Endless Ocean: Survival Begins with a Dugout Canoe

'An A-rank quest with a reward of 20 Civilization Stones and a title?'

It was an all-hands quest.

Obviously, the Civilization Stones were just filler.

The goal of making it an A-rank quest was to lower the barrier to entry as much as possible and mobilize the general population. It was a way to sift through the masses to find someone who could complete the quest—someone who could pull the Pure Stone Sword on the Primordial Star. The quest description didn't specify what effect the title, [Champion of the Stone], actually had. Shi Ming had no way of knowing how many people had already pulled the sword and become a [Champion of the Stone].

'If I get a chance to go to the Primordial Star, I might as well give it a shot.'

'It's just pulling a sword, right?'

In fact, he had accepted every single quest he looked at, regardless of whether he could actually complete it. These leftover quests were all open-ended. There was no penalty for failure, nor was there any kind of upfront deposit required to accept them. On the contrary, Shi Ming, who possessed the [Worm] ability, had a keen sense that some of these quests had loopholes ripe for exploitation.

For example, the [W-Rank Quest: Find the Code].

[Find information on the source of Coded Nirvana Skills. Reward: 200,000 Civilization Stones per piece of verified intelligence.]

It seemed possible to exploit a bug.

As someone who possessed two Coded Nirvana Skills, Shi Ming could simply submit himself as the intelligence and let the [Mercenary Terminal] make its judgment. If the [Mercenary Terminal] deemed it a success and confirmed that he had completed the quest, then one piece of intelligence would be worth 200,000 Civilization Stones. Two pieces would be 400,000...

'What if the client is already dead? Uncontactable? The reward undeliverable?'

'Quest available for acceptance = reward available for delivery.'

'Providing verified intelligence = quest completed.'

'Quest completed = reward can be obtained.'

'As for everything else...'

Shi Ming didn't care.

As long as the [Mercenary Terminal] could process the transaction, it was bound to follow its existing procedures. And if it tried to welsh on the deal, Shi Ming, with his [Worm] ability, wouldn't mind finding a few of its loopholes to worm his way through.

He had plenty of experience in that department.

'Time to give it a try!'

Shi Ming clicked into the submission interface for the [W-Rank Quest: Find the Code]. The massive terminal beeped a few times—BEEP BEEP BEEP—and an invisible light scanned him. Then, lines of text popped up:

[Esteemed Heir of the Gods:]

[Please submit the verifiable intelligence required by the client for this quest. In the interest of fairness and impartiality, the Mercenary Terminal will conduct a preliminary assessment to determine if the intelligence meets the client's requirements. Different procedures will be executed based on the outcome of this assessment.]

[Approved: You possess express settlement privileges. The Mercenary Terminal will immediately issue your payment.]

[Disputed: If the Mercenary Terminal cannot confirm whether the intelligence meets the client's requirements, the client will be contacted for a secondary review. If the client deems it sufficient, the quest will be settled. If the client deems it insufficient, the case will be passed to an impartial Mercenary Arbitration Panel for a third-level review, and a final settlement will be made based on the panel's decision.]

[Rejected: The Mercenary Terminal will reject your settlement request. The intelligence you submitted will be processed confidentially. You may submit another settlement request after thirty days.]

'That's actually pretty considerate...'

As a platform, the Mercenary Terminal had certainly established a fair and impartial system. But now, with the "client" and the "Arbitration Panel" long gone, whether a quest could be settled relied entirely on the terminal's own automated judgment.

'I just hope it's not too idiotic.'

'Then again, a creation of the First Civilization Cosmic Country probably isn't an idiot.'

Shi Ming extracted a sliver of the source of his [Worm] ability, condensed it into a small orb, and let it manifest in the Mercenary Terminal's submission field. Presenting the source itself was a form of intelligence—in fact, it was the most useful form there was.

'I'm putting the source right in front of you.'

'How could that not be considered valid intelligence?'

Now, all that was left was to see how the terminal would rule.

His Worm ability was coiled and ready, prepared to start burrowing. If the terminal's verdict wasn't to his satisfaction, he would try to force an intrusion with his ability and find the loopholes himself.

[Intelligence submitted. Analyzing...]

[Assessing...]

[(Soothing music plays)]

Shi Ming waited patiently.

Finally, the assessment was complete—

[Esteemed Heir of the Gods, after assessment by the Mercenary Terminal's AI, the intelligence you have submitted meets the client's requirements. You are a holder of X-Class privileges and are entitled to express settlement. The terminal will now process the payment for this intelligence. Please wait a moment.]

'It worked?'

Shi Ming was overjoyed.

He was once again savoring the sweet taste of privilege!

Compared to "express settlement," things like "express refunds" and "priority responses" were a total joke! This was the kind of instantaneous service a true VIP deserved.

'This definitely deserves a five-star review!'

The system's AI was intelligent, but the delivery method was surprisingly primitive. A massive number of Civilization Stones began to teleport out one by one, through some unknown mechanism. Shi Ming finally breathed a sigh of relief.

'Success!'

As for whether there would be trouble now that the intelligence about his Coded Skill had been "leaked"... Shi Ming wasn't concerned. The First Civilization Cosmic Country had already become a Death Domain. Its machines and facilities were running solely on AI routines left over from 120,000 years ago. A leak was impossible.

And even if it did leak, it was worth it in exchange for so many gleaming Civilization Stones!

'Intelligence on one Nirvana Skill was worth 200,000,'

'so intelligence on two Nirvana Skills was 400,000!'

400,000 was enough to trade for a treasure ranked in the top fifty. Right now, Shi Ming's only regret was that Bai Yimo wasn't here. He had no other way to prove the existence of the [Desire] ability.

Otherwise, he could have squeezed another 200,000 out of the system!

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