Pirate Kingship.

Chapter 490: Regicide and Usurpation of the Throne and Like Me (7300)

[Puppet King] Louis' reaction speed and execution ability obviously exceeded everyone's imagination.

Burgos, the capital of Castile.

On the left bank of the Mansares River that runs through the city, stands the first palace complex in the Old World, the Vientiane Palace, which took 26 years to build.

The Trastamara Dynasty, relying on the world's strongest financial resources, almost created a whole new wonder of civilization.

The palace has more than 2,000 rooms, including the Amber Bedroom, Hall of Mirrors, Ivory Restaurant, Four Seasons Garden, Marble Theater and a series of unique buildings taken from all over the world. It can be said to be all-encompassing.

When the battle of the "First Gyre" was coming to a conclusion, two teams of soldiers on duty were chatting in a corner outside the Vientiane Palace near the Mansares River.

One of them glanced in the direction of the inland dock, his eyes filled with yearning:

"The treasure fleet will be back in less than a month, and I don't know how much treasure it will bring back this time.

Back then, our Kingdom of Castile was just a small country on the Pyrenees Peninsula, and even the peninsula was not unified.

It was by relying on these shiploads of overseas treasures that the country gradually grew into the world's most powerful maritime nation.

If I can get a box of treasure from the fleet when it returns, I won’t have to worry about anything in my life.”

His companions immediately poured cold water on him:
"What are you daydreaming about? Those are all the fat meat in the mouths of His Majesty the King and the nobles. They have nothing to do with guards like us who are born as commoners.

Just hold on. Our generation can only stay in the outer palace. By the time our sons and grandsons’ generation comes around, they will be eligible to enter the palace and have a chance to perform in front of His Majesty the King.

It’s impossible to separate the meat, but a little soup should be easy.”

The first soldier looked regretful:
“There are indeed many opportunities overseas. If I abandon my family and choose to risk my life in the newly discovered southern continent, I might be able to carve out a bright future.

But the more likely possibility is that he would be buried in the sea or die in the stomach of some native.

Although wealth is good, life is more important.

Now that we are standing outside the palace walls, as long as we can curry favor with the dignitaries who come in and out of the palace, sooner or later we will be qualified to safely get a share of the treasure fleet.

Of course, if I were transferred to serve in the Treasure Fleet where the pay is high, the trouble is minimal, and it is absolutely safe, I would accept that."

My companions sneered:

“If there is such a good thing, I still want to go.

Everyone knows that this time, His Majesty, the Dean of the Royal Academy of Engineering, and His Royal Highness the Puppet King are acting as the fleet's secret keepers. Serving in the Treasure Fleet is like a long-distance journey, and there is absolutely no danger.

It's impossible without some strong connections. Wait, what is that?"

Before he could finish his words, he suddenly pointed at the river and screamed.

Just in front of the two men, on the section of the Mansares River, a flash of golden light suddenly expanded into a huge illusory sextant.

Then, a large warship that was so tattered that it was about to sink at any time suddenly appeared and was stranded on the river bank involuntarily.

There was a creaking sound as if it could not bear the heavy weight.

Although the hull was severely damaged, the two guards still recognized each other's identity at a glance. After all, the other party was the protagonist of their topic just now.

The two of them suddenly turned pale and were speechless:
“Dream Dream Castle! It’s the Dream Castle of His Royal Highness the Puppet King Louis!

Oh no, a fifth-level legendary keeper was attacked—!!!"

Instinctively, he took out the flare from his arms and fired it into the sky.

Bang-!
A loud explosion immediately attracted the attention of the [King's Left Hand] guards stationed in the corner tower.

He immediately used a higher authority to contact the [Iron Law of the King: Niucheng Code] and reported the accident to King [the Incompetent] Henry IV.

There was chaos in the Vientiane Palace. Soon the main gate of the palace burst open, and a luxurious carriage inlaid with gold, jewels and ivory rushed out hurriedly under the escort of the guards.

[Puppet King] Louis returned to his homeland quickly enough, and the news of the wreck of the treasure fleet has not yet been reported back.

From the moment he successfully returned here, even if someone wanted to use the legal network to pass a message to the king to expose his true identity, it became impossible.

As the vice king who is highly trusted by his brother, Enrique IV the Incompetent, the Puppet King holds the seal ring on his hand which is enough to temporarily close the legal network of the royal capital before Enrique IV takes the initiative to intervene.

