While Byron and Catherine were talking about the seemingly odd Tayapan, someone in the city-state adjacent to Riptide Fortress was talking about him.

Surrounded by magnificent buildings such as the Pillar Hall, the Stadium, the Market, the Temple of Warriors, and the Astronomical Observatory, stands a huge twelve-story pyramid.

It was only one level lower than the Thirteen-Story Ladder Pyramid, the highest level that once enshrined thirteen crystal skeletons during the Taya Empire.

It is three stories higher than the nine-story pyramid of Quetzalcoatl in Chichen Itza.

At the top of the pyramid, a temple dedicated to Itsamuna, the head of the thirteen main gods of the Taya god system, is dark and deep.

On either side of a majestic giant rock statue of a half-human, half-dragon, there are two high-backed stone chairs, one on the left and one on the right.

On one of the stone chairs sat a great shaman dressed in a five-colored feather coat and wearing a five-colored feather crown on his head, named Karakol.

On another stone chair sits the new king Theowakan, the curly-nosed king, who is shirtless and bronzed, with many turquoise jewels.

It's just that these two people in power carry inhuman characteristics.

The great shaman, Karakol, has a green dragon horn growing on his left forehead, and his left eye has also become a dragon pupil.

The latter is even more pronounced, with two rows of six dagger-like blue dragon horns on his head, cold golden vertical pupils in both eyes, and blue scales on his cheeks and shoulder blades.

This is obviously a symptom of the overuse of the beast spirit [Colorful Dragon Lizard], which leads to the irreversible beastification of the flesh.

They are also the green dragon lizard with the stroke attribute of the multicolored dragon lizard, and the blue dragon lizard with the water attribute.

This kind of beast transformation is consistent with the principle of foreign colonists collecting all kinds of beast spirits and black witchcraft and mass-producing all kinds of human grandmothers, indicating that the deviation of human nature is difficult to reverse.

But whether it was the two rows of city-state nobles, shamans, superior warriors, or a middle-aged tribal leader half-kneeling in the middle, all bowed their heads slightly in reverence for them.

Obviously, it would be a big mistake to think that their strength is weak when they show symptoms of bestiality.

Theowacan's thunderous and oppressive voice echoed throughout the empty temple:

"Rakamha, the Governor of the Kingdom of Hastings, Baron Riptide Castle, sent an emissary during the day today to demand severe punishment for you, the culprit.

And let us pay three times the damage.

Do you know what you're doing wrong? ”

The [Dragon Lizard Warrior] Lakamha, who was kneeling on the ground, was also the leader of the small tribe who led the attack on the coal ship this time, lowered his head and said with a panicked face:

"I'm sorry, my king.

On your orders, we have scouted the maximum coverage of the opposing legal network, calculated the time it takes for river cargo ships to pass through our sphere of influence, and the number of guards on board.

In order to prevent the leakage of news, he also brought the shaman in the tribe to seal off the nearby spirits, so that all kinds of conventional means of communication were invalid.

However, I didn't count the temporary addition of air patrols to the Riptide Fortress, and it was also equipped with various firearms that were far more sophisticated than the foreign trade version.

If it weren't for the troubles caused by Wyndotte, the crown prince of Chichen Itza, I would have been able to take them and the precious iron and arms on the ship without even knowing it! ”

Speaking of which, he gritted his teeth and added:

"Sooner or later, a traitor like Wyandot to the Taítans will go to hell!

And those bastards in Chichen Itza City and Uxmal City, not only did they never think of driving outsiders out of this land, but they even converted to the foreign [Father of Medicine].

They all deserve to die, and they don't deserve to be listed as one of the three major city-states alongside us in Tayapan!

My king, my biggest mistake was to underestimate the strength of my opponent and fail to kill Wyandott and the group of Eagle Spirit Warriors. ”

Obviously, this attack was not a temporary initiative of the small tribe, but the will of the king of the city-state, Theowakan, and the entire upper echelons of the city-state.

At this time, the nobles of the city-states at all levels, shamans, and high-ranking warriors in the temple also echoed one after another:

"Your Majesty, Patriarch Lakamuha is right, this is the land of our Taya, and we are going to drive out all the outsiders.

You don't have to talk about rules with outsiders.

The forcible seizure of their iron equipment is also to prepare for the subsequent war of glory, and the [Celestial] Itsumner will remember their merits. ”

"Only Tayapan has inherited the orthodoxy of the [Celestial God] Itsumner and the Taya civilization, and the others are unreliable.

