Endless Ocean: Escape Starting from a Canoe

Complete the beginner quests in Chapter 9 and receive rewards.

This night is destined to be a sleepless one.

Although he kept himself well hidden, Shi Ming remained constantly vigilant.

Especially the monstrous moths he glimpsed through the cracks in the rocks, fluttering towards him by the scent, yet never finding their prey; and the campfire in the distance that burned for sixteen and a half minutes before going out—he decided he absolutely couldn't sleep tonight.

“The ferocious moths have an extremely sensitive sense of smell. Even though I was hiding in this pile of rocks, they could still detect my approximate location. And they were able to find me here so quickly from the crevices.”

"This characteristic can be utilized."

Inside the cave, he observed the situation outside by starlight while planning how to use the existing intelligence to devise his next move.

Suddenly, his vision went dark.

A giant, ferocious moth landed precisely on the breathing opening he had left, blocking out the starlight and his view.

It was discovered!

But it doesn't matter, the breathing opening he left was only the size of a fist, too small for these ferocious moths to fit through.

Shi Ming planned to completely block the cave entrance to prevent any potential poison gas attack.

The air inside the cave was enough to sustain him for a while.

However, just as he turned to grab the stone, the mouthparts of the ferocious moth blocking the cave entrance suddenly extended like a sharp arrow, resembling a frog's tongue. With a whoosh, it pierced through the fist-sized breathing opening and struck Shi Ming's head.

Depend on!
So insidious!

Fortunately, Shi Ming remained alert and narrowly avoided the sudden attack. He then swiftly swung his dagger and, in a flash, severed the moth's mandibles at the root!

All actions occur within one second!
hiss!
With its mouthparts severed, the ferocious moth cried out in pain, emitting a sharp cry. It lay beneath the hole, flapping its wings incessantly, but had no other means of attack.

"I was planning a sneak attack, I've been on guard against you!"

Instead of blocking the entrance, he used a pre-planned perspective to observe the moth's reaction after it was injured.

"There is no means to release poison gas."

"Lost the ability to fly."

"It can only flap its wings and sing."

"It seems that this creature has put all its evolution points into its mouthparts. If that's all it has to offer, then things are about to get interesting."

He held the knife to the entrance of the cave, using himself as bait, waiting for his next prey.

There were still quite a few vicious moths flying around.

A professional hunter can spot the weaknesses of his prey from the details. Shi Ming has determined that the mouthparts of the ferocious moth are crucial. Once lost, it will lose its fighting ability. At the same time, under the influence of severe pain, it can only lie on the ground unable to flap its wings, and it cannot even fly.

For him, this was an excellent hunting opportunity.

The second one!
The third one!
Although the captain's dagger wasn't very sharp, with Shi Ming's power, any ferocious moth that dared to stick its mouth in was mercilessly disarmed. More and more ferocious moths hissed and chirped on the ground. In no time, these moths, which acted on instinct, dared not approach the mysterious cave entrance anymore.

Shi Ming only needs to wait until sunrise to break through the hole and harvest these malicious creatures that have lost their ability to fly!
This will allow him to complete the first task assigned by the system.

……

Unbeknownst to us, the crescent moon had risen to the due west and was about to set.

From this, Shi Ming deduced that today was either the seventh or eighth day of the lunar month, and that the current time was just before midnight.

"The mission will take about twelve more hours. Moreover, once it's past midnight, the Eye of Intelligence will be able to obtain new intelligence."

While keeping an eye out for potential attacks outside the cave, Shi Ming was also planning his strategy.

His plan had gradually evolved from its initial outline to a more feasible one. However, with additional intelligence support from the system, it could perhaps be perfected and made even more secure. Soon, the moon disappeared below the western horizon.

It's past midnight.

"The Eye of Intelligence: Acquire new intelligence."

Shi Ming blocked the cave entrance with stones, leaving only a small gap for air to circulate, so he no longer needed to deal with the ferocious moths lurking outside the cave.

The familiar font reappeared.

[Beep~ Beep~]

[Intelligence being compiled...]

[Searching. Confirming host's detailed coordinates... Search successful, intelligence summary in progress... Intelligence generated.]

The mimicry powder on the host is a mimicry agent created by biologists by extracting special substances from the glands of lepidopteran larvae. Applying the mimicry powder to the wrists, abdomen, and ankles can disrupt the perception of lepidopteran creatures, preventing them from attacking. It is particularly effective against bloodthirsty moths on islands. However, this particular bottle of mimicry powder lost most of its effectiveness due to prolonged storage, lasting only for thirty minutes.

Oh?
The mimicry dust in the vial that the bald slave gave him as a token of gratitude turned out to be such a useful thing!?
Shi Ming had long suspected that the dust was a relic left behind by the owner of the notebook he had previously encountered, and it now seemed to confirm that.

With this, we can ignore the attacks of this ferocious moth, or rather, the bloodthirsty moth, for a short period of time.

Unfortunately, because it had been stored for too long, the mimicry powder wouldn't last long enough. Otherwise, Shi Ming could have confidently taken it with him and jumped into the wound of the Black Tortoise, bathed in its blood, and awakened.

Resources are limited, so we must use our best resources wisely.

Shi Ming carefully stored away the mimicry dust.

This will be an important strategic weapon.

With this mimicry dust, Shi Ming's plan had a higher chance of success.

No sleep for one night.

Dawn is breaking.

Before the dawn sunlight had even broken through the coastline, the bloodthirsty moths outside the cave had already fled to their happy nests to sleep soundly.

Only a few pitiful creatures, their mouthparts gone, remained lying at the bottom of the cave, fluttering instinctively. Shi Ming pushed aside the stone at the cave entrance and could see the ferocious moths lying on the ground, waiting to be slaughtered.

After assessing the outside environment and ensuring there were no further threats, he dispatched those pests who wanted to taste his brains, one by one, with a single cut.

This also gives him the opportunity to observe these creatures up close—

Its wings were speckled with scarlet spots, its head was menacing with sharp, wolf-like teeth, and its mouthparts were completely missing.

Last night, I don't know how many slaves perished in the mouths of these bloodthirsty moths.

……

【drop. 】

[Congratulations! You have killed the three-headed Bloodthirsty Moth, completing the beginner quest: Kill 3 creatures with strong malice.]

[Reward: Beginner's Individual Weapon Pack]

[System warehouse unlocked. Rewards have been placed in the system warehouse and can be retrieved or added at any time. Other inanimate items can also be added there.]

Upon seeing the system notification, Shi Ming was overjoyed!
This time, they even unlocked the warehouse!

For a slave with no privacy, a private storeroom is extremely valuable. It means that he can secretly hide any item he can under the captain's nose, and no one will notice anything unusual during any body search!
Putting aside everything else, weapons are absolutely forbidden items for slaves. Even the dagger issued this time would have to be searched and returned upon return. But with the system's warehouse, Shi Ming can store lethal weapons there, undetectable by any detector!

When the time comes, we can give the captain and his crew a surprise!
Shi Ming mobilized the system repository.

He couldn't wait to see what was inside this "beginner's weapon pack".
(End of this chapter)