Chapter 461 We Are All Free People (8300, Second Update Yesterday)

Freedom.

That is, self-determination, acting according to one's own will, and being responsible for one's own actions.

The opposite of this is law.

Constrained by others, told what not to do, thoughts shackled, yet still expected to sing and dance.

Therefore, the Sea Folk hate the law, hate the code, hate the creed.

They hate all the rules, suggestions, and vows that bind their hands and feet, yet still require them to love others.

Precisely because of this, when every Sea Folk child grows old enough to understand freedom and law, their parents will educate them with these words, letting them know that they left the continent and came to the sea to resist the ugly law for the sake of beautiful freedom.

This is the truth of the Sea Folk.

However, for the boy who was still a child at that time, truth did not seem to be something unquestionable.

The very idea of 'must' hating the law seemed to be a kind of unfreedom.

"Isn't true freedom also the ability to choose to abide by the law and also follow the creed and code?"

In a hot summer, in an ordinary Sea Folk fishing village in the Sea of Affliction, the boy with pure white hair and deep purple dragon eyes questioned the 'truth' that his parents had told him with some confusion: "Having to hate something... is so unfree!"

"You unfilial son!"

And what responded to him was his father's violent fists, which were so heavy that they could be called cold-blooded and ruthless. If his mother hadn't stopped his father, the boy would probably have been beaten unconscious at that time.

And in the end, with a mouth full of blood and bruises all over his body, he heard his father's angry reprimand, his anger not yet extinguished: "You don't know what we gave up to get the freedom we have now!"

Freedom... is it such an important thing?

At that time, the boy didn't feel much pain from his injuries, nor much anger towards his father.

He still just had doubts: "Really, is it that important?"

After thinking about it for several years, on a night when his father was drunk, the grown-up boy calmly picked up a sharp knife and inserted it into the other's heart without hesitation.

"You, you unfilial son... do you hate me that much!?"

Shocked and awakened by the severe pain, before his death, the boy's father glared at his child. Having little strength to scold and curse, he raised his hand, wanting to pull the knife out of his heart, but before this action was completed, the knife was pushed in with even greater force by the boy, burying it to the hilt.

"No, I don't hate you."

And after doing all this, the boy sincerely replied: "I just felt that I had the freedom to kill, so I wanted to try it out. You just happened to be closer."

"Now it seems, I do have it—the feeling of freedom is really good."

"Ahhhhhh—"

And hearing her husband's angry rebuke, the woman who had been awakened from her sleep hurriedly came to check, and what she saw was this scene—and she subconsciously screamed, and then watched in horror as her son casually pulled the knife out of her husband's chest, the gushing blood like a fountain, staining the boy's snow-white hair and cheeks red: "Bai, Bai鯨 (Bai Jing), what are you doing?!"

Hearing his mother's question, the boy named Bai鯨 (Bai Jing) turned his head with some annoyance, the deep purple dragon eyes, originating from the bloodline of the Lord of Judgment, flashing with some inexplicable sparks.

"Mom, you're too noisy."

He complained like this, and then, holding the knife, walked towards his mother, who was kneeling on the ground in fear.

The feeling of freedom... is pretty good.

Of course, all of this was just a small episode in the growth history of the boy named Bai鯨 (Bai Jing).

Long after, Bai鯨 (Bai Jing), who had grown into a man, realized why his father had insisted on freedom in the past, to the point that he didn't even hold back when beating his own son in order to maintain it.

It was very simple—because they had given up everything and fled the continent, they had nothing left except freedom.

And quite ironically, after Bai鯨 (Bai Jing) read many books, and even many different versions of the Holy Church Creed, he discovered that he really hated those laws.

In other words, his father was actually right—they, the free Sea Folk, should indeed despise the law, despise that ugly thing that made people incomplete.

A large part of the law is the regulations formed by people surrendering their personal private rights to the creed and judgment. Ordinary people have no right to kill, no right to take revenge. If they and their families are harmed, they cannot personally avenge the enemy's family, let alone the enemy himself. And after doing all this, the punishment given by the law may even be less than the harm the enemy inflicted on them.

But if that's the case, then what if the law allows victims to reasonably punish enemies and criminals?

Could that be called freedom?

No.

Bai鯨 (Bai Jing) didn't think so.

Because that's not called freedom, but equal revenge.

