Endless Ocean: Survival Begins with a Dugout Canoe-Chapter 84 - 81: Sky-high Hunt

「The edge of the Lost Sea.」

"Captain Shi Dun, we’ve spotted a dark shadow approaching underwater! But the Sea Patrol Radar hasn’t detected any suspicious life forms!"

"???"

"Maintain high alert!"

Shi Dun stood at the edge of the deck, his eyes piercing through the thin white mist to scan the depths of the ocean.

The Sea Patrol Radar was reliable, but it couldn’t be trusted completely. He was an Awakened now, and with the captain away, he was responsible for the Wandering Ship’s safety.

Through the water’s surface, he could vaguely make out a shadow, darker than the ocean itself, stirring restlessly beneath the waves and drawing ever closer!

"All hands, battle stations!!!"

Before the words had even left his mouth, a canoe shot out from beneath the waves like an arrow of light. The small boat, surging with power, leaped toward the sky. It dragged a massive octopus carcass, dozens of meters long and tightly bound by steel cables, up out of the water with it.

WHOOSH!

It brought a deluge of seawater with it, which rained down from the sky.

"Captain!"

The person standing on the canoe was none other than Shi Ming.

The *Sun-Shooter* landed smoothly on the water. He had used sturdy steel cables salvaged from the *Yellowstone* to forcibly drag the massive Eight-armed Hunter from the seabed.

Along the way, all the sea beasts had scattered before him.

Of course, it had also consumed a good number of Energy Stones.

But this was the corpse of a B-rank sea beast—exceptionally precious and absolutely worth the cost.

The skills from S-rank sea beasts were unique; their blood could only allow one person to awaken a skill. B-rank sea beasts, however, had no such restriction. The blood within this one’s enormous body could allow at least three people to awaken B-rank skills!

Shi Ming had already bathed in the Eight-armed Hunter’s blood once and couldn’t absorb it again.

But he could save its blood for others or sell it to other factions.

The blood of a B-rank sea beast was priceless. No matter where you were, it was an extremely important strategic resource.

If it were the Chunyi of the past, or Captain Nailu Ye of the *Sakura*, they would have gladly spent their entire fortunes for it!

Moreover, it wasn’t just the blood. Its flesh was also immensely valuable. The meat from its tentacles was incredibly delicious and contained energy that could enhance a person’s physique. The ink sac and roe would surely have unique textures and be rare delicacies of the sea.

Even the leftover scraps made for the best bait, enough to draw D-rank and C-rank sea beasts in droves.

Practically every part of it was a treasure.

Such a massive octopus corpse couldn’t fit in storage, nor could it just be thrown away, so Shi Ming had no choice but to tow it along for the entire journey.

Inertia carried him and the Eight-armed Hunter’s corpse another half a nautical mile forward.

"Prepare to haul it in!"

"Yes, Captain!"

Shi Ming didn’t mind the crew seeing the *Sun-Shooter*. This Wandering Ship wasn’t particularly remarkable in appearance, and he’d be using it frequently from now on. There was no need to keep it hidden.

None of the crew members would question it, either.

They knew better than to ask questions or gossip about their captain’s affairs. He had killed two invading A-rank Awakened in a row and then hunted down this colossal sea beast. For a man this powerful, anything was possible.

All they needed to do was cling to this powerhouse.

Shi Ming boarded the ship, changed out of his diving suit, and put on the clean captain’s uniform that Yellow Cannon handed him.

Standing on the deck, he began to direct the work of butchering and bleeding the Eight-armed Hunter.

Everyone on board eyed the gushing blue blood with envy. They all knew these benefits could be exchanged for contribution points, which made their hearts pound with excitement.

...

With the *Yellowstone* completely destroyed, Shi Ming prepared to leave the Lost Sea.

Although the energy from the Sea Crystal Stones here was rich, four times as concentrated as in ordinary waters, High-Level Sea Crystal Stones were no longer Shi Ming’s primary goal at this stage. He needed to hunt stronger sea beasts to grow more powerful. And with Edward’s death here, he couldn’t be sure the Lighthouse didn’t have other ways of finding this place.

’For all I know, some Awakened out there might have an ability like "Corpse Seeker" or "Funeral Attendant".’

It was best to withdraw, just to be safe.

There was no need to gamble, and no reason to take the risk.

He wasn’t strong enough to take on the Lighthouse directly yet.

As luck would have it, the crew had just finished butchering the massive Eight-armed Hunter, collected three large canisters of its blue blood, and were preparing to set sail when the communicator on Shi Ming’s hip vibrated again.

He returned to the captain’s cabin, took out the communicator, and entered [Let There Be Light].

The *Sun-Shooter* could be shown to the crew. His inventory could be passed off as a spatial artifact or an Awakened ability. But [Let There Be Light] could never, ever be revealed to another soul.

Not even his most trusted confidants.

[Jinshan: Sir, after discussions with the Black Society, the "Hunt No. 3 Wanted Order" for the Silver-level Wandering Ship with serial number 23333 has been drafted. The planned bounty is 1,200 Pure Dome Crystals. The Black Society will cover 50%, with the remainder split between our side and Michael. The "Hunt No. 3 Wanted Order" can only be accepted by Gold-level and higher Wandering Ships from internal and allied factions. Please approve.]

[Lighthouse: Approved.]

[Lighthouse: Increase the bounty to 2,000 Pure Dome Crystals. The extra amount will be provided by Lighthouse. Providing valid intelligence will earn 10% of the bounty. Anyone who accepts the order must maintain strict confidentiality and must not leak any details of the mission.]

[Lighthouse: Even if we cannot recover Edward’s body, a high-level Awakened is still a valuable research subject, worth such a large sum.]

[Jinshan: Understood.]

[Michael: Understood.]

[Freedom: Understood.]

[Noah: Understood.]

One by one, all eleven members replied.

To them, 2,000 Pure Dome Crystals was an astronomical fortune.

Even if they couldn’t claim the entire bounty, the 10% reward for providing information was still a substantial sum.

The captains under the Lighthouse’s banner all believed that with a bounty this high, there would be nowhere left in the entire ocean for that Silver-level ship to hide. Even the captains of Admiral-level Wandering Ships would get fired up over such a massive reward, to say nothing of those captaining Gold-level ships.

Unless, of course, the Awakened in question caught wind of the news, abandoned the Silver-level ship with serial number 23333, and took refuge with another faction.

But how could he possibly find out about a Wanted Order that was only circulated through internal channels?

...

Shi Ming stared at the messages in the communicator and blinked.

’2,000 Pure Dome Crystals!!!’

’I’m a little tempted myself.’

’I don’t have a single Dome Crystal to my name right now, let alone the more valuable Pure Dome Crystals. There’s no doubt a reward this huge will attract a whole fleet of Gold-level and Admiral-level ships. Never mind anyone else, that bunch in [Let There Be Light] already have their eyes glowing with greed.’

He sat in the captain’s cabin and looked around at his *Grand Fortune*, which had already been upgraded to Gold-level.

’A pity.’

’The Silver-level ship with serial number 23333 no longer exists. Even if I wanted to accept this mission now and sell myself out for 2,000 Pure Dome Crystals, I couldn’t.’

’After upgrading to a Gold-level ship, even the drive core changed from a "Sailing Crystal" to a "Sailing Heart".’

’Even if another Navigator came along, they wouldn’t be able to find it by its wave frequency.’

’Unless they just go by appearance?’

’But my ship is Gold-level now. No matter how similar it looks, it’s not a Silver-level ship.’

’You’re arresting Lu Xun, but what does that have to do with me, Lu Lianqing?!’