American Hunting: Starting with Solitary Life in the Wilderness

Chapter 377 Diving Down to Obtain Clues
[2:30 AM]

All sounds are silent.

The crashing sound of waves against the rocks has disappeared. In its place is a deeper, more subdued rumble, as if it comes from the depths of the earth.

As the tide recedes to its critical point, the seawater is drawn back into countless underwater caves by the immense pressure difference, creating the sound of friction against the rock walls. Amplified within this natural underground labyrinth, this creates the unique "devil's breath."

"The tide has stopped receding," Mike's voice came through the walkie-talkie. He was staring intently at a distant reef they used as a tide gauge through high-powered binoculars.

"The theoretical 'slack tide' period has begun, and this window will last for about an hour and a half. During these 90 minutes, the tide level will remain at a relatively stable minimum level."

"But the tide will start rising in ninety minutes, and the first half hour will be very rapid. You must complete your reconnaissance and evacuate safely before then. Understand?"

"Understood, ninety minutes is enough."

The golden moment when the secret entrance, hidden for three hundred years, will be fully exposed has finally arrived.

"Time to move out." Lin Yu'an's voice broke the tranquility of the coast through the walkie-talkie.

Mike, who was already prepared, immediately turned on his high-powered searchlight, which he had set up on the high rock platform.

"Zi-"

A bright beam of light instantly pierced the entrance to the deep waterway hidden deep within the mangrove forest, which they had locked onto.

Wherever the beam of light reached, the jagged mangrove roots and the black waterways were illuminated in minute detail, providing a clear guide for the two who were about to set off, and also like a waterway leading to the unknown.

The moment the searchlights were turned on, it was clear that the water level in that area had dropped by at least three meters compared to a few hours earlier.

Large areas of black reefs, which were originally submerged underwater and covered with oyster shells and seaweed, are now exposed to the air, emitting a strong fishy smell.

The entrance to that waterway has transformed from a raging torrent into a relatively calm passage with gentle currents.

At this moment, nature opened the only door for them.

Lin Yu-an and Rui-wen have changed into lightweight gear, wearing 3mm wetsuits and hard-soled diving boots that can effectively prevent them from being cut by oyster shells and corals.

Raven carried a waterproof assault bag containing first aid supplies and a backup light source, and had a machete hanging from her waist.

Lin Yu-an, in addition to the essential snorkeling gear (mask, snorkel, and fins), also carries a 3-liter carbon fiber side-mounted air tank and a compact regulator on his belt—his lifeline for underwater reconnaissance.

"Mike, we're off." Lin Yu'an confirmed the communication one last time. "Keep the channel open, we'll report the progress as we go."

"Roger that, Ghost Nest in position." Mike's voice was as steady as a mountain. "Be careful, kids. Remember, your mission is reconnaissance, not the final battle."

"clear."

Without another word, the two turned on their headlamps and, one after the other, swiftly and nimbly disappeared into the darkness at the edge of the searchlight beam, heading towards the entrance marked with a red line.

Three hundred meters is not a long distance, but the mudflats after the tide receded were extremely difficult to traverse. Their feet sank deep into the fishy-smelling mud, and every step was incredibly difficult.

When they finally reached the waterway entrance, which was hidden by a giant weeping banyan tree, their wet clothes were covered in mud.

"I'll go first." Lin Yu'an stepped into the unknown mangrove waterway without the slightest hesitation.

A chill instantly ran from the soles of my feet. The water in the channel was deeper than I had imagined; the surface was just up to my knees, but the bottom was covered with slippery moss and sharp shells.

On both sides of the waterway, the mangrove roots, intertwined like the skeleton of a monster, cast bizarre shadows under the light of headlamps.

The air was thick with a unique, pungent smell, a mixture of the salty tang of seawater and the stench of decaying plants. It was eerily quiet; even the sound of the waves outside was blocked out. The only sounds were the splashing of the boats as they waded through the water and their own heavy breathing.

"Stay close to me and watch your step," Lin Yu'an reminded Raven behind him as he cleared away some overly dense roots underwater with a machete.

They trudged deeper into the waterway, using a combination of hiking and swimming. The waterway was sometimes wide, sometimes so narrow that only one person could pass at a time.

