Endless Ocean: Escape Starting from a Canoe

Chapter 42 Red Marks on the Right Arm
In an era of wandering, the ocean was the greatest pasture.

With a sea fortress like a drifting ship, and with the help of food production equipment, sea fish can be used as raw materials and magically transformed into food within a programmed process using the magical power of sea crystals, such as steamed buns, beef, noodles, and even pizza.

Unless there is a major disaster, such as a storm or a fish tide, the crew members have no problem getting enough to eat on a daily basis.

But wanting to eat the meat of a B-grade sea monster? Many people wouldn't even dare to entertain such a thought!
Class B sea monsters are rare to even see, but if an ordinary person were to encounter one, escaping would be a pipe dream, let alone cutting off a leg for a meal. Therefore, everyone on the ship was in high spirits and eagerly anticipating this meal after the battle.

The only one who suffered was Old Yang in the kitchen.

At this moment, he was in the kitchen of the drifting ship, using a knife to carefully peel away the fleshy, rotten octopus skin, then taking the most tender and succulent meat, slicing it into paper-thin pieces, and slowly arranging them on an iron plate.

This plate of sashimi is for the captain.

The slightly coarser meat is cut into small square pieces about one centimeter in size, wrapped in protein powder made from dried sea bream and dried shrimp powder, and shaped into balls, which are called "takoyaki".

Fish skin covered with fleshy buds is washed, then pickled with sea salt, and then mixed with sour fruit picked from the new island, which is called "sour fish skin".

The ring-shaped suction cups are cut off one by one and arranged into a plate, with berries placed in the middle, which is called "Looking up at the stars".

This huge octopus leg is enough to feed the people on the ship for a month.

After a long and busy period, a unique octopus dinner was held in the evening breeze, and the crew even sang songs in the sea breeze to celebrate their escape from the giant sea monster.

You can also eat its meat.

Before long, plates of specially prepared hot food were served – these were not pre-made dishes produced by machines, but dishes cooked by Lao Yang himself, each one steaming hot.

Takoyaki.

"Octopus balls."

Steamed octopus with dried shrimp.

"Look up at the starry sky."

"Fish skin with sour sauce".

Shi Ming picked up a piece of octopus sashimi that was meant for him and put it in his mouth.

"Sure enough, the flesh of sea monsters is also full of magical power. Although it cannot awaken one's powers, eating it regularly can definitely improve one's physical fitness!"

Shi Ming savored the tender octopus leg meat. In terms of value, this fish was no less than that of blue trout!

The crew members were naturally overjoyed.

Plates of oddly shaped dishes were quickly devoured. The adrift ship drifted aimlessly at sea, while the crew celebrated their survival...

There is wine today, drunk today, and tomorrow will be sad.

……

Captain's cabin.

Shi Ming sat cross-legged on the bed, looking at the blood-red markings on his right arm.

At first, he thought that the crimson stripes were just an external manifestation of the "Arm of Power".

Now, with a deeper understanding of his own body, he realizes that it was the crimson markings formed by the fusion of the ancient pendant and his own blood that brought about the system, rather than the system giving birth to these crimson markings.

The power of the crimson markings permeated his entire body, from his arms to his eyes to his brain...

Three parts, three skills.

The Crimson Stripe can also aggressively and swiftly plunder the power within the blood of sea beasts, greatly increasing the efficiency of awakening.

Bug!

Spanning two lifetimes, Shi Ming still doesn't know the origin of that ancient pendant, where his employer obtained it, why they traveled thousands of miles to find him for a mission, why the classified mission was leaked, and why he was subjected to a saturation hunt.

Shi Ming shook his head. His past life was gone, and now that he had been reborn, even if he wanted to explore, he would have no clue whatsoever.

But at least, because of this crimson mark, he now possesses the capital of a strongman in this difficult post-apocalyptic ocean world!

The strong become stronger. "Now, I have two S-rank defensive skills and a golden drifting ship for survival."

"We have defensive skills, but our attacks can only rely on the 10x strength boost from the Arm of Power. Our methods are limited, and we will be at a great disadvantage if we encounter enemies who are good at ranged attacks."

"If we encounter a giant sea monster, it will be even more difficult to win."

"I need to acquire some powerful ranged attack methods... Hmm, gaining skills by bathing in beast blood is out of the question for now, as all skills below A-rank will be devoured. But A-rank sea beasts are extremely rare, and hunting them is even more difficult."

"Only with the help of external objects."

He glanced at the pistol hanging at his waist.

"We still need to upgrade the weapon's level as soon as possible."

After pondering many plans, as the night deepened, Shi Ming drifted into a deep sleep.

drip~
drip~
The walkie-talkie crackled to life.

It was Lin Hai, the deputy captain of the exploration team in charge of nighttime navigation.

"What is it?" Shi Ming asked.

It was around 11:30 p.m. On the ship, one-third of the crew members were on duty and on guard during the night. Shi Ming also authorized the captains to wake him up if anything happened.

"Captain, the monitoring system has detected an abnormal concentration of sea crystals in the area where the drifting vessel is currently located!"

"Oh?"

Shi Ming turned over, sat up in bed, got up, put on his sailor's uniform, and walked out of the captain's cabin.

The abnormal concentration of sea crystals is a good thing; what he needs most right now is high-grade sea crystals.

However, sea areas with excessively high levels of marine crystal energy often conceal anomalies.

Having just fought a B-level sea beast, Shi Ming clearly understood the danger posed by high-level sea beasts. He wasn't concerned about his own safety; if he couldn't win, he could escape on the Golden Drift Ship. However, the Silver-level Drift Ship and its equipment were of utmost importance. Without it, he would lose his only means of acquiring resources and high-level sea crystals.

Without resources, the creative mind is useless.

He went to the monitoring room.

When did the abnormal energy levels in the seawater begin?

"Ten minutes ago, the concentration was slowly increasing. Now, it has exceeded the warning level."

"How efficient are the ship's energy production equipment now?"

"256%."

Shi Ming pondered this in his heart.

256% means that an energy production device that originally produced 300 sea crystals per day can now produce 750 sea crystals per day. At the same time, with a 2% probability of producing high-grade sea crystals, there is an expectation of about 15 high-grade sea crystals.

But what will be the price?
"Captain, should we consider withdrawing from this area first?" Lin Hai asked Shi Ming for his opinion.

It's understandable that Lin Hai is cautious. It's common knowledge that areas with excessively high ocean energy are often accompanied by unknown dangers, just like exploring a new island. While there are many ways to avoid danger and minimize crises when exploring a new island, being in an area with excessively high energy means being right in the middle of a whirlpool.

"First, find a location with balanced seawater energy for exploration. This allows for both in-depth exploration and retreat at any time. A decision will be made after assessing the level of danger in the sea area."

Shi Ming gave the order.

It's almost midnight.

The intelligence provided by the Eye of Intelligence depends on Shi Ming's coordinates. If there is any danger or opportunity here, Shi Ming believes that the next piece of intelligence from the Eye of Intelligence is very likely to be related to it.

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(End of this chapter)