Pirate Kingship.

Chapter 324: Holy Relic: The terrifying social clock, ticking!
Distance and range are meaningless to [Holy Relic: The World's First Matchlock Gun]. As long as the sniper can see it, he can definitely hit it.

As if to ensure his own safety, the musketeer ambushed far away from the dock.

It was hiding far away on the other side of the port coastline. The estimated straight-line distance was more than ten kilometers. If it was to go there from land, it would be twice as long.

We have unilaterally created a strategic advantage where only I can hit you but you cannot hit me.

The swarm of locusts incarnated by the insect swarm has not yet arrived.

After failing to kill Byron after ten consecutive attacks, the bullet with the flame pattern immediately returned and rushed out of the gun barrel to shoot again.

call out--!
This time the speed seems to be much slower than the initial three times the speed of sound, but it has been strengthened on other aspects.

It was like a long golden and red rainbow, extremely powerful and terrifying.

Byron had already found time to drink a glass of [Blood Brew·McKinley Eagle God]. His eyes turned into sharp golden eagle pupils, and he could see the scene ten kilometers away very clearly.

Under a bald cypress tree that was at least five meters in diameter and eighty meters high, there was a man from the Old World wearing a mask, with rosy skin and blond hair, lying there.

Next to him was an open wooden weapons box filled with all kinds of muskets, explosive crossbows, bombs and other hot weapons. Not even a common dagger could be seen.

He was also wearing a green coat made of leaves and grass stems, which achieved a "pretend" effect that was no less than his supernatural powers.

No one in Byron's group noticed his presence before he opened fire and launched the sneak attack.

At this moment, he was holding a snake-handled matchlock rifle which looked old, but radiated a bright light from the inside out.

There was a bright flame smoldering slowly at one end of the tinder.

The two men stared at each other from a distance. A silver cross appeared in the sniper's eyes, and he made a gesture of wiping his neck to him.

That is a sign that the third-level ability [Always Hit the Target] is being used.

Byron also knew that the musketeer could also provide the musket in his hand with additional enchantment effects such as [penetration], [acceleration], [power multiplier], [charged attack], [mark of death], etc.

For such a profession to use a musket-type relic is like adding wings to a tiger.

For example, this bullet now comes with [Penetration] and [Charged Shot], which greatly enhances the bullet's armor-piercing ability.

Some extraordinary people on this path assert that if the sub-dragons had not disappeared from the Old World when the musket was invented, such a shot would be able to pierce the sub-dragon's scales.

Apparently, after the sniper’s first sneak attack failed, he immediately gave up on the combination of concealment and speed and began firing at full power.

When Byron saw a long rainbow coming from the sky, he sheathed his sword immediately and the large-caliber revolver double guns [Thor Rose] fell into his hands.

boom!boom!boom!boom!
[Gun Fighting Technique] is activated instantly, with lines of fire shooting out and interweaving like a net.

And that brilliant rainbow also twisted and circled in the sky like a swimming fish, leaving a dazzling light trail that was dazzling to the eyes.

Fortunately, every bullet in Byron's hand was manually guided by a Storm Spirit.

Even without the musketeer's supporting professional abilities, nearly half of them still hit the musket ball accurately.

Weaken the extraordinary aura on the projectile layer by layer.

Then, Byron decisively read out the judgment inscription:
"Rose of thorns!"

The two guns fired a fiery barrage of bullets, forming a huge storm rose, chasing the landing point of the previous bullet, and all of them hit the [first bullet] accurately.

Once again, the bullet ran out of kinetic energy and flew backwards.

The sniper continued to reload calmly, but changed the type of enchantment once again, turning it into [Phantom Seven Veils] that confuses the senses and [Man and Bullet as One] that strengthens control through mental possession.

But Byron found that his eyes were fixed on him from beginning to end, and he paid no attention to the terrifying cloud of insects in the sky that was about to fall on his head.

Instead of feeling the joy of victory thanks to the Insect Swarm, Byron felt alarmed:
“There must be an ambush there.

The assassination unit of the Kingdom's regular army could not fail to find a way to make up for the sniper's weakness.

