The moment he touched the Great Black Heaven Dragon’s blood, Shi Ming felt the power within the heavy liquid being rapidly absorbed. It then surged violently through his entire body—his right arm, his eyes, his mind.

A jolt shot through him,

like an electric shock. But it only lasted for a few moments before he received feedback on his evolution.

[The Brain of Creation has evolved.]

[The Infinite Brain has been activated.]

[...]

[Your Brain of Creation has evolved into the Infinite Brain. Within your Brain Domain, the world’s limits will cease to exist.]

[As before, the Infinite Brain inherits the abilities of the Brain of Creation.]

[Additionally, it possesses the "Limit Break" ability. It stores one "Limit Break" chance per week, which can be used to upgrade an item that has already reached its maximum level by one more level! However, the resources required to break the limit will far exceed those needed for the final upgrade. This is the price of a Limit Break.]

[Even so, its return on investment is quite high!]

’Limit Break, huh? I love it! Things are really looking up!’

Shi Ming rubbed his slightly feverish head.

The Infinite Brain’s new ability was limited to one use per week. It was a rare opportunity, but the items worthy of being upgraded to their max level were all extremely useful. Pushing them one level higher would surely yield exceptional results and even more remarkable powers.

What’s more, the Infinite Brain’s new ability could be stockpiled.

Even if he didn’t use it this week, he could save it for the next. If he couldn’t find any materials for a Limit Break right away, there was no downside to accumulating charges. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

Shi Ming decided to test this ability.

He took out the Map of the Endless Sea.

Previously, the Brain of Creation had been unable to analyze such a top-tier curio unless he damaged it, but the cost of doing so was too great.

Now, under the power of the Infinite Brain, information finally appeared for this curio—an item that had previously revealed nothing and was already at its maximum level. This could be considered a bonus ability, allowing Shi Ming to inspect the details of items that were previously unanalyzable.

[Map of the Endless Sea]

[Level: 10]

[Though the world has fallen and the continents have sunk beneath the deep sea, you still need a map to show you the way forward.]

[By infusing it with the corresponding level of an Awakened’s power, you can detect the locations of sea beasts of that same level. The detection range is a cylindrical area with the map at its center, a radius of 2,000 nautical miles, and a depth of 5,000 meters.]

[Upgrade Requirement: 1000g each of 3 different types of Holy Hall-level Sea Beast Blood.]

...

Shi Ming then looked at the Star Lamp.

[Star Lamp]

[Level: 10]

[An otherworldly object, not on the Endless Sea Region’s list of curios. But if it were included, it would probably rank near the top?]

[This Star Lamp is said to be crafted from a small piece of core Star Marrow extracted from the star Polaris. It can guide the way at any time, allowing the lost to find their way home. However, keeping its starlight constantly lit requires quite a precious fuel. It’s a very picky eater!]

[Upgrade Requirement: The entire body of an S-class sea beast, the "Star Kun," or 1000g of Star Marrow.]

’As expected, the materials required for a Limit Break are incredibly demanding.’

’But the potential is enormous. If it’s truly "limitless," does that mean even a King-level Wandering Ship, once fully upgraded, could be forced one level higher? Breaking beyond the King level?’

’Even if it’s possible, that’s still a long way off.’

Shi Ming’s two Admiral-class Ships were currently only at level three...

Shi Ming had quite a few items that were already upgraded to their maximum level, but not many were worth a Limit Break. The only real candidates were King Slayer and a few of the famous curios from the list. As for his ships’ equipment and weapons, they were already more than sufficient for now.

There was no need to waste the once-a-week opportunity on ordinary items.

King Slayer could be broken through and used as a regular day-to-day weapon. The only problem was that he couldn’t use it in front of the Lighthouse faction. Furthermore, it had suffered some corrosion from contact with the Great Black Heaven Dragon’s blood and had dropped a level. He would need to upgrade it back to maximum to repair it before he could perform a Limit Break.

