Under Shi Ming’s watch, the two of them played rock-paper-scissors to decide who would choose first.
Stone Pillar chose the cuttlefish.
Lin Hai chose the Mist Jellyfish.
The Awakening was set to take place on the deck of the Wandering Ship. Bathing in blood required a large amount of Sea Beast Blood, which would stain the indoor floors. Shi Ming certainly wasn’t going to let them Awaken in the captain’s cabin.
Besides, Shi Ming wanted the other crew mbers to witness the Awakening process.
He wanted everyone to know that on his ship, every person had a chance to Awaken—it wasn’t just an empty promise.
...
「On the deck.」
The crew gathered around, so filled with envy, others with curiosity.
The two enormous sea beast carcasses were placed in an empty space on the port side. Stone Pillar and Lin Hai, both nervous and excited, each took a sharp blade and approached them shirtless.
SHHHRIIIP!
They deftly sliced open the sea beasts’ bodies.
The bluish-green cuttlefish blood and the transparent jellyfish mucus surged into buckets before being poured into a larger bathtub. They didn’t want to waste a single drop of the Sea Beast Blood, so they decided to just take a bath in it.
There was a lot of jellyfish mucus, but very little cuttlefish blood. However, the blood was far more concentrated with energy.
Generally speaking, the blood of one sea beast was enough for at least one person to Awaken.
So large sea beasts with a lot of blood, like the B-rank Eight-ard Hunter, contained enough energy for multiple people to Awaken, though the effect would surely be weaker than if one person absorbed it all.
But S-rank sea beasts were an exception.
Shi Ming had read the relevant research data from inside the *Yellowstone*.
The first S-rank sea beast hunted by the Lighthouse was nad the Sea Jade. The original plan was to use it to cultivate three or even more S-rank Awakened. But after the first person Awakened, the Sea Jade’s remaining blood could no longer Awaken anyone else—even though the blood hadn’t lost its vitality, was identical to before, and was still surging with imnse energy.
Therefore, they could only speculate that the skills from S-rank sea beasts might possess a "uniqueness" property.
It was difficult to explain, but it was a fact.
SPLASH.
The two n jumped into the tub filled with blood, slowly closed their eyes, and felt the power within the Sea Beast Blood transforming their bodies.
Their Awakening didn’t take long.
Without an overpowered cheat like Shi Ming’s Right Arm Red Pattern to absorb energy, they still climbed out of the tub one after another between fifteen and twenty minutes later, their eyes filled with excitent and disbelief.
They could feel the changes in their bodies; every muscle now held imnse power.
Stone Pillar even shattered the wooden tub with a single punch.
"Go get dressed. Tell about the abilities you Awakened."
As the captain, it was necessary for him to understand his subordinates’ Awakened abilities.
"Captain, my skill is indeed [Ink Dye]. During combat, I can cover my body in a black mist. When the mist touches an enemy, it will seep into their body, affecting their speed and Attack Power while dealing continuous damage."
’A decent offensive Awakening skill.’
’And it has so crowd control capabilities.’
"Captain, my skill is [Mist]. During combat, I can create an area of dense fog on the sea’s surface. Within the fog, I can enter a stealth state. In stealth, my movents are silent and invisible, making it hard for enemies to detect ."
’Not bad either. A great assassination skill.’
’Its only drawback is that moving on the sea might be less convenient than on land, but creating fog on the sea is also easier and can affect a larger area.’
He nodded.
"Very good. Awakening is just the beginning of the path, not your limit."
"Yes, Captain! We’ll be sure to train diligently."
With two more Awakened on board, Shi Ming could ease his own burden a bit.
For example, the job of lying in wait for D-rank jellyfish in the fog could now be handed over to them.
...
Far from the Lost Sea, the dense fog was gone. The moonlight was beautiful, and the starry sky over the ocean was exceptionally brilliant.
Shi Ming lay in bed, watching the specks of starlight reflected on the sea’s surface outside his window.
’Navigator...’
’Locating soone based on the energy fluctuations of the stars and teorites... that’s a damn good tracking skill.’
’Looks like I’ll have to be on high alert for a while. An A-rank Awakened and a B-rank Awakened... if it ca to a direct confrontation, I wouldn’t be afraid, even as a novice. But I have to be careful not to let them destroy my ship.’
’Especially the energy extraction equipnt. If that gets damaged, I’ll lose my source of High-Level Sea Crystal Stones.’
’It’s easy to attack an enemy, but hard to defend your ho!’
Fortunately, the level 5 Silver ship had an added Sea Patrol Radar function.
He had already ordered the crew to stand watch in 24-hour shifts, keeping a constant eye on the Sea Patrol Radar and the ship’s detection systems.
Any abnormalities were to be reported imdiately.
A veteran A-rank Awakened was nothing like that piece of trash Chunyi.
Even a lion uses its full strength to catch a rabbit.
...
BEEP.
「In the middle of the night.」
The night was silent.
The communicator rang.
Even in his deep sleep, Shi Ming maintained a basic level of alertness. He rolled over and picked up the beeping communicator pinned beneath the right side of his body.
It was the Lighthouse communicator.
In the faint light, he saw the words on the screen and shot upright.
This ssage was sent personally by the King-level Wandering Ship, the [Lighthouse]!
It wasn’t just that the ssage was from the Lighthouse; one had to understand that the Lighthouse had no captain, only Governors, with a strict, tiered hierarchy. To be able to speak on behalf of the Lighthouse in a communication group like "Let There Be Light" ant they were truly a high-ranking official on that ship.
Every word from such a person was an important directive.
Even a single "?" would be scrutinized by their subordinates, who would read countless different interpretations into it.
[Lighthouse: Is the Navigator still executing Jinshan’s mission?]
The Lighthouse’s ssage was concise.
Yet it was also vague.
It was just like so of the clients from Shi Ming’s previous life.
Michael’s reply ca much faster than expected. Just over five minutes later, Shi Ming saw his response. Not only that, but Jinshan also replied quickly.
[Michael: Yes, sir! Do you require his services for sothing?]
[Jinshan: Yes, sir! The Navigator is currently carrying out a commission from the Black Society.]
These were instant replies.
The round-trip signal transmission alone took five minutes.
[Lighthouse: Have him suspend all other missions after this one is complete and return to the Lighthouse imdiately.]
[Michael: Understood, sir! If your mission is urgent, I can communicate with Jinshan now and have him suspend the Black Society’s mission to report directly to Lighthouse Headquarters?]
After a wait of about ten minutes...
[Lighthouse: Unnecessary. Halt all subsequent missions. As for the one already accepted, proceed according to protocol.]
[Michael: Understood, sir!]
Shi Ming read through the conversation several tis.
’A B-rank Awakened, who must be so kind of fringe character on the Lighthouse, is being recalled to headquarters by na by a big shot?’
’This is like a county magistrate in a TV drama being urgently summoned back to the capital by the emperor himself!’
’To marry a princess?’
’And they even said to suspend all other missions and return to the Lighthouse imdiately?’
’This isn’t simple. Definitely not simple!’
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