wjnovel Chapter 340 - 333: Breaking the Cocoon with a Single Slash
Chapter 340 - 333: Breaking the Cocoon with a Single Slash
Sailing Star?
Ah Bu was also a captain, so he naturally knew what a Sailing Star was.
The core of a General-level Wandering Ship, the source of its immense power.
The implication of Shi Ming’s words was self-evident. Ptolemy had only two paths before him: either compensate him with 20,000 Pure Dome Crystals and an Artifact, or bear the cost of his Wandering Ship changing hands, just like the *Moon Shadow* before.
With the *Pharaoh*’s resources, they could scrape together 20,000 Pure Dome Crystals if they had to.
Moreover, Shi Ming had thoughtfully prepared an installment plan service, just like the one offered by the Lighthouse.
No one could say he wasn’t given a chance.
But it would definitely be a crippling blow.
Ah Bu sighed and bid Shi Ming farewell with the utmost respect. He had been present when Shi Ming transformed into a ray of light to save the *Jianfangbei* in the Sea of Yellow Sand, and also when he’d slain Jia Fang aboard the General-level Wandering Ship, the *Pharaoh*. He knew full well that this "Descendant of the Dragon" was both magnanimous and ruthlessly decisive. Securing such a result for the *Pharaoh* today was only possible because Shi Ming was giving face to him and Nia.
He had already done his best on this trip.
Now, it was up to Ptolemy to choose.
Spend a fortune to avoid disaster, or go sit at the same table as the Black Society and the *Moon Shadow*? Any thinking creature would know the right choice.
...
"Master, I’ve been probing with my Spiritual Power. This Ah Bu, and those scientists from the big ship in the research lab before, they don’t seem to have any ill intentions. Their desire to cooperate is quite sincere. They’re barely trustworthy."
Ah Jian’s Spiritual Power fluctuations allowed it to constantly monitor subtle changes in other creatures’ heartbeats and other details, functioning to some extent as a lie detector. Its overall effect couldn’t compare to the Pupil of Evil—the skill of that wooden puppet from the Twelve Stars who always followed Secretary-General Abraham—but it was still quite useful.
Ah Jian was very displeased with these people, especially those from Black Gold, but its master’s affairs were what mattered most. In this regard, it naturally wouldn’t hide anything.
"Good."
In the Endless Ocean, strength was everything.
Black Gold was not the arrogant Lighthouse, and Shi Ming was no longer the S-rank Awakened he once was. With enough strength, even a King-level Wandering Ship would cooperate unconditionally.
Cooperation would naturally become a win-win, where each party got what they needed.
’Speaking of which, where did Black Gold’s Grand Commander, the Navigator, go? Why has the Second Commander, the one in charge of research, been the one acting as leader?’
Shi Ming wondered.
Ah Jian gave him the answer.
According to the "gossip" it had gathered with its Spiritual Power while it was suppressed, Black Gold’s Grand Commander had disappeared fifteen years ago. He was said to have boarded the No. 001 King-level Wandering Ship, but there was no concrete evidence to prove it. Ah Jian had only inferred this from the chatter of a few people.
The official file simply stated "on a mission."
Thus, the position of supreme commander on this ship had been left vacant, and no one else had taken it. The Navigator’s duties were being carried out by the Second Commander, Xivier.
’Boarded the No. 001 Wandering Ship?’
’If that’s true, doesn’t that mean he entered the Star Sea as well?’
Ah Jian did not give a clear answer.
It had no impression of this. At that time, its old life had ended and its new one had not yet awakened. It had been in a period of dormancy and had no memory of the No. 001 Wandering Ship.
The two had perfectly missed each other by an entire era.
...
「The next day.」
The appointed time.
On the *Black Gold*, the entire crew was on high alert.
Black Gold’s four available S-rank Awakened were on standby, vigilantly guarding against any possible accidents.
As the *Sun-Shooter* entered the sea, everyone’s hearts leaped into their throats.
A 99% probability.
Would it succeed?
Under Xivier’s arrangement, staff members threw a large number of Sea Beast Hearts into the matrix of the Sealed Prison located on the *Black Gold*, just in case.
’A Saint Hall Level Awakener is taking action. It will definitely work.’
Xivier chanted silently in her heart. Recently, the density of sea beasts in the Sea of Boiling and the Sea of Silence had decreased significantly. The beasts were becoming harder to kill, and the price of their hearts had skyrocketed, causing the cost of maintaining the Sealed Prison’s full operation to climb as well. If the Sealed Prison hadn’t been purified once by the Purifying Marrow, she believed it was only a matter of time before the Nameless Cocoon broke free.
Shi Ming rode the *Sun-Shooter* into the Great Rift Valley.
Ever since Ah Jian escaped, the giant cocoon deep within the Dark Rift had fallen silent. To outsiders, it seemed the terrifying beast inside had fallen into a deep slumber. No one knew that the creature within had long since pulled off a grand deception and escaped, becoming Shi Ming’s greatest asset.
"Ah Jian, are you ready?"
"Ready, Master."
Its mission was to place a clone inside the giant cocoon after it was broken open from the outside, let the clone die naturally, and thereby allow the Nameless Cocoon to completely exit the stage of history, receding into the shadows and leaving the Sealed Prison empty.
’I haven’t gone all-out in a long time.’
’I wonder which is harder, Ah Jian’s cocoon or the scales of the Great Black Heaven Dragon?’
The Chaotic Divine Country descended.
Amidst a sky-filling Other Shore Flower Sea, Shi Ming drew the Blade of Chaos.
The seawater began to freeze. With a slight movement from Shi Ming, the frozen seawater started to shatter and break apart, transforming back into an extremely cold, flowing solid. Its form was completely different from water, more like ice that had been ground into a fluid.
WHOOSH—
First came a glint of cold light,
Then the flash of the blade, like a dragon.
Wherever the light reached, order collapsed and rules were reversed. All matter that could be disintegrated, was. Any rule with the slightest flaw was shattered. Although Ah Jian’s Undying Insect cocoon was tough, proclaimed to be indestructible and inviolable, it cracked open with a thunderous roar before this absolute power as the blade fell!
BANG!
A vast wave of Spiritual Power surged out from the cocoon, blanketing everything.
Some of the detectors Black Gold had set up malfunctioned for several seconds because of it. Then, a gigantic, ferocious, hard-shelled black insect—its form specially altered by Ah Jian—appeared inside the cocoon and was sliced in two within the river of blade light!
By the time Black Gold’s detectors recovered, all they could detect was:
The shattered cocoon,
The flowing ice,
And the bottom of the Great Rift Valley, which looked as though it had been scoured by a storm.
The "Nameless Insect" had "fallen"!
The black threads and chains from the Sealed Prison that had been wrapped around the cocoon also snapped one by one. These chains were an extension of the Sealed Prison, and their breaking would not affect the Artifact’s function. As long as the main body existed, it could generate new chains by consuming some Sea Beast Hearts and Pure Dome Crystals.
And right now, Sea Beast Hearts and Pure Dome Crystals were the two things Shi Ming lacked the least.
"Master, my cocoon is also incredibly precious. The silk inside is a companion silk, only one strand of which can be drawn out per year. It’s extremely tough and can transform into formless Spiritual Power, which is quite useful for binding enemies."
Shi Ming collected the black insect’s corpse and the giant cocoon.
With this, the King-level Wandering Ship *Black Gold* was truly freed from its 30-year mission. The Sealed Prison had completely fulfilled its duty and would now be used in a higher-stakes arena.
To seal the source of the Abyss Lord’s corruption!