I don’t know what this thing is; it looks like a large giant salamander. I had it back in my hometown before, but I’ve never seen one like this. It looks really creepy. As for that flashlight, my heart skipped a beat when I saw it; it’s the old yellow flashlight I used during my previous freediving.

This must have been brought down by the fat guy and his friends. Just look at the lines on that salamander; they were definitely tied on by a person. Could it be a creation of the fat guy and his gang?

Suddenly, it dawned on me what was going on. No one would do something like this for no reason; the fat guy probably wanted to draw attention to this giant salamander.

Could it be that they were trapped somewhere and had to use this method to call for help?

I never would have guessed that the green light was emitted by this creature. Damn it! How did the flashlight beam turn green?

As I relaxed, my body went limp, and I felt a wave of ease wash over me. It seemed I was right; they really had an adventure underwater and were likely still alive, just trapped somewhere, forced to signal for help in this way. This place probably had air, but it was blocked off somehow.

Although I had no idea what the fat guy and the quiet oil bottle experienced underwater or how they got to that place, the possibility that they might still be alive felt incredible!

With the fat guy’s cunning personality, there might be clues about their current situation on the salamander, so I had to catch it. But moving my hands and feet underwater was quite inconvenient, and looking at how fast that creature was swimming, I was afraid it would be tough.

The giant salamander is a dominant force in the water and has a powerful bite. Plus, its head is so big that if it bites down, I might lose my fingers.

But I had to try! I raised my military dagger and slowly swam over, trying to be as quiet as possible. However, I was only a little over a meter away when, in a flash, it suddenly swished its tail and darted six or seven meters away, stopping on the other side of the stones.

Damn! Even if I were on land with a harpoon, I might not be able to hit it, let alone try to catch it underwater. Fortunately, it seemed docile and didn’t attack.

I wanted to keep trying and slowly approached again. This time I almost got close, but just as I reached out my hand, it quickly darted to another spot.

I immediately realized that it was impossible to catch such a creature underwater. The current created by its tail was powerful, and it was easy to imagine how much explosive strength it had. Even if I managed to grab it, my strength might not be enough to hold it.

The oxygen lamp started to beep, and I felt a bit anxious. I shone my flashlight around, hoping to find something useful as a tool. Unfortunately, there was nothing around; those iron statues were heavy as hell, and even if they were useful, I couldn’t lift them.

Then I remembered the military dagger I had brought down. It was my mental support, even though I had never used it before.

I really didn’t want to hurt this giant salamander; after all, it was a life. But at this point, I was incredibly anxious and couldn’t afford to think too much. When a person’s malice kicks in, any compassion becomes meaningless.

I swam over again, raising the dagger as if to pin it down. Even if I couldn’t kill it with one strike, at least I could injure it so it couldn’t swim as fast anymore.

It stopped at the foot of the iron frame, lying on the green bricks above. I held my breath as it drifted by slowly like a floating corpse, inching closer and closer. I could see that I was only half an arm’s length away from it. In an extremely slow-motion manner, like a scene from a movie, I raised the military dagger in my hand, moved it into position, and prepared to stab down.

Perhaps the giant salamander sensed my killing intent; it suddenly darted forward a few centimeters. At that moment, I steeled my heart and thrust the dagger, stabbing it in the tail.

That thing’s tail was all flesh, and it curled up in pain, showing its incredible strength as the dagger nearly slipped from my grip. I chased after it and grabbed the flashlight on top, but the resistance underwater was too great, and I couldn’t hold on tightly. The giant salamander managed to break its tail free and swam away like a flash, darting six or seven meters without stopping, fleeing toward the other end of the brick chamber.

Without its tail, its speed noticeably decreased. I kicked my feet to chase after it. Several times, I almost caught it, but in the water, the precision of my grabs was far too low. Each time, I thought I could surely catch it, but it slipped away. After chasing for dozens of meters, my earlier time spent underwater had drained my stamina.

I bit down hard on the respirator, using my hands to grip the iron frame for leverage, barely keeping up. Suddenly, the green light turned a corner and disappeared. I lunged after the vanishing arc and saw a hole in the wall where the green bricks had been. I reached in and immediately felt the flashlight, but no matter how I tried, I couldn’t pull it out.

The giant salamander must have held tightly to the brick wall inside. I kicked my feet, bracing against both sides of the bricks, and with all my weight, I leaned back. Suddenly, I felt my hand loosen, and the flashlight was pulled free. My whole body then flipped out and crashed against the iron frame behind me.

After finally stabilizing my position, I looked at my hand. The rope tied to the flashlight was actually the nylon thread from the fat guy’s travel bag, which couldn’t withstand much force and had snapped.

I shone the searchlight into the hole again, and the giant salamander was huddled inside, seemingly unwilling to come out. I couldn’t be bothered to deal with it anymore, so I hurriedly placed the flashlight under the searchlight to see if the fat guy had done anything else. Sure enough, a few words were engraved on it: SOS, follow the siphon tide.

Flipping it over, there was another line of small text, but it was already too blurry to read.