Mystery: The Witch of Desire

Before shuttling back to Damir Harbor, she removed the mirror mark she had left in Backlund and left the extra one in a cabin on the Marlin.

At that moment, Livre sensed the position of the homing beacon on the Marlin:

It remained in the same spot, not moving.

Livre's heart sank. This was not a good sign. Did the disease prevent the passengers from leaving? Or was the Marlin too badly damaged to continue its voyage?

After thinking for a moment, Livre wrote a letter of complaint, clearly describing the current location of the Marlin and the details of its hijacking by pirates, intending to deliver the letter to the naval base in Damir Harbor.

While it's hard to expect them to send effective rescue forces immediately, at least it gives us a little more hope.

After writing the letter, Livre tidied her clothes and prepared to go out.

She changed out of her storm-soaked clothes and into a sleeveless vest and flesh-colored shirt, paired with a breathable leather skirt that fell below her knees—a cool and comfortable outfit for the tropics.

"Livia, your skirt is too short, it's impossible for me to hide..."

Little Whitey protested by sticking out its tongue.

Livre simply smiled and told Xiaobai to figure it out himself.

She had originally planned to wear a pair of black stockings with her legs, but she couldn't find any stockings in her suitcase.

Left with no other choice, she had to change into a pair of white, knee-high linen socks.

After packing, Livre went to the Damir harbor naval camp, tied a stone and a pound note to the letter, and threw it into the camp.

On her way back, Livre stopped by the Loon Commercial Bank in Damir Port and discovered that her anonymous account had received a huge sum of £3700.

Danny really did transfer all the money!

Now, Livre's savings reached £6075, 12 sous, and 23 pence, far exceeding the historical high!

It seems killing pirates is really profitable...

Livre noticed a subtle shift in her mindset. Before, she had been cautiously trying to avoid pirates; now, she wished more pirates would be delivered right to her doorstep. Of course, someone as powerful as the Disease Admiral was out of the question.

Back at the hotel, Livre sensed the mirror mark left on the Marlin. After some effort, she managed to detect the area around the mirror where the mark was located: there was no danger.

Afterwards, Livre performed a divination to confirm that there was little danger in traveling back to the Gunfish.

So she took a deep breath, activated the Mirror Beacon's ability, and prepared to travel from Damir Harbor to the Gunfish.

Upon entering the mirror, she found herself in that eerie mirror passageway.

Despite having already traversed the mirror tunnel once, Livre was still a little nervous.

All around and beneath my feet was an endless void and darkness, as if something might burst out at any moment.

Liviel hovered in the passage, controlling herself to fly forward with her mind. On both sides of the passage were densely packed mirrors, each representing an exit. Liviel could sense that she could touch those mirrors and leave the mirrored passage through other exits.

However, she had a premonition that if she did so, she would die from the unbearable danger, and only by leaving the mirror with the 'mirror mark' could she be safe.

After a long period of time, after walking through an unknown passage and passing countless mirrors that gleamed with a cold light, Livre finally saw the marked mirror.

She spotted the direction, flew nimbly, and flew into the mirror.

The next second, Livre's feet touched the solid floor of the Marlin.

Chapter 164 New Members of the Tarot Club

Outside the window, the storm had stopped. After confirming that there was no danger around, Livre breathed a sigh of relief and glanced at the clock on the wall. Although it felt like a long time had passed in the mirror tunnel, only a minute had passed in the real world, provided that the clocks in both places were calibrated in the same way.

Liviel used her spiritual senses to get a general idea of ​​her surroundings, activated her invisibility ability, and stepped out of the room.

The cabin was empty, with only the occasional sound of footsteps coming from the upper deck.

Livre walked lightly onto the deck and saw a horrific scene:

Under the cover of night, hundreds of passengers and crew members lay huddled on the deck, their hands bound, their clothes soaked with sweat, shivering in the cold sea breeze. Some were on the verge of death, unconscious. Low sobs and wails rose and fell, the air thick with the stench of excrement. No matter how refined the gentlemen and ladies of the past, they were now like livestock awaiting slaughter, wretched and desperate.

On the periphery of the crowd, several armed crew members were watching them, while directly in front of the deck, Troy was sitting in a chair, negotiating with several crew members.

