Heading to the Sea-Encircled Country

"How boring."

Angela pouted and lay listlessly on the table, like a lazy big cat.

"Why can my master attend the banquet, but I cannot? What right do those filthy, lowly humans have to refuse me! Humph, how dare a bunch of barbaric people be so rude! It's infuriating!"

"Calm down, little one."

Kalin leaned back in her chair, toying with the black tea in her hand.

"That's the rule at sea; sailors generally don't see women. Legend has it we bring disaster."

"Disaster?"

Angela a cold laugh.

"I wonder which idiotic fleet was attacked by pirates; at least it wasn't ours."

"Respect for tradition is essential."

Nia said calmly. Naturally, she didn't attend the so-called banquet either. In fact, Angela herself was very resistant to being in the same space as that group of crude and lowly sailors. She had previously said, "Even if they kneel down and beg, I will absolutely not agree to their invitation." However, after learning that Li Lin didn't plan to take her, the little girl's attitude immediately changed completely, and she complained about how stupid and short-sighted the sailors were.

Kalin had never been interested in such banquets, but the little girl's change in attitude greatly piqued her interest. Nia, on the other hand, completely obeyed Li Lin's orders. Moreover, unlike the others, she was very familiar with the taboos of sea voyages. Therefore, she didn't particularly care about not being able to attend such a banquet.

"This is, after all, the sea, not our forte. So, it's best if we don't get involved in some things."

"Since Sister Nia says so..."

Angela frowned, rolled her eyes, and then glanced at the two "mummified corpses" huddled in the corner.

"Then let's leave it at that."

As if recalling some unpleasant memory, Angela spoke with a slightly helpless tone. Then she jumped off the table, turned, and left the room.

"The little guy is quite interesting."

Kalin watched Angela's figure disappear, then shrugged with amusement.

"I know you like her a lot, Kalin, so, can you please stop arguing with her?"

Nia turned another page of the book and said calmly.

"I tease her because I like her, that's how we get to know each other better, right? Isn't that what everyone says? Friends get better when they argue; it's a tragedy when they can't even argue anymore..."

"... Why."

Nia sighed. She wasn't confident she could persuade Kalin, so seeing her say that, she could only let her be. However, there was a more important problem facing the two of them right now.

"Kalin, what do you think?"

"Um?"

The elf twitched her long, thin ears, seemingly not understanding Nia's meaning.

"Suoxiate."

The moment Nia uttered that name, the temperature in the entire room plummeted below freezing.

Useless weapons should be discarded.

Although Kalin still looked lazy, her attitude was more serious than ever before.

"The Seven Ring Spirit Envoys. This is a covenant we only recently learned of, one that even you, sir, were unaware of. You should understand, Nia! You are the leader of the Seven Ring Spirit Envoys, and we made this covenant together! Anyone who dares to break this covenant will face only one fate—destruction."

That agreement wasn't mandatory.

Nia paused slightly as she turned the pages, but then continued turning them as if nothing had happened.

"We all know this very well, and that's why I never reported this to Li Lin, nor to Suoxiate."

"But this is, after all, an agreement between us."

Kalin emphasized the word "agreement".

"Otherwise, why do you think we left so easily? If Suoxiate can't give us a reasonable explanation this time, I'll represent all the sisters and smash her to pieces!"

"Fei'er isn't here, so what are you going to use to smash Suoxiate to pieces?"

At this point, Nia couldn't help but give a wry smile.

"Li Lin wants me to trust her. I think Li Lin must have his own reasons. Don't forget, although we did cause Li Lin a lot of trouble, Li Lin is an extremely resilient mage. He should know more about things we don't know than we do. Moreover, I suspect that Li Lin may have already realized our 'agreement.' After all, we are weapons he created; he understands us even better than we understand ourselves."

"I just don't like the way you talk, ah... like you're talking about a lover... You haven't forgotten who you are, have you?"

"Li Lin is my master, and he is yours too."

"Seriously, can't you have a more interesting reaction?"

Seeing that Nia wouldn't fall for it, Kalin had no choice but to revert to her original posture.

On the other side, Li Lin was sitting at a table that could barely be considered luxurious, receiving a relatively lavish welcome—for a sailor who spent long periods at sea, a banquet with smoked meat and fresh vegetables was already considered a delicacy.

