A needle in the ocean

The next task is to find a boat.

According to intelligence sent by "Fang of the Wilderness," the transport fleet dispatched by the Plundering Clock has already reached the north.

The problem is—the sea is full of ships.

How many cargo ships are currently operating in the northern waters?

Su Ming stood in front of the nautical chart table, looking at the crisscrossing shipping routes, and asked a question.

"There are at least 1,200 ships currently in service."

Beianqi opened the briefing she had just received.

"The establishment of the WTO system has ignited the enthusiasm of merchants from all countries."

"Furthermore, it's autumn now, which is the peak season for trade each year."

"Currently, the number of ships entering this sea area is decreasing by about fifty per day, after deducting those leaving."

More than a thousand ships are still scattered across the vast sea.

Su Ming requested the weather records for the sea area but found them to be of little use.

The wind direction at sea is unpredictable, and ocean currents and weather are constantly changing.

Relying solely on departure time to estimate current location will only lead to increasingly larger errors.

"This is like finding a needle in a haystack," Su Ming concluded.

"More or less," Beianqi shrugged.

The command room was quiet for a moment.

After much deliberation, Su Ming finally decided to resort to the most cumbersome method.

"Then let's fish it out!"

"Connect me to the Star Empire, the Cold Mountain Kingdom, and the Dwarf Kingdom."

"Initiate a large-scale maritime search!"

"Yes!" Lilishan replied.

Even if the method is clumsy, Su Ming is no longer fighting alone!

During this period, in order to further facilitate global trade routes, naval fleets from various countries have been fully mobilized to clear waterways.

The Divine Eagle Drone regularly patrols along several major trade routes, scanning from high altitudes to provide basic data for verification by the rear.

Following the map, the surface fleet eliminated pirate strongholds, dangerous settlements, and tribes one by one.

Su Ming currently has a considerable amount of resources at his disposal in the North Sea!

****

Following a brief high-level international meeting, the participants quickly reached an agreement to take joint action.

The first step is to tighten order on the ocean.

The "Taya World Trade Union" issued its first circular:

All merchant ships sailing at sea must fly a conspicuous and easily identifiable flag;

The ship's registration name must be painted in large print on the hull and mainsail to ensure it can be identified from a distance.

Every merchant ship must register its departure point, destination, and planned route in advance, and report its current location to the maritime management centers of various countries daily via magical communication.

All relevant information is uniformly aggregated and submitted to "Trade Union".

In this way, when a naval patrol ship passes by, or Divine Eagle Drone flies overhead, it can quickly match the ship's license plate with the registration information to determine whether the target "should" be in that location.

This allows for the timely detection of abnormalities.

These systems are actually already written into the trade regulations, and Xialike had previously pushed for them.

Even the uniformity of the ship's nameplate font, the font size ratio, and the reflective coating for night navigation were all details personally added by Su Ming.

Naturally, this approach was met with strong resistance from ship owners as soon as it was introduced.

No one wants their whereabouts to be completely known.

This sea has never lacked shady businesses.

Smuggling contraband and selling stolen goods for pirates;

Pay taxes openly, but secretly smuggle them out;

A businessman may be a merchant when he docks at a port, but he may not be a merchant when he leaves.

For many ship owners, having to register all ships with "identity cards" is even more unpleasant than raising taxes.

But for managers, the opportunity to enforce it has arrived.

The Plundering Clock into maritime trade routes provided them with the perfect excuse.

The joint circular explicitly states:

Those who refuse to comply will be considered traitors.

If necessary, force can be used to board the ship, or even to sink it directly.

The notice also included a note in parentheses at the end. "The northern sea area is the first pilot area."

As soon as this order was issued, the entire North Sea was thrown into chaos.

Painters at various ports worked overtime overnight, and the price of waterproof paint increased three times in just one day.

Master craftsmen with beautiful handwriting are always booked up so much work they can't finish even if they don't sleep.

As for those ships still en route, they had no choice but to take up brushes themselves and paint large characters on the sides of the ships.

The methods are varied, some using asphalt, others using magical dyeing.

Some ships would simply use whatever cargo they had to plaster onto the hull.

The words were written crookedly and haphazardly in the waves, looking like scribbles from a distance.

But it doesn't matter, as long as it's there.

On the first day, some merchant ships were stopped by the navy due to delays in reporting their positions;

The following night, some people thought they wouldn't be seen because it was dark, but they were caught red-handed by the patrol boat guided by the eagle.

Another boat veered into the reef area to avoid inspection, but ended up getting stuck on the reef ridge and could only send out distress signals, looking disheveled.

