On the Ark.

“This is our medical department’s latest antipyretic, still in the research and development stage, and not yet on the market,” Kal’tsit said. “However, if Miss Mansha is interested, we can sell you a batch at a low price so you can try it. If you find it effective, you might want to help us promote it. I’ll have my assistant bring over the clinical data for this batch of medicine now…”

Mansa, unable to contain herself any longer, interrupted Kal'tsit: "Miss Kal'tsit, this video conference isn't about Rhodes Island selling medicine!"

"Really?" Kal'tsit feigned surprise. "Miss Mansha isn't interested in our new drug?"

"Of course I'm not interested."

“Alright.” Kal’tsit nodded. “I thought you had a fever too.”

"Pfft...cough cough cough cough." Lin Ye almost couldn't help but laugh out loud, and could only cover it up with a cough.

Kal'tsit glanced at him as a warning.

Mansa's face was beyond ugly; she looked as if she wanted to devour Kal'tsit whole.

The "battle of wits" between the two beautiful women certainly captivated the men present, so they tacitly refrained from speaking. Unfortunately, compared to Kal'tsit, Mansa was indeed lacking, or rather, the two were simply not in the same league. Therefore, to avoid an overly awkward atmosphere, the men had no choice but to step in and offer their support.

"Alright, that's enough with the greetings." The Ursus general spoke first; he was clearly the highest-ranking or most senior person in this video conference. "I'm a soldier, I don't know any of those roundabout ways, so let's get straight to the point. Regarding tonight's meeting, it's because Rhodes Island wants to join our cooperation on the seaside project, right?"

Beach activities?

Lin Ye finally understood the name of the collaborative project Kal'tsit had mentioned. But what kind of project could there be by the sea? Developing the beach or selling seafood?

He didn't know, and naturally wouldn't say anything carelessly. The rest of the conversation could be left to Kal'tsit.

“Yes.” Kal’tsit nodded and said, “I believe that my island is capable of providing you with more assistance in this project.”

"More help?" Mansa sneered. "Dr. Kal'tsit, aren't you overestimating Rhodes Island? A pharmaceutical company, do you really intend to sell miracle cold medicine to those creatures in the deep sea?"

A creature from the deep sea?

Lin Ye grasped the key words.

Kal'tsit said without changing her expression, "If selling effective cold medicine can help you, Rhodes Island is more than willing to do so. It's like if there were also those big-breasted, brainless... sorry, brainless females in the deep sea, we could also have our Doctor personally take charge and conquer them."

Lin Ye almost bit his tongue.

Mansa was furious and slammed her hand on the table: "Who are you calling a big-breasted, brainless woman?"

"You misheard me, I meant someone who's neither pretty nor smart."

"Who are you calling flat-chested?!"

“I’m talking about the females in the deep sea,” Kal’tsit said calmly. “I don’t know why Ms. Mansha is so angry. It was just a joke, and I thought you would be able to tell easily with your intelligence.”

Mansa was speechless; she was trembling with anger.

Upon seeing this, Wei Yanwu smiled: "Dr. Kal'tsit's eloquence is still as good as ever."

"Mr. Wei, you flatter me."

“But there’s a difference between eloquence and hard power.” Wei Yanwu said with a faint smile, his hands clasped together. “To be honest, I can’t think of any reason why you joined this project, and I don’t know what kind of help Rhodes Island can provide to us. After all, Rhodes Island is just a pharmaceutical company.”

“Mr. Wei, you should be well aware that pharmaceutical manufacturing is not the only business of our island,” Kal'tsit said. “Moreover, there is one thing that is unique to our island and that none of the three of you possess.”

"Oh? I'd like to hear more about it."

"We have the most powerful deep-sea hunters."

Chapter 302 My relationship with SilverAsh is much closer than my relationships with women.

The most powerful deep-sea hunter.

Skadi? It seems like the only possible one is Skadi.

Lin Ye hadn't expected that Skadi would be used as a bargaining chip by Kal'tsit. Wait, "bargaining chip" doesn't quite fit. But regardless, when Kal'tsit brought Skadi out, the expressions on the faces of those in the video changed.

“The most powerful deep-sea hunter.” Wei Yanwu chuckled softly. “The legendary swordswoman who can stir up the tides? Hmm, if it is her, she can indeed be called the most powerful deep-sea hunter.”

"A swordsman who stirs up the tides? I've heard of him too." The Ursus general nodded slightly.

The last man in the video conference spoke up, his tone full of regret: "I've met her before, and I even offered her a high salary, but unfortunately, she only helped me complete one bounty mission and didn't accept my offer. I never expected her to end up at Rhodes Island. It's unbelievable. How did you manage to do that?"

