Endless Ocean: Escape Starting from a Canoe

Chapter 189 S-Rank Skill: The Person in the Painting

Half a day ago,
The Pharaoh, Ptolemy's drawing room.

A girl who looked to be about thirteen years old hummed a song softly, leaning on the table and using a paintbrush to draw the image of a man on a piece of paper. The man was Shi Ming, standing on a ship, with flying cannon fire and the wrecked Pharaoh behind him.

The girl drew each stroke with great care.

The oil paint in his hand perfectly captured Shi Ming's proud and fearless attitude on the paper, making it lifelike.

This is Pandora from the Shadow of the Moon. Codename: Two-Dimensional Girl.

Possesses an S-rank skill, "The Person in the Painting".

Strictly speaking, when this skill was attributed to sea monsters, it was called "Beast in the Painting," but the girl thought the name didn't sound good, so she changed it to "Person in the Painting" on her own.

The girl sketched stroke by stroke, and soon the painting was complete.

Her eyes were vacant and detached, staring at the painting.

The ink swirls, and lines of information emerge in the blank space at the bottom right of the painting... This is one way to utilize the "Person in the Painting" skill, which can be used to draw portraits, create encyclopedias, and analyze enemies.

【Biological Identification Guide - 01228】

Name: Shi Ming

[Age: ? ? ? ……? M8<^N/-@999#$_Q*97Y“_D, Exceeds limits, data error.]

[Hobby: Combat]

Location: 22.5 degrees east longitude, 1 degree north latitude

[Skill: ...a.SJWL, H)aM8<^N/-@#, cannot be analyzed.]

As a bunch of gibberish appeared, the information on the portrait seemed to get stuck.

Then, an explosion suddenly occurred.

Fragments of paper fluttered in the reception hall, like snowflakes falling in the Ladogallian Sea during the dead of winter.

The unexpected happened, but the girl remained indifferent, showing no emotional change whatsoever, as if she herself were an detached creature that had stepped out of the painting.

The blond-haired Tartasta chuckled, instinctively launching into a sarcastic remark.
"The person in the painting, ranked 39th, is nothing special. All I found was their location and hobbies. Please, this isn't about chasing celebrities. How can they even rank above my spatial runes? It's ridiculous..."

Before he could finish speaking, the girl turned her head away.

Tatasta felt a powerful pressure.

His handsome face seemed about to be flattened.

He mobilized his spatial power and instantly changed his position. In the area where he was originally located, a piece of drawing paper condensed in the air and slowly drifted down.

"Oh, little sister, we're all teammates, just kidding, why take it so seriously?" Tatasta said casually.

Even though he was about to become a father, he remained the same as before, completely lacking in proper conduct.

The two-dimensional girl Pandora ignored him.

The man with the dark shadows spoke up to smooth things over, "Alright, now that we've found the coordinates, let's set off. Based on the previous intelligence, we've roughly deduced the target's skills, so there's no need to dwell too much on these mistakes."

"okay."

Tatasta nodded.

He snapped his fingers, and the girl and the shadowy man vanished from the reception room in an instant, reappearing on a small drifting boat not far from the Pharaoh.

In the vast drawing room, only Ptolemy remained.

Looking at the spot where the three had disappeared, he couldn't help but feel jealous; these three were all extraordinary individuals.

Tatasta from the Black Society
The shadow from the lighthouse

Pandora from the Moon's Shadow
With three people working together, they have an 80% chance of hunting even an S-class sea monster. However, hunting an S-class sea monster would be difficult to distribute the spoils, involving too many interests, costs, and risks, making cooperation unlikely.

Hunting down Shi Ming would be much more profitable, as it could satisfy the needs of four different factions simultaneously.

The Lighthouse was the organizer; they had reserved Shi Ming's corpse and the drifting boat.

[Black Society] wants the Endless Sea Map and the Taunt Stone.

[Shadow of the Moon] requires the Ocean-Stabilizing Pearl, as well as all other possible loot.

As for the Pharaoh?
He only cares about saving face.

That's all I need.

……

……

……

Half a day after the three set off, Shi Ming, who was staying in the captain's cabin, received a reminder from the Eye of the Mortal World!
Enemy attack!
He remained outwardly calm, but he channeled his mental energy to scan the entire Dayun. He found no living creatures, then cautiously left the captain's cabin and went to the empty deck of the Dayun. At the same time, his consciousness began to probe the Dayun's maritime patrol radar.

strangeness.

There are no creatures of class D or higher within a radius of 10 nautical miles.

A whale-like bird flew across the sky.

The shadows cast on the deck were unusually dark.

Whoosh!
The shadow suddenly transformed into a dark, sharp arrow, like the scythe of death, piercing towards Shi Ming's back with a reaping edge.

Having been on guard, Shi Ming activated the Xuanwu Shield at just the right moment!

boom!
The powerful attack struck the metal and stone, resulting in a huge rebound. The shadow's first attack failed, and 50% of the damage was reflected back. Even though the damage it suffered was greatly reduced in shadow form, it was still forcibly shaken out of the gutter and staggered onto the deck.

My right hand is bleeding profusely.

snort!
Shi Ming struck first, his icy blade imbued with the sharpest icy power, slashing towards the shadowy man's throat!
Seeing that his attack had failed, the shadowy man began to retreat rapidly, his body turning into shadow again to avoid the next attack.

"sneaking!"

"Ice Annihilation!"

