Endless Ocean: Survival Begins with a Dugout Canoe-Chapter 69 - 67: Holy Hall-level Sea Beast Relics?
Cowardly sea beasts always live the longest.
After stealing the bait, the C-class Mist Jellyfish vanished into the sea as fast as it could. From a distance, it caught a glimpse of Shi Ming standing at the bow. Having developed a sliver of intelligence, it felt an inexplicable pressure and hid itself away in the depths, never to emerge again.
For some time after, even the ordinary jellyfish that usually harassed wandering ships became pitifully few.
But the mist on the sea’s surface still lingered.
Shi Ming was very disappointed.
’You’re a C-class sea beast, for crying out loud. Such a coward!’
’You could have at least left a limb behind before you fled!’
Shi Ming could only look for an opportunity to use his Golden Wandering Ship’s diving function to hunt down the C-class sea beast in the future.
Besides, he did plan to explore the *Huangshi* again.
Some of his ship’s reserves were running low, like iron ore.
But now was not the time to explore the *Huangshi* again.
By his calculations,
it had been nearly three days since the Black Society and Michael reached their cooperation agreement.
Based on the distance between Fujing Mountain and Shi Ming’s current location, and adding the time for Michael’s navigator to rendezvous, the enemy could show up in their vicinity at any moment in the coming days.
The navigator would use the frequency fluctuations of his Silver ship to locate him. Even if he left this area and constantly changed position, it would be useless.
It was better to stay in this energy-dense sea region. The mist provided cover, and if a fight broke out, he would have a home-field advantage.
He would travel less, avoiding leaving on his own, to prevent this Silver ship from being ambushed and reclaimed by the Black Society.
This was his most important vessel, its strategic value even surpassing the Golden Canoe.
...
As evening fell, the Silver ship, as if clocking out from work, returned to a normal sea region to rest and recover. This was to prevent the regular crew from inhaling too much mist and falling into a deep sleep.
It was another fruitful day.
He used today’s final Brain of Creation upgrade chance on the ship’s Sea Patrol Radar.
[Sea Patrol Radar]
[Level: 3]
[An advanced radar capable of detecting biological signatures within a 1-nautical-mile radius! But be warned, do not rely on it too heavily! When facing certain high-speed sea beasts or advanced wandering ships, a distance of one nautical mile can be closed in an instant, leaving you no time to prepare.]
[Upgrade Requirements: Sky Net Intelligence Chip x1, High-Level Sea Crystal Stone x10]
’Upgrade!’
The Sky Net Intelligence Chip was a peculiar kind of chip. It wasn’t the type for human implantation, but rather a universal processor core. Shi Ming had found five of them on the *Huangshi*, so he had a sufficient supply.
Upgrading the Sea Patrol Radar didn’t require too many High-Level Sea Crystal Stones either, so it wouldn’t delay his plan to save up 1,000 of them to upgrade an Admiral-class wandering ship.
On the contrary, it would provide the crew with a safer working environment, so they wouldn’t have to rely on Shi Ming for everything.
In just over ten seconds, the Sea Patrol Radar was upgraded from its initial Level 3 to Level 4.
[Sea Patrol Radar]
[Level: 4]
[Always worried about a sneak attack? No problem! It can help you constantly detect biological fluctuations within a three-nautical-mile radius and up to 300 meters underwater. Based on the fluctuation frequency, it can assess the threat level of the corresponding creature, helping you better kill your enemies... or escape.]
[Upgrade Requirements: Sky Net Intelligence Chip x1, High-Level Sea Crystal Stone x20]
The detection range expanded from 1 nautical mile to 3 nautical miles.
A defensive perimeter of 3 nautical miles was enough to do a lot.
After upgrading the Sea Patrol Radar, Shi Ming’s Silver ship had truly become a "hexagonal" Silver ship, integrating defense, attack, and detection capabilities.
