Chapter 468 Trial and Departure (5800, First Update, Seeking Monthly Tickets!)

Elemental Calendar, Year 307, July 7th, Central Holy Hall.

The second day after the battle between the Lord of Judgment and the Lord of Fire, the first day after the 'Second Trial.'

Since the beginning of July, major events on the Holy Fire Continent have been happening one after another.

First, there are the increasingly severe natural disasters affecting the entire continent.

The continuous climate anomalies have led to so many natural phenomena that even with all the clergy mobilized for disaster relief, some remote villages and towns inevitably cannot wait for aid from afar.

But what is surprising is that whether these villages pray to God in the end or not, in the most critical moments, a gust of wind always suddenly blows, and then heavy rain falls directly amidst flashes of lightning, as if by a miracle.

Secondly, there is the advance of the criminal队伍 (duìwǔ, ranks), gathered in the name of the Lord of Judgment.

Those 'apostates' who claim that the judgment was wrong and declare themselves innocent have gathered together, firmly believing that they have not deviated from the path of God, and demanding a truly just trial under the witness of God—led by a chosen one named Amon, they are advancing towards the Central Holy Hall.

It must be said that this journey is blessed by the gods. Not only is there no obstacle along the way, but even all those who want to stop them join the ranks.

And the most concerning thing is the battle of the gods that happened the day before yesterday.

The Lord of Judgment and the Lord of Fire fought in the sky, and the brilliant light of divine power illuminated the night sky. Not to mention ordinary people, even ordinary transcendents probably couldn't see the outcome, only the vast divine power piercing the sky—only those at the level of God's Chosen could vaguely see the gap between the gods, and were shocked by it.

As for the last major event, namely the recently concluded Second Trial, it is very meaningful.

The Lord of Judgment and the Lord of Fire jointly organized the largest trial in history. They organized all the clerics of the entire Central Holy Hall to conduct hundreds of hearings, statements, and closing arguments simultaneously. Divine power guaranteed the honesty of everyone and could see through anyone's selfishness.

A total of thirteen thousand criminals, and more who gathered one after another, were determined to be innocent in this second trial.

And in the other small part, some were indeed guilty, but the penalties were too heavy, due to the mistakes of those who sentenced them. Of course, there were also some who felt they were innocent, but were actually guilty, and were given lighter sentences, so they will receive heavier punishments.

And on this day, the principles of reform and morality, as well as the new doctrines of the Lord of Judgment, were all told publicly by the god who revealed his true form. When the shadow of the Judgment Dragon appeared above the Holy Hall, all the clerics of the Lord of Judgment's lineage were so excited that they couldn't help but shout the name of God.

And now, the judgment continues. Except for the first day, the gods do not often personally make judgments. They have left everything to the clerics and ordinary people, but everything is already on the right track.

"Praise the Lord of Judgment! Praise the Lord of Fire!"

On the streets of the Central Holy Hall, from time to time, many tearful sinners can be seen, who have now been cleared of their false charges and finally restored their innocence. These people have suffered injustice for more than ten years, despised by their hometowns, ignored by their relatives and friends, and now, after obtaining the misjudgment recognized by the Central Holy Hall, and the endorsement of piety by the two gods, they can finally return to their hometowns, regain their reputation, and receive apologies.

Now, everything has been redressed... but how should these ten years be compensated?

But at least, these crimes should not occur in the future.

[This new and just path will be passed on and executed by you—it is you, those who were formerly burdened with guilt, and now cleared of injustice, in order to prevent the pain you suffered from being repeated in the world in the future, I will bestow upon you strength and authority.]

The god said so at that time. The Lord of Judgment passed down his Lightning Law and Storm Law. This is the inheritance given to all wandering adjudicators, all those of the Lord of Judgment's lineage. They will hold divine arts that can see through resentment and evil thoughts, and perceive honesty or falsehood. This power, called the Eye of Judgment, is the authority of God, but now it is given to mortals.

Moreover, from then on, judgment is no longer the final word. Generally speaking, it will undergo two audits.

Ordinary crimes will be presided over by a small team of three clerics, and judged from personal, collective, and moral aspects, according to the revised covenants and precepts, to determine guilt or innocence. This step does not involve the Lord of Judgment.

