Sir! Don't close the net!

"Going to the sky is not impossible, but maintaining a certain altitude is difficult. Even birds flying in the sky have to fold their wings and land, but the ocean is different."

Li Yili flicked her finger, and the slender bamboo skewer flew straight out, landing on the surface of the deep sea. After a few ripples, the deep sea returned to calm, while the bamboo skewer remained attached to the surface, gently swaying with the current.

Jones scratched the back of his head, his three-dimensional eyes reflecting the gently swaying bamboo skewer. He seemed to understand something, but it was stuck in his throat and he couldn't spit it out.

Li Yili whistled, bent down to take the empty glass bottle from Jones's hand, screwed on the cap, and sent it into the deep sea.

"Click—"

"It's broken."

"It was smashed to pieces."

"It was smashed."

“Why is this so physics-dependent? The entire ocean is clearly above the horizon,” Li Yili complained, turning to look at Jones.

"Seriously, why don't you guys just turn into mincemeat when you go out to sea?"

Chapter Thirty: Rather than be a slave to absurdity, be an even more absurd being.

Jones and the other pirates looked at each other in bewilderment.

It's not that Li Yili asked any particularly difficult questions; quite the opposite, her questions were very simple, so simple that they didn't know how to answer them.

Seeing Jones and the others' hesitation, Li Yili thought for a moment and then stepped aside. "Mr. Jones, would you like to demonstrate your superb swimming skills?"

Jones and the others were taken aback. Just as they were about to speak, Heidi's voice came from the side.

"We are not yet at the point where we can freely navigate the ocean, so we need boats."

The pirates all bent down, and many of them secretly hid the meat skewers behind their backs.

Heidi stood with her arms crossed in front of Li Yili, her eyes slightly narrowed. "For someone who has never been to sea, going out to sea is an extremely dangerous thing. If—"

"So when are we going to set sail?" Li Yili rubbed her hands together, her eyes shining. "Shall we leave now? Or should we eat our fill first?"

Heidi's breath hitched, and the curiosity in Li Yili's eyes made her subconsciously glance to the side.

Jones glanced at Li Yili, then at Heidi, and immediately raised his hand to suggest, "Why don't we set off now? It'll be a quick trip, and the meat here isn't really cooked properly anyway. If we eat too much, Mr. Li Yili might vomit on the ship."

Upon hearing this, the other pirates immediately dropped their pretense, quickly snatched the roasted meat from the grill, opened their mouths wide, and wolfed it down. Then they nodded vigorously at Heidi.

"So? Do you need any guards?" Heidi raised her chin provocatively at Li Yili.

"Hoo... El, you guys stay."

Li Yili raised an eyebrow slightly and gestured to El, who seemed to want to say something.

"Go and prepare the ransom."

Alma coughed heavily, and the pirates, who had been standing tall and proud, slumped down with subtle expressions.

"Zig, you stay here. I'll go scout ahead," Li Yili said, twisting her waist from side to side and beckoning to the pirates, whose expressions were subtly suggestive. "Let's go, let's set sail!"

After saying that, Li Yili led the pirates towards the Mercury Queen under Zig's admiring gaze. For a moment, the people from Sheep Village Logistics were confused about who the real owner of the Mercury Queen was.

After boarding the ship, Li Yili casually walked to the helm and gestured to Heidi, who breathed a sigh of relief. The pirates, who had been worried that Li Yili would casually take Heidi's place, breathed a sigh of relief.

"Don't just stand there! Raise the sail! Check every rope!"

Jones wiped the sweat from his brow, raised his hand and swung it forcefully at the other pirates, shouting as he slapped those who were too slow.

Li Yili, chin in hand, looked down with great interest at the pirates running on the deck.

Although pirates were not good people, it must be said that they were the ones who conquered the seas. They were not afraid of the dangers on the sea and cheered freely and enthusiastically on the ocean.

If one doesn't engage in arson, murder, and looting, being a pirate is an alluring profession.

But he didn't see enthusiasm and freedom in the pirates on deck. They were incredibly serious and tense, with an inexplicable resistance. They didn't seem to like the sea.