True freedom... should be without any logic, regardless of whether anyone does anything to oneself, regardless of whether one has any intentions towards others, one can do whatever one wants to others.

One moment, people can chat happily, like confidants, but in the next moment, they can slit each other's throats, enjoy the beautiful sight of the other's blood gurgling out of their throats, and listen to the 'hehe' sound that sounds like singing—this is freedom.

The parents were killed by the enemy with cruel means, but the victim doesn't care at all, not only inviting the other party to drink together, play together, and even happily inviting him to a banquet, without any hatred—this is freedom.

In a situation where everyone is seriously studying knowledge, not only not reading, but also interfering with others' reading, tearing up others' paper and pens, and mocking others' efforts—this is freedom.

In a situation where all other Sea Folk are repeating the cycle of plundering and being plundered, everyone is wantonly killing each other at sea, singing in the storm, and then recklessly robbing everywhere, and playing uninhibited games with the women they have plundered on the islands, being alone and seriously studying history books and ancient books, enriching one's knowledge—this is undoubtedly also freedom.

So-called freedom is being able to do anything without restraint.

So-called freedom is being able to willingly accept restraint.

Freedom is not beautiful; it can certainly be ugly. Freedom can be unbridled, but it can also be strictly self-disciplined.

Choosing beauty is freedom, and choosing ugliness is also freedom. Only by acknowledging all of these can one be considered a sound, free person.

As for whether he is free?

Bai鯨 (Bai Jing) is certainly a free person.

When all the Sea Folk were acting wantonly, they taught young boys that only by violating more laws, enjoying more pleasures, and plundering and killing, could they be called free—but Bai鯨 (Bai Jing) showed them what was even more free than wanton enjoyment, that is, when they could enjoy themselves, they voluntarily chose to diligently study extraordinary power, and then began his more than twenty hours of cultivation a day.

In fact, while most pirates didn't even know how to read, Bai鯨 (Bai Jing) had already read all the creed codes and various extraordinary knowledge books in the world for more than three hundred years, becoming a truly learned scholar of the sea.

While most pirates didn't even know how to read, this man had already memorized all the creed codes and all the widely publicized books and cultivation books of the past four hundred years. In addition, he also collected the most precious documents written by that group of runaway clergy during the rebellion a hundred years ago.

He spent a long time honing himself, learning on his own, and growing on his own. Finally, before the age of thirty, he surpassed all the pirates in the Seven Seas who thought they were free and became the Sea King.

Then, he went from Sea King to Sea Emperor.

But... even if he became a great pirate who roamed the Seven Seas, became a sea emperor who was famous in all directions, could that be called freedom?

The man who had accomplished all these incredible achievements still had such confusion in his heart, and there was still some beast roaring.

No—this is still not free enough!

Even the Sea Emperor could only act wantonly in the sea, but on land, there were still dozens of God-Blessed Ones and three True Gods—their existence made it impossible for many Sea Emperors and Sea Kings to freely go ashore to burn, kill, and plunder, and impossible to go ashore to study books.

"Not enough, far from enough. There are still people above me, still gods."

Even after becoming the Sea Emperor, Bai鯨 (Bai Jing) felt that he was still not free enough.

However, these days of anxiety and impatience were finally coming to an end.

At the suggestion and request of an existence from another world, the pirates spent a long time finally searching for clues to becoming a god in the ancient and peaceful Sea of Meditation.

And Bai鯨 (Bai Jing) also found the key to true freedom in this world.

As long as I become a god, no one can restrain me anymore.

Whether it's creeds, codes, rulings, judgments, everything.

No one can hinder people from doing what they want, no one can stop people's sudden whims, no one can hinder people from killing, and no one can refuse people from saving people.

After becoming a god, this is absolute freedom.

At that time, Bai鯨 (Bai Jing) couldn't help but fantasize about the future.

——He could kill people, turn them into furniture, and eat them; he could also turn slaves into nobles and let them become kings to rule over all those who were originally above them.

——He could destroy temples, burn the creeds and books inside, and let the crystallization of human wisdom and order be insulted; at the same time, he would also build schools and make all the extraordinary knowledge public so that everyone could see it for free.

——He could weaken the intelligence of the people and deny all human wisdom; he could wantonly spread all the realities that the ruling class was unwilling to spread and present the bloody truth before everyone's eyes.

