao Chen lived in a large bedroom, two double rooms, I and Yang Chao one room, Jiang Nan and Xin Xiaoxin one room, another two single rooms, one is Dong Hao's, and there is a guest in the other room, but don't know who it is.

  The configuration in the bedroom is as luxurious as a five-star hotel, with exquisite and high-end bedding, plus palm-colored bed frames and headboards, soft carpets underfoot emitting warm light. The room height of nearly 2 meters does not feel oppressive at all, and I completely forget that this is on a yacht. I put down my luggage, wiped the rain off my forehead, changed into new clothes, and simply washed my face. There's no telling how much fresh water there is on this boat, but it's still best to conserve it.

  Back in the living room on the second floor, sitting comfortably on the sofa, Dong Hao made us a pot of fragrant hot coffee. Sitting down to discuss our plan of action.

  I stood by and listened, lost in thought.

  This action is divided into three steps. First, follow the map to find where Xishi's tomb may exist and dive in for exploration. Then, determine the salvage plan and set up camp on the island. Finally, open the tomb, retrieve the body, and start the return journey.

  Dong Hao asked me if I could dive, and I shook my head like a rattle drum. He said it didn't matter, and then Yang Kong, Jiang Nan, and I went into the water.

  Jiang Nan and Xin Xiaoxin walked into the cabin, with wet footprints that hadn't been wiped clean. After being glanced at by Dong Hao, they obediently retreated to wipe their feet.

  Yang Chao said: "Found the tomb of Xi Shi, Professor Lin is the first achievement. I think he should dive together."

  Dong Hao furrowed his brow and said: "I don't know how to dive, going down is equivalent to sending myself to death. Professor Lin, you wouldn't want that either, would you?"

  I knew he didn't want to drag a burden into the water, thinking that if there was a fishing rod on this boat, I, a fishing enthusiast, could have a good time sea fishing. Such a great cruise, if you don't seize this opportunity, it's gone forever. What a pain in the butt scuba diving is, so tiring and dangerous, no way I'm going. Hurriedly nodded: "Yes, I've heard that scuba diving is a very professional job, I'm afraid I won't be able to dive."

  Yang Chao glanced at Mingying, who then said to Donghao: "This time we came for the task, if Professor Lin doesn't dive in, the task won't be completed. You go and report back to Old Xun?"

  Dong Hao sneered, "Ming Kong, you're being too serious. Since you all think Professor Lin's role is so important, let's not delay any further. Professor Lin, we'll start practicing diving now. I'll be the coach." With that, he stood up.

  Everyone's eyes were fixed on me, and I had no choice but to stand up and say: "The wind is strong and the rain is heavy, are we going to practice diving in the sea now? I'm afraid if I go down, I'll sink after just a couple of bubbles..."

  Dong Hao smiled extremely beautifully and said, "Professor Lin is really humorous. How can you let him go to sea? Let's practice on the boat." As he spoke, he walked over and pressed a certain button. A thrilling mechanical sound came, and the stern cover flipped up to both sides. Then he pressed another button, and a sunshade slowly rose to block the rear deck.

  Dong Hao smiled faintly at me and said, "Let's go practice in the swimming pool." As he spoke, he picked up the intercom on the wall and said, "Xuan Yu, bring over two sets of diving equipment." Two seconds later, a sweet female voice came from the intercom: "Okay, please wait."

  As I watched Dong Hao do all this, I suddenly felt that the gap between this extremely pretentious rich and handsome guy and me, a wild-born pure loser, was like the difference between this luxury cruise ship and that small broken boat.

  Worlds apart.

  Wang Anjin walked over from the driver's cabin and said, "This weather is terrible, why are you still swimming?"

  Dong Hao furrowed his brow at the profanity and said, "Captain Wang, Professor Lin has never dived underwater before, he needs to practice."

  Wang Anjin glared at me and said: "You're resorting to desperate measures, what's the hurry? With skills like this, you might as well not come back!"

  Just been subtly ridiculed by the wealthy and handsome guy, and then scolded by this rough captain, I feel like hitting someone, really really want to hit someone.

  A lovely girl with a sweet face and tall figure walked in, carrying two bags. She was wearing a professional suit and black stockings, but no high heels, which was a bit of a letdown. The rich and handsome guy saw me staring at her feet and seemed to have guessed my thoughts, saying calmly: "The etiquette on the cruise ship is generally not to wear high heels. In fact, waterproof shoes with rubber soles show more taste."

