Lively and Bustling

"Can’t go back?"

"Yeah, can’t go back."

Yinsen rubbed the remaining half of his right forearm with his intact left hand. He was still unaccustomed to being without a hand in many situations, but he could not restore it immediately. He needed to properly study the clump of Death Energy lingering in his arm. His arm had already been severed, so he would be unwilling to let it go without gaining something from it. For now, he could only endure having one less hand.

"At least not until I can defeat Anubis."

Those words left Evelyn and O’Connell in utter despair.

Defeat Anubis? It would have been more straightforward to just say they could never go back. They did not even dare imagine something like defeating the Egyptian God of Death.

After explaining the situation to O’Connell and the siblings Evelyn and Jonathan, their reactions were actually fairly calm. Rather than panicking over leaving their original world, they became curious about Yinsen’s ship.

Logan was somewhat acquainted with O’Connell, so after explaining everything, he took O’Connell and the others around the ship to help them familiarize themselves with it.

Whether they ultimately chose to settle in another world or remain aboard the ship forever, they had no choice in the short term. They would definitely have to stay on the Goddess of Dawn for a while.

As for Imhotep?

After Yinsen helped him resurrect Anck-Su-Namun, the former Egyptian High Priest did not care where this place was at all. Leaving his original world for a completely unfamiliar one was actually a good thing for him.

No one here knew him or Anck-Su-Namun, and there were no annoying Medjai looking for trouble. He could begin a new life with Anck-Su-Namun.

"But I have to remind you that your current condition probably won’t last much longer."

Imhotep was still envisioning a bright future when Yinsen poured a bucket of cold water over his head.

"Your form of existence lies somewhere between the living and the undead. You may look as though you’ve been resurrected, but several factors sustaining this state of life have already left you. If you cannot resolve this issue soon, it won’t be long before you truly die."

Imhotep’s resurrection had involved the power of Anubis, the curse left behind by the Ancient Egyptians, and various forces tangled together, allowing him to return to the mortal world in a special state of existence.

In this state, he was neither human nor undead.

However, after leaving Mummy World, the power of Anubis was the first to leave him. What sustained Imhotep now was the curse rooted in his body, but after leaving its "home ground," that energy would gradually be depleted and could not be replenished. This curse was also founded upon divine arts. Without a deity continuously supplying energy after leaving that world, the curse’s effects would slowly fade away.

When that happened, Imhotep would die.

"But the good news is that this death will allow you to completely break free from that curse."

Imhotep understood what Yinsen meant. Once the curse’s energy dissipated, the curse would naturally be lifted. As for dying as a result, he did not consider that much of a problem.

After death, the soul would not immediately travel to the realm of the dead—besides, he did not even know whether such a place existed in this world. Yinsen, who had learned many spells concerning souls, was fully capable of preserving his soul and resurrecting him again.

He could even use this opportunity to cast off every shackle and become a true living person again.

Although he would lose his powerful magic, once he regained a human body, he could cultivate anew and restore his magical power. With his extensive experience, returning to his former level would not be difficult.

The only issue was whether Yinsen, this powerful spellcaster, would be willing to help. Imhotep thought it over and over. The "agreement" he had reached with Yinsen had only been for the resurrection of Anck-Su-Namun. It apparently had not included saving him.

Imhotep was a man who understood the times. Especially now that Anck-Su-Namun had finally returned to life and he was looking forward to a new life, he did not want to die just like that.

"As long as you are willing to save my life and allow me to remain with Anck-Su-Namun for many years to come, I am willing to offer you my loyalty."

In truth, Imhotep had even considered offering his faith, but he did not know whether Yinsen had any need for it.

As a High Priest, he naturally knew how to draw upon the power of believers to strengthen his magic. He also knew that such power came with many complications. Even at the height of his strength, he had not dared directly use that power. Instead, he had worked hard to develop believers and have them offer their faith to a deity, then receive power from that deity himself.

That method was obviously useless with Yinsen. Their earlier interactions had made Imhotep realize that this spellcaster did not worship any deity, so he simply did not mention it.

"This isn’t a troublesome matter. I can help you with it."

Yinsen did not state whether he accepted Imhotep’s loyalty. He intended to observe him for a while first.

After resolving Imhotep’s problem, O’Connell and the others had already made a circuit of the ship, familiarized themselves with its layout, and chosen their rooms. They were also discussing the many wonders of the Goddess of Dawn.

