Chapter 525: Chapter 394 I order you to develop a photolithography... industrial whale oil power furnace!

Byron had seized the "Scales of Dominance" from Havana’s former Governor and Pawnbroker, Velazquez, and now he decisively used its final charge here.

As soon as the golden scales appeared, Byron’s side began to lower, while Mordent Gray’s side continued to rise, clearly indicating the former’s weight was greater. Byron breathed a sigh of relief.

"Success! Ever since I obtained this treasure, I’ve been thinking about how to maximize its value. But among the enemies I encountered, there was never a suitable target; they were either too weak to be worth it, or too high in status to be risky. Especially the ’Abyssal Horror’ Dagon and the ’Father of the School of Sharks’ Bonaparte from the recent great battle—both are leaders of their own kin and Fifth-Order Pseudo-Gods, with numerous Mind Wish Powers gathered in them. Compared to them, it was difficult to determine whose status was higher.

"But I will definitely not make the same mistake Velazquez made a second time. As for the ’Sailboat Collector’ who defected from the Kingdom of Castile..."

The Scales of Dominance had already spoken for Byron, revealing the other’s identity: "Lowly fugitive!"

This First-Class Holy Relic was a firm supporter of the collective human path; its judgment rules had nothing to do with power, only with organizational status. The ’Sailboat Collector’ Mordent Gray, although a High Sequence Transcendent, had all his honors and titles stripped after his defection from the Kingdom of Castile. And unlike the Pirate King, who recruited sailors to establish his own team, system, or even plotted to build a kingdom, he was always alone from beginning to end.

If the mask of the Mad Hunt Deity was a specialized attack against the Bayfolk, then the Scales of Dominance is a specialized attack against the loner!

This ’Sailboat Fanatic,’ realizing something was wrong, tried to withstand it relying on his Fifth Rank, but only managed to turn and run two steps before freezing in place. A pair of golden scales slowly emerged in the depths of his pupils, symbolizing the complete loss of control over one day of his own time. He now had to execute three absolute commands issued by his master.

Byron nonchalantly ordered, "The first task, Mr. Mordent, I command you to hand over all the Miracles and knowledge you possess."

The latter’s spirit fluctuated violently, wanting to resist the command, but unable to confront a First-Class Holy Relic, he was completely defeated after a brief standoff. He obediently handed over his Storage Curios and the bronze helm hanging around his neck to Byron.

Byron handed the Storage Curio to Violet. The girl quickly and deftly sorted through it, finding all the research achievements of the ’Sailboat Collector’s’ former life: his secret writings and manuscripts, Warship designs stolen from various countries, wisdom gleaned from predecessors during travels in the collective unconscious sea, and so on. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

It could be said that these ship research materials in the hands of the ’Sailboat Collector’ represented the highest level of research on Sail Battleships in this world. Perhaps they were inferior to Byron’s ’Tudor Hybrid Sailboats’ and ’Heavy Cruisers’ in terms of advancement, but the Foundation was extremely solid. It was enough to mass-produce the finest Shipwrights and put the Pioneer Guiding Colonial Trading Company’s shipbuilding level at least ten years ahead of the world. With them, Byron would also have an excuse to present the "brilliant idea" of cladding Warship hulls in copper and studding them with iron nails to Edward IV.

And what he cared most about, the ’Theseus Ship Spirit Ritual,’ was hidden in that helm-like Miracle.

I was originally planning to exchange designs for this knowledge, but you’ve delivered it yourself, so I won’t be polite, Byron thought, extracting the Forbidden Book and immediately handing it to his father.

The Quasi-Legendary Warship ’Blue Dragon King’ was secured, the direct Bloodline Codex ’Theseus Ship Spirit Ritual’ was obtained, and the Immortal Stairway on the Ascension Stairs to Godhood had just been acquired.

Next... advance, Father!

Prince Sorrenberg also knew this was the most suitable path for him. He eagerly read the knowledge within, finding that the initial rituals were not that difficult for him. For instance: "Live continuously on a selected Warship for at least six months," "Steer the Warship and destroy more than three enemy ships, binding their spirits and resentments"... These rituals had long since been completed. With his Fourth Order essence, he could quickly become a Mythical Creature—a Ship-binding Spirit!

The only part that caused him some hesitation was the side effect. Using Breeze Whisper, he sent a message to Byron:

"Byron, do you think I’ll turn into another ’fetishist’ or a second ’Sailboat Fanatic’ after I complete this? Maybe Honor and power can’t coexist, and trading Honor for power is a worthwhile deal. But do you think there’s still a chance to salvage this situation? Your father also has his Honor to consider!"

Hearing this, Byron also frowned, considering it a problem indeed.

