Pirate Kingship

Since the beginning of this century, several decades of colonial development have gone by.

The adventurers, naturalists, and cartographers who set out on the ship paid countless hardships and even lost their lives before they had a rough grasp of the rough information of the Bantaan Islands.

A rough nautical chart was drawn.

Thousands of islands, large and small, are roughly distributed in an east-west belt.

The east side is the colonial occupation area of ​​the old continent countries, and it is also the terminal station of the first circulation belt of the "Echidna Triangle Circulation".

On the largest island on the west side are the two indigenous empires of Azik and Taya, which have suffered heavy losses but are still fighting stubbornly with extraordinary power.

In the middle area, there are a large number of small tribes and city-states.

The richness of the Bantaan Islands has long been spread throughout the old continent.

Located in the tropics, most islands are lushly planted and rich in output.

The output of various crops and medicines on the surface alone is far beyond the old continent.

Not to mention the gold and silver mines and specialty spices here, which make the poor colonists in the Old World still flock to it even at a great cost.

However, this overseas archipelago not only has milk and honey, but also blood and death.

Because there is no strong suppression of the main body of the [Silver Law] here.

The violent source tides have created countless extraordinary monsters, evil spirits, and grotesques.

In addition, blood sacrifices and the belief that all things have spirits are prevalent among the indigenous peoples, many islands are extremely dangerous, and even become forbidden areas that outsiders must not set foot on.

There are many human colonies that are closely connected to those forbidden areas.

It is not completely unheard of for a pioneer town to disappear overnight.

The new territory of Countess Catherine and Governor Byron, the Taiman Islands, is located at the junction of the east and the west.

To the west is the fragmented indigenous territory, and to the east is the evil neighbor of the Kingdom of Castile.

Of course, compared with the entire occupied area of ​​the maritime overlord, there is only a very small private autonomous colony here.

If it weren't for the precious spices it produces, the 24-square-kilometer Taiman Brac Island might not even be marked on the official map.

Swish.

Although the Bantaan Islands also have rainy and dry seasons, they are located in a tropical marine climate with hot and humid weather all year round, and even in the winter dry season the rainfall is only slightly less.

There's nothing to do when it rains.

As the sky darkens.

In the tavern in the center of the town, where nothing is missing, a group of drinkers are enjoying the mellow beer, various fruits, cheese, and roasted fresh beef.

It can be clearly seen that the residents here have a high consumption level.

Of course, the highlight is the hot and beautiful dancers!

On the simple stage in the middle of the tavern.

A fair-skinned, blonde Castilian girl is happily twisting her waist to the beat of a long drum, dancing an exotic dance full of Bantaan style.

She even imitates the dress of the local natives.

She had red parrot feathers in her hair, a colorful fabric around her waist, and animal teeth ornaments on her wrists and ankles.

She was full of exotic and wild beauty, which was eye-catching.

With her glowing white skin, her movements, smiles, and gestures were all very charming.

Snap! Snap!

The girl turned around and clapped her hands lightly. The clothes she wore were not much, but they fell off piece by piece during her dance moves.

Her slender waist and long thighs gradually revealed themselves, challenging the fragile nerves of the men in the tavern at every moment.

Most of the drinkers were residents who had been rooted in this island for many years. They looked at the girl's performance and performed a little better.

Some young people even seemed to be hesitant and deliberately dodged and did not dare to look at her enchanting dance steps.

However, six of them were obviously not local residents, but they couldn't help but stare with wide eyes, wishing to stuff the beautiful girl into their eyes.

His eyes gradually became blurred, and he murmured to himself:

"Beautiful, so beautiful! I didn't expect there would be such a beauty in such a remote place.

Thanks to the sea breeze this afternoon for bringing us here.

No, this is the will of the Lord."

"Perhaps only in the Grand Theater of Florence in the Holy Silver Empire can there be a dancer who can match her?

I have decided that I must marry her and let her dance only for me in the future."

"It should be me who marries her."

The distances between the islands of the Bantaan Islands are close and far, but after all, they are not as dangerous as the ocean routes.

The inter-island personnel and material transportation are much simpler, and can be undertaken by sloops, small fishing boats, and even rowing boats.

This group of outsiders was a group of "traveling merchants" who traveled between islands, transporting goods, delivering letters, occasionally stealing, and doing some intelligence business.

Even though this group of people were well-informed and even had good adventure experience, they were still obsessed with the girl's dance.

What's more, she walked off the stage while dancing, twisting and dancing beside them.

As the drum beats became more and more rapid.

The crystal sweat beads on the girl's body rolled down from her white belly to her round thighs, and then dripped onto the floor.

A burst of rich fragrance filled the already warm tavern.

"Gudu."

One of the young men was the first to be unable to resist. He stood up excitedly and began to dance with the girl's steps.

The remaining people also fell in love, put down their wine glasses and danced with the girl, with extremely intoxicated expressions on their faces.

Even the only first-order transcendent in the team is no exception.

But they didn't notice at all that the drumming had quietly stopped. All the other local drinkers in the tavern had stood up silently and stared at them coldly.

