Sir! Don't close the net!

Abel's position in the Crusades was extraordinary. Even though Instas was the world's largest seaport, that was only tacitly acknowledged by Galarhorn. Galarhorn had never recognized it. Moreover, Galarhorn was currently collecting various inheritances. From the fact that Abel ultimately chose to cooperate with Guo Wei, it can be seen that Bishop Azawi did not want to give Galarhorn any excuse.

Since Abel, the candidate, has appeared here, either Bishop Azavet has reached a consensus with Galar Horn on some matter, or Instas has something he needs to deal with, even if it's just to give Galar Horn an excuse to plunder the temples of Eden's territory.

Let's just assume that's how it is.

Abel's voice echoed in Li Yili's mind.

After thinking it over, Li Yili raised her hand and waved.

"El, don't worry about this. Our current task is to calculate the data as soon as possible to prepare for the next step. It doesn't matter if Abel comes. At worst, we can have Secretary Elma tell Josephine about this and let them worry about it."

El blinked, then suddenly realized, "Oh right—Minister, you're a genius!"

"Of course, hahaha—"

Just as El was about to laugh along, he heard a resentful low laugh in Li Yili's laughter. El was stunned for a moment and turned his head to look. Sure enough, Elma was standing at the top of the stairs, staring at Li Yili who was laughing loudly with a resentful look on her face.

After hesitating for a moment, El braced himself and blocked Alma's view, then greeted her loudly, "Secretary Alma, you're here! You're late today!"

"Haha, cough cough cough—"

After coughing heavily a few times, Li Yili stood up, tossed her hair, and waved to Alma.

"Secretary Alma, are you feeling unwell? If you are, you can take a day off to rest. After all, we are not a heartless company."

Alma glanced at Al, then at Li Yili, who was covering her face, took a deep breath, and then let her hands fall down, her dead fish eyes widening. "Alright, stop playing good cop and bad cop. I'm here to report on my work. I just went to the market and hired fifty Jacobs. They're downstairs right now."

“Jacob?” Li Yili was taken aback.

“He’s the best construction worker in Instas,” Al immediately added. “Honest, hardworking, and never complains about his work.”

Li Yili immediately lost interest and waved her hand dismissively.

"That's Jacob himself, isn't it? How could a group of people who can change their faces at any time not have any opinions about their work? Otherwise, Instars wouldn't be on a daily wage system. Of course, if wearing a face is considered a job, then they certainly won't have any opinions about their work."

Alma's eye twitched. "This is Minister Josephine's idea. He's afraid you'll try to play the victim to headquarters, saying that the Flame Elf failed because he didn't handle the Instas problem properly, which led to the project's failure."

El raised an eyebrow, subconsciously lifting his chin, his eyes flashing.

Alma paused for a moment, then spread her hands. "Are you satisfied now? The fire elves are openly opposing Austin. Our minister Josephine firmly believes that you and Austin have joined forces, and Austin is now most likely convinced that you and Josephine have joined forces as well."

Elma's eyes widened slightly before she smiled calmly, "Secretary Elma, it seems you have a good understanding."

"..."

“Well, it’s alright,” Li Yili shrugged. “I knew it would turn out like this from the beginning.”

“That’s right, Secretary Alma. This kind of thing was destined from the beginning. Calm down, don’t be so surprised,” Alma shrugged. “It’s normal for anything to happen.”

Alma's cheeks twitched.

"Alright, since Minister Josephine has generously sponsored fifty of Instass's best construction workers, we cannot let Minister Josephine down!"

"That's right, that's right—"

Chapter 42 Time to Set Sail!

Abel slowly drank the last sip of hot milk, placed the cup on the table, and pushed it forward.

"You don't need me to look at me like that. I just received the message while passing by and came to confirm it."

"You don't need to explain anything; I just happened to be sitting here."

breakfast stall

On a bench not far away, Valkyrie raised her hands, rested her elbows on the back of the bench, looked up at the sky, and breathed out.

“Abel Z. Morningstar, I believe you are a good guy, but you are a candidate for the Crusades.”

Abel sat upright in his chair, as if time had stood still, without saying a word or showing any change in expression.

Valkyrie narrowed her eyes slightly, then snorted coldly, stood up, patted her increasingly loose trousers, turned and disappeared into the crowd of similar faces.

Abel slumped slightly, stood up, and looked around at the crowded downtown streets of Instas, which were packed with people due to rush hour. Looking at the similar faces, Abel shook his head with a bitter smile.

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.

"Hey—Mr. Li Yili, are you going out to sea today?"

As soon as Li Yili arrived at the dock of the Mercury Queen, Jones, who was lying on the edge of the ship, couldn't wait to raise his hand and wave to Li Yili.

"Don't you think today's weather is perfect for going out to sea?"

"You're very proactive today."

Li Yili raised her hand and waved to El, then came to the bottom of the Mercury Queen and looked up at Jones.

"Mr. Li Yili, you really like to joke. Do you think pirates spend all day cleaning the decks if they don't go out to sea?"

Jones raised his hand and beckoned, and the pirate sailors who were already prepared immediately threw down the rope ladder beside them. Li Yili raised her eyebrows slightly, reached out and grabbed the rope ladder, and steadily rose up with the help of the pirate sailors.

After climbing onto the boat, Li Yili tugged at her collar and looked Jones up and down.

"I heard that you used to only go out to sea two or three times a month. By the way, weren't you cleaning the deck every day?"

"Ahem—cleaning the deck is to be ready to go to sea at any time!"