Not to mention outsiders, even the king's closest right-hand man could not contact him.

Therefore, the current "Puppet King" Louis is still the loyal and good brother of Enrique IV.

to the opposite.

When Enrique IV discovered that the Dream Castle had encountered an accident, he actually activated the emergency escape plan he had prepared in advance, and he was extremely anxious.

He left his core territory without hesitation and set foot on the territory of his "good brother" with only a small number of guards.

"Louis, what happened? Who destroyed the Dream Castle like this?
I'm going to kill him!"

Enrique IV saw the superstructure of the quasi-legendary battleship that was almost razed to the ground, several large holes that ran through the entire hull, and charred scars that still carried scorching heat.

All this shows what a brutal battle it had experienced just a moment ago.

Climbing up the battleship along the rope ladder lowered by the toy soldiers, I found that many craftsmen puppets were still working hard to repair the core facilities of the ship. The deck was covered with blood and puppet remains.

From the only relatively intact building made of blocks, the weak voice of [Puppet King] Louis was heard:

"Your Majesty, I have betrayed your trust.

We have just been attacked by a fifth-level [King], and the information black box was accidentally leaked.

The Dream Castle managed to escape with great difficulty using the longitude and latitude sextant, and I was seriously injured.

My current condition is not very good, I cannot let others see me like this, Your Majesty, you should come in and see it yourself."

Henry IV also knew the alternative usage of [Blood and Flesh Are Useless] and realized that his brother must have suffered a great loss.

In this devout church country, it was indeed inconvenient for others to see his current "inhuman" appearance.

Moreover, when he heard that the information black box had been leaked and that his last lifeline might encounter an accident, he immediately threw the last bit of caution to the wind.

He asked his entourage to guard outside and walked in without much precaution.

This is the central control room filled with puppet threads. Virtual threads converge here from all directions, weaving into a huge network.

It is also the place where [Puppet King] Louis can exert his strongest fighting power.

Enrique IV, who had never fought in a war or killed anyone in his life, had no vigilance to observe the environment at the first sight. Instead, he was attracted by a lonely mechanical head on the table at first sight.

Not only was his face blackened by electric shock, but his neck also bore traces of being violently torn apart, and there was a shoe print on one side of his cheek that had not been wiped clean in time.

Without bothering to ask for the details of the black box information loss, he couldn't help but take a deep breath:
"Louis? How did you get hurt like this?"

If it were an ordinary person, even a normal transcendent on the [Stairway of Glory] path, if he was injured like this, he would have been dead long ago.

Only a fifth-level legend like Louis who possesses the magical skill [Flesh and Blood Are Useless] could have survived.

Even so, with so many parts lost, it is hard to say whether it will be able to restore its flesh and blood in the future.

He immediately stepped forward and said with concern:
"Louis, you don't need to blame yourself, you were attacked because I asked you to be the keeper.

Let’s put the issue of the information black box aside for now.

Just tell me what you need to recover. As long as it exists in this world, I will definitely help you get it."

Upon hearing this, the puppet king, who only had a head left, suddenly showed surprise:
"Really? Brother, you are so kind to me."

Before Enrique IV could open his mouth to calm his excitement of almost dying, he saw the pair of glass eyes of the robot head suddenly fixed on him.

The corners of his mouth cracked, and he said coldly:
"Then give me your body."

Enrique IV was slightly stunned, thinking that he didn't understand or misunderstood, and subconsciously asked:
"What did you say?"

Bang!
The next moment, the entire room was closed by the puppet king's puppet strings.

Using his own independent LAN and the authority of the deputy king over the external network, he temporarily isolated the [Iron Law of Kingship: Niucheng Code] and created a vacuum zone.

[Incompetent] Enrique IV's power was suddenly greatly weakened.

At the same time, a strong spiritual wind blew.

A tall and magnificent clock tower then appeared beside the two of them, half illusory and half real, as if hidden in another time and space.

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.

A sword-like minute hand suddenly pointed to Enrique IV, anchoring his real age and automatically adjusting to the position corresponding to 47 years old.

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

This is actually the [Social Clock] that the [Kingmaker] Warwick once used to assassinate Byron!
Of course, this is also not the body of the holy relic, but a pawn card that has borrowed the corresponding power.