Just as Li Yili was about to test Heidi, who was already standing in front of the helm, the deck began to shake. A sound like something wriggling was squeezing in from all directions. Li Yili's expression changed, and she pressed her hands heavily on the railing, staring at the scene in disbelief.

The wooden deck was torn apart by flesh and blood; tiny nerves, like threads, protruded from the reins held by the pirates. Darkness pressed down on Li Yili's head, accompanied by a heavy whale-like cry.

Suddenly, Li Yili felt the entire Mercury Queen sink slightly. A glowing sphere emerged from the gaps in the deck and connected with delicate nerves. Accompanied by a flow of light like electricity, the sphere began to flicker.

Li Yili's lips twitched violently as he realized a possibility.

"Um... Miss Heidi, although this is just my guess, could it be... could it be... that this ship is alive? Or is it a giant creature itself?"

"if not?"

Heidi's question left Li Yili speechless.

Li Yili raised her hand and patted her forehead, slowly turning her face away.

Indeed, what else could it be?

This world is not physical at all when it should be, and it respects physics when it shouldn't be. Take water pressure, for example. Even though it's above the horizon, who knows how many tons of seawater are actually pressing down on it? I've heard that at a certain depth, it's equivalent to having three tanks pressing down on a person's finger. Even the technological marvel of a submarine will be mercilessly crushed once it can no longer maintain pressure balance.

However, there are also creatures in the deep sea, and quite a variety of them. They can perfectly regulate the pressure from the deep sea, but they can only live at that depth. If they go any deeper, they will be crushed, and if they go any higher, they will explode.

Li Yili sighed deeply. Fortunately, he wasn't a scientist and didn't have much of a research spirit.

“You’ve signed a contract with some kind of large fish in the deep sea, or rather, a symbiotic relationship,” Li Yili pinched the bridge of her nose. “It serves as your vessel, allowing you to navigate the deep sea, and you are responsible for providing it with food?”

Heidi did not answer Li Yili, but Heidi's eyes said it all.

Li Yili glanced at the glowing sphere connected to the ship's rudder, rested her chin on her hand, and let out a long sigh. "Okay, okay, you caught some kind of large fish, and while keeping it alive... well, it's become your ship anyway. Seriously, am I crazy to try to explain this phenomenon scientifically? By the way, how are you going to see what's going on around you, Miss Heidi, inside the fish's belly?"

“This fish secretes a certain substance that makes its body transparent after a certain point,” Heidi said, turning the helm without changing her expression.

"Wow, wow, wow—that's amazing! Then hurry up and get the Mercury Queen to secrete that... that ingredient!"

"It was already secreted from the very beginning."

Heidi's voice was very soft, like a whisper from somewhere far away.

"Don't worry, soon your eyes will be able to see some things in this darkness, and then your eyes will be able to adapt to this place. After that, you will become one of us, just like us."

Li Yili's pupils contracted slightly. The pirates on the deck had turned their heads in unison to look in his direction. Their three-dimensional eyes emitted a pale green light. Their strange appearances made them look perfectly natural in the slightly bubbly darkness. On the contrary, he looked exactly like an intruder.

It was so quiet, so incredibly quiet. There hadn't been a sound since the beginning, and the pirates hadn't moved an inch, hadn't even blinked.

Li Yili swallowed hard, fear growing uncontrollably in his heart. The growing fear made everything around him terrifying. If he had a sanity bar, it would probably be dropping rapidly by now.

Faced with absurd realities, rather than becoming a slave to absurdity, it is better to become an even more absurd being, making the absurdity that you once feared seem mediocre and laughable.

Li Yili exhaled and pulled out a bottle of rum hidden in her backpack, unscrewing the cap.

"Tun tun tun—cough ha—"

Facing the pitch-black deep sea, Li Yili wrapped her left arm around Heidi's waist and raised the half-empty bottle of rum in her right hand.

Even the freest pirates, when faced with the deep sea, can only choose to change things in silence.

Under the astonished gazes of the pirates, Li Yili raised her head.

wrong--

"Hey guys! Let's get hyped!"

Even the deep sea, filled with unknown fears, can only allow the free pirates to revel.

