Yama Rising

Everyone immediately turned toward the person who had just spoken.

The bistro wasn't very big, and it had a prominent western style. To put it more accurately, it was a very pronounced cowboy style. To the right of the entrance were the bar and the kitchen, and to the left were the tables and chairs, all of which were constructed from timber. One could see the entire bistro with a single glance, so everyone immediately saw the person who had just spoken.

It was a white man.

Even though Mexico was the cradle of cowboys, this was Cancún, which was a fishing and tourism city that was surrounded by sea. Thus, it was very rare to see people wearing cowboy suits here. However, that was exactly what this man was wearing.

His face was riddled with scars, and he didn't appear to be all that old, but there was already some white to his coarse stubble. His eyes were bright and piercing, and not only was he wearing a cowboy hat, there was also a red bandanna around his neck, accompanying a cowboy vest and a white shirt. There was a slice of fried kingfish sitting in front of him, as well as a bottle of wine that had already been opened, rather than a Corona beer that was most popular in the restaurant. Overall, he didn't seem to fit in at all with the rest of the bistro.

Looks like someone's taken the job...

A string of forlorn sighs rang out in the bistro. 5,000 USD was being offered for each passenger! In a place like Mexico, where 400 to 500 USD could fulfill all of one's spending needs for quite some time, this was a massive sum of money.

Unfortunately, it didn't have anything to do with them now.

No one tried to listen in on their conversation. It was clear that the white man was not to be messed with, and the two people offering the job were also extremely menacing and eerie somehow. This was clearly a trio that no one wanted to get involved with.

In the corner, Eddy's brows furrowed slightly as he asked, "Have you seen them before?"

"No," the black man replied with a shrug. "So many tourists come to Cancún every day from all over the world, how could I possibly recognize all of them?"

Eddy didn't say anything, but his brows were tightly furrowed.

He could smell a familiar scent from the white man. It was the scent of gunpowder.

This was clearly a man who had been playing with guns for a very long time, and even the gaps under his fingernails were filled with gunpowder. Furthermore, it was clear that he was extremely familiar with the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, as evidenced by the fact that he knew of Dream Island when no one else did. There was no way that a man like him would be just some no-name character.

The fact that he knew of a place that no one else in the entire bistro had even heard of meant that there was a very good chance that he was a pirate!

Since ancient times, the Caribbean Sea had always been a paradise for pirates. Even in the present day, anyone who dared to venture out of the Bahamas would be entering an area of the sea that was rife with pirates.

Furthermore, this man was clearly no ordinary pirate. He had seen many third-rate pirates in the past, and all of them were always obsessed with drugs, alcohol, and women. For pirates, as soon as they reached land, they would immediately celebrate and enjoy themselves like there was no tomorrow. They were constantly being hunted by the authorities, so being able to set foot on land was an extremely rare opportunity for them.

However, this man clearly wasn't one of those third-rate pirates. He was as calm and calculating as a cheetah, and anyone who dared to attack him would immediately be met with violent retaliation.

Should I drop that Cathayan man a hint to be careful?

The thought only briefly crossed Eddy's mind before he shrugged and sat down to continue drinking his beer.

What did he have to gain from meddling in other people's business?

At this point, Qin Ye and Tezcatlipoca had already made their way over to the table where the man was sitting, and he raised his glass of wine as a welcoming smile appeared on his face. "Please, take a seat. The name's Evan G. Woody."

He reached out to shake Qin Ye's hand, and upon doing so, he was surprised to discover that Qin Ye's hand was completely devoid of any body heat.

Qin Ye slowly lowered his hood, and only then did Woody discover that he was dealing with an extremely young man. Furthermore, he could tell that Qin Ye didn't have much experience, if any, with guns.

However, for some reason, the two of them struck him with an extremely potent sense of peril and foreboding, and without even realizing it, the butt of the cigar in his mouth had already been compressed down to a pulp by his front teeth.

His brows furrowed slightly as he processed this sensation. The fact that this young man didn't have any experience with guns meant that he most likely hadn't killed anyone in the past, so where was this sense of unease coming from?

"Are you a pirate?" Qin Ye looked down at his own hand, the one that had just shaken Woody's hand, and he casually remarked, "You've been a pirate for at least 20 years. Even if you're an idiot, you have to at least be a first mate by now."

Woody immediately tried to stand up, yet to his shock and horror, he discovered that he was unable to do so!

It was as if a giant, invisible hand had rested itself on his body, and his pupils instantly contracted as his hand reflexively tried to search for the gun strapped to his waist, but his hand wasn't even able to move!

Furthermore, he was unable to make any sound, either!

This is a pair of monsters!

His clothes were instantly drenched in cold sweat. Never did he think that he would be able to encounter a "myth" here!

"All of your scars are very old, and you don't have any recent injuries, so it seems you're already living the high life." Qin Ye cast his gaze toward the bottle of wine on the table and remarked, "You have decent taste. Are you a captain? A vice-captain, perhaps?"

Woody's lips were trembling, and he felt as if his heart had been caught in a vice. He opened his mouth to try and speak, but was unable to muster up even a single word.

He was sorely regretting his decision to speak up now, but the price that they were offering was far too alluring for him to pass up!

Qin Ye sat back in his chair and said, "Take me to where I want to go. This is an order, not a request, you have no choice in the matter."

All of a sudden, Woody found himself able to move again, and he heaved a long sigh of relief as he watched Qin Ye with a wary expression.

"Are you... a 'myth'?"

"I come from Cathay, so I don't understand the special terms in your language," Qin Ye replied with a smile.

Woody wasn't reassured by Qin Ye's explanation. Instead, he became even more cautious.

