"Brother, do you have a hookup for cooling systems?"

"Bro, come to our ship, the Guang Ge! We’ve got all the services. Brother Guang will get it handled for you, no sweat!"

"..."

A unique environment gives rise to a unique culture.

Even in the Wandering Era, the wandering ships of Africa were as fiery as the sweltering heat. The hawkers’ cries rolled in one wave after another, each louder than the last. The *Black Gold* stood sentinel ten nautical miles away, a stark contrast to the bustling merchant vessels before them.

"Brown-skinned snake-women, satisfaction guaranteed!"

"A specialty of the Black Gold region! Giant pearls from Deep Sea Clams—Luminous Pearls! A favorite among successful men from the East!"

After spending 30 High-Level Sea Crystal Stones to trade with a Silver-level Wandering Ship, the *Shark*, and acquiring a temperature control system that could be upgraded with the Brain of Creation, Shi Ming sent a few crew members to various other merchant ships to purchase some essential supplies for their vessel.

Things like iron ore, copper ore, and so on.

Meanwhile, he struck up a casual conversation with the captain of the Silver-level ship, chatting about the local customs and traditions of Africa.

One look at this captain and you could tell he was a seasoned, weather-beaten elder with a great deal of experience.

He was currently smoking a synthetic cigarette, standing at the bow and puffing out clouds of smoke.

"Bro, from the looks of you, you’re not from around Africa, are you? Coming all this way and buying all this cooling equipment... you planning on heading deep into the Sea of Boiling?"

Shi Ming nodded.

"You have sharp eyes, my friend. It’s a job from a regular client, couldn’t turn it down. Thankfully, the mission location is just on the very edge of the Sea of Boiling. The danger should be manageable."

"Tsk, tsk." The old captain glanced at Shi Ming. "I get it. Another one who doesn’t value his life, all for some Black Gold Points."

’Black Gold Points?’

Shi Ming ignored the old captain’s jab, instead latching onto the key phrase.

’What points?’

"My friend, what does the Sea of Boiling have to do with these... Black Gold Points?"

The old captain blew a smoke ring. "You really don’t know?"

He fumbled around inside his coat for a moment,

and tossed out a flyer.

A flyer from Black Gold.

Flyers were a rare sight in this day and age, but in areas with a high density of ships, they had their own unique advantages for spreading information.

Shi Ming took the flyer.

A glance was all it took to see the exaggerated font covering the entire sheet.

[BLACK GOLD WANTED ORDER: COME IF YOU DARE! (PERMANENT)]

[GRAND PRIZE! 30 YEARS OF RESIDENCY RIGHTS IN BLACK GOLD! ONLY 1500 POINTS!]

’This looks like an event quest from a video game.’

’And a grindy, pay-to-win one at that.’

The flyer was made of cheap protein paper, and the printing ink reeked of the sea. But the stamp at the bottom was undeniable proof that it came from within the King-level Wandering Ship. It was an officially released document.

Not every wandering ship had "Hunters" on board,

so this traditional flyer still had its uses.

Shi Ming read on.

[HUNT SEA BEAST HEARTS!]

[EXCHANGE THEM FOR THE GRAND PRIZE!]

[Additionally, S-rank Sea Beast remains, the strongest armor, cloaking devices, A-rank laser cannons, Deep Sea Everlasting Vine Fruit, A-rank Sea Beast Blood, and many other rewards await you!]

Below that was a caricature of a Black man holding a flyer, striking a classic pose with his right index finger pointing forward.

[WANTED: Hunt sea beasts in the Sea of Boiling. Exchange their hearts for points, and exchange points for rewards! D-rank Sea Beast Heart: 1 point. C-rank Sea Beast Heart: 3 points. B-rank Sea Beast Heart: 30 points. A-rank Sea Beast Heart: 300 points! (Note: Heartless sea beasts are not eligible for this bounty.)]

[Black Gold reserves the right of final interpretation for this wanted order.]

’This... hearts? Why does Black Gold need Sea Beast Hearts?’

’And they won’t even take heartless sea beasts?’

Shi Ming thought.

"Listen, kid," the old man said, "I’ll give it to you straight. Those rewards are tempting, sure, but I see your ship is just a measly Silver-level. Going to the Sea of Boiling is like pulling chestnuts from a fire. Do you have any idea what that place is like? The temperature at the very edge can reach 100 degrees Celsius! Don’t go failing your mission only to get yourselves boiled alive. What’s the point?"

The old man glanced at the *Da Yun Hao* in the distance.

His expression was one of pure disdain.

"You’re right, sir. Treasures are for the capable. Our little wandering ship won’t be joining in on that kind of excitement. But we have to complete our Employer’s commission, no matter what."

Shi Ming handed the flyer back to the old man.

"A commission?"

"If you ask me, you Hunters who live on a knife’s edge... even if you earn mountains of money and treasure, what’s the point if you’re not alive to spend it? Better to be like me, an old man running a small business here near Black Gold. Life isn’t exactly luxurious, but it’s a hell of a lot better than it was back in the Land Era."

"There are opportunities on the sea, but making the right choices is more important than working hard!"

Shi Ming could only nod.

The old man continued his lecture.

"That Sea of Boiling is no place for outsiders like you. If I were you, I’d drop the mission. Just go back where you came from!"

"Listening to you, sir, it sounds like you know a fair bit about the Boiling Sea?" Shi Ming pressed.

"I’ve been in these Black Gold waters for many years. I know a lot more than you think. Look at this bounty—it sounds nice, but isn’t it just Black Gold unwilling to send their own powerful experts to die? They just toss out some nice-looking treasures to lure outsiders like you to your deaths!"

