Yama Rising

"As the second sun god, he would have the power to save the Death Star and keep him hidden, and he would also be familiar with the process that Mictlantecutli and Mictetikasiwa would go through to capture the Death Star."

Tezcatlipoca didn't say anything, but his brows were tightly furrowed, and only after a long while did he shake his head in response. "I really want to say that it's him, but there's no motive for him to do this, so it can't be him."

Qin Ye didn't reply, and his mind was already racing.

If the Plumed Serpent God really was the one behind this, then that would explain how the Death Star was able to infiltrate Chichenhagen.

The Plumed Serpent God was once a ruler death god, and even though he had gone to the Alkebulan Underworlds for thousands of years, he had to have left some trump cards on the new continent, so he would definitely be capable of hiding the Death Star.

However, the question was why did the Plumed Serpent God require space exploration information?

That information didn't benefit him in any way in his current state!

"However… What if he's specifically targeting me? He doesn't have any need for that information, but he knows I need it, and he's using that against me. Let's think about his objective: he wants to exact revenge on the entire new continent. Thus, he wouldn't want to see Mictlantecutli and Mictetikasiwa leave the underworld. Instead, he would want all of the new continent death gods to witness his triumphant return. If a conflict arises between the new continent and the Cathayan Underworld, then the chaos in the new continent would be further exacerbated. As a result, the fight for the new continent could begin early, and that would present an opportunity for him."

Qin Ye was making all of this analysis out loud, and Tezcatlipoca's eyelids were twitching slightly after hearing what Qin Ye had to say. "He still hasn't separated himself from the Heavenly Dao, so he's still relying on you, and he wouldn't do something so foolish. Trust me, there's no way that a past ruler death god would do something so stupid."

Qin Ye massaged his own glabella and remained silent.

He had actually thought of the Plumed Serpent God, not because of the above reasons. Well, that wasn't entirely true. Those reasons were a factor of consideration, but there was an even more important factor, and that was what the second King Yanluo had told him.

In that restaurant in the world's gate, the second King Yanluo had told him to be wary of the Plumed Serpent God.

Why was it that all of the other death gods had either perished or ascended to Heaven once their religions collapsed, yet the Plumed Serpent God was bound by the Heavenly Dao instead?

It seemed that the Plumed Serpent God was capable of doing some things that were beyond the abilities of other new continent death gods!

"Also, if the Plumed Serpent God really is behind this, that would explain why the Death Star is luring us."

"Hold on." Tezcatlipoca was also beginning to take this seriously. Quetzalcoatl had been a sworn enemy of his for thousands of years, and he couldn't not be serious when it came to matters that concerned him.

"Why are you saying that he's luring us somewhere?"

"Has your brain completely atrophied during the time you've been sealed away? You better wake up and start contributing with your brain because you're definitely not going to be any help to me in battle in your current state. "

Tezcatlipoca gnashed his teeth together viciously upon hearing this. Qin Ye was showing him no respect at all, but he couldn't do anything!

Qin Ye continued, "He's only an Abyssal Prefect, while I'm a Yama-King, so he's just taking a massive risk just to appear before me. There would be no reason for him to appear other than to tell me that we're already close to his lair, and that we should seek him out if we want the space exploration information. This makes me even more inclined to believe that the Plumed Serpent God is behind this. The Death Star is serving someone, and our destination is a place that the Plumed Serpent God told us to visit. The Plumed Serpent God isn't able to appear as he pleases right now, so would it make sense for him to get the Death Star to ensure that we go to the place he pointed out to us? As long as I still want the space exploration information, I have no choice but to track down the Death Star, and that makes perfect sense given the current state of the Plumed Serpent God. He wants us to go to the treasure vault, but he isn't sure whether we'll go there or not. Thus, he decided to use the Death Star."

He turned toward Tezcatlipoca as he asked, "Do you know of the existence of this treasure vault."

"No," Tezcatlipoca replied with a shake of his head. "However, I'm not denying its existence. There is inevitably some bias in our parent god when it comes to his treatment of his children, and as a cripple, I have no right to know about these things. In contrast, Quetzalcoatl was a sun god, so it makes sense that he would be privy to this information. Thus, I can't say for sure whether it exists or not. No matter how I think about it, it doesn't make sense. In order to separate himself from the Heavenly Dao, Quetzalcoatl must rely on you. If your assumptions are correct, then he's essentially forcing you to go to the treasure vault right now. Isn't he afraid that you'll turn on him for this?"

"That's also the point that I'm struggling with right now," Qin Ye said as he leaned back against his seat. "There's no way that he would be so stupid. There's only a 40% chance that he's the one behind this. As for the other 60%, that would be someone trying to pin the blame on him."

Silence.

A short while later, Tezcatlipoca said, "In any case, we're planning to go to the treasure vault anyway, so we'll proceed according to the plan. Perhaps the Death Star doesn't have anything to do with the treasure vault."

……………………………………

Cancún, Mexico.

This was one of the world's renowned tourism cities with one of the world's top 10 beaches. The entire city was shaped like a snake, and looking out from the beach of Cancún, one would be able to clearly see that the seawater was split up into patches of light blue, dark blue, and navy. It was truly a breathtakingly beautiful sight to behold.

The city wasn't very big, but it had everything that one could want for. It had the best hotels in the world, as well as tourism companies, beaches, and fisheries, which were integral to the Mexican economy. The northern part of the city was the tourist district, while the southern part was where the fisheries and fishermen of the city were gathered.

