Waterlogged Bronze Chest

Aboard the Hope of the New World Fleet.

Captain Shen Guanquan had spent a large quantity of materials and food, as well as a rare-grade relic, to obtain the Pirate Ship Blueprint.

"Boss, why not arrange to meet that guy, then just rob him?"

A burly, bald man with a scar on his face asked.

"Rob! Rob! Rob! All you ever think about is robbing!" Shen Guanquan rapped him on his bald head in annoyance and continued, "If I hear you say 'rob' again, I'll throw you into the sea to feed the fish!"

"You're right, boss. I'll never say 'rob' again!"

"And there you go saying it again!

Someone, throw him into the sea to feed the fish!"

Without anyone forcing him, the bald man jumped into the sea of his own accord.

He was Zhao Tie, captain of the Ironhead, nicknamed Zhao Tie Tou.

True to his name, he was a stubborn, single-minded bastard, and also Shen Guanquan's trusted subordinate.

"All right, once you've cleared your head, get back aboard your Ironhead!" Shen Guanquan scolded helplessly.

In truth, he had also considered arranging a meeting with Yang Yi.

But Yang Yi was very cautious. He would not even add him as a friend, much less meet him.

He looked at the Pirate Ship Blueprint in his hand.

"How should I use this?" Shen Guanquan pondered.

He did not intend to use it himself. Being captain of the Pirate did not fit the image of a leader he wanted to establish.

An ordinary ship, on the other hand, would make him more approachable.

What he wanted to build was a maritime empire.

For this first step, he had to establish a grand, glorious, upright persona to make recruiting easier in the early stages...

A day later, the Nightmare Star was sailing across the sea.

Yang Yi was fishing.

[You caught a Long-Legged Sardine.]

[You caught a Long-Legged Sardine.]

[You caught rotten wood.]

[You caught an Eyeball Fruit.]

[You caught...]

[...]

Yang Yi tossed his rod aside and lay on the deck as though he had given up, with a pile of Long-Legged Sardines and a few Eyeball Fruits beside him.

Why was it all trash fish?

Yang Yi began questioning his life, but within a few seconds, he rallied again.

After fishing for so long, Yang Yi had finally figured it out.

When fishing in these waters, there was a high chance of catching Long-Legged Sardines, a small chance of getting Eyeball Fruits or Cystic Spiny Puffers, and an extremely small chance of getting Red-Lipped Eels.

"Maybe I should try the deep water?"

Yang Yi acted on the thought, baiting his hook with a Long-Legged Sardine, removing the float, and beginning to fish in deep water.

He had caught a Demon Hammerhead Shark before. If he caught another one this time, he was sure to make a tidy profit.

Those were all capsule draws!

He had much better equipment now, and his ship had been upgraded too. With Su Na's archery added to the mix, handling that sort of fish would be no trouble at all.

While waiting for a bite, he browsed the World Channel to see whether he could buy any fire-starting tools.

Such tools were especially sought-after now. He had seen them twice, but had failed to snap them up both times.

Meanwhile, many organizations were recruiting new members.

For example, the Sakura had established an organization called New Humanity, accepting only people from Sakura Country.

There were also New Rome, Eden, and other organizations whose names alone suggested they were mainly made up of foreigners...

Yang Yi had checked Eden's publicly shared coordinates. It was very far from him.

It seemed that people from different regions also spawned very far apart. It would probably be a long time before they met.

Unable to get any fire-starting tools, Yang Yi simply posted a buying request.

"Paying well for fire-starting tools. Also buying down jackets or other warm clothing."

Before long, private messages arrived, but they were all selling clothes.

"Down jackets, 150 cloth each. Buy four and I'll give you 5% off!"

Yang Yi did not even bother responding to that price.

More private messages trickled in.

After reading through them, Yang Yi found that the lowest price for a down jacket was 120 cloth. Four would cost 480 cloth.

Thick padded coats would be cheaper, but if Yang Yi was going to buy, he intended to buy good ones.

There was still plenty of time, so Yang Yi planned to check the prices again in a few days.

The fishing reel suddenly began spinning rapidly. Something had taken the bait!

Yang Yi immediately tightened the line and pulled hard on the rod.

It was not a giant catch. Its strength was not particularly great.

In under eight minutes, Yang Yi hauled the fish aboard.

It was a human head-or rather, a Human-Head Octopus. Beneath it was a mass of tentacles, and the head on top was actually a form of mimicry.

"Sir, could I have a few minutes of your time..."

Before it could finish, Yang Yi stomped it to death on the spot.

"What rotten luck!"

Yang Yi cursed, baited his hook with another Long-Legged Sardine, and continued fishing.

Fishing in deep water meant much longer waits between catches.

By the end of the day, Yang Yi had pulled three things from the deep water.

A Human-Head Octopus, a Red-Lipped Eel, and a bronze chest.

Normally, catching a bronze chest should have been a major haul, something worth cheering about.

But Yang Yi acted as though he were facing a formidable enemy.

He had caught inanimate objects before, such as Nongfu Three Fists.

When such inanimate objects were reeled in, they did not struggle and tug at the line.

But this bronze chest was different. It struggled and pulled on the line with considerable strength.

Yang Yi had thought he had hooked a big fish. He had fought it for nearly half an hour before hauling it aboard.

The chest was about half a meter wide, covered in thick verdigris and numerous traces of seawater erosion. Red coral even grew on one corner.

He saw the chest's information.

[Name: Waterlogged Bronze Chest]

[Type: Chest]

[Description: There will be treasure inside... but there might also be...]

This thing was much like the waterlogged rotten wooden chest he had opened before. A Human-Head Octopus had jumped out of that one, giving Yang Yi a fright.

So there might also be a monster hiding inside this Waterlogged Bronze Chest.

Yang Yi stayed cautious and did not open it by hand.

He noticed that the fishing line led inside the chest, which meant the chest had swallowed the bait!

He stepped back, holding the Flintlock in his left hand while trying to pry the chest open with a wooden spear in his right...

"So tight!"

That attempt failed to pry it open. The spear tip broke.

Yang Yi simply tied the Sea Serpent's Fang to the spear and continued prying with the short sword, inserting it into the gap.

Suddenly, he felt as though he had stabbed something. The chest let out a strange cry and sprang open.

A black jet of water immediately shot out of the chest, but Yang Yi, who was already prepared, dodged sideways.

"What the hell is this, a mimic?"

[You were frightened. Sanity -5.]

Inside the chest was tender white flesh. His sword seemed to have severed something just now, causing the chest to struggle wildly.

After spitting out that jet of water, the chest did not close again. It seemed to have died.

In case it was playing dead, Yang Yi stabbed it a few more times. Some clear liquid flowed from the wounds.

At last, the thing that resembled a mimic stopped moving.

That single jet of water was its only means of attack. It was somewhat corrosive, burning a wisp of white smoke from the deck.

[Name: Chest Clam]

[Category: Food]

[Description: A bivalve mollusk that likes to occupy treasure chests as shells after reaching adulthood. It can spray corrosive acid and prey on small fish.

It likes collecting shiny objects on the seabed. Conch Coins and some glittering treasures can be found inside its body.

Nontoxic. Edible after removing the internal organs.]

"So it's a sea clam..."

Yang Yi sliced open the clam's flesh with the Sea Serpent's Fang and began searching.

There was actually only a thin layer of clam flesh. Beneath it were all the shiny things the Chest Clam had collected, along with a pearl the size of a fist.

[You obtained Conch Coins ×600.]

[You obtained Wound-Healing Pearl.]

[You obtained crystal ×50.]

[You obtained stone ×20.]