On the Ark.

Lin Ye looked at Warfarin with some confusion: "What's wrong?"

Warfarin then turned her gaze to Messiah, then gestured with her lip and asked, "Who exactly is that woman?"

“That woman? You mean Messiah?” Lin Ye said. “She’s a new employee, an intern in my department.”

“I’m not asking about her current identity, but her original identity.”

"What was her original identity?" Lin Ye naturally pretended not to know. "What kind of identity could she have originally? Wasn't she just a relative of Chu Xue?"

Looking at Lin Ye's expression, Warfarin snorted coldly, "Heh, so you do know something. Lin Ye, stop acting for me. Don't you think about how many years I've lived and how many people I've met? Your acting is as clumsy as a child's. You should stop."

Lin Ye still said, "I don't know what you're talking about."

“You don’t know? Then let me tell you,” Warfarin said. “She is the goddess of Kalan, isn’t she?”

Lin Ye's cheek twitched again: "What...what are you saying?"

Seeing Lin Ye's expression, Warfarin became even more certain of her deduction.

“Heh, just as I thought.” Warfarin said slowly, “First Snow’s relative is from Kalan. Although I’ve never been to Kalan, how could such a small place have anyone who could make me feel physically afraid? If there were, it could only be that legendary god, tsk tsk tsk. I didn’t expect that the god of Kalan actually exists, and that he has even descended from the mountain. This is simply… too interesting.”

Warfarin gradually became excited, but this excitement made Lin Ye panic.

"Hey, hey, big sister." Lin Ye grabbed Warfarin, "I'm begging you, please don't have those strange thoughts about Messiah."

"Tsk tsk tsk, so you admit it after all?" Warfarin nodded with satisfaction, then felt something was off. After thinking for a moment, she became angry. "Wait, what's with that tone? Why do you make me sound like a pervert?"

Lin Ye didn't speak, but his expression clearly conveyed a message to Warfarin.

You are one of them.

"You... never mind." Warfarin shook her head and said, "Don't worry, although I really want to know what the difference is between gods and ordinary people, and what the differences are in their physical structure, it doesn't mean I'm going to go looking for death. Compared to research, I definitely value my life more! I hadn't noticed before, but thinking about it now, this one can even suppress Skadi. Dealing with me would be a piece of cake, right? Don't worry, I won't do anything so suicidal for now."

Lin Ye breathed a sigh of relief, but then felt something was amiss.

Hey, hey, hey, what do you mean by "I don't know how to do it for now"?! You really do have this kind of thought in your mind, don't you?!

Lin Ye was about to question Warfarin, but she didn't give him the chance. Instead, she quickly walked forward and followed Messiah and Skadi. Lin Ye had no choice but to follow, thinking to himself that if he noticed anything bad about Warfarin, he would immediately suppress it.

After the five arrived at the restaurant, the inspectors began distributing itineraries to all the passengers again.

Yes, the itinerary. Because they booked a tour group, their schedule was already fully booked.

"What's going on?" Lin Ye complained. "Are we going to be dragged off to buy souvenirs as soon as we get off the ship?"

Skadi looked up at Lin Ye: "Souvenirs?"

"It's the same old routine from travel agencies. You can just casually stroll around the attractions, but you can't leave the shops without paying," Lin Ye said, glancing at the itinerary. "Let me see, for example, our first stop—Shaolin Temple?!"

……

……

I'd like to recommend Da Diao's new book on lunar exploration, "The Lunar Police Forced to Operate." You can check it out if you're interested.

Synopsis: Yin Ze is an elite detective in the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. He passed the professional group examination at a young age and was promoted to police inspector. He was assigned to a leisurely department.

He thought that he could easily get promoted and enjoy a comfortable life by simply drinking tea, reading newspapers, and accumulating seniority in his office. Until one day, an old man named Tokiomi Tohsaka came to him to report a case and asked him to help find his missing daughter...

Chapter 521 The Return to Simplicity Line (Third Update)

The two weeks on the ship went by quite quickly.

Because every day consisted of eating, chatting, and sleeping. For Lin Ye, this kind of life was similar to working at Rhodes Island, with little difference. Moreover, the food here was much more abundant than in the Rhodes Island cafeteria, with afternoon tea and late-night snacks, so overall it was quite good. The only drawback was that there was nothing outside the porthole except for the blue sky and the sea. At first glance, the scene of the sea and sky blending into one was quite pleasing to the eye, but after seeing it for half a month in a row, all that remained was monotony and boredom.

