Live Streaming: Great Adventure in the Wilderness

The dark underwater world.

Bi Fang adjusted his posture in the water, concentrating his strength in his upper body, and threw a quick punch. His fist powerfully broke through the water, striking hard against the dolphin’s forehead.

The dolphin’s skin was very smooth and exceedingly soft. Bi Fang’s punch, like a mighty blow against a carbon fiber plastic board floating on the sea’s surface, swiftly glided off the head.

Although the damage was not great, it was still enough to cause the dolphin pain as it flipped over in the water.

It was stunned by the punch.

This bottlenose dolphin and its companion were dumbfounded, not understanding what Bi Fang was up to, swimming around him and emitting sharp cries in the water.

The enormous noise of internal ear circulation mixed with the cries circulated in Bi Fang’s brain, and he could feel that the dolphin before him was questioning him.

It was puzzled by Bi Fang’s actions.

Unfortunately for the dolphin, its question was not answered but met with more punches and kicks.

Minutes later, the dolphin’s tail fin harshly slapped Bi Fang’s chest, and, along with its companion, they quickly swam away, no longer paying any attention to the stranger they had "saved."

The immense force of the slap pushed Bi Fang against the rocky wall, crushing many sandstones, but he did not feel discomfort; instead, he started to laugh.

However, it sure was painful.

Bi Fang helplessly clutched his chest. His lungs, already compressed by the water pressure, were hit by the dolphin’s tail fin as if it were a battering ram, almost making him spit out blood.

At that moment, Bi Fang felt short of breath, as if he had overexerted himself holding his breath, and he was retching and gasping for air.

Animals tend to be stronger the larger they are. The black bear Bi Fang had hunted weighed only three hundred pounds, whereas the bottlenose dolphin he now faced exceeded three hundred kilograms, a whooping six hundred pounds—double the weight of the previous black bear!

It seems incredible, doesn’t it? That the big, fierce black bear actually weighs only half as much as a dolphin you’d find in the aqua park?

Indeed, that’s the case. Male black bears usually weigh between 60 and 200 kilograms while the male bottlenose dolphin can weigh between 300 and 650 kilograms.

The black bear only appears larger due to the visual effect created by its fur and spread limbs. In terms of mass, it doesn’t come close to an adult dolphin.

In the sea, Bi Fang was not only encumbered in his movements, but also faced a dolphin without the obvious weaknesses of a black bear, more adept at attacking and evading. One-on-one, he didn’t stand much of a chance, let alone against two.

Just moments ago, Bi Fang had dared not exert too much strength for fear of really riling up his adversary... He might not be able to beat them...

Leaning against the rocky wall, Bi Fang bit on the breathing valve, continuously exchanging breaths, easing the congestion in his chest, while the huge Niu Gangjue still impaled on the spear, its tail fin swaying up and down with the current.

Above the sea’s surface, a few boats decorated with colorful lights drifted in the distance, and upon closer look, one could make out the distinctive dolphin shapes on their hulls.

Dolphin Bay, being a restricted area, was seldom visited by people, with only the nearby fishermen occasionally patrolling the area, and even pleasure boats would not approach lightly.

Keke and Mandy stood in the shadows on the shore, not daring to show themselves. Whenever someone passed by, they quickly hid among the jumbled rocks, staring at each other blankly.

Gazing at the calm sea surface, the two of them were fraught with anxiousness.

Bi Fang’s strength was well acknowledged, but after all, they were underwater—a place that was never humans’ forte.

Even the Monkey King wasn’t adept at swimming, let alone ordinary humans.

Moreover, they were up against the notorious bulls of the sea. It was inevitable that there were concerns.

Mandy and Keke were both excellent at diving, one a national champion and the other a professional coach, and they both knew a lot about marine life. But that didn’t mean they could fight against those creatures.

They were powerless to help Bi Fang in the water; any attempt could result in a situation like Mandy’s encounter with the Niu Gangjue, where a single hit could knock them out, becoming a huge burden instead.

"It’s been ten minutes; nothing’s gone wrong, has it?"

"He’s got oxygen tanks. Let’s wait a bit longer."

"Hey, look, here he comes!" Mandy pointed towards the sea and suddenly shouted.

The calm sea surface burst open with a splash. Bi Fang stood on the shallow shore, the spear resting on his shoulder, a fish nearly as tall as a man dangling from the spear tip, dripping a mixture of blood and seawater below.

Bi Fang tore off his goggles, closed the oxygen valve, and took deep breaths of the fresh air on the coast, the thick salty wind filling his lungs and providing the comfortable satisfaction he had long missed.

The tail fin of the Niu Gangjue convulsively twitched, and Bi Fang threw it on the ground, delivering another stab.

Mandy and Keke hurriedly waded over, their eyes wide with amazement at the sight of the Niu Gangjue, with more than half of its body submerged by the sea.

Mandy waved her hands frantically, exclaiming, "WTF, I thought you were going to scare it off, but you actually just killed it outright?"

Bi Fang waved his hand and found a few key spots on the Niu Gangjue, then thrust his spear down.