Then, more than twenty local people's representatives will express their opinions, also discussing from personal, collective, and moral aspects, but only to determine the severity of the circumstances. This also does not involve the Lord of Judgment.

But if the judgment is too controversial or there are objections, then whether it is the judging party or the judged party, they can directly make a request to the temple and go to a higher-level temple for a second trial.

And this time, it may involve the Lord of Judgment—if neither the clerics nor the people's representatives can determine the result from the personal, collective, and moral aspects, then they can only ask the Lord of Judgment to adjudicate—and this time, they can only accept the minority's opinion, and then record this point in the new covenants and laws as an example.

Of course, this is basically impossible... because if the controversy is really that big, the Lord of Fire would probably go and see the situation himself.

And the first batch to try this new judgment system was not others, but the pirates in Su Zhou's personal space.

Among them, most of the pirates on the Wild Boar were dealt with as minor crimes. According to the new law, they will serve as laborers in the entourage of clerics, putting out fires and providing disaster relief all over the world, to atone for the sins they once committed—and after the atonement is completed, another review will be conducted to determine whether to restore normal human rights, or to be treated as an object of observation.

However, most of the crew members of the Deep Diver are guilty, and of serious crimes.

Some even need to be sentenced to death.

And the real key point is undoubtedly the Sea King, Yarebo.

"...In order to ensure that those who join our pirate group completely sever any unnecessary hope, we will issue them a mission to join the group, which is a life."

"As long as you get on the ship, you must kill someone. After all, who knows if these people who were not trained from childhood, but joined midway, might be spies from the temple? Only by killing someone, will he inevitably be judged by the Lord of Judgment when he returns to shore, and will not be able to go back."

"So, not only the Deep Diver, this is also the rule of most high-level pirate groups, but some are not so direct, but the final result is the same—all crew members are guilty of serious crimes, and can only stay on the ship and coexist with the pirate group."

On the viewing platform, the captain of a low-level pirate团 (tuán, group) who had never killed anyone, Captain Nide, who had his feet cut off according to the law, cursed and left in a wheelchair—although his crime did not warrant death, he had to have his legs amputated and undergo labor reform.

Nide has Wind Clan blood and Judgment Blood. In four or five years, at most seven or eight years, his legs will probably regenerate, and before that, he will have to do some manual labor to atone for his crimes.

But at least, Nide doesn't have to die, and if he performs well and his atonement is recognized by everyone, then the Holy Hall can also accelerate the recovery of his leg disability.

The Holy Fire Continent does not have the concept of long-term imprisonment. The punishment for criminals is to directly cut off their hands and feet, completely eliminating their ability to do evil—because there is Judgment Blood and Wind Clan blood, this is not permanent, at most decades of punishment, which can barely be regarded as a characteristic of their world, even if the gods want to interfere, it will take a long time.

And Yarebo, kneeling on the platform, didn't care at all. He knew very well that he would definitely be sentenced to death.

So, on the judgment platform in the center of the Central Holy Hall's square, accepting the trial of tens of thousands of people watching together, he calmly described his crime: "In addition, in order to maintain deterrence, every once in a while, we will go to coastal cities or the villages of the Sea Folk to attack, kill some people and fishermen, and rob some things."

"Over the years, I alone have killed hundreds of people, not to mention how much wealth I have plundered."

When saying this, Yarebo's tone and emotions did not fluctuate at all, obviously he had become accustomed to killing, and had no emotional response to human life.

"...Is there anything else to confess?"

Aside, the High Priest, the God's Chosen Gail of the Lord of Judgment, who presided over his trial, said with a somewhat complicated tone—he had never seen such a frank, pure evil person with no psychological burden on human life and evil.

And Yarebo shook his head: "If wanting to become a god is also considered blasphemy, then there is probably that."

"Other than that, there's nothing else."

The accusation phase ended, and then came the sequential determination of guilt by the clerics, voting decision, and the final degree of punishment determined by the people's representatives.

Without a doubt.

Yarebo's final verdict was death—beheading, to be executed immediately.

And Yarebo didn't care about any of this.

The execution of the death penalty was very fast. The clerics brought in the execution platform, and the red-haired and red-bearded pirate was escorted to the execution platform.

