Sir! Don't close the net!

From kicking the Thorn King away to carrying the Thorn Princess away, the whole sequence of actions was executed flawlessly, as if it had been planned from the very beginning.

But it's strange, wasn't it the golden spindle that caused the Thorn King's corpse to react? Li Yili's actions were practically a way of saying that taking the Thorn Princess away would cause some kind of danger.

A withered hand suddenly reached out from the bed and slammed heavily onto it. With a crisp cracking sound, the Thorn King's corpse suddenly stood up. His hair, which hung down like weeds, rose up to reveal his eyes. His right eye was empty like an abyss, while his left eye was fitted with a turbid eyeball.

Abel's body suddenly leaned forward, and as soon as he raised his hand, the entire room began to shake violently. Countless pebbles fell, and the dark green thorns smashed through the walls, crisscrossing and shattering the entire room. The Thorn King's corpse then suddenly turned and rushed out.

But his movements were incredibly stiff, like a puppet controlled by strings. Moreover, this puppeteer was not one who cherished puppets; his actions were extremely rough. So much so that the Thorn King was not so much charging forward as he was being thrown away by someone, and the direction in which the Thorn King was thrown was exactly the direction in which Li Yili was running.

Now, even a fool can figure out the situation.

"That guy!!!"

Abel grabbed the golden spindle from the bed and chased after him.

Chapter Eighty-Eight: Quick! Let him rest in peace!

"Boom boom—"

Huge thorns crisscrossed downwards, shattering the majestic spire, and causing the steps and walls to crumble. Gravel and dust chased after Li Yili like waves.

"Hey! Can't you explain some physics?! Your understanding of this—"

Before Li Yili could finish speaking, she felt a gust of evil wind coming from behind her. She quickly arched her back, and the dried-up Thorn King was lashed over her head like a whip and slammed heavily into the wall.

Li Yili subconsciously glanced back, and it would have been better if she hadn't looked. Once she did, she felt a chill run down her spine.

The Thorn King, resembling a dried-up corpse, crawled out of the large pit in the wall like a spider, his limbs twisting like withered wood. His brown and shriveled head slowly turned.

Li Yili swallowed hard.

Don't panic. After all, humans are upright animals, and their body structure is not suitable for four-limb movement. Moreover, the Thorn King's muscles are so thin that they are just skin and bones. How could he possibly move like an arthropod?

"—"

The Thorn King suddenly opened his mouth and let out a strange cry. His body and legs were parallel to the wall, his knees bent and he landed on the wall, his dry fingers sinking deep into the ground.

"Damn it—it really does look a bit like a bug! Why don't you crawl over there—I'll go!"

Before Li Yili could finish speaking, the Thorn King retaliated with terrifying speed, chasing after her along the wall. This reminded Li Yili of the fear that had terrified her when she was suddenly startled by an insect that accelerated.

Just as the Thorn King lunged at Li Yili like a facehugger, Abel leaped up from the side and delivered a powerful knee strike to the Thorn King's waist, slamming him directly into the wall. A terrifying shockwave swept out, and the wall caved in heavily, with the Thorn King at the center, sending countless fragments of rock flying.

Seeing the Thorn King still writhing beneath his knees, Abel reached out, but gritted his teeth and kicked the Thorn King away. He then turned and chased after Li Yili, shouting, "Hey—Levi's Ist. Richard! Put the Thorn Princess down! As long as you put her down, everything will be fine!"

Li Yili turned to look at Abel, then at the golden spindle that Abel was clutching tightly in his left hand. "Candidate Abel! Don't make false accusations! It's clear that these thorns went berserk because you took this golden spindle! Give it back!"

Abel stumbled and nearly fell to the ground.

"You bastard! Still saying things like that! That Thorn King is after you!"

"When a child decides to go out and explore the world, parents will definitely feel a little excited!"

Before Li Yili could finish speaking, a loud explosion came from the crater that Abel had created earlier. The Thorn King, whose body was twisted beyond recognition, flew out and landed heavily on the steps, chasing after them like an insect.

"See? I'm getting a little excited!"

"Is this a little bit?! Are you crazy?!"

