Sir! Don't close the net!

“Because the prestige of the Crusades is more effective than any barrier,” Li Yili immediately added, “so the incident in Thorn City was caused by your Crusades, right?”

Abel's eye twitched. "The Crusade has not done anything to harm Thorn City."

"Knowing what will happen but doing nothing is no different from causing harm."

This time, Abel remained silent.

Li Yili tilted her chin and turned her face away, no longer staring into Abel's eyes. "Of course, I'm not trying to accuse you of anything. After all, that was more than ten years ago. Back then, you were probably still picking up mud from the ground to eat."

“I would never pick up mud from the ground and eat it,” Abel retorted helplessly.

"Haha—who knows, people always subconsciously forget things that make them unhappy now, stupid things they did in the past, and the innocence of their youth," Li Yili shrugged.

"When you think back to the innocence of your youth, you'll mostly remember the stupid things you couldn't accept."

"So don't worry about it, I've forgotten a lot too."

Abel felt a bit overwhelmed. He was certain that Li Yili was simply using his troubles to amuse herself. Although he didn't dislike such troubles, he hoped that Li Yili would tone down her attempt to kill time if possible, but that was obviously impossible.

Chapter Seventy-Nine: Once Upon a Time There Was a Serious and Real Game

The capital city is the core of a country and a piece of land. It is no exaggeration to say that the capital city represents the prosperity and development of a country and a piece of land. Other places may not be rich, but the capital city must be rich!

Hagen, the capital of the Nibelungs and one of the world's wealthiest cities, is a colossal metropolis built atop hundreds of temples, resembling a castle.

Rahu, the capital of the ancient Vedic civilization, is known as the most sacred city in the world, but it is more of a holy site for pilgrimage than a city.

Millennium, the capital of the wasteland, is known as the most developed city in the world. Numerous universities and countless factories constantly prove to the world that ordinary people can also reach realms that only the favored by the gods can attain.

The capital of Eden is a rather delicate matter.

Because only Eden's capital was destroyed and rebuilt, and the styles of the two capitals were completely opposite, like two sides of a coin—one like a pilgrimage through thorns, the other a complete abandonment of self—people's attitudes toward Eden and the Crusades were polar opposites.

When the capital was Thorns, the most frequent reports about Eden were about a nobleman or official from Thorns who was whipped by Thorns for problematic words and deeds, or someone who couldn't stand life in Thorns and wanted to be an ordinary person but secretly hid a huge fortune, or used their power to create a place where they could become a local tyrant, and then got thrown into prison.

When the capital was Singapore, the most common news was that someone from Galar Horn participated in Singapore's silver party, someone from Millennium was found to have engaged in group sex in Singapore, and someone from Black Gate and Heavenly Sect was found to have committed adultery in Singapore during the day. However, this was not news of condemnation, but rather encouragement and propaganda.

Because Po is a forest of freedom, it promotes that people should not hide their true selves with a fig leaf, and the act of procreation is praiseworthy.

"This is...the Thorns?"

Li Yili put down her binoculars and sighed.

Time has not been able to cover up a single speck of dust on the pristine white walls, which are now covered with huge cracks. Dark green thorns grow from these cracks, devouring the white walls along the tiny fissures.

The massive, crisscrossing thorns within the city completely obscured the original appearance of the former capital of Eden, Thorn Tree. Even when viewed through a telescope from a high vantage point, one could only barely make out the spire of the castle in the center of Eden, known as the Apple Tree.

"It's like a botanical garden that hasn't been tended to in a long time."

The living space of beautiful plants has been completely taken over. The barbaric and vulgar thorns that were supposed to protect the beautiful plants have invaded everything, even swallowing up their wielders.

"like

"If I were a thorn lover, I would definitely give your Cross Expeditionary Force an award for being the best at planting thorns," Li Yili raised her elbow and nudged Abel, who was standing next to her with a suitcase on his back.

“These thorns…have nothing to do with the Crusades,” Abel said, looking down at his head with a hint of helplessness.

