On the Ark.

……

"Is the car back to the island ready?"

"Yes, everything is ready, and we can set off at any time."

"Let's put things in Laterano aside for now. As Dr. Kal'tsit instructed, this matter must be kept secret to avoid causing any unrest," Ansel said in a low voice. "Rhodes Island can't afford for him to leave like this."

Stewart looked at Ansel, whose face was pale, and wanted to say something, but the cell phone next to them suddenly rang.

This is Lin Ye's phone.

They exchanged glances, then picked up their phones. Their expressions immediately changed when they saw who was calling.

Skadi.

Chapter 657 Premonition

puff.

The massive blade severed the chaotic and enormous tentacles, and pale purple blood rained down like a storm.

Skadi tossed her hair.

She didn't like the sticky feeling all over her body. The pale purple blood had clumped her long, grayish-white hair together, and it would take a long time to clean it off afterwards. The nauseating smell would take even longer to dissipate.

But there's nothing we can do about it.

Skadi withdrew her greatsword from the tentacle, her deep red eyes fixed on the tentacle's main body—an indescribable creature trying to escape Skadi's blade. In truth, Skadi didn't know what it was; after all, there were simply too many monsters in the sea for her to remember them all.

Skadi then drew her sword and slowly moved forward.

Skadi had severed all the tentacles of the unspeakable creature, making it impossible for it to return to the sea. However, the physiological pressure Skadi exerted on it still made it unconsciously want to escape.

But it can't escape now.

Skadi stood in front of it, stepped on its last tentacle that it was trying to use to attack, then raised her greatsword high and stabbed down expressionlessly.

puff.

The head of the unspeakable creature was pierced by the black greatsword, and the splattered blood stained half of Skadi's body with a dark purple color.

It will take even more time to clean up.

Skadi thought to herself, and then drew her sword.

At that moment, her heart suddenly pounded violently, as if she had been punched hard. The pain from the inside out made her unconsciously clutch her chest, her body leaning slightly forward, and her face turning pale.

Was it attacked?

Skadi looked around and saw no living creatures except for the scattered tentacles.

The unidentifiable creature, with its head pierced through, was clearly dead beyond any doubt.

What's going on? What's causing this strange feeling?

The sudden pain subsided quickly, so quickly that it might have seemed like an illusion. But Skadi wasn't an ordinary person; she had truly felt the pain, yet couldn't pinpoint its cause. So she stood there, looking at her hands stained with dark purple blood, lost in thought.

"Truly worthy of being ranked number one among bounty hunters, 'Tideblade'." The man's voice rang out behind Skadi, accompanied by crisp applause. "You took care of this big guy so easily. I should have come to you from the beginning, and I wouldn't have had to spend so much money."

Skadi glanced back at the man, and the murderous intent in her eyes made his smile freeze, and his body involuntarily tremble. At that moment, he seemed to understand even more why the "Sword of the Tides" was so renowned, and his voice became less confident than before: "Um, is there a problem?"

Skadi looked away.

She didn't intend to target her client, nor did she have any reason to. She simply didn't know why, but since earlier, she had felt incredibly agitated, as if something terrible had already happened. Her client, however, interpreted this as Skadi wanting to kill her because she thought Skadi was annoyed by her excessive talking.

He immediately stopped talking and took out the prepared money bag: "This is your...your payment."

Even his voice started to stutter.

Skadi didn't speak, but simply nodded slightly. The client, as if granted a pardon, placed the payment on the ground and then jogged away.

Then my phone rang; it was a text message.

Skadi knew without even looking that it was a new mission from the Bounty Hunter Guild. The guild members were well aware of Skadi's aloof nature, so most missions were communicated via text message—a unique privilege among bounty hunters. Of course, this was also because Skadi's skills far surpassed those of other bounty hunters; there was virtually no job in the world she couldn't complete.

Therefore, Skadi only needed to reply, and someone would immediately handle all the formalities for her, allowing her to head directly to the next mission site.

But now, looking at the task details in the text message, Skadi hesitated to press the reply button.

She didn't know why either.

After standing there for about a minute, Skadi exited the text messaging interface, went to her contacts, and dialed the number of the only contact in her contacts.

As the call started, Skadi found that the same flutter she had felt earlier returned.

She couldn't help but grip the sword hilt tightly.

Thirty seconds later, the call was answered.