That's how it is. That's how it is. That's how it is.

The more he thought about it, the more excited the man became.

True freedom is when 'I' feel free, that is freedom. As for whether 'I' have been deceived... being willing to be deceived is also 'my' freedom.

Free birth, free death.

Freedom to oppress others, freedom to be oppressed by others.

Freedom to improve, freedom to degenerate.

Freedom of conscience regarding good and evil, freedom of conscience regarding good and bad.

What his parents said was indeed correct—freedom is indeed such an important thing. Can anyone really accept living unfreely? What's the difference between that and an insect without intelligence?

He wanted to bring this kind of freedom to everyone.

"Sea Emperor Bai鯨 (Bai Jing), are you, are you listening?"

Seven Seas, Sea of Affliction, Seven Seas Allied Forces Advance Base.

Black, fine-grained aquilaria wood made up the soundproof walls of the command hall, and the thick curtains hanging from the top further obscured the light from the outside. There were no other light sources other than the dim yellow elemental lamps hanging from the roof.

And a man with white hair and purple eyes, who looked very young, was sitting on a chair carved with a sea demon whale pattern, opening his eyes in boredom, seemingly between half-sleep and half-awake.

In a command hall converted from a city hall, such a cautious voice sounded: "Sea Emperor, what do you think of my suggestion?"

"Not much."

In response, the white-haired man yawned loudly. He replied calmly, "You see, I'm about to fall asleep listening to it—or do you think what you're saying is interesting?"

Faced with Bai鯨's (Bai Jing) almost humiliating answer, the middle-aged pirate who had been rambling for a long time suddenly turned red in the face, his black beard trembling.

But due to the deterrent power of the Sea Emperor in front of him, he was still hesitant to speak for a while.

And Bai鯨 (Bai Jing) didn't say anything mocking like, 'If you don't even dare to speak, how dare you call yourself a free pirate?' Because the freedom not to dare to speak is also freedom.

At this time, he just raised his head, turned his eyes, and stared calmly at the other party with his purple dragon eyes, staring at this ordinary pirate with an unremarkable soul, seemingly waiting for the other party's answer.

"I think it's very interesting."

After a while, the pirate still mustered up his courage, gritted his teeth, and repeated his previous suggestion to Bai鯨 (Bai Jing) again.

"Sea Emperor, the news that Sea King Yarber has been captured has spread throughout the fleet. Now it can basically be determined that the Deep Diver has disappeared and Sea King Yarber has really been captured and completely fallen into the hands of the Holy Church."

He said like this, with a deep yearning in his eyes as he looked at the white-haired man: "Sea Emperor Bai鯨 (Bai Jing), I think I can take over that ritual—I can do everything that Yarber can do, and his strength may not be much stronger than mine!"

"Hmm?"

After listening to the other party's suggestion for the second time, Bai鯨 (Bai Jing) raised his head and looked up and down at the middle-aged pirate in front of him.

His eyes were deep purple, which was the legendary dragon bloodline bestowed by the Lord of Judgment upon all living beings. All the Fire Folk had some dragon blood characteristics, and some of them would be more obvious, growing scales and dragon eyes.

And Bai鯨's (Bai Jing) bloodline concentration was visibly several times thicker than that of most Fire Folk. Being stared at by those deep purple dragon eyes even made the middle-aged pirate who was being stared at feel a burst of chills.

"What you said is a little interesting."

Smiling like this, staring at the pirate who made his request, Bai鯨 (Bai Jing) grinned, revealing dense, sharp teeth, like those of a shark, yet also like the teeth of a dragon. Layers of sharp scales covered the area behind his eye lines, extending all the way to the roots of his ears, occupying one-third of his handsome face.

The white-haired Sea Emperor slowly stood up and said calmly to the blade in front of him: "Are you trying to say that you want to replace Yarber, become the new Sea King, and then join our plan to ascend to godhood together in the future?"

"Interesting, it's rare to see someone as opportunistic as you."

And when Bai鯨 (Bai Jing) stood up, the pirate who intended to replace Yarber felt a strong sense of oppression coming over him—he was simply too tall. His height, with his dragon blood returning to his ancestors, exceeded two meters and three, simply like a humanoid whale. In addition, that abnormal sense of danger came again.

