Shi Ming couldn't confirm his suspicion, so he had no choice but to set the thought aside for now.
He would complete the tasks assigned by the system one by one.
He pushed his doubts aside and began to observe his surroundings.
The coast had nothing but sand and reefs. He saw no signs of life, not even shells. Not far away, a dense, verdant forest obscured all lines of sight. He would have to go deeper to get any intelligence on the island's interior.
This seemed like an ordinary island, yet something about it felt off.
But for the others, everything on land was a novelty.
However, this novelty was suppressed by their fear of the unknown. The slaves who had landed on the island just looked at each other, remaining where they were. No one was willing to be the first to set foot into the unexplored territory.
"Don't just stand there daydreaming. Don't forget, the captain's spyglass is still trained on you! They're watching your every move."
Shi Ming offered the reminder and was the first to head inland alone.
Seeing this, the others recalled the captain's iron-fisted methods and reluctantly spread out in twos and threes.
...
Shi Ming took a roundabout path, not heading deep into the island's interior.
Rushing to explore now would be foolish. He needed to find an unmonitored area to test out his newly acquired "Eye of Intelligence." Only with intelligence could he formulate a targeted exploration plan.
For someone accustomed to carrying out missions, intelligence was more precious than gold. Many unnecessary sacrifices were made precisely because of a lack of it.
'Eye of Intelligence, acquire intelligence.'
[BEEP~ BEEP~]
[Compiling intelligence...]
[Searching... Confirming host's detailed coordinates... Search successful. Summarizing intelligence... Intelligence generated: 1341 meters ahead, along the shore, a timeworn canoe lies buried. You may be able to uncover some buried secrets from it.]
'A canoe?'
'Someone's actually been to this island before?'
'And they came on just a canoe?'
Shi Ming moved through the reefs, carefully observing and remaining vigilant as he followed the coastline, keeping an eye on the shore.
It wasn't long before he found something.
Sure enough, a small canoe was stranded among the reefs not far from the shoreline.
The canoe looked like it had been here for a very, very long time. More than half of it was buried deep in the sand. However, its material was quite special; there were no signs of rot. Judging by how deeply it was buried and the salt encrusted on it, he could tell it had been here for at least a few years, maybe longer.
Shi Ming gripped the edge of the canoe with one hand and, with a heave, dug it out.
'It's still usable.'
But only just. Trying to escape in a canoe, drifting on this Endless Ocean, was clearly impossible.
Certain death.
Shi Ming searched it carefully and suddenly spotted a small wooden box inside the canoe's storage compartment. Thanks to the box's unique material, it hadn't suffered much erosion from the sea breeze and humid environment.
Shi Ming skillfully opened the box.
Inside was a pen and a notebook.
The pen was a common fountain pen, and the notebook felt like it was made of lambskin.
Shi Ming opened the notebook.
Fortunately, the box was well waterproofed. Though the words in the notebook had faded over the years, they were still legible. The journal was written in the language Shi Ming was most familiar with. Not that it mattered to him; he was fluent in seven languages. As long as it wasn't some obscure dialect from a remote, small country, he could read it.
He opened the journal.
[April 5th. This is the 66th day we've been trapped by the flood. The food in the research institute is almost gone, and the waters still haven't receded. Everyone is pessimistic. History has no record of a flood this severe. This is a catastrophe for all of humanity.]
[May 9th. Another torrential downpour, yet a rainbow appeared. In the West's Book of Genesis, it is written that when the world-ending flood receded, God said, "When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds." Where is the rainbow for this catastrophe?]
...
[June 13th. The world has no gods, so humanity must become its own. We've begun building "Arks." And it's not just us; other nations and organizations have also started massive shipbuilding projects. Heh. Humanity didn't get its 'Wandering Earth' project, but we did start our 'Drifting Earth' project. Is that lame joke even funny?]
...
Shi Ming skimmed through the pages quickly.
The owner of this journal was a researcher at an institute, and it seemed he held a high position.
He had lived through the world-ending flood, recording humanity's struggle and salvation during the catastrophe.
Shi Ming scanned the journal quickly. For a long time after, the owner chronicled the turbulent changes of the era. The continents gradually sank, and humanity truly did initiate the "Drifting Earth" project, naming all the refuge vessels "Drifter Ships."
Notably, the researcher specifically mentioned that a total of 100,001 Drifter Ships were built worldwide. This was the absolute limit, and the number would never increase, only decrease through attrition.
'100,001 ships?'
'Does that number have some special meaning?'
Regarding this, Shi Ming could only guess that the construction of the Drifter Ships might have used some kind of non-renewable and extremely rare resource.
[September 2nd. Less than a tenth of the land on Earth remains. Humanity has been forced into the Wandering Era. Fortunately, satellite wave technology still keeps us all firmly connected, allowing us to work together and preventing our civilization from being lost. The Drifter Ships are able to temporarily meet humanity's basic needs because they use ██ technology.]
'Satellite wave technology? We don't seem to have that anymore. The satellites have all fallen. Different Drifter Ships can only contact each other using ordinary radio waves, and the range is extremely limited.'
'And this... ██ technology? This part is actually smudged out?'
Shi Ming continued to read.
[October 7th. There's news that a soldier, after slaying a sea beast and bathing in its blood, gained a miraculous ability. He inherited the sea beast's power but still fully retained his humanity. He even gained superpowers. This isn't just unscientific; it's utterly inconceivable. If this is proven to be true, not only would physics cease to exist, but biology would be rendered obsolete as well.]
[December 9th. More and more people have begun to hunt sea beasts, but how many have actually succeeded?]
[January 3rd. I've changed my field of research. Awakening... the very word is alluring.]
[...]
[May 2nd. I can't just sit here and wait to die. I've heard that a sea beast suspected to be the "Xuanwu" has been spotted near certain coordinates. This might be my last chance. I've taken the weapons I developed myself and am giving chase in my Drifter Ship... The Xuanwu! That's a legendary divine beast! If I can bathe in its blood, I will definitely awaken an A-rank ability or higher!!!]
[...]
[June 7th. I encountered a storm at sea, the likes of which I've never seen before. Fortunately, I made it to an island and was able to catch my breath.]
...