Endless Ocean: Survival Begins with a Dugout Canoe-Chapter 102 - 99: Treasure Land, the Eye of Extreme Cold
The elegant captain, Reinhardt, held a large mug of draft beer as he picked up his communicator to contact an old friend.
"Hi, my dear. I heard your Black Society has had some big news recently. The Admiral of the Sea, Yan Dao Lin, has actually been suspended from all his duties. You know, my curiosity is stronger than a cat’s. I really want to know what kind of mistake he made."
WHOOSH~
The message was sent.
Reinhardt continued to savor the fragrant aroma of his beer.
This brew, "fermented" from sea fish, tasted identical to one made from wheat, yet it was hundreds of times cheaper. It had a certain approachable feeling to it.
"Go, tell Old Cohen that we’ll buy the bootleg intel on the Xirang. Put five Pure Dome Crystals on our tab for now. I’ll deliver them to him personally when we get back to the Twelve Stars."
"Yes, Captain."
Twilight, carried on the sea breeze, gently swayed the fragmented reflections in the water.
Reinhardt contentedly hummed an old 19th-century tune, "Für Elise." It was a classic piece by Ludwig, a famous musical master from his home country. The melody was beautiful, telling a moving love story between a man and a woman.
A long while passed.
BEEP.
A reply came.
"Long time no see. Why are you asking such a sensitive question right off the bat? This is classified; I can’t tell you. By the way, when are you coming to visit the Yinping Sea Region? How about we perform a thrilling concerto together?"
Reinhardt maintained his charming smile.
"Of course, my dear. Did you know, in the former Sea of the Earth, I found a Tear of the Earth Sea for you? It can make your beauty rival that of the Goddess of Beauty Aphrodite. When we next meet, I want to apply it to your body with my lips..."
Some time later.
"For the sake of the Tear of the Earth Sea, I’ll reveal a tiny bit of information that I’m allowed to. As for the rest, it’s all classified. Absolutely not!"
The smile on Reinhardt’s face widened—
The skill he had awakened was "Heart of Weaving." This skill not only granted him combat abilities but also made his mind agile, allowing him to weave together various pieces of intelligence and inconspicuous details. He could find their commonalities and conflicts, weaving the details into a web of information.
He refused to believe he couldn’t find a single breakthrough detail within his web.
...
...
...
Some people buy intelligence.
Some people use their connections to acquire intelligence.
But for others, all it takes is the blink of an eye for intelligence to come to them.
It was a new day. After waking up and washing, Shi Ming completed his usual training and stood on the deck, admiring the nascent dawn on the distant sea horizon.
"Eye of Intelligence, acquire information."
[BEEP~ BEEP~]
[Compiling information...]
[Searching. Confirming host’s detailed coordinates... Search successful. Summarizing information... Information generated:]
[At a bearing of 314 degrees, 334 nautical miles away, an "Eye of Extreme Cold" has recently formed. Not only can High-Level Sea Crystal Stones and Dome Crystals be extracted from the seawater there, but a Dome Crystal extraction device can also be used to extract a mineral with a rarity comparable to Pure Dome Crystals: Ice Jade Marrow.]
[It is worth noting that the relatively cold temperatures and the surging energy in the seawater will also attract some powerful sea beasts.]
As his eyes flickered, the words of the intelligence report faded from solid to ethereal, then slowly vanished.
’Eye of Extreme Cold?’
The Dayun’s current coordinates were already quite far north.
Traveling another 334 nautical miles north would bring them to the edge of the European Sea Region. The temperature at noon might be around ten degrees Celsius, and by midnight, it would likely drop even lower.
And if they continued to sail north for a few more hours after reaching the coordinates, they would cross the current "0-Degree Sea Line" and enter the Endless Ice Sea.
In the Endless Ice Sea, aside from the ice abyss in the Extreme North, there was no ice. Even in certain areas where the seawater temperature dropped to negative thirty degrees Celsius, it still wouldn’t freeze.
