The following day, Yang Yi used the lookout tower.
Beams of strange light shot out from the crystal railings of the lookout tower, radiating outwards.
Soon after, Yang Yi received a log notification indicating that he had obtained the coordinates of islands within a 1500-nautical-mile radius.
"Just one?" Yang Yi was a bit surprised.
It was nearly 1300 nautical miles away from the Nightmare Star. If he hadn’t upgraded the lookout tower earlier, he might not have even discovered it.
Yang Yi immediately adjusted course and sailed towards it.
Meanwhile, Suna was conducting her research on material composition.
She discovered that when molten crystal was mixed with charred liquor at high temperatures, a chemical reaction occurred.
The resulting re-solidified crystal became murky, but its melting point increased.
She was fine-tuning the mixture to raise the melting point to an optimal level, after which she would test the material’s hardness.
Yang Yi reeled in his fishing lines early.
The catch was quite good: seven long-legged sardines, two red-lipped eels, and a human-faced octopus.
The fishing net also brought in a haul, including several one-armed crabs and a giant scallop.
"No wonder it was so heavy," Yang Yi muttered, not daring to underestimate the scallop.
Following the same method he once used to pry open a treasure chest clam, he tied a sea serpent’s fang to a wooden stick, wedged it into the scallop’s seam, and attempted to pry it open.
Normally, inside a scallop, there would be soft, succulent meat. But inside this one… was just another shell!
Yang Yi was stunned for a few seconds before continuing to pry open the second layer of shell.
Then the third. Then the fourth.
He kept going for over a hundred layers until the scallop had shrunk to palm size.
Only then did he finally see some meat. It was barely the size of a fingertip and barely enough for a single bite. It was as if he was being mocked for spending all that effort.
At the same time, he received information about the creature:
【Name: Matryoshka Scallop】(1)
【Description: A scallop mutated by abyssal contamination. In order to protect itself, it decided to grow more and more shells to avoid being eaten by predators.】
Yang Yi stared at the fingertip-sized piece of meat, speechless. He decided he’d roast it later as a drinking snack.
He tossed a few live long-legged sardines into a wooden barrel in the captain’s quarters to replenish his life furnace fuel reserves. Then, stepping outside, he made his way to the octopus vending machine.
It was about time: a new issue of the weekly publication was about to be released.
As a VIP customer, Yang Yi could access the release schedule in advance, so he got his hands on the latest issue right on time.
He skimmed through the Maritime News section. The front-page headline read:
【The First Player to Leave the Extreme Winter Sea Has Appeared】
The article wasn’t lengthy, but the information was shocking, it included the exit coordinates and the name of the next sea region!
Almost simultaneously, the chat channels erupted into chaos!
"Thank you, One-Eyed Boss! Now I know this sea actually has an end!"
"I’ll be out of this damn place in about 10 days!"
"Damn, I still need 15 days! I’m out of food and fuel, DM me if you’re selling at high prices!!"
"Did One-Eyed Boss take down the boss? I want to team up!"
"..."
Yang Yi only took a glance at the chat before tuning it out.
Even though everyone was praising "One-Eyed," Yang Yi himself was only interested in making money off them.
He planned to strip the island bare within 10 days, converting every tree into lumber and selling it to players still stuck in the Extreme Winter Sea. (2)
Once they all made it out, lumber prices would drop.
Time was money!
He had to hurry and start logging, providing warmth to the struggling players while making a hefty profit for himself.
A true win-win!
Yang Yi was already eager to "save" people.
Extreme Winter Sea – Buffer Zone
On the Gale ship, Captain Xu Da studied the newspaper in his hand, a look of surprise on his face.
He hadn’t expected someone to beat him to it!
Two members of his crew approached, travellers whose ship had been frozen into a glacier. They had no choice but to abandon it, planning to rebuild after escaping this sea.
They had encountered Ice Nest Worms three times.
The first encounter was the deadliest. Their crew had started with twelve members but was reduced to just three.
If not for the Gale’s Riding the Waves skill, which had evolved to allow short bursts of flight, they might have all frozen to death.
Escaping from a glacier was nearly impossible.
Thanks to this, their pace was slowed down, and due to the white mist, even though the Gale was extremely agile, they didn't dare to speed up too much in the icy sea.
After all, durability was the Gale's weak point.
If they collided with an iceberg at full speed… the Gale could very well disintegrate on the spot.
"Captain, how did One-Eyed get ahead of us?" one of the surviving crew members asked.
"He's probably been pushing full speed ahead in the mist. If he didn’t encounter any Ice Nest Worms, surpassing us would be pretty simple!" Xu Da speculated.
"But isn’t he afraid of hitting an iceberg? Is he just lucky?"
"Definitely not luck. His ship might be exceptionally tough, or… maybe it can even submerge," Xu Da ventured his guess. (3)
In a distant part of the Extreme Winter Sea, far from the exit.
A steel warship was slowly moving forwards at a speed of less than 20 knots.
It was the Iron Heart, upgraded to level 3. Its length had increased to 250 metres, the bow and stern each had four anti-aircraft turrets, and the bridge had been moved to the middle of the ship, elevated far above the deck, offering a wide field of view.
Surrounding it, numerous small ships were tethered with grappling hooks, all outfitted with cannons, seemingly having expanded their ships’ space entirely for firepower.
As a result, the quantity turned into a quality change. The Iron Brotherhood Fleet might have lacked many things, but they certainly weren’t short on firepower.
"Damn it, how is it still so far?! Crank up the speed to maximum!" Yu Dawei said in frustration, holding the newspaper.
"Boss, max speed is only 25 knots. After all, we can't all crowd together and drag the ships," the first officer, a man with glasses, responded calmly from the side.
Yu Dawei's face darkened, but he didn't explode.
The first officer was someone he had promoted due to his calmness, which made him the perfect assistant.
"By the way, do we have enough supplies to leave the Extreme Winter Sea?"
"We have enough food, but there's a significant shortage of lumber."
"And the casualties?"
"One."
Yu Dawei furrowed his brow.
"Our firepower still isn't enough. We've even had casualties..." he muttered.
After a moment, Yu Dawei stood up again.
He had a talent called Eagle Eye, which allowed him to see three times farther than ordinary players in the white mist.
It was this ability that enabled him to spot Ice Nest Worms immediately and inform the first officer, who then relayed the information to the ship crew.
In no time, all the cannons in the fleet were aimed in that direction, including the anti-aircraft cannons on the Iron Heart.
"Let me see just how many of you there are!" Yu Dawei cursed, controlling the Iron Heart, spitting fire from the guns.
The first officer, Zhang Zhi, adjusted his glasses. Beneath his calm face, his eyes burned with a fervor, almost fanatical.
"Your numbers are dwindling, and our firepower... is endless!"