Sir! Don't close the net!

“No, you’ll be very busy,” Li Yili said, hooking her arm around Zig’s shoulder and pointing towards the top of the Sea of ​​Dead. “To get to the top of the sea, we still need to do a lot of things. The first step is to get to know comrades who share the same goal, communicate and understand each other, and then there’s the plan! All of these can be accomplished naturally over a meal!”

Zig blinked, suddenly realizing what he meant, and excitedly clenched his fist and raised it high.

"Oh oh oh-"

Standing behind Li Yili, Alma raised her hand and slapped her forehead hard. She could only keep comforting herself that it was just a barbecue at the beach. It might be a heavy burden for an average family, but compared to the money Li Yili had spent before, it was really just a drop in the ocean.

"Then tell the world—"

Li Yili raised her hand and pointed to the sky.

"We only fight for our own dreams, what are you talking about?"

Chapter Twenty-Eight Bert's Confusion

Instas is living in the best of times, and everyone has a chance.

In the past, Instas was like a corrupt prison, where both the spirit and the body rotted away little by little in the face of the deep sea that stretched straight to the sky. Instas barely made ends meet by fishing on the shore.

The Great Depression of thirty years ago was both a natural disaster and a man-made one. For some unknown reason, the fish that sustained most of the people of Instas disappeared. Many fishermen risked entering the Dead Sea, but most of them never returned. Not everyone had the ability to leave their hometown to develop elsewhere, so the people of Instas had to make various attempts in the local area. A small number of people succeeded, but the vast majority failed, and thus Instas ushered in the Great Depression.

A group of mysterious people brought Instas back to life. By signing a contract with them, Instas was reborn. Many merchants settled in Instas to help it develop, and the disappeared fish schools became active again in front of them.

Bert didn't know who those people were, nor did he ever think of finding out their true identities, because he was born in Instas, which was reborn because of those people. From the moment he was born, Instas had been selling all sorts of human faces and corresponding potions.

This is both an obligation and common sense.

Bert never found it strange to use someone else's face to drink the corresponding potion, even if only Instas had this ability.

【custom】.

Thirty years ago it was like this, and thirty years later it will be like this for most of the next thirty years. The only thing that makes Bert anxious is that there are fewer and fewer faces that suit him. He was born in the Maws district, but he was not judged as a defective product. He still received the education of Instas and was treated equally. So he did not complain about his declining status. He was only anxious about his incompetence.

But Bert was very worried about his younger brother, Zig.

Zieg wasn't a good student. He always came up with strange ideas in class and was always eager to try them out, like on the sea. But he wasn't a bad student; he could only be called an oddball. In that respect, he was somewhat reassured.

But that peace of mind only lasted until yesterday.

Bert pulled up his coat, stood at the window, and after confirming that Zieg had left, he quickly went downstairs and followed Zieg, who had left early in the morning, with his collar turned up.

Although Sieg pretended nothing was wrong, Bert clearly noticed that Sieg was happier than usual, always skipping when he walked, and would help him tidy up the pipes. Of course, what made him uneasy was Sieg's sleep talking at night.

Although it was muffled, Bert was certain that he heard "above the sea" and the name Li Yili.

Levi Strauss Richard, also known as Li Yili, was a name that Bert was familiar with. On Li Yili's first day in Instar, Bert sold her a house. However, the process of signing the contract made him feel very awkward. Li Yili seemed to be looking down from a more advanced world. When Bert looked into Li Yili's eyes, he always felt that he was very backward and that everything he was showing was worthless.

McCarthy's intuition, from the best salesman, kept reminding Bert that Li Yili was very different.

However, what happened in Instas afterwards left Bert somewhat bewildered and even absurd. First, he threw money at buses in the city center, paralyzing the traffic. Then, he deliberately offered himself up to the pirates and was kidnapped. It is said that during the ransom negotiations, he ruthlessly bargained down the price to twice the amount and even paid for his accommodation.