The dense canopy overhead completely blocked out the starlight, making them feel as if they were in a dark tunnel leading to the Earth's core.

"The water depth increases five meters ahead. Prepare to swim," Lin Yu'an's voice came through the water.

The two put on masks and snorkels, leaned forward, and began swimming the breaststroke. The icy water enveloped their bodies, instantly cooling their bodies that had been burning from the trek.

After swimming about twenty meters, the water became shallower again. Just as they were about to stand up again, Lin Yu'an suddenly stopped and gestured to Ruiwen not to move.

He pointed the beam of his headlamp at a driftwood floating on the water ahead. On the driftwood, a brightly colored creature coiled silently—a spear-headed viper, easily a meter and a half long!
It seemed to have spotted them long ago, its body already in a classic S-shaped attack stance, its iconic, branding-iron-like triangular head slightly raised, its cold, vertical pupils locked onto Lin Yu'an, who was closest to it.

Raven's heart nearly stopped. At this distance, with the spearhead viper's lightning-fast attack speed, they had absolutely no chance of dodging!

Its hemorrhagic venom is enough to kill an adult within hours, and it is extremely aggressive. Being bitten in such a confined space would have unimaginable consequences.

But before she could make any move, Lin Yu'an beside her had already moved.

There was no retreat, and no hesitation whatsoever.

His body suddenly sank downwards, almost completely submerging himself in the water, leaving only his eyes above the surface. This movement made him appear instantly smaller to the snake and allowed him to stabilize himself using the water's resistance.

Immediately afterwards, he swung his right hand, which was holding the Latin machete, out at an unbelievable angle!

"call out!"

A pale white blade of light, like lightning slicing through the night, flashed past the water's surface with a sharp whistling sound!

The spearhead viper, which was about to launch itself, had its nerve reaction speed completely crushed by Lin Yu'an's explosive power that surpassed biological limits.

"puff!"

A dull thud as a sharp blade slices into muscle.

The triangular snake's head, held high, along with its deadly fangs and its belly full of venom, was completely severed in mid-air!

The severed snake head tumbled halfway through the air before falling into the water. The headless snake body, still reflexively contorted and convulsed on the dead wood, finally plunging into the water.

The entire process, from Lin Yu'an crouching down to drawing his knife, and then to the snake's head hitting the ground, happened within a second. It was so fast that Raven only saw a blur before the battle was over.

A potentially fatal crisis was instantly eradicated from its root by Lin Yu'an with an absolutely violent approach.

He slowly stood up from the water, flicked the blood off the blade, his face expressionless, as if he had just casually swatted a mosquito.

“We’re safe now,” he said, looking at Raven who was still in shock, his voice regaining its composure. “Let’s move on.”

Raven stared blankly at the headless snake's body sinking into the water, then looked at Lin Yu'an's sharply defined profile in the dim light of the headlamp.

Her mind was still somewhat blank, and her heart was pounding violently in her chest, but it was no longer the fear she had felt when facing the threat of death; instead, it was a much stronger, more intense emotion.

In that split second just now, what this man displayed was not only superhuman reaction and strength.

It was an absolute calmness, a breathtakingly powerful and composed strength that held all chaos and danger firmly in its grasp.

This captivating sense of power contrasts sharply with his usual gentleness, wisdom, and thoughtfulness.

These two completely different yet perfectly integrated qualities within him were like two powerful electric currents, instantly striking the softest spot in Raven's heart.

Once again, she so intuitively derived from this man something called "absolute security".

“You…” She opened her mouth, but it took her a long time to squeeze out a sentence. But what she wanted to say, “What kind of monster are you?” turned into a trembling whisper, “…You were so cool just now.”

After saying that, she felt her cheeks getting hot and quickly tried to hide her racing heart.

She probably knew that her once calmed heart was now being stirred up again by this damned, fatal charm.

After another 10 minutes of arduous trekking, the GPS showed that they had gone about 100 meters into the waterway. Just then, Lin Yu'an, who was walking in front, stopped again.

"Found it." His voice carried a hint of barely suppressed excitement.

Raven immediately swam forward and looked in the beam of his headlamp.

