Sir! Don't close the net!

Only a few hours had passed! A life-or-death decision was placed before him!

Joey covered his face and remained silent for a while before recovering. He staggered back to the Fire Elf Steelworks office, where Josephine was sitting with her legs crossed, filing her nails. She looked to be in a very good mood, clearly having returned victorious from a battle.

But this victory marked the beginning of an even more difficult and inescapable battle that followed.

Joey forced a smile, clinging to his last hope as he tentatively asked, "Minister, it seems your conversation with Mr. Austin went very... smoothly."

“Of course, Joey, you should have seen how sullen that fat pig looked when I left,” Josephine laughed smugly. “Although I don’t know where he hired his chosen one, he’s nothing to be afraid of.”

Ah... it's all over...

The war of Instasus is about to begin.

Joey stumbled back a few steps, his smile gradually turning bitter.

Josephine immediately sensed something was wrong, her expression turning serious. "What happened?"

After much hesitation, Joey decided to abandon the unfounded and purely intuitive view that everything was orchestrated by Li Yili, and rationally explained the current situation and his own speculations to Josephine.

Josephine sat up straight, interlaced her fingers, and her eyes gradually sharpened.

"What should we do, Minister?" Joey asked, barely suppressing his inner turmoil.

“Calm down, Joey. This was bound to happen sooner or later,” Josephine breathed softly and sneered. “I knew this day would come from the beginning. If the foundation hadn’t been unstable back then, I would never have agreed to let them handle that wastewater.”

Seeing that Josephine remained calm and even seemed poised to retaliate against Bishop Azawi, Joey felt much more at ease and cautiously probed, "But there must be an agreement between the Galar Horn and Bishop Azawi..."

“Aren’t agreements meant to be broken?” Josephine snorted. “Anyway, it’s all shady stuff. Does it matter whether it’s us or Bishop Azawi? Those guys from the Galar Horn… are too good at this kind of thing.”

"Minister, what do you mean...?"

“I’ve tolerated both Bishop Azawi and Austin for too long. This is an opportunity,” Josephine suddenly stood up, a glint of malice in her fiery red eyes. “It’s time to replace Instas.”

"They've got it."

Joey felt as if a flame was burning in his heart. It wasn't just him; the fire elves had been enduring this for a long time. Ever since they settled in Instas, Bishop Azavet had suppressed them, and Austin had even dared to ride roughshod over them.

Just as Joey was about to speak, Li Yili's eyes flashed through his mind. Almost instinctively, Joey turned his head to look, but there was no one behind him.

"What's wrong with you?" Josephine asked, somewhat displeased that Joey wasn't going along with her declaration.

"No, it's... what about Li Yili in Montenegro? It seems he went to investigate the factory where Bishop Azawi manufactures the potion, could it be..."

Before Joey could finish speaking, Josephine crossed her arms and smiled with satisfaction. "Levi's Est. Richard is much more sensible than I expected."

Joey was taken aback.

Knowing what's good for her? He couldn't see any sense of goodwill at all. He even thought Li Yili was sinister, so sinister that even without any evidence, he couldn't figure out why Li Yili was doing this. But he had a feeling that the situation of the fire elf and Bishop Azavet being confronted head-on was orchestrated by Li Yili.

"It's surprising that he came so quickly to pledge his loyalty, and even risked attracting Bishop Azawi's attention. But that's understandable, since he was blocked by the candidate for the Crusader Executor."

Showing loyalty? Li Yili? Did she?

I have a feeling he's just trying to fool people.

Joey stared blankly at Josephine, who was nodding with a satisfied smile. Recalling Li Yili's entire demeanor, she stiffly raised her hand, "Um... Minister, you didn't see Li Yili's face..."

“What? They’ve come all the way to our headquarters in person, isn’t that enough of a show of sincerity?” Josephine raised an eyebrow. “He could have easily used Black Goat and Dela Pal to put us in our place, but he didn’t.”

“Ahem—Minister, weren’t you furious yesterday because Li Yili and Austin teamed up?” Joey coughed heavily, his expression subtle.