A peak Chosen One, who in the sea could even be comparable to a God's Chosen pirate, would not die from such a small injury as beheading, but Su Zhou personally suppressed Yarebo's power and vitality, and he is now a mortal.

No one could see Su Zhou. He stood next to the execution platform, witnessing the final destination of this Sea King-level pirate.

At this moment, only Yarebo knew that the Lord of Judgment was by his side.

But so what?

When his neck was pressed into the groove of the execution platform, Yarebo couldn't help but squint his eyes and look at the sky above the Central Holy Hall. Today the sun is shining, the sky is clear, and the air is fresh, with the scent of summer.

He couldn't help but recall the same midsummer many years ago, when he was still a teenager, looking up at the endless ocean and the distant horizon from the deck of the ship, and the grand wish that suddenly rose in his heart.

—The sea is so big... so why can't I explore its end, to see the other side of the sea, to see the scenery on the other side of the distant world?

At that time, the boy's hands were already stained with blood. As a pawn in his father's hands, a pirate who hunted pirates, Yarebo was born in the sea, but had always lingered in the offshore waters of the Sparrow Sea. He never had the love of a mother, nor the company of a father. Although support was never lacking, the feeling of loneliness followed him like a shadow.

Yarebo didn't care about loneliness. He was just unwilling, unwilling to stay here, to stay in the same place forever. He wanted to witness new scenery.

So, from that day on, he began to prepare a plan to rebel against his father, Gero, and become a truly independent and free pirate.

And now, decades later.

The crowd surged in the Central Holy Hall's square, colorful hair, and sea-like remarks, in this same midsummer, were like another special kind of ocean.

But the heart of the former teenager, born of the sea, longing for freedom and the distance, had long been worn away. He was already a pirate who kills without blinking an eye, and had no sense of guilt or repentance in his heart.

However, in the end, as the blade of the execution platform was slowly raised, Yarebo still spoke in his heart. He prayed to the god who stood by his side, but no one could see.

"God."

The red-haired pirate muttered to himself, "I know that what I have done is evil and sinful, but I still did it. I knew I would be killed when I killed people, and that was my choice."

"My life is like this, and it's natural to have such an ending. Evil is not a label I cannot accept."

"Only."

Speaking of this, Yarebo closed his eyes and murmured wearily, asking from the bottom of his heart: "Why are there pirates?"

[Because of the mistakes of the old era.]

And standing beside Yarebo, Su Zhou answered him. The other party was the first Sea King to be judged and convicted, and was also the beginning of the war against pirates that the Central Holy Hall was about to begin. Naturally, Su Zhou had to come to the scene in person.

Regarding the great pirate's doubts, the god said calmly: [It was the cause established by me and the Lord of Fire that led to the effect of your birth—on this point, it is indeed a mistake we made. You originate from our mistakes, and on this point, we should apologize to everyone.]

[However, in the new era, we will not make the same mistakes again. Although humans can never learn from their mistakes, but after all, we are gods, perhaps we can be different—and if we make mistakes, admitting and correcting them is also possible, which is precisely the original intention of human innovation.]

Yarebo was silent about this.

In the clattering mechanical sound of the execution knife being pulled up by the gears, he sighed and prayed: "God, are you saying that in the new era, people like me will not appear?"

"I always feel that since I was born, there has been no freedom at all. I can only be a pirate. I started killing people at the age of seven. I was born to be taught to plunder merchant ships. From the moment I was born, I had no right to be a good person—even if I wanted to explore, the Sea Folk were unwilling to serve me, and my subordinates were unwilling to go to distant places."

"And by the time I had the right to choose to explore distant places, the enthusiasm in my heart had already faded... Emptiness was spreading, so I wanted to become a god and try to fight for freedom."

Su Zhou could only shake his head slightly at this confusion.

[Perhaps, Yarebo, the entanglement of human interests, the conflict of human thoughts, is eternal and endless. People like you existed in the past, exist now, and should exist in the future.]

[However, the number will decrease. At that time, not only will there be very few people like you, but there will also likely not be an opportunity to commit any capital crimes—because with the progress of the times, you may still not have the right to choose, but at least there will no longer be the opportunity and reason to be such an evil pirate.]

[And this is the law of development, progress, and innovation.]

"Is that so... is this, innovation?"