Directly in front of them, beneath the rock wall of the waterway, a bottomless, dark cave entrance, perfectly covered by aquatic plants, finally appeared before them!
At this moment, with the tide having receded to its lowest point, the upper part of the cave entrance was completely exposed to the air, while the lower part remained submerged. A constant, faint flow of water was being drawn into the cave, proving its connection to the sea. "This is it!" Raven exclaimed excitedly. "Exactly as we expected!"

“Alright, Raven,” Lin Yu’an turned to face her, his expression turning serious. “From now on, we will execute the second phase of the plan. You will be responsible for guarding and providing support here.”

"Pay close attention to the changes in the tides. If you find any signs of a rapid rise in the tide, immediately notify me by tapping on the rock face. Otherwise, something bad will happen."

“Understood.” Raven nodded, took a waterproof glow stick from her backpack, activated it, and threw it on the rock next to the cave entrance as a conspicuous marker.

She retreated behind a more secluded rock, wary of any potential threat.

Lin Yu'an said no more, quickly hung the 3-liter gas cylinder on his side, connected the regulator, and checked the air pressure.

Then, one end of the 50-meter-long exploratory guide rope was firmly tied to a solid rock at the entrance of the cave.

"Mike, do you hear me? I'm preparing to enter the underwater tunnel for reconnaissance. If I don't come out in thirty minutes and there's no signal, execute the emergency plan." He gave Mike, who was at the observation post, a final report over the team channel.

"Roger that! Lin, be careful! I want to emphasize again, your mission is only reconnaissance!" Mike's voice was full of worry.

Lin Yu'an took a deep breath and bit down on the level 2 helmet. He turned back to Raven and gave her an "OK" sign, then lowered his body and, like a fish, silently slid into the dark entrance to the unknown.

Raven watched as his beam of light and the bubbles he exhaled quickly disappeared into the depths of the cave, leaving her alone in the entire world in an instant.

She gripped the Glock tightly, pressed her ear against the cold rock wall, and listened for any sound from underwater and her surroundings, beginning an incredibly long and agonizing wait.

The underwater world is another universe.

Once inside the cave, all sounds from the outside world are instantly cut off.

All Lin Yu'an could hear was his own steady, deep breathing—a "hiss-whoosh" amplified by the Level 2 helmet, sounding exceptionally clear in the ancient silence.

The icy, brackish water enveloped my entire body, bringing a refreshing, stinging sensation. The beam of a high-powered diving flashlight sliced ​​through the thick, inky darkness.

Wherever the beam of light reached, there was a world sculpted entirely by the wondrous hand of nature.

The passage was wider than he had expected, enough for one person to pass through easily. The rock walls were exceptionally smooth from millions of years of water erosion, covered with a thin, velvety biofilm and scattered white barnacles.

He gripped the flashlight tightly in one hand, while the orange guide rope slid slowly between his fingers with the other. Propelled by his flippers, his body moved steadily, like an astronaut in zero gravity, exploring the unknown depths.

Beneath your feet lies unfathomable darkness, as if leading to the earth's core, bringing immense psychological pressure.

A gentle but persistent suction was coming from the depths of the cave, the force of the receding tide guiding him forward.

After advancing about forty meters, he began to feel the guide rope tighten; the fifty-meter probe rope was about to run out. According to the plan, he should return immediately.

But just then, his flashlight beam inadvertently lifted upwards and swept across a rock wall at the top of the passage.

There, there are engraved lines that are distinctly different from the smooth, water-eroded marks around them, bearing obvious signs of artificial carving.

Lin Yu'an's heart skipped a beat.

I immediately stopped moving forward, gently splashed water with my flippers, and slowly floated up to the rock wall.

He reached out and carefully wiped away the slippery deposits covering the surface with his gloved fingers.

Simple yet powerful patterns unfolded clearly before his eyes!
It is a group of rock paintings consisting of spiral symbols, human totems holding spears, and several animal figures resembling sharks or turtles!
Rock paintings by the Taino people!

The immense shock left Lin Yu'an's mind blank for a moment. He was suspended in this cold, dark underwater tunnel, just an arm's length away from the traces left by an ancient civilization from more than three hundred years ago or even earlier.

