Somewhere in an uncharted region of the Endless Ocean.
A colossal, magnificent drifting ship roamed aimlessly across the water, letting out a series of rumbles. It exuded an extremely dangerous aura. Any ordinary fish, shrimp, or sea beast that drew near was utterly shredded by its high-speed turbines. In its wake, the seawater was stained a faint, bloody red.
Its hull was painted with a massive "black sun" clan emblem. This was none other than the infamous Wokoku faction, the Black Society.
In the early days of the Wandering Era, Wokoku had split into two major factions, each controlling a general-class drifting ship.
One was the Renhuang, whose clan emblem was a slowly rising red sun.
The other was the Black Society, whose clan emblem was a setting black sun.
Although the two factions shared the same roots and had inextricable ties, they were outwardly hostile to one another.
The Renhuang leaned toward neutrality, representing the official government power of their former nation. The Black Society, on the other hand, was more like a shadow beneath the sun—unscrupulous and stopping at nothing to acquire resources. It commanded its subordinate drifting ships to plunder far and wide, earning it an abysmal reputation.
At this moment, inside an office within the Black Society.
"What did you say? You can't contact Chunyi?"
"Idiot! How dare he! He borrowed a C-class treasure from me just last month and still hasn't returned it. How dare he just vanish and ignore my messages?"
Great Wilderness's handlebar mustache twitched with anger.
Although Great Wilderness was a powerful and influential Third-level Governor on this general-class drifting ship, he still had superiors and was constrained by various factions. He couldn't just do as he pleased. Privately lending a C-class treasure to his nephew was a serious dereliction of duty. If he couldn't get the item back in time, the consequences were something he was not prepared to face!
"Governor Great Wilderness, perhaps Lord Chunyi is currently undergoing a new Awakening and truly has no time to reply to you!"
"Awakening! My ass!" Enraged, Great Wilderness slammed his pipe on the ground!
"Is a second Awakening that easy?! That good-for-nothing hasn't had one in over ten years. How could it possibly happen now, of all times! Go! Immediately send him my red missive. Tell him to contact me at all costs the very moment he sees it!"
"If there's any delay, he'll be expelled from the clan!"
"Yes, sir!"
...
「Early Morning.」
Shi Ming opened his eyes.
It was still early, but the first rays of sunlight were already slanting through the thin curtains of the window, illuminating the captain's quarters. Outside, the golden seawater rippled, a breathtaking sight.
Shi Ming got out of bed and folded his quilt.
He stretched, then took a hot morning shower in his private bathroom to invigorate himself. After toweling off, he put on his sailing suit and walked out of the captain's quarters.
It was just past six in the morning, and many crew members were already starting to change shifts.
Yellow Spear and Yellow Cannon were already standing outside the door to the captain's quarters, awaiting the captain's orders.
"Morning, Captain."
"Morning, Captain."
Giving a slight nod in response, Shi Ming went to the dining hall.
Official mealtime was from 7:00 to 8:00 AM. It wasn't time to eat yet, but the captain made the rules; he wasn't bound by them. Feeling a bit hungry, he picked up a bowl of beef noodles and began to eat while silently activating his Eye of Intelligence.
'Eye of Intelligence, retrieve today's intel!'
No one but him could perceive the Eye of Intelligence or the information it displayed.
[BEEP.]
[Compiling intel...]
[Searching. Confirming host's detailed coordinates... Search successful. Summarizing intel... Intel generated. A school of "Blue Trout" is located 150 nautical miles away, at a bearing of thirty degrees south of east. Their meat is delicious, high in fat, and rich in various trace elements required by the human body! Most importantly, continuous consumption can increase the body's resistance to ultraviolet radiation and enhance night vision!]
'Hm, another good piece of intel.'
'Blue Trout, huh? Seems to be a new species from this new world.'
Shi Ming had only ever heard of rainbow trout before.
The taste and nutrition were secondary; Shi Ming was more interested in its special properties. Continuous consumption could increase resistance to ultraviolet radiation and enhance night vision—very useful abilities on the open sea.
Protecting oneself from the sun on the ocean was a tricky business, especially since the captain often needed to patrol the deck.
Shi Ming had no desire to spend ten days or half a month at sea only to be burned black as coal by the sun.
Besides, night vision was a good ability to have. Sometimes, the human eye was more useful than the ship's detection equipment.
"Tell the helmsman to change the drifting ship's course to thirty degrees south of east. Stop after traveling about 150 nautical miles and notify me immediately."
"Yes, Captain."
Shi Ming said nothing more, and Yellow Cannon asked no questions, simply relaying the captain's orders to the helmsman.
Before long, Shi Ming felt the ship begin to turn.
After finishing the last of the noodles in his bowl, Shi Ming stood up.
"You don't need to follow me for now. Be on standby."
"Yes, Captain."
Shi Ming left the dining hall alone.
The two brothers sat down at a dining table.
"Chef! Those noodles! Can we get a bowl of those noodles too?" Seeing he had nothing to do for the moment, Yellow Cannon eagerly shouted to the head chef bustling about in the kitchen.
"That'll be 8 Sailing Coins!"
"Huh?"
It was Yellow Spear and Yellow Cannon's first day as official crew members after being freed from slavery. They didn't have half a Sailing Coin between them...
They weren't the captain; they didn't get to eat for free.
"Don't worry! This one's on me!" The head chef, Old Yang, pulled sixteen Sailing Coins from his pocket to cover the cost.
He knew full well that these two were currently the captain's right-hand men. Building a good relationship with them had everything to gain and nothing to lose.
'What a great opportunity to get closer to them!'
"Thanks."
Before long, Old Yang brought out two bowls of noodles.
SLURP, SLURP!
'So good!'
The two of them drooled as they devoured the noodles in their bowls.
The noodles were chewy and flavorful. When had they ever eaten food like this?
"Master Yang, your cooking is amazing!"
"Hah, what skill? This is the captain's new invention! All I did was serve it to you! I can't possibly take the credit..."
"The captain knows how to do this too? That's amazing!"
"He is. I truly admire the captain from the bottom of my heart. He's so young, yet he's a powerful Awakened. And he's an expert with the ship's machinery! After studying it for just one night, he got the food production line—which hadn't been changed in over a decade—to produce several new delicacies! For years, all we've had are those hard-to-swallow steamed buns, crackers, and beef. We were sick to death of it!"
"That's great. Now we have new food to try."
The two brothers looked at each other.
'Food as delicious as beef and crackers... and they got sick of it?'
'It was simply unbelievable!'
'This old man must be trying to suck up to the captain in front of them!'