Only on our own can we restore the empire to its former glory. ”

"As long as we can use this war of glory that has swept the whole island to reunite the Taya Empire.

By the way, you can annex Azk, which is already a scattered sand, and gather the strength of 13 million Tyno people to drive out all the colonists.

They even counterattacked to the Silver Continent through the shipping routes they opened, and sacrificed their people to the [Heavenly God] Itsumna. ”

“”

In the three major city-states of Uxmal, Tayapan, and Chichen Itza.

The city of Uxmal was at its most critical at the beginning, and after surviving the disaster, the inhabitants of the new king, that is, Byron's cheap disciple Mikteka, were the most fanatical about the belief in the "father of medicine".

In Chichen Itza, Geronimo, who was originally the captain of the temple guard, has been crowned king after the royal family is extinct, and Wyandott has also become the crown prince.

Without Byron, they would not be where they are today, and they are absolute diehards.

The two city-states were already in the middle of the pack, and they supported him the most.

Only the last Tayapan remains, although the closest, but the least intersecting, and has always been businesslike, without any too intimate personal relationships (Chapter 183).

Most of the upper-class nobles in Tayapan also had a lukewarm attitude towards Riptide Fortress.

One reason for this is their pride in their heritage.

Whether it was the strongest [Dragon Lizard Warrior] of the year, or the No. 1 Crystal Skull [Celestial] Itsumna, they all represented the supreme glory of the Taya Empire.

And "Tayapan" means: "the standard of the Tayapan"!

They always considered themselves to be the rightful heirs of the empire who were nobler than all the Tayas.

Especially when the younger brother of the previous king, the originally inconspicuous [Curling Nose King] Theowakan, suddenly ascended to the throne.

It showed the overwhelming strength of the strongest in the city-state, and suppressed all the voices of opponents in the city-state with strong force.

Moreover, his beastly form is not only closer to a real dragon than any drake samurai.

It was also supported by the Grand Shaman Karakol.

Declares that Theowakan is the chosen son of prophecy by the Celestials, and will one day become the new emperor of the entire Taya Empire.

The third crystal skeleton [Corn God] who can speak will call out his name and crown him king!

Naturally, under the leadership of the new king, the already arrogant Tayapan was even more aggressive, although he suffered a lot of losses in the royal city of Azk.

However, these noble groups in the temple are not completely without doubtful voices.

A nobleman dressed in Old World service, with a flintlock short musket stuck in his waist, and a very obvious foreignization, spoke:

"But, Your Majesty, if it weren't for the [Father of Medicine], all of us would have died of the smallpox plague.

Not to mention restoring the glory of the Empire?

Moreover, through trade with the Riptide Fortress, with the help of iron farming tools, fertilizers, and agronomic experts, the city-state had a bumper grain harvest in the first half of the year.

Only then did he have the confidence to be the first to blow the horn of the Glory Championship War.

It can be seen that outsiders and outsiders are not the same, and the Riptide Fortress is a force that can unite the city-state! ”

Another similarly dressed senior samurai also answered:

"The merciful name of Byron Tudor has long since spread throughout the Bantaan Islands.

He was very different from the greedy, vicious Castilians.

In the past six months of cooperation with the Pioneer Pilot, the lives of both the civilians at the lower levels and the upper classes of our city-state have been much better.

Cloth, silk, iron pots, swords, firearms, porcelain, textiles, agricultural technology, and so on have all been greatly improved.

Even if it is to attack and expel outsiders in the future.

If it's Castilian, I'm in favor of it, but if it's against Mr. Sea Hunter, shouldn't I be more cautious? ”

"And when we asked others to save our lives, the great shaman also signed a monopoly agreement!"

They say it euphemistically, but the meaning is very clear:

"Isn't it schizophrenia to raise military spending, send soldiers, and loot our largest trading partners and arms suppliers to protect our interests from our largest trading partners and arms suppliers?"

Most of these people who spoke later were business aristocrats who were good at accepting new things, and many of them had made a lot of money from trading with Riptide Fortress.

I say this not only out of conscience, but also out of interest.

Once they tear their skins, they will hurt their interests the most, and if they don't know that they will return to the pre-liberation period, they will naturally firmly support Byron.

This also shows that the "surrogate plan" presided over by Catherine has begun to bear fruit.