Josephine calmly raised her hand and waved it, "The idea that Li Yili and Austin are working together is just our baseless speculation. Austin's malice towards Li Yili is real. He is willing to spend money to hire a chosen one to put pressure on me. If it were an act, the cost would be too high."

"This……"

Joey hesitated, then stopped. To be honest, at this point, he didn't care at all whether Li Yili and Austin had joined forces. The only thing he cared about was whether this was truly just an isolated incident or whether Li Yili was in charge. But judging from Josephine's expression, she didn't seem to think that Li Yili was in charge of this conflict. He understood Josephine's thoughts. In fact, if he were in Josephine's shoes, after hearing the whole story, he would have the same attitude as Josephine.

Unfortunately, he was a witness, but if he continued to dwell on the matter, Josephine might start to suspect that he had gone mad.

"Minister, what should we do? Our position in Instas Austin is very secure."

In the end, Joey decided to give up thinking about it.

"Of course, we'll completely transform Instasus, corrupting everyone within it—"

Josephine laughed coldly.

Meanwhile, having obtained the address from Joyna, Li Yili arrived at the location where Bishop Asawi was making masks and potions that circulated in Instas.

This place is close to the Dead Coast, just like his lighthouse. However, his lighthouse is on a cliff, while Bishop Azavet's workshop is half embedded in the rock wall, with only the front visible and the back completely hidden. Technically, it is not at all like Bishop Azavet's style.

However, the surface of the processing plant was almost entirely covered with moss, and the exposed parts were almost all corroded.

This aligns with what Abel said: it decided for itself what it was, and they would not interfere.

Li Yili observed from a distance for a while.

Because it wasn't a shady business, the processing plant didn't have many security guards. Carriages with the same trademarks would come and go from time to time, mostly carrying goods to shops selling potions and masks in various corners of Instas.

"Infiltrating... seems impossible, forcing our way in... forget it."

After much hesitation, Li Yili decided to go back to her ex.

Chapter Fifty-Six: Wearing Paper Bags, We're All the Same

"Wow—you're actually still here—I'm a little embarrassed."

Abel, who was drinking hot tea, suddenly turned his head with a forced smile towards Li Yili, who was standing next to him with her hands behind her back, leaning forward with a rather affected expression.

"I'm a patient person, but I thought the next time I'd see you would be tomorrow when you walk down this road."

“That’s not patience, that’s perversion,” Li Yili straightened up, slowly walked to the opposite side of Abel, pulled out a chair, sat down sideways, rested her left elbow on the table, and tapped the surface with her fingers. “So, Mr. Future Promising, is there anything you want to confess? Don’t worry, I will absolutely not tell anyone.”

“Mr. Li Yili, your expression right now is very unbelievable,” Abel put down his hot tea and tilted his head to the side of the road. “The current situation is not suitable for me to repent.”

Li Yili raised an eyebrow slightly. The flow of people was as constant as ever, but he could clearly feel gazes falling on him and then looking away. These weren't spies sent by Austin or Josephine to test him. Neither Austin nor Josephine had taken him seriously. From beginning to end, their only enemy was each other. Now that they had laid their cards on the table and stopped pretending, it was naturally all...

We must do everything in our power to deal with the opponent.

That was just the curious gaze of ordinary people.

This is not a good thing, because it means that everyone is witnessing his actions. At least informants will selectively report important information to the boss and will not make arbitrary judgments, but ordinary people will not.

Never doubt the imagination and communication abilities of ordinary people.

"It seems Mr. Li Yili, you're doing quite well in Instas, since so many Instas residents know you."

Abel raised the corners of his mouth, a smile that was not just one of praise, but also of sarcasm.

“In this Indianapolis, having your face known to the public is not a good thing,” Li Yili sneered. “Abel candidate, you know what I mean.”

Abel lowered the corners of his mouth, but did not say a word, as if he were mute.

Seeing that Abel answered her question with silence, Li Yili raised her head and stopped looking at Abel. "But you're right, I'm too famous and very unsociable. It's really not appropriate for me to talk when so many people are watching me."

"Then let's try another one..."