Then, he heard the Sea Emperor's leisurely words in front of him: "To be honest, although Yarber is an boring person, I quite like his beard. That red beard is like blood, so I don't have to tear his throat to see the bright red color."

"Ah, now that I mention it, I want to see the color of your blood."

At first, the middle-aged pirate didn't understand what Bai鯨 (Bai Jing) meant.

But soon, he was shocked to find that the man in front of him was already smiling and reaching out to him, grabbing towards his neck at random.

"You can't kill me!"

In an instant, sensing the crisis of life and death, the middle-aged pirate burst out with a powerful force. In just an instant, layers of thick ice condensed in the command hall, and ultra-low temperatures below minus 150 degrees Celsius spread rapidly.

It must be said that the pirate who intended to replace Yarber was indeed not weak.

When he unleashed his Source Water Soul supernatural power, the air directly liquefied and solidified around him, eventually condensing into an almost indestructible solid atmospheric armor. In addition, countless fine, sharp ice crystals grew out of the originally humid seaside air. As the ice crystals condensed, they then turned into his blades, slashing towards Bai鯨 (Bai Jing) with ear-splitting sonic booms.

But all actions could not stop a casually extended hand.

"Oh, I can—"

Saying it easily and casually, Bai鯨 (Bai Jing) calmly shattered the sharp ice blade of the pirate in front of him, penetrated the other party's solid solidified atmospheric armor, isolated the ultra-low temperature of nearly minus 200 degrees Celsius at the other party's body, and then deftly pinched the other party's Adam's apple.

Then, Bai鯨 (Bai Jing) gently exerted force, crushing it together with flesh and blood.

"Cough—"

Instantly, ice-blue liquid spurted out from the wound. The middle-aged pirate's eyes bulged—as a powerful pirate at the peak of the Chosen, how could he be unable to control his own blood? Even if his heart was destroyed, he could continue to live.

But at the moment when Bai鯨 (Bai Jing) touched him, he was terrified to find that all the strength, all the blood, and even the moisture in his body began to move 'freely', not obeying any of his commands—in this way, not to mention blocking Bai鯨's (Bai Jing) attack, who was originally stronger than him, it made him unable to even deal with his own injuries.

Thump—the sound of kneeling on the ground sounded, and the pirate's consciousness began to blur rapidly. He collapsed to the ground, and extremely cold ice-blue blood began to spread on the floor of the command hall, creating layers of thick ice and raised ice ridges.

"I've really never seen this color of blood before."

And Bai鯨 (Bai Jing) curiously raised his hand, looked at the ice-blue blood in his hand, and then the tall Sea Emperor sat back in his seat and stuck out his slender tongue, licking his palm: "Hmm... it tastes a bit like sweet ice cubes."

"It's quite delicious."

"What's wrong, Bai鯨 (Bai Jing)?"

As the fluctuations of the battle spread, soon, five more consciousnesses came.

They asked the Sea Emperor in confusion: "Just now I sensed Lennar's power fluctuations, what happened to him?"

The sound of consciousness fluctuated in the soul space, and Bai鯨 (Bai Jing) responded nonchalantly: "That guy Lennar wanted to replace Yarber. I think this kind of opportunistic person is quite annoying, so I killed him."

"Anyway, the ritual to change the weather and affect the element cycle has already ended, and the element balance of the world has been pried—soon, as we find the Source Water Soul, launch the Deep Sea Ritual, and induce the four elements to break away from the cycle and disintegrate each other, the age of the deep sea will come."

"At that time, we can become the Seven Sea Gods... Ah, it's six seas now. Anyway, that's how it is, we don't need to find someone to replace Yarber, do we? He's been an old buddy who's been working together for more than a decade."

"Why bother killing him? He's still a Sea King candidate-level great pirate. You just killed him like that. We'll have to clean up his subordinates later. It's simply a waste of time."

All five Sea Emperors and Sea Kings were very helpless with Bai鯨's (Bai Jing) chaos, which was more like doing whatever he wanted than being free and loose.

But no one dared to have any opinions.

Because, in the past few decades, this seemingly free and loose guy had already established his absolute and supreme authority in the Seven Seas with absolute power.

