Endless Ocean: Survival Begins with a Dugout Canoe-Chapter 106 - 103: Awakening, A-Grade Skill! Ice Annihilation
WHOOSH~
Shi Ming exhaled a frosty breath.
He gripped the King Slayer Saber and stood up, allowing the ice-attribute Awakening Power in his body to slowly recover and coalesce. It formed layers of Ice Crystal Armor over his skin, shimmering like a suit of dazzling Dragon Scale Armor.
His A-rank skill, Ice Annihilation, could manipulate frost to attack enemies or freely shape it into armor and weapons. But it was capable of far more than just that.
BANG!
At Shi Ming’s command, the dragon scales burst from his body. They floated in the wind and snow, instantly sharpening themselves until they resembled hundreds, even thousands, of swords of Damocles he could command at will, all radiating a ferocious killing intent that pierced one’s very soul.
He pointed, and the ice-crystal scales shot out like a torrential downpour, speeding toward the glacier before him and the ocean in the distance.
When the scales hit the glacier, a vast, thick sheet of ice was instantly riddled with holes like a sieve. When they touched the seawater, the water’s temperature plummeted, rapidly freezing into a new layer of ice.
’This casual attack is already stronger than bullets from a level-5 submachine gun, and it’s infused with the ice attribute! An A-rank Awakening skill really lives up to its name!’
’It can be used for defense, for ranged attacks...’
’And it can even be used for enchanting!’
Time to try enchanting!
A layer of ice crystals instantly formed on the King Slayer in his hand, as if the saber itself had donned a suit of ice armor. The blade remained as sharp as ever, but it now carried an extra touch of brutal killing intent.
When killing sea beasts with this saber, not a single drop of blood would be wasted.
Because it would all be frozen solid!
Beyond that, it had other uses.
The chill in the air condensed, and ice crystals materialized out of thin air, quickly forming a sharp sword of solid ice. With a thought from Shi Ming, the sword shattered and reformed into an Ice-Forged Long Saber identical to the King Slayer. The long saber shattered again, turning into a long spear...
’Even if the King Slayer isn’t on hand in the future, I’ll never be without a weapon,’ Shi Ming thought.
He turned his head and looked at the Glacier Dragon lying on the ice.
The ferocious A-rank sea beast was now dead, but its entire body was a treasure trove.
The power in its blood had been completely absorbed by the Right Arm Red Pattern. This time, not only had it given him a new skill, but the excess blood energy had been converted into 12 points of Physical Strength and 12 points of Endurance. This was far more than what a B-rank sea beast provided. Truly, every last bit was put to good use, with nothing wasted.
The rest of the carcass was also made of extremely rare and valuable materials. Although it could no longer grant an Awakening, it could still be sold for a high price.
It absolutely couldn’t be wasted; it had to be used perfectly.
’I need to call the ship back to haul it away.’
The bloody scratches he had received from the close-range blast of ice-crystal scales during the battle had already completely healed thanks to the powerful regenerative abilities of his Black Tortoise Bloodline. Shi Ming found a fresh set of clothes in his system inventory, took out the communicator he had stored there long ago, and began contacting the Dayun, which had retreated three nautical miles away.
Before he could even speak, he saw the Dayun approaching in the distance.
Shi Dun and the others had already detected on the Sea Patrol Radar that the powerful sea beast’s life signs had vanished. Therefore, as previously agreed, they were returning immediately to handle the clean-up.
Which is to say... the hauling.
However, the area of the sea where they had been was now a thick glacier stretching for two hundred meters, a sight the crew members standing on the ship could scarcely believe.
Then, they saw their captain standing alone on the glacier, and behind him lay a "dragon" from the legends!!!
That was a dragon! A creature only recorded in rumors!
The captain actually slew a dragon?
For a moment, every single crew member was dumbstruck.
The Glacier Dragon’s body was extremely cold, and ordinary crew members couldn’t possibly move it. So, Shi Ming could only leave it on the glacier for the time being. When they were ready to leave, they would use iron chains to tow it behind the Dayun and take it back to the Twelve Stars to be sold.
He had just acquired a new skill. Though it was only A-rank, it was an offensive skill meant for combat.
He was already itching to find a few more sea beasts to test it on.
Unfortunately, with the corpse of the Glacier Dragon lying here, no other sea beasts dared to approach... 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢
’I should just store it. No, my system inventory can’t hold something this huge, and it would freeze everything else inside.’
’Dismember it?’
’Putting aside the difficulty of cutting it, dismemberment would destroy the sea beast’s integrity and aesthetic, greatly reducing its value.’
After all, the beast’s form was incredibly majestic. Each scale looked as if it had been meticulously carved by a master artist, fitting together to form a work of art so beautiful it made one sigh in admiration. The only regret was that its ferocious, savage eyes were now closed, and half its head had been lopped off as if someone had split open a gourd, reducing the dragon’s imposing aura to less than a tenth of what it was.
...
Shi Ming waited from dusk until dawn.
As expected, not a single other sea beast dared to trespass.
His enthusiasm waned. Just then, however, good news arrived from the ship’s cabin. The Dome Crystal extraction equipment, after running for a full day, had finally extracted a piece of "Ice Jade Marrow" that radiated a contained chill in this very sea region.
The crew members didn’t recognize the object and had no idea it was Ice Jade Marrow, but Shi Ming had given them instructions long ago to report any unusual products immediately. As such, they passed the news to Shi Ming at once.
In the captain’s cabin, Shi Ming rubbed the crystalline surface of the Ice Jade Marrow.
Outwardly, it was just an ice-blue crystal similar to a Dome Crystal, but if one sensed it carefully, they could feel the contained chill and energy within. This tiny crystal alone was comparable in value to a Pure Dome Crystal and could be sold for the price of 100 ordinary Dome Crystals.
He put the Ice Jade Marrow away.
He wouldn’t sell such a rare item unless he was in dire need of money.
Besides, when it came to making money, was there any method faster than slaying sea beasts?
’With the Map of the Endless Sea, if I’m ever short on cash, I can just take a trip out to sea!’
BEEP.
Just as the clock struck midnight, the communicator rang.
Shi Ming glanced at it.
Heh.
He decided to take back what he had just thought.
Perhaps there really was a way to make money faster than slaying sea beasts!
It wasn’t just faster—it was a hell of a lot faster!
[Jinshan: Sir, reporting on the mission’s progress. Currently, 3 Admiral-class drifters and 17 Gold-class drifters have accepted the bounty mission. Among them, ships like the ’Kitchen Smoke’ and ’Sea Ghost’ have indicated they have methods for tracking but require more detailed intelligence.]
Ever since being reprimanded by Lighthouse for not reporting proactively last time, Captain Jinshan had become much more obedient.
Although it was midnight where he was, it was exactly 8 PM in the Lighthouse region—the prime time for this particular superior to handle official business.
Sending a message at this time wouldn’t disturb the superior’s rest and would also make it convenient for him to process the report and provide feedback.
Captain Jinshan was truly a master of managing up.
A moment later, a reply appeared.
[Lighthouse: Approved.]
Shi Ming put away the communicator.
He felt a little indignant.
An A-rank sea beast with no blood, unable to grant an Awakening, was worth 50 Pure Dome Crystals at most—perhaps even less, since most of a sea beast’s value was in its blood.
But this bounty offered a reward of 2,000 Pure Dome Crystals, and just providing intelligence was worth 200 Pure Dome Crystals.
Tsk, tsk.
He was a little tempted to turn himself in.
’Maybe I could figure out a way to sell myself?’
If the opportunity truly arose, he would act without hesitation...