Navies around the world are raking in fines, causing chaos on the high seas.

There were even cases where the ship's information didn't match up, but when they stopped the ship, they found that the sailors had made a mistake.

But despite the chaos, the results were undeniably real.

What was originally a chaotic shipping route was gradually sorted out into a large network that could be checked layer by layer.

Previously, the people of the Taya world never believed that such a thing could actually be done.

Everyone knows that in the future, the reliability of maritime trade and the safety management of navigation will enter a completely new era.

****

Despite such a large-scale effort, several days have passed and the "trade alliance" still hasn't found its target.

No ship was particularly suspicious, and no fleet suddenly lost contact.

Su Ming originally planned to take the Pansy around the Eastern Continent from the north, passing through the Gray Ridge and Thousand Cellar Ridge line, and head to Northern Ice Island for final modifications before its submersible voyage.

This hidden danger of the Plundering Clock must be eliminated first!

Otherwise, if the Pansy were to dive beneath the ice, everyone would be on tenterhooks.

"Change course," Su Ming ordered. "We'll join the search as well."

"Clear!"

The Pansy quickly turned south and descended to the vicinity of the main shipping lanes.

"Raise the radar mast and deploy range scan!"

"It's up to you, Angie, "Beianqi instructed.

Above the Pansy tower, the radar mast slowly rose.

The circular array began to rotate, and electromagnetic waves swept outwards in concentric circles, quickly dragging all targets in the nearby sea area into the screen, turning them into flashing dots of light.

The Albacore, which was en route from Water Chestnut Island, also raised its masts and began its search simultaneously.

One to the east, one to the west, they combed across the sea.

****

Half a day passed, and finally, a discovery was made.

"A three-ship formation has been spotted 100 kilometers away."

Operator report.

"Identity unknown, no response to magical communications, no record of flight route or ship type."

On the radar screen, three medium-sized cargo ships were sailing northwest with the wind blowing in, deliberately keeping their distance from each other.

It was neither as steady and reliable as a regular merchant fleet, nor as tightly packed as armed ships.

"Chase after them." Su Ming's eyes narrowed.

Two and a half hours later, the Pansy cut in from the left rear, blocking their path.

The massive hull sliced through the waves, like a silent behemoth.

"Fill the torpedoes, flood the launch bay," Beianqi ordered.

The loudspeaker was turned up to its maximum, and a crew member's voice boomed through the sea breeze. "Vessel ahead, stop immediately for inspection! Otherwise, you will be considered a hostile target and sunk on sight!"

The opposing side immediately descended into chaos.

Or rather, it wasn't really chaotic, because nobody dared to resist.

They simply scrambled onto the deck, grabbing the white cloth, then a huge mass of them knelt down, eagerly raising their hands and waving them.

The results of the onboard inspection came back quickly—it wasn't a Plundering Clock, but a smuggling fleet.

The ship's hold was crammed with undeclared dwarven artifacts, ranging from metal components to standardized toolboxes, and even notebooks from the Endbone Publishing House.

The three captains were deathly pale. One of them, a goblin, was trembling, yet he stubbornly insisted that he had simply "forgot to register."

After listening to the report, Su Ming let out a long sigh.

Every time he conducts a major crackdown, the first to suffer are always these smugglers.

"Those who confess will be fined, their registration will be completed, and they will be released," he instructed.

"The one who's being stubborn, tie him to the mast, and notify the nearest navy to come and take over."

"We will continue the search."

"Yes!" Beianqi replied.

****

The most recent warship belongs to the Star Empire Navy.

Shortly after, Xialike's communication came through.

"While I am indeed pleased that you sent me the fine," he said, "I still have to ask, what exactly is your fleet doing right now?"

He wasn't referring to the Pansy, but rather the naval fleet of the Republic of Emptiness and the Feather Race.

The Navy of the Republic of Chuxu was streamlined and reorganized from the remnants of the Divine Covenant Faction fleet after its surrender: the Feather Race expanded its navy after receiving a portion of its legacy.

Both of these forces are formidable and should have been an important part of the manhunt.

"We're fishing," Su Ming replied casually. "Or, why don't you come over to the fishmen's side?"

Xialike was silent for a moment.

"Then you guys continue with your work over there."

Fishmen are a scourge of the sea, even more troublesome than pirates.

They can suddenly leap ashore from the sea, loot coastal villages, ports, and settlements, and then run away after robbing.

If you guard one spot, they'll emerge from another direction, haunting you relentlessly and driving you crazy.

