Pirate Kingship-Chapter 612 - 438: Kingly Title: Sun King (Incomplete)_2
Few in the entire world could match his knowledge and accumulation in the Sun Domain. In this ceremony, he had used the body of the new king to give himself, the former king, a second spring.
As long as he wished, he could become the eternal ruler of this kingdom. Once he ascended to a Divine Position, he could fully congeal the Rank of "Sun King."
Similar to a [King's Title] within the Glory Ladder System, both Ranks were granted by the Silver Law and the collective subconscious upon ascension to kingship or a Divine Position. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺
However, after being interrupted, only a conceptual prototype remained, which could become a [Divine Title] or a [King's Title] in the future.
Whether it could be fully restored depended on the new master's performance.
Once he made corresponding achievements, such as expanding his territory to encompass the whole world so that some part of his domain was always basking in sunlight, regardless of the time zone, he could fully activate it, gaining an additional second Crown on top of the original.
Even though the war was not yet over, Byron couldn't help but have his eyes gleam with excitement. This was a second Crown that could be obtained in addition to his own [King's Title]! The golden Sun Crown that Edward IV coveted so dearly paled in comparison to this "Crown." The [Crown] of The Holy Silver Empire was merely equivalent to the Might of two ordinary Crowns combined. If he could activate it, the entire nation's Rank could take a significant step up, enough to elevate it from a Kingdom to an "Empire Where the Sun Never Sets."
The "Sun Never Sets" means that the sun never falls below the horizon on the Empire's lands. Every moment of every day, sunlight shines upon the Empire, allowing the Emperor's subjects to bask in his Radiance and grace. Every time a national address is made through the Law Network, one must begin with the phrase: 'My subjects, good morning, good afternoon, and good evening.' The condition to achieve this is for one's territory and territorial waters to connect and span all meridians. The most ingenious method would be to occupy a large territory on the hemisphere directly opposite one's own, so one part is in dawn while the other is in dusk. To achieve this, one must first conquer the Sea of Monsters and reach the Eastern Continent on the other side of the sea. He hadn't even had the chance to act on his initial plan with Violet: to visit the starting point of the Second Circulation Belt, the place where the [Whale Hunter] had once left traces. The responsibilities were heavy, and the road was long.
BOOM—!
Meanwhile, as the two fulcrums enabling the old King's Ascension were all stripped away, and after he sustained successive severe injuries, he could no longer hold on and finally crashed to the ground.
He transformed into a golden Giant of Light that had lost its solar form.
Overall, he still resembled a human, but his body was emaciated, like skin draped over bones. Crimson feathers gradually sprouted on his arms and back, his face increasingly resembled a bird's, and his hands and feet turned into claws.
His appearance was somewhat reminiscent of the legendary Phoenix.
He also possessed abilities like "Resurrection."
But there was no sense of the divine about him. His filthy feathers dripped with blackish-red magma, emitting a sulfurous, rotten-egg smell, like the fetid pus and blood oozing from a decaying corpse.
It was clear that amidst the turmoil of extreme joy and sorrow, and the intertwining of life and death, he was rapidly degenerating towards his Beastly side, even emitting the frenzied aura of his [Bizarre] nature.
The old King's eyes were bloodshot as he stared fixedly at them:
"Unforgivable! Unforgivable!
Do you know how desperately the Empire's Solar Deity System yearns for this Authority of mine, which allows Resurrection and can touch upon the Netherworld?
And do you know how important this Authority is for all Descendants of the Sun God?
With the protection of this Authority, the mid-to-lower-tier Divine Descendants would no longer need to fear death, and the Empire's strength could instantly double!
Are you still not enlightened? Compared to my smooth Ascension to Godhood, any price paid by others is completely worth it.
For the greater good of the Empire, why can't you all just obediently die?!!"
Byron had learned from browsing the collective subconscious of the Sun Empire that in the Hundred Beasts Paradise, All Things Have Spirit, and life and death were not distinctly separated.
Most people returned to the great sea of collective subconscious after death. A small portion with particularly noble bloodlines would enter Machu Picchu, the Sky City, to slumber at the feet of the gods. Yet another portion would, by some twist of fate, become Nature Spirits.
Only an extremely small number of Nature Spirits could become new Totem Gods, transforming from death to life and returning to the Empire.