The execution knife had already reached the top. Yarebo opened his eyes and looked at the execution ground in front of him. Everyone was shouting to sentence him to death—in the accusation just now, everyone in the Central Holy City had already learned of his origin, his crimes, and his actions. Even the affairs of the high priest Gero were made public. His cleric father would be arrested. Although he didn't say it until the end, how could God not know?

——This is very shameful... For a person, almost all of their life's events have been made public, which is too much!

However, Yarebo could see that in the audience, some people were not just simply cheering, cheering for a Sea King to be judged—they were thinking, they were confused, confused as to why pirates with a background like Yarebo appeared, and discussing how to deal with this type of problem and prevent new Yarebos from appearing.

Looking at this scene, Yarebo was somewhat stunned.

If his death, his mistakes, and his life, could be used for future innovation...

Thinking of this, the man who was about to meet his end smiled.

This smile caused great indignation. Yarebo's smile was considered a contempt and disdain for the trial. If the death penalty was not already the highest punishment, the local people would probably immediately change the vote and increase Yarebo's crime.

But this Sea King didn't care at all—what could affect the heart of a person about to die? The words of others are so weak and powerless.

In the final moment, he closed his eyes again, his expression calm.

"Lord, I have always been praying."

"From the moment I knew I was just a tool used by my father to control the pirate group, I have been praying."

"I pray that I can leave that place—not that I think I am a good person. If I leave the pirate group, I might also do evil. No, it's better to say that I can't imagine myself not being wanton—maybe I am just such a natural evil person? Perhaps this is some kind of destiny?"

He smiled freely. Yarebo had no fear of the execution knife about to fall. He was just making a final prayer to the god beside him, his tone peaceful: "I just want to say, if one day, I do evil, it is out of my freedom, and I will not be as unwilling as I am now when I am judged."

"God, I once thirsted for free exploration, and was also entangled in the fate of destiny. I drifted in the ocean, repeatedly causing pain to others, and also pain to myself. Until the end, I placed my hope on becoming a god, so that I could drive away the emptiness in my heart."

"And now, I have realized that what I want is perhaps not so complicated—I just want to change, to change the life that I am powerless to change."

"So, I have always been praying. I pray that I can have a different life from before, a better choice than before..."

"Now that I think about it, God, I may have always been looking forward to it."

"Looking forward to the arrival of innovation (You)."

These were the last words.

With a snap, the sharp execution knife fell, like a shooting star.

Along with the splattering pale blue blood, Yarebo's head rolled to the ground, and the power of the Source Water Soul Shard overflowed, turning into scattered water elements that formed a small patch of dark clouds.

Death had come, swift and irreversible, and all of the Sea King returned to the final darkness.

However, the final thoughts of the soul did not stop.

"Lord..."

"Can you... hear me?"

[...Your unwillingness, your prayer, your wish, I have heard them all.]

After a moment of silence, Su Zhou looked up.

He looked at everyone in front of him, everyone who witnessed Yarebo's death.

The crowd was surging, with clerics, ordinary people, people who had never committed crimes, and people who had committed crimes.

On this land of Tartadis, humans are always repeating the cycle, humans are always unwilling, and humans are always thirsting for change.

So he came—and then listened.

Listening to the vast tide—which is the cry for a new era, new justice, new judgment, and new principles.

So, in the end, the young man closed his eyes, he opened his arms, feeling the wishes, the power of vows, that were wrapped around him, layer upon layer, like chains.

[I have heard it.]

He whispered to himself: [The unwillingness of everyone, the prayers of everyone, the wishes of everyone.]

[I have heard them all.]

[And now, it is time to eliminate mistakes.]

Elemental Calendar, Year 307, July 7th.

Central Holy Hall, after the final trial of the Sea King Yarebo ended, the square was still crowded with people.

A large number of clerics and officials came with their equipment, standing neatly in the square.

One hundred and thirty-seven years after the rebellion that gave birth to the pirates.

A new team began to gather, line up, and prepare to embark on the road to the sea once again.

Two gods will accompany them, and be with them.

And this time, what They will do is to end the 'mistake' They made in the past.

And bring a new 'innovation' to the world!

"Set off!"

Such a voice rang out.

"Set off!"

Thousands upon thousands of voices rang out in response.

And then, just like that.

People set off.

Towards the distant horizon, and the future ahead.

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