As for the others, there's not much to say about Skadi. Her homeland is deep in the ocean, so returning here feels like coming home, and naturally, she feels no discomfort. She sits by the porthole every day, gazing silently at the boundless sea; no one knows what she's thinking. Messiah's situation is similar. In Kalan, she saw mountains and snow, and after thousands of years of observing them, her perspective has far surpassed that of ordinary people. The ocean and the blue sky likely present a different kind of scenery to her, a view she could linger over for a long time.

Therefore, the "war" between Skadi and Messiah that Lin Ye had originally anticipated did not materialize. Aside from the initial clash on the first day, the following two weeks were peaceful. This relieved Lin Ye; if the two had remained in the same state as on the first day, he really wouldn't know how to handle it, and he probably would have gone crazy after a while.

Finally, after sailing safely at sea for half a month, the ship docked safely at the port of Yan.

"Ah, we're here!" Grani was probably the most excited one when disembarking. After all, she was a lively person and the youngest of everyone (even younger than Lin Ye). Half a month at sea was indeed a challenge for her. So when the ship docked, she had an urge to rush down and embrace the sun, looking like a galloping little colt.

However, she managed to suppress the thought. After all, even young mounted police officers have basic self-control.

As the second oldest of the five, a vampire who had lived for hundreds of years, Lin Ye had assumed she would have considerable patience, given her longevity. However, she also wore an expression that seemed to say, "Finally relieved! I almost suffocated!" Lin Ye was quite puzzled. Were all vampires impatient?

"Alright, alright, stop dawdling," Warfarin said swiftly. "Let's proceed according to plan."

"A plan?" Lin Ye looked at Warfarin with some confusion. "What plan?"

“Of course, it’s a plan within Yan Country.” Warfarin frowned slightly. “Didn’t you make a plan?”

"Huh? You made me make the plan?" Lin Ye was taken aback. "When did you make me make the plan?"

Warfarin's eyes widened: "Does this even need to be said? Don't you ever make plans when you travel?"

"Why do you sound so incredulous? It's like you made the decision."

Warfarin said matter-of-factly, "I basically never go out!"

Lin Ye: "..."

"What's going on?" Warfarin said. "I told you days in advance that we were coming to Yan Country and gave you time to prepare. Is this how you prepared? What are we supposed to do now? We don't even have a single person who knows the way. Are we just going to wander around in this huge country like blind men?"

Before Lin Ye could retort, Grani rushed over in a flurry: "It's alright, it's alright, the plan is here. Our first stop is Shaolin Temple."

What Grani was holding was, of course, the travel agency's itinerary.

The group exchanged glances.

Do I really have to go with the travel agency?

Just then, the Yan Kingdom tour guide, who was waiting on the shore, was already shouting to the tourists on the boat through a megaphone: "Hello, uncles and aunts from Ursus. Welcome to Yan Kingdom. This is the Red Sun Tour Group. Please take your luggage and get ready to depart!"

Hearing that familiar voice, Lin Ye felt as if he had returned to the bus station of his past life, where tour guides in little red hats greeted tourists in the same way. The déjà vu was so strong that he couldn't help but facepalm, wondering why this trip to Yan Country had become so strange from the very beginning.

"There's no need to rush. If you don't have a plan, you don't have a plan." Messiah was quite relaxed, after all, her original purpose was to have fun. "Just go with the travel agency. I've never been with a travel agency before."

If it were at the very beginning, Warfarin would definitely have mocked Messiah, saying things like, "Are you a little girl? All you do is play? Do you know what we're here for?" just like when she mocked Ceylon online as a spoiled rich girl. However, after guessing Messiah's true identity, Warfarin's attitude immediately changed, and she changed her tune the moment Messiah mentioned being with a tour group.

“Yes, if you don’t have any plans, joining a tour group is a good option,” Warfarin said slowly, arms crossed. “Actually, I haven’t joined many tour groups, so it’s a good opportunity to experience it.”

Lin Ye's lips twitched involuntarily.

He really wanted to give Warfarin the middle finger, but he thought it would be difficult to handle if Warfarin got angry, so he held back.

As for Skadi, she didn't care at all. Whether she joined a tour group or not made no difference to her, since she was just following Lin Ye around anyway. So, the first thing this special Rhodes Island team did upon arriving in Yan was to meet up with the Red Sun Tour Group and mingle with the middle-aged and elderly people from Ursus, preparing to begin their trip to Yan.

