Sir! Don't close the net!

Heidi, holding onto the door of the captain's cabin, slowly turned her head to look at Li Yili.

Do you know what you're saying?

“I don’t believe the changes that have occurred to you are a curse,” Li Yili repeated simply.

"Where's the evidence? Don't tell me you found proof that this isn't a curse on your second voyage!"

“I will go look for it next, but I must first confirm one thing: if I find evidence that the changes that have occurred to you are not due to a curse, but something else—” Li Yili’s eyes narrowed slightly.

"But if you continue to go to sea, the fact that your bodies will undergo strange changes will not change at all... What should we do?"

Chapter 47 Instas Museum

Heidi did not answer Li Yili until they returned to the dock. Li Yili did not provoke Heidi further, but instead whistled as she pushed open the door and swung down the rope ladder under the incredulous gazes of the pirates.

"Should we go..."

A pirate stood beside Jones, cautiously raising his hand to ask.

They could understand if the captain's cabin door was closed or if Heidi appeared and said something, but the fact that the captain's cabin door was still open and Heidi didn't come out was rather strange.

Jones crossed his arms and remained silent for a while before raising his head. "The boss has his own opinion. Since Mr. Li Yili left alive, it at least proves that the boss's relationship with Mr. Li Yili didn't deteriorate. So of course, we should just do what we're supposed to do!"

"Uh—so..."

"Go clean the deck! We killed such a huge squid, we need to give the Mercury Queen a good wash! And those gold coins, get rid of them as usual!"

Jones raised his knee and slammed it into the backside of the pirate in front of him.

"Hurry up!"

Once all the pirates had picked up their weapons and started working, Jones lowered his arms, glanced in the direction of the captain's cabin, then looked in the direction Li Yili had left, put his hands on his hips, and shook his head. His hearing was much more acute than that of the average person.

-

“That’s pretty much the situation. I need to go to the Instas Museum. I’ll leave things here in your hands. If anything happens, you can handle it yourself. I trust your abilities,” Li Yili said, patting El on the shoulder.

Upon hearing Li Yili say that she believed in his abilities, El immediately straightened his back and patted his chest vigorously, "Please rest assured and leave it to me!"

“If any problems arise that you can’t solve, just hand them over to Secretary Alma,” Li Yili nodded and put her arm around Alma’s shoulder tightly. “The Flame Elf will do everything she can to help you solve the problem.”

Alma's eyebrows twitched violently, but she still managed to suppress her resentment and push Li Yili's hand away.

There was no other way; Josephine's attitude was that the black goat's cubs had to complete the task smoothly and successfully, and even if they failed, she wouldn't allow any force majeure event to occur that could be blamed on the fire elf.

"Why are you suddenly going to the Instas Museum? Ips is on Austin's side."

"Of course, we'll visit the museum!" Li Yili waved her hand.

"Nobody would believe that."

Alma rolled her eyes, turned and strode toward the Jacobs who were working.

Li Yili shrugged, patted El on the shoulder, and then got into the carriage to arrive at the Instas Museum. Although it was also in the city center, the museum, which was supposed to record and preserve history, was much quieter. Although some people passed by, almost no one went into the magnificent museum to witness the splendor of Instas' history.

Li Yili was not surprised at all. Everyone here was changing their faces all day long to avoid becoming defective products and to create profits for Instas. They had no time to see the history of Instas. Of course, it was better for them not to see it, because they had been using other people's faces as Instas's human batteries and could not leave a trace in history. The purpose of this museum was only to give Austin and his friends a strange ancestor to brag about.

"History is really useful."

After giving a cold laugh, Li Yili dismounted from the carriage, climbed the steps, and stepped into the museum. Her heavy footsteps startled the dozing ticket seller, who stood up and was about to speak when Li Yili waved her hand, "I'm looking for the curator, Ips. He should be here during the day."

The ticket seller was taken aback, and after looking Li Yili up and down, cold sweat broke out on her forehead.

.

Levi-Isti Richard, the man who has been making headlines in the Indianapolis newspaper these past few days, though never explicitly stated, is someone everyone understands. Everyone knows that Austin is targeting Sheep Village Logistics, so they all avoid the Sheep Village Logistics building. And what is known is often more than one thing, such as the relationship between Ips and Austin.