At this moment, time and space seemed to intersect.

He immediately realized the significance of this discovery, which undoubtedly proved that in some distant ancient time, due to a lower sea level or different geological structure, this tunnel, which is now submerged by seawater, was once a dry cave that humans could walk through!

It was likely a passageway or sacred site where the ancient Taino tribe held some kind of secret ceremony.

This discovery instantly boosted his confidence to 100% that there was a huge, dry cave at the end of the passage.

It's no coincidence that the treasure hunter chose this place!
Encouraged by this tremendous discovery, Lin Yu-an made a bold decision to go beyond the original plan and continue exploring.

Instead of rushing forward, he first took a chemical glow stick that he had prepared beforehand from his equipment vest.

With both hands, it was bent forcefully, and with a soft "click," the chemicals inside the tube mixed, and a light source emitting a bright green light was instantly activated.

The green glow stick was tied to the end of the guide rope with a short string, and then the quick-release was untied. The guide rope, along with the glow stick, was then securely tied to the stalactite shaped like a canine tooth next to the passage.

A crystal-clear "return point" was thus established. No matter how dark the road ahead, as long as he could see this green light, it meant he had found his way home.

This professional maneuver provided him with the most fundamental safety guarantee for his subsequent extreme explorations.

Only then did he feel relieved enough to continue swimming slowly forward, his attention highly focused, the beam of his flashlight acting like a probe, carefully scanning every corner. Guided by the faint green light behind him, the pressure in his heart lessened considerably.

Suddenly, he stopped.

Directly ahead of him, the main passage seemed to end, blocked by a massive rock wall. But to the lower left of the rock wall, there was a narrower crevice, just wide enough for one person to crawl through, from which a faint stream of water was being drawn in.

Directly above, about two meters up, there is another narrow fork in the road that is almost integrated with the top rock face.

Two roads, one down, one up.

Which one should I choose?
Lin Yu'an's gaze fell on the crevice below. He noticed that the edge of the rock wall there was unusually rough, covered with countless deep parallel scratches, unlike the traces of naturally formed water flow.

A thought flashed through his mind: if this was a passage that had been used for a long time, whether by humans or large marine creatures, the frequent squeezing through this narrow gap would inevitably leave such wear marks on the rocks.

That path was full of unknowns; it could very well lead to a more complex underwater labyrinth, or even the lair of some powerful creature.

His gaze then shifted to the fork in the road above. It looked less noticeable, with relatively intact edges on the rock face.

But most importantly, Lin Yu'an, with his extraordinary eyesight, keenly noticed that a series of extremely faint, almost imperceptible silver bubbles were slowly bubbling out from the depths of that fork in the road.

That's air!

Trapped high up in the cave, air seeps out due to pressure changes!

This discovery, like a lighthouse in the darkness, instantly illuminated his thoughts.

Above, lies life and fresh air. Below, lies the unknown and danger.

Having obtained this crucial intelligence, Lin Yu'an made no further stops or attempts. Tonight's mission was reconnaissance, not adventure.

He has obtained far more crucial information than expected—the existence of the Taino rock paintings, the end of the main passage, and the choice and correct answer between the two forks in the road.

He glanced at the diving computer on his wrist. Twenty-five minutes had passed, and nearly a third of the air in the tank had been used up.

Can't stay any longer.

He took one last look at the upper fork in the road leading to hope, memorizing its location and shape. Then, decisively, he turned around, retrieved the end of the guide rope, and quickly returned to the cave entrance along the lifeline he had come from.

[3:45 AM]

Raven's heart was in her throat. The allotted thirty minutes were about to expire, but there was still no movement underwater.

Just as she was about to lose patience, a dense stream of silvery bubbles suddenly surged out of the dark opening.

Immediately afterwards, a bright beam of light shot out from the water, and Lin Yu'an's figure, like a triumphant knight, silently rose from the water.

"You're back!" Raven's voice carried a hint of joy and relief that she herself didn't even realize.

Lin Yu'an took off his sunglasses and level 2 helmet, wiped the water droplets from his face, and gave her a smile that looked exceptionally bright in the darkness.

"I'm back," he said succinctly. "And I've made a major discovery!"

(End of this chapter)