Abel placed his hands on the table and had just gotten off his seat when a square paper bag was pushed in front of him. Abel was full of questions and was about to ask when Li Yili, who was sitting opposite him, whistled and put another square paper bag on her head, pulling it down to cover her face.

Abel's mouth dropped open. He could clearly feel the crowd in Instas pause for a moment, and the gazes directed at them became piercing.

Abel understood what Li Yili meant, so he thought Li Yili had lost her mind. Li Yili's actions would only draw more attention to their side.

"Are you really going to do this?" Abel suppressed his speechlessness, sat down, and lowered his voice.

"Huh? Oh, sorry, sorry, I forgot."

Just when Abel thought Li Yili would take the ridiculous paper bag off, Li Yili raised her hand and poked two holes in the paper bag with two sharp slaps.

"Is this alright?"

Abel's elbow buckled, and he nearly crashed headfirst into the table.

He didn't even have the courage to look the eyes on the paper bag in the eye.

“Candidate Abel, is this too much trouble for you?” Li Yili raised her little finger and drew a slit in the mouth.

Abel's lips twitched, he let out a long breath, and, suppressing his shame, picked up the paper bag from the table and put it on his head.

Darkness instantly enveloped all the light in Abel's eyes, but for some reason, Abel suddenly felt a strange sense of peace, and the world seemed to have become quiet.

Li Yili didn't speak, and neither did Abel. Time flowed by slowly. Abel could clearly feel that the gazes falling on them had changed, and the emotions contained within them were peeling away. There was no longer any envy or jealousy, only pure curiosity.

They only glanced at the two people sitting there with paper bags on their backs.

Abel suddenly realized that all the residents of Instas remembered was Li Yili's face. Even if the clothes were the same, they wouldn't recognize Li Yili if they couldn't see her face.

“Your way of thinking always surprises me, no, it’s more like it’s blinding,” Abel sighed, waving his hand. “Why do you choose this attention-grabbing method when there are clearly better ways?”

"Really? I think they're well hidden among the people of Instas."

Li Yili raised her hand and tapped Abel's eyes, her knuckles bending to pry a hole in the paper bag. Sunlight, mixed with strange starlight, leaked through the hole into Abel's golden-red gradient eyes.

"Go see for yourself."

Abel remained silent for a while, then slowly raised his hand and tore open the paper bag at his eyes, looking at the Instas residents walking across the street.

After gazing at her for a long time, Abel turned his head to look at Li Yili, who was sitting opposite him wearing a paper bag.

"Yes, indeed... they've hidden themselves very well among them."

"Tell me, when they cry, do their tears fall straight down their faces or down their masks?" Li Yili asked casually, resting her chin on her hand.

"Who is crying? Who is laughing? Is it the person wearing the mask? Or the mask itself?"

Abel did not speak.

“Ah~ The people who make these masks don’t care about this at all. Every one of them is just a human battery. If they could, they probably wouldn’t even bother selling the masks and the potion. They could just give each person a paper bag like this,” Li Yili scoffed.

"However, people aren't so easy to control. People can think, so they prepared a dump called the Maosai District, calling those who couldn't become their batteries defective products and kicking them all into the dump, making most of the Instars give up thinking and strive to become a qualified battery."

"Haha—what do they take people for?"

Abel loosened his grip, and his shoulders slumped slightly.

"Hey, hey, hey—you're wearing a mask that nobody recognizes, and you're still holding back," Li Yili tilted her head, "Aren't you tired?"

“Levi’s Est. Richard, you don’t understand, you don’t comprehend. There are some things that you shouldn’t even guess. There are things in this world that you have to keep hidden even if you have to erase humanity.”

Abel raised his hand and pressed it against the paper bag above his head. His fingers tightened, and the flat paper bag wrinkled around Abel's palm.

"Anyway, it's all for themselves, status, wealth, ah~ these things are just too wonderful."

Alright~

"No—" Abel jumped to his feet, tearing the paper bag to shreds with a ripping sound. "It was for everyone!"

Li Yili raised her hand and pushed the paper bag up, revealing half of her face.