Sir! Don't close the net!

"Can't we use the barbecue as an excuse to distract Austin and his spies so we can get our own work done?"

Al hung another bag containing measuring tools on Alma's arm, while Abu Jean quickly wiped his mouth and opened another backpack, which also contained various measuring tools as well as pens and paper for recording.

Alma looked around blankly. The other Cloud Clan members and the location of their barbecue grills were very subtle and scattered. It didn't look like a company gathering at all, but rather different groups had just come here for a meal. However, they had just surrounded a stretch of beach, and the smoke from the barbecues and the Cloud Clan members walking back and forth added to the problem.

It is nearly impossible to confirm their movements from outside the beach.

The pirates of the Mercury Queen, who might betray them and tell Austin what they were doing, have already been taken to the deep sea by Li Yili and won't be back for a while.

"Huh??!" Alma, who had been indulging in a decadent day and genuinely thought they were here for barbecue, widened her eyes in surprise.

"Hurry up and take the measurements, Secretary Alma," Alma beckoned to Alma, "otherwise you won't be able to argue with Josephine."

Alma's lips twitched, she snorted and tossed the kebab aside, then picked up her bag and followed behind Al and Abu Jean. Because she was very unhappy, Alma gave a rather rebellious sneer, "Aren't you afraid that Minister Josephine will ruin your minister's plans?"

"What if this is also part of the minister's plan?" El waved his hand without turning his head.

Alma muttered something in frustration.

"Let's do it here."

El glanced at the distant lighthouse, planted his measuring tools in the ground, and waved to Abu Jean.

“As the minister instructed, we need to measure the same location several times to be more precise. Secretary Alma, I'll trouble you to record the data. The minister specifically instructed that you must give this data to Minister Josephine,” Alma turned to Alma with a bright smile, “that way, Minister Josephine will be more willing to pay.”

That bastard...

Alma picked up her notebook with a forced smile. "Of course I know, it's my job, don't worry about it."

Chapter Thirty-Two: The Land is a Prison

After swimming in the deep sea for a full three hours, the Mercury Queen broke through the currents, crashed against the sea wall, and landed in the harbor. The splashing seawater created craters on the beach like flowing stones.

"Oh—the minister and the others are back."

El put down his tools and waved to the other Cloud Clan members who had come to help, signaling them to pack up their measuring tools. After straightening his collar, he picked up a box containing gold coins and headed towards the Mercury Queen ship at the port.

Alma hesitated for a moment, then closed her notebook and followed.

One by one, the pirates swung down from the ship's edge, securing the ropes to the wooden posts on the dock. Because the pirates looked quite relaxed and excited, El also relaxed, waving and greeting them, "Yo—Pirate, how are you feeling? There's still half of the ingredients left over. If it's not enough, we can go to the market to buy more."

"No need, no need," the pirate who was tying the ropes laughed and waved at El, then roared, "Brothers, come down and eat!"

One pirate after another slid down the rope, while El stood to the side, smiling and waving as he counted the number of pirates coming down. When the last pirate landed and rubbed his hands together as he walked towards the barbecue stall, El's expression became somewhat tense.

Two people are missing: one is their minister, Li Yili, and the other is the owner of the Mercury Queen, the infamous pirate empress, Heidi Serra.

The last one to come down was Jones, the second-in-command of the Mercury Queen. After hesitating for a moment, El reached out and put his hand on Jones's shoulder. "Mr. Jones, I don't see our minister."

Jones, who was about to leave, shuddered, turned around stiffly, and raised his right index finger. "Well, I don't think it's appropriate for you to bother him right now."

El's eyes sharpened instantly, and he turned and walked toward the ropes through which the pirates disembarked.

Jones was startled and quickly stepped in front of Al, gesturing frantically with his hands.

"Of course! I can guarantee Mr. Li Yili's safety. In fact, if you go up there, you might not be so safe!"

El was taken aback at first, then calmed down.

Although he said he wasn't worried about Li Yili being caught by pirates, he actually investigated the Mercury Queen ship everywhere after Li Yili returned. It would have been better if he hadn't investigated, because even he felt a chill down his spine after he did.

