Endless Ocean: Escape Starting from a Canoe

Chapter 56: The Public "Secret Talks"

Shi Ming remained calm, took the communicator hanging from his waist, and tapped to enter the "Let There Be Light" channel.

It's a message from Kingsoft.

This admiral-class drifting ship, which owns the organization "Golden Tower," has its own unique intelligence network.

[Jinshan: Jinta has received another mission from the Black Society, with a bounty of 100 Pure Crystals. This is a search mission targeting a Silver-class drifting ship. The Black Society can provide complete intelligence, parameters, and coordinates of the ship's past activity. Anyone with an Awakened individual specializing in either intelligence or search on their ship can accept this mission.]

Shi Mingyi was awe-inspiring.

The Black Society's bounty: Find the Silver Drifter?
Is this coming to find me? And looking for help, they've come all the way to America's place?
100 Pure Crystals! Is it to retrieve that nautical chart?

He was even considering turning himself in.

He held the communicator, patiently waiting for replies from others.

The communicator he obtained from the Yellowstone was able to reveal their conspiracy against him.

Could this be the chosen one?
Between ten and twenty minutes, he received several messages.

[Noah: 100 Pure Crystals? A silver ship is only worth that much! Has the Black Society struck it rich or changed their ways? Why are they suddenly being so generous?]

[Divine Comedy: Received. We lack the corresponding capability.]

[Freedom: Does the Black Society only have information, ship parameters, and the coordinates where this drifting ship was once active? That's probably not enough. The endless ocean is so vast; finding a Silver-rank drifting ship is far too difficult.]

[Michael: We have a Rank B Awakened with the rare ability "Navigator," who might be able to help them find their target. However, the price will need to be increased to 150 Pure Crystals. Also, you can contact us for similar missions in the future.]

Shi Ming frowned.

150 Pure Crystals? Michael really dares to ask for so much!
Michael, a general-class drifting ship, is directly under the command of the lighthouse, yet possesses complete autonomous jurisdiction.

If Michael and the Black Society were to join forces against him, he would have to be even more vigilant.

But this also illustrates that,
The importance of nautical charts.

Shi Ming was absolutely certain that before Chunyi's death, and even for a period of time after his death, the Black Society did not know the true value of the nautical chart, or what it was that made them realize so quickly that it was a real treasure.

Is it an investigation into Junichi's death? Did the investigation reveal that the nautical chart was not simple? Or is it based on some other reason?
In a flash, he suddenly remembered another message he had received when he had just repaired the communicator.

It's intelligence about a transaction—

The Golden Pagoda organization, affiliated with "Golden Mountain," recently facilitated a deal with the "Black Society" for the translation of a stone tablet from the Breath of Earth Research Institute, titled "A Compendium of Wonders of the Endless Ocean." The buyer received 100 Pure Crystals as a commission and requested that these be handed over to the Lighthouse in exchange for the following resources...

Could it be that this "A Panoramic View of Wonders of the Endless Oceans" made them realize that this nautical chart was not simple?
Is the nautical chart listed among these wondrous objects?

If that's true, then we're in trouble.

The item was unusual, but he underestimated its value. The underworld would probably go to great lengths to "hunt" him down and retrieve the chart.

As for myself, now is the time when I need to rest and recuperate to prepare for the future.

It seems we must be prepared for a head-on confrontation.

……

Thanks to the "Let There Be Light" channel, Shi Ming was able to anticipate this matter and gain the upper hand.

He became even more determined to stick to his original plan.

Make yourself stronger as quickly as possible.

While waiting for the "Let There Be Light" message to be sent, he used the Eye of Intelligence.

"Intelligence Eye, gather intelligence!"

[Beep~ Beep~]

[Intelligence being processed...] [Searching. Host's detailed coordinates confirmed... Search successful, intelligence being summarized...]

[At 191 degrees, sailing 3 nautical miles, lies the area with the highest concentration of sea crystals in the vicinity, and also the site where the A-grade sea monster, the Mist Jellyfish, perished. If you wish to extract sea crystals more efficiently, you can head to these coordinates. However, you must undoubtedly avoid attacks from large numbers of juvenile jellyfish beforehand, and you must not remain in the Lost Mist for more than 18 hours.]

The 191-degree direction is a common way of expressing the circular compass direction, with due south being 180 degrees and due west being 270 degrees, which is 11 degrees west of south.

Shi Ming vaguely remembered that direction, the area near where the Yellowstone sank, where a large group of mist jellyfish were active on the seabed, and blue luminous objects gathered together, like the Milky Way.

This information is very useful.

But Shi Ming needs to solve the problem of jellyfish erosion.
His plan was to continuously upgrade the Silver Ship to the highest level that could be achieved in the short term, and then sail it to a designated sea area to test whether it could withstand jellyfish corrosion.

If it works, that would be best, using a roundabout method to extract the aquamarine.

If that doesn't work, there's no need to pursue the highest-level areas. Going to other relatively lower-level but safer areas to extract sea crystals is also acceptable.

Even if the Black Society and Michael really did reach a cooperation agreement, it wouldn't be that fast. From finalizing the agreement to meeting up and arriving, they would cross most of the Endless Sea. Even if they traveled day and night at the fastest speed, it would still take at least four days.

drop.

The communicator on his waist beeped again.

[Kingsoft: The Black Society wants to know exactly what the B-rank Awakening Skill Navigator's abilities are. They find it hard to believe that a B-rank ability could accomplish this task.]

Don't even mention the mafia wanting to know,

Shi Ming also wanted to know.

He waited patiently, paying close attention to this "private conversation" that was being made public to him.

About eighteen minutes later, Michael replied to Jinshan's message.

Michael: Fine, for the sake of this deal, I'll tell them for free.

The navigator's abilities originate from the B-rank sea monster, "Starchaser Fish."

The ocean is boundless, and the stars are the guiding compass; navigators are extremely sensitive to the stars. But have you forgotten what material the energy cores of the drifting ship—the "Stone of Navigation," the "Crystal of Navigation," the "Heart of Navigation," and the "Star of Navigation"—were extracted from?

It's a meteorite.

[For a navigator, this allows them to keenly detect drifting vessels in the nearby waters and determine the vessel's class based on the frequency of their movements.]

[Once we obtain the active sea area and crystal amplitude range of the silver ship that the Black Society wants, we can eliminate them one by one and find it quickly, right?]

Therefore, for such a large project, 150 Pure Crystals are really not expensive.

???

In the end, it turns out they used such a simple and crude method?

First, find all the silver ships in the relevant sea area, and then "visit" them one by one according to the frequency range to eliminate them.

Are you serious?

Unfortunately, I've long since left those seas!
Sure enough, not long after, Shi Ming saw another message from Kingsoft.

[Jinshan: The underworld doesn't have much time and doesn't want to offend more drifting ship forces. At most, they have 10 days! If they can guarantee finding it, they're willing to cooperate; if not, then there's no point in discussing it. And if they reach an agreement but ultimately fail to achieve their goal, they'll demand three times the penalty for breach of contract.]

……

Michael: Fifteen days. I can guarantee they'll find their target within fifteen days. That's our limit. If they still think it's too long, then we'll have to find someone else!

Michael: Want to find a ship in the endless ocean? There's only one way!

[Michael: As for breach of contract? Don't worry, our reputation is far more valuable than a few hundred Pure Crystals.]

(End of this chapter)