It was only then that [Puppet King] Louis revealed his true ferocious face and repeated his request:

“I said, give me your body.

Not only your body, but also your life, wealth, throne, and your only 'daughter'. "

[Puppet King] hates accidents that are beyond his control the most, but he will habitually prepare multiple plans to deal with these unexpected events.

After receiving the news from the totem god [Gulf Stream Mother], he realized that the throne of Castile was slipping away from him.

He prepared not two but three contingency plans.

Once the two plans of finding and killing the Gulf Stream Mother in advance and robbing the Treasure Fleet failed, the last plan would be triggered - regicide and usurpation of the throne!
The key is that if you can't solve the problem, then solve the person who caused the problem.

[Ladder of Glory] is rigid and inflexible, and you can predict what abilities are available at a glance.

As the person who knew his brother best, the Puppet King prepared a sufficiently targeted killing move and had borrowed special treasures from the traditionalists of the church early on.

"Social clock? Louis, why are you trying to harm me?! If you kill me, the King's Right Hand, the Heraldry Academy, and all the royal family members will not let you go. Do you think you can get away?"

Enrique IV, who had landed on the minute hand, finally came back to his senses from the sudden change and glared at the robot head that had landed on the hour hand.

Perhaps the king's nature was to be suspicious, but he could not understand why this good brother of his for decades would attack him, and take advantage of his carelessness to kill him with one move.

And how would he deal with it after killing himself? Was he crazy?
Faced with his brother's anger, Louis was actually frightened for a moment.

The other party's accumulated power over the years always made him feel in awe.

Otherwise, when Enrique IV stole his love many years ago, he would not have dared to resist and would have obediently offered his lover to him.

The Puppet King, who had vowed to take back everything, had come to this point and had no chance to retreat, and would no longer continue to be the good brother he used to be.

"I didn't intend to do anything to you myself. I just wanted to wait until you died of old age or illness.

But you shouldn't have sought out [Gulf Stream Mother] in an attempt to have your own child.

Don't blame me, you owe me all this, and I want you to pay it back today!"

After this ruthless sentence was thrown down, the [social clock] started running.

Byron, who has personally experienced this holy relic, should be the most qualified to speak.

Its essence is that a person should do things according to his age.

Birth - study - further education - employment - promotion - marriage - childbearing. These are all socially accepted norms and collective unconscious public moral standards. They will judge whether a person has reached an important benchmark in his or her life at the right time.

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

Ability effects:

"If you do not achieve the corresponding life achievements within the corresponding time period, you will be forced to deduct the corresponding time, that is, your life span.

There is nowhere to hide or escape here, armed 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!"

Henry IV was born into a noble family. From the moment he was born on January 1425, 1 in the Silver Age, he was a perfect practitioner of the "social clock".

If you are one step ahead of others in everything, you will naturally not be harmed by the social clock.

However, when the time came to the Silver Age 1440, when Henry IV was 15 years old, an accident occurred.

From the time he married his cousin until the marriage ended thirteen years later, they did not have any children, and even his wife was a virgin.

The punishment mechanism was triggered immediately.

"Rebellion! Rebellion!"

Stern voices echoed repeatedly throughout the bell tower.

Black arms hung down from above his head, tearing off vague and invisible objects from Enrique IV's body one by one.

That was the rest of his life.

47 years old is not considered young in this era, and there is not much time left. The effect of the punishment mechanism is far more shocking than when it happened to Byron.

Enrique IV's already gray hair immediately turned completely white, his back became hunched, his teeth became loose, and age spots appeared on his skin.

In the blink of an eye, you become old and unrecognizable.

However, before the minute hand and the hour hand met, the two of them were in two parallel timelines, and even if Enrique IV still had a trump card, it would be impossible for him to launch an attack.

Moreover, the Kingdom of Castile may have preserved more than one fragment of the Level 0 holy relic, but I have never heard of a head of state carrying his own gun in his own base.

The backstab by an insider who knows everything about the person is the most deadly.

This is not the end yet. The minute hand comes to the next time node: 18 and 22 years old. Enrique IV will be punished every time.

On the surface, [The Incompetent] is now 47 years old and has married four queens in total, but until now there is only one Princess Juana.

In fact, although he married early and had many wives, he had never fathered a child of his own until he was nearly fifty years old.