"What are you doing? Isn’t it already dead?" Mandy was astonished, his excitement evident.

Watching it on TV is one thing, experiencing it firsthand is another, especially when one has witnessed the power of the Niu Gangjue.

With a few stabs from Bi Fang, blood from the Niu Gangjue gushed from those holes.

"Niu Gangjue is seldom bought by people, not only because of its poor meat quality but also because it has a lot of toxins in its body."

"This guy mainly feeds on crustaceans, arthropods, fish, and water birds, and some of the crabs, shrimps, snails, and fish it likes to eat contain natural biotoxins, which accumulate in the blood of the Niu Gangjue, so it’s essential to bleed out and detoxify quickly after catching it to prevent accidents after consumption."

Such key points are only known by seasoned sea anglers, and many novices are completely unaware, even amateurs like Keke are unaware of such things.

No wonder, on the last fishing trip, when Keke saw someone puncturing the Niu Gangjue they had caught several times, he thought they were just taking out their frustrations.

Bi Fang and Keke, dragging the seventy-kilogram Niu Gangjue, came ashore.

"Eat, are you going to eat it?"

Bi Fang nodded, "I want to try it."

Although it is known to not be tasty, that was just what Bi Fang had understood—he had never tried it himself, and besides, having caught it himself, it seemed unnecessary to just throw it away.

"How exactly did you kill it?" Mandy and Keke both were curious.

Bi Fang shook his head again and recounted the scene from underwater to them.

Mandy’s eyes shone with excitement, clearly thrilled to encounter a kindred spirit.

"I hope that last strike will disperse the dolphins’ affinity for humans, better if they run far away, stay away from fishing boats, and never return here," Bi Fang sighed.

The atmosphere suddenly fell silent.

Keke nodded silently, realizing how sad it was to wish for dolphins to avoid humans.

"Alright, don’t think too much," Bi Fang placed his hands on their shoulders, looking up at the moon, "It should be around midnight now; we don’t have much time, let’s get to work!"

"We need to finish all this early and tell the public the whole truth, that’s our purpose for coming here!"

The hunting season for Black Bear had started on July 12th, and on the first evening, Bi Fang, Mandy, and Keke had set up some of the positions in the jungle.

Today is the second day of the hunting season, the 13th night, and they aimed to set up all underwater cameras before the night was over.

There were still many places on the mountain that had good angles for shooting, but there hadn’t been enough time to set up everything.

To carry all this equipment, Richard and his team had used a total of forty-three large boxes, which indicated how heavy a task Bi Fang and his two companions had undertaken.

This wasn’t just a matter of laying things out in order; it involved placing each piece in the right spot with suitable camouflage and at the right angle according to different features and scenarios.

Based on information Bi Fang gleaned from the local fishermen on the first night, the dolphin hunting season was set to take place on July 15th, or the day after tomorrow evening.

A grand ritual would be held in the evening to declare the annual, half-year-long dolphin hunting season, and on the morning of July 16th, numerous fishing boats would leave the harbor, using sonar devices to herd all nearby dolphins into Dolphin Bay, where they’re surrounded by mountains on three sides.

To carry out a mass slaughter.

Their time was running short; with tonight, the 14th night, plus another chance on the 15th night, they had three opportunities before the slaughter would commence.

Time waits for no one.

The trio moved swiftly into action, with Mandy anxiously switching to a spare diving tank and following behind Bi Fang into the water.

Ten meters, twenty meters, thirty meters.

Bi Fang and Mandy quickly adapted to the process, diving deeper.

Passing thirty meters, a starkly different sensation arose spontaneously.

The body became different, the massive pressure of the seawater slowly altering their body density until reaching a certain critical point.

Bi Fang felt his body sink, buoyancy no longer completely countering gravity, and under gravity’s pull, both of them slowly descended into the depths.

This was a tactile sensation that no diving simulator could replicate, magical and wonderful.

They were gently pushed toward the deep ocean.

Every diver must remember the three most important diving laws, which are:

Boyle’s Law.

Dalton’s Law.

Henry’s Law.

Familiar, aren’t they?

Yes, these are the three major gas laws.

The vast majority of recreational divers use air or enriched air as their primary breathing gas, and these scuba diving gas laws apply to all breathing gases. In more specialized diving domains, such as the technical diving that Bi Fang and Mandy were currently undertaking, they might encounter trimix or pure oxygen.

The first iron rule of scuba diving: Never hold your breath!

In line with Boyle’s Law: For an ideal gas, when temperature is constant, pressure and volume are inversely proportional.

Imagine the lungs as a balloon, we can inhale to inflate it or exhale to release the air and let it shrink.

As we dive deeper, pressure increases, the air inside the lungs gets compressed with each breath, but after a full inhale, the lung space is filled again.

The deeper we dive, the higher the pressure, thus requiring more air to fill it, and consequently, air consumption increases.

The pressure exerted on a diver’s lungs in the depths requires more energy to expand them.

When breathing regularly, the "balloon" will never over-inflate.

The same goes for the other two laws.

The reason why deep diving is called technical diving is due to the abundance of technical aspects involved.

