Endless Ocean: Escape Starting from a Canoe

Chapter 176 The Fallen Sun (3k)

"Hey bro, do you know where I can buy cooling equipment?"

"Bro, come to our [Guangge] ship, we have all kinds of services, Brother Guang will take care of it for you, and make sure it's all done perfectly!"

"..."

A unique environment has nurtured a unique culture.

Even in those times of wandering, the African ships still radiated such passion, as intense as the current temperature, their shouts echoing in waves! The Black Gold stood guard ten nautical miles away, a perfect complement to the merchant ships before them.

"The brown snake woman, your satisfaction is guaranteed!"

"Black Gold Specialty: Large Pearls from Deep-Sea Stone Shells, Luminous Pearls! The Favorite of Successful People in the East!"

After spending 30 high-grade sea crystals to trade with a silver-class drifting ship, the Shark, and acquiring a temperature control device that could be upgraded with the Brain of Creation, Shi Ming sent several crew members to different merchant ships to purchase some essential items that were necessary for the ships.

For example, iron ore, copper ore, etc.

He chatted idly with the captain of the silver ship, discussing the customs and culture of Africa.

This captain looks like a seasoned and experienced elder.

He was smoking synthetic cigarettes, standing at the front of the deck, puffing out clouds of smoke.

"Bro, judging from your appearance, you don't seem to be native Africans? You've come all this way and bought all this cooling equipment, are you planning to venture into the Boiling Sea?"

Shi Ming nodded.

"Brother, you have a keen eye. It's a task from an old client that I can't refuse. Fortunately, the task location is at the very edge of the Boiling Sea, so the danger is still manageable."

"Tsk tsk." The old captain glanced at Shi Ming. "I know, another one who's willing to risk his life for black gold points."

Black Gold Points?

Shi Ming ignored the old captain's sarcasm and instead grasped the key words.

What points?

"Hey buddy, what's the connection between this Boiling Sea and these Black Gold Points?"

The old captain exhaled a smoke ring. "You really don't know?"

He rummaged around in his clothes a couple of times,

A flyer was thrown out.

A flyer from Black Gold.

Leaflets were quite rare in those days, but they had their own unique characteristics and advantages in areas with a high density of ships.

Shi Ming took the flyer.

At first glance, the exaggerated font covers the entire flyer.

[Black Gold Bounty: Dare to Come? (Ongoing)]

[Grand Prize! 30-Year Black Gold Residency Permit! Only 1500 Points!]

"Why does this look like a game event or quest?"

"Is it one of those unscrupulous, grindy, pay-to-win games from a pay-to-win developer?"

The leaflet was made of cheap protein paper, and the printing ink had a fishy smell, but the stamp at the bottom clearly indicated that it came from inside this King-class drifting ship and was an officially released document.

Not every drifting ship has a "hunter".
These traditional flyers have their uses.

Shi Ming continued reading.

[Hunting for the hearts of sea monsters!]

[Trade-in for the ultimate prize!]

[In addition, there are many other rewards waiting for you to redeem, including S-class sea monster remains, the strongest armor, stealth equipment, A-class laser cannons, deep-sea immortality vine fruits, and A-class sea monster blood!]

Next up is an exaggerated Black man holding a flyer, striking the classic pose with his right hand pointing.

[Bounty Details: Hunt down sea beasts of the Boiling Sea, exchange their hearts for points, and redeem rewards with those points! A D-grade sea beast heart is worth 1 point, a C-grade sea beast heart is worth 3 points, a B-grade sea beast heart is worth 30 points, and an A-grade sea beast heart is worth 300 points! (Note: Sea beasts without hearts are not eligible for the bounty.)]

Black Gold reserves the right to final interpretation of this bounty offer.

"This...heart? Why does Black Gold need the heart of a sea beast?"

"A sea monster without a heart, and you still don't want it?"

Shi Ming thought to himself.

"To be honest, young man, these rewards are indeed tempting, but your ship is only a mere silver-class vessel. Going to the Boiling Sea is like playing with fire. What kind of place is the Boiling Sea? The temperature at the very edge can reach 100 degrees Celsius! What if you fail to complete the mission and end up getting yourself cooked alive? Why bother?"

The old man glanced at the Dayun ship not far away.

He was quite dismissive of it.

“Brother is right. This treasure is for the capable. We’re just a small, drifting boat, so we shouldn’t get involved in this kind of excitement. But we have to fulfill our employer’s request.”

Shi Ming returned the flyer to the old man.

"Commission?"

"If you ask me, what's the point of you hunters who live on the edge of death, even if you earn a lot of money and treasures, if you don't have the life to spend them? It's better for an old man like me to do some small business around here in the Black Gold area. Life isn't super rich, but it's much better than in the land era."

"There are opportunities at sea, but choosing the right path is more important than hard work!"

Shi Ming could only nod.

The old man continued his earnest instruction. "That boiling sea is not a place you outsiders can reach. I think you should give up on that mission and go back to where you came from!"

"From what you're saying, brother, you seem to have some understanding of Boiling Sea?" Shi Ming continued to press.

"I've been in this Black Gold Sea for so many years, I know far more than you think. Look at this bounty, it sounds nice, but Black Gold itself is unwilling to send its own strongmen to their deaths, so it uses some seemingly good treasures to lure outsiders like you to your deaths!"