As a result, the title of "Incompetent" is firmly placed on his head, which is completely inconsistent with the requirements of the social clock.

In the end, he was so old that he could not even stand steadily. He lay on the minute hand, breathing barely a breath.

Even if he could hold on until the hour hand and minute hand overlapped, he probably wouldn't be able to beat his brother in the head.

"Hahaha"

Seeing his miserable and desolate appearance, [Puppet King] Louis laughed happily, as if he wanted to vent all the depression he had accumulated over the years.

Suddenly I felt that compared to the previous two plans, directly solving the problem of who caused the problem was what I really wanted.

Even so, the Puppet King still felt that it was too easy for this guy who ruined his beautiful life.

If he hadn't acted so hastily, he would have preferred to seduce his fourth eldest sister-in-law and have her personally perform a wonderful puppet show of "Your Majesty, it's time to take your medicine."

Let this incompetent brother experience firsthand what it means to lose his wife and everything in pain.

The more miserable Henry IV was, the happier he was:
“Enrique, when you forced Joana to marry you and took her away from me, did you ever think that you would end up like this?
Beg me, throw away your arrogant attitude, kneel down and beg me to spare your life. Maybe I will really give you a chance to survive and spare your head, how about that? "

At this time, Enrique IV gradually regained his composure.

He is just "incompetent", not incompetent, and he has all the qualities of a king.

Although he was stabbed in the back by his most trusted brother, he did not kneel down and beg for mercy like an ordinary person. Instead, he quickly accepted the miserable consequences of his poor judgment of people. After listening to Louis' emotional outburst, a hint of understanding appeared on his old face:
“Joana? So Juana is your daughter.

No wonder the prophecy tests I secretly arranged kept failing. Did it turn out to be because of the protection of the level-0 holy relic in your hand?

You have been wandering overseas for many years.

I originally thought that the adulterer was actually Beltran de Lacueva, Duke of Albuquerque, or Bishop Fonseca's nephew.

I didn’t expect that it was dark under the lamp.”

Suddenly hearing two unexpected names from the other party, the [Puppet King]'s laughter suddenly froze, his cheeks twitched violently, and his face instantly became gloomy:
"What do you mean?!

Why do you suspect the Duke of Albuquerque and the nephew of Bishop Fonseca? What did you find out while I was away in the capital?

Now it was Henry IV's turn to "pity" his brother. He leaned on the minute hand and shook his head and laughed:
"Haha, what do I mean? Literally, of course.

Putting aside the question of who the hat that Joana knitted herself belongs to, aren't you at fault yourself?

Why didn't you fight back when I married Joana, the girl you loved?

Even if you just stand up and express your objection to my decision, how do you know that I won't help you if you don't try?

Even if you were afraid that I would be angry, why didn't you give up everything at the beginning and elope with Miss Joana, whom you loved so much?

I'm afraid you didn't even have the courage to tell me the truth at that time?

In the final analysis, what binds you is not the king's authority, but the greed in your heart that makes you unwilling to give up the power of Castile!
You want beauty and power, do you think you are the protagonist in a sad puppet show? "

The truth in the world is the most hurtful. When Enrique IV ruthlessly exposed his true colors, the puppet king turned pale and blue, and his teeth were chattering.

Not only did he fail to see the stray dog ​​wagging its tail and begging for mercy as he wished, but he was also so angry at the other party.

At this time, the minute hand finally passed the last grid and overlapped with the hour hand.

Henry IV, whose breath was already very weak, suddenly raised his head with all his strength, stared into the eyes of the Puppet King and said word by word:

"Really, to be honest, sometimes I envy you guys.

As the eldest son of the previous king, I reached the pinnacle of life at birth and lost the joy of struggle.

If I had your conditions, I would definitely be able to awaken my obsession and even the God of Self, and advance to the fifth-level legend on my own, instead of inheriting the title of king as a fourth-level legend. "

Although the palace next door is called the Palace of Pleiades, what Enrique IV said was full of the flavor of Versailles.

Then, Henry IV's mind flashed with the top-secret news he had just received from a saint of the church: "The Age of Lunar Annihilation is coming, the great flood that submerges everything, the material world is destined to encounter disasters, and the legendary Noah's Ark that will take the souls of all believers to heaven. The world may no longer be the home of mankind. Every force and every person may need to make plans early."