As for the listed curios, the materials needed to break their limits were all exceedingly rare.

For now, all Shi Ming could do was keep them in mind and try not to miss them if he ever came across them.

Right now, the most promising candidate for an upgrade was actually the Map of the Endless Sea. He had already collected two of the three types of Holy Hall-level Sea Beast Blood, completing 66% of the requirement. But the remaining 33% seemed nowhere in sight.

’Wait. If my *Ragnarok* and *Third Law* merge to become the Fallen Sanctuary, would my own blood count as Holy Hall-level blood?’

’If that works, wouldn’t that complete the set?’

’Without testing it, there’s no way to be sure.’

A knock on the door.

"Come in."

"Captain, while hunting sea beasts nearby, Yellow Spear pulled up an Awakened who had nearly drowned and was unconscious. He’s wearing a Renhuang crew uniform and was clutching a strange item."

"Hm?"

...

Shi Ming looked at the rescued Awakened, who was lying unconscious on the deck.

He was dressed in a Renhuang crew uniform. On his face were the faint, washed-out traces of a disguise. He was tightly gripping a square box. The crew had also found a well-hidden communicator on him, but its screen was blank; it seemed to require a specific method to activate.

Shi Ming looked at the box.

The Infinite Brain activated.

[Information Copier]

[Level 5]

[Manufactured by Da Yu. Simply insert it into a device’s port to automatically copy all of its data. This information copier already contains 30 years of research on the Great Black Heaven Dragon from the Black Society and the Renhuang. In truth, while these findings may seem impressive, they are far inferior to the intelligence provided by the Nameless Cocoon.]

[Upgrade Requirement: 1x Expanded Storage Chip.]

He then looked at the communicator.

It was also a piece of Da Yu’s core technology.

’It seems this is a disguised agent from Da Yu, sent to the Renhuang on a special mission. As for the special mission, it was probably to copy some of their data. But he must have run into some kind of accident, jumped into the sea, nearly drowned, and was luckily fished out by Yellow Spear and the others.’

"Captain, should we wake him up and interrogate him for intelligence on the Renhuang?"

"Revive him. He’s an Awakened from Da Yu. Let me know when he’s conscious. I’ll go have a chat with him."

"Yes, Captain."

Shi Ming didn’t have any healing abilities, but the life-saving and emergency equipment on his Admiral-class Ship was more than capable of handling this kind of situation.

After returning from Fujing Mountain, the *Da Yun* hadn’t moved, remaining anchored in the same sea region.

Although the commission from the Twelve Stars was complete, Shi Ming planned to wait one more day.

After Virus’s death, her body was stuffed directly into a storage hold and hadn’t been touched since. Under these circumstances, her Celestial Net Chip couldn’t connect to the outside world from within the completely sealed warehouse to transmit the news of her death in real time. Therefore, Virus was, at most, considered ’missing in action.’

The *Michael* had already departed on schedule from the Columbia Sea, acting as the Lighthouse’s vanguard. It was expected to arrive in the Fujing Mountain Sea Region within a day to rendezvous with the Renhuang and the Black Society.

Shi Ming planned to teach them a lesson before the King-level Wanderer Ship Lighthouse arrived.

The memory of the relentless pursuit from thousands of miles away in the Great Western Sea Region was still fresh in his mind. If it weren’t for his skills, Black Tortoise Shield and Death’s Door, he might have fallen to Edward, who possessed the ’Eye of Roulette’ and could unleash several weakened S-class skills.

It was the same this time.

If not for the Star Lamp and the recently acquired blood of the Great Black Heaven Dragon, escaping from Virus after she had unleashed ’Eternal Sanctuary’ would have taken considerable effort and trickery.

Michael, the Black Society.

’I’ve already accepted the 2,000 Pure Dome Crystals for the bounty on my head. How could I not give you a proper ’mission settlement’?’