There was no sarcasm, no pity, just indifference and numbness that seemed to have been experienced too many times.

The girl dancer smiled proudly, walked out of the tavern with brisk dance steps, and entered a church, or the lowest-level chapel, built just opposite the tavern.

The six outsiders behind her lined up neatly and followed her step by step.

Like a marionette.

It was obvious that the girl was not an ordinary person, but a second-level professional [dancer] in the palace sequence.

When the person employed is a woman, she is usually called a "dancer".

The core ability at the second level is [Dance of Rhythm], which can easily stir people's hearts.

Anyone who likes to watch dancing knows that even normal beauties singing and dancing have some kind of magical effect.

Gentlemen can trigger the debuff that makes time pass faster. As soon as they look at it, they find that they have accidentally forgotten to eat and sleep, delayed their work, and become thinner day by day.

[Dancer] is even more powerful.

It can express the emotions of various dance postures through [Rhythmic Dance], control the audience's mind, and give different effects such as blessing, weakening or controlling.

The frontal combat effectiveness is not worth mentioning, but it can sneak in inadvertently and is impossible to guard against.

What the girl is dancing now is the "Sacrifice Dance" of the Bantaan indigenous people.

As the name suggests, its purpose is to offer sacrifices to God!

After being expressed in another way by [Body Rhythm], the "living sacrifices" can be easily manipulated to let them jump into the mouth of the "god".

Save yourself crying and shouting and blaspheming.

Boom!

The door closed again.

From the outside, this chapel still looks like the church of the Creator, and the residents seem to be devout believers in the Creator.

But as the secret passage behind the silver cross was opened, there was a cave inside.

In a dark room without any windows, hundreds of people had gathered.

It seems that all the inhabitants of this small settlement have arrived.

And many people make no secret of their spiritual brilliance.

In the supernatural vision, a dozen people out of hundreds of people had spiritual awakening.

Including the dancing girls, there are three of them even at the second level professional level.

It is already far stronger than many famous pirate ships in the Old World.

The reason is not difficult to guess. Although this small colonial settlement is small, it is rich in high-quality spices.

Just being exposed to spices for a long time in their daily work makes them more likely to awaken than their compatriots living in the Old World.

The proportion of extraordinary people on the island is naturally far higher than other places.

Seeing the [Dance Girl] leading a group of outsiders into the secret room, the crowd separated on their own.

A kind-hearted old man wearing a black robe and holding a holy cross in his hand gave the girl instructions:

"Charlotte, start the sacrifice."

"knew."

The girl named Charlotte responded crisply and led the six people to an ancient-looking indigenous stone altar in the middle of the secret room.

There is a pure and flawless crystal skull placed neatly on it!

It was like a perfect replica of a human skull, but the two empty eye sockets were shining with a strange red light.

Once you look at it, illusions will appear before your eyes.

Boom!

The girl took the lead and knelt in front of the altar, and the other six people followed her example and knelt in a row beside her.

Behind him, six strong men holding wood axes stepped forward, and when the old priest waved, they suddenly chopped off the heads of the six outsiders.

Then he lifted their heads, cracked them open, and poured the hot blood and brain juice onto the crystal skull.

The blood in the crystal skull's eye sockets suddenly spurted out, converging into a "corn emblem" that symbolized fertility in the Bantaan Islands.

An undetectable wave of light exploded from it and spread across the island instantly.

Watching the town residents dragging away the six corpses, the old priest's eyes fluctuated and he repeated to them what he had said countless times:

“Whether it is the forbidden knowledge that symbolizes ‘beast nature’ or the ladder of glory that symbolizes ‘divinity’, any extraordinary ability requires a price.

The one who pays the price is either ourselves or others.

But this is not our intention, it is just part of the price. The Creator forgives our transgressions and bears our sins. "

At the same time, he silently said in his heart:

‘Yes, we will definitely be forgiven.

Otherwise, when I was building this church, I wouldn't have accidentally dug up this magical crystal skull that seemed to belong to the Taya Empire.

It is not a cursed object, but a great [holy relic] given to us by the Creator! ’

At this time.

The crystal skull on the altar, after eating and drinking, opened and closed its lower jaw and actually sang a poem called "On Man":

“O man, in his foolish wisdom, in his foolish greatness;

a narrow headland in an intermediate state;

He wants to doubt everything, but he also knows too much;

He wants to be resolute and hardworking, but his will is weak;

He is in the middle, hesitating about where to go and where to hide;

Hesitating whether to regard himself as a god or a beast"

Led by the crystal skull, everyone else followed and chanted:

"Hesitating whether to have a soul or a body;

He was born half to ascend to heaven and half to enter the earth;

He is the master of all things, and is enslaved by all things;

He is the glory of the world and the laughing stock of the world"

The fire flickered, and the long shadows behind them were baring their fangs and claws, sometimes like saints, and sometimes like monsters.

At the same time, the bark of the tall trees on this island that can produce spices gradually oozes red oil, like dripping blood.

The branches and leaves rustled, as if saying:

"Abundance, abundance"