  After mentally mocking the "etiquette" and "taste" that made people's heads ache, I took the bag from the girl's hand, opened it to find a diving mask, a snorkel, a vest, a wetsuit, a pair of flippers and some instruments. The rich handsome guy carried his bag into the bathroom in the living room, and when he came out, he was transformed into a diver.

  I also entered the dressing room, changed into a diving suit, put on flippers, and finally wore a life jacket, walked out. The rich second generation took me to the swimming pool while introducing the purpose of each equipment.

  "Isn't there an earplug?" I used to get inflammation in my ears when water got in while swimming, so now I'm not allowed to get dirty water in them, which is why I asked.

  "...The rich and handsome man fell silent for a moment, saying that the water pressure was too great when diving, wearing earplugs would easily damage the eardrum, so diving would never wear earplugs."

  Alright, I've been thoroughly despised again.

  Through his introduction, this vest is generally called "BC", full name buoyancy regulator, which can be inflated inside, relying on the size of the air volume to control the buoyancy in the water, floating or diving. The inflation device is an air pressure regulator, consisting of two parts: a first-stage head connected to the air cylinder and BC, used to convert high-pressure air inside the air cylinder into medium-pressure air; and a second-stage head connected to the first-stage head, adjusting the medium-pressure air to breathing pressure, holding the second-stage head in the mouth, only supplying air when inhaling.

  The girl also came out and helped me put on the air bottle, connecting the primary head and secondary head. The tall, rich and handsome guy picked up several instruments connected to various pipes in his bag and on his body, introducing me to what is a pressure gauge, what is a depth gauge, what is a compass, and what is a diving timer. Then, he let me get into the water and experience the feeling of breathing with my mouth.

  It's really uncomfortable to breathe through my mouth on purpose, I'm used to breathing through my nose. I always feel like I'm not getting enough air, so I take big gulps of air and end up making myself dizzy. When I exhale through my nose twice, the mirror fogs up. The handsome rich guy says this is a common problem for beginners: over-breathing. When you breathe too frequently, there's not enough carbon dioxide in your blood, which can cause dizziness, headaches, joint pain, and it's also hard to maintain a stable buoyancy because your lungs are over-inflated. So, as long as I adjust my breathing to be slow and deep, that should be fine, and it'll even improve the efficiency of my air supply and save me some air.

  Then he introduced me to the method of diving and underwater sign language. Although we used high-end masks when we dived, which covered our entire face and had communication equipment that allowed us to talk, high-tech gadgets always have a one-in-a-thousand chance of malfunctioning, so at critical moments, it's still best to use sign language.

  Although I was quite annoyed by the high rich handsome guy's attitude, it can't be denied that he is still a good teacher, speaking clearly and thoroughly, I listened and learned while practicing.

  As we were practicing, the cruise ship had already set off and left the port, slowly advancing into the depths of the ocean. I don't know how much energy Old Lady Yin and Ling Kong have, but the maritime administration didn't seem to care about us at all, letting us head towards somewhere between the coast and the Golden Gate Islands.

  In the distance, the typhoon is getting closer and closer. The ultra-low air pressure makes me feel suffocated, unable to catch my breath. The dark clouds in the sky are like a lid covering the sea surface, as if they want to crush us together with the sea.

  Apart from Captain Wang Anjin, the wealthy and handsome Dong Hao and his assistant Li Xueyu, there is also a mechanic named Liu Yawei, a female housekeeper named Xu Biying, and one or two sailors whose names I didn't ask.

  It's not that I didn't care about the names of the working-class sailors, but at this point I couldn't take the tossing of the waves anymore and started vomiting violently. It wasn't just me, except for Yang Chao, Dong Hao, Li Xueyu and the sailors, everyone else also expressed that the pressure was too great, the contents of their stomachs poured out, grabbing the handrails on the deck and pouring into the sea like high-pressure water columns, the scene was magnificent.

  After vomiting until the sky was dark and the earth was dark, our empty stomachs were still churning like a stormy sea, and one by one, our faces turned as white as paper. Just then, the ship's body shook violently, and Li Xueyu rushed over anxiously, saying: "Quickly go into the cabin, the typhoon is coming!"