Endless Ocean: Escape Starting from a Canoe

Chapter 73 Gazing into the Abyss (4K)

As the roulette wheel began to spin, Shi Ming had already drawn his sword.

No matter what kind of demons or monsters you are, I will break through their magic with force!

He had basically figured out Edward's combat mechanics. He speculated that Edward's ability to regenerate severed limbs was also a skill granted by the closed eye on his chest.

Shi Ming did not believe it would be without limitations.

It's important to understand that even the true S-rank skill "Black Tortoise Shield" is far from invincible—not only does the invincibility last only three seconds, but each use also consumes one-fifth of one's stamina. Even at his peak, Shi Ming could only use Black Tortoise Shield five times.

However, there must be limitations to this limb reconstruction!
There are either limits on the number of attempts or time limits.

The King-Slaying Blade is a high-level weapon that has been upgraded to level 7. Its attack bonus is extremely high. Ordinary people can easily cut through gold and jade with it, and its power can be greatly increased in the hands of an awakened person.

The endless blade light surged and slashed at Edward's abdomen, where his fourth eye was now glowing black.

Wow!

Edward, focused on unleashing his skills, splits into two again.

Last time I chopped horizontally, this time I cleaved vertically, and we ended up making a cross.

However, the skill emitted by the fourth eye had already taken shape. Edward, who was broken in two, writhed on the ground and condensed into a black ball covered with sharp spikes.

It resembles a porcupinefish.

The thorns on the porcupine's body shot out in all directions like a shower of flowers.

A skill from the A-grade sea beast, the Bone-Pulveroid: Pulveroid Bone Explosion!

Ding Ding Ding!
As Shi Ming cleaved Edward, he retreated several meters, swiftly wielding the King Slayer sword to block most of the spikes. A few bone spikes managed to break through and collide with his body, but they could not truly penetrate his hard defense, leaving only shallow wounds.

The wound quickly healed, stopped bleeding, and became a scar.

His normal defense level is as high as 110, and his recovery ability and resistance to attacks are among the best of the awakened ones.

boom!
The circular porcupine exploded, its bone spikes scattering like a rain of needles. Then, Edward, whose body had been reconstructed, stood on the deck once more, his wounds resembling those of a body stitched together from pieces of flesh.

After the pufferfish finished releasing its explosive bone, without any pause, its fifth eye on its chest lit up.

The fifth eye blinked, its pupil becoming a dangerous abyss.

Shi Ming felt an incredibly powerful suction force.

Like a small boat facing a whirlpool in the ocean.

Where the abyss gazes, all conscious life, all life that has ever looked upon it, will involuntarily draw near to it, succumb to it, and become a part of it.

Shi Ming felt that if he were to actually be touched by that strange abyss, things might really get complicated.

At his peak, he had plenty of strength to break free.

But after several battles, his stamina was running low.

Since he came into this world, he has not fought many awakened beings, and high-level awakened beings are even rarer. The Demon Blade is considered a very challenging opponent, but compared to this blond man, it is child's play.

Powerful skills are readily available, and there's also a terrifying life-saving method of limb reconstruction.

He stuck the King Slayer sword into the deck, resisting the terrifying suction force.

Shi Ming has a very strong ability to summarize information. Based on the skill's performance and the information he knows, he has already guessed the name of the skill.

The Yellowstone's report stated that the lighthouse had detected a total of three Class S sea monsters.
Its name is Hai Gouyu, and its skill is "Dream Weaver's Eye".

The second one is called the Tidecaller Whale, whose skill is "Lost Tide," which he has already experienced.

Its third name is Deep Sea Leviathan, and its skill is "Abyss of Devouring"!
Ranked 25th!

Of course, it cannot be ruled out that the Lighthouse may have hunted other S-class sea monsters in the past ten years or so, but the skill in front of us, with its devouring ability and abyss-shaped pupils, is 90% similar to the "Abyss of Devouring" recorded in the book.

This kid is truly a wolf in sheep's clothing!

Shi Ming resisted the terrifying suction force, and his physical strength was rapidly depleted.

Edward, however, walked over step by step with a smile on his face.

Just as Shi Ming guessed, this skill was indeed the Abyss of Devouring—when someone gazes at it, it will mark the gazing person as prey and devour them with an irresistible suction force.

As the saying goes, when you gaze into the abyss, the abyss also begins to gaze into you.

It's unavoidable, and unavoidable!
"Hey! Boy!"