Jones blushed slightly, then raised his hand and patted his chest heavily. His sharp eyes secretly glanced at the backpack on Li Yili's back, looked towards the captain's cabin, and then lowered his voice.

"Mr. Li Yili, did you bring rum today?"

"Want some?" Li Yili opened her backpack, and several bottles of rum appeared in front of Jones.

Jones swallowed hard, and the eyes of the pirates around him instantly turned fervent.

"Guh—cough—Hey! What are you all looking at! Hurry up and get ready to go to sea!"

Jones coughed loudly, turned around, and waved his hand forcefully to drive away the surrounding pirates. Then he reached out and hooked his arm around Li Yili's neck, leading her to a corner of the Mercury Queen.

"Mr. Li Yili, can I talk to you about something?"

"You want to drink it?"

"Yes! Of course I want to, but as you know, we can't drink..."

Jones pretended not to see Li Yili's disdainful look and awkwardly smiled while holding up his finger.

"So Mr. Li Yili, could you be a little more unrestrained when you drink? Like! Very unrestrained, the kind where you spill a bottle or two after drinking it."

"..."

“Okay—Mr. Li Yili, you don’t need to say anything. I know what you want to say, but…”

Jones raised his hand, pressed it against his strange and ugly face, paused for a moment, then slid it down forcefully. The greasy wrinkles jiggled, and Jones gave a bitter laugh.

“Mr. Li Yili, it takes time to overcome anything, especially since we have been hesitating for a long time.”

Li Yili stared blankly at Jones, who always called himself the Great Pirate, and after a long silence, she raised her hand and patted Jones's shoulder, letting out a long sigh. "I understand what you mean. Men, at first they'll say it's just a kiss, but after the kiss they'll start rubbing against each other, and once they've rubbed against each other, they can't control themselves anymore."

Jones's expression became incredibly subtle in an instant.

He was certain that Li Yili understood what he meant, but the way Li Yili explained it made him somewhat reluctant to admit it.

"My men—prepare to set sail! Today we'll show the Sea of ​​the Dead who its true master is!"

Before Jones could answer, Li Yili had already raised the rum high and walked briskly up the stairs to the ship's wheel. She placed her left hand on the wheel, bit the cork of the rum, and tilted her head back. With the splashing liquid, the aroma of rum wafted out.

The pirates raised their heads, ready to cheer, when a gust of cold wind swept down from behind Li Yili, her silver hair flying. The door to the captain's cabin had been pushed open, and Heidi sat on the throne, legs crossed, chin propped up, looking down at them.

The pirates swallowed hard, their raised hands slowly retracting. A deathly silence spread across the Mercury Queen; even before entering the sea of ​​the dead, it was already as silent as if it had entered the sea of ​​the dead.

Jones guiltily looked away. On the Mercury Queen, Heidi Serra was the sole ruler, and no one was allowed to challenge the power of Heidi Serra, who was both the Pirate Emperor and a chosen one of the gods.

"Hey—Miss Heidi, you don't look well today!"

Li Yili swirled the rum in her hand and walked up to Heidi.

As if recalling something, Heidi's expression stiffened slightly. She immediately raised her right leg, which was covered by white leggings, and stepped on Li Yili's stomach with her brown ankle boot, preventing Li Yili from getting any closer.

"How much did you drink?"

“Uh… it hasn’t started yet—” Li Yili glanced at the rum that was already half-spilled, shrugged, “but don’t worry, I’ll drink it all later.”

"I'm not feeling well today, so you'll be driving the boat."

海

Ti took a deep breath, got up, and quickly walked back to the captain's cabin.

"..."

"Men—raise the sails! It's time for an adventure in the Sea of ​​the Dead!"

Li Yili turned around, grabbed the half-empty bottle with her thumb, and forcefully poured out the rum. The crystal-clear rum poured out like rain, and the pirates huddled together like travelers in the desert who had found dew. They stretched their bodies and the rum fell on their faces and slid down their ugly faces.

"Oh--"

"We're getting excited! Let's go!"

The pirates sang as they pulled the ropes, and the entire Mercury Queen began to hurtle into the deep, dead sea.

Jacobs, who were carrying building materials, all turned to look at the Mercury Queen.

"It's starting again."

What does this mean?

"What's there to be happy about? What's there to cheer about?"

"That's why they were cursed and turned into that way."

Wearing Jacob's face, Bert stared blankly at the Mercury Queen, which was gradually plunging into the sea of ​​dead men. For some reason, the image of Sieg shouting that he wanted to go to the surface of the sea appeared in his mind's eye.

Bert instinctively shuffled forward, but the darkness of the sea of ​​dead that engulfed the Mercury Queen and the taunts of Jacob and his men made him lower his head.

Chapter 43 The Non-existent Sea God Temple

As the saying goes, don't drink and drive.

But I'm driving a boat! No, to be precise, a fish! So it's okay even if I've been drinking!

Li Yili held the ship's rudder with her left hand and held a bottle of rum that was only a third full in her right hand, humming a song softly. It should be said that it was indeed rum, the standard accompaniment for pirates. After only two or three sips, she felt a surge of heat rush to her head and her whole body became light and airy.

What deep-sea fear? Li Yili was certain that even if a giant octopus appeared in front of him, he would dare to dance in front of it.

"Jones—"

Li Yili waved her rum at Jones, who was rolling dice on the deck. The sound of the rum echoing in the glass bottle was like the sound of a military whistle, and the pirates playing dice immediately stood up.