Endless Ocean: Survival Begins with a Dugout Canoe-Chapter 99 - 96: The European Sea Region "Must-Eat" List
The journey from the Olympus Ruins to the Twelve Stars took the *Dayun* an entire day, with intermittent stops along the way.
During that day, Shi Ming killed two more D-class sea beasts. The blood of one was devoured by the Black Tortoise Shield, increasing Shi Ming’s Attack Power by two points and officially pushing it past 60.
The other became an advancement catalyst for a crew member, adding one more D-class Awakened to the ship.
Although their blood had been drained, the sea beasts’ bodies were still useful and could be sold for a decent price at the Twelve Stars. There was no need to discard them. Thus, the *Dayun* sailed majestically toward the Twelve Stars, carrying the six sea beast carcasses.
Fortunately, none of the sea beasts were particularly large, or the deck wouldn’t have been able to hold them all.
As they neared the Twelve Stars, the number of wandering ships on the sea began to increase.
Passing ships could even see the sea beasts Shi Ming had deliberately displayed on his deck through their telescopes!
...
"One, two, three, four..."
"Oh, my god! Six sea beast carcasses... And is that a B-class sea beast, a Moonfall Stingray?"
"They actually killed a Moonfall Stingray! Its hallucinogenic ability is incredibly powerful! Even our ship, the *Ganges River*, would have to make a tactical retreat if we encountered one!"
"The Moonfall Stingray’s abilities would be of great use to us. Go ask them if they’re willing to sell it to us. We’re willing to offer 25 Qiong Crystals!"
An old-fashioned wandering ship with a distinctly Indian style was currently anchored in the waters near the Twelve Stars.
Their captain, Singer, stared in disbelief at the wandering ship passing not far from them.
The sea beast corpses were still fresh!
’This means they were all killed recently.’
’There might be plenty of people capable of hunting six D-class sea beasts, but to kill so many in such a short time, including a B-class beast, requires more than just strength. It also takes luck, intelligence, and many other factors!’
’Contact them immediately! We need to get on their good side!’
’Send Eliza!’
’She’s very good at this sort of thing.’
The *Ganges River* sent a friendly signal from a distance. In the Endless Ocean, this signified a request to trade.
Shi Ming, of course, had no reason to refuse and had the ship slowly come to a stop.
He looked at the wandering ship.
’The *Ganges River*, a Gold-level wandering ship.’
’It’s affiliated with the Peacock Country, also known as Brahma, home to the Marshal-level wandering ship, the *Shiva*.’
When the Wandering Era began and the old lands of the Peacock Country sank beneath the sea, a terrifying whirlpool formed, turning a vast area of the surrounding sea into a danger zone. Their affiliated wandering ships had no choice but to leave their homeland, drifting across the Endless Ocean.
In the early days, to increase its influence, the Peacock Country had even competed for the right to build the world’s fifth King-level Wandering Ship.
Unfortunately, their strength was far from sufficient. Furthermore, due to the need to preserve the "seeds" of each continent and maintain balance among the seven continents, they ultimately lost out to Africa and the South American Andean Alliance in the competition and were not allocated a "Core Meteorite" to build one.
The two ships drew near.
"What can I do for you?"
"Respected Captain, we saw the six sea beasts on your ship from a distance and were stunned by your power. I was wondering if you would be willing to sell us the Moonfall Stingray? We are prepared to pay 25 Qiong Crystals for its carcass."
"Twenty-five Qiong Crystals?"
The diplomatic representative from the *Ganges River* was a mature, elegantly dressed woman wearing a veil.
Eliza.
She appeared to be around thirty, with honey-colored skin. The peacock-blue and gold-threaded veil she wore added an air of mystery. The sea breeze fluttered the edge of her sari, like a flowing wave lapping against the ship’s hull.
Her thick, long hair was done in intricate braids, and her eyes seemed able to see into a person’s soul, yet they also held a strange sense of affinity.
"Twenty-five Qiong Crystals? We’re happy to do business, but this Moonfall Stingray’s blood has already been drained. Only the flesh remains, so it can’t be used for an Awakening. You don’t mind?"
"Then what about the Dream Jellyfish? It’s also B-class."
Eliza asked again, her eyes shining.
"My apologies, but that one has already been claimed by another faction. And they offered a price of 30 Qiong Crystals."
"If you’re willing to offer a higher price, I can sell it to you first. We can deal with them later."
Shi Ming replied. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶
’Business is all about profit, after all. If I have to, I can just go hunt another one to complete the mission later.’
Standing on the bow of the *Ganges River*, Eliza was slightly disappointed.
’Thirty Qiong Crystals is over my budget.’
’But it doesn’t matter.’
She was extremely skilled at reading people; her own awakened ability was related to it.
After just a few minutes of conversation, she had already understood that the young man before her was the captain of this wandering ship, and a very capable one at that. Judging by the partially dried blood on him that he hadn’t even had time to wash off, these sea beasts had died by his blade.
’If I can maintain a good relationship with him, there will surely be similar opportunities in the future.’
’By then, we’ll be "friends," and maybe I can get a better price.’
’Besides, this young man has the sharp aura of a powerful expert.’
An outstanding Hunter is a powerful network asset. Take Wright de Albert of the Twelve Stars, for example—powerful and charismatic, a shining star in the night sky wherever he goes, a Luminous Pearl in any social circle.
Eliza was a regular in the social circles of the Twelve Stars.
Sometimes, all it took was a single glance for her to know which men were worth investing in.
She privately kept a notebook titled *The Must-Taste List of the European Sea Region*, which recorded the powerful men of the Twelve Stars and the surrounding resident wandering ships. She used types of alcohol as codenames, and the list was very popular in the social circles of the Twelve Stars, representing a sort of private trend—
Wright de Albert was the mature air of a middle-aged man, weathered by experience, like a full-bodied red wine.
Reinhardt, the captain of the *Chuiyan*, possessed a refined, enchanting, yet dangerous and uncontrollable mysterious charm, with a taste like brandy.
As for the one before her now,
’Is he the vigor of youth, like a stimulating shot of vodka?’
’No,’
’I haven’t tasted him yet, so I can’t define his character.’
’Perhaps one day?’
She added Shi Ming to *The Must-Taste List of the European Sea Region*.
The deal had fallen through, but there were still other opportunities.
Eliza gave him a flirtatious glance, exchanged contact information, and bid Shi Ming farewell with a blown kiss from afar.
...
...
...
"Captain, that woman just now... seems like she’s interested in you, huh?"
Yellow Cannon said, standing beside Shi Ming with envy in his eyes.
’Must be nice!’
"You think so?"
"I don’t think she’s interested in me. She’s interested in my resources."
Shi Ming wasn’t particularly into women with an exotic style.
Besides, he felt that the way she looked at him was like a predator sizing up its prey.
???
’The roles were completely reversed.’
