Pirate Kingship.

Chapter 337 Skull No. : The Fallen God Itsumna
While Byron and Catherine were talking about the seemingly strange Tayapan, people in the city-state adjacent to Torrent Fortress were also talking about him.

Surrounded by magnificent buildings such as the Pillar Hall, the Ball Court, the Market, the Temple of Warriors, and the Astronomical Observatory, stands a huge twelve-story square pyramid.

It is only one level lower than the highest-level thirteen-story pyramid that once enshrined thirteen crystal skulls during the Taya Empire era.

It is three stories higher than the nine-story Quetzalcoatl Pyramid in Chichen Itza.

At the top of the pyramid, there is a dark and profound temple dedicated to Itsumna, the head of the thirteen main gods of the Taya pantheon [God of Heaven].

On both sides of a majestic giant rock statue that is half human and half dragon, there are two high-backed stone chairs, one on the left and one on the right.

Sitting on one of the stone chairs was a great shaman named Karakol, who was wearing a five-colored feather robe and a five-colored feather crown on his head.

On another stone chair sat the new king, Teohuacan, with a colorful fabric tied around his waist, his upper body bare, his strong bronze skin, and many turquoise jewelry.

However, both of these people in power carry inhuman characteristics.

A green dragon horn grew on the left forehead of the Great Shaman Karakol, and his left eye turned into a dragon pupil.

The latter's changes were more obvious. He had two rows of six dagger-like blue dragon horns on his head, his eyes were cold golden vertical pupils, and there were blue scales on his cheeks and shoulders.

This was clearly a symptom of overuse of the beast spirit [Five-Colored Dragon Lizard], causing the body to undergo irreversible bestialization.

There are also the colorful dragon lizard, the green dragon lizard with stroke attribute, and the blue dragon lizard with water attribute.

This kind of bestiality is consistent with the principle that foreign colonists collect various animal spirits and black witchcraft to mass-produce various non-human girls, indicating that the deviation of human nature is difficult to reverse.

But whether it was the two rows of city-state nobles, shamans, and senior warriors extending from the feet of the statue to the entrance of the temple, or the middle-aged tribal leader half-kneeling in the middle, all of them lowered their heads slightly to show their respect for them.

Obviously, it would be a big mistake to think that they are weak just because they show symptoms of beast transformation.

The oppressive voice of [King of the Curly Nose] Teohuacan, like thunder, echoed repeatedly throughout the empty temple:
"Rakamha, the Governor of the Kingdom of Hattings, Baron Stromgarde, sent an envoy today to demand that you, the culprit, be severely punished.

They also asked us to pay three times the loss.

Do you know where you went wrong?"

The [Dragon Lizard Warrior] Rakamha, who was kneeling on the ground and was also the leader of the small tribe that led the attack on the coal ship, lowered his head even more and said with a look of fear on his face:

“I’m sorry, my king.

Following your orders, we have investigated the maximum coverage of the opponent's legal network, and calculated the time when inland cargo ships pass through our sphere of influence, as well as the number of guards on board.

In order to prevent the news from leaking out, they also brought in shamans from the tribe to block the nearby spirits, rendering all conventional means of communication ineffective.

However, they did not expect that Torrent Fortress would temporarily dispatch an air patrol team, which was equipped with various firearms that were much more sophisticated than the foreign trade version.

If it weren't for the trouble made by the Crown Prince of Chichen Itza, Wyandotte, I would have been able to capture them and the precious ironware and ammunition on the ship without anyone noticing!"

Having said this, he added with gritted teeth:
“Traitors to the Taino people like Wyandotte will go to hell sooner or later!

And those bastards in Chichen Itza and Uxmal not only never thought of driving outsiders out of this land, they even converted their entire clans to the foreign "Father of Medicine".

They all deserve to die, they are not worthy of being listed as one of the three major city-states along with our Tayapan!

My king, my biggest mistake was to underestimate the strength of my opponent and fail to kill Wyandot and the group of [Eagle Warriors]. "

It is obvious that this attack was not a sudden idea of ​​the small tribe, but came from the will of the city-state king [King with Curled Nose] Teohuacan and even the entire city-state upper echelons.

At this time, the nobles, shamans, and senior warriors of all levels in the temple also echoed:
“Your Majesty, Chief Lakamha is right, this is our Taya land, and we must drive out all outsiders.

There are no rules to follow when dealing with outsiders.

