Sir Chen, your wife is missing!

“In Iberia, you will see more things that subvert your cognition. This world is crazy, and these are just products of a crazy time. Don’t be too surprised.”

Skadi had seen countless more brutal and bloody scenes, but the mere arena could not cause too much fluctuation in her calm heart.

It's more like numbness than cold-bloodedness. Mood fluctuations only occur in the first few times. The more you experience, the more indifferent you feel. This area also follows the law of diminishing marginal returns.

They sat down in the empty seats in the last row. Although the last row was far away, it had the best view.

In the circular area at the bottom, two thin men who were obviously malnourished were confronting a ferocious Ursus Crack Beast. Ursus Crack Beast was the most ferocious beast in the Ursus Empire, often captured and trained by the army to bite the enemy. Being targeted by it would be a very tragic end, unless you could kill it.

If they were to fight less difficult beasts, such as feathered beasts and meat beasts, the gladiators would not be so likely to die in the mouths of beasts. But the masters in the stands did not think so. A fight without a sense of urgency and crisis would not have visual and auditory impacts, and it would be boring.

They need some soul-stirring stimulation, so they play this kind of game.

The Inquisition may not know, or it may turn a blind eye. That organization cannot be considered an absolutely righteous character, and their deterrence to the Iberians is greater than their protection.

The Ursus Rift Beast in the field was chasing the two Iberians with all its might. The people being chased seemed helpless, and the weapons in their hands were not strong enough. One of them stabbed the beast with the sword, using up almost all his strength.

The skin of the Rift Beast should not be so thick. Talulah has demonstrated the process of hunting wild Rift Beasts. Ignoring personal physical strength, the key lies in the weapon.

"The arena deliberately gave them poor weapons, obviously to force these people into a desperate situation. Let's go. I know you don't like to see that kind of scene."

Skadi pulled Feng Qingyu away from the stands. Behind them came the crazy roar of the Split Beast and the desperate screams of the poor Iberians. Breaking the order here is not ideal. It is rooted in the hearts of most people. Those who try to break the order will be backfired by the order.

They were powerless and could only choose to escape.

The heavy door slammed shut, sealing the cheers and screams in the open underground space. Feng Qingyu was too lazy to look for Li Boli. There was nothing wrong with finding clues on his own. There should be many people who could ask.

The people playing in the castle are obviously much more normal than the citizens in Saltwind City, and their minds and bodies are not yet rigid.

They walked up the spiral staircase and explored upwards. The castle was huge, and the arena was just the tip of the iceberg. The space above ground plus the underground space made it difficult for outsiders to estimate its true size.

There are paintings on the walls on both sides of the corridor. The content of the paintings is messy, and the colors and composition are meaningless. I don’t know what the artist wants to express. The other paintings are similar. They are completely the product of the author scribbling on the drawing paper with a brush. Maybe the graffiti drawn by kindergarten children with crayons is better than these.

The owner of the castle has a very subtle taste, and the decoration style is impeccable, but he was blind in the selection of works of art. The sculpture placed at the corner of the stairs also shows the helpless and struggling emotions of a person who is gradually becoming a sea heir.

Feng Qingyu always felt that the sculpture's eyes were staring at him.

13. Hallucination

Not only the sculptures, but also the paintings on the wall made Feng Qingyu feel uncomfortable as if he was being followed.

There was nothing wrong with the statue's eyes. She had confirmed it herself. The eyes of the sculpture were hard and cool to the touch. They were not the product of sealing a living person in plaster to make a plaster statue.

She clearly saw the eyes and neck of the sculpture turn, but when she came to her senses she found that it was standing still.

The statue is dead, but the person is alive. It is possible that you are seeing things.

“I feel like this is weird.”

Feng Qingyu left the statue and continued to climb the stairs with Skadi.

Each floor of the castle has different functional areas, like a large comprehensive commercial building, divided into dining area, shopping area, and a cinema on the top floor.

They didn't know if there was a movie theater in the castle, but it wouldn't be surprising if there was. Rich people could build all kinds of facilities at home, and a movie theater was not worth mentioning.

