BXBX NOVEL Chapter 513: Treacherous Ocean.
For one, there were numerous dead spots in this vast body of water. Dead spots where a region where the laws of space and time seemed to be twisted, leading to an area with no wind and still waters. Some times, the flow of water would even be reversed, bringing them back to their starting position after a while. Others had terrifying whirlpools in them that could easily destroy the ship.
Since embarking on their Voyage, Gwendolyn, The Drowned Pearl of the South Sea, had encountered these dead spots three times...
And every single time, the ship had almost either been stranded, or destroyed. Which was incredibly terrifying.
Seated on an iron stool in the {Draconic Blast Furnace}, Cain studied a rather strange looking piece of metal.
In the forge were numerous heaps of mettalic substances, as well as ores of precious magical stones and gems.
They were all provided by Pudding, the {Amethyst Silkworm Embryo} he had acquired a month or so ago.
The beast, due to its large size, couldn't be carried on board. Luckily, the strange wormlile creature could swim.
'Now that I think about it, that isn't too surprising.'
Shaking his head, Cain continued to study the piece of metal.
Behind him, was Haru and the other nine Beastmen that often times assisted him in creating equipment.
They were all covered in dirt and spot, but they all sported wide, nervous smiles.
"So, Boss, what do you think?" Haru asked him, his gloved hands gripping the hammer he held hard.
Cain remained silent for a while, observing the piece of metal.
But things weren't that simple...
Because the piece of metal in his hands was a creation of Magical Engineering.
***
{Graft Bullet}: (Tool)
Description: A special bullet made from decent materials by a bunch of powerless novices. Contains a special magical explosive mixture that acts as gunpowder, allowing the user usage without the need for mana usage.
***
Cain smiled, "Nice... Very nice."
The gunpowder in the gun was something they had discovered by accident.
During their month-long voyage, they had come across a certain portion of ocean that had a bunch of extremely long sea weed and dense coral. These sea weed were a vibrant blue color, and were fascinating to watch.
Pudding had briefly come in contact with one, and that had set off a large underwater explosion that had nearly sunk the ship.
'Why do things like that keep happening?' Cain was at a loss for words.
It turns out that the sea week contained a special compound that was incredibly volatile, and would explode violently when it contact with the sea water. There was a thin membrane on the surface of the plant to prevent contact with sea water, but the moment there was any form of bruising or contact, that membrane would be destroyed.
It was a defensive mechanism to say the least. Should there be any creature foolish enough to come in for a snack, it would get blown to kingdom come.
It had been very difficult to figure out, but they had managed it in the end. The best way to harvest it was to cut it off at the base without harming the seaweed itself. Once this was done, the outer membrane would be very difficult to break, allowing them to safely transport it out of the water for usage.
Because of its extreme volatility, the seaweed was not easy to work with, the spot on the bodies of the men a testament to that.
However, somehow,they had managed to stabilize the compound, creating magical gunpowder.
Cain turned to them, "How did you do it?" He was truly curious.
Haru had a satisfied look on his face,
"Hehe... Well, I figured that since the seaweed always reacts so violently with seawater, then our solution must be in there, right?"
Cain nodded, prompting him to go on.
"There are two compounds in the black ocean water that makes it extremely volatile. One is the water itself, and the over is a special type of sea salt. The water is what makes the explosions so intense and volatile. However, combining it with just the sea salt alone allows us to control the ignition of the compound and..."
As Haru explained on, Cain nodded.
'Indeed, the world is changing fast. The efficiency of this bullet is something else. It is almost as good as the magic bullets I can make.'
Cain's eyes sparkled with magical light, a complex runic pattern in them.
This was due to a skill he had recently picked up, one taht allowed him to make use of the {Eye of Clairvoyance} and {Eye of Uncertainty} to produce an altogether new and rather effective skill;
***
{Eye of General Observation}(lvl 1): Access General information.
***
It was sort of similar to the ability the system had that allowed him access to the information of Devils or Mutant Creatures.
Only, this one worked for everything and anything. From humans, to plants, to even objects.
It was still uncharted territory, as he felt that he might have stumbled across something truly shocking.
Cain took the moment to observe Haru with this new ability;
***
Name: Haru Tsubasa (Human)
Strength: 357.
Agility: 240.
Stamina: 700/700.
Perception: 12.3.
Control: 7.7.
HP: 12,000/12,000.
Ki: 8,600.
Skills: Stainless Razor Ki Plundering Technique, Garment of Chains Ki Plundering Technique, Thousand-Miles Ki Plundering Technique, Novice Craftsmanship Lvl 2, Novice Blacksmith Lvl 3, True Shot,
Affiliations: Divinity Shackled of Pluto, the Beast God, Cain's Number One Assistant.
***
Haru was one of the only Beastmen with the potential to practice all three Ki Plundering Techniques. This showed that he was incredibly talented.
Not only that, but he was also incredibly gifted with his hands too. The only thing holding him back was his inability to use the system. Despite this, his stats were still impressive.
Still...
'A Divinity Shackled...' The first time he had seen this, he had tried asking the system for information about it, as he had an idea. However, the system had informed him that he was still not powerful enough to know yet.
His eyes bore a dark look, which was expertly hidden from others. Only he knew what sort of thoughts were behind those eyes...
"In other words, we can begin mass producing these anytime soon. You just need to give the order!" Another one of the ten Beastmen, Andreas, who always wore a ponytail, said excitedly.
"Hold it. We still have to figure out how to get the seaweed in bulk first." Eldo, another Beastman who seemed to always be tired, said in a lackluster voice.
Cain waved at them, "Don't worry about the seaweed. As for the other things, I'll leave them to you all as well. Don't let me down. If I see you slacking, I'll throw you overboard."
"Yes, sir!" They all yelled.
Once they left the forge, Cain took in a deep breath.
Right now, he was burdened with a lot of things, one of them being having to coordinate with those that went on excursions outside the safety of the ship. If it wasn't for them, things would be far more difficult.
Cain sighed, "As long as I can get these Teleportation Gates working, things would be much easier."
Travelling to and from the ship everytime was time consuming. Not only that, but it was also dangerous. Traversing long distances in search of prey came with its dangers.
Recreating his {Spatial Jump} spell and trying to create a device that would allow numerous people use it at a time was the project that was consuming most of his time. If it was possible, he would have liked to set up a chain of these Teleportation Gates throughout the Black Ocean, but time and resources were a major obstacle.
'Thank goodness I'm almost through with it.'
There were many other things he had to consider. The potential loss of life that came with these excursions, the well-being of the people on board, safety, and such. There was even the issue of a possible insurrection coming up that he would have to deal with soon, lest it turn into a hassle.
'Heavy is the head that wears the crown.'
But there was nothing he could but bear with it. The only other option was to give up, but he would rather die than quit now. That wasn't his pride talking in the slightest!
His eyes steeled as he began working. He had to finish the Teleportation Gate by the end of the day so things could finally move forward. The longer things went the farther the ship would be from the destinations he wanted to set the Gates up at, which would in turn, be a creating a bigger hassle.
He could always have the ship stop temporarily, but that would be giving the horrors of the depths the opportunity to catch up with them.
Picking up a piece of metal slightly bigger than his torso, he began inscribing a set of runes onto it. These runes held information on spatial compression and decompression, and getting his hands on them had been rather expensive.
Humming to himself, his mind wandered as he thought back to the conversation he had had not too long ago with Rollo, who was still locked away in the brig...