Shi Ming had no clue what the captain's secret was. After all, Iron Tower had been here for years without uncovering anything concrete, which just went to show how well-hidden it must be.
The secret treasure, however, was a different matter.
Knowing the name of the secret treasure greatly increased his chances of finding it.
The Nautical Instrument.
Shi Ming mulled over the name.
As the name suggested, a Nautical Instrument should be a device for positioning a ship, determining its heading, and plotting a course—something like a compass or a sextant. If he could narrow down the type of object, his search would become much easier.
Besides, a practical treasure like this wouldn't be hidden away like some collector's item. If it had ever been used, it was bound to have left traces.
"Have the exploration team captain, Stone Pillar, come here."
Shi Ming issued the command to someone outside his door.
All the crew members who had once been in close contact with the former captain, Chunyi, had died during the battle on the island. He himself had killed Iron Tower, the first mate had taken a bullet, and the few other managers had tragically been devoured by Bloodthirsty Moths. The only ones left who had even gotten close to Chunyi were a few veteran members of the exploration team.
Stone Pillar was one of them, and one of the sharper ones at that.
'Perhaps he knows something.'
A short while later, Stone Pillar, dressed in a new training uniform, arrived outside the captain's quarters.
"Captain."
"I called you here to ask you something. Back when Chunyi, the former captain, was commanding the Wandering Ship or determining its position, what tools would he use?"
Shi Ming got straight to the point.
Stone Pillar thought for a moment.
"Tools? He often used a sextant, and then there was the Life Detector... He needed it to evade attacks from powerful sea beasts or large schools of fish..."
"Anything else? Even items he just handled frequently would count."
"Hmm... Oh, right! The former captain often looked at a map. Other than that, I didn't really notice much. My rank was pretty low back then, so I rarely got close to him."
"Alright, you're dismissed. Close the door on your way out."
"Yes."
Shi Ming was left alone in his quarters to think.
'A sextant is a perfectly normal tool. It isn't special at all, and other sailors besides the captain use it frequently. It couldn't be the secret treasure. The Life Detector isn't anything special either...'
'A map?'
'That's not right! The Endless Ocean is all water. What kind of map would you even look at?'
A sudden realization struck Shi Ming!
'What use is a map in the Endless Ocean World?'
His gaze flickered to a decoration hanging in a remote corner of the captain's quarters.
It was a rare map of the Old Continent!
He walked over to the world map.
This map was so familiar!
The Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Arctic Ocean... The towering mountain ranges, the great rivers, the cascading waterfalls, the vast deserts... and all that expansive, bountiful land was gone now. All the oceans had merged into one, and the once-charming planet had been utterly transformed into a water world.
Shi Ming took the map down from the wall.
It was a collector-grade map made of parchment. The weathered edges showed it was a well-preserved antique, likely far older than thirty years.
But as Shi Ming examined it closely, he couldn't see anything special about it, aside from its age.
It just looked like a collector's item.
Shi Ming didn't give up. He placed the parchment map on his desk, picked up a magnifying glass, and studied it intently.
'To analyze a map, I first need to confirm my own position on it. Based on the sun's altitude, I can deduce that the Wandering Ship is currently located around 120 degrees west longitude and 20 degrees north latitude—near the former Hawaii Islands. Right here...'
Shi Ming pointed to their current location on the map.
'There's nothing noteworthy here.'
'Does it need some external condition to be activated?'
After a moment of thought, Shi Ming activated the Awakening Power within him. He slowly gathered the energy into his hands and then channeled it into the map.
This was one way to apply Awakening Power.
The Awakened were practically a different species from humans. Their very flesh and blood were suffused with a miraculous energy. Every Awakened was familiar with the technique of concentrating this energy into a specific body part to unleash tyrannical force. It was somewhat similar to the Arm of Power, but its explosive force was nowhere near comparable.
He was careful not to use too much force, worried that the violent rush of Awakening Power might damage the ancient map.
The moment the power from Shi Ming's body touched the map, it seemed to change color. A sound like flowing water emanated from it. In an instant, all the continents, rivers, oceans, and mountains vanished. The map, which had once depicted endless territory, transformed into a field of azure blue.
Only the location of the world's former highest peak, Mount Everest, remained as a patch of variegated snow-white.
It looked like a lone cloud against the blue expanse.
'Just as I thought!'
'I stumbled into it by accident, but it actually worked! It seems this map really is the secret treasure!'
Seeing the map's transformation, Shi Ming was overjoyed. Such a change proved his deduction was correct—this map was no ordinary item!
He once again focused his gaze on his current location on the map.
There, he saw a black arrow.
'This arrow must represent the Wandering Ship's current location.'
'Is it a positioning function? But just being able to pinpoint a location isn't that rare. Other nautical instruments, like a sextant, can do the same. Someone with enough geographical knowledge could even estimate their longitude and latitude just by glancing at the angle of the sun above the horizon!'
'This map must have other, as-yet-undiscovered magical properties!'
Shi Ming peered at it again through the magnifying glass.
Finally, he spotted another tiny black dot.
It was the exact location of Turtle Island, which they had just left!
'Turtle Island is a rare patch of land, though it's technically a living creature, not a continent... Could this map be able to detect landmasses in the ocean? Or perhaps it can detect powerful creatures?'
...
'Either way, this map is immeasurably valuable. Especially if it can detect land.'
'But how could such a priceless treasure end up in the hands of a captain of a mere Silver-level Wandering Ship? This would be a fatally attractive prize even for an Admiral-level ship! They would be desperate to hide it, so why would they ever lend it out?'
'Or maybe my speculation is wrong, and this map isn't as amazing as I think.'
Shi Ming searched the map for other marked points to verify his theory.
Finally, he found another black marker, 2,119 nautical miles from their position.
Shi Ming shook his head.
'It's too far!'
He wouldn't risk exploring it without first fully understanding the secret treasure's functions.
What if an awakened super sea beast was waiting there? That would be like delivering a meal right to its doorstep.