“Let me guess what you’re thinking?” Li Yili reached out and fiddled with the armor placed by the door. “Because you’re afraid of Austin, you want to find some excuse to get rid of me.”

The ticket seller was taken aback, swallowed hard, and turned her eyes away. "What are you saying? I don't understand."

"Ha... I said, I want to see Ips, don't try anything funny."

Li Yili loosened her grip, and the metal fingers of the armor fell heavily. She turned her head and gave Ips a bright smile.

"Or you can take a gamble and see if I've already secretly reconciled with Austin, and if this visit was at Austin's behest."

The ticket seller's face paled, and she bowed slightly to Li Yili before turning around, pushing open the door, and rushing out. Li Yili continued to fiddle with her armor. Soon, heavy but unsteady footsteps came from the depths of the museum. Ips, who looked quite wealthy, slowly emerged from the darkness with his hands behind his back. However, he did not approach Li Yili but stood at the boundary between sunlight and shadow, smiling at her.

"Levi... no, I heard you prefer to be called Li Yili. So, Mr. Li Yili, why did you suddenly come to the Instas Museum and specifically ask to see me?"

Ips stood with his hands behind his back, leaning slightly forward, the sunlight mixed with strange starlight illuminating half of his face.

"If you want to reconcile with Austin... unfortunately, it's no longer a situation where you can simply back down and let it go."

"Oh--"

Ips' face twitched; Li Yili's overly casual attitude had shut down the words he had prepared.

“If there’s nothing serious, Mr. Li Yili, please go back,” Ips said, turning away as if to say the end of the matter.

“Director Ips, have you misunderstood something?” Li Yili raised her armored arm and pointed her middle finger at Ips. “I’m here to discuss a deal that you’re willing to do.”

Ips paused, and after a brief silence, he took off his glasses, pulled out a cleaning cloth from his pocket, and gently wiped them.

“Mr. Li Yili, this is a museum. I am just a small scholar who runs this museum. I have heard that Mr. Li Yili has been spending money extravagantly lately. I am afraid that I cannot afford to do business with you.”

"Scholar—Pfft—"

Ips's eye twitched violently. The fact that Instas was the most learned person was one of his selling points and sources of pride, even though he hadn't done anything that befitted a knowledgeable scholar who helped others resolve their doubts.

"Is there anything funny?"

“No, thinking about it carefully, this isn’t funny at all,” Li Yili pulled out a crown from her backpack and waved it at Ips. “So let’s make a deal that’s in line with your scholar status.”

Chapter Forty-Eight: Melody from the Sea of ​​the Dead

"You bought it from those pirates?"

Ips remained expressionless, seemingly unconcerned about the crown in Li Yili's hand, but his eyes were fixed on it.

“How could that be? In front of pirates, you’re either penniless or about to be penniless,” Li Yili said, gently turning the crown with her fingers on the inside. “Fortunately, the two kidnappings that came to my door made them lower their guard and treat me like a carefree rich man. I became familiar with them and mingled with them. When they opened the box, I volunteered to hide the contents, which was a very simple thing.”

Li Yili raised her arm, and the golden crown fell in a graceful parabola toward Ips. Ips, who had just been acting as if she didn't care at all, immediately reached out and caught the falling crown in a panic.

“They seem to be crooked all the time, so even if you tell them they’re crooked, they won’t suspect anything,” Li Yili said as she walked past Ips with her hands behind her back.

"Hmph—it seems I was your target from the start," Ips pushed up his glasses, carefully holding the crown in his hands, and quickened his pace to overtake Li Yili, only slowing down when he was about an arm's length away.

Li Yili shrugged and didn't say anything.

Led by Ips, Li Yili passed through several extremely perfunctory halls and arrived at the museum's main hall. Upon seeing it, Li Yili was overwhelmed by the absurd atmosphere that hit her, and her breath caught in her throat.

The artifacts forged using techniques from a world he was completely unfamiliar with silently testified to a completely unknown civilization in this hall, leaving the world riddled with holes, to the point that Li Yili had the illusion that he was the intruder.

Seeing Li Yili standing motionless, Ips smiled smugly, and pretended to carry the crown in his hands to the workbench in the center of the hall, which was specially used for appraising heritage. He then placed the crown in the center of the workbench and adjusted the surrounding mirrors in a professional manner.