There is definitely a strong melee teammate around him, and this is a carefully designed serial assassination that takes advantage of the sniper's weakness.

They obviously knew that I had the ability to fly and tailored a trap for me.

Whoever dares to come to kill him will fall into the trap."

After realizing this, he even held back the fatal shot, [Gun Gungnir].

as predicted.

Before the giant locusts in the sky fell to the ground.

Behind the bald cypress tree, two figures dressed differently appeared.

Including the sniper, all three of them wore the same strange mask on their faces, making it impossible to see their true faces or remember their physical features.

They are obviously very professional assassins.

Among them, a [Law Master] wearing a third-level robe, holding a heavy code that could be used as a hammer, shouted at the insect swarm:
"Law: No flying allowed here!"

The third-rank judges in the tribunal sequence have been granted a certain degree of discretion.

There is no need to read out laws or stick to legal provisions. As long as they think it is reasonable, they can implement the laws according to their own ideas.

Just this one command skill alone can derive a series of powerful methods without any shortcomings, which can be said to be the case.

The next moment, countless locusts that had already arrived above their heads fell from the sky like raindrops.

Even if you flap your wings hard, you can't generate even the slightest bit of lift.

At the same time, the last extraordinary person also took action.

He took out a portion of bright red "Chili Strawberry Pork Blood Pudding" from his storage item and swallowed it in one gulp.

"call--!"

He opened his mouth wide and blew hard into the sky.

A thick, long, fiery fire dragon suddenly shot up into the sky and faced head-on the swarm of locusts falling from the sky.

Their thin wing membranes and limbs were instantly ignited, and the dark cloud of insects instantly turned into a blazing fire cloud.

Amidst the loud crackling sounds, pieces of burnt protein and exploded shells fell down one by one.

This person is obviously a third-level [Gourmet] of the Jinyuan sequence.

When you are at the second level of Gourmet, you can obtain different temporary benefits by eating different specially cooked foods.

The ability gained after being promoted to the third level is called [Holy Communion Recipe].

It is no longer limited to single delicacies such as geoduck and whiskey, but can combine different foods and cooking methods to produce wonderful chemical reactions.

Since everyone has different physiques and preferences, the "holy communion recipe" for a third-level gourmet is naturally different.

In order to pursue the ultimate taste beyond the scope of human cognition, they have tried countless combinations over thousands of years and created all kinds of extremely bizarre "delicacies".

There are also dark combinations such as pomegranate and lemon beans, apple slices, pepper mango, and strawberry cheese risotto.

But the effect is really powerful.

The great wizard [Insect Swarm] was almost powerless to fight back against them.

Such a three-person team can work together to encircle and kill the fourth-level monster and ensure that they can escape safely.

"Not good, there is more than one assassin."

The Zerg thought that they, who were best at close combat, could easily take down the sniper, but now they realized that this was a carefully prepared trap.

He was no fool and knew how powerful these professional assassins were. Seeing that the situation was not good, he immediately backed down.

After falling to the ground, the remaining spores were used to aggregate into a new mushroom-man form. Just as they were about to retreat quickly, the chief judge continued:
“According to the Continental Witch Hunt Order, all practitioners of black magic can be executed on the spot without trial.

Law: Burn at the stake! "

Amidst the flames, every part of the black mushroom man's body began to catch fire at the same time. The burnt aroma of the roasted grasshoppers had not yet dissipated, and the smell of roasted mushrooms came over.

"It's not that easy to kill me!"

When he encountered the [Insect Swarm] that was his nemesis, he didn't dare to fight at all. He might not be able to defeat this group of people, but he was confident that he could easily run away.

A fruiting body like a cannon barrel quickly grew out from the middle of the body, firing all the spores that were still intact in the body out at once.

Bang!
Countless black spores instantly infected the entire mountain forest and water within a radius of 100 meters.

Mushrooms and fungus grew on plants, animals, insects, fish, and even other fungi, creating a whole mushroom forest in an instant.

In order to kill him, the entire forest must be eradicated, which is obviously impossible to do in a short period of time.

