Looking at the sight before him, Lin Yuan was speechless for a long time.
He had never imagined that this island, several kilometers across, would actually be a ship!
Of course, that was not quite accurate.
It had none of the decks or cabins a normal ship should have, only an enormous hull bottom.
The entire island was actually a rock resting on top of that hull.
If he had to give it a name, he could call it a "ship island."
"Did this ship island start out as an ordinary ship?"
Based on what he knew so far, ships could not be built, only repaired.
So this ship island most likely had an enormously large ship as its foundation, upgraded to who knew what level.
If that were true, did it mean players also had a chance to upgrade their ships to this scale?
If someone really reached that point, there was no telling how powerful that player would be...
Would he ever have a chance to grow to that level?
Emotions surged through Lin Yuan, and for a moment, he had much to reflect on.
But then he noticed a problem.
The hull beneath this "ship island" had long fallen into disrepair, with many damaged sections and holes.
Quite a few hull planks had also rotted away, leaving conspicuous marks along the bottom like bald patches.
Coupled with the fact that this island ship had only risen from underwater after the instance opened, an obvious fact lay before him-
This seemingly magnificent, enormous island ship was a ship that had already sunk.
Its captain, powerful beyond knowing, had most likely gone down to the seabed with it, perhaps even becoming a mindless monster.
"Even a ship of this level couldn't survive on this ocean..."
Upon discovering this, Lin Yuan was filled with mixed feelings.
He had just glimpsed an unparalleled powerhouse and begun to yearn for such heights, only to discover the next moment that, on this vast ocean, that person was actually no more than an ant.
It was a difficult feeling to describe.
But regardless, Lin Yuan could be certain of one thing-
If he wanted to survive on this sea, he had to become stronger than the owner of this ship island!
"All right! This trip gave me a glimpse of the sights farther ahead. Now it's time to focus on what's under my feet!"
Lin Yuan composed himself and turned his attention to the main purpose of this dive-the Shell Treasure Chest and the materials inside.
"Wait, could the materials from this island ship be salvaged?"
The thought suddenly sprang into Lin Yuan's mind.
There was no telling how high this ship's level was, but its materials had to be top-notch.
Even though most of them had rotted under the ravages of seawater and time, they might very well still be better than the most ordinary timber.
If he could find some relatively intact hull materials, he would really hit the jackpot!
Acting on the thought, Lin Yuan immediately went back to borrow Lilia's scythe so he could cut the materials.
"Looks like I'll still need a melee weapon in the future. It'll be useful both in fights and for everyday tasks."
Lin Yuan planned things out in his mind.
But weapons made from ordinary materials were of little use to him now. At the very least, it would have to be a supernatural weapon.
And preferably a heavier one. With his strength, a weapon that was too light would feel awkward to use.
"There's too much to do."
With a sigh, Lin Yuan arrived at the hull beneath the island.
Lilia's scythe was quite sharp, able to chop a piece of material off the hull bottom with just a few swings.
"Completely rotten wood. This won't do."
"Completely corroded metal. Useless."
Lin Yuan searched everywhere and finally cut a useful piece of material from a relatively intact-looking plank.
[Life-Deprived Life Wood] [Grade E supernatural material] [Precious timber harvested from a Life Tree. Originally an extremely high-grade Transcendent Material, it lost its most important power of life for unknown reasons, retaining only its lightweight, tough physical properties.] [Despite losing its most important power, its physical properties alone are enough to qualify it as a Transcendent Material. Building a ship with this material can greatly increase its maximum durability.]
"This is it!"
Overjoyed, Lin Yuan continued searching.
With some experience under his belt, finding more of the same material was much faster.
After an unknown amount of time, Lin Yuan's storage was nearly full.
"1,800 units of life wood (inactive). That should do."
It was not that he could not gather more. After all, this island ship was enormous, and even after working for so long, Lin Yuan had only cleared one area.
But as he gathered the materials, he clearly felt the entire island slowly sinking as he took them away.
Clearly, this timber that had yet to rot was the source of buoyancy for the entire island ship.
If he kept collecting and happened to pass a critical point, causing the island to sink, that would be no laughing matter.
He did not have Lilia's ability to revive on the spot and had no desire to experience an island ship several kilometers across crashing down on his head.
In any case, 1,800 units were more than enough to upgrade his hull, so Lin Yuan quit while he was ahead and swam upward along the underside of the ship.
Just as he was about to reach the surface, he suddenly noticed a tiny sapling growing from a plank at the bottom of the ship, swaying gently in the seawater.
"What's this...?"
Lin Yuan swam closer curiously and discovered that the sapling was not an outsider rooted in the plank, but part of the plank itself.
It was like a new shoot sprouting from a withered tree trunk.
After some thought, Lin Yuan carefully cut off the sapling along with a large piece of the plank beneath it.
[Life Tree Sprout] [Supernatural life-form-growing] [A sprout formed by chance from the concentrated life force contained within Life Tree timber. With proper cultivation, it may grow into a new Life Tree.]
After he cut off the sapling, the entire island suddenly sank a considerable distance, giving Lin Yuan a fright.
Fortunately, the island did not sink completely.
Lin Yuan did not dare linger either and immediately returned to the beach.
Because the island had sunk, most of the previous beach was now submerged, and the jungle stood almost directly at the water's edge.
The sun had also sunk below the horizon.
But the moon had yet to rise, so it seemed night had only just fallen.
"Captain Destroyer, if you're going to sink the island, give me some warning!" Lilia complained when she saw Lin Yuan return.
She was soaked all over. It looked as though she had been on the beach and failed to notice the suddenly rising seawater before it washed over her.
"Haha, I'll be more careful next time." Lin Yuan laughed sheepishly and returned the scythe to Lilia.
Then he issued a mental command, ordering the Skeleton Pirates still searching for supplies around the island to return.
While waiting for the undead to come back, Lin Yuan suddenly remembered something:
"Lilia, did you know this island is actually a ship?"
"Of course. How else could an island float on the sea?" Lilia looked as though this were only natural.
Just as I thought. In that case, the ocean here is very likely bottomless, and all the islands are actually large ships, Lin Yuan thought.
"But..." Lilia scratched her head. "Ships and islands do seem to be a little different. What was the difference again...?"
As she spoke, the doll girl began pounding her head again. It seemed she could not recall this memory for the time being either.
"It's fine. Take your time remembering it later."
Lin Yuan already knew that anything Lilia could remember, she would remember on the spot.
If she could not recall it right away, no amount of pounding her head would bring it back.
As they talked, the Skeleton Pirates returned one after another.
"Oh? Quite a few good things here!"
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