"Do you want to go somewhere else? Or should we go directly to the observation tower and look for clues from a high place?"

"I really want to imitate the protagonist in a Columbia horror movie."

The temptation of the castle was too great, and a little insignificant strange phenomenon could not affect his strong desire to explore. Feng Qingyu simply ignored the shock brought by the statue.

There is no big problem with the carving itself. On the contrary, the statue becomes very expressive under the exquisite carving, fully showing the state of pain and struggle of an Iberian Liberia woman who had to be assimilated by the environment during the invasion of the sea.

The expression of the sculpture makes people who appreciate it feel empathy and as if they are in the scene. It is suitable to be displayed in an art gallery as a textbook-level sculpture.

As exquisite as it is, the sculpture exudes a strange vitality that makes people who approach it feel creepy.

Skadi did not mention that the statue could move, and Feng Qingyu became more and more certain that he was dazzled. They both saw it, so it could be a collective hallucination, or there could be something wrong with the castle.

The operators who went to explore the abandoned castle in Gaul also suffered from hallucinations to a certain extent. When the hallucinations appeared more frequently, it meant that she had to leave immediately.

"Let's go to the lookout. I'm getting colder and colder. How about you?"

"Especially the last floor, it was as cold as an ice cellar."

"Some illegal activities may be going on here. You know, what is the safest thing to put in the ice cellar?"

"Corpse."

The two of them fell silent at the same time and did not continue the terrible topic.

It is obvious that everything that happened in the castle seriously violated the regulations set by the Iberian Inquisition. Even though the authority of the Inquisition was so great, this group of people still dared to act recklessly. They were definitely not relying on ordinary people.

Those works of art related to Haisi clearly hint at the connection between the owner of the castle and the Deep Sea Church.

No Iberian could appreciate that twisted and weird art style, unless the person appreciating it was the creator of Hai Si. It is possible that his wish was to fool everyone who came to the castle in the future, let them willingly indulge in the empty happiness, and finally slowly turn into Hai Si.

Feng Qingyu increasingly felt that the ancient castle was what Cyril had said, "the best place in Iberia."

After climbing up a few more floors, her body gradually became weak.

"Is there an elevator here? I remember that ancient castles and villas all had elevators for transporting things... This place is so big, there's absolutely no way there isn't one..."

Climbing more than ten floors in one breath really makes people feel desperate.

During the hours when the power was out in the Guard Bureau building, people who came to report the case complained bitterly. The office that accepted the case was on the 19th floor, and they had to climb hundreds of stairs to find the person in charge of the relevant department.

This means that they have to choose between reporting the case and climbing the stairs or suffering a loss. Many people are anxious and have to endure the hardship of climbing from the first floor to the 19th floor.

Feng Qingyu suddenly understood the feelings of those guys. She also had a reason to go to the top floor now. No one had the right to gloat over anyone else's misfortune. Although she didn't do that back then, she also turned on the backup power supply of the Guard Bureau and quickly contacted the Longmen Power Bureau to repair the circuit.

"Do you want me to carry you?"

Skadi couldn't bear to watch it any longer.

She knew that the people on land were weak and frail, and that it was a bit exaggerated to complain about their physical fitness. After all, the deep-sea hunters had undergone special physical enhancements and were stronger than most Agor people. It was like getting a particularly powerful prop in a game.

Feng Qingyu is an ordinary player who has not obtained any powerful props. It is a bit too harsh to compare her with the physical fitness of a deep-sea hunter.

There was another reason. Skadi was particularly excited during mating the night before, which took away a lot of Feng Qingyu's energy. Therefore, she felt guilty and wanted to make some amends. It was easy to carry a landman upstairs. It was almost weightless for Skadi.

"My back is very reliable, you can rest on it. Or do you prefer to be carried like a princess?"

"Don't... I'm thin-skinned."

It was indeed embarrassing to let Skadi, who was shorter than him, do the princess hug. It was more reasonable to change it to Gloria, who was over 180cm tall and could look down on Feng Qingyu, who was 172cm tall, so it wouldn't be too awkward to hug him.

