Elemental calendar, 307 year, July 7, Central Templar.

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

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

First of all, there are all kinds of natural disasters that have recently become more serious and affect the entire continent.

There are so many natural phenomena caused by successive climate anomalies that even if all the priests from all over the country are mobilized to help the disaster, it is inevitable that some remote villages and towns will not be able to wait for help from afar.

But the amazing thing is that whether or not these villages prayed to God at the end, at the most critical moment, there was always a sudden gust of wind blowing, and then the heavy rain fell directly in the flash of thunder, like a miracle.

The second is the march of the army of sinful people gathered in the name of the Lord of Judgment.

The 'backsliders' who claimed to have been wronged in the judgment and claimed their innocence gathered together to be convinced that they had not strayed from God's Word and demanded a truly righteous judgment under God's witness—and they were led by a Chosen One priest named Ammon as they made their way to the Central Church.

I have to say that if God blesses them along the way, there is no obstacle along the way, and even all those who want to stop them are merged into this team.

And the most concerned is the God War that happened the day before yesterday.

The Lord of Judgment and the Lord of Fire battle in the heavens, and the night sky is illuminated with a brilliant light of divine power. Not to mention ordinary people, even ordinary transcendents may not be able to see the victory or defeat, they can only see the vast divine power, running through the sky - only the existence of the level of the divine bless can vaguely see the gap between the gods, and be shocked by this.

As for the eventual event, which has just ended, the Second Trial, it is significant.

The Lords of Judgment and the Lords of Fire joined forces to organize one of the largest trials in history, and they organized all the clergy throughout the Central Templar to conduct hundreds of hearings, self-confessions, and closures at the same time. The divine power guarantees the honesty of all people and can see through anyone's selfishness.

The vast majority of the 13,000 sinners, and many more, were acquitted in this second sentence.

In the other small part, some are indeed guilty, but the punishment is too severe, which is the fault of the sentent. Of course, there are also some of them who feel that they are not guilty, but in fact they are guilty, and they have been sentenced lightly, and they will have to accept heavier punishments.

On this day, the teachings of innovation and morality, as well as the new teachings of the Lord of Judgment, were told in public by the God who revealed his true body, and when the phantasm of the Dragon of Judgment appeared above the Sanctuary, all the priests of the Lord of Judgment were so excited that they chanted the name of God.

And now, the judgment is still going on, except for the first day, God does not often intervene to judge in person, they leave everything to the priests and ordinary people, but everything is already on track.

"Praise be to the Lord of Judgment! Praise be to the Lord of Fire! ”

From time to time, you can see many tearful guilt-bearers on the streets of the Central Church, who have now washed away their grievances and finally regained their innocence. These people have been wronged for more than a decade, despised by their hometowns, neglected by their relatives and friends, and now, after receiving the misjudgment of the Central Templar's acknowledgement and the piety endorsed by the two gods, they can finally return to their hometown, regain their reputation, and receive an apology.

Now, everything has been rehabilitated...... It's just that how should we make up for these more than ten years?

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

This new and righteous way will be passed down to you and will be carried out by you—it is you who have been wronged and who have now been cleared of your wrongs, and I will give you strength and authority to avoid repeating your sufferings in the world to come. 】

At that time, the god said that the Lord of Judgment passed down his law of thunder and the law of the Wild Land, which is a lineage given to all the wandering judges, all the lords of judgment, who will have a divine power that can see through curses and resentments, and detect whether it is true or not, this power called the Eye of Judgment is the authority of God, but now, it is in the hands of mortals.

And, since then, the trial is no longer final, and in general, it is subject to two reviews.

For ordinary crimes, a small team of three priests will preside over the crime, and the verdict will be made on the basis of individual, collective, and moral punishments in accordance with the precepts of the D&C to be revised later, and the guilt or innocence will be determined. This step does not involve the Lord of Judgment.

This was followed by the presentation of their views by more than 20 representatives of the local people, again from the individual, collective, and moral aspects, but only to determine the severity of the case, which also did not involve the Lord of Judgment.

However, if the judgment is too controversial and there is an objection, then both the adjudicating party and the adjudicated party can directly request the temple and go to a larger temple for a second trial.

This time, however, it may involve the Lord of Judgment—if neither the priest nor the representatives of the people can decide on the individual, collective, and moral aspects of the verdict, then the Lord of Judgment will have to do so—and this time, the minority will obey the majority, and then record this as an example in the new Covenant Law.

Of course, this is unlikely to happen...... Because if the controversy is really that big, the Lord of Fire will probably go and see the situation for himself.

And the first to try this new trial system was not anyone else, but those pirates in Su Sun's personal space.

Most of the pirates on board the Boar were misdemeanors, and according to the new law, they were to serve as laborers in the priest's entourage, fighting fires and disaster relief all over the world, atoning for the sins they had committed—and when the atonement was completed, they would conduct an audit to decide whether to restore the rights of normal people, or whether to be the object of observation.

However, the vast majority of the crew members of the Deep Diver are guilty, felonies.

Even, the death penalty is required.

