Chapter 251: Chapter 167 Too Artistic (Third Update)_1

The Goddess of Art had always believed that the limit of a dirty picture was the ancient humans themselves.

The highest-end art pieces were humanoid, the appearances of the gods were humanoid, and ancient humans were also humanoid. The human form was the sexiest design in the world, just assuming a human shape was enough to get the art connoisseurs collectively excited.

Although called the Goddess of Art, She had almost no artistic cells, for the Far Traveler took away all attributes related to art like “creativity” at the conceptual level back in the day, leaving Her with nothing but the ability to appreciate art.

She used to look at the surrounding gods through colored glasses every day, appreciating those guys with the eye of an art connoisseur. She thought gods were the most artistic form, but today, She saw an existence that was even more artistic.

“Wow.”

After spending a full minute appreciating the first page of the comic, she flipped to the second page, then exclaimed again, “Wow.”

“Stop looking!” Liuzi couldn’t help shouting, “What was that ability you used before to get us out of trouble immediately? Use it now!”

“No need, Captain,” Delta reminded, “I have good news and bad news now, which one would you like to hear?”

Liuzi silently looked at the ceiling, then said, “The good news.”

“We got out of trouble. During the jump, for some unknown reason, we deviated from our original destination by about thirteen hundred light-years, and a mistaken ripple happened to form behind us, allowing us to escape pursuit.”

“And the bad news?”

“We’ve been captured by interstellar pirates.”

Only then did Liuzi notice the dense green force fields around him, with a large number of ships flying pirate flags surrounding his vessel, preventing him from leaving.

“Bad luck, just out of the wolf’s den and into the tiger’s lair,” Liuzi couldn’t help lamenting.

“Wow.” The hedgehog without quills was still captivated by the comic.

Looking helplessly at Her, Liuzi felt that being caught by interstellar pirates wasn’t too bad.

After all, they only wanted money, not brains. Finding himself in this situation was tolerable, and a little faith might get him through.

So when the interstellar pirates broadcast inquired his name and the goods on his ship, he straightforwardly said, “Liuzi, no cargo. We just left the fifteenth ring and have no plans for the next step. I’m willing to pay a ransom as long as you let us pass safely.”

After the negotiation concluded, the interstellar pirates were silent for a long time before finally saying, “Come here, come back with us.”

Liuzi’s brow furrowed.

Interstellar pirates generally didn’t take people back with them; they would either kill on the spot or take the money and let go.

This situation likely meant they found him exceptional and wanted to take him back as a muscle man or a straw dog strategist or something of the sort.

As long as he wasn’t the princess consort of the raid, then everything was negotiable.

Being towed into their base, Liuzi swore he would fit his ship with a self-destruct device once back, so if the situation turned sour, he would blow it up, since insurance would cover it.

Sensing Liuzi’s thoughts, Delta kindly reminded, “Insurance only covers three times; after that, it’s out of pocket.”

“…When did this rule come out?!”

“It was enacted after a recent update because some players were committing insurance fraud, going through a sequence of actions to cheat faith; the admins had no choice but to put a temporary ban on it.”

In that moment, Liuzi thought of someone named Xiemen Waidao, feeling that only he would do such a thing.

At the same time, he felt these players were too unrestrained, opening up the option of insurance fraud and making him hesitate even to self-destruct.

If only other players played the game as honestly as he did, that would be great.

The ship docked behind a dark zone.

A dark zone was a place where Shadows had invaded but hadn’t been cleared promptly, eventually contaminating the area.

Later, the Shadows were cleared, but the local stars had been extinguished, the plants and animals on the planets extinct, and the zone had not recovered even now.

Such mysterious occurrences of Shadows would happen occasionally, even Heavenly Tao’s network couldn’t completely prevent them.

Since it had become a dead zone with no value, no pioneers were willing to come here, but it turned into a paradise for the interstellar pirates, who turned it into their base.

Under the pull of the force field, Liuzi saw his ship deeply entering the dock, with specialists starting to take charge of the maintenance.

These pirates seemed to have a particular fondness for red; their clothes were red, their ship’s paint was red, even the interior of the base was painted red—it looked somewhat stimulating.

The one who received Liuzi and the Goddess of Art was a burly rhinoceros, which led the two of them deeper inside and, upon pushing open a heavy metal door, said, “The Leader wants to see you?”

“Leader? Your term for the boss is a bit strange,” Liuzi asked, puzzled.

“No, this title is the correct one. And don’t call us pirates, please refer to us as the Freedom Alliance.”

“…Okay.”

Behind the door, Liuzi saw a massive chair turned away from them, on which should sit a polar bear or an animal of similar size to match such a gigantic silhouette.

The office was decorated simply and modestly, and the room played “The Pilot Song,” which seemed mournful and rhythmic, a favorite among squirrel pilots, and oddly fitting for the place.