At first, Evelyn and the others had regarded the Goddess of Dawn as an outdated sailing vessel. She had thought she would have to live in a terrible environment.

To her surprise, the sailing ship possessed so many miraculous and convenient facilities. Apparently, those things used something called magic stones as fuel. Evelyn had even specifically examined what a magic stone looked like. She simply could not imagine that something resembling a gemstone could have such wondrous uses.

After taking a look around, they felt that living aboard this ship for a while would not be bad at all. As for what would happen afterward, they did not think about it for the time being.

Evelyn, O’Connell, and Jonathan were all exceptionally easygoing. After getting past their initial doubts, they no longer cared about unfamiliar worlds, unfamiliar environments, or unfamiliar civilizations. Instead, they focused on more practical concerns: how would they handle clothes and daily necessities?

Yinsen looked at Anck-Su-Namun and Imhotep, who had only a few scraps of cloth hanging from their bodies, then at O’Connell and the others, whose clothes had been worn for several days and were already damaged and even beginning to smell.

This was indeed an issue that had to be resolved first.

"Evelyn, get some suitable clothes from Ada and Annette. O’Connell and Jonathan can pick out some suitable things from my clothes."

There was no need to worry about daily necessities. The Goddess of Dawn had stockpiled plenty, and most of them came from Earth’s future, making them far more convenient and useful than anything from O’Connell’s era.

By the time they had settled those trivial matters, night had fully fallen. With so many additional people, the Goddess of Dawn had become much livelier. Yinsen arranged a group dinner so everyone could meet and get acquainted.

O’Connell, Evelyn, and Jonathan were all talkative and naturally sociable. Only Imhotep and Anck-Su-Namun, who had just been resurrected and was still confused about everything, were relatively quiet.

Under those circumstances, as soon as the dinner gathering everyone aboard the ship began, Evelyn struck up a conversation with Loki.

The reason was simple. During the introductions, Yinsen had directly stated that this was Loki from Norse Mythology, which Evelyn simply could not believe.

"Wait, have I arrived in some kind of mythological world?"

She had first been beaten so badly by Anubis that she could not return to her original world, and then on her first day in this new world, she encountered a man calling himself Loki. Evelyn began to suspect that everything which had happened recently was just a dream.

Loki had no intention of explaining anything. In fact, he did not want to pay Evelyn any attention at all, because the woman had one question after another, enough to drive him mad.

Yinsen ignored Loki’s helpless expression and continued what he was doing.

He was wrapping his right arm in bandages covered in various Magic Runes. He could not keep relying on Loki’s Frost Power to seal away that Death Energy. That domineering frost power would harm him as well, so before dinner, he had taken the time to make a roll of bandages covered in Magic Runes specifically meant to contain the clump of Death Energy.

However, he was still unaccustomed to having only one hand, so wrapping them was extremely difficult. Sherry, who had already finished eating, watched for a while and wanted to help, but Yinsen stopped her.

"This power isn’t something you can withstand, so I can only do it myself."

Anyone could help with merely wrapping bandages. The reason he had to do it himself was that he needed to continuously channel magic to activate the Magic Runes as he wrapped them. On top of that, the clump of Death Energy was far too harmful to ordinary people. Of everyone present, only Loki could ignore its threat—and he certainly would not help Yinsen wrap bandages.

After struggling for quite some time, he finally finished wrapping the bandages. Yinsen patted Sherry on the head and told her not to worry, then glanced at the increasingly lively crowd.

"Having things this lively seems pretty nice?"

He thought again of those days when he had been all alone. Back then, he had desperately wished there were people aboard his ship to keep him company and talk with him.

Just as he recalled those difficult days, Ada pushed her dinner plate in front of Yinsen and took away the untouched food from his plate.

Yinsen lowered his head and saw that the steak on the plate had already been cut into small pieces, ready for him to pick up with a fork.

"You’re taking such good care of me?"

"After all, you count as a disabled person right now."

Ada did not turn her head. She lowered her gaze and continued cutting the food before her. "Or you could attach an iron hook to your wrist or something. That would seem fitting for your identity as a captain."

Yinsen’s face darkened. What did he need one of those things for? It was not like he was some pirate captain.

Thinking of pirates, Yinsen realized that his plan to visit Caribbean World would have to be delayed for a few days. He did not want to go there looking like this. It would be far too damaging to his image.