And the real point of this is undoubtedly Aquaman Alber.

“…… In order to ensure that those who join our pirate group completely cut off unnecessary hope, we will issue them a mission to join the group, which is a human life. ”

"As long as you get on the ship, you have to kill someone, after all, who knows if these people who were not cultivated since childhood and joined in the middle of the journey will be spies of the temple? Only if he kills someone, he will inevitably be judged by the Lord of Judgment when he returns to the shore, and he will not be able to go back. ”

"So it's not just the Deep Diver, it's also the rule of most high-level pirates, it's just that some of them aren't so direct, but the end result is the same - all the crew members are guilty of serious crimes, so they can only stay on the ship and live and die with the pirate group."

On the viewing platform, the captain of the low-ranking pirate, who had never killed anyone, and Captain Ned, whose feet had been cut off according to the law, drove out of the court in a wheelchair - although he was not guilty of death, he had to cut off his legs and labor reform.

Ned has the blood of the Wind People and the blood of judgment, and in four or five years, seven or eight years at most, his legs will probably be regenerated, and before that, he will have to do some work to atone for his crimes.

But at the very least, Ned didn't have to die, and if he behaved well and the atonement was accepted, the Templar could speed up the recovery of his legs.

There is no concept of long-term imprisonment in the Holy Fire Continent, and the punishment of the prisoners is to directly cut off their hands and feet, completely eliminating their ability to be evil - because there is the blood of judgment and the blood of the people of wind, this is not permanent, at most a punishment of several decades, it can barely be regarded as a characteristic of their world, even if the gods want to interfere, it will take a long time.

And Albert, who was kneeling on the stage, didn't care about it at all, he knew very well that he must be sentenced to death.

So, on the judgment bench in the center of the main square of the Central Templar, he was surrounded by tens of thousands of people to watch the trial, and he calmly recounted his sins: "In addition, in order to maintain deterrence, every once in a while, we would go to the coastal cities or the villages of the people of the sea 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 looted."

When he said this, Alber's tone and mood did not fluctuate in the slightest, obviously killing had become a habit, and there was no fluctuation in human life.

“…… What else is there to confess? ”

On the side, the High Priest who presided over the trial for him, Gail, the Lord of Judgment, had a somewhat complicated tone - he had never seen a pure wicked person who was so calm and had no psychological burden on human life and evil.

And Alber shook his head: "If it is blasphemy to want to be a god, then there is probably this." ”

"Other than that, there is none."

At the end of the confession, the priests are convicted, voted on, and the final punishment is decided by the representatives of the people.

No doubt.

Alber's final sentence was the death penalty - beheading, immediate execution.

And Alber didn't care about that.

The execution was carried out quickly, and the clergy brought in the beheading table, and the red-haired and red-bearded pirates came to the beheading table.

A great pirate who is at the peak of the Chosen One, if he is in the sea, can even be comparable to the Great Pirate of the Divine Blessing, will not die from such a small injury as beheading, but Su Yan personally suppressed Albo's strength and vitality, and he is now a mortal.

No one could see Su Sun, he stood next to the beheading platform, witnessing the final destination of this Sea King-level pirate.

At this moment, only Alber knew that the Lord of Judgment was beside him.

But so what?

As his neck was pressed into the groove of the decapitator, Alber couldn't help but squint his eyes at the sky above the Central Sanctuary. Today the sun is shining, the sky is cloudless, the air is crisp, and it smells of summer.

He couldn't help but recall the same summer years ago, when he was a teenager looking up from the bow deck and seeing the endless ocean, and the distant horizon, the grand wish that suddenly rose in his heart.

- The sea is so big...... So why can't I explore the end of it, 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 had blood on his hands, and as a pawn in his father's hands, a pirate who hunted pirates, Alber was born in the sea, but he has always wandered in the coastal waters of the happy sea. He has never had the love of his mother and the company of his father, although he has never been less supportive, but the feeling of loneliness is always with him.

Alber didn't care about loneliness, he just didn't want to be here, he didn't want to stay here, he wanted to be in the same place forever, he wanted to witness a new landscape.

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

And now, decades later.

Crowds of people poured in the square of the Central Church, and the colorful hair and the words of the tide were like a special kind of ocean at the same height of summer.

But in the heart of the old boy, born by the sea, the heart of longing for freedom and distance has long been worn out, he is already a pirate who kills people without blinking, and there is no guilt or repentance in his heart.

Yet, at last, as the blade of the decapitator was slowly raised, Alber opened his mouth in his heart, and he prayed to the god who stood beside him, but no one could see him.

"Oh God."

The red-haired pirate said to himself, "I knew what I did was evil and sinful, but I did it anyway. I knew I was going to be killed when I killed someone, and that's my choice. ”

"My life is like this, and it is natural to have such an ending, evil, is not a label that I can't accept."

"Just."

As he said this, Alber closed his eyes, and he muttered a little tiredly, asking from the bottom of his heart, "Why are there pirates?" “

[Because of the mistakes of the old times.] 】

Standing at Alber's side, Su Sun answered him. The other party is the first Sea King to be tried and convicted, and it is also the beginning of the Central Sanctuary that is about to begin, and at the beginning of the pirate war, Su Sun naturally wants to come to the scene in person.

