Chapter 454 Pioneer, Destiny and the Silent Lord - Part 1 (5000)

"I didn't expect you to contact me first, Father."

Over the communication array, Arber emphasized the word "father," his tone clearly lacking respect.

The Pirate King said calmly, "What do you want from me at this hour?"

"Answer my questions seriously. This isn't the time for arguments."

High Priest Gero could sense the rejection and disrespect, but now wasn't the time to spend hours arguing about their relationship.

The situation was urgent. Having made his decision, the old man didn't want to waste words. He said gravely, "After obtaining the shard of the Sourcewater Soul, are you still near Jueyue Sea?"

If Aemon were here, he would have suddenly understood everything.

Three months ago, the Twilight City Temple was attacked by pirates. At that time, High Priest Gero was leading over half of the temple's clergy to the outskirts to comfort the many farmers whose harvests had failed due to abnormal weather. The remaining temple guardians were almost defenseless, and the well-prepared pirates swiftly seized a 'shard of the Sourcewater Soul' that was stored in the temple's vault.

Although the pirates managed to breach the temple, they didn't cause any casualties due to the Lord of Judgment's punishment. However, the Central Sanctuary felt that there must be a hidden reason behind the pirates' attack, considering the timing and preparation. If there wasn't a temple insider, it would have been impossible for them to execute such a flawless plan.

Aemon was the one sent by the Central Sanctuary to investigate the situation. He had indeed confirmed that there was an insider within the temple, someone very familiar with the vault. However, the investigation had reached a standstill—there were seven people who knew about the temple vault, and each of them had a deep background, making it extremely difficult to investigate.

Twilight City was the largest city in the Far East region of the Holy Fire Continent. It was an area directly under the jurisdiction of the Central Sanctuary. High Priest Gero, the leader of the temple, was known for his simple life and was deeply respected. Apart from his authority after managing the area for over fifty years, his strength as a peak Chosen, second only to the God-Blessed, allowed him to independently manage all matters of the local temple. Although he was very amiable to Aemon and expressed great remorse for the incident, he refused to budge, insisting that all his officials were 'unwaveringly loyal to the Lord.'

Unable to find a breakthrough, they could only wait. Before Aemon could find the next clue and continue his investigation, he encountered the descent of the Lord of Judgment, temporarily halting his actions.

Now, the communication between Gero and Arber proved that the insider in the Twilight City Temple was none other than the leader of the entire temple, the old high priest who had served Twilight City for over fifty years!

Not to mention, that the Seven Seas King, Gloom Arber, actually called him Father, which was beyond everyone's expectations! Gero's two sons had died in previous years, and his grandchildren were currently studying in the Central Sanctuary. No one knew that he had a third son, and one who was a Pirate King at that.

But however unbelievable, it was the truth.

At this moment, Arber sensed Gero's solemn attitude, and his brow furrowed as he became serious.

Although his words towards this 'father' weren't very respectful and his attitude wasn't good, Arber knew very well that his conflict with Gero was merely due to some uninteresting issues from his youth. He and Gero were grasshoppers tied together by interests and blood, the most solid of partners.

So he said in a low voice, "Indeed. My ritual failed, and I'm still on the edge of the Jueyue Outer Sea... What's wrong?"

"Leave quickly."

Gero didn't waste words, he said sternly, "The Lord of Judgment has descended. He descended here and showed a miracle in the city—if you are in the Jueyue Sea, you must have seen it."

"My Lord's divine punishment might not be able to enter the sea, but if my Lord Himself knows of your existence and plan, you will surely die without a burial place... Leave quickly! The faster, the better!"

Although the words were harsh, Gero's concern wasn't fake.

There was nothing new under the sun.

Fifty-seven years ago, Gero, who was merely an Apostle-level priest, came to Twilight City with his teacher to take office. This former maritime economic and trade center between the Holy Fire Continent and the New World had declined sharply due to the large number of pirates that had suddenly emerged from the 'Rebel Incident' decades ago.

At that time, the entire Jueyue Sea, and even the sea near Twilight City, was filled with crazy pirates and bandits. Under their influence, even fishermen couldn't go far out to sea to fish, let alone merchant ships—the maritime trade of the entire Holy Fire Continent was completely interrupted and couldn't operate at all. Twilight City, which needed to import a large amount of grain, fell into a perennial famine. Many residents fled, and the entire city was on the verge of being completely abandoned.

Gero's teacher was a truly good priest and a practical man. While rectifying the security of Twilight City, he personally led the people to develop the land outside the city and plant crops, gradually increasing the city's food self-sufficiency rate. By ending the famine, he also stopped the exodus of people from Twilight City.

But pirates, only pirates, couldn't be eradicated at all.

Gero's teacher wasn't willing to use purely violent methods to fight the pirates—of course, he couldn't deal with so many pirates at sea, and the canon prevented him, as a priest, from attacking first unless the Lord of Judgment issued a divine decree.

Therefore, he planned to establish a trade agreement with the pirates through peaceful means, so that the two sides wouldn't interfere with each other, and perhaps gradually teach them to return to being normal people of fire.