Li Yili gritted her teeth, and her left hand, which was supporting the Thorn Princess's waist, gradually tightened.

He certainly wasn't crazy, and if he could, he wouldn't want to take such extreme measures, but this was his only chance.

According to the Thorn King's diary, the Thorn Princess was perfect.

If the person lying on the bed was just a well-marinated, dried-up corpse, he would have simply concluded with, "Oh, so this is how it turned out. Cults are harmful." But to his dismay, the Thorn Princess was not only not a dried-up corpse, but she was also alive and well, with fair and rosy skin. After examining her closely, he was certain that this was not a hallucination.

The King of Thorns called his daughter perfect.

In the eyes of the Thorn King, the body is corrupted and the spirit is polluted.

The real Thorn Princess should have already left her physical body, escaped the pollution of her spirit, and gone to a world that they could not observe.

Considering that the King of Thorns believes the Princess of Thorns will lead them, and the current state of Thorn City.

Dream!

The world that the Thorn King could not observe was the world of dreams!

Princess Thorn exists in the world of dreams along with everyone in Thorn City!

I must be crazy.

Li Yili felt numb to the series of speculations he had made, but the facts were right in front of him, and he could only accept them. Anyway, there were so many things in this world that he couldn't understand, so one more wouldn't make a difference!

The remaining question is, what was the Thorn Princess doing in the dream?!

Finally free from the observation of the Thorn King, they can live freely.

It's definitely not that simple!

Under the Thorn King's "tutelage," could the Thorn Princess be content with merely liberating Thorn City? Has the Thorn Princess ever considered a counterattack to liberate everyone in the reality they observe? If going to the Dream World is truly a blissful thing, why did the people of Aipo escape? Judging from the state of the several people lying on the ground in the hall and the progress of the report, they clearly had no idea they would be liberated today; it was the Thorn Princess who dragged them into the Dream World!

Princess Thorn's body is a clue, and this exaggerated display also illustrates a point.

Princess Thorn desperately needed this extra piece of flesh that King Thorn had forcibly stuffed into her body.

This must be stopped.

For some reason, even now, when many things are still in doubt, Li Yili has already made a judgment.

"It's just a dried-up corpse! Aren't you a priest?! How can you bear to see him die with his eyes wide open?! Hurry up and let him rest in peace!"

Li Yili roared.

"If I really helped you eliminate him, then he would truly die with his eyes wide open in disbelief!"

Abel glanced back instinctively, and in that moment of distraction, the wall on one side was breached from the inside. Amidst the flying dust, arms emerged and slapped Abel across the face.

Abel's golden-red eyes narrowed slightly, then he raised his hand and grabbed and pulled, throwing three or four people away, including Vera, the researcher who should have been lying in the hall.

The people who were thrown out were slapped back by the thorns and immediately dropped to the ground, chasing after Li Yili with creepy movements like attacking spiders.

"Damn it! I kindly helped you up, and this is how you treat me!"

Li Yili cursed and jumped to the left to dodge Vera's attack. Looking at the strangely folded legs under the coat, Li Yili felt a chill run down his spine. Even the most beautiful things presented to him in this way only made him feel a sense of disgust, like looking at spider legs.

"Wait... all of you have suddenly appeared—"

Li Yili turned her head and saw that the huge thorns were swinging and driven into the ground like the limbs of a monster. On each thorn, large patches of black things were moving in extremely strange directions, rapidly gathering in their direction.

Those were the inhabitants of Thorn City.

Chapter 89 This is already mine! Even Jesus couldn't have saved it!

A giant hand descended from the sky, and the spider, which was weaving its web, didn't even have time to dodge before it had a close encounter with the ship's mast. Loves with vastly different values ​​often come at a great price, but the outcome is always good; at least they are together forever, inseparable.

Jones picked up a rag and wiped it vigorously, making the mast clean again, while the half-finished spider web was casually knocked away.

Even the smallest spider, using the finest silk, cannot weave a complete web in a place with many people; it's nothing short of a fantasy. Once it reaches a certain scale, it will attract the attention of those around it.

Spider webs are symbols of decay and ruin. The only thing that awaits a spider is to slap it to death and then snatch away its web. To form a complete spider web under human gaze is something that can only be done in dreams unless one does it intentionally.

