Endless Ocean: Survival Begins with a Dugout Canoe-Chapter 57 - 55: Sharpening the Axe Won’t Delay the Work
The King Slayer Saber pulsed with vibrations, and with a *ding*, Shi Ming realized the Brain of Creation had finished upgrading it.
[War Saber - King Slayer]
[Level: 5]
[A former treasure of the Rhodes Lompe Clan, rumored to be the very blade that beheaded a King in the 14th century. Centuries later, it remains incomparably sharp. Empowered by a mysterious force, its offensive power will surpass all its former glory! Furthermore, the Xuanwu’s Blood Crystal has granted it a new trait—Immovable as a Mountain!]
[Immovable as a Mountain: When clashing blades with an opponent, the wielder of this King Slayer Saber can never be knocked back!]
[Upgrade Requirements: Sea Beast Blood Crystal x30, Iron Ore x30, High-Level Sea Crystal Stone x30]
This upgrade used the Blood Crystal of an S-class Sea Beast Xuanwu, and to his surprise, it added an extra trait to the war saber: Immovable as a Mountain.
This was a pleasant surprise.
Shi Ming gripped the hilt, feeling the blade’s heft and sharp edge. He gave it a casual swing. It felt surprisingly natural in his hand, as if it had been forged just for him.
He activated his Arm of Power. The crimson markings on his right arm flickered faintly, channeling his strength perfectly into the blade. They moved as one. The gleaming steel hummed, as if it could no longer contain its thirst for battle.
’If I were to actually swing this, I could probably take a huge chunk out of the sturdy Wandering Ship with ease.’
Shi Ming reined in his power.
He didn’t want to waste time repairing this Wandering Ship again.
’A Level 5 war saber is good enough for now. I’ll upgrade it later, when I have more High-Level Sea Crystal Stones to spare.’
He had just obtained 300 High-Level Sea Crystal Stones from the Huangshi’s warehouse, but each had already been allocated. The ship’s various systems needed upgrades, so every single Sea Crystal Stone had to be spent wisely.
And right now, there was a more critical task at hand—
Now that he had improved his saber, he turned his attention to his next upgrade target: the ship’s main production tool, the energy generation device.
Sharpening the axe doesn’t delay the woodcutting.
Upgrading the energy generation device to boost its output of High-Level Sea Crystal Stones was the best way to snowball his resources.
This once-obsolete energy generation device was now vastly more efficient after Shi Ming’s two upgrades. It even had a chance to produce High-Level Sea Crystal Stones. But for Shi Ming, it still wasn’t enough.
’It’s too slow!’
He decided to use both of his remaining upgrade chances for the day on the energy generation device.
’Money begets money. Let the resources roll in.’
He descended to the second sub-level of the Wandering Ship, where the Brain of Creation scanned the roaring machine.
[A3-Type Energy Generation Device]
[Level: 3]
[An energy generation device with vastly improved performance. Infused with the power of a mighty sea beast, its production efficiency has been drastically boosted! In normal sea regions, it can produce 300 Sea Crystal Stones per day! The probability of producing High-Level Sea Crystal Stones has also been increased to 2%! In energy-rich waters, it may occasionally yield impressive byproducts!]
[Upgrade Requirements: Sea Crystal Stone x500, High-Level Sea Crystal Stone x10, Iron Ore x300, Sea Beast Blood Crystal Stone x100]
Upgrade!
And upgrade again!
Shi Ming didn’t hesitate to spend resources on the generation device. He used both of his upgrade chances for the day on it.
For the Sea Beast Blood Crystal Stones, he couldn’t bring himself to use the Xuanwu’s Blood Crystal. Instead, he used the common Blood Crystal Stones he had looted from Chunyi’s warehouse.
In total, the two back-to-back upgrades also cost him forty High-Level Sea Crystal Stones.
This was all a necessary investment.
In these waters where Sea Crystal Stone energy was at 150%, the more powerful the device, the faster he’d make his investment back!
[A3-Type Energy Generation Device]
[Level: 5]
[This old device’s performance has been pushed to its absolute limit! It will now work like a tireless beast of burden, gathering Sea Crystal Stones for you day and night at maximum efficiency. In normal sea regions, it can produce 500 Sea Crystal Stones per day, and the probability of producing High-Level Sea Crystal Stones has increased to 5%! In energy-rich waters, it may occasionally yield impressive byproducts!]
[Cannot be upgraded further.]
Shi Ming nodded in satisfaction.
Although it couldn’t be upgraded again, a 5% high-level output rate meant it could produce about 25 High-Level Sea Crystal Stones per day.
And here on the outskirts of the Lost Sea, that output would be boosted by 1.5 times, yielding around 37 per day.
’If I dared to venture deeper into the Lost Sea, the returns would be even greater!’
’If only I could find a way to deal with the Mist Sea Mothers...’
Shi Ming pondered for a moment, then shook his head. He had no way to take the whole ship deeper just yet. The bodily slime of the Mist Sea Mothers could easily corrode the hull of this Silver ship, and the dense fog of the Lost Sea could put the crew into a deep sleep. Until he solved those two problems, staying in the current area was the best choice.
Haste makes waste.
Shi Ming knew very well when to take risks and when to bide his time.
...
The ship’s machinery rumbled as the crew, full of vigor, began their day’s work.
The severed octopus leg Shi Ming had provided them had given every crew member a significant boost in Physical Strength. Though the flesh was grotesque, it provided them with boundless energy. The exploration team was now training even more enthusiastically on deck, their combat techniques and power showing marked improvement.
What had their meals been like before?
Even the core members of the exploration team had been stuck with nothing but canned food and steamed buns, day in and day out, until they were sick of the sight of them.
But now, every crew member got to eat the leg meat of a B-class Sea Beast, an Eight-armed Hunter, every single day. It was something they never would have dared to imagine before!
Shi Ming stood on deck, watching the busy crew and the persistent, dense fog in the distance over the Lost Sea as he formulated his plans for the near future.
First, he needed to acquire large quantities of regular Sea Crystal Stones and High-Level Sea Crystal Stones in these waters. He also needed to properly upgrade this Silver-level Wandering Ship.
If he could upgrade it to Level 5 or advance it to the Gold tier, he could pilot it to power through the jellyfish’s corrosive slime, venture into the higher-energy zones of the Sea of Mist, and gather even more resources.
Then, in those areas with higher energy concentrations, he would collect 1,000 High-Level Sea Crystal Stones and advance his Golden Canoe to the General-tier!
At the same time, he would use the leftover resources to upgrade his war saber and long spear to their maximum levels, boosting his personal combat strength as much as possible.
These were his most important goals for now.
He had a feeling that since he’d taken the nautical chart from the Black Society, they wouldn’t let the matter rest. A direct confrontation was inevitable. Plus, the so-called ally who had "tipped him off" had also warned him that two Silver-level Wandering Ships were on their way to hunt him down.
’I’m not afraid of Silver-level ships, of course.’
But if this incident caught the attention of the Black Society’s upper echelons, he feared they would dispatch truly powerful individuals.
He had to prepare in advance. He needed overwhelming combat power, and even more importantly, enough trump cards up his sleeve.
After mapping out his immediate goals, Shi Ming was about to use his Eye of Intelligence to get the day’s information when the "Huangshi Communicator" hanging from his waist chimed with a new message.