He gulped nervously as he said, "As I'm sure you know, there are countless myths about the Caribbean Sea, such as the fountain of youth, the holy grail, things like that... I've seen some things that... cannot be explained with logic, and those things include Dream Island. We call those inexplicable things or living beings 'myths'."

He didn't deny that he was a pirate. In the face of a myth, lying would be an extremely foolish move.

"I'm not interested in those things," Qin Ye said with a smile. "Tell me about Dream Island. How do you know about it? And it's quite remarkable that you were able to leave the island alive..."

Indeed, it was incredible to think that a mortal had stepped into the realm of gods and emerged on the other side with his life.

"This is not a good place to talk," Woody said with a solemn expression. "Truth be told, there are people from several other fleets here, and according to our rules, we'll allow them to disembark from their ships to rest at set intervals. Please follow me upstairs, we have a booth there that's been permanently reserved."

So this is a pirate hideout, eh?

Qin Ye wasn't interested in that, and he followed Woody upstairs.

The upstairs booth wasn't very large, nor was it very small. It was around 100 square meters in area, and the decor in the room had a pronounced gothic style. In the instant that Qin Ye entered the room, a chill immediately ran down Woody's spine, and he hurriedly swung around.

The door was silently shut, immediately following which all of the windows were also shut, and the curtains were drawn. However, no one had moved, and it was as if all of those actions had been performed by poltergeists.

If Woody had any doubts earlier, then there was no doubt in his mind at all that he had encountered a myth.

"Don't worry, just tell me what I want to know," Qin Ye said as he sat down onto a sofa before crossing his legs. "I'm not a fan of unnecessary bloodshed, and I'm not looking for any trouble."

Woody took a deep breath before opening his mouth to speak. "We discovered this island by accident. In contrast with fishing boats, the hips of our... company have set routes and times..."

Before he had a chance to continue, Tezcatlipoca suddenly interjected, "What is the name of your ship?"

This was a very strange question. After all, the name of the ship wasn't important. Qin Ye raised an eyebrow as he cast his gaze toward Tezcatlipoca, who explained through voice transmission, "They worship the three Caribbean death gods. If I'm not mistaken, this man belongs to the Black Pearl. There are many things that have happened on the new continent during the past few years, and it's very difficult to explain everything."

Qin Ye nodded in response with a contemplative expression.

Dax was an identity that he had stolen from the three death gods, but where were the three death gods now?

It seemed that they were no longer in the Caribbean Sea. Otherwise, there was no way that the religion of Dax would've spread so quickly. However, all gods required followers. If gods were ships, then followers were anchors that kept those ships in place. Thus, even though the three death gods had left, some of their followers had to have remained behind.

Followers required doctrines, but given that the three death gods were just a trio of pirates during their lifetimes, one could imagine that their doctrines wouldn't have been very sophisticated. Judging from his past interactions with the three death gods, Qin Ye was of the opinion that their doctrine was most likely the type that encouraged people to do as they desired, and that corresponded quite well with the occupation of pirates.

"The Emerald," Woody replied in a respectful voice while carefully watching the duo in front of him. "In the past, we worshiped Leoric, and occasionally, we would receive guidance from some divine miracles, but it's already been many years since we last received any instructions from him..."

Of course! Your god has already pissed off!

Qin Ye finally understood why Tezcatlipoca had decided to ask this question.

The Emerald revered Leoric, who was once one of the three Caribbean Death Gods, yet they had found Dream Island, which was where the treasure vault of the Aztec gods was located.

Why had the three death gods been taken away by the Heavenly Dao, and why had the second King Yanluo tried to kill them?

He still recalled that the second King Yanluo had said that they had been tinged by something's aura. The Heavenly Dao's opinion was that they should observe the three death gods to lure out the mastermind behind them, whereas the second King Yanluo thought that it was best to kill them on the spot, and that had resulted in an altercation.

Whose aura had they been tinged by? Was it a coincidence that the Emerald had discovered Dream Island?

The Plumed Serpent God had told Qin Ye the location of Dream Island. Could this mean that the three death gods had been tinged by the Plumed Serpent God's aura?!

Was that who the three death gods were serving?

Was this a ridiculous theory? Indeed, it did sound a little ridiculous. However, to the three death gods, the Plumed Serpent God would've been an insurmountable figure because this was Mexico, the cradle of the entire Aztec religion!

Mictlantecutli and Mictetikasiwa were no longer running the nation, and in the absence of their influence, if the Plumed Serpent God wanted some Yin spirits to do his bidding, then no one would be in a position to refuse. In fact, the three Caribbean death gods would've been more than eager to serve as the Plumed Serpent God's lackeys! The Plumed Serpent God was once a true sun god, and under normal circumstances, there was no way that the three Caribbean death gods would receive an olive branch extended to them by such a mighty figure!

With the assistance of the three death gods, it would be entirely possible to hide the Death Star in the Caribbean Sea, and the entire theory made sense, considering the Plumed Serpent God was still restricted by the Heavenly Dao and unable to do things for himself. Furthermore, it would also make sense for him to intentionally allow the followers of the three death gods to discover Dream Island.

"Is it really you?" Qin Ye looked up at the ceiling through narrowed eyes. "No, that wouldn't make sense... You're relying on the Cathayan Underworld to free yourself from the Heavenly Dao, so surely you wouldn't dare to plot against us at the same time. Alternatively, if someone's trying to pin the blame on you... Who could it possibly be? I know all of the world's death gods, and aside from the ruler death gods of a few select powerful nations, or major alliances like the Northern Europa Underworlds, who would be able to pin the blame on you?