Endless Ocean: Escape Starting from a Canoe

Chapter 59 Revisiting the Lost Sea!

This close-in weapon system has 11 barrels and uses a rotating barrel principle, similar to a Gatling gun. When it encounters an enemy, it can rotate at high speed and fire in sequence. It is equipped with two types of core ammunition: armor-piercing rounds and incendiary rounds.

The shells can be manufactured using the attached equipment, consuming only a small amount of iron ore and sea crystal.

"Not bad. Next time we encounter an opponent like the Sakura, I won't even need to lift a finger. Just this one close-in weapon system will make them regret ever coming to provoke us!"

After resting, he prepared to upgrade the Silver Wanderer again, making final preparations for exploring the Lost Sea once more.

I wonder what changes this will bring?
……

It takes much longer to upgrade from level four to level five.

Just when Shi Ming's mental energy was starting to wane, he finally received another notification from the Brain of Creation, which meant that the second upgrade had been successful.

Next time, it will be a promotion.

[Silver-class drifting ship, number 23333]

【Level: 5】

This is a top-tier Silver-class drifting ship! Perhaps it could be called the strongest Silver-class ship! Its external materials, defensive capabilities, stability, and hull quality are even comparable to ordinary Gold-class drifting ships. New equipment includes a sea patrol radar. When activated, the radar can automatically monitor the waters within one nautical mile and issue warnings for any anomalies.

[Advancement Requirements: 100 High-Grade Sea Crystals, 1 Navigation Crystal, 1000g of Grade B Sea Beast Blood]

As Shi Ming predicted, the next step would be an advancement.

Furthermore, new materials will be used—Navigation Crystals and B-grade sea beast blood.

He had no shortage of blood from B-grade sea beasts. He had squeezed out all the blue blood from the severed arm of the "Eight-Armed Hunter". Although the blood, which he had drained of its energy, could not awaken people, it could still be used as material to upgrade equipment or ships.

What he lacks is the "crystal of navigation".

He received the information from Michael in the "Let There Be Light" intelligence group. Similar materials include the Stone of Navigation, the Crystal of Navigation, the Heart of Navigation, and the Star of Navigation. These materials were all extracted from meteorites.

He speculated that these four items corresponded to bronze, silver, gold, and the driving force of the general-class drifting ship, respectively.

As for the King-level title being "something about navigation," Michael did not specify.

Generally speaking, when building a Gold-class drifting ship, you need the Heart of Navigation, which is the blue crystal that Shi Ming picked up from the Yellowstone.

However, the upgraded function of the creative brain is to use low-level materials to obtain high-level results.

Therefore, upgrading a silver drifting ship to gold only requires one nautical crystal of the same silver level, and upgrading a gold-level canoe to general level only requires one gold-level nautical heart.

Shi Ming now only has a heart for sailing.

The materials should be backward compatible.

But he wouldn't do that.

The higher the grade of the material, the rarer it is. That crystal is reserved for Dumuzhou to advance to the general level.

As for the advancement of this silver-level drifting ship, we'll just have to wait and see. The exterior material of a level 5 silver ship should be able to withstand the corrosion from those jellyfish.

He plans to give it a try, and if it really doesn't work, he can always back out.

Furthermore, upon upgrading to level 5, the ship also gains a "sea patrol radar detection" function. Once this function is activated, it can detect all movements within a radius of 1 nautical mile at all times. With this, the crew can keep a close eye on changes in the sea surface and provide early warnings.

“Stone Mound, stop and calm the waves. Head 3 nautical miles toward 191 degrees.”

"Yes."

The current leader of the exploration team, Shi Dun, was somewhat puzzled.

They had just emerged from a misty and dangerous area and settled in this safe place with abundant sea crystal energy. Why would they return to the depths of that dangerous sea?

Although he didn't understand, he didn't ask any further questions. The captain must have had his reasons for giving such an order.

They don't understand simply because they don't understand enough.

Rumble.

The large drifting ship turned around and slowly started moving in the direction Shi Ming had indicated. The distance of three nautical miles was not too long, so the drifting ship did not go at full speed, but sailed into the depths of the fog at a steady and safe speed.

Even at noon, the fog in the Lost Sea region remained thick.

These dense fogs are harmless to the human body, but they can exacerbate drowsiness. Staying in the fog for a long time will inevitably lead to a deep sleep.

Therefore, Shi Ming decided to adopt a roundabout resource collection method—during the day, he would go to the area with the highest concentration of sea crystals as indicated by the Eye of Intelligence, extract sea crystals at the maximum rate, and then return at night through the fog to place Ding Lan in a safe area.

With an anti-interference navigation system, the ship won't get lost.

This ensures both efficiency and safety.

After navigating through the fog for a short time, the ship arrived at the area designated by Shi Ming. Under Shi Ming's command, the process of calming the waves began. The concentration of sea crystals here is 400% of that in normal sea areas. The energy extraction equipment on board is four times more efficient here than in ordinary sea areas!
If you stay here all day, you can extract 2000 ordinary sea crystals a day. With a 5% high-grade yield, that's 100 high-grade sea crystals!

If you work 12 hours a day, that's 50 high-grade sea crystals. Add to that the results from low-efficiency sea areas, and you can get at least 65 or more a day!
Extremely efficient!
The only drawback is that this [A3 type energy production equipment] has a low upper limit due to its inherent limitations; it has already been upgraded to the maximum level and cannot be further optimized.

But Shi Ming was very satisfied!
After the ship stabilized, visibility was extremely low in the dense fog. He turned on the maritime radar and paid attention to the movement on the indicator panel.

"Captain! A large number of mist jellyfish are approaching."

"Captain, some mist jellyfish have attached themselves to the surface of the ship."

"..."

"Don't worry, just monitor the extent of the damage to the hull and report to me every 20 minutes."

"Yes."

Whether his plan can be implemented depends on whether the corrosive power of these mist jellyfish is stronger or the rigidity of his ship's hull is stronger.

The crew kept an eye on the situation, and he wasn't idle either. Instead, he stood in an open area on the deck, his sword ready to be drawn at any moment.

These common jellyfish pose no great threat.

He did this to prepare for attacks from the D-class and higher-level Mist Sea Mothers.

That day, while diving in the deep sea, he did indeed see several large sea jellyfish, possibly D- or C-class. This place was also where the giant A-class mist sea jellyfish had fallen years ago, and the dense fog and sea crystal energy had reached their peak. Their lair lay deep beneath the sea.

If they were to attack, it would likely affect the crew's work efficiency.

As the captain, he naturally had to take responsibility for resolving these potential problems.

……

"Captain, the hull is undamaged, and the corrosive power of these jellyfish seems to be much weaker than last time."

"Captain, the equipment is running at high speed, and the production of high-grade aquamarine has increased significantly!"

"captain……"

"Captain, the sea crystal extraction equipment has produced a special item. It's a black, palm-sized piece..."

Shi Ming opened his eyes, which had been resting, on the deck.

The upgraded energy extraction equipment can occasionally produce some surprisingly interesting byproducts in energy-rich sea areas.
Could this be the product?

(End of this chapter)