A massive amount of cold air condensed, and the temperature on the deck instantly dropped by more than thirty degrees. Seeing the enemy's sudden attack, which seemed to be very strong, the crew of the Yun ship did not rush to help. Instead, they monitored the ship's detection radar and firearms, providing Shi Ming with third-person perspective warnings and assistance.

This is a strategy that has been trained many times.

The temperature drops drastically on the deck, and people with weak defenses cannot hide in such an environment for long; they will inevitably give themselves away.

"Found you!" Shi Ming dodged and kicked the shadows behind the railing with his right foot!

At the same time, Titan Descent can be initiated directly during the journey.

Facing an S-class Awakened, and most likely not just one, he had to go all out from the very beginning.

In three seconds, the clock hands moved, and the power of the Titans had descended.

The pointer stopped at the ninth position.

boom!
A thunderclap resounded in the sky, and Shi Ming's hair once again turned from pure black to the color of lightning, each strand standing up and making a loud noise. Electric patterns also flickered on his body, and in his deep eyes, it seemed as if a silver thunderbolt flashed, as if he had transformed into the god of the sky and lightning.

A body struck by eternal lightning!

Offensive techniques!

Lightning bolts slithered across the deck like thick snakes, leaving no enemy with a place to hide. Dark thunderclouds rapidly gathered in the clear sky, brewing a full ten thousand bolts of lightning.

A right leg flashing with lightning struck the ghost in the shadows!

The lurking rats quickly retreated and disappeared into the ocean.

That's all?
They still dare to attempt an assassination?

Shi Ming hovered in mid-air, his aura exuding a violent and domineering presence.

He was even a little worried about his drifting boat.

The "Myriad Calamities Thunder Body" attack is indiscriminate and can cause some damage even to general-class drifting ships. The Dayun, now upgraded to general-class, has decent defensive capabilities, and activating its lightning protection system can mitigate the damage. However, it's impossible to escape unscathed from the Myriad Calamities Thunder Prison; repairs will certainly require considerable effort afterward.

There is no way around it.

Shi Ming's right hand condensed into crackling lightning.

His voice became extremely magnetic.

According to the Eye of the Mortal Realm, there are at least two enemies.

One possesses the ability of "light and darkness in tandem," and appears to be the assassin from earlier. The other is called "Two-Dimensional Girl," which is likely a code name for some organization, and it's unclear what skills she possesses.

Dark light and shadow danced across the ocean surface, revealing a humanoid figure:
"Tatasta, what are you still doing? Move the battlefield immediately!"

"Mr. Shadow, you're really too weak! An assassin who can't even get close to his target and is forced into this situation?"

The sound rang out, but no enemy was seen.

Shi Ming felt a sudden suffocation in the surrounding space. In an instant, the space he was in was forcibly cut apart, inevitably bringing the assassin named Shadow with him to a distance of three nautical miles, far away from the Dayun.

Direct transfer?

So domineering? What kind of skill is this?
……

……

Forcibly using their accumulated spatial power to transfer Shi Ming was a battle plan that the three had prepared in advance.

The first step is to have Mr. Shadow assassinate him.

The second step is that if the assassination fails, Tatasta will use spatial runes to forcibly transfer the enemy to their home turf. The three of them will then work together to besiege the enemy, avoiding fighting on their home turf and preventing them from having any opportunity to resupply or for a third party to intervene.

The third step is to use a hidden trump card, a lighthouse artifact, to quickly expand the advantage while preventing the target from escaping.

The fourth step is to eliminate the target and retrieve the drifting boat.

Shi Ming floated in mid-air, and the thunderclouds in the sky moved accordingly.

He looked around.

In the desolate sea, a seven- or eight-meter-long drifting boat emerges from the void.

A young man with blond hair stood at the bow of the ship, looking at Shi Ming with a slight smile. Inside the cabin, a young girl hummed a soft song, holding a short, thick paintbrush and drawing on a piece of paper. The assassin from before stood on the sea, his body shimmering with light and shadow.

"Go together!"

Tatasta teleports.

Ying stood in the sea, taking out a strange object from the lighthouse: an ancient legal code.

The girl remained in the cabin, engrossed in her painting.

The three people formed a triangle, surrounding Shi Ming.

The lightning flashed brilliantly and roared powerfully.

In battle between the strong, every second counts. Shi Ming quickly analyzed the situation and saw the assassin hidden in the shadows floating on the ocean, turning the ancient codex in his hand to a blank page.

He recited it casually:

[Article 320 of the Goringches Code!]

Desertion is strictly prohibited on the battlefield!

Strange characters began to be written on the white paper. The surrounding sea seemed to be governed by a set of enforced rules, turning it into a battlefield where one could only enter but not leave. All creatures in this sea, including the fish, could no longer leave.

"interesting."

"escape?"

"Don't you know that I love fighting the most?"

Shi Ming's voice was deep and magnetic. As the assassin announced his name, his fist was already close by. In his opinion, this assassin had strong attack power but average defense. If he could quickly take him down, the pressure on him in the subsequent battle would be reduced.

Tatasta snapped his fingers, and the shadow's position instantly changed.

The lightning bolts that were frequently falling from the sky struck Tatasta hard on the head during this gap, making his whole body go numb and turning his smooth golden hair a slightly burnt yellow.

"xxx!"

Tatasta muttered curses under his breath.

The girl who had been engrossed in her painting finally looked up.

She picked up the paper and casually tossed the painting she had just finished aside.

Paper scraps fluttered in the air.

A strangely shaped snake tears through the two-dimensional space of the paper and emerges from the painting.

(End of this chapter)