And among them, a consciousness that was also at the Sea Emperor level sighed. Only other Sea Emperors dared to say a few more words in front of Bai鯨 (Bai Jing): "Oh well, the ritual is indeed almost complete, and these vassal pirates are of little use."

"Right? That's indeed the case." At this, Bai鯨 (Bai Jing), who had already sat back in his seat and continued to squint his eyes, began to think. He lazily asked: "What did the Pioneer Proxy say? When will the plan begin?"

"He said that we can start whenever we want. He can act at any time."

Hearing this answer, Bai鯨 (Bai Jing) suddenly let out a hearty laugh, causing the walls of the command hall to tremble slightly: "Hahahaha, what a good guy—tell him."

His tone suddenly lowered, and the white-haired man turned his head and looked towards the depths of the ocean not far away.

The Sea Emperor's deep purple dragon eyes were full of curiosity and desire: "As long as he wants to, I can start at any time."

"Then I'll reply like that—but also be prepared, Bai鯨 (Bai Jing), you are the strongest among us. Yarber has been captured, and we must be prepared to withstand the possibility of the Holy Church of Fire leading a surprise attack."

"Okay, what a nuisance."

Bai鯨 (Bai Jing) shook his head with some regret: "It's just a pity that in this era when freedom is about to come, Yarber was unable to act with us—I really like his red beard and his free old man."

At the same time.

Yarber, who was being pitied by the pirates and whose position was being coveted by many people, was now being used by Su Zhou as a ticket to pass through various levels.

Lylin City, Omer City, White Dove City, Qixin City... As Su Zhou and his party traveled along the way, each independent God-Blessed territory needed to pass through a checkpoint.

Because of the frequent climate disasters that had recently appeared throughout the continent, the actions of the clergy had begun to be restricted. According to the code, they had to stay in the local area and contribute their own strength to combat the disasters before they could move freely.

Although he didn't intend to stay, Su Zhou never minded helping others.

In fact, when some divine officials and God-Blessed ones didn't have time to arrive, he would directly take action to help, so as to prevent the locals from suffering more disasters.

The young man's mentality was a bit like that of a hard-working parent... If the child can pay a little price to complete something independently, that's naturally good, but if this matter has to be done with bloodshed, then there's no need for it. After all, the meaning of a parent's existence is to avoid the child learning more things without getting hurt.

"It's really hard, this feeling of being both a father and a mother..."

After simulating the power of the True Dragon and directly using the wind to help the water and the water to help the rain to bring down clouds and rain to a vast agricultural plain, Su Zhou couldn't help but sigh in a low voice.

At this time, he had already left the plain that was celebrating the heavy rain. Now he was in Qixin City in the central region of the Holy Fire Continent, in the VIP room of a restaurant.

And in response to the young man's sigh, Yala in the soul space shook his head: "Haven't you noticed anything wrong?"

"No."

At this, Su Zhou became solemn. He looked quite seriously out the window of the VIP room: "Of course I've noticed—these natural disasters are all signs of elemental imbalance."

"Whether it's drought, floods, heavy snow, or barrenness, in the final analysis, it's the signal that the elements of this world have begun to be imbalanced... Although it's very elementary, if I hadn't stayed in an elemental world where the elements were completely imbalanced for a long time, I might not have been able to sense this aura."

And just at this moment, Su Zhou heard Imon's soul message coming from outside the VIP room.

"My Lord, do you want barley tea or barley wine?"

"Barley tea, please." Answering like this, the young man couldn't help but nod slightly: "This place has really developed well. Even the common people can build restaurants and consume, and the service attitude is also very good."

As for why Su Zhou stayed in the VIP room of the restaurant in Qixin City, it was actually quite coincidental.

All the way relying on Yarber's face, the head of this Sea King of the Sea of Affliction, Su Zhou and his party traveled almost unimpeded on the Holy Fire Continent. Even the most stubborn conservative clergy would, in view of the face of one of the Seven Sea Kings, release them as much as possible and allow Su Zhou to enter the city to observe the true living conditions of the people on the Holy Fire Continent.

And in this process, Yarber, feeling extremely ashamed, even planned to commit suicide by self-detonating the Source Water Soul fragment in his body to avoid the increasingly excessive humiliation—but unfortunately, with Su Zhou around, how could he possibly succeed in committing suicide?

As for the Source Water Soul fragment, Su Zhou had already observed it.