"Mr. Li Yili, do you know where these crowns came from?"

Ips's deliberately mysterious tone made Li Yili sigh inwardly. As expected of a scholar, he had reached the pinnacle of deception.

If he hadn't already known the inside story from Jones, he would most likely have been fooled by Ips.

Li Yili, with her left hand on her waist, slowly stood in front of a sculpture about the height of a person. Although she had been mentally prepared, the content of the sculpture still made her feel a chill down her spine.

This was a humanoid monster that was half frog and half fish. It seemed that every arc of its body contained an indescribable evil, which made him shudder. But what was even more eerie was that he was very familiar with this sense of horror. It seemed that this was not the first time he had been frightened.

“Since it is the legacy of the ancient gods, it must come from the temple in the Sea of ​​the Dead.”

Li Yili casually answered and then walked to the glass display cases arranged in a triangular pattern. Looking down at the jewelry inside, he saw that, like the crowns, the jewelry was made of some kind of alloy, emitting an unusual light, and also conveying something he shouldn't know but was familiar with.

"Ha—Mr. Li Yili, your answer is just like your behavior, superficial! Utterly superficial! Just like those pirates, it is a desecration for the relics of our ancestors to be brought to the surface by uncouth people like you!"

While Ips was heartbroken, he very inadvertently revealed some shocking secrets.

"Really? Then Mr. Ips must be very generous with his offer."

“That’s right, these relics are the remains of our ancestors. It’s not that you found these relics, but that the sacred place where our ancestors once lived is calling us, leading you to find these relics and bring them to us,” Ips said, brushing the surface of the crown with a small brush, his gaze incredibly profound.

"..."

“We are waiting for an opportunity, an opportunity to return to the Holy Land.”

You absolutely want to finish your lines, right?

Li Yili's lips twitched, and then she looked at Ips, who had been secretly watching, with a face full of astonishment. "How could such a thing be possible!"

Seeing Li Yili looking over, Ips quickly looked away, took off his glasses, and smiled calmly. "You are only living on the surface of this world. Take a good look at everything around you. This is part of the truth of this world. What you see is just our disguise, which is confined within the human body."

I can see you're really into the role.

“So, those pirates are going back to their original forms,” Li Yili said, arms crossed, looking with interest at the half-frog, half-fish statue. “It looks like they’ll return to the Holy Land before you, Mr. Ips.”

"No! They are the exiles!" Ips suddenly stood up. "All that awaits them is eternal exile!"

Wow—is there such a setting?

“Exiled? Forever exiled? This is the first time I’ve ever heard of such a thing. I see them jumping around on the shore every day,” Li Yili said, her eyes darting around.

“Ha—that’s just because the time hasn’t come yet, Mr. Li Yili. Do you know why Eden’s original capital became like that?” Ips laughed coldly. “It’s because they committed a forbidden sin and were banished.”

Original...

Li Yili narrowed her eyes slightly.

The capital of Eden is now called Love Hill. Although they call it the pure and innocent hill of love, it is actually a veritable forest of depravity. In Love Hill, it is normal for men and women not to wear clothes, and they can engage in lovemaking anytime, anywhere.

He had heard of the original capital, which seemed to have suffered a devastating blow for some reason, with almost no one daring to approach it. The Crusaders called it a natural disaster, and no one survived, which was the official explanation. But in Ips's mouth, it became about being exiled, and exiled people, as if to say that there were still living people in Eden's original capital.

The pirates just haven't reached their time yet...

“Eh…no wonder they turned out this way,” Li Yili shrugged. “But Mr. Ips, why do you think you’re a descendant of that ancestor?”

"Hmph—because we can hear the call from the holy land of the Sea of ​​the Dead."

Ips smiled mysteriously, raised his right index finger and tapped the surface of the crown with the pad of his finger, then tapped it with the tip of his finger, then tapped it with the pad of his finger, and then tapped it with the tip of his right finger.

A series of heavy and light taps echoed in the hall filled with bizarre objects.

Li Yili, with his eyes slanted, knew that all of this was just Ips and his group making up stories. He just wanted to complain that they were quite well-prepared, but to avoid arousing Ips' suspicion, he could only cooperate by showing a blank expression and unconsciously tapping along with his fingers wrapped around his arm.

Sinking, light, sinking, light

Sink, sink, sink

Sink, sink

light