But pirates don't keep agreements and don't adhere to morality. Even if they make agreements, they never abide by them. These pirates agreed to Gero's teacher's conditions on the surface, but they repeatedly broke their promises at critical moments, causing endless headaches.

Until Gero's teacher passed away with regret, the problem of pirates and bandits around Twilight City wasn't resolved.

Gero, who took over his teacher's responsibilities, completely abandoned any illusions.

Only pirates can defeat pirates.

What's the point of talking about reason with evildoers? The Lord of Judgment's holy words say: 'Repay joy with joy, and repay pain with pain'—since evildoers disturb the people, then use evildoers to eliminate evildoers!

As a priest, restricted by the canon, Gero couldn't personally eliminate the countless evildoers in the sea, but the canon didn't say that priests couldn't cultivate pirates themselves—therefore, using the resources of the temple, he secretly cultivated a ferocious team of people of the sea to fight violence with violence, eliminating most of the scattered bandits in the sea around Twilight City.

And Arber was the descendant of Gero and a woman of the sea, that is, an illegitimate child—naturally, Arber was regarded as the core for Gero to continue controlling his pirate team. He poured a lot of resources into him, and after he grew up, he personally fought with many pirates in the Jueyue Sea.

Unlike his teacher, Gero had his own ambitions. He wanted to use his own power to control the entire Jueyue Sea, and then open up a new trade route to the New World.

In this way, he would not only be able to control a large amount of wealth, but he could also be recorded in history, obtain rewards from the Central Sanctuary, and perhaps become a God-Blessed in the future!

But being used as a pawn and a combat tool by his own father wasn't so easy to accept.

Like his father, Arber also had his own ambitions—so suddenly one day, Arber suddenly showed the strength of a Chosen. He completely controlled the pirate group under Gero's command, and then led the team away from the Jueyue Sea and disappeared.

And when Arber returned more than ten years later, he had already stood at the peak of the Chosen, had a powerful magic ship, and had fused with the 'shard of the Sourcewater Soul', becoming the Sea King of the Troubled Sea.

The shard of the Sourcewater Soul—legend has it that it is a unique object derived from the 'Sourcewater Soul', the divine object that is the origin of the sea.

Its shape is like a transparent crystal sea urchin, with crystal-clear blue water element brilliance inside. If swallowed and digested, one can obtain extremely powerful magical abilities.

However, in addition to the extremely unpalatable taste and flavor, taking the shard of the Sourcewater Soul is also an extremely dangerous thing—it will completely transform a person's body and soul, and that feeling is like tearing the body and soul into pieces inch by inch, then soaking them in salt water, and finally sewing them into a new shape inch by inch.

If one can't survive this painful transformation process, the taker's body and soul will completely collapse, turning into a pool of real water and becoming the nourishment for that Sourcewater Soul.

Therefore, any pirate who has taken a shard of the Sourcewater Soul is a true powerhouse in terms of willpower.

After returning, Arber, who had contacted his father again, reached an agreement—Gero would help Arber collect shards of the Sourcewater Soul as much as possible, as well as the various resources he needed, and Arber would ensure the stability of Twilight City and provide Gero with some overseas exotic objects he needed.

The relationship between this father and son wasn't good. The two sides were essentially just using each other.

But after all, blood was thicker than water. Gero hadn't abused Arber, and had provided Arber with the resources to grow up, just without giving his care and love. So the relationship between the two sides was more subtle, but no matter what, compared with all the coastal cities in the Far East, Twilight City was indeed the most peaceful place. Arber had always listened to Gero's opinions, and had never killed anyone during the attack on the temple.

And recently, in the mysterious plan about all the Seven Seas Kings, Gero, as Arber's father, naturally fully supported it and provided almost all the convenience in the temple.

So Arber didn't think Gero would deceive him in this regard.

Jueyue Outer Sea, three thousand meters underwater.

In the pitch-black deep sea, a giant ship with a faint blue magic light on its hull was moving silently underwater, like a glimmer of gloom in the abyss.

In the captain's control room in the center of the Deep Diver, Arber was holding the communication array. This tall pirate was sitting on his whale-skin-covered captain's seat. His face was dignified, like a stone sculpture, and his red beard, almost identical to his father's, was tied into rough braids.

Listening to Gero's warning, the Pirate King was silent and fell into deep thought.

"That Lord of Judgment, who hasn't descended or even given a divine decree or responded to prayers for more than three hundred years, has actually descended..."

Although he had guessed it, he couldn't help but mutter to himself, "Damn it, why now of all times!"

Having said that, Arber was actually a little grateful now—after all, he wasn't stupid enough to rely on the Deep Diver's diving ability to run to investigate the situation, but had coerced another group of pirates to find out the situation.

Otherwise, if the Lord of Judgment had discovered him, his fate would probably have been to be struck into ashes by lightning.

"Arber, the ritual you want to hold might have been crushed by the Lord of Judgment who descended that day—is it possible that the Lord descended just for that?"

