Pirate Kingship-Chapter 634 - 449 Entry: I Don’t Eat Beef

Following the principle of "disembark before embark, exit before entry," the Golden Deer and dozens of other sailboats preparing to head back home temporarily anchored in the waters outside the entrance of Fortress Bridgehead.

Although the return journey through the Shattered Isles would still take approximately two more days, the relief of being on the homeward course made the crew extraordinarily happy.

The atmosphere on the ship became much livelier as well.

Delia, the first to circumnavigate the Southern Continent, had successfully advanced to the Third Order and was now joyfully informing her parents through the Law Network.

The newly boarded Sea Magician, Sarant Tudor, was sparring with other pirate officers, the CLANG, CLANG, CLANG of their weapons echoing.

Unable to withstand the sharpness of the other's Magic Wand, the dejected Octopus-man Octi was using his regenerative abilities to heal his injuries.

He shared something in common with that "Mage" who had used only a single Flash Technique from beginning to end. Despite being a Beast Tamer, he obsessed over swordsmanship, hell-bent on becoming a Sword Saint of the Eight-Blade Style.

Byron was very supportive of Octi and encouraged him, asserting that if he could master Divine Sight beyond Flow State, becoming a Sword Saint and founding the Eight-Blade Style would be a mere trifle.

He also made sure to collect Octi's tentacles, which were sliced off during sword training and duels.

This deeply moved Octi.

"The captain must be taking my tentacles to study the difference between octopus and human hands, to help me perfect my swordsmanship!

"The captain is truly too good to me!"

In reality, Byron was in the captain's quarters, enjoying the grilled squid tentacles prepared by Violet, eating and exclaiming,

"A true man must diligently practice swordsmanship. It's not only dashing but also helps to toughen up the muscles on the tentacles, making them chewier.

"Excellent, excellent. Octi's path is growing broader and even more delicious.

"As the captain, I am very pleased indeed."

Even though the side effects of his tentacle fetish vanished with the drinking of the Blood of Immortality, Byron himself had become, in a sense, an "octopus monster" with a fixed aesthetic.

What would cause others to lose their sanity was just everyday life for him.

At least it no longer affected his subjective judgment.

When the Puppet King Louis turned his gaze to the Golden Deer, Byron also glanced at that distinctively shaped, leading Quasi-Legendary Warship, the Castle of Dreams.

He was unaware that he had become a puppet in the eyes of others and a key tool for them to pull chestnuts out of the fire.

His thoughts went instead to that notorious Sail Collector whose avatar had been captured by the Dominion Scales, scaring its main body, the Ship-binding Spirit, into a frenzied flight.

"Puppet King Louis? The intelligence network in Financial Street passed along word that Mordent Gray has returned to Castilia and assumed the position of Head of the Royal Institute of Engineers. With another Fifth-order Legend reclaimed, the power of the Kingdom of Castilia grows like a snowball, ever larger. Compared with them, the Kingdom of Hightens is still too far behind, with no chance of pulling this number-one superpower down anytime soon."

"However, I did hear that as the renowned 'Incompetent' Enrique grows older, there is increasing unrest in Castilia over the issue of the Crown Prince. A faction led by Puppet King Louis supports Juana, while another group rallies around Enrique IV's half-sister, 21-year-old Princess Isabella. These are Castilia's two largest political forces. It would be great if they could have a fierce Throne War. If they killed off half the senior officials and High Sequence Supernatural Beings, we, the underdogs, might have a chance to seize an opportunity."

"To me, this 'Kingly Title' thing is really quite harmful. It's not chosen by oneself but arises from the collective subconscious of the citizens; you have to accept what they give you. 'The Incompetent'! Just listen to Enrique IV's title, how is that different from a public execution? Even social death can't compare to such a frightening prospect, being forever nailed to the pillar of shame without any chance to rebut. My uncle's 'Mad King' title is the same, both are among the roots of the Kingdom's political chaos. Doesn't the King care about losing face? Laying bare all secrets, wouldn't the ambitious immediately become restless?"

Huh, what's that?

Just as both sides were passing by each other, Byron suddenly caught sight of something at the prow of his ship through the captain's room door, his gaze becoming focused.

A thread, invisible even to the Spirit Vision of Transcendents, had suddenly descended from the void and fastened securely to the keel of the Golden Deer.

