The strange hand that suddenly reached out from the ship's hold startled us all. Not just us, but even the well-informed Ma Hailong was trembling and struggling, trying to pull his arm away.

Staring at the large, scaled hand, we were momentarily stunned, unable to think of a solution.

In this critical moment, Uncle Mei was the calmest. He snatched the crowbar from Yu Xiaobo's hand and began stabbing fiercely at the scaled hand.

But the hand was thick-skinned and tough; the crowbar couldn't easily pierce it.

Uncle Mei stabbed several times, but the hand still gripped Ma Hailong's arm tightly.

The hand dragged Ma Hailong towards the ship's hold, quickly pulling him to the edge, where he became stuck, unable to move.

By this point, Yu Xiaobo and I had mostly regained our composure. We quickly took action. I grabbed Ma Hailong's body, pulling him back, while Yu Xiaobo pulled out his diving knife from his backpack and began slashing at the strange hand.

The diving knife was sharper and easier to wield than the crowbar. With each slash, scales were quickly cut away from the strange hand.

Then, I saw blood starting to seep from the hand. But it wasn't ordinary blood; it was green, looking like some kind of plant sap.

The sight disgusted me, and goosebumps rose all over my body. Suddenly, I remembered the gash I had made in the ship earlier, through which I had glimpsed a pair of emerald eyes.

In that moment, I had a flash of understanding. Could the owner of this hand be the green-eyed monster I had seen?

But what kind of creature was it?

Why would such a monster live at the bottom of the sea?

As I pondered these questions, I suddenly heard a scream from inside the ship's hold. Immediately after, the strange hand wisely released Ma Hailong and retracted into the hold with a *whoosh*.

Ma Hailong was saved. Uncle Mei and Yu Xiaobo lowered their weapons.

I saw that the strange hand had been badly injured by Yu Xiaobo's attacks. If it hadn't retreated, it would have been completely chopped off.

After this thrilling incident, we were all shaken.

Especially Ma Hailong, who had narrowly escaped death. Through his diving helmet, I could see that his face was pale.

Yu Xiaobo and Uncle Mei were also leaning against the ship's hold, gasping for breath. This struggle must have used up a lot of oxygen from their tanks.

We rested in the ship's hold for six or seven minutes before gradually recovering.

Uncle Mei gestured to the two of them, asking what we should do next.

Ma Hailong was still in shock and didn't respond for a long time. But Yu Xiaobo was a daredevil. He picked up the crowbar and gestured towards the ship's hold where the strange hand had come from, indicating that he intended to brave the tiger's den despite the danger!

We were all stunned. I gestured to ask if he really wanted to go into that hold. It had a "monster hand," after all.

Yu Xiaobo was indeed bold. He made a nonchalant gesture, then gestured some more. I understood that he meant he would just chop at the monster if he saw it. He didn't seem to think the monster was particularly frightening.

The main thing was that the hold where the strange hand resided was the deepest part of the Ayutthaya treasure ship.

Theoretically, this hold would contain the most valuable cargo, perhaps priceless treasures.

Yu Xiaobo was willing to risk his life for wealth, venturing into the dragon's lair.

Uncle Mei and I didn't immediately agree. Frankly, we had already found a crown, which was valuable enough. Our goal was simply to earn money for Little Mei's treatment, so we didn't want to take too many risks.

Seeing that Uncle Mei and I didn't react, Yu Xiaobo turned his attention to Ma Hailong. He pointed to the armor in Ma Hailong's backpack, then shook his head and made a dismissive gesture.

He meant that the broken armor wasn't worth much. To find valuable treasures, we had to go deeper into the ship's hold.

This immediately motivated Ma Hailong. As the old saying goes, "Man dies for wealth."

The old saying was indeed true.

Despite being frightened earlier, Ma Hailong suddenly perked up. He snatched the crowbar from Yu Xiaobo's hand and began prying at the ship's hold.

The sounds of "crack, crack" echoed as the bulkhead between the two holds was quickly pried open. Uncle Mei and I were tense the entire time, clutching our diving knives, afraid that the monster would suddenly emerge from the hold and attack us.

But even after the entire bulkhead was pried open, we didn't see the monster again. There was probably only one monster in the entire hold, and it had escaped after being injured.

We glanced into the new hold and saw many cargo boxes.

The boxes were in disarray, scattered on the ship's planks. Many had been opened, and their contents were strewn across the floor.

Seeing the pile of treasure, Yu Xiaobo shouted with joy. He couldn't wait to enter the hold, and we quickly followed, afraid that he would be ambushed by a monster lurking inside.

But as it turned out, our worries were unfounded. The monster never reappeared.

As soon as Yu Xiaobo entered the hold, he found a staff about a meter long. It was made of an unknown type of wood that had remained intact despite being submerged in seawater for hundreds of years, showing no signs of decay. The upper part was covered with gold leaf, and a gem was embedded in the handle.

Yu Xiaobo passed the staff around, letting everyone admire it, before handing it to me, as it was my turn to receive a treasure.

I accepted it without hesitation and tied the staff to my waist. But to be honest, the staff was probably the least valuable of all the treasures, perhaps even less valuable than Ma Hailong's armor.

While Yu Xiaobo was searching for treasure, Uncle Mei was paying attention to something else. I saw him carefully examining the ship's hold, as if looking for traces of the monster's blood.

Uncle Mei was still cautious. He wanted to find the monster's hiding place first. Otherwise, if it recovered and ambushed us again, we would be in serious trouble.

Realizing this, I joined Uncle Mei in the search.

But because the entire ship was submerged in the sea, the monster's bloodstains hadn't remained intact on the ship's hold. The trail quickly went cold.

Reluctantly, we had to give up the search.