"Let me crawl by myself...it's okay."

The speed of climbing the stairs became slower and slower. When she reached about the middle of the castle, Skadi discovered that there was an elevator. It was a modern elevator with a classic silver metal door, which did not match the overall style of the castle.

The elevator happened to be unused and stopped on the seventh floor.

"Damn it, the elevator is so hard to find."

Feng Qingyu pressed the up button and waited for the elevator against the wall.

The wall behind me was cold and hard at first, but slowly, the roof turned into a flowing, sticky liquid like heated cheese and flowed down. The roof was about to collapse completely, and I had to escape immediately. The elevator made a "ding--" sound.

The elevator arrived at their floor and the two metal doors opened automatically. The elevator was very clean, but the smell was a bit pungent, as if someone had smoked low-quality cigarettes in there.

"..."

The collapsed roof returned to its original state and there was no sign of further collapse. Feng Qingyu was sure that he was hallucinating again.

"Skadi, did you notice something strange about the roof just now? It's like melted cheese."

"No, everything I see is normal. You must have suffered some mental damage. We have to hurry. Or, we should leave now."

"Hold on for another half an hour. We'll leave at ten o'clock."

"Then I'll listen to you once more. When ten o'clock comes, even if you don't want to leave, I will carry you away."

The two walked into the elevator, and Skadi pressed the button for the last floor. The elevator slowly went up, and her body felt a slight sense of weightlessness during the ascent. The closer she got to the top floor, the weaker the feeling of coldness became.

The air from the outside world blew towards him, and the salty sea breeze actually made Feng Qingyu feel comfortable.

14. Eye of Iberia

"Finally we're here."

Feng Qingyu had an illusion that the world was at a standstill during the time he stayed in the castle. In the castle, except for humans and wild beasts used for fighting for fun, everything else was lifeless and dead. I thought Iberia was still, but I never thought there was a place that lacked vitality more than it.

The air outside in Saltwind City didn't seem so bad after all, she thought.

Things that I once disliked suddenly became more refreshing than ever before, and my mood also changed unconsciously.

The walls at the edge of the castle were turning into a creeping dark grey viscous liquid in the hallucination. The liquid flowed down from all directions and gathered into the cheek of a soft giant. The giant's body was the main body of the castle. The cylindrical towers and spires turned into the monster's limbs and tentacles. The monster was facing Feng Qingyu with its fangs and claws, trying to open its huge black mouth to swallow her and Skadi in one gulp.

These were all hallucinations, Feng Qingyu told himself that it would be fine as long as he was not affected.

"When exactly did it happen... My mental damage became more and more serious. I saw the tower turned into a monster, showing off its might in front of me."

"The blood of deep-sea hunters is resistant to mental damage. Some say we share the same origin as Kaiji, but this statement remains to be discussed. Do you want to give it a try?"

Feng Qingyu shook his head.

"Ghost Shark told me that the blood of the Deep Sea Hunter is fatally attractive to those monsters. Once they smell your blood, they will come out in droves. It will be difficult for the two of us to deal with them together. The guys from the Inquisition heard the news and found that there is an Agor here. Everyone is in trouble."

"I'm worried that hallucinations will affect your actions. Mental damage should not be underestimated. What if you walk into the sea?"

“It’s not that serious yet.”

She lit a cigarette and put it in her mouth. The cigarette in her hand also changed shape in the hallucination, turning into an indescribable sea tentacle-like object, and the touch became wet and sticky. If it weren't for the familiar smell of tobacco rushing into her mouth, she would have been scared and thrown away the thing in her hand.

After taking two deep puffs of smoke, the things in front of him became clear. The castle was still the castle, and the gloomy sky of Iberia was the same as before. The shy silver moon was hidden behind the clouds, revealing a small piece. Silver light was dancing on the sea, and the Salt Wind City built on a huge hullless ship was crawling in the darkness, motionless.

Tobacco can make the brain and vision clear. By the time half of the cigarette is burned, the dizziness has disappeared and the thinking ability is steadily returning to normal levels.