The merfolk first came into Su Ming's view because of Eternal Night Port.

The residents there suffered greatly from the poisonous effects of the fishermen's tea during their lives and livelihoods.

At the time, Su Ming intended to clear out a section of land to ensure the development space of the northern stronghold in the Eternal Night Territory.

But now that he had a considerable force at his disposal, he simply expanded the operation into a systematic crackdown targeting the entire Northern Continent coast.

In the previous war against the Divine Covenant Faction, the Cold Mountain Kingdom provided significant assistance in intelligence control.

This is the agreed-upon reward.

The problem is that even without the participation of Chu Xu and the Feather Race's fleet, the search force deployed in this sea area is already unprecedentedly strong.

But that damned Plundering Clock fleet still hasn't shown itself.

Su Ming began to suspect that something might have gone wrong in some part of the process.

****

The newly formed Second Fleet of the Chuxu Republic.

Flagship, the answer to the Purification Whip.

Feimaina stood at the front of the bridge, her dark blue naval uniform fluttering in the sea breeze.

She was once Grand Magus Mentor in charge of managing magical warships, but with the change of fleet ownership, a large number of Divine Covenant Faction officers were purged.

Feimaina, who had always been in charge of the actual management, is now the commander of this fleet.

In a sense, Feimaina was very grateful to Bone King and the Saintess.

No longer needing to see those Divine Covenant Faction scumbags, their ugly and hypocritical faces, she felt as if her lifespan could be extended by a few years.

At this moment, Feimaina is leading her team to wipe out the "Frostscale Clan".

The largest tribe among the Northern Fishmen.

This group of merfolk is strong and has gray-blue scales.

Individuals are generally around 1.5 meters tall, are adept at diving in cold waters, and pose a great threat to coastal towns.

In the first phase of the operation, the newly formed First Fleet has already wiped out a number of their shallow-sea strongholds.

Those nests made of coral, seaweed, and shipwreck debris were blasted to pieces under the intense firepower, and large numbers of fishmen dragged the wounded and began their haphazard migration.

On radar and sonar, dense echoes slowly moved northeastward along the seabed.

Feimaina was in no hurry to make a move.

She was waiting for these guys to be at their most relaxed.

"Maintain tracking distance, entire fleet," she calmly ordered. "Do not alert the target."

Night gradually descended.

As darkness completely enveloped the sea, the migrating Frostscale Clan finally stopped on the outer edge of a reef.

Groups of fish-men huddled together in the depths of the sea, scales touching scales, densely packed together, entering a brief period of hibernation.

Feimaina looked at the sonar diagram and raised her hand.

"Depth charges, drop them!"

One by one, black cylinders rolled down the ship's hull into the sea, exploding one after another after sinking to the predetermined depth.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The continuous underwater shockwaves created huge, churning white waves beneath the dark sea surface.

The shockwave swept across like an invisible hammer, and the merfolk caught in it fell silent.

The surviving merfolk screamed and scattered, like ants on fire.

"Back off, continue tracking," Feimaina ordered. "When they regroup, bomb them again."

There's no way to wipe out the fish-men in one go.

Su Ming's order was to break up the large tribes of fishmen, destroying their organizational capabilities and systematic shore raiding capabilities.

If they are reduced to "a scattered group of marine tribes," the pressure on coastal areas will drop dramatically.

After that, just comb it again every year.

****

After the battle, the sailors on deck chatted quietly as they packed up their weapons.

Some people mentioned Chu Xu's hometown, saying that life is much better now than it used to be.

When someone mentioned the pay, they laughed and said that although the training was tougher, the money they received was really more.

The chatter didn't last long before it was interrupted by a loud shout from the lookout.

"Fleet sighted ahead! Bearing 037, distance 12 nautical miles!"

Feimaina immediately looked up.

On the dark sea, a convoy of five medium-sized cargo ships was approaching from the southeast.

The lookout raised his binoculars to identify the other ship's luminous sign.

All five ships had brand-new registration names painted on them, and the colors were still shiny, indicating that they had been repainted in the last two days.

Feimaina narrowed her eyes slightly.

Her wind magic talent gives her an almost instinctive sensitivity to air pressure.

The sea breeze swept through the space between those ships, creating a very smooth airflow.

It wasn't the chaotic currents that you'd see when ordinary merchant ships are sailing freely; it was more like carefully maintained gaps in their formation.

Adding to the distance between the ships and their synchronized adjustments of their sails, her gaze gradually turned cold.

This doesn't look like a merchant fleet!

"Check their registration information immediately," Feimaina said.