Seeing that the [Gourmet] was about to eat another "Chili Strawberry Pork Blood Pudding" and set fire to the mountain, the Chief Justice hurriedly stopped him:
"Don't worry about him. First kill Baron Byron Tudor of Stromgarde who has offended His Excellency the Earl."

At this time, the sniper who had been staring at Byron shouted an urgent warning:

"Be careful! Counterattack is coming." In the blink of an eye, Byron, who had once again repelled the musket bullets, suddenly flashed and rushed onto the Golden Deer parked at the dock.

The small snail under the water stirred up a high-speed vortex, swallowing up the Golden Deer along with the seven or eight privateer warships that were parked there.

Instead of running away, they reappeared on the sea surface closest to the assassin's ambush site.

The moment they rushed out of the whirlpool, they lined up and turned their guns around.

"Fire!"

boom! boom! boom! boom! boom!
Flames exploded on the sea, and a salvo from the fleet completely engulfed the area where the three assassins were with a move called "blazing swords falling from the sky."

At this time, many warships of the Seventh Fleet had been manned by members of the Lancaster Party's disguised "Storm Knights" as captains.

Cooperate with Byron to fully launch a series of abilities of [Storm Admiral]: artillery range extension, storm enchantment, manual transmission guidance
The power is amazing.

The hail of shells fired by the fleet flattened the tree that was several dozen meters high in an instant.

The nearby rocks, grass, and soil were all cut off half a meter by the cyclone created by the storm-generating weapon. Even an ant could not find a complete corpse.

After being attacked, running away in fear is not Byron's style at all. He should seize the opportunity to eliminate the root of the problem once and for all.

Looking at the target area filled with smoke and dust after three rounds of counter-assassination, his eyes were cold:
"You dare to come to my territory and assassinate me? This is the most basic mistake you have made."

Violet, who was sweating for him behind him, subconsciously asked:

"Has the assassin been killed?"

As if responding deliberately, a faint chuckle sounded in the smoke-filled forest:
"Byron Tudor, do you know the supreme principle of assassination?"

"He's not dead?"

Byron frowned and said nothing, but one word popped out of his mind at the first moment:

"Nonsense, even a fool knows that the most important thing in assassination is firepower!"

The chief justice, who headed the three-member panel, gave a completely different answer:

“That’s intelligence.

A good assassin will design at least three assassination plans and four to five alternative plans for different targets.

Baron Stromgarde, you managed to dodge the long-range sniper attack and did not charge head-on into the ambush we set up in advance. I have to admire your caution.

But that’s where it ends.”

At this time, a sea breeze happened to blow by (it was sea breeze during the day and land breeze at night), blowing away the smoke and dust that filled the vicinity deep into the land.

Unexpectedly, a tall, magnificent clock tower in the Old World style appeared in its place.

Half-illusion and half-real, it seemed to be hidden in another time and space. Three rounds of saturation bombing left it completely unscathed.

Moreover, on the golden dial inlaid on the top of the clock tower, there are not only the normal twelve numbers 1-12, but also an age marked next to each number.

They are 0 years old, 1 year old, 3 years old, 7 years old, 16 years old, and 18 years old. They seem to symbolize a person's life and correspond to key life nodes one by one.

The sword-like minute hand suddenly pointed at Byron, anchoring his real age and automatically adjusting to the position corresponding to 18 years old.

Then it gradually lit up and quickly returned to the starting point.

"What is this? It doesn't look like a treasure that the Hastings officials once held."

Unlike the snake-handled musket, Byron had never seen this bell tower-shaped treasure.

And just when he saw this strange clock tower and was slightly stunned, he found that his eyes blurred and he was unexpectedly transferred to another space.

There was a huge dial under his feet, and his feet were standing on the tip of the minute hand as thick as a mast, and his feet were exactly at the origin 12 o'clock/0 years old.

I wanted to move, but found myself bound by some inexplicable force of rules. My body could move, but my feet couldn't move at all.

Looking up and around, the other two assassins were nowhere to be found. Only the Chief Justice was standing on another short and thick hour hand, quietly stopping at the five o'clock position representing 18 years old.

The hour hand and the minute hand are slowly turning at an imperceptible speed.