It was a powerful divine object that could allow people to comprehend supernatural powers earlier and help improve them.

Even if it wasn't a true Water Soul fragment, it was also a derivative of the Water Soul. And the supernatural powers derived earlier, just like Su Zhou practicing Sacred Geometry and obtaining the Demon Lord of Devouring Evil in the Awakening stage, were all in an imperfect form at the beginning, and would gradually improve and become perfect by the time they reached the Lord stage.

As for why they couldn't leave the sea, the reason was very simple—the power of the Source Water Soul fragment to activate supernatural powers early would itself consume a large amount of water element magic power. And before the Lord stage, ordinary practitioners simply couldn't afford the demand for this element magic power. Only at sea, relying on the extremely rich natural element power, could they maintain the consumption. And once they left the sea, the practitioner would naturally begin to decline like a leaky pot.

All in all, as a peak transcendent practitioner, Yarber, although also a leaky pot, could still hold on for a long time, enough to support him until he reached the Central Holy Church.

However, the face of the Sea King might not be useful at all times.

Most of those who paid attention to Sea King-related information were coastal cities. Although the divine officials in the inland cities of the Holy Fire Kingdom had seen the images, they might not recognize them when they actually met.

Just like the city Su Zhou was in now, Qixin City, was such a place that had not recognized Yarber.

Because it was really impossible to confirm whether Yarber was the Sea King, the examining divine official could only apologize again and again, inviting Su Zhou to rest in the restaurant, and he himself went to the temple to ask other divine officials who were familiar with the pirate situation to come over to confirm.

And at this time, Yarber would instead be furious.

"How could you guys not recognize me?!"

At that time, the great pirate was so angry that if Su Zhou hadn't pressed him to the ground, he probably would have jumped up and punched that ignorant local divine official.

This was probably the last dignity of the ticket.

Located in the central part of the Holy Fire Continent, next to a large freshwater lake, Qixin City's urban construction was quite good. There were restaurants, large agricultural trade markets, freshwater aquaculture, and local tool workshops and alchemy workshops. All kinds of workshops and markets were very complete.

Because the Samsara World was ruled by the Holy Church, it was impossible to simply divide it using standards such as the feudal era and modern times. But Su Zhou did indeed see things like elemental furnaces and elemental cannons in the alchemy workshops of Qixin City—those were similar to the True Qi furnaces of the Divine Wood World, which were, in a sense, the prerequisites for transcendent industrialization.

"Perhaps a hundred years later, the Samsara World will gradually become an elemental industrialized world, just like the Divine Wood World... Hmm?"

Thinking quietly, Su Zhou suddenly looked towards the door of the VIP room, raising his eyebrows slightly.

Then, the tightly closed door opened.

And a figure rushed towards Su Zhou at his fastest speed.

"Wait, what do you want to do?!"

At this time, Imon, who was communicating with the restaurant waiter, noticed this and said in surprise: "Stop—"

But when he hurriedly returned to the VIP room, he did not see the expected scene of the attack.

On the contrary, a middle-aged fisherman with simple clothes and dark skin was now prostrate in front of Su Zhou, crying bitterly.

After carefully observing, Imon was shocked to realize that this fisherman did not have any hands.

And in the Holy Fire Continent, not having hands could only mean one thing.

That was that he was a criminal.

"Lord Divine Official, Lord Divine Official, please help me..."

The gray-haired divine official could hear that the middle-aged fisherman with the severed hands was crying and worshipping Su Zhou. He originally wanted to kowtow, but was stopped by Su Zhou.

But even so, he was still crying bitterly: "I've been wronged, Lord Divine Official. I saw that Divine Official Ryan was respectful to you, so I knew that you are a great man—I know it's wrong to do this, that it violates the code and precepts, but I've really been wronged and can only come to you to seek justice..."

Divine Official Ryan was the examining divine official who had previously received Su Zhou and the others.

"If you have something to say, say it properly. Don't kneel down randomly, and don't speak unclearly. If I can help, I will definitely help you."

Su Zhou replied calmly. He reached out to help the other party up, then raised his head and looked at Imon, nodding slightly.

Imon frowned.

This divine official, who followed the gods but was not blindly faithful, understood very well what his master meant.

"He's not lying."

"He has really been wronged."

Deleted and revised, I wrote too much... There will be more updates today.