This is a balancing act between the lungs and the gas.

Coincidentally, Bi Fang was well-versed in this.

These abyssal worlds seemed to be completely severed from other parts of Earth, waiting there silently for millions of years, until Bi Fang’s flashlight cast the first beam of light.

At forty meters, a pressure-resistant infrared detector was installed.

This belonged to military equipment, normally not allowed to be taken out of the country. It was only after Bi Fang applied that it was approved. Through infrared, the activities of dolphins could be better detected.

Above thirty meters, sunlight could still barely reach, but below thirty meters, even during the day, it would be pitch black, hence further down, what Bi Fang and others needed to install was no longer cameras, but detection devices.

While maybe a large part of these devices would be fruitless, they had to be there, just like how a film shoot would have many discarded scenes. Not every device would capture the perfect shot, but it had to be there.

After loading was complete, Bi Fang did not rashly dive deeper. He flashed his torchlight, giving Mandy a series of light signals.

After Mandy responded, he too sent out flashes, and Bi Fang responded in kind.

Confirming neither had issues, Bi Fang adjusted the gas in his oxygen bottle and continued to dive.

People generally define diving within 40 meters deep as recreational diving.

Why choose the number 40 meters?

Two reasons.

First, at this depth, divers can surface directly in an emergency without having to worry about serious safety issues.

Second, when the air partial pressure at sea level is one atmosphere, then at an oxygen partial pressure of 1.4 atmospheres, oxygen toxicity becomes increasingly dangerous and can affect the diver’s central nervous system, leading to convulsions underwater.

This would directly impair the diver’s ability to maintain a grip on the regulator.

Similarly, when the partial pressure of nitrogen reaches around 3 atmospheres at about 30 meters, some divers will begin to feel an anesthetic effect, which intensifies as the partial pressure increases.

This is known as Henry’s law, which refers to the relationship between the solubility of a gas in a liquid and the surrounding pressure.

As diving depth increases, the amount of nitrogen in the human body also accumulates.

This nitrogen can induce a state similar to drunkenness, commonly known as "nitrogen narcosis".

Below depths of 40 meters, the effects of nitrogen narcosis become so strong that they can impair judgment and responsiveness, leading to safety accidents.

Even many individuals are not aware that they are experiencing nitrogen narcosis; they feel perfectly lucid, even euphoric, yet they can’t even answer simple math questions like what is one plus one.

Just now, Bi Fang and Mandy were confirming each other’s lucidity by giving each other two-digit arithmetic problems to solve.

For this reason, recreational diving limits are set to 40 meters; any deeper and diving enters the realm of technical and industrial diving.

Issues such as decompression sickness and nitrogen narcosis are all caused by nitrogen, but we can’t do without it because breathing pure oxygen is toxic.

Astronauts can breathe pure oxygen for several hours before a spacewalk without being affected by decompression sickness, but this is because the pressure inside the spacesuit is lower than that inside the space station, creating a decompression environment.

Pure oxygen toxicity is conditional—when the inhaled oxygen partial pressure exceeds 0.3 atmospheres (30 kilopascals), oxygen starts to become toxic to cells.

What astronauts can do in space is not feasible underwater, where breathing pure oxygen in a high-pressure environment can lead to oxygen toxicity.

The human body is so fragile.

To be even more precise, below depths of 55 meters underwater, breathing air alone can cause oxygen toxicity, let alone breathing pure oxygen.

Behind Bi Fang and Mandy now were oxygen tanks containing three different gases: helium, oxygen, and nitrogen.

This is what’s known as a trimix; the addition of helium reduces the proportions of oxygen and nitrogen. Just figuring out the right ratio of these gases is enough to give amateurs a headache.

Descending is one thing; ascending is an even bigger hassle, requiring stops at different depths for sufficient time to gradually expel the excess nitrogen from the body.

The world record for technical diving was once set by a man named Ahmed Gabr, who in 2014 reached a depth of 332 meters.

Gabr took only 14 minutes to descend to 332 meters, but it took him 14 hours to surface.

Even though Bi Fang now can free dive to a depth of 70 meters in one go, this is on the basis that he doesn’t need to stay there for a long time, and the changes in his body are not too drastic.

If he spends too much time at depth, he must also abide by the laws of physics.

50 meters below water.

Bi Fang’s body entered the second phase, where the capillaries in his lungs began to congest and harden to protect the chest cavity from the water pressure.

Pressure increased, and without any preparation, an ordinary person would surely die if they instantly entered such a pressurized environment.

Time passed for what seemed like an eternity until they were 80 meters below water.

Eighty meters, a number that makes one feel suffocated, where struggling only leads to greater danger.

Here, one can only rely on mental and psychological strength to overcome and tell oneself to go with nature, and only by completely relaxing can harm be transformed into protection.

In the pitch-black world, far away from light and humankind, in a place accompanied only by cold isolation, Bi Fang became like a tiny droplet, silently floating in the ocean.

With the final piece of equipment installed, a sense of relief washed over Mandy and Bi Fang.

Plan accomplished!