"Indeed, it would turn into this if left unattended, but I never expected it to grow this big. It's truly astonishing."

Li Yili laughed and patted Abel on the shoulder before sliding down the slope. Abel hesitated for a moment before jumping down and sliding down the slope as well. Watching Li Yili's stumbling figure, occasionally running forward and jumping to adjust her balance, Abel felt hesitant and troubled.

With just a push or a pull, Li Yili's adventure would end with a few broken bones. As a chosen one of the gods, he could conceal this meaning very well. Until the very end, Abel did not reach out his hand, but followed behind Li Yili like a servant, all the way to the city of thorns.

If even the walls were breached, the city gates naturally wouldn't have escaped unscathed.

Looking up and down at the Thorn City gates, which seemed about to burst from the thorns, Li Yili thought of a game she had played before. The premise was that a kingdom was cursed by a witch, all its citizens fell into a deep sleep, the entire city was swallowed by thorns, and monsters roamed the streets. Only by defeating the witch could the curse of sleep be lifted.

The protagonist, an adventurer, is determined to save the kingdom.

Of course, the idea that only defeating the witch can break the sleeping spell is a very intriguing claim. Since the sleep is caused by a spell, it cannot be awakened by normal means; splashing water or striking it will all be ineffective.

In other words, taking their valuables and carrying them by the legs with the hammer of justice won't wake them up, but how can the protagonist, who wants to save the kingdom, do such a thing?

Ah... if you were only after money and fame in the first place, then it's alright.

The hammer of justice!

In short, it's an ancient yet realistic game.

Li Yili's favorite games are realistic ones.

The current state of Thorn City is very similar to the game he played back then. However, considering Ips's words and the situation of the pirates as the comparison, he has no expectations for the group in Thorn City who did not escape.

"I'm telling you, the future is already decided, sir."

"What's wrong, Mr. Sole Ruler?"

"What kind of state are the people in here in?" Li Yili raised her hand and pointed to the city gate in front of her that had been burst open by thorns. "Although you may have been eating mud back then, you should have heard about it and know a little bit about it."

"I didn't eat..."

Abel instinctively wanted to correct Li Yili's statement, but when he thought about how he had already corrected her many times before, but each time Li Yili would say that he ate mud, he gave up on this pointless attempt to correct her.

After weighing his options, Abel pinched the bridge of his nose.

"They appear to be asleep, but—"

Before Abel could finish speaking, Li Yili had already raised her hand and pressed it heavily on his shoulder, her black eyes widening in her gold-red gradient eyes.

"Let's go inside quickly!"

"what?"

"I can't take it one more minute! Candidate Abel, hurry up and cut through these thorns and get in!"

Abel's eye twitched violently. For some reason, he felt an overwhelming urge to drag Li Yili back to Instas.

"You're going in anyway, right? Hurry up and do it! If you're too late, you'll miss your chance!"

Li Yili's urging made Abel increasingly uneasy, but Li Yili was right about this matter.

After hesitating for a long time, Abel rubbed his forehead, raised his hand and waved, then walked around Li Yili and stood in front of the door that had been burst open by thorns. He stretched out his hands and placed them on the thorns, slowly inserting his fingers into the crisscrossing gaps, sliding them up and down once, then Abel's eyes narrowed slightly.

"Yes, this is it."

As he spoke, Abel pulled hard to both sides with both hands, squeezing the thorns to the sides, and a narrow and dark path appeared in front of Abel.

Li Yili, standing behind Abel, raised an eyebrow.

"That's it?"

Chapter 80: If you can't get up there, it's just empty talk.

That's it?

Abel was almost driven mad by Li Yili's suspicious tone.

“I thought you’d pull out a sword and cut a path through, or just unleash a beam of light to clear a way. Oh right! Didn’t you smash out a super big cross before? Why didn’t you just shoot it at this city gate?” Li Yili poked Abel’s back with her finger.