The smell of fish had already become a permanent part of the air here. In contrast with the lavish and refined northern part of the city, the southern part was more chaotic, but also more lively. Many interesting things could be found here, such as fortune-tellers, diviners, and all types of seafood snacks. The presentation of the cuisine wasn't fantastic, and perhaps these things couldn't compare with the dishes served in the top restaurants in the northern part of the city, but they were down-to-earth delicacies that couldn't be tasted anywhere else.

TACO y TEQUILA was the liveliest place in the southern part of Cancun, and even though it was already quite far away from the seafood markets and the ports, the strong scent of the sea still lingered in the air here as most of the patrons of the bistro had just come from those places.

"Have you heard?" A black man was sitting at a table in the bistro, adding some condiments to his taco. This was one of the most renowned Mexican dishes, consisting of a thin corn-based shell, inside of which was placed meat and vegetables, as well as condiments of one's choice. The flavors were rich and delicious, and it was very popular both in Mexico and in the rest of the world. [1] However, many people in Cancún preferred to put fish or seafood in their tacos.

The black man completed his taco, then took a bite out of it, and a blissful look appeared on his face as the thin corn shell crunched in his mouth. "Someone is offering a lot of money to be taken out to sea."

There was a white man and two more black men seated at the same time. The white man was wearing a pair of jeans and a jean jacket, and he was chugging on a bottle of Corona beer. This was the national beer of Mexico, and it was also the best-selling Mexican beer in the world. In the city of Cancún, most of the restaurants sold this beer.

"How much are we talking here?" The white man finally set down his bottle, then burped as he turned toward the black man.

The black man who had spoken looked around cautiously, then replied in a low voice, "5,000 USD!"

"My god!" The white man almost sprang up from his chair, then also looked around before sitting back down. His voice was full of irrepressible excitement as he asked, "Who's offering the money, and where does he want to go?"

The black man took a bite out of his taco before replying, "It's a Cathayan man…"

Before he had a chance to finish, the white man said with an envious expression, "I knew it had to be a Cathayan! It seems like there's nothing in this world that they can't buy!"

"Let me finish!" the black man said in a careful voice. "Listen to me, Eddy. The Cathayan is also accompanied by a white man, and the place they want to go is somewhere I've never heard of before. It's called Dream Island or something. Also, the two of them are really strange. They only appear at night, and no matter how hot it is, they insist on wearing black cloaks. What's most peculiar of all is that none of the people who've met them are able to remember what they look like!"

Eddy's eyes immediately widened upon hearing this. "Are you serious?"

"Dead serious!" The black man had already finished his taco at this point, and he popped the lid off a bottle of beer in a well-rehearsed manner, then took a long chug. The sensation of the cold, frothy beer running down his esophagus was like taking an internal shower, and he chugged on the beer for a full five seconds before putting down the bottle with a huge burp. "You know my grandpa, Bwonsamdi? He's one of the oldest sailors in Cancún, right?"

Eddy nodded in response.

Old Bwonsamdi had already been sailing for 50 years, and there was no place that he didn't know of in the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. He was known as the living map of Cancún. Even though he was quite old now and very rarely sailed anymore, his fishery was a very successful business in Cancún with four fishing boats, including even one for catching sharks.

For the majority of the normal citizens of Cancún, he was already the spitting image of a successful entrepreneur.

If anyone wanted to ask about any place in Cancún, or about the distribution of fish species in the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, then old Bwonsamdi was the go-to man to visit. However, a fee had to be issued in USD in exchange for his services.

"My grandpa was the first person that they approached," the black man said. "At the time, I was in the adjacent room, so I took a few glances at them. I swore to myself that I would remember what they looked like, but as soon as they left, I forgot! Also…"

He took a deep breath before continuing with a grim expression, "My grandpa warned me to never go to Dream Island unless I wanted to die, and to never approach those two people!"

Right at this moment, the doors of the bistro were opened, allowing the bright sunlight outside to shine into the bistro, thereby illuminating the two figures standing at the entrance.

The doors of the bistro were classic saloon doors that were often seen in western Usonian films, and in the instant that the two figures entered the bistro, everyone involuntarily shuddered.

Qin Ye cast his gaze around the bistro to find that it was much like the dai pai dongs of Cathay. [2]

There were all types of people here, and the most eye-catching fixtures were the giant fish skeletons and the dartboards hanging from them.

However, they weren't in the mood to appreciate the decor of the bistro. Instead, Qin Ye cut straight to the point. "Who knows of Dream Island?"

No one replied.

"That's them!!" In the corner, the black man almost sprang to his feet. "I knew that they wouldn't leave so easily!"

Tezcatlipoca cast a quick glance toward the black man, then paid no further heed to him. "We're offering 5,000 USD."

Everyone still remained silent.

"5,000 USD per person," Qin Ye continued. "There are five of us in total, and we'll each pay 5,000 USD, or the equivalent sum in Mexican pesos if that's preferred. All you need to do is take us to Dream Island once. Those who can provide verified leads on Dream Island will receive 1,000 USD, and anyone willing to take us to Dream Island will receive a total of 25,000 USD for the five of us."

Everyone in the bistro was finally interested upon hearing this.

The sound of chatter slowly arose, but no one took up the offer. Many of the bistro's patrons were experienced sailors, but they were all looking at one another with perplexed expressions because none of them knew where this Dream Island was!

Right at this moment, an elderly voice suddenly rang out. "Hell Island, eh? Hehe, you must have a death wish if you want to go there. Take my advice, my friends, don't throw your lives away. That place isn't Dream Island, it's an island of nightmares, and no one has come back from the island alive!"

[1] [I know that what tacos are is pretty common knowledge for people in the west, but it's not so well-known in China, hence the provided explanation.]

[2] [Dai pai dong are a type of open-air food stall in China.]