Sir! Don't close the net!

It was so quiet, so incredibly quiet, that Zieg could even hear his own heartbeat growing louder.

The scenery in the observation mirror remained unchanged, while the oxygen had been mostly used up. In the silent darkness, it seemed as if twisted faces were emerging, mocking them.

A bead of cold sweat trickled down Zig's cheek.

They really can...

“Zig—”

Li Yili's voice rang in Qi Ge's ears.

Have you ever heard the saying?

"When you gaze into the abyss, the abyss also gazes into you."

Zig swallowed hard, trying to look away from the darkness in the observation window, but it was as if a pair of giant hands were gripping his eyeballs tightly. He couldn't help but stare at that unchanging yet seemingly ever-changing "Abyss."

"Zig, do you know what you should do at this time?"

"What, what should I do?" Zieg's pupils contracted slightly.

"Take off your pants and pee into the abyss."

"I understand... Eh!!!"

Zig's eyes widened.

"Come on, it's just the abyss—"

Li Yili spread her hands to both sides.

"Sieg, there's nothing to fear in the abyss; it's just an environment. Remember who you are, what you have, believe in it unwaveringly, and then embrace it, just like this submarine—"

"When needed, let a part of your body become an abyss; when not needed, expel that part."

"Be happy, Sieg, we have completely eliminated that part of the abyss—"

Zig opened his eyes wide, and a soft light seeped in little by little. It wasn't that the abyss-like darkness was being dispelled, but rather that they were actively moving towards the light.

"We should surface now."

As the seawater in the auxiliary compartment was completely drained, the entire submarine began to rock violently from side to side, but Zieg felt no fear whatsoever, only a surge of adrenaline.

"boom--"

Huge waves surged up from the calm sea, and the submarine bearing the large characters "Unit 1" rose up. Countless seabirds flapped their wings and flew into the sky, feathers falling one by one. The submarine's hatch opened up, and Zieg carefully poked his head out, holding onto the hatch. The fresh air he had never felt before and the endless ocean made Zieg hold his breath.

He felt freedom, unparalleled freedom, a freedom he could never have felt while gazing at the Dead Man's Sea Wall every day. Having seen such a vast world, he probably could no longer accept Instas's life, where the ocean blocked his view.

Zig exhaled and looked down.

Countless wishing bottles of all sizes float on the swaying sea surface. The transparent bottles shimmer in the sunlight and stretch endlessly across the sea, resembling a second sea.

Zig clenched his fist, carefully untied the bag at his waist, pulled out the cotton inside, and took out a bottle. This was the wishing bottle that Bert had given him to take to the sea.

After hesitating for a moment, Zieg opened the bottle and poured out the note inside.

Zig took a deep breath and unfolded the note, which contained only a few words.

【Bon Voyage】

140

Chapter Sixteen: The Sea of ​​Dreams, the Sparkling Bottle of Wishes, Pure Desire

Jones considered himself to have seen all sorts of grand scenes, and had seen many terrifying things in the deep sea, even becoming one of them himself. In this world, at least in the Sea of ​​Dead, there should be nothing that could make his scalp tingle anymore, but he was still incredulous at what he was seeing.

Giant eyes? Like those of a god himself?

Who are you trying to scare?

It shouldn't be growing on a fish with a human-like, scale-covered, dark green chest and claws.

There are countless such strangely shaped dead fish in the sea.

Having traversed the deep sea for so many years, he didn't know how many such creatures he had smashed along with this Mercury Queen ship. There were even more massive ones than the one in front of him.

What truly made him feel incredulous, and even nauseous, was that the enormous creature in front of him was constantly spreading into the deep darkness. Its nearly translucent abdomen, which resembled a snake, was filled with countless fluorescent lights. At first glance, it looked like some kind of luminous organ. There were many creatures like this in the Sea of ​​the Dead.

But look closer...

"Those...are people...?" The pirate standing next to Jones, with better eyesight, swallowed hard, his right hand trembling as he pointed to the belly of the enormous creature stretching out in front of the Mercury Queen.

The other pirates also squinted in the direction the pirate was pointing, and a chill ran down their spines.

Within the snake-like, translucent abdomen, countless limbs intertwined and writhed, and the tiny fluorescent lights they saw were the eyes of those people.

Symbiosis—

This word spontaneously echoed in everyone's mind.

Besides symbiosis, they couldn't think of any other word to describe what lay before them.

Are they still human, even though they're still alive?

Heidi Serra casually tossed the empty rum bottle behind her, the sound of it shattering awakening every pirate lost in the chilling imagery.

Jones shook his head vigorously, pushed aside the other pirates, stood at the bow of the Mercury Queen, and poked the huge creature with his thumb.

"Hey—Yirun, I know you can hear me. I heard your power is even greater than ours used to be? Doesn't seem like it—the crew is overloaded like this. By the way, where are you? I can't see you~"

The pirates around Jones also burst into laughter, clutching their stomachs.