Feng Qingyu made a bold guess: "I suspect there are hallucinogens in the form of aerosols in the castle. From the moment I walked in the door, I could smell the scent of incense. There is an incense burner in the corner, which is lit with a kind of blue block spice. People who come to the castle inhale a lot of air with hallucinogenic effects. The hallucination allows them to see a different world. In that world, there is no pain, only beautiful illusions, so they regard this place as a beautiful 'heaven'. In addition, if the part is injected into the body, the effect of heaven can last longer."

"What you said is possible. When Rhodes Island saw Laurentina, she was suspected to have been injected with a large amount of Originium potion with hallucinogenic effects. Those things caused irreparable damage to her body, so she always looked dazed."

Both of them felt a chill down their spines.

The people in the castle are all fish on the chopping board of others, at the mercy of others, their minds taken away by the Originium potion, and people with ulterior motives can do whatever they want. The current situation in Iberia is increasingly tending to no one paying attention to anyone else. Even if one or two people disappear one day, no one cares where they went, and only thinks that they went to find a "better life."

"Finally, it's linked to the Deep Sea Church again. Those people are really crazy. They don't really want to turn all the countries on Terra into the territory of the Sea Si, do they?"

Feng Qingyu couldn't imagine the scene of the land being occupied by blue.

They should have their own colors and continue the civilization related to the land. They should not be dyed by the colors of the deep sea and lost in the cold water, allowing strange seabed creatures to build nests and crawl all over the blue fluorescent abyss.

"The Deep Sea Church has ambitions to occupy the land. They once wanted to occupy Agor. I killed the god of the Sea Si and cut off his head. The Sea Si temporarily lost their core and had to retreat along the same route. Their numbers are astonishing. We Deep Sea Hunters fight day and night, but we can't kill them all. This castle is very dangerous. It's best not to stay there for too long."

“This time I am completely convinced.”

While his mind was still clear, Feng Qingyu came to the edge of the stone wall. The rough gray stone bricks had weathered and turned into powdery lime. It seemed that the castle owner had never thought of repairing it. Parts of the wall were loose and on the verge of collapse.

The large castle has a history of several decades. The top floor is very suitable for observation and there are also several watchtowers. Feng Qingyu specially brought a lightweight binoculars produced by Rhodes Island and stood near the stable wall to observe.

After the body rotated a circle, I found a cylindrical building on the far right corner, which was located on the coast and extended to the sky. The shape of the building was like a lighthouse, but unfortunately there was no light, so I couldn't tell it clearly.

"Skadi, what's that over there?"

Feng Qingyu pointed to where the black shadow was.

"There stands one of the lighthouses built during the Iberian Golden Age, known as the Eye of Iberia, which is relatively well preserved. The remaining dozens have been destroyed beyond recognition and it is almost impossible to tell what they originally looked like."

"The Eye of Iberia... The Eye of Iberia..."

She repeated the name of the lighthouse, feeling like she would discover something.

Eyes, eyes that see everything. Standing on the lighthouse, you can see the Iberian Sea, with the best view and no obstacles around.

"Do you think that the place that my great-grandfather left behind in his last words could be the lighthouses that exist in Iberia? You can see the sea from every lighthouse, and besides the sea, you can also see cities and mountains in the distance. I want to go to the Eye of Iberia."

"It's far away, in a small town called Glenfarlow. It's too tiring to leave tonight. I suggest you go the next day. It's not safe to go out at night."

"It's safe to have you around, Miss Deep Sea Hunter."

"..."

Skadi took out her pocket watch and saw that the time was getting closer to ten o'clock in the evening. They had agreed to leave at ten o'clock. The hallucinogen spray in the castle should not be underestimated. If they stayed any longer, they might turn into lunatics.

"We have to leave soon. It's ten o'clock. Laurentina, Goladia and I are planning to go to Granfalo. You can come with us."

The team of three deep-sea hunters felt 100% or even 90% safe.

15. A bad news

This time Feng Qingyu did not stay in the castle to seek death. She got a new goal - the huge lighthouse of Granfalo. There was no way to deal with the hallucinogenic air inside, so it was not advisable to come back in the short term.