“There’s nothing unbelievable about it,” Kal’tsit said calmly. “Because my island has things that attract her to stay, reasons that make her stay.”

Lin Ye, who was listening from the side, found it quite interesting.

Although he already knew Skadi was very powerful, hearing it from someone else gave him a different feeling. Just like the protagonists in many novels, those who say they are awesome are usually idiots; the awesomeness they get from others is the real awesomeness. Clearly, Skadi belonged to the latter.

But then again, why was he secretly pleased when others said Skadi was amazing?

Lin Ye was somewhat puzzled.

Seeing everyone praising Skadi, Mansa couldn't sit still any longer and said with a sneer, "The most powerful deep-sea hunter? Don't be ridiculous. How many deep-sea hunters are actually exposed to the world? It's just the tallest among the short."

Ugh, I can practically smell the sourness through the screen.

Lin Ye had assumed that no one would pay attention to his sour grapes remarks, but to his surprise, the Ursus general nodded almost imperceptibly: "What you say makes sense. We still know too little about the Deepsea Hunters. After all, they are not the same kind of people as us. I also believe that there are even more powerful Deepsea Hunters in places we don't know about. Of course, that also means there will be even more powerful unknown enemies. But that's not something we should be concerned about right now. I'm only concerned about what's in front of me."

“Yes, and speaking of combat strength, aren’t Ursus’ regular troops far superior to the Deepsea Hunters?” Mansa glanced at Kal’tsit and said, “Why should we be greedy for such a small amount of combat strength?”

Before Kal'tsit could speak, Wei Yanwu spoke up.

“That’s not quite right,” Wei Yanwu said with a smile. “We don’t know what’s guarding the treasures of the deep sea. We’re complete novices in this field, and even the most skilled novice is still just a novice. So we need a guide. Besides, as far as I know, the general probably can’t mobilize too many people this time.”

“Yes,” the Ursus general said. “Since this isn’t within Ursus’ territory, I can only offer limited assistance. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have come to you; I could have handled it on my own.”

“So why should we reject Rhodes Island?” Wei Yanwu said. “Besides, Rhodes Island has more than just that swordsman who can stir up the tides who has experience fighting large creatures, right?”

“You’re right,” Kal’tsit nodded. “We have several experienced operators in this area.”

Operators with experience fighting large creatures?

Lin Ye thought of Blue Poison, and then of what Zilan had told him that afternoon. Blue Poison had been suddenly recalled by Kal'tsit while on a mission, apparently for this cooperation. But what was the treasure of the deep sea? Lin Ye remembered Messiah's warning to him, that he should never approach the deep sea under any circumstances, because there were monsters there whose strength far surpassed Messiah's.

So, are the so-called deep-sea hunters hunting such monsters?

So, Skadi's opponents are monsters even stronger than Messiah? That's terrifying! Lin Ye couldn't help but worry about Skadi, wondering where she was now.

“Even so, I still disagree with letting Rhodes Island join.” Seeing that the situation was somewhat unfavorable to her, Mansa stepped forward again. “I admit that Rhodes Island’s operators might be of some help to us, but only to a limited extent. After all, we also have Deepsea Hunters, and we don’t need that many Pathfinders. So compared to Rhodes Island, I prefer to let the other side join.”

Wei Yanwu asked, "Are you referring to the trade with Kalan?"

“Yes,” Mansa nodded. “The president of Kalan Trade, Ensiodis Shivaesh, has just consolidated all power in Kerrig and is now eager to make a big splash. You all should know that Kalan Trade is now equivalent to the country of Kerrig. Therefore, gaining the support of Kalan Trade is equivalent to gaining the support of the entire nation of Kerrig. Compared to that, don’t those Pathfinders from Rhodes Island seem somewhat insignificant?”

Mansa's words carried significant weight, effectively shifting the tide that had already turned in favor of Rhodes Island back. The remaining partners began to consider the true significance of the Kharlan trade.

Seeing this, Mansa slowly regained her smile, and her eyes were once again full of provocation as she looked at Lin Ye and Kal'tsit.

Kal'tsit frowned slightly, about to speak, when Lin Ye spoke up.

"Why can't we join together with Kalan Trade?" Lin Ye asked.

"Heh, is that even a problem? Dr. Ian." Mansa slightly raised the corners of her mouth. "There's only so much treasure in the deep sea. The more parties that try to take a share, the less each party will get. The difference between one-fifth and one-sixth is quite significant."

