Endless Ocean: Escape Starting from a Canoe

Chapter 27 Mysterious Map
Shi Ming had no clue about the captain's secret. After all, the Iron Tower had been here for so many years and had not found any concrete results, which showed that the secret was very unusual.

But the secret treasure is different.

Knowing the name of the treasure greatly increases the chances of finding it.

Navigation instrument.

Shi Ming pondered the name.

As the name suggests, a nautical instrument is used to locate a ship, determine its direction, and guide its course; it is similar to a compass or sextant. Once the direction is confirmed, the search area is greatly narrowed down.

Moreover, such a practical treasure would certainly not be kept hidden away as a collectible; once it has been used, it will inevitably leave traces.

"Call the exploration team leader, Shidun, over here."

Shi Ming gave the instructions to the person outside the door.

All the crew members who once had close contact with former Captain Junichi have perished in the battle to land on the island—Iron Tower was killed by his own hand, the first mate took a bullet for him, and the other managers also tragically died at the hands of the Bloodthirsty Moths. Those who can now barely get close to Junichi are only a few veteran members of the current exploration team.

The stone pier is one of them, and also one of the more clever ones.

Perhaps he knows something.

It didn't take long.

Shidun, wearing his new training uniform, arrived at the captain's cabin door.

"captain."

"I called you here to ask you something. What tools did Junichi, the former captain, use when directing the drifting ship or determining its location?"

Shi Ming got straight to the point.

Shi Dun thought for a moment.

"Tools? Sextant is frequently used, and then there's the life detector... We need it to avoid attacks from powerful sea monsters or schools of fish..."

"Anything else? Items you come into frequent contact with count too."

"Hmm...right, the former captain often looked at maps. As for the rest, I didn't really pay attention. I was in a lower position before, so I rarely had the chance to be in close contact with the former captain."

"Okay, you can go now. Close the door."

"Yes."

Shi Ming was lost in thought inside the boat.

The sextant is perfectly normal; there's nothing special about it. Aside from the captain, other sailors handle it regularly, so it's probably not some kind of secret treasure. The life detector is nothing special either…

map?

Wait a minute! The endless ocean is all water, why would you need a map?
Shi Ming suddenly had a breakthrough!

What map do you need for an endless ocean world!
His gaze drifted to a decorative item hanging in a secluded corner of the captain's cabin.

It was a rare map of the Old World!
He came to the world map.

This picture looks so familiar!

The Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, the Arctic Ocean... towering mountains, mighty rivers, cascading waterfalls, endless deserts... and that vast and resource-rich land, all of them no longer exist. All the oceans have merged into one, and that once enchanting planet has been completely transformed into a water sphere.

Shi Ming took down the map.

This is a collector's item map made of sheepskin. The weathering marks on the edges show that it is a well-preserved antique, probably more than thirty years old.

But upon closer inspection, Shi Ming found that apart from its long history, there seemed to be nothing special about it.

It looked like just a collectible. Shi Ming didn't give up. He placed the sheepskin map on the table, took a magnifying glass, and carefully studied it.

"Analyzing the map first requires determining your location on it. Based on the sun's altitude, we can deduce that the drifting ship is currently located at approximately 120 degrees west longitude and 20 degrees north latitude, which is near the former Hawaiian Islands. Right here..."

Shi Ming pointed to their current location with his hand.

There's nothing noteworthy about it.

"Is there some external condition needed to trigger it?"

After pondering for a while, Shi Ming activated the awakening power within his body, allowing the power to slowly condense in his hands, and then transmit it to the map.

This is one way to apply the power of awakening.

Awakened beings are almost not the same species as humans. Their flesh and blood are filled with magical power. Concentrating this power in a certain part of their body to unleash even stronger power is a familiar application method for every Awakened being. It is somewhat similar to the Arm of Power, but it is far less powerful than the Arm of Power.

He dared not act too forcefully, fearing that the violent awakening power would damage the ancient map.

wow——

Just as the power on Shi Ming's body touched the map, the map seemed to change color and emitted the sound of flowing water. In an instant, the continents, rivers, oceans, and mountains all disappeared, and the map that originally depicted endless territory turned into a blue expanse.

Only the location of the former highest peak, Mount Everest, is a gradually changing expanse of white.

Like a wisp of cloud in a blueprint.

"really!"

"By sheer luck, it actually succeeded! It seems that the so-called secret treasure really is this picture!"

Seeing the changes in the map, Shi Ming was overjoyed. Such changes proved that his deduction was correct, and this map was not simple!
He turned his attention back to where he was.

There was a black arrow there.

"This arrow represents the location of the drifting boat itself."

"Is it a positioning function? But just being able to locate is not unusual. Other nautical instruments, such as sextants, can do the same. In fact, those with a good understanding of geography can deduce the latitude and longitude of a location simply by looking at the angle between the sun's altitude and the sea level, based on the time of day!"

"This picture must contain some other undiscovered wonders!"

Shi Ming carefully observed with a magnifying glass.

Finally, he discovered another small black spot.

That was the location of "Turtle Island," which they had left not long ago!

"Turtle Island is a rare type of landmass, although it is essentially a creature rather than a continent... Could this map detect landmasses on the ocean? Or could it detect powerful creatures in this ocean?"

……

"Regardless of the possibility, the value of this map is immeasurable, especially for land exploration."

"How could such a precious treasure fall into the hands of a Silver-class drifting ship captain? Even for a General-class drifting ship, this is a treasure with fatal attraction! They would be too busy hiding it to lend it out."

"Perhaps I'm just wrong, and this map isn't that powerful."

Shi Ming searched the map for other marked points to verify his conjecture.

Finally, he found another black marker, 2119 nautical miles from their location.

Shi Ming shook his head.

Too far!
He wouldn't venture into the treasure before figuring out its function.

What if there's a super sea monster awake somewhere? Wouldn't that be like sending food from afar?
(End of this chapter)