The scientific explanation was that extra components in the seawater lowered its freezing point to an extreme degree.
However, even if it didn’t freeze, such low temperatures were not suitable for most humans to survive in. Therefore, few wandering ships ever ventured into the current Endless Ice Sea, aside from a single vessel, the [Katyusha], which guarded the 0-Degree Sea Line.
The coordinates provided by the Eye of Intelligence were still far from the Endless Ice Sea, remaining within the European Sea Region.
Therefore, Shi Ming didn’t need to worry about withstanding extreme low temperatures.
’Hmm... Ice Jade Marrow... sounds pretty good. I need to kill some sea beasts right now anyway. I might as well go to that Eye of Extreme Cold and lie in wait. It’ll save me the time and effort of sailing all over the place.’
’Rather than hunting down sea beasts myself, it’s better to let them come to me.’
’And...’
Shi Ming remembered clearly.
To slay the Great Black Heaven Dragon of Fujing Mountain, one needed an Extreme Cold Ability to simultaneously sever the connection between its nine heads and its body!
The Great Black Heaven Dragon was too far off, but it was always Shi Ming’s style to plan ahead. Preparing an ice-type awakening technique in advance and getting used to it might be the right choice.
’Killing three birds with one stone!’
’That’s where I’ll go!’
He just needed to prepare some warm clothing for the ordinary crew members.
A temperature of ten degrees was nothing to Shi Ming; in fact, it helped clear his body and mind. But for the ordinary people on the ship, it was already quite cold. They would definitely need some thicker clothes.
With all preparations complete, the three hundred-odd nautical miles weren’t too far. In just three hours, the Dayun had already reached the vicinity of the coordinates.
This place was still within the European Sea Region, at a location equivalent to slightly south of Iceland in Shi Ming’s previous life.
WHOOSH—
The wind was quite sharp.
"Captain, something’s wrong with the temperature here! It shouldn’t be this cold at this latitude!"
Stone Pillar was wearing an overcoat. He was already a D-rank Awakened, yet he could still feel the chill of this place.
"It is indeed abnormal, but abnormality also implies something special."
Shi Ming, of course, knew the reason for the abnormality.
Normally, the temperature here should be around 10 degrees Celsius, but an "Eye of Extreme Cold" had recently formed here. The Eye of Extreme Cold was located on the seabed, so it was perfectly normal for its powerful frigid energy to lower the temperature of the surrounding seawater.
This place was not only cold, but the seawater was also brimming with energy.
’It probably won’t be long before some cold-loving sea beasts track this place down and occupy it.’
’What I need to do now is lie in wait. At the same time, I’ll run the ship’s "Dome Crystal extraction device" at full power and see how much "Ice Jade Marrow" I can extract.’
In the distance, Shi Ming could already see bubbles constantly rising to the sea’s surface ahead.
"It’s just ahead. Anchor the ship here. Run the energy extraction device and the Dome Crystal extraction device at full power."
"Keep a close watch on the Sea Patrol Radar. I want an alert for any approaching life forms."
...
The surface water temperature was about 5 degrees Celsius.
Shi Ming unfurled the Map of the Endless Sea.
A drop of B-rank sea beast blood and a drop of Demon Sword’s blood dripped onto it in succession, and he then studied it carefully.
There were no A-rank sea beasts nearby.
The B-rank sea beasts were also quite far away.
’Perhaps because this ice eye was formed only a short time ago, the more powerful sea beasts haven’t had time to arrive yet.’
After the blue color faded,
Shi Ming infused his own S-rank Awakening Power back into it.
He had checked before and found no S-rank sea beasts in the vicinity.
He was checking again now just to be cautious. After all, it didn’t require a drop of blood, only an injection of a little Awakening Power.
SPLASH—
The Map of the Endless Sea once again transformed from its ancient, cowhide color into a vast expanse of azure blue.