"I see." Lin Ye nodded. "Then I understand. As long as I get Karan Trade to withdraw, we can join, right?"

Upon hearing this, both Kal'tsit and Mansa's expressions changed.

Kal'tsit was surprised and confused, while Mansa was surprised and mocking.

"Haha? Dr. Ian, are you joking with me?" Mansa said with a laugh. "Who do you think you are? Do you think you can just make Karan Trade withdraw? Do you not understand Ensiodes, or are you too confident in yourself?"

"No, not at all." Lin Ye shook his head. "I just know him."

"Know them? What good is just knowing them?" Mansa said with a sneer. "Are you trying to say that you and Ensiodis have the same kind of relationship you had with those women in Victoria?"

Faced with Mansa's mockery, Lin Ye calmly took out his phone and said lightly, "Of course not. My relationship with Enciodis is definitely much closer than that of the women in Victoria."

Chapter 303 Skadi is Missing

pat.

The projector was turned off, the image projected on the wall disappeared, and the video conference ended.

Seeing this, Lin Ye finally breathed a sigh of relief and was about to take off his hood when Kal'tsit placed her hand on his shoulder. Then a slow, leisurely voice rang out, instantly making his hair stand on end.

"Dr. Lin Ye, you really like to make decisions on your own."

Lin Ye, his face stiff, slowly turned his head and looked at Kal'tsit standing behind him, expressionless, a chill running down his spine: "I was just..."

"Alright, no need to explain. To be honest, you did a good job tonight." Kal'tsit released her grip on Lin Ye's shoulder. "And we got what we wanted, so there's nothing more to say... But what I'm more concerned about is, how exactly did you convince him?"

"Convince whom?" Lin Ye didn't react immediately.

“Of course it’s that guy codenamed SilverAsh.” Kal’tsit said calmly, arms crossed. “As far as I know, he’s not someone easy to talk to… Oh, I almost forgot, you just came back from Kjerag, so you must have already been in contact with SilverAsh. What exactly happened between you and SilverAsh that made him willing to withdraw from this project because of a phone call from you?”

What do you mean by "what happened between me and SilverAsh"? Isn't that a bit too gay-sounding?

Lin Ye inwardly grumbled, but he didn't say it aloud, vaguely brushing it off by saying he and SilverAsh were good chess buddies. If he were to elaborate on his relationship with SilverAsh, he inevitably would have to mention Messiah, but Messiah was, after all, a goddess, and information about her shouldn't be shared with too many outsiders. Sussuro understood this as well, so she didn't mention Messiah or Lin Ye's title as the first Saint in Kjerag's history in her report. However, even the locals of Kjerag were unaware that they had another Saint.

However, SilverAsh knew that, from his position, he couldn't ignore Lin Ye's opinion. And most importantly, SilverAsh didn't seem particularly interested in the so-called "deep-sea treasure," so he readily agreed as soon as Lin Ye spoke. It was indeed somewhat unbelievable from the perspective of someone unaware of the relationship between Lin Ye and SilverAsh.

Therefore, Lin Ye decided to change the subject.

"By the way, I hope what I just said won't cause any trouble for the Doctor?" Lin Ye asked.

Kal'tsit said bluntly, "You're changing the subject."

Lin Ye: "..."

Even if you figure it out, don't point it out so directly. Kal'tsit, you'll easily lose all your friends if you do that.

“Actually, there’s no need for that. I won’t force you to talk about things you don’t want to say.” Kal’tsit glanced at Lin Ye and said calmly, “After all, I’m not some kind of demon.”

“…Okay.” Lin Ye found it really difficult to talk to Kal'tsit. This woman was too smart, as if she could see through everything.

"What misunderstanding did you just say?" Kal'tsit asked. "Are you referring to the private life you fabricated for the Doctor?"

Lin Ye was even more embarrassed: "Yes."

"So you do care after all." Kal'tsit gave a knowing smile. "I thought you just made things up."

Lin Ye: "..."

“Just kidding, nobody cares about that kind of thing, and you did shut that woman up.” Kal'tsit turned and left. “That’s enough for tonight. Oh, and don’t tell anyone you were impersonating the Doctor.”

"I know." Lin Ye breathed a sigh of relief. "As long as the Doctor doesn't come back and make things difficult for me."

Kal'tsit stopped moving, and after several seconds, she spoke softly.

"Don't worry, that won't happen."

Lin Ye felt that Kal'tsit's tone was a bit strange, but before he could figure out what was strange, Kal'tsit spoke again: "By the way, there's one more thing, and I think it's better to tell you."