Seizing their iron equipment is also a preparation for the subsequent War of Glory. The [God] Itsumna will remember their contributions."

“Only Tayapan has inherited the favor of [God] Itsumna and the orthodoxy of Taya civilization. All others are unreliable.

Only we can restore the Empire to its former glory."

“As long as we can use this Crown War that has swept across the entire island to reunite the Taya Empire.

They could also annex the already fragmented Azik, and with the combined strength of 1300 million Taino people, drive out all the colonists.

They even counterattacked to the Silver Continent through the waterways they opened up and sacrificed their people to the [God] Itsumna. "

"."

In the three major city-states of Uxmal, Tayapan, and Chichen Itza.

The epidemic in Uxmal was the most serious at the time. After surviving the disaster, the residents, under the leadership of the new king, Mixteka, Byron's cheap disciple, became most fanatical in their belief in the "Father of Medicine."

Geronimo, who was originally the captain of the temple guard in Chichen Itza, was crowned king after the royal family died out, and Wyandot became the crown prince.

Without Byron, they wouldn't be where they are today, and he was an absolute die-hard fan.

These two major city-states have already fallen into his grasp and provide the strongest support for him.

The only one left is Tayapan, who is the closest but has the least interactions with him. They have always been in a businesslike manner and do not have any close personal relationship (Chapter 183).

Most of the upper class nobles in Tayapan have always had a lukewarm attitude towards Torrent Fortress.

One reason is their pride in their heritage.

Whether it was the strongest [Dragon Lizard Warrior] of that year, or the number one crystal skull [God] Itsumna, they both represented the highest glory of the Taya Empire era.

And "Tayapan" means: "the standard of the Taya people"!
They always considered themselves to be the legitimate heirs of the empire, nobler than all the Tayal people.

Especially when the younger brother of the previous king, the originally inconspicuous "King with Curled Nose" Teohuacan, emerged as a rising star and ascended the throne.

He demonstrated his overwhelming strength as the strongest man in the entire city-state, and suppressed all opposing voices in the city-state with his tyrannical force.

Moreover, his beastly form is not only closer to a real dragon than any dragon lizard warrior.

He also received support from the Great Shaman Karakol.

It was claimed that Teohuacan was the son of prophecy chosen by the Gods and would one day become the new emperor of the entire Taya Empire.

The talking Crystal Skull No. 3 [Corn God] personally called out his name and crowned him as king!

Naturally, under the leadership of the new king, the already arrogant Tayapan became even more aggressive despite having suffered heavy losses in the Azik Royal City.

However, there were also voices of doubt among the noble groups in the temple.

An aristocrat dressed in the clothes of the Old World, with a flintlock pistol on his waist, who looked very foreign, spoke up:

“But, Your Majesty, if the [Father of Medicine] had not intervened, we would all have died of the smallpox plague.

Not to mention restoring the glory of the empire?

Moreover, through trade with Torrent Fortress, with the help of iron farm tools, fertilizers and agricultural experts, the city-state had a bumper harvest of grain in the first half of the year.

This gave me the confidence to be the first to blow the horn of the Crown War. It can be seen that outsiders are different from outsiders. Torrent Fortress is a force that the city-state can unite! "

Another senior warrior dressed in a similar manner also spoke up:

"【Sea Hunter】Byron Tudor's reputation for kindness has spread throughout the Bantaan Islands.

He was completely different from those greedy and vicious Castilians.

During the past six months of cooperation with Pioneer Navigation, the lives of both the lower-class civilians and the upper class of our city-state have improved a lot.

Cloth, silk, iron pots, swords, firearms, porcelain, textiles, agricultural technology, etc. have all been greatly improved.

Even if we have to attack and expel outsiders in the future.

If we attack the Castilians, I support it, but if we attack Mr. Sea Hunter, shouldn’t we be more cautious? "

"And when we asked them for help, the Great Shaman signed a monopoly agreement!"

They said it politely, but their meaning was clear:

“Isn’t it schizophrenia to raise military spending, send soldiers to plunder our largest trading partner and arms supplier to protect our interests from our largest trading partner and arms supplier?”

Most of those who spoke later were business nobles who were good at accepting new things, and many of them made a lot of money from trade cooperation with Torrent Fortress.

Saying this is not only out of conscience, but also out of consideration of interests.

If they were to fall out, it would do the greatest harm to their interests. If things go wrong, they might end up back to the time before liberation, and naturally they would firmly support Byron.

