At the very least, they would have to trade a hostage for a house full of gold, only to betray them in the end. This brutal and greedy Colonizer, devoid of any spirit of contract, had never intended to cooperate equally with the other party, not even considering the natives as human beings. Unexpectedly, an accident occurred.

"Alas!"

Standing behind the wheel, Pizarro sighed deeply as he saw that almost half the deck was gone, and the remaining sailors were all burned and smoke-covered. His eyes glazed over, his consciousness drifting back.

「Roughly one day prior.」

"Prince, you should believe in the Creator, and pledge allegiance to the great Incompetent Enrique IV of the Kingdom of Castilia!"

It was as though even the worst scoundrels needed to find some reason before bullying their victims. Pizarro had arranged such a farce, having an accompanying layman Priest of the Kingdom preach the doctrine of the Creator to an eagerly visiting Prince Atahualpa Capac, demanding his submission. And without sincerity, he even mentioned his own King’s less than glorious Kingly Title, ’the Incompetent.’

Meanwhile, firearms and cannons were secretly aimed at the Prince and his entourage.

As expected, Atahualpa, possessing the Inti Bloodline of the Sun God and being a Divine Descendant, turned grim-faced after listening to the Priest’s sermon. Seeing those dark metal tubes in their hands and feeling the naked hostility, he couldn’t contain his anger and burst out: "I do not believe! Get out of our country!"

Pizarro was about to order his crew to shoot and show these inexperienced natives what "the times have changed" meant. But the next moment, the others took the lead in letting them experience what "the era has not completely changed" meant.

"ROAR—!"

Prince Atahualpa Capac and the group of Empire Nobility accompanying him all roared in unison, transforming into Flame Giants at least three meters tall. Or rather, they were Affiliated with the Sun God Inti, cultivating the Forbidden Book "Solar Codex," transforming into Fourth Order Mythical Creatures [Son of the Sun] and Third Order [Molten Giants]!

They blazed like little suns, their entire bodies burning with an orange Blaze, their eyes like molten gold orbs. With each breath, hot sparks burned small holes into the ground. Especially the Fourth Order Prince, who, after transforming, stood five meters tall. With a single slap, he swatted the Second Order Priest—cloaked in the Church’s mercy but utterly wicked—into black cinders.

Some fired their firearms in panic. The lead bullets had barely touched them before instantly melting into puddles of lead, leaving the giants unharmed.

"White-skinned outsiders, you are unwelcome guests of the Sun Empire! Annihilate them!"

The Prince and the Nobility behind him no longer held back, immediately retaliating. They summoned dozens of explosive fireballs that blasted the Colonizers off their feet like a naval broadside.

"AHH!"

"God, save me—!"

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!...

Though gunpowder was powerful, the few dozen firearms in the Colonizers’ hands were not enough to teach Mythical Creatures of this level a lesson. The era had indeed changed, but not so thoroughly. In fact, as the Source Tide rose and the Luoyan Era approached, there was a tendency for the Mythological Era to resurge.

"Monsters! They’re all monsters! Run for it!"

If they had held the military advantage, Pizarro might have actually taken the Governor Prince hostage and extorted a hefty ransom. But they did not. The rabbit they thought they were chasing had suddenly turned into a giant monster. They could only be chased, fleeing in panic, desperately escaping back to the ship and immediately heading towards the sea, which those Fire Elemental Creatures did not fancy. If Pizarro, a Fourth Order Treasure Hunter of the Wilderness Sequence, hadn’t been there himself, he might have been counter-attacked and killed instantly, unable to escape.

In fact, over the past few days, not only had Hightins’s ’Little Hound’ stolen the Sun Crown, but the Kingdom of Castilia’s ’Thirteen Braves’ had also failed to kidnap the Prince. Countless other major deeds were committed by Colonizers from other nations as well. The audacious Adventurers had mostly made the same mistake: they underestimated the strength of the Sun Empire!

Wouldn’t they be able to plunder the natives at will when encountered? They thought the Sun Empire, without the aid of the Silver Law for Anchoring, was like the natives of the Bantaan Archipelago—unable to reach the level of Fourth Order Mythical Creatures while maintaining their sanity. They marched in boldly, ready to conquer this fertile Native Empire just as they had conquered the Bantaan Archipelago, but they had no idea they were about to kick an iron plate.