"Jones, are you blind? I'm right in front of you—"

Its chest, covered in dark green scales, rose high, and its serpentine body, with its inverted fins extending towards the abyss, coiled as the surging water rose, yet it did not shake the Mercury Queen in the slightest. Its orange-yellow eyes widened and suddenly loomed close to the Mercury Queen.

“Yirun, you bastard, with the ship…” Jones paused, his eyes widening slowly, “Are you insane! Have you given up on being a human being!”

"Mad? Jones, this is how we should be—this is the only way we can be—right, Pirate Emperor, Heidi Serra—you should have realized this a long time ago, right? Otherwise, you wouldn't have disbanded the pirate crew—"

“Erun, you bastard…” Jones gritted his teeth.

Heidi raised her hand to her forehead, her soft hair flowing down her fingers and fluttering, her eyes incredibly deep between the strands of hair.

"Yi Run, is this the look you chose?"

"Heidi, this is how we should be."

When Heidi spoke, Erun instinctively felt a pang of fear, and her tone became much more humble than when she faced Jones. She raised her ferocious and enormous hands toward the Mercury Queen, just like an ordinary pirate offering spoils to his captain.

"We're pirates! We call the shots in the ocean. People on land have to live at our beck and call, not have to nod their heads before we can slink back from the ocean!"

“I see. So you collaborated with Austin—no, Bishop Azawi—to become a god called Dagon? That’s really laughable,” Jones sneered. “You call yourself a god? You’re neither human nor ghost—”

Speaking of the inhuman and ghostly figures, Jones subconsciously glanced at Erun's half-body, which was filled with all sorts of people, and sneered.

“You’re not even a monster, just a bunch of pathetic creatures huddled together in the dark, pretending to be powerful.”

"Shut up--"

Irun, or rather Dagon, suddenly opened his mouth full of sharp teeth, and the limbs intertwined in his semi-transparent half-body began to tremble violently, his gaunt face displaying all sorts of distorted expressions.

"Jones, Heidi Serra—a soul trapped in a weak human body, a homeless spirit with nowhere to go, neither sea nor land! Now I am the master of this sea! I am the god of this sea!"

As if drawing power from the abyss of the ocean, Dagon stretched out its enormous and ferocious form toward the Mercury Queen, seemingly capable of sinking the ship with a single blow.

Even Jones had to admit that Erun now possessed an unprecedented level of pressure.

This oppressive force did not originate from Yirun's alien body, but from the unprecedented freedom Yirun displayed in the deep sea, so free that they, still confined within a ship, seemed to be facing the entire abyss.

You only have two choices!

"Either become my subordinate, or become a part of me!"

"Either never enter my territory!"

Irun no longer concealed her thoughts, or rather, released her emotions. Jones and the others stared wide-eyed at Irun with immense anger.

However, Heidi Serra seemed to have lost interest, looking up and asking, "Has that guy... reached the surface already?"

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

"vomit--"

Li Yili leaned against the edge of the submarine hatch, her face pale as she dry heaved. The submarine rocked gently like a crib on the soft waves, but the irregular rocking made Li Yili feel even more nauseous.

"I'm going to die, I'm seasick..." Li Yili reached out and fished a wishing bottle from the sea. With the idea of ​​distracting herself, she unscrewed the cap and took out the note inside.

I want to become a millionaire.

Simple and clear.

Li Yili casually tore the note containing someone's wish into shreds and threw it into the sea. She glanced at the other sparkling wishing bottles floating on the surface and exhaled a long breath.

The sea of ​​dreams, the bottle of kind wishes, contain the purest desires.

Li Yili glanced at him out of the corner of her eye; he was standing with his back to her, his shoulders swaying slightly, as if he were smiling, and smiling very happily.

Li Yili sighed deeply and bent down to forcefully knock open the wishing bottles around her.

Chapter 147 I'm telling you, momentum can solve all problems

"Mr. Li Yili! The sea is absolutely fantastic!"

Stuffing the note wishing him a safe journey into his pocket, Zig patted his chest and turned to face Li Yili, who was still clinging to the submarine hatch frame, splashing seawater.

"But what are we supposed to do next?!"

"Well... Sieg, what can you see now?" Li Yili raised her hand and patted her head. Sieg's turn made the submarine rock more violently, and she felt a little nauseous again.

“The world! The world is so vast!” Sieg raised his hands.

"anything else?"

Zig lowered his raised hands slightly, and his smile gradually turned awkward.

No, that's all.

"That's true, ugh—"

Li Yili gagged twice more. Although she didn't vomit anything, she still felt much better. Holding onto the outer frame of the submarine hatch, she carefully descended back into the cockpit. At the very bottom of the cockpit, Nakya, who was holding a travel bag, opened the bag, took out a telescope, and placed it in Li Yili's hand.

After receiving the binoculars, Li Yili carefully gripped the outer frame of the hatch, lifted herself up, and handed the binoculars to Zig.

"With this, you can see further."

"Oh, oh—" Zieg nodded vigorously and took the binoculars.