This also shows that the "agent program" hosted by Catherine has begun to show results.

However, the trade cooperation between the two sides has only been going on for half a year. This interest group is still very weak, and what they say is quickly suppressed by the strong fighting spirit of others.

Especially when the half-man, half-dragon "King with the Curled Nose" Teohuacan glared with his dragon eyes, these people were immediately silenced.

"Do you dare to question my decision?"

The huge sound made people's eardrums rumble.

The new king was clearly in a very bad temper.

A huge five-colored dragon-shaped shadow with five hideous heads suddenly jumped out from the crystal skull covered with colorful silk that was enshrined on the dark red altar.

It seemed to be made up of boiling water and agitated bubbles, roaring angrily at the nobles in front of it.

No matter which faction they belonged to, all of them knelt down.

"The [God] is angry!"

A business noble who was kneeling in the front row looked up cautiously, and discovered through the gaps in the silk that the skull seemed a little different from the original one.

It is no longer as smooth and crystal-like as the last time I saw it half a year ago.

Instead, the left half of his face looked like a bone tumor, and the malignant growth vaguely formed a dragon head covered with bone scales!

My heart suddenly trembled.

"Could it be that our [Holy Relics] and our Guardian God have fallen?!"

Looking at the [King with the Curled Nose] Teohuacan and the Great Shaman who had also transformed into beasts, he seemed to suddenly understand something, but his body trembled and he dared not say a word.

[Ladder of Glory] has stability but lacks power, while [Forbidden Knowledge] has power but lacks stability.

For thousands of years, although the extraordinary people among the indigenous people could continue to be promoted in rank, their humanity continued to degenerate.

The [anchors] constructed from ordinary totem poles, ladders, gods, and pyramids are not enough to stabilize their growing spirituality, and the influence of the source tides naturally becomes stronger and stronger.

Once you reach a certain level, you can’t even maintain your humanity, let alone achieve immortality.

This is how the numerous half-human, half-beast evil spirits, monsters, and even the dead [Cursed Spirits] that caused a large number of casualties on the Bantaan Islands were born.

The larger the size, the faster the degeneration. Usually the fourth stage is a huge threshold that cannot be crossed.

Beast spirit warriors who can break through to the fourth-order mythical creatures are rare, and more than half of them are crazy.

Over time, even if some people have reached the promotion threshold, they are unwilling to be promoted.

But looking at the alienated crystal skull, the king and the great shaman, the business nobles couldn't help but think of that horrible possibility.

"Huchi. Huchi"

The half-human, half-dragon [King with the Curled Nose] Teohuacan panted, widened his bloodshot dragon eyes, and scanned the crowd.

Maybe he felt it necessary to reveal some real information.

"If we want to take over the entire empire in one fell swoop in the Crown of Honor War, we have to rob the ships of the Torrent Fortress, and even attack the Torrent Fortress itself!"

He raised his hand and brushed the crystal skull on the altar.

A beam of light shot out, and suddenly a map of the area within hundreds of kilometers centered on Tayapan appeared in the temple, with six particularly bright spots of light.

And except for one in the city of Uxmal, the remaining five are all concentrated in the Torrent Fortress not far to the north.

Just when the nobles were confused.

[King of the Curled Nose] looked at everyone with a sharp gaze and said:
“After I ascended the throne, I went through great pains to find the corresponding epic poem and activated the ability of Skeleton No. 1 through the chanting of the holy relic.

One of the abilities is: to rule over the gods.

You can check the locations of other skeletons and gods within the territory of the Taya Empire and concentrate their powers for your own use. The more you have, the stronger your power will be!"

He raised his right hand, which had grown sharp claws, and pointed at the dots of light one by one:

"Crystal Skull No. 3 [Corn God]! No. 5 [Sun God]! No. 6 [Moon Goddess]! No. 8 [Quetzalcoatl]! No. 12 [North Star God]!
A total of five crystal skulls were gathered in the hands of the outsider [Sea Hunter].

Do you know what this means?

This means that the most powerful force in the era of the Taya Empire is right before us.

Even if he is the "Father of Medical Care" who saved everyone's life."

His oppressive gaze swept across the entire audience, and he spoke word by word:

"You must die too!"

hiss--!
The native nobles who understood the truth gasped.

However, no one noticed that an ordinary [Dragon Lizard Warrior] with a very low presence in the corner lowered his eyes slightly and finally suppressed the murderous intent in his eyes.

(End of this chapter)