「In just a few days.」

The entire Sun Empire and its Four Great Suyu were plunged into utter chaos. A few of them managed to rely on their strength to escape by luck, but the majority of Adventurers paid a heavy price for their recklessness, their ashes scattered on the spot by the Descendants of the Sun God.

Moreover, those noble Descendants of the Sun God of the Sun Empire, despite disliking water and having a Sailing industry that was practically non-existent, possessed an extremely powerful Air Force. Piloting Sun Chariots, they soared from the cities atop mountain peaks, crushing the clouds above, and pursued those unruly and vile outsiders.

By the time the Thirteen Braves escaped to this volcanic archipelago, they were finally overtaken by five Sun Chariots led by Prince Atahualpa Capac himself.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!...

The alarm bell on the mainmast’s crosstree rang persistently. The lookout, his hair completely burnt off, cried out, his face panic-stricken, "Captain, bad news! The pursuers have caught up!"

WHOOSH—!

The next moment, an Obsidian spear, shimmering with Divine Light and enchanted with fire, fell from the Sky. It instantly pierced his chest, leaving a charred hole clean through him. It even shattered the mainmast’s crosstree beneath him on the spot. Then, one sharp Obsidian spear after another rained down from the Sky, nailing crew members to the deck.

The five Sun Chariots had arrived overhead, commencing a massacre from their superior vantage point. Screams and the smell of charred flesh instantly filled the entire Miracle adventure ship.

"HISS—! How terrible."

Facing this type of air-to-ground, dimensionally crushing attack, James ’Hawkeye’ and his companions, watching the battle from a nearby islet, instinctively lay prostrate on the ground, daring not to raise their heads. Byron, whose vision had descended here, witnessed for the first time the Transcendents of the Sun Empire that even Pseudo-Gods feared.

Perhaps I should reassess and reevaluate my approach to this Native Empire, he thought. I’ve experimented before; the Flower Mountain Celestial Kingdom also reacts to their souls. This indicates a common origin among the people of the three great Native Empires. This could be an opportunity to exploit. The Golden Deer is about to arrive; I’ll observe further for now.

Pizarro, though despicable and utterly without scruples, couldn’t help but feel his eyes bulge with fury as he watched his crew members die one by one.

"Damn it! Summoning! [One-Third Speed Reduction Pocket Watch]!"

With a wave of his hand, a golden treasure chest materialized beside him. From it emerged a handsome boy with short golden hair. A golden ring encircled him, along with the illusory forms of twelve gradations and three pointers. He flew towards the Obsidian spears raining down from overhead. He pointed towards the Sky, and the gradations on his body shifted back one mark. The speed of the incoming spears immediately plummeted, becoming only one-third of their original velocity. With their power greatly diminished, the sailors on the ship were finally able to dodge, albeit awkwardly.

"[Diamond Star], [Clockwork Rhinoceros Bird]! Summoning!"

Pizarro shouted again, and two more treasure chests materialized, from which two tall "girls" sprang out. One was entirely composed of colorful diamond, while the other wielded a Golden Scimitar shaped like a bird’s beak. They not only knocked away all the slowed Obsidian spears but even charged into the Sky, pouncing towards those Sun Chariots.

Pizarro’s profession was a Fourth-order Heroic Rank [Treasure Hunter] from the Wilderness Sequence. His Fourth Order professional ability was [Activated Treasure Box]: "By applying this ability to the treasures one has hunted, they can be permanently animated into Treasure Elves. The greater the treasure’s value and historical influence, the stronger the resulting Treasure Elf will be. The Hunter can also share the Sprites’ power; the more treasures hunted, the stronger the Hunter becomes."

Pizarro commanded thirteen strongest Treasure Elves, which is why his adventure ship was named the Thirteen Braves. The [One-Third Speed Reduction Pocket Watch]’s true form was a pocket watch. The [Diamond Star] was a priceless colored diamond. The [Clockwork Rhinoceros Bird] was an Antique clockwork toy from the Mythological Era that had survived to this day. They were not only Treasure Elves but also Pizarro’s Fourth Order Heroic Guards!

"Clockwork Rhinoceros Bird, bring them down for me!"