Just then, the Sailing Logbook revealed detailed information about this bronze helm:

"Inherited Miracle: Bronze Helm:

1. Hidden inside is the complete Bloodline Codex of a certain path, as follows...;

2. It can amplify various Black Sorceries of this path;

3. Captain’s training device."

The first two items were easy to understand, but the third ability truly opened Byron’s eyes. He signaled his father to be patient and continued to read:

"As is known, the Spiritual Realm has three levels: ’Flow State,’ ’Divine Sight,’ and the highest grade, ’Unity of All Things,’ which few have attained since ancient times. The most correct path for a Transcendent is to continuously touch upon the seven Silver Laws, stabilizing the ’Anchors’ in themselves with ’Divinity.’ Then, they must delve deeper into ’Forbidden Knowledge,’ using ’Beastliness’ to craft the ’Sails’ needed to break out of the safe zone and ride the winds and waves towards the vast, unknown world. Yet, one must not forget to firmly grasp the ’helm’ forged from one’s own ’Human Nature’; by mastering the helm, one controls the direction the sailing ship advances. Only with a balance of stillness and motion, plus an old Captain to mediate, can one’s sailing ship travel both fast and steady, ultimately touching the Divine Domain. Step by step, one gradually ascends to Fifth Order, Sixth Order, and even becomes an existence on par with the ’creator.’ Therefore, Sails, Anchor, and helm are indispensable. The purpose of the ’Captain’s Training Device’ is that as long as you wear the bronze helm, you can use the vastness of time to train a Captain’s steering level, constantly elevating one’s Spiritual Realm."

Byron understood immediately upon reading this. With Anchoring established, the stronger one’s self-control, the stronger the resistance to side effects will surely be. Even if one’s mind is full of Lust, as long as their moral sense is high enough and their personal resistance strong enough, they can still be an upright Saint. Now that there’s this helm to assist, the side effects will be greatly weakened, so...

Edmund Lancaster, who had been listening quietly, continued his thought, "So, the ’fetish’ aspect of Forbidden Knowledge does exist, and Mordent Gray’s randomly acquired ’ship fetish’ is also real. But the title of ’Sailboat Fanatic,’ I fear, is largely not from the side effects, but because he himself genuinely thinks that way. The side effects are just an excuse he uses."

Most of the group nearby had heard the story of the ’Sailboat Collector’ and his wife. While they originally had some sympathy for his failed attempt to save his wife, they now found themselves unconsciously distancing themselves from him.

"UGH..."

Recalling his experiences, Castilia’s overseas expansion was already in full swing ten years ago, and Black Sorcery was no secret to the upper echelons. If his wife’s illness couldn’t be cured on the Old Continent, he could have applied to go to the Bantaan Archipelago to seek help from Witch Doctors.

Clearly, at that time, his desire to save his wife was just one aspect. More importantly, he probably wanted to obtain something he had long dreamed of... a ship maiden.

Having uncovered this hidden layer, Byron felt he could be a bit more cruel to this ’Sailboat Fanatic.’

He commanded, his tone laced with the cruel insistence of demanding someone get into Shuimu University, "My second command, as your master: I order you to develop... no, not photolithography... but improved blueprints for Whale Oil technology, and to develop a more efficient industrial Whale Oil Power Furnace. All new achievements must be attributed to Violet!"

Hearing the command, Mordent immediately dropped to the ground, took out drafting paper, and began calculating on the spot. Moreover, this was a command from a rule level—absolutely focused, absolutely efficient, far more effective than when he conducted research on his own. The price was that his brain and spirit raced at high speed, his head gradually starting to emit smoke.

As for the final command from his master, Byron planned to save it for last: to make him sign a Faustian Contract, selling both his soul and body to him. It was the same principle as wishing for a genie to be one’s eternal servant.

However, at this time Violet, also an ’Artisan,’ finished reading the ’Theseus Ship Spirit Ritual’ and said with some confusion, "Byron, something is strange. Mordent’s primary Class, ’Artisan,’ is already Fifth Order, and he has had the Forbidden Book for nearly ten years. So why does he still look like a human? Shouldn’t he at least have become a Fourth Order Mythical Creature, a ’Ship-binding Spirit,’ by now?"

Reminded by her words, Byron then realized. Mordent was Fifth Order, while he himself was merely Third Order; the Sailing Logbook couldn’t read too much information from Mordent across Classes. After the Scales of Dominance took effect, he had subconsciously overlooked this point.

Before he could figure out the situation—

WHOOSH!

The ’Phantom Bottle,’ which had been silently docked at the third island, suddenly unfurled its sails and left the pier on its own. Before the rest of the Colonial Fleet could react, it instantly shrank and disappeared from the sea surface once more.

The ’Sailboat Collector’ in front of Byron and his group shuddered violently, and the sound of breaking chains resounded from within his body. Only then did the Sailing Logbook discover that what had always been controlling Mordent Gray’s physical body was merely a ’Virtual Ship Spirit.’ Now abandoned by the true Ship-binding Spirit Mordent, the connection was completely severed; he was, at best, merely a knowledgeable Third Order Grand Artificer. Most of Mordent’s power remained preserved within the ’Phantom Bottle.’

His ten years on the run had deeply ingrained the risk-avoidance principle of "not putting all one’s eggs in one basket" into the ’Sailboat Collector’s’ very core.

Watching the departing figure of the Quasi-Legendary Warship, Violet bit her lip, saying reluctantly, "What a pity. We let him escape, and he took the secret of the key knowledge, the ’Immortal Stairway,’ with him. I fear it won’t be long before he achieves his wish."

Byron was not angry at all; instead, he shook his head and chuckled inwardly. Indeed, the answers to the Red Beard Paradox and the Theseus Paradox may not hold much value if heard by others, but to Mordent, they are of extraordinary significance. However, if he relies on this conceptual Immortal Stairway to achieve the status of a Fifth-order Legend Ship Spirit, at the moment of ascension, I fear a significant portion of the Ship Spirit will effectively be mine, reflecting my stake as the major shareholder of this knowledge. If he were to teach this knowledge to someone else, then... Tsk tsk!