Chapter 362: Chapter 355: Jiuzhou Platform and Unceasing Water
The mission was complete. Captain Rong didn’t linger, piloting the Kunwu back to make his report. Shi Ming returned to the captain’s quarters and placed the seawater sample on the control console.
He could sense it. This seawater, which had mysteriously appeared inside the artifact known as the Jiuzhou Platform, had an unusually dense concentration of Sea Crystal Stone energy. It was unlike any ordinary seawater, practically equivalent to liquid Pure Dome Crystal.
Of course, it was still azure.
Shi Ming stared at the seawater sample and activated his Eye of Destiny.
"Eye of Destiny, acquire intelligence!"
[BEEP~ BEEP~]
[Compiling intelligence...]
[Searching. Confirming detailed coordinates... Search successful. Summarizing intelligence... Intelligence generated:]
[The Unceasing Water in the Jiuzhou Platform]
[The artifact "Jiuzhou Platform," ranked 11th on the List of Strange Artifacts, is a miniature sand table of the Jiuzhou Continent, engraved with the continent’s geography and features. It originally possessed teleportation and monitoring functions.]
[But now that the world is filled with the Endless Ocean, the Jiuzhou Platform, which mirrors the world, has also become inundated with Unceasing Water. Of its former landscape, only one feature remains: the eternally standing Mount Everest.]
[As a microcosm of the world, it is both a teleporter and a barometer, transmitting some strange information—]
[If you are a creature on the Endless Ocean, you must remember the following rules:]
[1. The Jiuzhou Platform has a limited capacity, but the Unceasing Water is endless. It must be periodically cleaned out.]
[2. If you forget to clean it, the seawater will not only overflow the platform’s surface but also begin to corrode the Jiuzhou Platform from within. This may have no effect in the short term. However, once a quantitative change leads to a qualitative one, it will cause irreversible damage and ultimately crush the Jiuzhou Platform. Even the cornerstone inside the platform’s pillar will lose its heat and go inert.]
[3. A crushed Jiuzhou Platform will crack apart, and all creatures floating on the water’s surface will die.]
[4. Mount Everest, the only thing remaining on the platform, is the sole water level gauge. Please pay attention to its changes.]
[5. There are two ways to clear the accumulated seawater: bail it out, or plug it up.]
[6. Warning! Warning! Warning! If the Unceasing Water on the Jiuzhou Platform begins to solidify, abandon the Jiuzhou Platform immediately and leave!]
Shi Ming blinked, and the words vanished.
’What the hell?’
’I ask for intelligence, and you give me a set of rules for a horror story?’
But he could also clearly tell that every single one of these "horror story rules" was a piece of intelligence.
On the surface, the rules were about the Jiuzhou Platform, but in reality, every single one was a metaphor for the Endless Ocean. Especially now that his Eye of Destiny had fused with the power of the Destiny Light Cone, Shi Ming could keenly perceive new revelations hidden within these fragments of text:
Translated into normal language, it meant:
1. Earth has a limited capacity. It cannot possibly contain the infinite Unceasing Water. Action must be taken.
2. If left unchecked, things might seem fine for the first thirty, fifty, or even a hundred years, but that peace would be a mere facade. Soon, the seawater will corrode inward, crushing the entire planet. When that happens, even the Creation Star Core buried deep in its center will be damaged.
3. Then the planet will crack open, and all life will die.
4. For monitoring and warnings, Mount Everest can be used as a water level gauge. If the water level changes too drastically in a short period, it’s a sign that the problem must be dealt with.
5. There are two ways to handle it. However, the "bail it out, or plug it up" mentioned in the intelligence is too abstract and vague. Could "bail it out" mean getting the Unceasing Water off of Earth, and "plug it up" refer to blocking the source of the leak? Like the Xirang from ancient legends, used to hold back the flood?
As for the sixth rule.
It seemed to be an emergency warning—
If the Unceasing Water began to solidify, one must immediately leave the Endless Ocean.
’How to leave?’
’King-level Wandering Ships don’t have the ability for space travel. And to be realistic, even if one or two Wandering Ships did evolve into starships, how many people could they possibly carry? During the Land Era, humanity poured all its resources into building 100,001 Wandering Ships. They used a lottery system, abandoning over 95% of the population. Now, a mere thirty years later, more than thirty thousand of those one hundred thousand ships have already been destroyed. Leave the ocean? Where could they possibly go?’
’Build another fleet of "wandering ships"?’
’Without a doubt, it would be impossible given the current, regressed state of their infrastructure and technology. Not even if aliens were willing to help.’
’If the roots die, the leaves are sure to wither. Even if you drift on the wind like a tumbleweed, you’re bound to dry out eventually.’
Shi Ming felt a massive headache coming on.
’How come when other people transmigrate to the future, they’re all treated like treasures, like an Elder Ancestor with all their needs taken care of? They even get to enjoy all sorts of benefits of the era: Special forces soldiers get to enjoy advanced future technology, otakus get an endless supply of anime without having to wait for new episodes, and book fans can binge-read the 25th installment of *Xiao Yan Reborn* on the Douqi Continent. Women who don’t want kids can enjoy a smooth, carefree life in Night City, Zhou Mingrui becomes a god in three years and awakens as an Outer Deity in five to become the Master of Mystery, and even Sun Jieke becomes a huge star and reaches the pinnacle of life just by physically lying flat!’
’But me? I get reincarnated a mere century or so into the future, and not only do I not get the Elder Ancestor treatment, I get zero benefits of the era. I started out as a slave at the end of the world, and now that I’ve become a top-tier powerhouse, I have to spend all my damn time cleaning up after these good-for-nothing descendants!’
’I have to kill sea beasts, fend off aliens, and deal with this ticking time bomb...’
’Who can I even complain to?’
’I guess the only perk is the thrill of battle and the skills and power to steamroll everything.’
He couldn’t solve the problem of the Unceasing Water for the time being.
He hadn’t even dealt with the Kun Kun guarding it yet, nor had he confirmed if the Ten Thousand Forms Kun was actually guarding the Unceasing Water in the first place. It was impossible to find a solution without more information. If he could take care of the Ten Thousand Forms Kun, confirm it was guarding the Unceasing Water, and then get a look at the source, he could use his Eye of Destiny to figure out how to "bail it out, or plug it up."
But right now, he had no leads at all.
’I’ll worry about that later. Later.’
However, everything was ready for She Ri’s ascension to King-level.
A King-level Canoe, concentrated to its absolute essence, would allow him to navigate even special geographical environments as easily as a fish in water. It was hard to imagine just how high the technological level of a King-level She Ri could climb. Reaching King-level wasn’t the end, either. He could use the Infinite Brain to perform an "infinite upgrade." If he knew the required materials in advance, he could start preparing.
He let out a long breath.
Time waits for no one. He decided to act immediately.
She Ri, two Sailing Hearts, one Sailing Star, and a large quantity of the other required Sea Beast Flesh and Blood all appeared. Perfectly controlled by Shi Ming’s Spiritual Power, they floated in the captain’s quarters.
She Ri was currently a Third-level General.
This small Golden Ship built by the Xirang Research Institute from scraps, this Tun Nan that carried the blue sky on its back in its journey south, this canoe that had lain dormant on the back of a Black Tortoise for decades, his very first Wandering Ship—She Ri was finally about to have its moment of ascension to King-level!
