Shi Ming knew full well that Ah Jian, despite appearing harmless, was a sea beast naturally opposed to humanity. Once released, it would inevitably cause an unimaginable catastrophe. The Eye of the World had reminded him of this as well.
Subduing it with the Contract Core was the ideal outco.
Shi Ming had a three-step plan to subdue the Naless Cocoon.
First, he would leverage the power of the King-level Wandering Ship, Black Gold, and the Sealed Prison to weaken the Naless Cocoon. This would extinguish its hope of escaping the seal, gradually turning it into a lamb for the slaughter.
Second, he would implant the Contract Core into the Naless Cocoon while it was being suppressed and was at its weakest.
Third, after the contract was signed, he would have to genuinely help it break out of its cocoon and escape. Although this was the third step, the planning had to begin now. A solution had to be found before the Naless Cocoon fell into a deep slumber. Otherwise, even with the Contract Core implanted in the second step, the Naless Cocoon would fall asleep within the seal, losing any chance to erge. Not only would he fail to gain its power, but he would also waste a precious contract opportunity.
Shi Ming already had so preliminary ideas on how to help the Naless Cocoon escape.
He had three strategies: superior, moderate, and inferior.
The inferior strategy was for him to personally convince Black Gold to cease its suppression. The difficulty of this approach was extrely high. For one, Black Gold would not easily trust him on such a critical matter. Even if it did, the notion of him keeping an S-class sea beast as a pet was simply outrageous. Who would tolerate such a powerful threat right under their nose? At that point, Shi Ming would beco a target of suspicion and a potential adversary for every power in the Endless Ocean.
Tall trees catch much wind.
A towering tree attracts even more trouble. Shi Ming wasn’t afraid of trouble, but he didn’t want to place himself in that kind of predicant.
The moderate strategy was to infiltrate Black Gold and secretly destroy the core of the Sealed Prison.
Similarly, the margin for error with this plan was quite low. The power of a King-level Wandering Ship far surpassed that of a General-level one. Infiltrating it and destroying the Sealed Prison—a component as vital as the ship’s own core—would be incredibly difficult. A single mistake ant not only would the plan fail, but he would also make a mortal enemy of Black Gold. As long as other options were available, Shi Ming wouldn’t choose this path.
And as for the superior strategy...
...it was to use the treasure the Naless Cocoon had ntioned: the Twin Mirror, ranked 43rd.
The description of the Twin Mirror in the ’Marvelous Objects of the Endless Ocean’ was as follows—
[43. Twin Mirror]
[Creates an illusory double out of thin air that can exist for only 60 seconds. The double can switch places with the original, allowing one to slip away unnoticed.]
When Shi Ming first saw this on the stone tablet, he hadn’t given it much thought. But now that the Naless Cocoon had ntioned it, he realized that using the mirror’s double to ’exploit a glitch,’ so to speak, and escape the Sealed Prison was an excellent thod.
But how could he find it?
...
Shi Ming retrieved a book from his storage: the *Myriad Nations Codex*, a to whose words beco law.
He opened the *Myriad Nations Codex* to a blank page and recited:
[By Article 323 of the Gorinchis Scripture!]
[All directives issued must be understood correctly and executed correctly! Failure is permissible, but deception and exploitation of loopholes are not!]
The rule, derived from reality, was now established.
Next, he took out the Lamp of Wishes. This quaint, ancient lamp, shaped like an ashtray, could grant Shi Ming three wishes. He was now about to make the first.
The Lamp of Wishes had been purified, so it no longer required a price to be paid for a wish.
However, its power was limited. If he made a wish that was too difficult for it to fulfill, the result would inevitably be twisted. For example, if Shi Ming were to wish for the number one treasure on the list of Marvelous Objects, the wish would undoubtedly be distorted beyond recognition, leading to an outco he would most certainly not want to see.
The Lamp of Wishes was only ranked 41st among the Marvelous Objects.
Therefore, it was crucial to probe the limits of its power before making a wish. Shi Ming had previously learned from the Eye of the World that the Lamp of Wishes had a history of failed wishes, and failures didn’t count against his three chances. Now, by using the *Myriad Nations Codex*’s power to enforce the rule ’failure is permissible, but exploitation of loopholes is not,’ he could safely explore the lamp’s boundaries.
