Chapter 819 - 367: Underwater World (Part 2)

Chapter 819: Chapter 367: Underwater World (Part 2)

"Imagine your lungs as a miniature BCD," she wrote on the board. "Take a deep breath; your body will rise slightly like a balloon."

"Slowly exhale all the air in your lungs; your body will sink slowly like a stone. Find the critical point that’s just right, and you’ll be able to float like a feather in the water."

For Lin Yu’an, it was a challenge tailor-made for him. His extraordinary body control and perception were fully displayed at this moment.

After just a few attempts, he found the feeling.

He closed his eyes, no longer thinking about the operation of the BCD, and focused all his attention on his breathing and the subtle rise and fall of his body in the water.

He could clearly perceive how much his body would rise with half a breath and how much it would sink after exhaling a third.

Five minutes later, when Riven looked at him again, she saw a scene that she would never forget, a scene that was somewhat beyond belief.

Lin Yu’an was like a monk who had entered a Zen-like state underwater, perfectly poised, quietly floating about half a meter above the seabed.

He sat cross-legged, motionless, as if time had stopped on him.

Only the strings of silver bubbles he exhaled, like a reverse pearl necklace, rose rhythmically and slowly, proving he was alive and breathing.

Riven swam slowly to his front, circled around him incredulously.

She reached out, gently pushed his shoulder, and his body swayed like a roly-poly but soon returned to absolute stillness with a breath adjustment.

Lin Yu’an slowly opened his eyes, showing her a smile behind his mask, and playfully made an "OK" gesture.

Riven was completely convinced; any by-the-book teaching would be a restraint and waste for this man.

She swam forward, took his hand, and wrote on the board, "Congratulations, Mr. Monster. You’ve graduated."

She crossed out the word "graduated" and wrote, "Adventure begins now!"

Teaching ended at this moment.

Riven led Lin Yu’an, like two free tropical fish, beginning their underwater ballet.

She guided him, gliding in the water in an elegant and effortless manner.

They passed through a small "forest" of stag horn corals, startling a group of feeding blue parrotfish.

They saw a shy green sea turtle, peeking its head out from a bed of seagrass, curiously looking at them before leisurely paddling away.

The underwater world was tranquil, without any language, all communication completed through glances and gestures.

When Riven pointed to a clownfish hiding in the anemone, Lin Yu’an nodded in response.

When Lin Yu’an discovered a perfectly disguised flounder in the sand, Riven widened her eyes in surprise and gave him a thumbs-up.

This silent, pure communication elevated their relationship to a new dimension.

Without the identity, background, and complexities of the land, at this moment, they were just two partners exploring another blue planet, equal and intimate.

About an hour later, Lin Yu’an glanced at the pressure displayed on his Shearwater Teric wrist computer—55 Bar.

He made an "air low" gesture to Riven (five fingers pointing and slicing horizontally across the throat).

Riven also looked at her pressure gauge, similarly low.

She nodded and then made a slow, definitive "thumbs-up" gesture—ascend to end this pleasant underwater adventure.

Keeping the dive buddy system, they ascended slowly together.

At three meters underwater, they did a standard three-minute safety stop, allowing more dissolved nitrogen to exit their bodies.

"Sploosh—"

Accompanied by two almost simultaneous sounds of surfacing, they returned to the sunny world.

Lin Yu’an removed his second stage, took a deep breath of salty sea breeze, feeling as if he had returned from another planet to Earth.

The serenity of the underwater world contrasted strongly with the vitality of the surface.

"Welcome back, earthlings." Riven wiped the water from her face, removed her mask, her blue eyes dazzling bright in the sunlight, with a genuine radiant smile.

"How does it feel, was your first ’spacewalk’ smooth?"

"Absolutely magical," Lin Yu’an said sincerely, looking down at the clear turquoise sea below.

"That’s a... completely different physical world. Sound, light, gravity... all the rules you take for granted are rewritten. It’s fascinating."

"Fascinating? Ha!" Riven laughed heartily, "I promise when you see that shipwreck lying on the ocean floor for decades this afternoon, you’ll find a word more fitting than fascinating."

They helped each other remove the heavy BCD and tanks, climbing back onto the expansive swim platform of the Polaris.

Captain Mike had already paddled back in a kayak, "Oh ho! The two astronauts have returned!"

"So, Riven, did our captain give you any trouble? Did he panic underwater so much that he spat out the regulator?"

"Quite the opposite, dad." Riven picked up a large towel to dry her wet hair, her face showing a complex expression, both resigned and admiring.