Chapter 1: Chapter 1: Mr. Diver
Chapter 1: Mr. Diver
"Link! Link! Wake up!"
Link opened his eyes and removed the "Playboy" magazine covering his face. The bright Miami sun shone directly on his handsome face, making him squint.
Beside him, the chubby James, wearing an oversized beach T-shirt and a crooked Miami Heat cap, stared worriedly at the distant sea.
"What's wrong?" Link stretched and pulled a bottle of mineral water from the ice bucket, gulping down half of it in one go.
"It's that girl named Taylor. She's been underwater for almost two hours and hasn't come up. She didn't bring an air tank, and I'm worried something might have happened to her," James said, pointing towards the sea.
This was Palm Bay's Golden Beach in Miami, Florida, the location of Baker's diving equipment rental shop. Link was the manager, and James was his partner.
"She's been gone for two hours? How do you know?" Link asked, looking at James with confusion.
This was a public beach with clear water and calm waves. The shallow waters were filled with coral reefs, making it perfect for diving, so many tourists came here to rent diving equipment every day.
During peak season, Baker's small shop could rent out more than ten sets a day. It was May, the peak season for beach vacations, and the shop had already rented out six sets this morning.
With so many tourists diving, it was difficult to remember the exact time each person went underwater.
James blushed under Link's gaze. He adjusted his cap and stammered, "I, I saw her, okay, I confess, she's very pretty, blonde hair, great figure, like a model. I noticed her as soon as she entered the shop."
Link chuckled. So he was smitten. He yawned and lay back down. "Don't worry, tall people are usually good at diving. She'll be fine."
"Let's go check it out. If something happens to someone nearby, it could affect our business. For the sake of the money, let's go." James shook his shoulder, his pitiful little eyes making Link feel a bit helpless. You want me to run around for love? You're such a dog.
But considering the shop's business, he took some diving gear from the shop and got on a speedboat to search the nearby shallow waters.
The water near the public beach was less than 60 meters deep, with gentle currents and clear water, suitable for diving and exploration. Most tourists who came to Miami to play in the water would choose this area, except for a few adventurous ones.
Link drove the speedboat in circles within 1-2 nautical miles of the shore, observing the surroundings. About 800 meters from the coast, he found a red hair tie with a golden-brown hair wrapped around it.
Link looked around but didn't see any floating bodies or people. He couldn't tell where the girl was.
He could only dive in to check.
He was a transmigrator. After coming here, his physical strength, endurance, speed, and reaction time had all surpassed his original self. When diving in shallow waters, he only needed to bring a few simple pieces of diving equipment to swim very fast.
In the afternoon, between 2 and 3 o'clock, the surface temperature of the seawater was above 20°C, making it very comfortable to soak in.
Link dived below ten meters. Through the light blue seawater, he could see the coral reefs on the seabed, with schools of colorful fish swimming among the corals.
The underwater world was novel and magnificent, stimulating people's desire to explore. However, the seabed also hid many dangers, such as coral reefs with spiky thorns, poisonous jellyfish, and stinging fire coral, all of which were enemies of divers and places where accidents could easily occur.
Link circled around several dangerous areas but didn't see any blood or anyone trapped in the coral. The waters were calm, and James's worries were unnecessary.
As he surfaced, a young man wearing a Baker's diving suit clung to the side of the speedboat and smiled. "Hey, Mr. Baker, are you here to dive too?"
"No, I'm here to find someone, a tall girl with blonde hair. She's also wearing a Baker's diving suit. Have you seen her?"
"I ran into someone like that half an hour ago. She seemed to be heading that way. She swims very fast," the customer said, pointing to a small island two or three nautical miles away.
"Got it, thanks!"
After saying goodbye to the customer, Link drove the speedboat towards the small island.
The island wasn't big, rising more than ten meters above the water, with a maximum width of no more than 500 meters. It was shaped like a mango, with black rock walls and covered in short vegetation. Sometimes, during high tide, the entire island would be submerged.
Link circled the island in his speedboat and saw a tall girl on a flat black rock on the east side.
The girl had wet hair draped over her shoulders, her diving suit removed and placed on the rock. She was wearing only a polka dot bikini, nearly 180 centimeters tall, with fair and clean skin. Her figure had the slenderness of a young girl and the vitality and sexiness of a teenager, budding with potential.
The girl was sitting on the rock, her left calf bleeding. She seemed to be about to untie her bikini top to bandage the wound, but when she heard the sound of the speedboat's engine, she put it back on.
"Hey, need help?"
"Yes, sir, I cut my calf on a rock. I need treatment," the girl replied loudly.
Link slowly approached the island in his speedboat, stopping by a reef and beckoning the girl to come aboard.
As the girl got closer, he realized that she looked familiar, like the famous star Taylor Swift, with blue fox eyes and a few brown freckles on her upturned nose, giving her a youthful look.
Remembering that James had called her Taylor, and considering the recent beach music festival in Miami, there was a high probability that she was Taylor Swift.
However, it was 2008, and Taylor Swift had only debuted for two years. She was a country music singer and not very famous in the pop music world, so Link could pretend not to know her.
"How did you get hurt?"
"I was so unlucky. I just lightly scraped against the coral reef, and my calf got cut," the girl complained, holding her fair and slender calf, looking at the three-centimeter long, bleeding wound.
"Your diving suit isn't strong enough. It's not suitable for diving in areas with dense coral reefs." Link glanced at the diving suit next to the girl. It was made of nylon, which was close-fitting but of lower quality than Lycra, and the rental fee was also cheaper.
"I know. When I rented the diving suit, that chubby clerk told me it was strong enough to handle the conditions in the nearby waters, but it turned out to be not strong at all. I'm going to give him a piece of my mind."
"You should." Link chuckled, mourning for James for two seconds.
The speedboat stopped at the public dock, and James ran over, panting, and asked eagerly, "Miss Taylor, how did you get hurt?"
"You told me this diving suit was strong, but it tore just by touching the coral reef and even cut my calf. How are you going to compensate me?" The girl asked, her arms crossed over her chest, looking at the blushing James.
James was sweating profusely and gestured frantically, explaining, "We only have four diving suits in the shop that fit your figure. Three of them have already been rented out, and this is the only one left."
"Then you should have told me honestly, and I could have rented from another shop. You're not the only diving shop here. Because of your deception, I can't participate in tomorrow's rehearsal, which will have a very bad impact. How are you going to compensate me?" The girl asked aggressively.
"I, I..." James was so scared that he took two steps back. When he saw Link coming up with diving gear, he was like a drowning man seeing a life preserver. He quickly ran behind Link and shouted, "He's the boss, you can ask him for compensation."
"You're the boss?" Taylor turned her head in surprise and looked at the tall, handsome, but not very talkative boy.
"Yes, I'm Link Baker, the owner of Baker's Diving Shop. How about we go inside and talk?" Link smiled gently.
Taylor was momentarily stunned by his bright smile and handsome face. She waved her hand and said, "Forget it, you helped me."
"You're welcome. We have a first aid kit in the shop. Letme disinfect and bandage your wound first. It's not deep, it should heal in three or four days," Link said, pointing to her calf.
"Alright, thank you." Taylor held his arm and limped into Baker's diving shop, stepping on the soft white sand.
(End of Chapter)
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