"Mr. Vincent, to be honest, I thought you would leave this troublesome place soon."

Li Lin swirled the wine glass in his hand; it was the only thing he could swallow. The bread was too hard, the smoked meat too dry, and the water too salty... Li Lin was starting to wonder if he had made a mistake in accepting this kind of hospitality. Looking at the smoked meat in front of him, which he couldn't even cut with a knife, Li Lin had no doubt that if he took a bite, he would definitely get indigestion.

Not only did he not eat much, but even the fat merchant next to him was unusually sparsely eating, indicating that he couldn't get used to the food these sailors ate.

"After all, I have so many things to take care of, and besides, I should treat you, my savior, well, shouldn't I?"

Vincent and his men ate with great ease and comfort, which, in a way, was quite fortunate.

Ever since Li Lin mentioned his intentions to Vincent, Li Lin had noticed a change in the captain. Not only did he deny the existence of the Grand Line, but he also seemed unwilling for Li Lin to go there.

"Oh, what? The Grand Line? Respected Mage, I admire your spirit of exploration. But those of us who spend our lives at sea know that there's no such thing as the Grand Line... Sigh, speaking of which, if you go any further in, that's a pirate's lair. Those sea bugs are not to be trifled with, even if you're a powerful mage. What? You're planning to go to Booty Bay? This... I think you've gone the wrong way."

Since then, Captain Vincent had been subtly influencing Li Lin's opinions and decisions, using a great deal of nautical terminology. His methods sounded quite reasonable and were presented in a well-organized manner. If Li Lin were truly ignorant, he might have agreed with his views. However, Li Lin was a mage, and he used numerous spells to define his goals. Therefore, no matter how reasonable Vincent's arguments were, Li Lin decided to trust his own magic rather than the enthusiasm of a stranger.

Of course, he couldn't reveal this. Ever since he sensed that Vincent seemed to be hiding something, Li Lin changed his mind. Finding Suoxiate was indeed a very important matter, but judging from the captain's current state, it seemed that there were some secrets he didn't know about being concealed.

"Master."

Vincent took another sip of red wine, smacked his lips to savor the wonderful taste, then raised his glass and looked at Li Lin with a broad smile.

"Since you've brought so many people on a trip to travel and buy and sell goods, then... I wonder if you'd be interested in visiting the Sea-Encircled Country? I guarantee you'll be interested in its customs and culture, and besides, our Sea-Encircled Country has many rare treasures that landlocked countries don't have..."

"Yes, yes, Captain Vincent, I've heard of the reputation of the Sea-Encircled Country."

Hearing this, the fat merchant seized the opportunity. His eyes gleamed with excitement. After all, he himself didn't know what Li Lin was doing with so many elves on board, searching for some Grand Line. Therefore, he quickly reacted based on his current location. The fat merchant knew very well that the Sea-Encircled Country, due to its geography, possessed many things that outsiders considered rare, but which they themselves considered worthless. If he could buy up these things in large quantities and resell them back in the City of a Thousand Towers ... just thinking about it made the fat merchant almost drool.

"I've heard that the place is rich in resources and as beautiful as Heaven. I've always wanted to go and see it."

"Hehe, Mr. Businessman, if you'd like, the Sea-Encircled Country welcomes you anytime... After all, we're never stingy with our friendship, except..."

In the end, Vincent clearly chuckled, but everyone present understood what he meant.

It seems that the relationship between the Sea-Encircled Country and the Five-Nation Alliance is not very good.

I'm a little tired.

Seeing this, Li Lin made up his mind. He stood up and said something that surprised everyone else.

"I need to go back and rest, and prepare some spells... I'll seriously consider Captain Vincent's invitation."

After saying these words without any expression, Li Lin turned and left the cabin.

It seems the situation is indeed in my favor; however, I still need to see the true state of the Sea-Encircled Country for myself before I can make a decision.

If possible, it would be best to make them his allies without resorting to any extraordinary means. This was Li Lin's idea. Of course, if things didn't go as he expected, he wouldn't mind using some "extraordinary means" to force them into becoming his puppets.

"Perhaps we have other methods... um?"

Back on his ship, Li Lin was about to go to his room to rest when he was surprised to find Angela standing at the stern, doing something to a small elf.