Do you like this skill?

"Undeniably, you are truly outstanding. You single-handedly defeated the Demon Blade, were immune to the Tide of Loss, withstood the Fiery Pufferfish's Bone Explosion, and almost broke my Slug Body. But can you withstand the Devouring Abyss, ranked 25th?"

"I know you are an S-class Awakener. Come, become a part of my body. Your skills will shine brightly on me."

Shi Ming felt a chill run down his spine.

He still has another trick up his sleeve!

He controlled his body with one hand, and with the other hand he took out the Tide Stone he had obtained earlier and crushed it.

He used all three upgrade opportunities he had today early this morning. He used one on the Sea Patrol Radar and the other two on the Tide Stone, allowing it to replicate the signature skill of the A-grade Mist Jellyfish, with a power of up to 70%.

"Rank A skill, Mist!"

A thick fog suddenly appeared and spread rapidly. In less than a few seconds, the area where Shi Ming was located was filled with thick white fog, greatly limiting visibility to no more than one meter!
Even if you reach out, you can hardly see your five fingers.

This fog also has corrosive and hypnotic effects.

As the mist rose, Shi Ming felt that the suction force of the Devouring Abyss had greatly decreased.

When you gaze into the abyss, the abyss also begins to gaze into you.

The abyss can no longer see you, so naturally it won't treat you as prey.

This is the solution to the "Abyss of Devouring".

……

Although he had broken through the Devouring Abyss, Shi Ming's physical strength was truly reduced to less than one-tenth.

"Two more minutes, just two more minutes."

He forced himself to stay focused and gripped the knife tightly in his hand.

In the thick fog, no one could see anyone else, but who knew where Edward would strike next?

Shi Ming could see it clearly; he had two eyes!
"Hey, kid!"

"You think I can't find you just because you're hiding in the fog?! Come out now, let's have a fair fight!!!"

Shi Ming breathed silently, taking the opportunity to recover his strength.

The Devouring Abyss has temporarily lost its target in the mist, but once it gets close to Edward, it will inevitably become the target again, at which point it may not even have a chance to escape.

"You're not coming out, huh? Then don't blame me for bullying you."

"You're the first person to make me use six of my skills. I'll remember you."

Edward stood still, with only two eyes remaining on his chest and abdomen, both of which were now darting around.

The pupil of the sixth eye widened, emitting a strange melody.

"The Eye of the Dream Weaver"!
From "Sea Jade"!
Lost Tide is an area-of-effect skill, while Dreamweaver's Eye is a strong single-target control skill, and can even automatically track targets!

Shi Ming felt dizzy and had little strength left to resist the pulling sensation. The side effects of the mist were also having some effect on him. With several debuffs stacked on top of each other, he could no longer control his eyelids, which were about to droop.

"Hehe, I found you."

Edward stood a meter away from Shi Ming, staring intently at him.

Shi Ming also saw Edward, and could vaguely see the seven eyes on his chest and abdomen with the cross-shaped scar, but now only one remained.

At this moment, he could no longer resist the pull of the Dream Weaver's Eye. He picked up the King-Slaying Blade and, just as he was about to fall asleep, used his last strength to plunge the blade into his abdomen!

Then it was quickly pulled out.

Spray! Blood gushed out! ...

……

……

The fog skill has failed, and the fog at sea has thinned considerably.

Edward looked at Shi Ming lying on the ground, a crazed smile in his eyes.

"???"

"You think you're so strong? I haven't had enough of fighting yet!"

"But that's okay."

"Demon Blade, and you too, this operation has yielded two more additions to our collection. It's truly an unexpected delight." He stroked his golden hair and looked at Shi Ming lying on the ground.

Although this battle depleted his reserves of six skills, it didn't matter; he gained a lot!

Another S-level skill has been acquired.

Moreover, a bright future awaits him.

Sanctuary-level skills, wait for me!
"Sigh, it's all thanks to the Demon Blade, otherwise I would definitely have been at a disadvantage if I had encountered you alone. So I'm really curious, what exactly is your S-rank skill?"

Edward kicked Shi Ming's hand, as if he were disposing of his spoils, full of self-satisfaction.

He even started humming a song.

An old folk song, 500 miles.

However, in the blink of an eye, Shi Ming's seemingly unconscious arm, which was lying on the ground, suddenly moved!
The right arm, stained with blood and crimson stripes, moved like a tiger leaping from the mountain, clamping down on Edward's ankle with unparalleled precision, while simultaneously unleashing incredible power that made it difficult for Edward to maintain his balance.