After disembarking, Skadi and Grani had their weapons, which had been confiscated two weeks prior, returned to them. While the two were checking the weapons for damage, Lin Ye approached the female tour guide from Yan Country with the travel agency's itinerary.

"Excuse me, could you please tell me?" Lin Ye asked, "What is the name of the capital of Yan Kingdom? Why can't I see it on the itinerary?"

The female tour guide said, "Because we don't go there."

"Huh? Not going there?" Lin Ye was puzzled. "How can a tourist trip to a country like this not include the capital? Where are we going then?"

"That's because you didn't choose the Chang'an route," the female tour guide said. "You chose the 'Back to Nature' route, so naturally you won't be going to Chang'an."

"Return...the Return to Simplicity Line?" Lin Ye was a little confused. "Then where should we go?"

"Isn't it written here?" the female tour guide explained patiently. "Our first stop is Shaolin Temple, and our second stop is the nunnery."

Lin Ye: "..."

This is so incredibly simple and unadorned!

Lin Ye quickly asked, "Can we go to Chang'an by ourselves?"

"Sure," the female tour guide nodded, "but you need to think carefully, we don't offer refunds."

……

……

Author's Note: 124 chapters still owed. By the way, the new illustration has been confirmed, the deposit has been paid, and it should be available to everyone soon. Speaking of which, although I'm still slow with updates, I did give away the illustration! Thinking about it that way, it's not bad, right? ~233.

In my plan, this book should have three illustrations; this is the second one. People keep asking me how much the illustrations cost—I can only say…they're really expensive (but the results are undeniably good).

I need to take leave.

I don't know if it's because I've been staying home for too long, and it's been raining for the past few days, but I've been feeling dizzy. I couldn't write anything all day sitting in front of the computer, so I've decided to take a day off, go to bed early, and update again tomorrow.

Also, the trailer for the new operator has been released, and it turns out to be a Yan Kingdom operator, which I didn't expect, and the Yan Kingdom is somewhat different from what I imagined. But I should stick to my original plan, after all, the Arknights storyline has several more years to go, and this book only has a few volumes left.

Chapter 522 Theory of God (First Update)

For a fleeting moment, Lin Ye genuinely felt as if he had traveled back in time to the past. Since Lin Ye's hometown was a well-known tourist city, and he had considerable experience with tour guides, the female tour guide's tone and manner of speaking actually made him feel a slight sense of familiarity.

This is no one.

After everyone disembarked, the tour guide led everyone onto the bus, and they headed directly to the Shaolin Temple.

Grani was still quite excited once she boarded the bus.

“I’d heard about Shaolin Kung Fu from Yan Kingdom back in Victoria,” Grani said. “Now I finally have the chance to see it for myself! If I can, I’ll definitely buy a few martial arts manuals to take back with me!”

Lin Ye, who was listening from the side, felt an overwhelming sense of unease.

"You mean the Eighteen Bronze Men?"

"The Eighteen Bronze Men?" Grani tilted his head. "What are those?"

"It's nothing, I was just saying it offhand." Lin Ye shook his head, then thought for a moment and said, "But once we get there, they'll definitely try to sell you a lot of things, including that martial arts manual you just mentioned. But remember, don't buy it."

"Huh? Why?" Grani was even more confused. "Aren't we allowed to buy souvenirs?"

“It’s not that I don’t want you to buy,” Lin Ye explained. “These shopping spots that travel agencies take you to are basically rip-offs for foreigners. They sell you substandard or worthless items at inflated prices.”

Grani's eyes widened: "Is this even possible? You silly foreigner... are you referring to me?"

"It refers to the people who were scammed."

"I see." Grani nodded thoughtfully. "Then I understand. But Dr. Lin, how do you know so much? Isn't this your first time in Yan Country?"

"Uh." Lin Ye was at a loss for words.

Warfarin said calmly, "Because this kind of thing happens everywhere, it's not just Yan Country. You'll know it naturally once you go to more places. For example, tour guides in Ursus love to sell cheap alcohol as high-end liquor to other outsiders, tricking them into thinking it's some kind of 'water of life.' Essentially, it's pretty much the same thing. But that's still better than the most profitable ones, like the temples and such that are worshipped in various places."

"Temple?"

“Yes,” Warfarin said. “Temples, they just give you any little gadget, add some weird characters on it, and say it has divine power, and if you want it, you have to…”