The voice came from a man, but it wasn't Lin Ye.

The man on the other end said, "Uh, Miss Skadi? I'm Stewart, you should know me..."

"Where's Lin Ye?" Skadi interrupted Stewart without any politeness.

“Oh, you’re looking for the Doctor?” Stewart’s voice stammered. “The Doctor is… busy with work.”

“Let him answer the phone,” Skadi said.

"Well, I'm afraid it's not convenient for him."

“Let him answer the phone.” Skadi’s voice was much colder because she had a bad feeling, but she didn’t want it to come true.

Stewart remained silent.

The communication channel became completely silent.

As time passed, Skadi seemed to understand something, and her knuckles gripping the sword grew increasingly pale.

"Is he dead?" Skadi asked in a low voice.

"No, no, no, that's not true... I don't think so," Stewart said with a wry smile. "Miss Skadi, I don't know how to tell you this..."

"Is he dead?" Skadi asked again.

“Well… alright.” Stewart sighed. “The Doctor’s condition is very strange; no one can say for sure what’s wrong with him. But the Doctor did stop breathing an hour ago, and Miss Nian tried to resuscitate him, but…”

Skadi could no longer hear what was said next.

A buzzing sound filled her ears, like countless insects chirping, and mixed in with the buzzing was the clear sound of her heartbeat.

“Miss Skadi, are you still there?” Steward said. “Please don’t be too anxious. We’ll take the Doctor back to Rhodes Island right away, but no matter what, please keep this a secret for now and don’t let anyone else know… Miss Skadi?”

The call has been disconnected.

Skadi slowly sheathed her blood-stained sword, then turned and left.

They didn't even pick up the money bag left by the client.

Her mission is not yet complete.

But that doesn't matter anymore.

It doesn't matter anymore.

Chapter 658 He's really courting death.

In his sleep, Lin Ye heard someone gently calling his name in his ear.

He groggily opened his eyes and saw a stunningly beautiful woman beside the bed with a gentle smile on her face.

"Time to get up," the woman said softly.

Lin Ye responded, then slowly sat up in bed. He felt a headache coming on: "Where am I?"

"Where?" The woman's voice was filled with surprise, then she said as if amused, "Honey, are you still half asleep? Of course you're at home."

"At...home?"

"Where else could it be?" The woman leaned closer to Lin Ye and gently kissed his cheek. "Alright, darling, it's time to get up, the sun's already high in the sky. I've made your favorite ribs, you have to try them."

After saying that, the woman left the bedside.

Lin Ye felt his head was foggy, like a mess. But his body still moved. As the woman had instructed, he got out of bed, put on his clothes and shoes, and followed her out of the bedroom.

He walked through a house that felt both familiar and strange. Familiar because he knew every part of the house intimately—he knew where the bedrooms were, where the toilets were, where the kitchen was—but strange because he felt as if he had never lived in this house before. This feeling puzzled him greatly.

Just as Lin Ye was about to enter the restaurant, a loud knocking sound came from the door.

He stopped and instinctively turned his head, seeing the door less than five meters away, its panels shaking slightly, clearly indicating that someone was knocking from the outside.

"Who could this be?" Lin Ye instinctively reached for the door, but was stopped by a hand.

"Darling," a gentle female voice rang out again, "Don't let the food get cold."

Lin Ye turned his head, looked at the woman from before, and then pointed to the door: "But someone knocked on the door."

"Knocking?" A shadow crossed the woman's eyes, but it quickly vanished, replaced by her gentle expression. "You must have misheard."

"Did I hear that right? But..."

"Darling." The woman leaned closer to Lin Ye again, then gently touched his cheek with her lips. "You really misheard."

The knocking stopped the moment the woman finished speaking.

Lin Ye was stunned. He stared blankly at the door, but received no response.

"See?" the woman said with a smile. "Darling, you're still half asleep. There was no knocking at all. It was just the two of us the whole time."

"...Just the two of us?"

"Yes, it's just the two of us." The woman didn't give Lin Ye much time to think; she took his hand and led him into the restaurant.

Lin Ye subconsciously turned his head and glanced at the gate again.

There was still no movement.

I probably misheard.

Lin Ye thought to himself.

……

"Come on, darling." The woman placed the bowl of rice in front of Lin Ye, along with some braised pork ribs that had been prepared earlier. "These are all your favorite foods, so you must eat your fill today."