The Mercury Queen was a notoriously fierce and terrifying pirate ship. Not only in Instas, but in almost every harbor, there were terrifying rumors about the Mercury Queen's owner, the pirate queen Heidi Serra. At some point in the past, there was only one pirate crew at sea whose power could rival that of the Crusades, and Heidi Serra was the sole master of the pirates.

But for some unknown reason, the pirate crew disbanded, and Heidi Sera took over the Dead Sea. No one knows exactly what happened, and none of the pirates spoke of it. However, the strange occurrences among the crew of the Mercury Queen led others to speculate on many possibilities.

“I’m sorry, but it’s a very profitable deal for me to risk my personal safety to ensure the minister’s safety,” El pulled at his collar and grabbed the rope, preparing to climb onto the Mercury Queen.

Jones opened his mouth, then raised his hand with a grateful expression and patted Al on the back. "You're a real man, no wonder you're Mr. Li Yili. Here's what we'll do, I'll go up with you, but you have to promise not to make a sound, or we'll both be dead."

El was taken aback, then immediately nodded.

"Walk--"

Jones grabbed Al by the back of his collar with his right hand and easily lifted him off the ground with one arm. With his left hand, he grabbed the retractable rope, pulled and released, and climbed up the rope to the edge of the Mercury Queen at an extremely fast speed.

As he swayed, Al saw the area where Jones's collarbone was covered by his collar; it was a ghostly green, and the skin was completely unlike what a human should have, making Al's scalp tingle. But he was too anxious to save Li Yili to care about that.

Al reached out and clung to the edge of the boat, cautiously peering out, his mind filled with images of Heidi Serra's ruthlessness, constructed from a wealth of intelligence.

There was no one on the deck...

After scanning the deck to make sure no one was there, Al looked toward the helm. He remembered that there was a Heidi Sera throne opposite the helm of the Mercury Queen. Judging from Jones's cautious manner, Heidi Sera should not be in the captain's cabin, but somewhere that she could be seen from the edge of the ship.

Could something have happened to my pitiful, weak, and helpless minister compared to the Pirate Queen...?

El's eyes widened.

Compared to the pirate empress, the weak and pitiful Li Yili sat arrogantly on the throne, drinking rum with her head tilted back, while the terrifying pirate empress sat sideways on Li Yili's lap, looking down at her fingernails, her long legs, encased in white tight pants, dangling gently on the armrest.

Who is... the Pirate Emperor again?

El stiffened and shrank back. His mind was in a mess, but he knew he had better not watch any longer.

Jones, with a knowing look on his face, reached out and grabbed Al's arm, sliding down the slope.

After landing at the dock, Jones pulled Al away from the Mercury Queen and began to explain in a low voice.

"Anyway—Mr. Li Yili secretly brought rum onto the ship and then got drunk, but that's normal; I felt it just from the smell."

"In a moment of madness, Mr. Li Yili did it all by himself."

"Then I grabbed you guys—grabbed your boss, and kept him in that position..." El's lips twitched.

The pirate empress is being far too considerate.

"Oh... I thought I could only salvage a finger to explain things to you guys," Jones said, scratching the back of his head and laughing awkwardly. "I even had my lines ready: [Here, this is your minister. Sorry, that's all I have left.]"

……

"This isn't funny."

“I’m not joking, cough—anyway—although I don’t know when your minister will wake up, don’t worry, your minister has been fine for so long, so he must be fine,” Jones coughed heavily and patted his chest to assure her, “Don’t worry, we definitely won’t let him stay here overnight, maybe the boss will change his mind by tomorrow morning.”

El's lips twitched violently. He wanted to retort, but in the end, he gave up thinking and glanced at Jones's collar. "What is the pirate's curse?"

Jones was taken aback. Following El's gaze, he stopped at his collar, raised his right hand and touched it. After a brief silence, he put his hands on his hips and turned to look at the Mercury Queen.

“This is not a curse, but the price of freedom, and now I am certain that I would rather pay this price than be trapped in Instas, no… than be confined to a cage on land.” 69.493.6135

"A prison on land..."

El was startled and looked up. The sea of ​​dead men, stretching straight to the sky, was incredibly magnificent. But this sea not only stretched straight to the sky, but also continued to spread into the distance, enveloping the land.

"Yes, it really does resemble a cage."

Chapter Thirty-Three: Instasdas is the world's largest seaport.

