No matter where the whale is taking the ship, it's an adventure anyway.
Chun refueled with food quickly to replenish his physical strength, and by then, the ship was speeding up, the fishing line and rod creaking under strain.
We've got to row to keep up, or the line might snap! Besides, this speed increase might just lead to learning an enhanced version of the Sailing Technique?
"Sherry, row with me!"
This time, what was bound to happen finally happened!
——System Notification: Your team has triggered the hidden skill "Module Combination"!
Chun was stunned; it wasn't the Sailing Technique he imagined! Module Combination?! The name doesn't sound so game-fantasy-like; it sounds more like a backend programming skill. Could it be that tying the boat and fishing rod together is Module Combination?
Sherry was also excited: "I think I grasped a skill, my Tailoring Technique improved!"
Even works on Tailoring Technique? This really is something never mentioned during beta testing, high-end indeed!
Chun was excited: "Let's stay steady!"
The proficiency continued to skyrocket, but another ship couldn't withstand such high-speed pressure and creaked and broke. Sherry had to use Frost Freeze Technique again to repair the ship, and this time her casting emitted a unique blue magical glow of upgrading.
Sherry was delighted: "I feel the surging power of Water Elements, my Meditation Technique has leveled up to Intermediate!"
Holy Shit, it's obvious that this Old Whale knows magic; otherwise, where would the power of Water Elements come from? And knowing magic falls into the realm of Sea Monsters, definitely up to S-level qualification!
Soon, a small desolate island appeared ahead, and the whale's speed also slowed down.
——System Notification: You have entered an unknown sea territory. The current sea region channel and world channel cannot be used.
Chun was amazed; have they entered a special scene?
What kind of treasure encounter might there be? Chun was even more eager now.
Then the whale charged onto the island onto a sandy bay, half-submerged and almost stranded.
This is?
Got it, this place can block the wind and waves; it can be used for a full-on cleanse.
Chun continued to dive and dig; his Mining Technique experience skyrocketed again, quickly leveling up Underwater Mining Technique to level 3. Meanwhile, his friendship with the whale increased significantly, this feeling was more than just reassuring, wasn't it also a treasure?
Feeling comforted, the system prompted again — Warning! Your Mining Pickaxe has been corroded by acid ore, its durability is about to run out, please repair or replace your tool in time.
Holy Shit!!?
Chun was dumbfounded, the pickaxe failed at a critical moment! When they set sail, he only thought about practicing sailing and fishing, he hadn't even considered he'd need to mine, and he definitely didn't bring a spare pickaxe!
What now? Mine by hand? Normally it's impossible to mine by hand, but prying barnacles by hand—Chun tried it, the feeling of digging into the sand didn't achieve nothing, but his proficiency didn't increase at all.
Sherry also noticed the predicament: "What should we do?"
Right now, it's all up to her. Chun thought about thermal expansion and contraction: "Can you use your Frost Freeze Technique to freeze these barnacles on it first, maybe crack them with freezing or cause them to shatter after melting?"
"I'll try!"
So, Sherry started touching the barnacles and casting spells, just like when she repaired the ship earlier, frost spread quickly along her palm and froze the surrounding area.
Chun tried to pry a bit, but it felt even sturdier, not budging at all.
No worries, as expected, the more solid it's frozen now, the more it'll possibly crumble when it melts. Surely when the other parts of the whale are also frozen, this here should be able to melt, then he could try using his bare hands…
And the whale was very cooperative, after its back and head were sealed with frost, it even turned over its belly to continue freezing.
Chun was awed by the whale's intelligence, its intelligence alone could make it remain as an undefeated S-level wanted creature!
After preparing for over an hour, the whale's entire body was iced over, and then upon checking the initially frozen spot, it had melted, even leaving a gap!