The old man’s words trailed off, but he seemed to be implying something.

Shi Ming understood the unspoken meaning and pulled a High-Level Sea Crystal Stone from his pocket.

The old man didn’t think it was too little. He took it and stuffed it directly into his own pocket.

"Alright, young man, I’ll tell you! That Sea of Boiling is incredibly dangerous. In its very depths, there’s a fallen sun!"

"A fallen sun???"

"Don’t you dare disbelieve me! This information is from a very reliable source! I heard it myself in a tavern in Black Gold, from the mouth of a drunk A-rank Awakened! He once followed the Golden Bodhi past the outer ring of the Sea of Boiling. Even from over a hundred nautical miles away, they could see a golden sun deep in the central ocean, dazzling and brilliant, just like the real sun in the sky!"

"Did they go any deeper?"

Shi Ming’s interest was piqued.

"How could they? A sun is a star! Can you get close to something like that? Any deeper and they would’ve been cooked! On that expedition, the *Golden Bodhi* almost didn’t make it back. In the tavern, when that A-rank Awakened mentioned it, he was still shaken, cursing the captain of the *Golden Bodhi* for leading them to their deaths."

"Sir, that sounds a bit ridiculous. As far as I know, several of the King-level Wandering Ships have used heat-resistant unmanned drones to explore the core of the Sea of Boiling. What sun? Let alone a star. If something like that really fell to Earth, the Endless Ocean itself would probably be gone!"

"Bah! You believe the official statements from those King-level Wandering Ships? Are you going to believe your own eyes, or some empty words on a piece of paper?"

"I only believe in facts."

Shi Ming argued, holding his ground.

Not to be outdone, the old captain’s words grew more heated.

"The fact is, Black Gold has done nothing for thirty years! They just sit here guarding the Sea of Silence, unwilling to go on the offensive. They’ve let the African Sea Beasts run rampant, and there are fewer and fewer wandering ships every year. It’s getting harder and harder for us business folk to survive! If I hadn’t gotten an early start and built up some connections, this old man would’ve changed careers long ago! Tell me, wouldn’t it be better to take our ships and crews and go live in a place with a decent climate, like the Twelve Stars?"

"Guarding this scorching place, we waste a huge amount of Sea Crystal Stones every year just on the ship’s temperature control systems!"

He spat, seeming deeply dissatisfied with Black Gold.

It was no wonder he complained.

The fact that Black Gold was using all its strength to guard the S-rank sea beast, the Nameless Cocoon, was top-secret information that had never been publicly announced. Due to a personnel shortage, they found it difficult to wage campaigns, so they outsourced many tasks, like this bounty for Sea Beast Hearts. This created the stereotype that they were "afraid of a fight, unwilling to be on the front lines, and happy to let hired help die for them."

Black Gold didn’t care about this reputation,

and Shi Ming wasn’t about to say anything.

Instead, it was the wandering ships that relied on Black Gold for their livelihood that were often full of grievances.

"Alright, sir. Your information has been very valuable. We’ll reassess the necessity of this operation."

"Hmph."

The old man seemed unconvinced.

He had seen too many people like this, too many similar situations.

He understood that these Hunters had the spirit of adventure in their bones.

"Young man, I hope I’ll still be seeing you around."

...

Shi Ming left the *Shark* and returned to his own ship.

The temperature control units had already been installed by the crew near the equipment on the ship’s various decks, ensuring they could operate at normal temperatures without overloading from the heat.

After thirty years of iteration, their size had become exceptionally small.

However, they consumed Energy Stones at an extremely fast rate. No wonder that old man was complaining, saying he wasted a fortune in High-Level Sea Crystal Stones every year in the Sea of Silence.

But Shi Ming wasn’t too concerned about this level of consumption.

He was more focused on efficiency.

Next, he used the Brain of Creation to upgrade the rather low-level temperature control system.

[Type D1 Temperature Control Device Pro]

[Level: 3]

[A high-tech device capable of cooling without air circulation. This temperature control system consists of a main console and 16 cooling units. It is nimble and flexible, able to be moved at any time. After the upgrade, its cooling efficiency has significantly improved, and it consumes far fewer Energy Stones!]

[Upgrade Requirements: 300 grams of body tissue or blood from a B-rank or higher ice-type sea beast, 100 High-Level Sea Crystal Stones.]

’This will be enough.’

The *Da Yun Hao* was loaded with equipment. Shi Ming viewed it as a "base of operations," not an exploration vanguard.

Therefore, in the upcoming operation, it wouldn’t be fearlessly charging ahead with him into the heart of the Boiling Sea like the *She Ri Hao*.

But to keep the other equipment on the ship running continuously in high temperatures, a temperature control system was essential.

His goal for this trip deep into the Sea of Boiling was clear.

To find an object that could counteract the extreme cold of the "Pure Formless Ice."

After all, extreme cold and extreme heat were, fundamentally, opposites. If he could really find an environment or an item in the Sea of Boiling that could suppress the extreme cold, Shi Ming could use the counter-balancing technique from the Pyramid Stele to reduce the damage the Pure Formless Ice inflicted on his body, allowing him to absorb it and acquire the highly-ranked "Third Law."

And regardless of whether he succeeded or not, he would have to make a trip to Europe afterward.

He was also quite looking forward to seeing what kind of sparks would fly from the fusion of the Pure Formless Ice and Ragnarok.

To ensure its feasibility, he would need the support of further intelligence.

But with the Eye of Intelligence, he could simply test things out as he went.