When Li Yili woke up, it was already the next morning. The sharp pain, as if coming from the depths of her brain, kept reminding her of just how much she had indulged the day before.

"vomit--"

Just as Li Yili was about to get up to drink some water, she felt a spasm in her stomach, turned around, and fell to the ground with a thud.

"It hurts, doesn't it—"

Before Li Yili could even raise his head, a snow-white jade foot descended from above his head and stepped on his face, preventing him from lifting his head or even turning around.

The familiar touch cleared Li Yili's head considerably. She felt no wicked thoughts, only utter speechlessness. "Walhou Lei, I'll give you five seconds to move your foot."

"Otherwise what? Otherwise, you'll make me regret it?" Sitting on the bed with her legs crossed, Valkyrie sneered and increased the pressure on Li Yili's face with her foot. "When a superior does something, subordinates are not allowed to kiss."

“Otherwise, I’ll return the latest Hagen jewelry I ordered for you,” Li Yili said, raising her eyes. “Now I’m going to start the countdown, three!”

Valkyrie's eyes twitched. She moved her feet, sat sideways on the edge of the bed, tossed her hair, and snorted coldly, "Don't think you know me. I just have something more important to ask you."

"Yes, yes, yes—by the way, could you pour me a glass of water? I feel like my throat is going to explode," Li Yili said, struggling to sit up on the bed.

Valkyrie glanced to the side, stood up, and quickly placed a glass of water in front of Li Yili.

After a brief silence, Li Yili took out a matchbox from a drawer.

"laugh--"

"boom--"

A ghostly blue flame ignited at the back opening.

"Why can water ignite a fire?"

"Isn't this normal? What a pretentious big man," Valkyrie snorted, ignoring the burning flames, and immediately tilted her head back and chugged down her drink.

"You... never mind, I'll do it myself..."

Li Yili muttered a weak complaint, found a clean cup, turned on the tap and filled it with water. Just as she was about to tilt her head back and drink to quench her thirst, she felt a sense of unease. The water in the cup was very clear, which McCarthy meant was clean and drinkable, but Li Yili just couldn't bring herself to drink it.

After hesitating for a moment, Li Yili poured the water in the cup into the kettle, filled it with more than half water, and placed the kettle on the gas stove to boil the water.

Li Yili casually pulled up a chair and waited for the water to boil.

"What's your relationship with Heidi Sera?" Valkyrie paced back and forth in front of Li Yili, her white legs swaying so much that Li Yili felt sleepy.

“What could it possibly have to do with anything?” Li Yili yawned and reached out to grab Valkyrie’s right leg.

Valkyrie was taken aback for a moment, then smugly raised the corner of her mouth and raised her right leg. Just as she was about to fall towards Li Yili, she felt a force coming from her right leg and stumbled, falling onto the table next to Li Yili.

Valkyrie's lips twitched violently. "Of course it's because it will cost you your life. Do you know what kind of woman Heidi Sera is?"

“A woman with a fantastic figure,” Li Yili said, raising her little finger and waving it from side to side.

"..."

After a brief silence, Valkyrie erupted, grabbing Li Yili by the neck and shaking her violently back and forth.

"Ughhhh—I knew you were a man who wanted more than what you had! No way… you've already made your move! Damn it—no wonder that monster sent you back here!"

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Li Yili raised an eyebrow.

His brow furrowed. His clear memory extended to the moment he faced the silent pressure and fear emanating from the deep sea, downed half a bottle of rum, and then the rest of his memories became fragmented.

"You don't remember anything?" Valkyrie's eyes darted around.

I guess so—

Li Yili raised his hand and patted his forehead. The more he tried to recall, the more fragmented his memories became. He was presented with some things he didn't want to remember. What interrupted his recollection were the pairs of three-dimensional eyes emitting green light standing in front of the darkness and silence from the deep sea, and the strange faces illuminated by the green light.

"By the way, why were those pirates like that?"

“Who knows? I heard it wasn’t like that before,” Valkyrie released Li Yili’s neck, turned around and picked up the half-empty bottle of wine, pouring wine as she spoke. “I’ve heard others say it’s a curse, but that’s not surprising. Like that blasphemous pursuer, maybe they touched something that made exploring the ocean a taboo. If they didn’t heed the advice and continued to explore the sea, they would turn into that ugly thing.”