The situation of Sheep Village Logistics, which is under the jurisdiction of Li Yili, in Instas is also incomprehensible. They took over the Fire Elf's building in the city center with lightning speed, but did not register the contract to purchase masks and potions. They were targeted by the local bullies led by Austin, resulting in no orders and no one daring to come to their door. However, they were quite calm and laughed.

Despite being a logistics company, it purchased a large quantity of building materials even though it had no customers when it opened for business.

Bert had a hunch that Sheep Village wasn't a logistics company, but something else, something far more absurd, that came to Instas with some plan they couldn't comprehend.

Arriving near the Sheep Village Logistics Building, despite being in the city center, the area felt incredibly empty and desolate, giving Bert the absurd feeling that he was passing through some kind of tunnel to another world. So Bert subconsciously slowed down, while Zig walked straight toward the Sheep Village Logistics employees who were chatting and laughing at the entrance of the building, as if he hadn't noticed anything.

Because of the negative portrayal of Yangcun Logistics in the newspaper headlines and the fact that Yangcun Logistics employees were chatting and laughing casually at the entrance of the building even when they weren't working, many Indians began to refer to Yangcun Logistics employees as weirdos with disgust in just two days.

Bert also found the Sheep Village Logistics employees strange. Their cheerful and joking demeanor around them was incomprehensible to him. Being unemployed and not being hired by anyone meant they were defective. The Sheep Village Logistics employees should immediately buy other faces that would be hired and work, even if it meant violating the rules of use, to create profits for Instars and avoid becoming defective.

Sheep Village Logistics goes against his world.

Bert wanted to bring Ziglar back, but Ziglar had already joined that group of strange people and was laughing and joking around.

Bert hesitated for a long time, and was about to go forward and use the excuse that Zig should go to school today to pull Zig back when a strange feeling came over him. Instinctively, Bert hid behind a bush and carefully spied around. He soon found the source of the strange feeling.

Li Yili, who was harshly criticized by newspapers as the source of the chaos, has appeared.

Bert's heart sank at the sight of Li Yili and Zig getting along so well. If they were involved with the strange people in Sheep Village Logistics, he could still persuade them to come back, but if they were connected to Li Yili, the source of all this chaos, Zig might really have to go to the other world.

Bert listened intently, his ears perked up, and the more he listened, the more absurd it seemed.

How about a beach barbecue?

Why have a barbecue on the beach?

What do you mean by "since you have nothing to do anyway"? Why not just buy a face mask and some potion?!

Have they all gone mad?

We still have a lot to do if we want to go to the sea.

Bert was stunned. A bizarre feeling began to grow within him. Above the sea, he didn't know where that was. His education told him that it was a place the Indians shouldn't go, but his senses were dragging his body to follow. His weary nerves were calling him to go to the world beyond Li Yili's.

By the time Bert realized what was happening, he was almost at the shore. The vast, deep ocean stretching to the sky made him turn back.

He regained consciousness, turned around, dragged his tired body, put on a mask, and drank the potion.

Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Ocean is So Vast and Free

"Boom!"

The roar, like countless chariots attacking, startled Jones, who was sleeping on the deck. The surrounding pirates were also so frightened that they immediately grabbed their mops and brooms.

Watching the dust rise like waves, Jones took a deep breath, stood up, and his eyes gradually sharpened.

As the second-in-command of the Mercury Queen, a fearsome pirate, he had seen all sorts of big scenes, so he was already capable of making professional judgments.

The other party… no, to be precise, this man, Levi Esti Richard, is up to no good!

“Hmph—as expected of Levi Esti Richard, I was careless too,” Jones raised his hand to the dagger at his waist. “This man seems carefree, but he has ulterior motives! He wants to figure out the structure of the Mercury Queen, and our manpower—”

Because Jones's expression was extremely solemn, the surrounding pirates also picked up their weapons and revealed fierce and bloodthirsty eyes.

"Mr. Jones, come down and have some roast meat!"

"..."

The pirates, armed with weapons, all turned to look at Jones, whose face was serious, but hesitated to speak.

"So convenient for preparing the amount of meat for barbecue! Any problems?! Damn it—"

Jones blushed and spat out a mouthful of blood.