Chapter Thirty-One: He's insane, but it's a madness that inspires longing.

"Aha—Ahahaha—"

The strong aroma of alcohol and absurd laughter constantly assaulted the pirates' senses.

Has Li Yili gone mad?

They had indeed seen many people go mad when faced with the deep sea. As pirates, they knew better than anyone how terrifying the pressure and silence from the deep sea were. They couldn't see or touch it, yet it silently enveloped and shrouded them, as if countless eyes were staring intently at them.

Most of those who went mad huddled in corners, muttering incomprehensible words. After returning to Instas, they scrambled back to the city and were never seen on the beach again. Some went on a rampage, smashing everything in sight and shouting mad words like "Nothing matters" and "Everyone has been deceived," before plunging into the deep sea and turning into a pile of minced meat.

At first, they were horrified by this and tried to blur their memories of these people so that they would never have to set foot on this ocean again, whether they had escaped or died. Instead, they had to keep exploring this ocean with these chilling memories.

After that, they became numb, treating the process as a kind of selection. Those who couldn't adapt to the silence and darkness would go crazy or die, while those who could adapt would experience physical changes like them.

They were certain that Li Yili was indeed going mad, but unlike the chilling madness they remembered, Li Yili's madness did not frighten or numb them. Instead, it evoked a deep-seated joy and longing. They knew very well why they would have such absurd thoughts under such an absurd circumstances.

Because Li Yili's madness is challenging the rules that they have always feared, been afraid of, and even compromised upon.

Unparalleled freedom, just like a real pirate.

The body, which had become cold from adapting to deep-sea diving, began to feel hot again at Li Yili's shouts.

A drop of cold water landed on the back of Jones's neck, jolting him back to reality. Jones looked at Heidi, who was being swayed around next to Li Yili, with a look of horror on his face.

Heidi Serra, the ruthless and bloodthirsty pirate queen who intimidated many pirate crews, hated it most when anyone stood next to her while she was at the helm, let alone interfered with her sailing. Heidi's second biggest pet peeve was rum, and she forbade any pirate from bringing rum onto their ships.

Li Yili is now not only swaying back and forth with her arm around Heidi's waist while Heidi is sailing the boat, but she is also drinking rum.

But Heidi didn't show any displeasure. Even as she was rocking back and forth, she still held the helm, as if Li Yili was the captain and she was just the one in charge of steering the boat.

This unusual scene made Jones feel like he was having an incredible dream. Dreaming of being at sea would be a nightmare, but this time, he even felt an urge to go to more distant places.

"So, are we really going to have fun...?" Jones hesitated for a moment before raising his hand tentatively.

“Sound travels faster in water, and if we get too loud, we might attract some troublesome guys,” Heidi sighed. “Maybe we’ll end up in a fight.”

"Hmm? Real pirates are afraid of this?"

Li Yili's question was like an electric current passing through the minds of every pirate, releasing the heat that had been sealed within their primal genes.

"Didn't you hear what Mr. Li Yili said!" Jones turned around and clenched his fist. "Are your voices just for show?! Get hyped!"

Mops, blades, and rags were raised high as the ugly pirates inhaled the aroma of alcohol that filled the air. Some ran on the deck, while others brought out barrels and dice to invite other pirates to gamble. Some even grabbed the reins and swung back and forth between the masts.

In the deep and terrifying undercurrents, the pirate flag with a skull fluttered against the current.

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.

"They... just left?"

Alma took a bite of the kebab with a somewhat distorted expression, her fierce look making it seem as if she were holding someone's arm, not a kebab.

"Damn it—it smells so good!"

“Secretary Alma, we should get down to business,” Alma said, glancing at the orderly group of Cloud Clan members surrounding their spot at the barbecue stall, and putting down the skewers in her hand.

"Eh?"

"Hey what... You don't actually think we're here to have fun, do you?" El muttered listlessly as he pulled a bunch of measuring tools from his backpack.

"No, isn't that right..." Alma swallowed hard, the delicious roasted meat in her mouth suddenly becoming difficult to chew. "Didn't your minister say we were here to eat roasted meat?"