The Prince frantically rubbed the ancient body of the lamp, which was shaped like an old ashtray.

The Lamp of Wishes, a treasure ranked 41st on the List of Marvels, was formed when a Wishing Star fell from the sky, its wondrous power merging with an oil lamp. It could grant him three wishes in a rather twisted manner, and now two remained.

He had originally wanted to make a wish to "have everyone on this ship die."

’That’s the only way to vent my anger!’

’It’s the only way to make them pay the price for offending me!’

But on second thought, his last wish to "kill Shi Ming" had been directly rejected by the lamp, which stated there were no loopholes to exploit. This time would probably be no different, so he settled for the next best thing and changed his wish.

[My second wish is to return to my father’s ship with all the wealth and treasures from this vessel!]

’Even if I can’t kill you, I’ll take all the treasure from your ship!’

The Lamp of Wishes, ranked 41st on the List of Marvels, quickly responded.

[Your wish will be granted.]

[However, as the price for this equivalent exchange, you will forfeit all of your personal wealth.]

WHOOSH!

As the light from the oil lamp suddenly flared,

all the valuable items on the *Olden Day*—including but not limited to Dome Crystals, Pure Dome Crystals, anti-aircraft guns, mortars, Advanced Armor, all movable equipment, and Thomas’s private collection of treasures—

vanished into thin air, as if part of a grand magic trick!

It was a miraculous power!

Disappearing along with them was the nearly defeated Prince Atte.

His figure seemed to melt into a mirage, disappearing completely in the blink of an eye!

Thomas and the three A-rank Awakened,

staring at the empty hold,

looked at each other, completely stunned.

—

After only a few seconds, Thomas snapped back to his senses. He broke out in a cold sweat and reflexively touched the [Let There Be Light] communicator on his waist.

’Thankfully,’ 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

’it’s still here.’

’The key is here, too.’

The device looked ordinary, but it was his lifeline—like a soldier’s firearm during the Land Era. It absolutely could not be lost. Losing valuable items would only result in a reprimand, but losing this... the consequences would be severe.

His expression relaxed for a moment before turning ashen again.

The *Olden Day* was now completely empty. The wandering ship, over 100 meters long, was left with only its heavy, immovable facilities. All high-value items had vanished, including a small case of Pure Dome Crystals, over thirty Sailing Crystal Stones, and a large number of personal treasures. They were completely gone!

It was even worse than being plundered by pirates.

’That lamp... it’s no ordinary object.’

’If I report this in detail, maybe I can lessen the blame.’

...

...

...

「In the Sea of Yellow Sand.」

The sun blazed like fire.

"Captain, we’ve reached the target location."

"Excellent."

The Da Yun Ding Lan’s current position, though still within the Sea of Yellow Sand, was now close to the Hot Sea, also known as the legendary Sea of Silence. Here, the surface water temperature could reach over 40 degrees Celsius.

And that wasn’t even the most terrifying part. Farther south, at the location of the King-level Wandering Ship [Black Gold], the water temperature could reach over 50 degrees Celsius.

Even farther south, in the Boiling Sea,

it was another story entirely.

Normally, due to the high specific heat capacity of seawater, it would have been difficult to exceed 40 degrees even during the hottest days of the Land Era. But the current high temperatures in Africa were not caused by the sun; the root cause lay deep within the sea.

Shi Ming guessed it might be related to the sea beast at the center of the Boiling Sea.

The crew was drenched in sweat from the heat. Even the C-rank Awakened couldn’t quickly adapt to the temperature.

Shi Ming, however, had been comfortably fishing on the deck the entire way.

The high-temperature seawater held different kinds of fish, like the Red Bone Fish. Its meat was delicious, its blood scorching hot, and eating it raw offered a unique flavor. The most peculiar thing was that after killing a Red Bone Fish, its flesh would automatically cook within twenty minutes.

Therefore, if you wanted boiled fish, no cooking was required.

You just needed to rub seasoning on the fish and wait twenty minutes.

If you wanted grilled fish, you just had to wait another twenty minutes, and the Red Bone Fish meat would become crispy on the outside and tender on the inside.

Incredibly convenient.

Shi Ming put away his fishing rod and looked at the map. He then took out the Map of the Endless Sea and infused it with S-rank and A-rank Awakening Power, respectively.

There was no abnormal reaction from either.

’Good.’ He didn’t want a "Dusk Whale" to pop out midway through his exploration.

He gazed down at the deep, dark water.

Beneath this deep sea, endless yellow sand churned.

And beneath the sand lay the pyramid tomb of Scorpion King III.

Inside the Pyramid was one of the key materials needed to upgrade a General-level Wandering Ship to a King-level Wandering Ship! This was his most important objective for this trip.

After the Wandering Era began, some of the secrets sleeping beneath the sand were exposed by the ocean currents, making them accessible to all. Unfortunately, over the past few decades, even though some wandering ships skilled in diving had mounted numerous expeditions with powerful Awakened, they had only found abandoned ruins.

Moreover, archaeology was not highly valued these days, and underwater treasure hunting was extremely dangerous, so most factions had lost interest.

But Shi Ming was different. He was fully prepared.

Shi Ming believed in the saying, "Proper tools are prerequisite to a job well done." His preparations were quite thorough. In addition to the Dinglan Pearl he had acquired as spoils from Olympus, he had also gained a solid understanding of the Scorpion King Era’s history while on the *Pharaoh*.

He also possessed the most crucial item: the Pyramid Treasure Map.

The structure of this ancient Pyramid was far from a simple tomb. It unexpectedly had one main burial chamber and four subsidiary ones. A complex maze of intersecting shafts, corridors, tunnels, and secret rooms formed its interior.

Furthermore, three intriguing locations on the map had caught Shi Ming’s attention:

The Scorpion King’s Garden;

The Pool of Sleep;

The Skeleton Hall.

’A garden and a pool...’ It was clear that Scorpion King III was someone who knew how to enjoy life.

Even the Great Pyramid of Giza wasn’t built to such a high standard.

To avoid unnecessary trouble, Shi Ming anchored the Da Yun Ding Lan at this location and activated its stealth mode. While he was exploring underwater, the Da Yun would remain here to provide necessary support. At the same time, the ship’s fully upgraded Dome Crystal extraction equipment would continue to operate at high speed.

Shi Ming then boarded the *Sunshot* alone, activated its dive mode, and descended into the Sea of Yellow Sand.

He had also activated the Dinglan Pearl. This strange object from Fontainebleau allowed Shi Ming to move as flexibly in the water as if he were on land.

One thousand meters.

Two thousand meters.

He reached the bottom.

The Sea of Yellow Sand was a new sea, formed over the former land, only about two thousand meters deep.

Even though he had imagined what a desert at the bottom of the sea would look like, Shi Ming was still amazed by the spectacular sight when he saw it for real.

In some steep places,

waterfalls of flowing sand, like molten gold, streamed slowly across the seabed.

The ocean currents had sculpted underwater ripples resembling dunes, like frozen waves, while in other areas, the bedrock originally covered by sand was exposed.

At the same time, there were none of the corals, mud, or kelp forests common to other sea regions. Thirty years had passed, and it was still nothing but yellow sand.

The remains of crustaceans, however, were quite common.

Shi Ming admired the unique scenery while searching for his target.

Finally, he discovered a small stone brick poking out from the sand.

’Is this it?’