The ship had vanished, but some of the crew—still embedded in the glacier, having miraculously survived the ice explosion—were left behind.

And among them, there were some who could still talk...

’I need to dig for information. It’s one thing for a Golden Ship to lay a trap to hunt ships of its own class. But why hunt a Silver ship like the Dayun? It’s so obviously unprofitable that even pirates would shake their heads and sigh. And why did they seem so excited and impatient about it?’

’Were they that desperate for a meal?’

Of course, Shi Ming didn’t believe that for a second.

He had seen it clearly. The interior of that ship’s cabins was even more luxurious than Reinhardt’s Chuiyan. They were clearly loaded, having made a fortune. Why would they care about a shabby-looking Wandering Ship like his?

Any ordinary Golden Ship would have been too lazy to plunder the Dayun after one look at its exterior. After all, Chunyi’s entire fortune had only amounted to a dozen or so High-Level Sea Crystal Stones.

Besides, that so-called "Prince" was holding such a remarkable curio.

A curio ranked 41st. Even Shi Ming had never seen one. He suspected that some General-level, or even King-level Wandering Ships, didn’t possess a curio of such a high rank. With a treasure like that, there were countless opportunities to strike it rich. Scheming to set up an elaborate scene just to bait low-level Wandering Ships was a complete waste of time.

Unless, of course, they had a penchant for murder.

’The Lamp of Wishes...’

The Lamp of Wishes could help people realize their desires. The sudden disappearance of the man dressed as a Prince, along with the Wandering Ship "Sun Child," was the Lamp’s handiwork.

It was truly incredible.

’What a treasure! It might grant wishes in a twisted way and demand a price, but if I use the Brain of Creation to upgrade it and dispel its corruption, perhaps it won’t be so warped.’

’Three wishes... What should I wish for?’

He was already starting to ponder.

...

...

...

"The first one to answer my questions gets to live."

Shi Ming stood on the deck. Four surviving crew members of the "Sun Child" were tied to the deck, trembling like cicadas in late autumn.

"Why did your captain set this ambush?"

"For treasure."

"Hm?"

With a BANG from Lin Hai’s gun, one of the crew members collapsed.

"You. Talk."

"I..."

A crewman named Hassan, now a captive on the Dayun, glanced at his fallen comrade on the deck, then back at Shi Ming. He gritted his teeth, debating whether he should be the one to speak.

But another crewman beat him to it.

"Seven years ago, the Prince accepted a long-term commission from a major client."

"What kind of commission?"

"He... They want a large quantity of Sailing Stones and Sailing Crystals. That kind of stuff can only be found on Bronze and Silver ships. The Prince plunders these ’useless’ ships, dismantles them, and uses their Core Crystal Stones to trade for..."

"Trade for what?"

"For Pure Dome Crystals," Hassan finally managed to blurt out.

"???"

"What kind of major client pays for that stuff with Pure Dome Crystals?"

"I don’t know. Word is it’s a powerful figure from the West."

"How many have you collected?"

No one rushed to answer that question.

Hassan thought for a long moment, as if silently calculating.

"I can’t remember exactly. It should be close to a hundred."

A hundred pieces meant a hundred destroyed Wandering Ships.

What a monster.

Shi Ming had destroyed a few ships himself—Edward’s "Water Arrow," Reinhardt’s "Chuiyan," and the Pyramid’s "Thunder God"—but in every case, the enemy had come looking for him. It was kill or be killed, a matter of self-defense. He had never been the one to start a fight.

But this monster went around baiting ships. Out of the 100,001 Wandering Ships in the world, he had destroyed nearly a hundred of them!

’So the survival fortresses of this world have become disposable goods to you people?’

The client behind it all, a powerful figure from the West...

What would they need so many Sailing Crystals for? To build new Wandering Ships?

Shi Ming pondered for a moment, then prepared to ask about the Lamp of Wishes.

"What other accomplishments has your Prince had? Any strange encounters?"

The crewmen seemed to be thinking.

"He’s fond of Ancient Egyptian history. He’s always reading old books, claiming he can find wisdom and treasure in them."

"He once got a treasure map, but it was missing the coordinates, so he couldn’t use it. He changed the coordinates on the map to the location of a B-class sea beast’s lair, made a ton of copies, and spread them around. Many Bronze and Silver ships went off happily to hunt for treasure and ended up in the belly of that beast. Their ships sank to the bottom of the sea, and every year, the Prince would go and collect their cores..."

"A treasure map?"

Shi Ming took out a map.

It was the one he’d picked up at the Twelve Stars.

At the time, the Eye of Intelligence had warned him that the map was fake, but that after an upgrade, it could become a "Scorpion King III Pyramid Treasure Map." So, he had bought it anyway.

"Yes, that’s it! The Tudor Pyramid!"

"Where did your Prince get that lamp?"

Hassan shook his head. The other crewmen looked just as clueless.

It seemed they truly didn’t know.

After asking a few more questions, Shi Ming decided there was nothing else worth learning.

"All right. Stone Pillar, release them."

A knife sliced through the ropes binding the captives.

"You can go now."

Shi Ming said casually.

Hassan froze. Go? Go where?

"What? You planning to stick around for free room and board?" 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

"If they’re not gone in one minute, it means they’ve given up their chance. Kill them then."

The captives looked at the boundless sea around them and the gradually melting ice, their faces a mask of stunned horror.

...

...

...

「At the edge of the Hot Sea.」

The "Sun Child," riddled with holes like a sieve, suddenly appeared in these waters. As the breached sections of the hull hit the surface, water began to GURGLE into the cabins!

"Repairs! Get to the repairs, now!"

There was no response.

???

"Bastards! Is everyone dead?"

The Prince, fuming, stormed into the cabins.

The cabins were deserted.

’What the hell!’

’Where is everyone?’

His ship should have had hundreds of people! Sailors, cooks, courtiers, maids, concubines...

Where were they now?!

If they were dead, why weren’t there any bodies?

A sudden chill ran down his spine.

He fumbled for the Lamp of Wishes in his hand and suddenly understood.

’My wish is to take my ship back to the site of my old kingdom.’

He’d only mentioned the ship, not the crew.

The Divine Lamp was just a curio, not a true god. It naturally wouldn’t perform any unnecessary work. As a curio, it was ruthlessly precise.

He then discovered with a shock that a certain part of his anatomy had vanished. The skin where it should have been was now perfectly smooth, as if nothing had ever grown there at all.

He shuddered with a fear that had nothing to do with the cold.

The Lamp of Wishes, shaped like an old ashtray, fell to the deck with a CLATTER.

Seawater GURGLED in, flooding the space.

He ran back into the cabins and, as quickly as he could, gathered all the valuables. This included over thirty Sailing Stones and Sailing Crystals he hadn’t yet delivered, as well as the Sailing Heart of the Sun Child itself. He stuffed them all into his Honeycomb, then lowered a fully-automated spare dinghy.

’As long as my life is saved, everything else is a necessary sacrifice.’

’Where there’s life, there’s hope.’

’I, the Prince, will be back!’

’Once I sell these thirty Sailing Crystal Stones to the Lighthouse, I’ll have the capital to start over. Then, I can rely on the Lighthouse’s power to get my revenge! I’ll make that brat suffer ten times the pain I’ve endured today!’

...

Reaching the deck, the Prince hesitated.

Gritting his teeth, he picked the Lamp of Wishes back up and tucked it into his coat, then jumped into the dinghy without a backward glance.

The Sun Child slowly began to sink.