His mind moved slightly, and he decided that he might be able to take the opportunity to switch tracks. Suddenly, he gave the Puppet King a strange smile:
"Since you want all this, I'll give it all to you. I hope you won't regret it!"

Just when the Puppet King was provoked by the other party and his emotions were fluctuating violently.

However, he did not notice that as his brother took his last breath, the shadow of the crown on his head flashed away.

However, it was the soul of Enrique IV, wrapped in an old silver coin, that took the initiative to rush into the underworld at the last moment and quietly activated his title ability.

[Incompetent] This king title is a disgrace, and the ability of the title is naturally not very outstanding, but for men it is a weapon that is worse than death.

Because this ability is called——【Same as me】!
The psychological state of being able to conceptually castrate a specific object and become an "incompetent" like Henry IV.

Regardless of whether the opponent is physically healthy or possesses any black magic that can affect the body, they will be mentally castrated, and even a fifth-level warrior cannot be exempted.

[Incompetent] Enrique IV has been ridiculed openly and covertly for many years.

Those mockers never knew that they would be granted the title of “like me” by Henry IV in the future.

If he wants to live a decent life, he has to make those who laugh at him have a little green on their heads like him.

Others don’t know how King Enrique IV, who suffered so much humiliation, survived all these years, but in fact, he relied on this trick to survive!
Although one's own misfortune is sad, when many people are as unfortunate as oneself, one immediately feels much better.

Of course, now [Puppet King] Louis doesn’t know what will be waiting for him.

After shutting down the social clock, puppet threads shot out from the lonely head and sank into the still fresh body of Enrique IV.

[Blood and Flesh Are Useless] is activated.

Click!Click!
Soon a stiff puppet body was hung up.

The pinnacle of extraordinary ability [Puppet Transformation] was activated, and based on the originally ordinary and extremely old body, it quickly completed the mechanized transformation to the same as the original body.

A few silk threads roughly opened Henry IV's skull, and then replaced it with his own crystallized brain.

He stood up again, stretched out his arms and legs for a few seconds, and finally revealed a satisfied smile:

"The match rate is 95%, you are worthy of being my brother.

If the [Soul Key] that can digitize consciousness can be successfully researched, my consciousness can be loaded into the body of any puppet at will.

No need to bother at all.

But after we take over the throne of Castile, that day won’t be far away.”

Although [Puppet King]'s medical knowledge is limited, he has access to a large number of experimental subjects that are beyond the reach of surgeons, and he knows that there is a rejection reaction when exchanging organs between people.

Only brothers with the same father and mother can minimize the rejection reaction.

Enrique IV was not only his target for regicide and seizure of the throne, but also the best choice for a new body.

As long as the core "brain" of the puppet is intact, it can replace its puppet body at will.

Even if you are old or disabled, it doesn't matter. You can repair it in puppet form, and then activate [Blood and Flesh Are Useless] to transform back into a human being.

He pushed the door open and said to the guards who didn't know what was going on:
"Let's go back to the palace."

Louis, the Puppet King, who has regained his physical form, has completely replaced Henry IV the Incompetent.

There are no differences from the original except for the brains and soul.

Even the signs of aging left when he was just deprived of his life were completely "repaired", and he looked very majestic and seemed to be a few years younger.

However, although the "Puppet King" successfully took over the body of Henry IV, the royal power of the Kingdom of Castile was not attached to the body, but to the spirit.

Killing and impersonating the king is theoretically feasible, but the [Iron Law of Kingship: Niucheng Code] is equivalent to an Internet signal.

Perhaps in a short period of time, it can be concealed for a while because of things such as [Spell-Breaking Stone] and [White Lead] that can block the law.

Ordinary people can't feel the difference.

But the College of Heraldry and the many heirs in line to the throne were quick to detect the vacuum on the throne and respond.

Therefore, for the [Puppet King], now is far from the time to sit back and relax.

His daughter, Princess Juana, who was only ten years old, must be successfully pushed to the throne before others can react.

In fact, long before Enrique IV arrived, Queen Joana had already taken her confidants to Princess Juana's residence.

Soon, an imperial edict declaring another heir to the throne, Princess Isabella, a traitor, along with an elite army, left the royal capital and began a preemptive strike.

The war for the throne of the Kingdom of Castile officially began at a speed beyond everyone's expectations.

(End of this chapter)