The old man left his words unfinished, seemingly hinting at something.

Shi Ming naturally understood the deeper meaning behind it and took out a piece of high-grade sea crystal from his pocket.

The old man didn't mind the small amount; he took it and put it directly into his pocket.

"Brother, let me tell you! That boiling sea is extremely dangerous. In its deepest part, there is a sun that has fallen!"

"A falling sun???"

"Don't disbelieve me! This information is extremely reliable! I heard it myself from a drunken A-level Awakened in Black Gold's tavern! He once followed Golden Bodhi through the outer region of the Boiling Sea, and from over a hundred nautical miles away, he could see a golden sun deep in the central ocean, dazzling and just like the sun in the sky!"

"Did they go even further?"

Shi Ming became interested.

"How could that be? The sun is a star! How could we get close? We'd be roasted alive if we went any deeper! The Golden Bodhi almost didn't make it back from that expedition. In the tavern, that A-level Awakened still felt lingering fear when he mentioned it, cursing the captain of the Golden Bodhi for leading them to their deaths."

"Brother, that's ridiculous. As far as I know, several king-class drifting ships have used high-temperature resistant unmanned equipment to explore the core of the Boiling Sea. There's no sun there, let alone any star. If that thing were to crash into Earth, the endless ocean would probably be gone!"

"Ugh! Can we really believe all the statements made by those King-class drifting ships? Do you trust your own eyes, or just a piece of paper?"

"I only believe in facts."

Shi Ming "argued his case based on reason."

The old captain, not to be outdone, became even more vehement in his remarks.

"The truth is, Black Gold has done nothing for the past thirty years, just guarding the Sea of ​​Desolation and refusing to fight, allowing sea monsters to plague the entire African continent, and drifting ships to become fewer and fewer. It's becoming increasingly difficult for business people like us to make a living! If I hadn't started early and accumulated certain channels and connections, I would have changed careers long ago! Don't you think it would be better to take our drifting ships and crew to places like the Twelve Stars with suitable climates to survive?"

"Staying in this hot place, the temperature control system of the drifting ship wastes a lot of sea crystals every year!"

He spat, seemingly quite dissatisfied with the black gold.

No wonder he complained.

The fact that Black Gold was fully committed to guarding the S-class sea monster, the Nameless Cocoon, was top secret and not publicized at all. Furthermore, due to a shortage of personnel, making it difficult to wage war, many missions were outsourced, such as the recent bounty on the Heart of the Sea Monster, creating a stereotype that they were "cowardly and unwilling to be on the front lines, letting their mercenaries die."

These people don't care about reputation or black money.
Shi Ming wouldn't say much.

On the contrary, these drifting boats that make a living from illicit gains are often full of resentment.

"Alright, buddy, your intelligence is very valuable. We will reassess the necessity of this operation."

"Humph."

The old man seemed quite disbelieving.
He had seen far too many people and things like that.

I realized that these hunters all had an adventurous spirit in their bones.

"Young man, I hope to see you again soon."

……

Shi Ming left the Shark and returned to his own ship.

Temperature control devices have been installed by the crew near equipment on each deck of the adrift ship to ensure that these devices can operate at normal temperatures and not overheat.

After thirty years of iteration, they are all extremely small in size.

However, the energy stones are consumed very quickly, which explains why that guy complained that he wastes a lot of high-grade sea crystals every year in the Silent Sea.

But Shi Ming was no longer concerned about this level of energy expenditure.

He is more concerned with efficiency.

Next, he used his creative brain to upgrade the temperature control system, which wasn't very advanced.

【D1 Type Temperature Control Device Pro】

【Level: 3】

[A high-tech device that cools without air circulation, a temperature control system consisting of 16 cooling units controlled by a main console. It's flexible and can be moved around easily. After the upgrade, the cooling efficiency has been significantly improved, and the energy stone consumption has been greatly reduced!]

[Upgrade Requirements: 300 grams of body or blood of a Rank B or higher Ice-type Sea Beast, and 100 High-Grade Sea Crystals.]

enough.

The Yun-16 carrier rocket has a large amount of equipment, and Shi Ming views it as a "base camp" rather than an exploration vanguard.
Therefore, its next action will not be as fearless as the Sun Shooting Ship's, venturing deep into the core of the Boiling Sea together.

However, temperature control is essential for other equipment on board to operate continuously at high temperatures.

His goal was clear as he ventured into the boiling sea.

Search for an object that can counteract the extreme cold of "Pure Ice Without Form".

After all, extreme cold and scorching heat are antonyms. If Shi Ming could find an environment or item in the Boiling Sea that could suppress extreme cold, he could use the counteracting method on the pyramid stele to reduce the damage of the Formless Pure Ice to his body, swallow the Formless Pure Ice, and obtain the "Third Law" which ranks extremely high.

Regardless of whether they can or not, they will have to make another trip to Europe afterward.

He was also very much looking forward to seeing what kind of sparks would fly from the fusion of the formless pure ice and Ragnarok.

To ensure feasibility, the support of subsequent intelligence is also essential.

With his keen eye for intelligence, he could certainly put it into practice.

(End of this chapter)