Chapter 53: Kirsten's Past

  (Two updates today, the second update will be at noon, please vote and click collect to support, thank you)

  The battle in the harbor that afternoon soon caught the attention of the guards on Songhua Island, but before those soldiers rushed over, Lin Taiping and his men had already driven this medium-sized ship to quickly set sail with full wind.

  Several hours later, when the sun slowly set, this ship was already floating in a desolate sea area. Without Lin Taiping saying anything, Tulu led a large group of Minotaurs to start searching and extorting familiarly.

  In just ten minutes, they looted a group of captives until not even a copper coin was left. Then, Tulou stroked the cow horn and thought for a moment before a large group of Minotaurs rushed up and kicked those guys into the sea to feed the sharks.

  "No, you can't do this to me!" Gobrin, vomiting blood with a broken bone, shrieked in panic, "I am a sixth-level mage, I am Lord Galante's trusted aide, if you dare harm me, Lord Galante will definitely...".

  "Goodbye!" Lin Taiping lazily waved his hand, and Ye Ge beside him immediately raised his wolf-toothed club, still unfinished, came one more time, and then the whole world was clean.

  As for what's next, of course it was the habitual division meeting. Gublin left behind a few pieces of magical equipment, and a group of armed soldiers contributed several hundred gold coins, all adding up to around ten or twenty thousand, everyone fairly distributed them, then contentedly returned to their rooms to count their money.

  Of course, Lin Taiping was an exception, because he still had to stay on the deck to help take care of a dozen or so little loli who had just been frightened... In fact, even if he wanted to not help, it wouldn't have worked, because a dozen little loli were collectively hugging his legs, staring at him with big, watery eyes.

  "Alright, what story do you want to hear this time?" Lin Taiping could only surrender with an innocent face, starting the tragic career of a storytelling machine, and occasionally stopping in between to answer strange questions, such as where would the mermaid put her copper coins if she wasn't wearing clothes?

  Christine leaned against the ship's rail, quietly sipping a cup of hot coffee. Seeing Lin Taiping in such a flustered state, she couldn't help but slightly raise the corners of her lips, and suddenly felt warmth and calmness in her heart.

  From the first encounter on the island, to the intimate collaboration on Rhodes Island, to this farewell kiss, and then to the unexpected appearance on Songguo Island... Unconsciously, she suddenly found that it seemed she was getting more and more used to not thinking for herself, but relying on that guy by her side, letting him solve all her troubles.

  "Is this trust, or... love?" Kristen let out a soft sigh, recalling that sweet and long kiss, suddenly feeling her face flush with heat.

  "Okay, maybe it wasn't love yet, even if that sweet first kiss was still filled with more complicated emotions. But Christine knew clearly in her heart that she had already gotten used to the existence of that guy, his evil nature, his devilish smile, his weird plans, and his ruthless teasing that could make people vomit blood..."

  Uh, just as I was talking about trash talk, a few seconds later, some infuriating trash talk appeared.

  On the deck, facing a group of innocent and focused little girls, Lin Taiping solemnly began his education: "Do you know? In the past, there was a silly girl who inexplicably came up to give her first kiss, then secretly ran away with a brain full of water, and finally took all the trouble on herself... Vivian, when you grow up, don't learn from her, or you'll really be unable to get married!"

  "How hateful! Just now, Kirsten's face was still flushed with excitement, but suddenly she had a strong desire to find the magic crystal cannon everywhere: "Boss, it's not good to talk about people behind their backs, this habit is very bad, not good at all!"

  "Do I?" Lin Taiping turned his head with an innocent face, blinking his eyes and said, "I didn't speak ill of you behind your back, I did it to your face... Alright, let's talk about something serious. What's going on with Gebrin and the Galtay behind him?"

  The topic was shifted in a timely manner, and Christine was immediately led astray. She fell into a thoughtful silence for a moment, then suddenly looked up and gazed into the distance with a complex expression, sighing: "Boss, do you know Ivory Island?"

  Ivory Island? Lin Taiping nodded thoughtfully, having flipped through the navigation charts of the Horned Sea Domain after arriving in this world. He had a basic understanding of the famous islands in this sea domain, including Ivory Island.

  The so-called Ivory Island is a rich island about one thousand nautical miles away from Rhodes, with a population of nearly six hundred thousand. It is beautiful and prosperous, with abundant resources. To put it bluntly, if Rhodes is a brilliant pearl, then Ivory Island is the dazzling sun, with an enormous gap in prosperity between them.

  However, what really made Lin Taiping remember the Ivory Island was not its prosperity and wealth, but the political system implemented on this island, which was completely different from the feudal lord system of Rhodes Island. The system implemented by the Ivory Island turned out to be a parliamentary system with democratic spirit.

  To be precise, all citizens of Ivory Island, whether civilians, merchants or nobles, have the right to vote granted by law... Every five years, they will vote for twelve members of parliament, who will form the highest council and jointly govern the entire Ivory Island.

  "That's right, boss. You understand very clearly." Kristen nodded slowly and was silent for a moment. She suddenly raised her head very seriously, "Actually, my father used to be one of the members of parliament on Ivory Island."

  Pffft! Lin Taiping spat out a mouthful of milk, his eyes wide with incredulity: "Eh, you're not joking, your old man used to be such a high-ranking official?"