He grabbed Edward by the ankle, his arm like a tightly wound cable, and suddenly lifted him upwards, while his body leaped up like a spring.

Just before he was about to fall unconscious, he deliberately stabbed himself, triggering his passive skill!
S-Rank Skill! A Deadly Move!

Ranked 99th!

When Shi Ming suffers a fatal attack, [Death Situation] will reset all negative status effects on his body and rapidly heal him to a state of no injury. Simultaneously, his recovery ability will reach infinity for 60 seconds.

What is positive infinity?
It boils down to two words: immortal.

Of course, he himself didn't know whether cutting it in half would restore it to two separate pieces.

Probably not?
Xuanwu is not an earthworm.

Before Edward could react, he felt his body lose all balance, and the world suddenly turned upside down and spun before him, tilting him over.

Then came the first earth-shattering impact! Edward's face collided intimately with the deck, knocking out several of his teeth.

"You kicked me just now?"

This was the first time Shi Ming had communicated with Edward during a battle.

boom!
Edward was struck hard on the deck again, as if by a whip. The intense pain made his vision go black, and the air in his lungs was violently squeezed out.

This is just the beginning.

Shi Ming did not use a knife. The slug's body can heal sharp wounds, but it cannot heal blunt force injuries!
Edward felt as if he had become an inanimate object. For a moment, the blurred ground and sky were frantically alternating, and his vision became extremely abstract.

Once, twice, three times, she was like a sandbag, completely unable to escape the man's control, and could only passively endure the storm of blows!

boom!
boom!
boom!
The deck was ripped open with huge cracks.

"Where's your slug body? Recover quickly!"

It can't be restored; it's not like a severed limb!
A blunt force injury is not considered an injury.

Just as Edward was in despair, the last eye on his chest suddenly opened, and a giant ice blade shot out from it, slashing fiercely at Shi Ming's body. The wound was bloody and exposed the white bone, but it healed completely in 0.1 seconds.

"How...could this be..."

In the midst of the upside-down motion, he realized that Shi Ming had not a single scratch on his body.

Even the large wound on his abdomen was now completely intact, without a scar, and exceptionally smooth.

An unprecedented sense of despair welled up within me.

All seven eyes were closed.

The slug's time is also about to run out.

He finally realized that he was going to die; a promising genius was going to die.

"……etc……"

A fixed procedure for begging for mercy.

Unfortunately, his weak pleas for mercy were completely drowned out by the series of heart-wrenching thuds.

Even if he could hear him, Shi Ming had no intention of letting him off the hook.

If you dare to kill him, be prepared to be killed in return.

The split pieces of wood from the deck pierced Edward's limbs like sharp spikes. Edward felt as if every bone in his body was screaming, and waves of excruciating pain as his muscles were torn apart assaulted his nerves.

Bang!
The wooden deck shattered with a crash.

With the slug's body failing, the object in Shi Ming's hand broke into four pieces again under the immense force, following a cross-shaped crack!
"Depend on!"

"So fragile!"

He hurriedly discarded the object in his hand.

The crew members gradually awoke from the massive shockwave, staring in disbelief at their captain, now covered in blood, wielding the "Chaotic Cloak Hammer Technique."

……

……

……

"Huang Pao, Huang Qiang, you guys, clean the deck thoroughly and repair any damaged parts."

"Yes, Captain!"

"Shidun, you lead a few team members to salvage the shattered enemy ship! Don't miss a single fragment. Especially any communicators, glowing beads..."

"Yes, Captain!"

"You guys... collect the bodies of these invaders and see if there's anything noteworthy."

"Yes, Captain!"

"Old Yang, I'm a little hungry. Could you take the cured meat from my captain's cabin and make me something to eat? Also, get me some draft beer, ice cold."

"Okay, Captain."

……

Shi Ming changed into a clean captain's uniform, stood on the deck, and directed the crew to make post-war work arrangements.

He had checked the radar display several times and there were no enemies within a three-sea radius.

What a thrilling and exhilarating battle!

He rediscovered the passion he once had.

It would be even better if we could find enough spoils from these people that would be worthy of this battle.

He was really looking forward to it.

What good things have these elite members of powerful forces prepared?
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P.S.: I didn't want to break the chapter in the middle, so I posted it all together.

(End of this chapter)