He stroked the oil lamp, muttering an incantation.
"Pure Star Spirit from the depths of the starry sky, my wish is—"
"To obtain the treasure ranked 43rd on the ’Marvelous Objects of the Endless Ocean’ list: the Twin Mirror!"
Shi Ming made his first wish.
[...]
The lamp’s wick ignited, casting a brilliant light and forming an unbelievable magnetic field. Shi Ming’s vision grew hazy. The ship’s structure above his head seed to transform into a cosmos of converging Star Spirits, light swirling about as splendid teors occasionally streaked past.
[Your wish...]
[Cannot be fulfilled!!!]
[Please change your wish imdiately, or it will be assud that the Wishing Lamp has fulfilled its duty.]
’As expected. This wish exceeded the Lamp of Wishes’s capabilities. With the *Myriad Nations Codex* forbidding any distortion or exploitation of loopholes, it was impossible to fulfill.’
This was all within his expectations.
This first wish was rely to probe its limits.
Shi Ming quickly changed his wish—
"My wish is to know the precise coordinates of the current location of the Twin Mirror, the treasure ranked 43rd on the ’Marvelous Objects of the Endless Ocean’ list! The coordinates must be accurate to five decimal places for latitude and longitude!"
Clusters of teors once again streaked across the hazy, starlit sky.
This ti, Shi Ming received a positive response.
[Your wish can be fulfilled!]
WHOOSH—
Above Shi Ming’s head, within the illusory cosmos ford by the Lamp of Wishes’s light, a starlit curtain materialized. On it appeared a miniature map of the Endless Ocean. A marker appeared in the lower-left portion of the map, which then began to zoom in. The location was continuously magnified as the map’s scale decreased, finally resolving into a specific, clear set of coordinates.
[Latitude: -4.26358]
[Longitude: 15.24278]
At the sa ti, the image behind the coordinates revealed an undersea region where a massive ship lay sunken. Inside the ship’s hold, a quaint, old mirror lay on a corroded steel plate, buried under a thick layer of silt and marine debris.
Shi Ming frowned.
’These coordinates...’
’A negative latitude ans the southern hemisphere, and a positive longitude ans the eastern hemisphere. 4 degrees south, 15 degrees east... that’s the location of the old world’s Brazzaville. It’s on the edge of the Sea of Boiling in the Wandering Era!’
’It wasn’t far from where he had hunted the Three-Eyed Golden Crow, but it wasn’t exactly close, either!’
’A shipwreck in the Sea of Boiling?’
The Sea of Boiling was a sensitive location.
The main reason was that last ti, he had severed one of the Abyss Lord’s vile tentacles and then used the Abyss Lord’s signature skill, Extrely Evil Sanctuary, in the Africa Sea Area. To the Abyss Lord, this was an unforgivable act of blasphemy. That was why Shi Ming had been so cautious on his recent trips near Black Gold, constantly on alert for a vile tentacle to erge from the ocean. And now, the Lamp of Wishes had revealed that the Twin Mirror was on the edge of the Sea of Boiling?
’This...’
Shi Ming pondered for a mont, weighing the pros and cons.
’There are risks, to be sure.’
’But they’re manageable.’
’I’m no longer as weak as when I first entered the Sea of Boiling. I now possess five S-class skills, my physical stats are all over 200, and I have the General-level Wandering Ship, the *Sun-Shooter*, which is top-notch for escapes. Add to that the danger-predicting Eye of the World and nurous other high-ranking Marvelous Objects, sneaking to the edge of the Sea of Boiling to find a treasure is not entirely impossible.’
’Worst-case scenario, even if I do run into the Abyss Lord, I still have the Black Tortoise Shield, my ’Desperate Ground’ ability, and the Lamp of Wishes as final safeguards.’
’Escaping won’t be a problem.’
’Besides, it’s not as if I’ve never faced it before! I once successfully escaped from the very heart of the Sea of Boiling, relying on nothing but the Black Tortoise Shield and ’Desperate Ground’. If I run into it this ti, I might as well rip off another one of its limbs to gather materials for the *Sun-Shooter* and *Great Fortune*’s future upgrades to King-level.’
’The bigger the waves, the pricier the fish!’
’Nothing ventured, nothing gained! Pulling this off and getting the Twin Mirror is truly the best way to save Ah Jian.’
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