Ethan thought for a moment and decided not to recruit strangers, since the matter of temporal energy was not something he wanted to expose, especially when he lacked the ability to protect himself. So, if he was going alone, he couldn’t sail a ship that was too large.

“No need for anything too big, just something one person can handle, mainly able to withstand some wind and waves.”

“In that case, a ten-meter-long, double-deck, single-mast sailboat should be enough.” The clerk checked a notebook nearby. “Is an old boat okay? If it’s an old boat, besides a full load of food and fresh water, you can also exchange for some other things.”

Ethan didn’t think for long; whether the boat was old or not didn’t matter, as long as it was sturdy and durable. After all, in his view, even this boat was just a temporary solution.

“As long as it’s a good boat, I don’t care if it’s new or old.”

“Don’t worry, any boat we list is definitely in good working condition. Old boats with hidden dangers are all reclaimed by us for lumber.”

“Lumber?” Ethan’s eyes lit up. “I have a small boat—will you take it?”

“Of course! Should we include it in this transaction?”

He hadn’t expected to not only get a new boat, but also to ‘sell’ his own small boat in the process. While Ethan was happy, he also realized that this magic stone was even more valuable than he had thought.

Since he’d sold it, there was no reason to regret it. What caught his attention was the term ‘combat magic stone.’

“So this world really isn’t that peaceful.”

Inspection, transaction.

Ethan got his new boat—a sailboat about ten meters long, divided into two levels with a deck and a lower level. Although its length was about the same as his previous boat, it was much taller and had a much deeper draft. In the future, when he discovered islands, he wouldn’t be able to rush straight in, but would have to choose a suitable place to dock. It had a single mast and one sail. The bow and stern were slightly raised, forming two cabins, each with a small door for him to enter.

These two cabins, besides storing supplies, also gave him a place to shelter from wind and rain. Although the space was cramped—he couldn’t even stand up straight inside—it was still much better than his previous completely exposed small boat.

In addition to the new boat and a full load of food and water, with the remaining quota he chose some basic living supplies, such as a stove powered by a low-quality fire attribute magic stone. This way, he wouldn’t have to risk burning down the whole boat just to cook food at sea.

Once the transaction was complete and the guild staff had filled his new boat with food and water, he didn’t return to the guild-provided lodging, nor did he stay on the boat overnight. Instead, he immediately sailed his newly christened “Dawn Goddess” away from Staten Island.

While he was busy at the port with the handover and loading supplies, he had already felt more than once the presence of malicious gazes—some from strangers he didn’t know, and some from an ‘acquaintance.’

“Rodney... I didn’t see Wood. I wonder if they’ve parted ways... or is Wood just hiding even deeper?”

He really didn’t want to think the worst of people, but he couldn’t afford to make any mistakes. The safest thing to do now was to leave Staten Island as soon as possible, disappearing from the sight of anyone with ill intentions before they could react. The chances of being found on the vast sea were undoubtedly much lower.

Everything went just as Ethan had planned. Those tailing him never expected he would set out to sea so directly. By the time some people realized and went to call for reinforcements to give chase, he was already long gone.

A few who did react in time didn’t have reliable boats to catch up with Ethan—these were most likely the ones the guild staff looked down on, the ones just idling away their days on the island, who, unable to get by, set their sights on Ethan. Unfortunately, once at sea, with their poorly maintained boats, they had no chance of catching up to Ethan. Even though Ethan’s boat was old, it was still much better than their neglected wrecks.

Once Staten Island was out of sight and there were no boats in pursuit on the sea, Ethan finally let out a sigh of relief.

“Safe for now.”

Next, he needed to choose a direction and then search for the floating islands that could appear at any time.

But before that, out of habit, he summoned the temporal compass again, wanting to see if his greatest trump card had ‘found’ a new target.

The result didn’t disappoint him. The temporal compass, which had previously displayed “searching...,” now showed an arrow, pointing just ahead and to the side of him. Even more to his delight, compared to the triple arrows shown when he first set out to sea, this time there was only one.

This meant the location of the temporal energy wasn’t far from him—in fact, it was very close.

“Luck has suddenly turned for the better. Good deeds really do get rewarded.”

Before the thought had even finished, the floating island compass he pulled out also began to spin, and soon locked onto a direction, no longer moving.

“Uh... if it keeps spinning, there’s no target. If it points steadily, it’s found a floating island... When luck comes, nothing can stop it.”

Just as Ethan was about to struggle over which to go to first, he realized the two compasses were pointing in almost the same direction.

“Well, that’s perfect. I’ll head this way and see which one I find first.”