We four surrounded the cave entrance, heads bowed, examining the massive pit before us.

The pit was both regular and irregular.

Regular, because the shape of the pit was roughly circular, as if deliberately carved out. If it had been formed by accidental impact or natural decay, it certainly wouldn't have taken this shape.

Irregular, because its surrounding contours were particularly rough, as if gnawed by dogs. I didn't know what kind of tool could carve such a sloppy pit.

Ma Hailong, Meishu, and I initially didn't want to go down. After all, the pit was bottomless, and considering the scales of the monster that had attacked Ma Hailong were found nearby, who knew what was inside?

To put it dramatically, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call this a dragon's den or a tiger's lair.

But Yu Xiaobo was very insistent; he had to go down.

He pointed into the pit, shining his headlamp inside, signaling us to lower our heads and look.

I tried looking down and was immediately stunned. The pit wasn't completely dark; if you looked closely, you could see a faint, jade-green glow.

The light flickered, somewhat like fireflies. I was taken aback, feeling even more frightened by the cave.

Yu Xiaobo then asked Ma Hailong to come over and kept gesturing to him, as if conveying some message.

When Ma Hailong looked, he immediately became excited, slapped his thigh, and started gesturing excitedly with Yu Xiaobo.

The two of them pointed into the pit, excitedly making "woo-woo" sounds. Unfortunately, because we were underwater, I couldn't hear what they were saying or understand their meaning. But I guessed there must be some important treasure inside.

With that, Ma Hailong and Yu Xiaobo were on the same side. They both supported the idea of going down to take a look, leaving Meishu and me in a passive position because we were both newcomers and our words clearly carried little weight.

Since the two seniors insisted on going down, we had no choice but to follow.

Soon, Yu Xiaobo took a rope from his backpack, tied it to the outside of the pit, and slowly descended.

This time, Ma Hailong didn't go first but went second, with Meishu and me following behind him.

We moved slowly forward, entering the cave.

At first, the space inside was still dim, but the headlamps provided enough light.

But as we descended, the space suddenly became brighter, thanks to the jade-green glow we had seen from above. It was as if there were luminous objects inside the cave.

Since we were deep in the sea, there couldn't be artificial lighting. I guessed the luminous objects were likely some kind of bioluminescent aquatic creatures, like glowing fish or coral.

But we would have to see them with our own eyes to know for sure what was glowing.

The cave's vertical height was about seven or eight meters, not particularly deep. Soon, Yu Xiaobo, who was in the lead, reached the bottom.

I heard him make a "woo" sound, then he started using his crowbar to move aside a pile of things in front of him. I was curious and quickly focused my attention. It looked like a pile of rotten seaweed mixed with sand.

When I reached the bottom, I squatted down and took a closer look. These dark things weren't seaweed; instead, they looked like shed animal skin. Picking one up, I saw that these dead skins were none other than the black scales that grew on the monster's body!

However, there were a lot of these scales, and they didn't look like they had been cut off by us but rather like the molted skin of a snake or lizard.

The thought that this monster could molt its skin made me feel disgusted.

Swimming a little further, I saw piles of this rotten skin everywhere on the ground, making me feel uneasy.

Unfortunately, we couldn't communicate at the moment. Seeing these things, we could only look at each other. Yu Xiaobo didn't linger but continued forward with his crowbar.

The cave widened further ahead, becoming like an underwater cave or the nest of some large animal.

As we swam forward, we suddenly heard a hostile growl from the depths of the cave. The growl was like the roar of a tiger or lion, coming in bursts, making "woo-woo" sounds.

Upon hearing this sound, we immediately stopped. Meishu's face changed, and he grabbed Ma Hailong's arm, shaking his head.

Ma Hailong, also being someone who valued his life, quickly gestured to Yu Xiaobo.

But Yu Xiaobo was incredibly bold. Not only was he not afraid, but he even grabbed his crowbar and desperately struck the walls of the cave, making a piercing "ding-ding-ding" sound, challenging the roar.

Seeing Yu Xiaobo's reaction, we were all dumbfounded. Ma Hailong quickly pulled him back, telling him to stop hitting the walls.

But Yu Xiaobo was stubborn. While struggling with Ma Hailong, he continued to strike the walls forcefully, making a "ding-ding-ding" sound.

I was anxious, afraid that the noise would anger whatever was inside the cave, causing it to rush out and attack us. I was about to help Ma Hailong stop Yu Xiaobo when something magical happened—the roaring inside the cave actually stopped, as if the creature had been frightened by us.

Yu Xiaobo smiled triumphantly and pointed inside, as if asking us, "See? This trick works."

Ma Hailong was also caught off guard, looking at Yu Xiaobo in surprise.

He no longer stopped Yu Xiaobo, letting him continue to strike the walls.

Yu Xiaobo hit the walls for a while, making sure there was no sound inside, then nodded to us, signaling us to follow him forward.

I vaguely felt that Yu Xiaobo hadn't encountered this kind of underground cave for the first time. He seemed to know something, especially about dealing with the creatures inside. It seemed like he had experience.

But I couldn't ask about the details now. I could only follow him forward and see what was inside.

After these few incidents, I had more trust in Yu Xiaobo. At least I could be sure that following him was safe and wouldn't lead to any problems.

Soon, we reached the depths of the cave. Then we saw a scene that surprised us beyond words—the cave actually contained furniture! This was truly unexpected!

Inside the cave were some short tables, chairs, and Ayutthaya Kingdom-style decorations and artifacts!

Clearly, these things had been stolen from that cargo ship. That meant there was some kind of creature living here that even knew how to use furniture and decorate its nest!