The Informal Tomb Raiding Diary: She is the occupant of the tomb!-Chapter 196 - 197: Principles Matter

Qinghan, having gotten his way, still put on a worried look, "You, you’ll be sold eventually."

Not liking what I heard, I immediately retorted, "Who would sell me? Who else besides you could sell me?"

The only ones who know I’m an ’antique’ are Qinghan and Bi Shi. Both Bi Shi and I are ’unearthed artifacts,’ so only Qinghan has the chance to be the inside thief.

"Sell you to someone else? How much hatred must I have for that person!" Qinghan smiled as he stuffed the gear he had organized into a backpack and tossed it onto the speedboat.

The insulated bottle had already been put back in the cooler. Captain Jack had handed us the warehouse keys. He had prepared the gear for landing on the island before the storm, one backpack per person, placed right by the warehouse door.

Just the two of us, Qinghan and I, there were some things I didn’t need at all, so he only took one backpack.

Hearing his ’doomed to be single’ excuse for not selling, I really wanted to kick him into the sea. Who was worried about his safety and charged into the lab like a furious deity to save him from the operating table? A Noble Sacrifice!

"By the way, Captain Jack said the rescued woman went missing and took that item with her. He suspects she went back to the island. He said if we see that item, and help retrieve it, he’ll reward us greatly."

"Really? After she finally escaped, would she possibly go back?"

"When I talked to her, I felt she was kind of... like she was being controlled by something, but she was trying hard to fight against whatever was controlling her."

"You mean, she wants to escape from this island, but whatever’s controlling her wants her to return, and now she’s completely controlled?"

"Yes."

Bi Shi and I were busy in the sea, didn’t really notice if anyone swam past us.

Could it be that the Red Corpses were there to capture her? Did they haul the boat back just to make her return?

Maybe the sudden retreat of the Red Corpses was because she had already returned, so they folded?

"A significant reward, huh? We’ll see. If it’s convenient, helping him retrieve it isn’t impossible."

"Some things should just be left where no one can find them."

"Hiss~ That’s true. One should have principles. If it’s treasure and jewels, I’ll help him retrieve it. If it’s a virus or a monster, then let it stay on the island."

Speaking of monsters, there’s something that puzzled me. When Captain Jack found out I killed those experimenters, he seemed to have a sense of relief.

His eyes seemed to say ’Ah, finally dead,’ but he quickly masked this inappropriate reaction.

From this, I surmise that he knows those experimenters weren’t human, and he’s still anxious about what they were researching.

Captain Jack and his crew have shown ’significant ’concern for life, so whatever makes him anxious is likely life-threatening.

I suspect it might be a virus, but unfortunately, we never got to see the animal corpses they disposed of. Seeing the corpses would make it easier to tell.

But these matters aren’t the most important. So Qinghan didn’t even ask; he just wants to get to the island quickly to find his sister Xiaonuan.

The lead crewman used the lift to place the speedboat back down from the fishing boat. He said when we return, he has something to tell us.

While he was confined below the ship, he overheard other captives talking about some things, but it’s not urgent. We can discuss it when we come back.

Qinghan and I took the speedboat away from the fishing boat, heading to the island. I named it ’Victory Island’ because it has an iconic V-shaped peak.

Ideally, we should have obtained a map of the island or the engineering plans of the island first, then land on the island more conveniently.

But Captain Jack said he only handles pick-ups. Of course, the jobs of sending and picking people up are all his responsibility; all the island’s engineering and technical personnel were brought in by him.

That’s why his ship had a hand of a mascot. No matter who is sent to the island, he is responsible for transporting them. His ship has ’permission’.

But that’s all, he never gets involved in island affairs, nor do those sent reveal any information to him.

What Shield is doing on the island is top secret. They demanded confidentiality, more than just signing confidentiality agreements; Professor Liu and others were also threatened.

Thus, everyone working on the island strictly keeps secrets, and Captain Jack naturally can’t provide maps or other information.

He has come and gone so many times but has never seen what the island looks like.

I’m not worried about anything else, just the virus the woman talked about. All her colleagues and workers died of illness, from outbreak to death took such a short period. If he contracted it, he might die on the island before he could leave.

Qinghan heard my worry and smiled lightly, "Well, isn’t there still you? When it comes to fighting poison with poison, your poison is the strongest."

"Professor Chen, you don’t need anyone to help fend off admirers. Just talk more to every girl showing interest in you; you’ll successfully embark on a journey of being single for 10,000 years. Believe in yourself."

"I... I’m not good at interacting with girls, no words. Uh... I mean living girls."

"Now you’re even offending dead ones!" I turned my body, facing the sea, watching the waves broken by the speedboat glide past, splashing salty seawater all over my face.

"Hahaha." Seeing my face and hair wetted by the sea, Chen Beast let out a joyful laugh.

It’s this magical thing; hearing his happy laugh, suddenly, I wasn’t angry anymore.

Due to matters regarding Victory Island in the past two days, he’s been in a sullen mood. Even though he adjusted his mood to cooperate with us for the plan to seize the ship, everyone could feel he was down.

Now that he’s finally laughing, my mood lightened up too. When he releases his gloomy aura, the whole team can’t be lively.

The joyful dumb adventure vibe is back. I smiled, wiped the water off my face, and pulled something from my bosom.

During the Snow Mountain Tomb, my plastic little trumpet broke. Just now, in the fishing boat’s warehouse, I saw a trumpet on the shelf.

This trumpet is better than my broken one, composed of three trumpets of different lengths, so the blown sounds will vary.

Woo... Whistle... Onward!

"Put away your magic now." Qinghan said ’don’t want’ with his mouth, but there was clearly a smile in his eyes.

Living people like to say one thing and mean another.

After the speedboat docked, we ceased our joking, moored the boat by the shore, secured the rope, and jumped onto the dock one after the other.

Qinghan carried the treasure sword, I had the backpack on; first, he checked the other boats in front of the dock. They were all small boats, and neither the vessel exterior nor interior bore bloodstains.

The woman probably wasn’t lying about this part, as she was the only one who escaped to this dock.

On the beach beside the dock, we discovered a trail of footprints, red footprints. Qinghan could discern their direction; they first ran from the shore into the sea and then came back from the sea, leaving no doubt they were made by the Red Corpses that moved the boat.