"What are you still standing there for! Go down and grab some meat! Do I need to teach you?!"

After saying that, Jones swaggered up the stairs to the captain's cabin, which faced the ship's wheelhouse. He knocked on the door and lowered his voice, "Boss—"

"I heard you. Do as you please."

Jones's eyes lit up, and suppressing his joy, he continued in a low voice, "Then, boss, you..."

"You don't need to pretend to be polite. I'm not the kind of person who tells his subordinates to shut up when there's meat delivered to their door. Go on, I have my own plans."

"Okay!"

Jones immediately turned around, cheered, grabbed the rope, and swung directly off the Mercury Queen.

Heidi, leaning back on the coral sofa, let out a long sigh, closed her notebook, and stood up to face the huge map behind her.

This is an incredibly ancient and bizarre map. The dense stitching marks resemble the bite marks of a wild beast, as if trying to tear the map apart. But in reality, no one has ever tried to destroy this map. On the contrary, the map is constantly being improved.

Different people, using different materials and notes, continuously expanded this nautical chart. Even a part the size of a finger was a completely new part, and each pirate would write a sentence on the back of that new map.

"Look, the ocean is so vast and free."

Heidi said softly.

How fortunate we are!

Every pirate considered it a noble mission to expand and fill in this nautical chart, but from some unknown day onwards, no new parts of the chart were ever added.

The ocean is so vast, and we are so free.

Heidi's gaze fell on the palm-sized map made of sharkskin nailed to the wall, and she subconsciously raised her hand towards the map.

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.

"Wow—fresh meat!"

Jones raised the cow leg high in his hand, which reminded Li Yili of the monkey lifting Simba in The Lion King.

"Don't you guys get to eat fresh meat all the time? You're pirates," Li Yili complained as she skewered pieces of meat with bamboo sticks. "Shouldn't pirates live a carefree life, sipping rum and enjoying a bite of meat?"

"Which era of pirates are you talking about?" Jones scoffed, putting down the beef leg he was holding. "The pirates signed a treaty with the Instas, so we can only buy supplies when the market is closed. Tch—"

"The market closed?" Zig was taken aback. "Back then, there were only some left... uh, not many people wanted them. Are you really the great pirate Jones?"

“Yes, yes, it’s the great pirate Jones,” Jones nodded as he casually unscrewed the cap of the juice.

"Disillusionment is gone—"

"Ahem—" Jones coughed, his three-dimensional eyes glaring fiercely at Sieg. "The demise of the nightmare is a good thing."

“Aren’t pirates the freest people on the sea? I thought you guys must have been to the surface of the ocean,” Zieg scratched the back of his head and smiled regretfully.

Jones, and the pirates around him, fell silent.

“That’s right, even the freest pirates have never reached the surface of the sea,” Li Yili patted Zig on the back, “so we will be the first people in Instars to reach the surface of the sea.”

"Oh right—"

"The sea? Are you crazy? Do you know how big the sea is?" Jones stared wide-eyed at Li Yili with disbelief.

“You should ask, do you know how high... how deep this sea is?” Li Yili pinched her fingers at Jones.

"..."

"Do you know how deep this sea is? It's practically as deep as the heavens!"

Why do you always assume it's impossible from the outset?

Faced with Li Yili's counter-question, Jones choked. The pirates around him instinctively looked away, making Jones realize he had to say something. He then spoke, "You will question..."

Do you think the sun rises from the east?

“The sun has never changed its position; it’s just the earth… it’s just the land beneath our feet that’s rotating on its own, revolving around the sun,” Li Yili said, casually picking up a bamboo skewer and turning it around.

"Huh? What did you just say?"

Not only Jones, but everyone around her was also looking at Li Yili with question marks on their faces.

"Ah~ that's not important. Let's talk about the issues of heaven and Shanghai," Li Yili said, swinging her bamboo stick as she walked towards the Sea of ​​Dead.

Jones blinked, and most people put down what they were doing and followed Li Yili to stand in front of the deep sea.