These crew members were the ship's helmsman and engine room crew. They were not Trol's confidants and had been tied up at the beginning of the pirate attack, but now that the ship was repaired, Trol needed them to sail.

"If you sail your ship to Bayam, I will spare your lives and give you a large sum of money!"

Under Troy's coercion and enticement, the crew members compromised and returned to their posts.

A short while later, the large passenger ship set sail again, heading towards Bayam.

Great, my destination is also Bayam.

Liviel sneered, preparing to sneak up to Trol's side and make her move.

Just then, she suddenly saw an old figure appear at the bow of the ship.

The figure was dressed in a sailor's uniform, with a slightly hunched back, rotting skin on his face, and one eyeball had fallen out of its socket, making him look like a zombie.

Nevertheless, Livre recognized him:

Asimov!

He looked quite badly injured by Trol's spell last time. If Livre had seen him now the first time, she would have been able to tell at a glance that he wasn't alive.

After Asimov appeared, he swayed and moved silently, slowly approaching Trol, who was sitting in a chair, from behind.

When he was only a few steps away, he slowly raised his withered, branch-like hands.

Those hands, filled with deep-seated resentment, slowly moved towards Trol's neck. Asimov's only remaining eye was now burning with intense flames of vengeance.

The next instant, the withered hand exerted its strength, swooping down from a distance! Although it didn't actually touch Trol's flesh, a chilling, bone-deep spiritual power had already gripped his throat. Trol's body stiffened abruptly, his face drained of color. He instinctively struggled violently, making strange, hoarse noises in his throat, and abruptly turned his head, seeing the rotting undead figure behind him. With all his might, he hissed a curse:

"Asimov! You old geezer!"

"Revenge...I want revenge..."

Asimov's broken body trembled violently, emitting a mournful cry.

The suffocating feeling of impending death caused Trol's eyes to bulge, his face contorted into a horrifying shape from lack of oxygen. Driven by the instinct for survival, his left hand darted into his uniform pocket, pulling out a pale gold purification talisman! With his last ounce of strength, he tried to hurl it to the ground, his mouth screaming in ancient Hermes:

"net……"

Before the incantation was finished, an almost invisible spider silk shot out and precisely wrapped around the talisman that was about to slip from the hand. The silk trembled slightly, and the spiritual energy contained within it instantly disturbed the structure of the talisman. The pale golden light flickered and dimmed like a candle in the wind, and finally went out completely, turning into a few wisps of smoke and dissipating in the salty sea breeze.

A look of unbelievable horror flashed in Trol's eyes. He struggled to turn his stiff neck and saw a figure outlined in the air: Livr stood quietly a few steps away, a mocking smile on her lips.

"You are……"

Trol squeezed out broken syllables from his throat, his bulging eyes filled with shock.

"Captain, we meet again."

Liviel sneered, her fingertips twitching slightly as several strong spider silk threads shot out, binding Trol's arms. She didn't deliver a fatal blow, but merely took a half-step back indifferently, completely relinquishing the stage to the figure behind Trol, who exuded a dense aura of death.

Asimov's single remaining eye burned with the ecstatic joy of revenge, his rotting hands clenching tightly in the air. Trol's body convulsed violently under the dual constraints of spider silk and spiritual power. Gradually, the struggles subsided, and the strange noises from his throat fell silent. Trol's bulging eyeballs completely lost their luster, turning him into a cold corpse.

Asimov looked at Livre, a genuine smile appearing on his decaying face:

"Thank you for helping me..."

He seemed to have relinquished his obsession with remaining in the world, and his figure gradually dissipated in the sea breeze.

Livre simply nodded slightly without speaking; she knew Asimov must have a lot to say.

“A year ago, it was my last voyage before retirement. Troy secretly colluded with pirates to stage the hijacking of the passenger ship. Knowing that I was raising money for my son's wedding, he tried to bribe me. When I refused, he joined forces with the pirates and killed me and the other crew members who resisted…”

"Now, I can finally leave in peace. It's just a pity I won't be able to see my son's wedding..."

Asimov spoke slowly with his last bit of spirituality, his figure gradually becoming transparent, appearing and disappearing intermittently.

Livre patiently waited for Asimov to finish speaking before asking:

"Now can you tell me the whereabouts of Port Pennsylvania?"