However, the trade cooperation between the two sides has only been half a year, and this interest group is still very weak, and the words spoken are quickly suppressed by the fighting spirit of others.

In particular, the dragon erected by Theowakan, the half-human, half-dragon [Curled Nose King], glared at him, and these people were suddenly silent.

"How dare you question my decision?"

The sound was so loud that people's eardrums rumbled.

The temper of the new king was evidently very hot-tempered.

The crystal skull enshrined on the dark red altar, covered with a piece of colored silk, also suddenly jumped out with a huge five-colored dragon-shaped light and shadow with five hideous heads.

It seemed to be made up of boiling water and stirring bubbles, and it roared angrily at the nobles in front of him.

Everyone, no matter which faction they were, all knelt down in an uproar.

"The [Celestial] is angry!"

A merchant nobleman kneeling in the front row cautiously raised his eyes and saw through the gap in the silk that the skull seemed to be a little different from the original.

It's no longer the last time I saw it more than half a year ago, it was as smooth and crystal as crystal.

Instead, the left half of the face is like an osteoma, and the malignant hyperplasia vaguely constitutes a bony and scaly dragon!

My heart suddenly sank.

"Could it be that our [Holy Relic] and Patronus Spirit have fallen?!"

Looking at the [Curled Nose King] Theowakan and the Great Shaman, who also underwent beasthood, it seemed that he suddenly understood something in his heart, but his body shook and he didn't dare to squeak at all.

[Ladder of Glory] has stability but lacks strength, and [Forbidden Knowledge] has strength but lacks stability.

For thousands of years, the transcendent among the natives has continued to rise in rank, but humanity has continued to degenerate.

The [anchors] of ordinary totem poles, ladders, gods, and pyramid structures are not enough to stabilize their increasingly large spirituality, and they are naturally more and more affected by essentia tides.

When you reach a certain level, you can't say that you will live forever, or you will not be able to maintain human nature.

This is how many half-human, half-beast evil spirits, grotesques, and even dead [Cursed Spirits] that cause a lot of casualties are born in this way.

The larger the volume, the faster the degeneration, and usually the fourth order is a huge threshold that cannot be crossed.

Beast Spirit Warriors who can break through the fourth-order mythical creatures can be said to be rare, and most of them are crazy.

Over time, even if someone reaches the promotion threshold, they are reluctant to be promoted.

But looking at the alienated crystal skeletons, kings, and great shamans, the merchant aristocracy had to think of that terrifying possibility.

"Whew"

Theowakan, the half-human, half-dragon [Curled Nose King] gasped, widened his bloodshot dragon pupils, and glanced around the crowd.

Probably felt the need to reveal a little bit of real dry goods.

"If you want to take the entire empire in one go in the Glory Crown War, the ships of the Riptide Fortress have to be robbed, and even the Riptide Fortress itself has to be beaten!"

He raised his hand and flicked the crystal skull on the altar.

A light barrier shot out, and suddenly a map of the temple within hundreds of kilometers with Tayapan as the center appeared, and six of them were extremely bright.

And all but one in Uxmal City, the remaining five are all concentrated in the Rapids fortress not far to the north.

Just when the nobles didn't know why.

[Curled Nose King] stared at everyone's eyes and said:

"After I succeeded to the throne, I struggled to find the corresponding epic, and activated the ability of Skeleton No. 1 through the chant of the relics.

One of the abilities is to dominate the gods.

You can check the location of other skeletons and gods within the territory of the Taya Empire, and pool their power to your advantage, the more you are, the stronger your power! ”

Raising his right hand with sharp claws, he pointed at the few points of light one by one:

"Crystal Skull No. 3 [Corn God]! No. 5 [Sun God]! Number 6 [Moon Goddess]! Number 8 [Quetzalcoatl]! No. 12 [Polaris God]!

A total of five crystal skulls were concentrated in the hands of the outsider [Sea Hunter].

Do you know what that means?

It means that one of the most powerful powers of the Taya Empire is in front of us.

Take 10,000 steps back, even if he is the [Father of Medicine] who saved everyone's lives."

The oppressive gaze scanned the audience, and said word by word:

"I must die, too!"

Hiss——!

The indigenous nobles who understood the truth immediately gasped.

But no one noticed that an ordinary [Dragon Lizard Warrior] with a very low sense of presence in the corner lowered his eyes slightly, and finally managed to restrain the killing intent in his eyes.