Although Lilia knew a great deal, her amnesia and intelligence were limitations.
Research Institute 3154 was much more reliable in that regard.
But if he asked 3154, he would need to word his questions carefully. Besides, the other party would probably charge a hefty fee.
As Lin Yuan thought, he opened the regional channel, only to discover that his travels over the past two days had taken him into a new region, and the system had automatically switched regional channels.
There were no players with the Research Institute prefix in the new channel.
His previous private chat windows had also been cleared when he changed regions.
Watching unfamiliar names chatting in the new channel, Lin Yuan found himself missing people like 3154 and Air Force Bro for a moment.
But a moment later, he pulled his thoughts back:
"The shadow's true identity is hard to determine for now. I should focus on the next island first."
His latest confrontation with the shadow had given him a sense of crisis once again.
Every time he made progress, he discovered that his enemy was stronger than he had expected.
If he wanted to survive, his only option was to grow stronger.
"The next island produces rubber. With that and the Steam Core, I can build the Production Workshop. Then my combat strength can rise another notch."
"Huh, wait. 3154 told me earlier that he'd trade a Steam Core for the quill in two days. Now that we're not even in the same region, how are we supposed to trade?"
Lin Yuan was puzzled.
"Judging by his previous behavior, he doesn't seem like someone who'd forget something like that... Could a related feature become available later?"
Lin Yuan instinctively felt that his guess was probably right.
If so, it probably would not be long before he could contact Research Institute 3154 again.
He could ask about the shadow then.
With the matter of the shadow set aside for now, Lin Yuan took advantage of the deep-diving bubble shield's lingering effect to dive underwater again and catch magical creatures.
Below twenty meters, the deeper he went, the more magical creatures there were, and the larger they became.
By the time he reached eighty or ninety meters, any creature he happened across was nearly ten meters long.
At that size, they could just barely qualify as sea behemoths. With their various magical abilities, these creatures would definitely have ruled the depths in an ordinary ocean.
But against Lin Yuan, they could not withstand a single blow.
Swish!
Lin Yuan activated the sharp harpoon and struck a creature that closely resembled an ichthyosaur. He then pulled himself over and swung the holy light blade, cleanly severing its head.
During this, the ichthyosaur spat out some multicolored bubbles that exploded noisily against Lin Yuan. Unfortunately, they could not penetrate his one-meter-thick wooden armor at all.
"This ichthyosaur must have several tons of flesh and blood. That should be about enough." Lin Yuan tossed the headless ichthyosaur's corpse into his storage, then began returning to the surface.
That amount of flesh and blood would feed the shell pump for about a week.
Although the bubble soap still had plenty of duration left, Lin Yuan had lost interest in continuing the hunt.
Compared with true Transcendent Creatures like the Undead Tree and the shadow, magical creatures' abilities were still far too weak. They had not gone beyond the capabilities of carbon-based life, and they were no match whatsoever for Lin Yuan as he was now.
Likewise, their drops and materials were no longer of any help to him.
No wonder even the system could not be bothered to assign magical creatures levels. There was simply no need.
Magical creatures were merely harmless things. Transcendent power was what truly took center stage in this world.
"Looking at it now, the Shallow Sea is no different from a safe zone. Paradise really does live up to its name!" Lin Yuan could not help marveling inwardly.
Unfortunately, players could only stay here for less than a month before they had to leave Paradise through the Gate of Departure.
Only then would the dangers in the ocean's depths truly emerge.
As powerful as the shadow was, it was merely an overlord of the Main Sea. Above it, there were still Deep Sea creatures and Abyssal Sea beings...
Sailing seas like these really put him under immense pressure.
Lin Yuan shook his head and suppressed those thoughts. "There's no point thinking too much. One step at a time."
From being utterly powerless against the shadow at first to being able to exchange a few moves across the boundary of the outer sea, only a few short days had passed.
Who knew what heights he could reach by the time he officially left Paradise a month later?
"The immediate priority is to land on the first island in time and find a way to gather enough rubber."
Lin Yuan checked the time marked on the sea chart. There were only twelve hours left before the first island dungeon opened.
The dungeon would remain open for entry for only five minutes, then close until the people inside cleared it. Who knew how long that would take?
Because the shell pump had needed to sleep at night earlier, Lin Yuan still had over half a day's journey to the first island. At the shell pump's normal speed, it would be difficult to make it.
"I hope magical creature flesh and blood packs enough of a punch."
Lin Yuan prayed inwardly as he fed the shell pump the flesh and blood of the magical creature he had just hunted.
Fortunately, the system's description of the shell pump had not been empty words. After eating the magical creature's flesh and blood, the shell pump immediately went into overdrive, unleashing more than twice its previous thrust!
If the shell pump pushing Lilia's coffin had been comparable to a kayak before, it was now moving at the speed of a motorboat!
Seeing this, Lin Yuan felt a little relieved, but he was still somewhat worried:
"According to the shell pump's description, after eating magical creature flesh and blood, it can unleash powerful thrust for a short time, but it can't sustain it."
"If I want to reach the first island on time, a short burst definitely won't be enough. I'll have to keep feeding it magical creature flesh and blood."
"But the system description said that continuously feeding it magical creature flesh and blood could have unknown consequences..."
Lin Yuan now felt that this piece of equipment's "biologically active" trait was something of a rip-off.
Not only did it need regular meals and sleep, but eating too much would also have unknown consequences.
"Forget it. I can't worry about all that now!"
Lin Yuan had high hopes for the Production Workshop, so he was determined to obtain the rubber on the first island.
Not to mention that island dungeons yielded far more than the ocean.
There was no way he would miss the opening of this first island!
"I hope this shell pump can pull through!"
Half a day later.
Lin Yuan had finally reached the first island before the dungeon opened.
After six hours of frenzied eating and jetting, the shell pump finally could not keep going and went on strike.
But it had not simply gone on strike. It had entered a dormant state.
Lin Yuan vaguely sensed that changes were taking place inside the shell pump, though he could not yet tell whether they were good or bad.
Until the shell pump woke up, he would be unable to use its ability.
Fortunately, the six-hour sprint had already brought Lin Yuan close to the island.
For the remaining distance, Lin Yuan returned to his old trade and swam the whole way, finally reaching the island's edge half an hour before the dungeon opened.
Quite a few vessels were already moored around the island, both large and small. Packed together, they probably numbered over a hundred.
Of course, there were certainly more players than that on this route. The others had either not arrived yet or had no intention of entering this dungeon and had sailed straight toward the next island.
At the boundary between the island's outermost beach and the Shallow Sea stood more than a hundred players, presumably the owners of the nearby vessels.
They all stood in waist-deep water. It seemed they could not land on the island before the dungeon officially opened.
Seeing Lin Yuan approach, a scholarly-looking man with glasses took the initiative to greet him:
"You look unfamiliar, friend. What should I call you?"
Before you continue