The crux was the vast difference between the "Solar Codex" and taboo knowledge related to death; the [Sun God] and the various Authorities of the Lesser Gods had never touched upon the Netherworld.
This also resulted in relative equality in the face of death, regardless of one's status. Even The Pantheon struggled to intervene much, unable to grant their descendants any shortcuts.
What the old King said wasn't entirely baseless, nor did it sound like he was bluffing.
The Sun Empire had been established in the Ring of Fire Mountain Range for over a thousand years, constantly accumulating knowledge and expanding the limits of its cognition. Finally, during the reign of the 14th King, they breached the boundary between life and death.
Compared to this Authority, longed for over millennia, what significance did the hundreds of Divine Descendants each generation produced truly hold?
Even if discovered by the true owner of this Empire, the [Sun God] Inti, would he really punish a useful Fifth-Order Demigod for the sake of mere expendables?
Facing the old King's interrogation, Byron and his companions could only remain silent.
Just then, Huayna Capac used the King's authority to issue a command to the Sacred Tree:
"Order: Lower and Middle Realms, seal yourselves!
I've changed my mind. I no longer need you as Firewood producers. I'm going to devour you raw right now to replenish my fuel."
As the space between the Middle and Lower Realms twisted, the group was suddenly trapped within this relatively small portal to the Heavens.
All energy and matter were enclosed in this sealed cage. As long as they couldn't break the cage, all struggles were futile.
If he could kill them all in one go and forcibly consume the Firewood, the old King might have a chance to restart his "Ascension."
However, he had to move fast!
He had to defeat them before his fuel was completely exhausted, or he would truly die of old age.
However, contrary to the old King's expectations, when faced with the ring of scorching light that suddenly erupted from him and the increasingly ferocious Energy fluctuations,
Byron's face showed no sign of nervousness. Instead, with the same high and mighty, pedantic attitude he'd shown from the start, he calmly questioned him:
"Your Majesty Huayna Capac, don't you claim to be a 'Civilisation Gatherer'?
Then do you know that the universe is primarily composed of 75% hydrogen and 23% helium?
Do you know that the essence of combustion is actually a violent oxidation-reduction reaction?
Do you know how to measure the speed of light?
Do you know where the Sun's Energy comes from?
Do you know what fusion and fission are? And do you know that the apex of the solar path actually leads directly to the invincible technique of the Great Ivan?"
He spoke at a steady, unhurried pace, determined to stall until the old immortal burned himself out.
As expected, the old King, despite knowing his time was short, couldn't resist wanting to hear the answers due to his instincts as a 'Civilisation Gatherer.'
Or perhaps, for someone with his breadth of knowledge, a valuable question was more important than its answer.
While he listened with rapt attention, the light emanating from his body gradually dimmed.
Given the typical fate of a Son of the Sun dying of old age, he might soon extinguish on the spot or explode violently.
Seeing that the time was nearly ripe, Byron suddenly gave a strange smile and posed his final question:
"Do you know... that the new King actually has more than one [Sun Crown]?"
"What?"
The old King, this 'Civilisation Gatherer' who was lost in an ocean of knowledge, hadn't yet snapped back to reality.
Then he saw Byron produce a golden alpaca Sun Crown in one hand, and in the other, a golden-haired mouse that was rapidly expanding and reverting to human form.
It was the very first Crown that had fallen into his hands, and the true Fourth Prince, Atahualpa.
The latter, upon standing there, had also completed the kingly ritual. As long as he donned the Crown, he could completely end the "Holy Lake Coronation Ceremony" and reopen the sealed Secret Realm.
Even if the old King was stalled until he died of old age or exploded on the spot, they could still make a timely escape.
The only thing Byron couldn't figure out was that even as the mastermind before him was nearly burnt to nothing, the Decryption Rate for [Hidden: Shadowy Transition of the Sun Empire's Throne, Historical Influence 30] had only increased from 72% to 85%, and then it wouldn't budge. What does this mean? Never mind, escaping is the priority.
Just as Byron dismissed this anomaly and prepared to place the Crown on Atahualpa's head—
CLANG, CLANG, CLANG...
Behind them, the portal to the Heavens unexpectedly began to slowly open at this inopportune moment. A luminous and towering figure strode out from the threshold.