Chun reached into the gap and pried again, finding it somewhat loose but continually oozing water, and just then, red light exploded in front of him:
——System Notification: Warning! Your hands have been corroded by acid, Life -10! If corrosion becomes severe, your hands will be seriously injured and unusable.
Holy Shit! Is this how bad bare hands are?
But just then, the whale let out a hum and spat out a shiny water bubble that wrapped Chun inside.
——System Notification: You have received the whale's Purification blessing, effectively resisting the acid's corrosion, you are bestowed with the power of the whale.
Holy Shit, it can actually bless!!
Seeing his quickly healing hands, Chun was shocked, this whale is essentially a deity from prolonged illness! It's not a sea monster; it's obviously a Sea God who can trigger high-end skills and bestow healing blessings!!
Chun immediately had the thought of creating a god.
In fact, the recently passed beta festival celebration itself is a kind of festival activity initiated with fireworks and wine as a priestly event, and the village chief could initiate it, so why can't it be applied to this whale?
Finally, with his hands recovered, Chun pulled hard with excitement — creak crash! A large piece of barnacle as large as half a wall was pulled away!
This crushing feeling is at least a hundred times stronger than hitting with a pickaxe!
——System Message: Congratulations! You have successfully comprehended the talent skill "Essence of Mining", your barehanded capability has been enhanced, and you will gain great progress in mining.
——System Message: Congratulations! You have mastered the Essence of Mining, your Underwater Mining Technique has risen to Intermediate Level 1, achieving: Physical Strength +8, Carrying Capacity +8.
Chun was stunned, he actually comprehended the most difficult talent skill! The Mining Technique directly jumped to Intermediate in eight levels! Could it be so easy because of the blessing of that whale bubble?
Sherry was also delighted: "I comprehended the Magical Mining Technique!"
Holy shit, is that possible? Isn't this the mage corps explosion in the game's opening scene? This is the pinnacle of the mining world, way better than those brute force guys swinging pickaxes.
Chun was overjoyed: "Great, comprehending it myself can save a lot of tuition!"
Sherry shook off her weariness: "I'll help too!"
That's right, this is a great time to boost skills, let's work hard together...
With Sherry's genuine "Magic Explosive", the speed of prying shells was even more crushing, Chun's intermediate underwater mining also soared, the proficiency not only did not diminish but became higher, this clearly is a positive cycle where the higher the mining skill, the better the clearing effect!
At this rate, not only can you advance to Advanced without any hindrance, but breaking into the Expert threshold seems also in reach?
Thus, to advance in the Mining Technique, you don't have to rely on luck to mine rare ores, nor do you have to fuss with epic-level mining pickaxes; abandoning tools to mine barehanded, returning to simplicity should work too! Of course, the premise is to find such shell ore, and this kind of divine whale.
But looking at the increasingly clean whale skin, Chun felt oddly conflicted, not enough shells, if it just ends like this, it might only advance to Advanced, where else will it be this convenient afterward...
Amidst the busyness, a silver light shone between heaven and sea, the moon emerged, this vast beauty truly shook the soul.
Chun also took this opportunity to view the entire island, treeless and grassless, but the white and yellow gemstone-like glow emitted by oval stones on the beach caught his eye — what are these stones?
Sherry was shocked: "Could this glow be... I'll go up and check!"
Sherry disregarded her soaked clothes and waded ashore, Chun followed closely, he saw the stones not only glowing but emitting a black smoke that indicated a scent, black for a foul odor.
Sherry caressed a white stone, her voice changed with excitement: "This is Dragon's Saliva Fragrance, the white ones are top-grade after a hundred years of sun exposure!"
Chun was rocked to his core, holy shit, there really is treasure!
Indeed, these are sperm whales, named for their top-tier spice, Dragon's Saliva Fragrance. It's said sperm whales prefer deep-sea hunting of giant squid, but cannot digest some bones so they secrete large amounts of mucus to wrap them, then disgorge. Because it's lighter than water, it doesn't sink, after floating for a hundred years or so at sea, it becomes gem-like amber and thus is called "gray amber", foul smelling but burning yields a unique aroma. So in this game's market...