"It's only been a few days, and it's already covered in spider webs. Our Mercury Queen isn't old yet."

Jones muttered something in frustration and looked up toward the captain's cabin. After pacing back and forth for a while, Jones gritted his teeth and slowly made his way up the stairs to the wheelhouse. He then peered into the captain's cabin, whose door had never been closed since Li Yili left.

After his eyes flickered for a while, Jones crossed his arms, turned his back to the captain's cabin, and walked backwards, inching his way to the door of the captain's cabin to avoid seeing anything he shouldn't see.

Jones, who felt they were almost at the captain's cabin door, coughed and said, "Hey, boss, are you alright?"

"what happened?"

Jones was taken aback; Heidi's voice was...

The clarity and sharpness were unmatched, without a trace of listlessness or confusion, just as always, no, even more so, as it was during the time when she was known as the Pirate Empress.

"No—it's just that you haven't made any moves these past few days, so I'm a little worried. I'd also like to report on Mr. Li Yili's situation."

Jones exhaled and turned to look. Heidi was sitting in a coral-carved chair, gazing intently at the nautical chart that occupied the entire wall, covered with dense stitches. Beside Heidi was an old sharkskin.

Jones immediately understood.

"Mr. Li Yili should have arrived in Thorn City by now, to find evidence that the changes in us are not a curse."

“Jones, do you think this is important?” Heidi’s gaze never left the nautical chart on the wall for a moment.

Jones paused for a moment, then shrank his neck, scratched the back of his head, and forced an awkward smile onto his strange and ugly face. "Actually... I don't care."

“Don’t you care about the residents of Instas… no, don’t you care what other people think of you?” Heidi’s eyelids drooped slightly.

“Well… boss, it might sound strange if I say this, but we’re pirates. Anyway, a lot of people dislike us and ostracize us. So what if one more ugly person comes along?” Jones grumbled and put down his right hand that was scratching the back of his head. “Besides, Mr. Li Yili doesn’t care about our appearance.”

The moment Li Yili was mentioned, Heidi's expression became somewhat strained. She couldn't help but recall that night when she revealed a side of herself that she had never shown to anyone else to Li Yili, and inevitably, a slight blush appeared on Heidi's face.

Even for Heidi Serra, it was an adventure far too thrilling.

Then Li Yili simply took action, not only tearing off one of her scales but also commenting, "Disgusting."

Come to think of it... that bastard even took that scale with him!

In an instant, Heidi's face turned cold, which made Jones, who had just seen Heidi blush and was about to tease her, immediately shut his mouth. He looked serious and muttered a few words such as "Mr. Li Yili is really too much" and "How could he do this?" before raising his finger with a serious expression.

"So, boss, what should we do?"

Heidi's eyes narrowed slightly, and after a brief silence, she held her forehead.

"Well... I haven't thought about it yet."

“But we’ve thought it through,” Jones said, hands on his hips, his striking eyes revealing unwavering honesty. “Boss, it’s up to you. We don’t have any grand ambitions; we just want to live the same life as before. Wherever you point, we’ll go. If you think life is good now, we’re happy too.”

Jones chuckled and raised his finger.

"I always felt that Mr. Li Yili was a very interesting person. If he continues like this, he probably won't get bored."

Heidi gently gathered her fingers and turned to look out the window.

"Indeed...it won't be boring."

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.

"I'm never bored with you, Mr. Sovereign!"

Using Li Yili as a shield, Abel, wary of the Thorn City residents who were gradually approaching them with spider-like movements, twitched his lips and his fingers opened and closed repeatedly.

If all the Thorn Dwellers were a dried-up corpse like the Thorn King, then he would certainly dismember them without hesitation. But apart from the Thorn King, everyone was alive, injured, and bleeding, with their hearts still beating. He personally witnessed a resident's hand being rubbed raw and bloody due to a strange movement.

“I’m honored to add a little color to your boring life, sir, whose future is already set,” Li Yili said, lifting the Thorn Princess’s body up slightly and wrapping her left arm around the princess’s knees, keeping a watchful eye on their surroundings.