Asimov's expression shifted, and he looked somewhat guilty.

"I'm sorry, I'm afraid I can't."

"Strange, I've been to Binsey Port and I know it exists, but I just can't pinpoint its location. Strange, very strange..."

"It seems to have been...hidden..."

After saying his last few words, Asimov disappeared into the sea breeze.

Livre stood there, somewhat stunned.

It's hidden?

Who did it?

Chick?

No, that shouldn't be the case. Chick's mission for me was to go to Port Binsey. Why would she conceal its existence? Unless she's deliberately making things difficult for me, but what's the point...?

Various thoughts flashed through Livre's mind, but soon the wails of the passengers on the deck interrupted her thoughts.

She concealed herself and swiftly killed all of Troy's trusted men. Then, she used spider silk to cut the ropes of several sailors. The sailors rescued ten by one, and a hundred by ten. Soon, except for a few passengers who had already died from weakness or cold, all the passengers on deck were saved.

Throughout the entire process, Livre never revealed herself to others. She didn't want to expose her existence, much less become a hero, as that would only bring her trouble.

During the process of eliminating Trol's men, Livre unexpectedly discovered Hussein's two waiters, who were actually with Trol's men, holding guns and guarding the passengers.

Livre dragged over the corpse of the tall waiter she had attacked with canned wolffish, activated her psychic powers, and learned the full story of the robbery:

Steel tycoon Hussein was secretly involved in human trafficking. He had collaborated with General Tracy, who was suffering from a disease, on several occasions, transporting people kidnapped by Tracy to the east coast of the kingdom and then distributing them to various places in batches.

Tracy once said that she did not actually want to be involved in human trafficking; it was all ordered by the higher-ups of the Witch Cult.

So, Hussein was actually cooperating with the witch cult?

Livre's heart sank. It seemed that she could go to that deserted island in the northwest of Bayam to meet this steel tycoon.

With the first mate of the Marlin already dead, the second mate quickly organized the work of the entire ship, treating the wounded, arranging the cabins, distributing food... Gradually, civilization and order returned to this unfortunate passenger ship.

Livre searched for Danitz in the crowd, but couldn't find him anywhere.

Could it be that he has already run away on his own?

Livre, somewhat uneasy, stopped a male passenger and asked:

"Sir, have you seen a man, about thirty years old, around 1.75 meters tall, with half his face covered, and his hair and eyebrows were yellowish-brown..."

Upon hearing this, the man showed a look of lingering fear.

"You mean that guy who was hung on the mast by the disease admiral? That guy was really pitiful, beaten half to death by the pirates and then taken on the Black Death."

The man sighed and left, leaving Livre standing there in a daze.

Danitz was taken away?

What an idiot!

Livr cursed under her breath and returned to her cabin with no other choice.

Tracy did indeed listen to her mother; she let everyone go, but not Danitz, which was normal, since Danitz was also a pirate.

Liviel couldn't possibly save Danitz; she neither had the power nor the inclination. So, she could only mimic the followers of the Lord of Storms, clenching her right fist against her chest and silently praying for him.

During her prayers, she suddenly realized that, as a woman with a full bust, it was really inconvenient to put her fist against her chest. Now she finally understood why the Storm Church did not welcome female believers.

After finishing her prayers, Livre queued up at the restaurant and received a bread and beet soup. She sat down at the table where she had once dined with Danitz and began to eat in small bites.

"However, considering we've known each other, at least tell his captain, Vice Admiral Edwina, about this."

Whether Edwina will go to save him is not something I can decide...

Livre pondered silently as she finished the somewhat bitter beet soup.

……

Two days later, on Monday.

Because the Marlin had deviated from its original course, the crew decided, after discussion, not to return to Bansi Port to replenish supplies, but to save time and head directly to Bayam.

Originally, there wasn't enough food on the ship, but after the pirate raids, about a quarter of the passengers were lost, so there was enough food.

Actually, this is quite a hellish joke...

Livr complained about the crew's decision and quietly stayed in the cabin, waiting for 3 p.m.

While waiting, she held Little White in her hand and played with it. The small snake, about a foot long, said with some concern:

“Livia, lately, the delirium I’ve been hearing has gotten worse.”

"Oh, is there any useful information?"

Livre asked with some anticipation.