Sherry continued in excitement: "These gray ones are lesser, and the remaining brass-colored ones are ordinary, but even the brass color is worth its weight in gold. The total value of this batch of spices is unimaginable!"
Worth its weight in gold!?
Looking at the scattered island with dozens of large and small spices, Chun was suddenly alert!
Is this really a reward for a profession task? Even for an S-class wanted task, this reward exceeds the upper limit by a hundredfold; according to the game's usual stingy logic, this simply isn't possible! Unless — there's only one possibility, it must be a backdoor left by the game developers for an investor relation mogul!
Because this game is derived from digital currency mining algorithms, the "algorithm" refers to those "digital currency mines" with hundreds to thousands of computers near power plants constantly burning electricity to calculate for digital currency production, which dictates this game unlike those unscrupulous games' operators can freely generate gold coins, equip with items as they please, can only predetermine placements for relation moguls to take during development. Once the game officially runs, this world becomes closed, everything follows algorithms, the developer can't interfere...
And pondering this whale's bizarre setting of "the weaker the stronger it becomes", and such magical high-end clearly meant to facilitate the mogul's early reception!
Anyway, in one sentence, I might've cut off a mogul! Something big happened!
Thinking of this, Chun felt his blood surge and his back grow cold!
But the gold mountain is right in front of him, not to mention a mogul, even if the sky falls, he must catch it! This is human nature!
Chun forcibly calmed his mind: "Worth its weight in gold? Then, aren't we going to strike it rich with so many?"
Yet Sherry calmed down, speaking still trembling: "This requires licensing rights, our low status makes it hard to sell at a high price, likely to be bought at a low price or confiscated by officials... Only those big commerce guilds organizing citywide noble activities can sell it at gold price! Moreover, Dragon's Saliva Fragrance has a peculiar smell and this much amount, the city's Thief Guild will surely target during transportation, their treasure hunting magical pets are extremely formidable!"
Indeed! Like wines, licensing rights are required. The notoriety of the Thief Guild is as formidable as thunder, not even a bottle of wine that Vivian must arrange a carriage for herself. In their presence, we can't harbor any gambler's luck mentality, or this opportunity to turn things around will be lost.
Chun agonized: "Should we bury it here and return later?"
Sherry said: "Actually, many pirate-plundered possessions aren't dare directly transported into the city and are buried on various small barren islands slowly seeking ways. That's why the black market has so many real and fake pirate treasure maps..."
Should I bury it on an island? No, if the mogul finds the stuff gone, they'll surely dig up the entire island three feet deep!
Then bury it underwater, and bury it far away! Spices aren't magic power items, probably also hard for treasure hunting professions to discover. Then that swimming has to be practiced! But this island came from intercepting the whale's plot task, the urgent matter is still completing the whale task perhaps might offer a better solution.
While quickly turning his thoughts, Chun found under the moonlight that the whale's skin was still blemished and oozing pus and blood: "This is? We only peeled off the outer layer?"
Sherry furrowed her brows: "Looks like the inner layer has merged with the whale skin, this isn't something mining alone can remove, may need medicine! But I've never heard of any physician able to treat whales."
Chun recalled something the old man said: "The old man mentioned these barnacle shells can serve as acid stone ore for alchemy, can we use these acid stone ores to refine a remedy?"
Sherry was stunned: "Learning alchemy is expensive! And Oak City's alchemy is more authentic."
Chun was bold: "Dragon's Saliva Fragrance is right here, anything expensive can be considered, not to mention alchemy complements mages well! Black Iron City has basic classes, right?"
Sherry said: "Yes! Right next to the mage class."
That's good. Players training as mages won't become a Mage, it's only letting a Mage learn alchemy that allows learning the essence.
"Let's clean up the whale first…"