  "What's there to joke about, my family was once a respected family on the Ivory Island." Kristen recalled her family's glory and her eyes suddenly brightened up, but as if she thought of something, she quickly let out a dejected sigh. "But that's all in the past now, after my father stepped down, he suddenly came down with a very strange illness..."

  Fine, the fact is that after Kristen's father stepped down, both he and her mother contracted a strange illness and passed away after holding on for several years. At that time, Kristen was still a flower in the greenhouse, although she had possessed terrifying strength very early on, but after all, she was just a young girl who had just come into contact with the world and couldn't support the entire family at all.

  Next, like those traditional plots, her "kind and gentle" uncle, Marquis de Glanthal, took on the role of guardian without hesitation, responsible for taking care of the Christine sisters... What's next? Needless to say, it was just a matter of time before the uncle gradually embezzled and plotted against these poor orphans.

  "Fortunately, you finally escaped." Lin Taiping didn't want to get entangled in the details of what happened in between. What puzzled him now was that since everything had already passed several years ago, why did Marquis Ge Lang Tai suddenly remember and want to send people to catch them again?

  "Because he also wants to be a senator." Kristen replied calmly, "Being a great noble is not enough for him, so he plans to participate in this year's senatorial election and grasp the highest power of Ivory Island."

  In fact, Marquis Glanthal was close to success, with his vast wealth and extensive connections, as well as his years of playing the role of a moral gentleman and philanthropist, earning him the trust and support of the common people. These factors combined to make him far ahead in this year's election, leaving all his competitors behind.

  But just at this time, those competitors who were forced to desperation suddenly threw out a depth charge. Within a few days, the entire Ivory Island was circulating with a rumor that the Marquis, who was kind, good, moral and just, had deprived his brother of all his assets years ago and drove all his nieces out of Ivory Island...

  It can be imagined how great the power of this small news is. The Marquis de Glangta was attacked and his good image, which had been established for many years, was shaken. In order to restore his reputation and prove that these were just rumors, he immediately ordered Gebrin to lead a team out to sea to search for Christine and the others' return.

  "So, as long as you return to Ivory Island to testify, Groteus can resolve this trust crisis?" Lin Taiping finally understood why Gobrin didn't dare to kill Kristen and the others directly. "However, I still don't quite understand how Groteus dares to be certain that you will prove his innocence instead of turning against him."

  "It's simple, because of the curse." Kristen struggled to calm herself down, but her eyes still burned with anger. "Boss, I always thought that the curse on me was something I got over the years, but it wasn't until a few days ago that I found out that before I even left Elephant Island, Grote had already asked someone for help and cast a dormant curse on me."

  In fact, it's not just Kristen who was cursed, but also Vivian and the others. What's even more despicable is that this curse has a latent period, although it won't erupt immediately at the time, but as Vivian and the others grow up, it will suddenly erupt one day, just like Kristen...

  "Alright, this guy is indeed a hypocrite." Lin Taiping couldn't help but be shocked and speechless. Because the curse had a very long incubation period, when Kristen and the others suddenly broke out one day, since so much time had passed, no one would suspect Grote anymore.

  This way, Golante can receive the assets cleanly and even shed a few crocodile tears at Christine's funeral... Okay, this is indeed a sinister plan, perhaps the only thing Golante didn't think of was that Christine would actually escape from Ivory Island.

  Now that Goblyn has found Kristen, he uses this latent curse as a threat: if Kristen doesn't do what they say, not only will she herself fall gravely ill and die, but also more than ten of her sisters will die one after another. This is obviously a price Kristen cannot bear to pay.

  "A perfect plan, truly a perfect plan." Lin Taiping heard this and couldn't help but applaud lightly. To be honest, someone who can be so sinister, despicable, vicious, and shameless to this extent can really be called a master among hypocrites.

  "But, boss, you suddenly appeared..." Kristen let out a soft sigh, as if thinking of Vivian and the others' tragic fate, her face turned gloomy.

  But soon, she rallied her spirits and said firmly: "No, boss, I didn't mean to blame you. On the contrary, I want to thank you. You made me finally make up my mind... Alright, rather than being coerced all the time, it's better to take a risk. At worst, I'll sneak into Ivory Island, use the magic crystal cannon to threaten that bastard's head, and I don't believe he won't hand over the method to lift the curse."

  "Don't be silly, do you think he wouldn't have any defenses?" Lin Taiping couldn't help but roll his eyes and rub Cristin's red long hair. "Besides, you don't need to take such a risk, it's just a curse, I can completely help you lift it, it'll just take a little more time, and might be... quite expensive!"

  He said, his face twisted in a strange expression as he lowered his head to glance at the ring on his left hand. Kristen's eyes widened as she followed his gaze, her face filled with confusion: "Very expensive? What do you mean by very expensive?"

  "No explanation, in short we need to work hard to earn money and prepare enough magic crystals." Lin Taiping snatched her cup and drank the coffee without any courtesy.

  Under the hazy sunset, he gazed at the evening glow with a thoughtful expression, as if lost in thought. It was unclear what he was thinking about, but after a long, long while, he suddenly turned his head around and revealed that standard devilish smile of his.

  "Listen, Kirsten, just like you said, we should indeed go to Elephant Island... but not sneaking in, rather, with a swagger!"