At this time, Gero's worried voice sounded in the communication array, "If the Lord hadn't descended, I would naturally support you—after all, if it succeeds, the order of this world might change drastically. Even for the residents of Twilight City, I would support you, let alone you are my child."

"But, the Lord has descended, Arber, my child, you may not obey God and disrespect the canon of God, but you should be in awe of God's power... Even if you succeed, you will just become 'another God', let alone you haven't succeeded."

Speaking of this, the old high priest sighed, he said worriedly, "Quit now, leave quickly, maybe you can save your life."

"You're senile, how can I quit now?!"

Hearing this, Arber couldn't help but look ferocious, but soon, he suppressed the anger in his heart, and just gritted his teeth and said, "I betrayed the oath, fled the mainland, and struggled at sea for so many years... The plan has reached this point, I can never quit—whether it's the shards of the Sourcewater Soul in my body, or the ritual itself, I can only advance, not retreat!"

"What's more."

Saying so, Arber's tone became peaceful, with a hint of fanaticism, "You have never seen the truly vast world—Father, I really don't respect you, but the fact is that you have wasted your life in this small Twilight City, repeating the same boring days over and over again."

"But I was lucky enough to see the reincarnation beyond this world at sea, the scenery 'belonging to other worlds'! That is the splendor beyond this world, the grandeur that this tiny world can't understand at all..."

At this time, the Pirate King's expression even showed a trace of true awe. He seemed to recall the scenery he saw at that time, saw the power and future shown by those strange people, and then made a firm decision.

"Lord of Fire, Lord of Wind, Lord of Judgment? The Lords are indeed Gods, they have established the order of this world, I don't follow the canon, but I respect them, and not just for their power."

"But in the end, they are just 'indigenous gods' of our small world! Outside this world, there are countless powerful existences that far surpass them!"

Arber asserted, "If our plan can succeed, whether it's the Lord of Fire, the Lord of Wind, or the Lord of Judgment, all of them are not to be feared—the power we obtain will far surpass them!"

"In the name of 'pioneer', this world is just our stepping stone to the distant beyond, the first step beyond the horizon!"

On the other end of the communication array, Gero was silent.

He was indeed old and couldn't understand what his child was pursuing... He wasn't a hundred percent canon-compliant cleric, but what cleric in the Far East who had interacted with pirates wouldn't be tainted by a little gray area? His actions didn't comply with the code, but they could bring real peace to the people.

But even so, he couldn't understand what Arber's fanaticism was for, and what the Seven Seas King's real plan was... Yes, his child wanted to become a 'God', that was indeed blasphemy, but who could stop him?

After all, since that 'rebellion' a hundred years ago, the Sanctuary's belief in the Lords was no longer as solid as it used to be...

"In short, leave quickly."

He could only repeat helpless words like this. Gero could only warn, "Leave Jueyue Sea quickly, whether you continue your plan or listen to me and don't get involved, leave quickly..."

"...Child?"

......"Arber?!"

On the other end of the communication array, in the Deep Diver.

The communication array base was placed on the table.

And Arber, who was originally holding it, had already appeared on the deck of the Deep Diver.

"What's going on?"

The red-haired and red-bearded Pirate King was asking his crew, his face displeased, "Didn't I say, don't disturb me when I'm talking to someone?"

"But, Captain, something's wrong!"

However, what responded to him was the sailor's terrified response. The sailor who pressed the emergency alarm was now pointing to the depths of the pitch-black deep sea, "Sea beasts! A lot of deep-sea beasts are coming towards us!"

"We're surrounded!"

"What?"

Arber's face suddenly froze—deep-sea beasts? What a joke, even demonized sea beasts wouldn't be idle enough to wander in the depth of three thousand meters, and there were so many of them? His battle-hardened crew, who were used to seeing blood, were so terrified?

But soon, the Great Pirate saw what 'a lot' of sea beasts meant.

Under the blue light of the Deep Diver, in the deep ocean, one could see dozens of extremely thick tentacles with suction cups, looming at the edge of the invisible darkness and the visible light, entangled together.

At the same time, a dozen different, diverse whale songs came at the same time, causing the deck to vibrate slightly.

In the dark depths, dozens or hundreds of bright and cold eyes were staring at this place from a distance, staring at the Deep Diver, surrounding the entire pirate ship.

"This?!"

In an instant, Arber, who noticed those gazes and was extremely familiar with those tentacles and whale songs, suddenly changed his face—there was no doubt that those tentacles were the tentacles of the extremely dangerous sea beast, the 'Sea King Squid'! And those whale songs were the voices of the sea overlord, the 'Sea Demon Whale'!

But, aren't these two mortal enemies? Why did they appear at the same time, coexist peacefully, and there were so many of them?!

"Are you Arber?"

Just as the astonished man couldn't figure it out, Arber suddenly heard a voice with heavy echoes.

Then, before he could turn his head to look in the direction of the voice, Arber heard the next sentence.

"I'm very interested in what you just said about 'pioneer'."

Not finished, there's another update late at night.

There's a double monthly ticket at the end of this month—but it's not the end of the month now, friends!