“First of all, I didn’t wear the Sin Armor this time. Secondly, these are not ordinary thorns. Nobody knows what will happen if you cut them with a sword or destroy them directly,” Abel took a deep breath and turned his head with a forced smile. “So we can only try to gently push these thorns aside and squeeze out gaps to make a way.”

"If you don't know what will happen if you try to cut it with a sword, then why don't you just try it?"

Faced with Li Yili's question, Abel fell silent.

After a long while, Abel slowly spoke, “No one can guarantee what will happen if you use a sword to destroy the thorns. Maybe nothing will happen, or maybe something worse will happen.”

“That’s true, but is there really anything worse than this?” Li Yili raised her head toward the city gate in front of her, which was being torn apart by thorns.

For the inhabitants of Thorn City…

Abel was taken aback, unsure how to answer. Li Yili simply reached into the suitcase behind Abel and pulled out a dagger. She then forcefully turned Abel toward the gates of Thorn City. Before Abel could ask Li Yili what she was planning to do, Li Yili had already thrown the dagger away.

The gleaming dagger pierced a thicker thorn, the thinner thorn that had been severed hanging down.

Early in the morning, Li Yili, who was hiding behind Abel, cautiously peeked out.

There were no shrill screams, and the thorns didn't attack them like snakes; nothing unexpected happened.

“See? There’s no problem at all,” Li Yili wiped the sweat from her forehead and stood next to Abel, placing her left hand on Abel’s shoulder and raising her right hand to wave at the city gate that had been burst open by thorns in front of them.

Abel's eye twitched violently, but if something happened, he might be the one in trouble.

Abel let out a soft breath and, with a complex mix of emotions, reached out and pulled the dagger from the thorns.

"It's true... nothing happened."

"If you understand, then hurry up and make your way! The future is already decided, sir. Cutting a path directly is much faster than you dawdling and trying to squeeze one out yourself—"

After saying that, Li Yili quickly retreated, stopping when she was about six meters away, and waved to Abel with a bright smile.

Abel, gripping the dagger, turned to look at Li Yili, opened his mouth as if to speak, but then hesitated. In the end, he gave up, lowered his head, reversed his grip on the dagger, and raised his arm toward the thorns in front of him.

A blinding light fell, and the twisted thorns snapped and fell to the ground.

Li Yili whistled.

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.

Bert stared blankly at the rainbow-colored voucher in front of him. The congratulations and jealous shouts around him gradually faded away, and the faces of the people around him became blurred. In the end, his world was blank, leaving only him and the rainbow-colored voucher in front of him.

This is a voucher for the "Mission Accomplished Wishing Bottle".

Of course he knew.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have come to the entrance of the Yang Logistics Building with his receipts and stood in that intestine-shaped queue.

And he succeeded without a doubt, unlike an ordinary person who would draw a bunch of soap and washbasins; in other people's terms, he got it in one shot.

Bert glanced at the unused tickets in his palm, then at the lottery machine in front of him, and suddenly felt that everything was meaningless.

"Mr. Bert, Mr. Bert?"

The slight shaking brought Bert back to his senses from that white world, and he looked at Abu Jean in front of him with some confusion.

"Mr. Bert, you're very lucky! Not only did you get the Mission Accomplishment Wish Bottle voucher on your very first single draw, but you also happen to have one Mission Accomplishment Wish Bottle left!" Seeing that Bert had finally come to his senses, Abu Jean immediately waved his arms excitedly. "Mr. Bert, you can throw your Mission Accomplishment Wish Bottle into the Sea of ​​the Dead today and send it to the surface of the sea!"

Bert was somewhat bewildered, but the envious and jealous gazes from those around him made him subconsciously put on a happy and surprised expression.

“Mr. Labbert, this is your wish bottle that will fulfill your mission!”

Abu Jean solemnly handed the "Wish Bottle: Mission Accomplished" to Bert.

Bert instinctively shrank his neck and stretched out his hands.

So light—

This was Bert's first reaction upon catching the wishing bottle that promised to fulfill his mission.