At this time, the Chief Justice was looking at him with his hands behind his back, confident of victory, and kindly explained to him:
"I've read your resume. Compared to many ordinary poor people in the kingdom, you have some talent and luck.

What a pity, it’s all because of your bad luck. You stood on the wrong side and provoked the wrong person. Now you are going to die soon.

But I can be merciful and let you be a clear-headed ghost.

It will be your honor to die in front of this [First-level Holy Relic: Social Clock] that I specially borrowed.

Of course, if you can successfully pass every node in your life and are not dead when the minute hand catches up with the hour hand, I am willing to give you a chance for a fair fight. Hahahaha"

He opened his hands and showed Byron the huge clock in front of him.

"Social clock?"

While Byron was chewing on this unfamiliar word, the [Ship's Log] quickly read the surface information of this holy relic.

"The so-called [social clock] is defined in social psychology as: 'a psychological clock of major milestones in an individual's life.'

In simple terms, it means: a person should do things according to his age!
It reflects the society in which human beings live and the realistic expectations of each individual.

For example: During the student period before adulthood, a student should study hard and get good grades so that he can get into a good school when he goes to higher education;

If you don't do well in the exam at the end of the semester, you will most likely be criticized and even have to eat pork fried with bamboo shoots.

When you graduate and enter society, you should find a good and respectable job, earn more than your peers, and buy your own property.

Once they have a stable job, and they are unmarried, they will be urged to get married by people around them.
After marriage, you will be urged to have children. One is not enough, two is not enough, and you can only breathe a sigh of relief after three.

After giving birth, people have to worry about their children’s future, and the focus of life changes accordingly. This cycle repeats itself from generation to generation.

Birth - study - further education - employment - promotion - marriage - childbirth.
This clock is the default norm of society and the public moral standard of the collective unconscious. "

Combining the age scale on the clock in front of him, Byron has vaguely guessed its killing rules.

It seems that a person's life is indeed measured by these ages, divided into one predetermined life trajectory after another, and each one is something that should and must be done.

The principle is that it must conform to social expectations.

Society has consensus on the appropriate ages for major life milestones, such as getting married, having children, and retiring.

If you are over the certain age group, the number of romantic partners introduced to you by others will decrease significantly, and their quality will also drop significantly. The implication is that you are no longer worthy of them.

This consistency creates strong social pressure on individuals, forcing them to accept a specific role when they reach a certain age.

Everyone has such a "social clock".

Based on the comparison with our peers, it will remind us whether we have reached important benchmarks in our life journey at the right time.

If it is not achieved, a multi-faceted punishment mechanism will be activated on the spot.

Therefore, the [social clock] is never illusory.

It really exists in the nagging of parents, the insinuations of relatives and friends, and the pointing and criticizing of strangers.
Here it is directly visualized.

It was pulled out from the ocean of humanity's collective subconscious and formed into a real [Relic: Social Clock].

Ability effects:

"When you passively fall into the dial, you will begin the 'test of social status'.

If you fail to achieve corresponding life achievements within the corresponding time period, you will be forced to deduct the corresponding time, which is your life span!

There is nowhere to hide or escape here, resistance is not allowed, rebellion is considered heresy, and countless "other people's children" together constitute the standard answer to the test paper of life.

Only by becoming that kind of person can you become a qualified member of society and a screw in the wheel!"

Requirements: “You can only target one person at a time.

The trade-off is that the user of the clock needs to undergo the same test as the one being tested."

When Byron saw the true face of the "Social Clock", his face, which had always resisted all constraints and was determined to pursue freedom even at death, suddenly became extremely ugly.

A vicious smile appeared on the Chief Justice's face beneath the mask.

Every time this happened, when he saw those heretics who did not conform to social norms being executed, he felt an endless pleasure of standing on the moral high ground and pointing fingers at and judging others.

Those of us who have been through this are all like this, why shouldn’t you be too?

Rebellious!
"The trial begins, the first milestone, 0 years old!"

Tick ​​tock!

"Basic requirements: the baby must be able to breathe independently after birth, cry, ask for milk, have healthy limbs, have no hidden diseases, not become an unnecessary member of the family or a burden on life, and not be abandoned by the parents on the spot."

(End of this chapter)