In terms of defense, the Level 5 Silver ship could easily withstand the corrosion of a D-class jellyfish, not to mention ordinary cannonball attacks.
In terms of attack, the ship was equipped with point-defense cannons and submachine guns.
If all else failed, Shi Ming himself could become a human weapon and deal a heavy blow to any attacking sea beast.
In terms of detection, the Level 4 Sea Patrol Radar’s range had reached 3 nautical miles, giving them enough time to prepare for a crisis. Moreover, when the next day came, Shi Ming could save another upgrade chance for it.
As long as they didn’t encounter a powerful enemy, self-preservation would be no problem at all.
...
With the day’s tasks properly handled, he returned to the captain’s quarters. As usual, he took out the various documents he had retrieved from the *Huangshi*’s captain’s safe and began to read.
Now that Michael was also involved in the assassination attempt against him, they were an enemy as well.
He wouldn’t go easy on his enemies.
Clashes would be inevitable in the future.
Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will win a hundred battles. The files from the *Huangshi* contained descriptions of the combat capabilities of other Lighthouse wandering ships. Although the information was over a decade old, it still had some reference value.
’According to these files, Michael was already a top-tier, Admiral-class wandering ship over a decade ago, its status second only to the Lighthouse itself.’
’The captain of the *Huangshi* was on very good personal terms with Michael’s captain!’
’The two of them contacted each other privately so often. There are so many records in the communication logs.’
Shi Ming flipped through the dossiers and records.
Each wandering ship under the Lighthouse’s command had a one-to-one communication method with the others.
However, this communication method had a significant delay, similar to the Black Society’s. A one-way message took at least 30 minutes to transmit at its fastest, and the farther the distance, the slower the transmission. It couldn’t achieve the kind of quasi-real-time communication technology like "Let There Be Light."
The difference between 5 minutes and 30 minutes should not be underestimated.
This "Let There Be Light" quasi-real-time communication technology was already irreplaceable in the Wandering Era, becoming an efficient tool for the Lighthouse to coordinate its 3 Admiral-class and 8 Gold-class wandering ships.
Such an efficient coordination method held immense strategic significance in many scenarios!
But now, Shi Ming had managed to sneak in under their noses. If the Chief Governor of the Lighthouse ever found out, the look on their face would probably be quite ugly.
Of course, Shi Ming couldn’t let them know.
He had no intention of losing this channel for infiltration.
He would just act as a spectator, lurking as always.
Just as this communication terminal continued to slumber silently at the bottom of the sea.
...
As if on cue, the communicator chimed again.
It was a message from the Lighthouse.
—
[Lighthouse: Top-Secret File SDH-003 has been declassified. All captains must pay close attention!]
[Furthermore, Michael and Jinshan, the mission commissioned against the Black Society must be completed or terminated within two days. Dispatch Navigator Edward to return to the Lighthouse at top speed!]
[All A-class and higher sea beast researchers on every wandering ship are also required to return to the Lighthouse within 5 days, under strict escort from their respective ships.]
...
Following that was a file of a few hundred words.
A once top-secret file, now made public within the Lighthouse for some reason.
[Research Report on the Mysterious Sea Beast Relics Discovered in the Fidelia Abyss]
[Target Level: S+]
[Relic Weight: 18 grams]
[...]
[...The energy contained within this relic’s tissue is extremely potent. It may be proof of the existence of the legendary "Holy Hall-level Sea Beast." Currently, the sea beast research community has no research data on any "Holy Hall-level Sea Beast," so the study of this relic could be revolutionary.]
[...]
[Plan to convene senior sea beast researchers at Lighthouse Headquarters for joint analysis.]
Shi Ming blinked.
’Relics... basically, shed skin. 18 grams... Did it just scrape off a bit of its hide?’
’The Lighthouse found what might be the hide of a Holy Hall-level Sea Beast, and now they’re recalling all A-class researchers back to headquarters to study it together?’