It was like a rope meant to lead them by the nose.

Though the thread seemed unnoticed by gods and ghosts alike, it could not escape detection under Byron's Divine Sight and the dual perspective from his Sailing Logbook.

Immediately, a new line of text appeared in the log:

"The Puppet King's Puppet Threads (not yet activated).

Capable of physical interference or Fate intervention.

Please beware of abnormal deviations in Fate!"

Byron was startled. He hadn't expected that before he could make a move against the Kingdom of Castilia, they had already made a move against him first.

"Could it be that the Puppet King already knows of my plan to plunder the Treasure Fleet? Impossible. Except for Violet, I haven't told anyone my chosen target for the next promotion, so how could he possibly know? Should I take action? If I let him stay here, what are my chances of winning?"

A string of questions popped into his mind.

By now, Byron had gathered a team: himself, Violet, Charm Demon Teres Axuber, Oath Knight August Habsburg, his uncle, and his father—six Fourth Order individuals.

In a critical moment, they could also pull in the Goddess of Love and Beauty, Freya, for a total of seven Fourth Order Transcendents, fully capable of going head-to-head with a Fifth-order Legend.

However, Byron soon found that after this thread landed on the ship, there was no further activity.

The Quasi-Legendary Warship, Castle of Dreams, passed by and soon drifted away into the distance.

This caused Byron to dismiss the impulse to call his father and the Blue Dragon King to confront the Puppet King directly.

After all, the Puppet King's primary plan was to quietly find that Totem God and strangle the potential offspring of his older brother, the 'Incompetent,' in the germ cell stage.

Simple and direct, with the fewest variables.

If he really couldn't find it, only then would he consider initiating the black-on-black plan, which carried a greater payoff but also higher risks.

Byron, of course, wasn't aware of this.

He only knew that this Fifth-order Hall Sequence Legend, the Puppeteer, leaving Puppet Threads on his ship was definitely not in good faith; something fishy was going on.

He immediately began to think about how to use his information advantage—that the Puppet King didn't know Byron was aware of his ill intentions—to set a trap. He even wondered if it was possible to use the Puppet King to get information on the Treasure Fleet.

Byron casually flipped open a page in the Sailing Logbook and raised an eyebrow at a line of writing.

"[Secret: The Shadow Over the Sun Empire's Throne Succession] After the decryption, the new entry I just got: [I Don't Eat Beef] should soon come in handy."

Since Byron dared to target the Treasure Fleet, of course, he would have a plan prepared for breaking through the Information Black Box created by the three Keepers of Secrets.

The two ravens, Hugin and Munin, capable of seeing the entire world, plus this new entry, were what he was counting on.

[Entry·I Don't Eat Beef]:

"The entry 'Outlaw Madman' targets the various Royal Iron Laws of continental monarchies, allowing you to escape the punishments of law.

'I Don't Eat Beef' targets the taboos of Bizarre Evil Spirits or other Transcendents' control and rule-based abilities.

To some extent, it breaks the rules set by oneself or others, depending on one's Supernatural Rank, and can weaken by up to one level at most.

If you go further, then: My rules are the rules!

With this entry, you become the perfect contract fraudster, able to dance around in various contracts, rules, and taboos.

Eh, I'm out again, I'm back in again, hit me if you can, dummy!"

A coin typically lands on heads or tails, but there's a minuscule chance it will land on its edge.

Byron was now that coin's edge, able to choose for himself whether to fall to one side or the other, selecting the path he would take in the future.

Title Effect: [Treasure Ship's Lock Key] falls under rule-based abilities, and if Hugin and Munin work together with [I Don't Eat Beef], there's indeed a chance of successfully breaking through that 'presence' barrier.

But it's still not completely safe.

At this moment, Byron gazed at the invisible, intangible Puppet Threads and pulled out a shining gold card from his pocket.

It was the bane of many Hall Sequence Transcendents, a Cursed Object from the Capricious Joker: [Golden Great Devil Card]!

Watching the multicolored hair that slowly floated out of the card, seeming almost alive as it crept towards the thread, Byron retrieved it just as it was about to touch and chuckled.

"This is my last insurance that guarantees I won't mess up. The Puppet Threads can stay on the ship for now. Teris should know from experience that the roles of hunter and prey are never clear-cut; the switch could happen in an instant. Let's see who ends up being the hunter and who becomes the prey!"