In response to the great pirate's doubts, the god calmly said, "It is I, and the Lord of Fire, who have set up the cause for your birth - in this regard, it is indeed our fault, and you are from our mistake, for which we should apologize to everyone. 】

[However, in the new era, we will not make the same mistakes. Humanity can never learn a lesson, but we are God, and we may be different—and if we make mistakes, we can admit and correct them, which is what innovation is all about. 】

Alber was silent.

Amid the click of the decapitator being pulled up by the gears, he sighed and prayed: "God, are you saying that in the new order of the new age, there will be no people like me?" ”

"I've always felt that since I was born, I haven't been free at all. I can only be a pirate, I started killing people when I was seven years old, I was born to be taught to plunder merchant ships, I was born with no right to be a good person - even if they wanted to explore, the people of the sea did not want to serve me, and my subordinates did not want to go far. ”

"And by the time I had the right to choose to explore distant places, the passion in my heart had faded...... The emptiness is spreading, so I want to be a god and try to be free. ”

In this regard, Su Sun could only shake his head slightly.

[Perhaps, Albert, the entanglement of human interests and the conflict of human thoughts are eternal, and people like you have existed in the past, now, and should have in the future. 】

[However, the number will be smaller.] At that time, not only will there be very few people like you, but there is a high chance that you will not have the opportunity to commit any capital crimes—because as the times progress, you may still not have the right to choose, but at least you will no longer have the opportunity and reason to be a pirate who is so evil that you are. 】

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

"Really...... That is, innovation? ”

The decapitator had come to the top, and Alber looked at the execution ground in front of him, all of whom were shouting for his death sentence - in the confession, everyone in the Central Holy City already knew his origin, his crimes, and his deeds. Even, even the matter of the main priest Glo has been made public, and his priest father will be arrested, although he has not said it until the end, but how can the god not know?

- It's a shame...... It's too much for a person to have almost everything in his life exposed!

But Alber could see that there was a part of the audience that was not just cheering for the judgment of a sea king—they were pondering, they were wondering, they were puzzled, they were puzzled as to why there was a pirate like Albert, and how to deal with this kind of problem, so that no new Arber should appear.

Looking at this scene, Alber was a little stunned.

If his death could be a revolution for the future......

Thinking of this, the man who was about to usher in the end smiled.

This smile caused great indignation, and Albert's laughter was regarded as a fallacy and disdain for the trial, and if it were not for the fact that the death penalty was already the highest punishment, I am afraid that the local people would immediately change their vote and aggravate Albert's crime.

But the Sea King didn't care at all—what could affect the heart of a dying man? The words of others are so weak and powerless.

At the last moment, he closed his eyes again, looking calm.

"Lord, I've been praying."

"I've been praying since I knew I was nothing more than a tool my father used to control the pirate group."

"I pray I'll get out of that place—not that I think I'm a good person, and if I leave the pirates, I'll probably be evil. No, rather, I can't imagine that I don't act recklessly - maybe I'm such a wicked person by nature? Maybe this is some kind of fate? ”

He smiled freely, Alber was not afraid of the decapitation knife that was about to fall, he just prayed to the gods on his side, and his tone was calm: "I just want to say that if one day, I am evil, it is my freedom, and I will not be as unwilling to be punished as I am now." ”

"God, I have longed for freedom of exploration, and I have been haunted by fate. I was tossed and turned in the ocean, repeating the cycle of pain for others, for myself. In the end, I pinned my hope that becoming a god would expel this emptiness in my heart. ”

"And now, I realize that what I want may not be so complicated - I just want to change, change my life that I can't do anything about."

"So, I've been praying all the time. I pray that I can have a different life than before, and a better choice than before......"

"Now that I think about it, God, I've probably been looking forward to it."

"We look forward to the arrival of innovation (you)."

These are the final words.

With a click, the sharp decapitator fell, like a shooting star.

With a splash of pale blue blood, Alber's head rolled to the ground, and the power of the fragments of the Source Water Soul overflowed, turning into a floating water element, holding up a small dark cloud.

Death has come, swift and irreversible, and everything in Aquaman has returned to its final darkness.

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

"Lord......"

"Can you ...... Hear me? ”

【…… I have heard your unwillingness, your prayers, and your desires. 】

After being silent for a while, Su Sun raised his head.

He looked at everyone in front of him, all those who had witnessed Albert's death.

There was a lot of people, there were clergy, there were ordinary people, there were people who had never sinned, and there were people who had sinned.

On the land of the world of Tartadis, human beings are always repeating reincarnation, human beings are always unwilling, and human beings are always eager for change.

So he came – and listened.

Listen to the mighty waves—the cry for a new era, for a new righteousness, for a new judgment and for doctrine.

So, at last, the young man closed his eyes, and he opened his hands, feeling the desires that wrapped around him, layered on top of each other, like chains.

"I hear you. 】

He whispered to himself: "Everyone's unwillingness, everyone's prayers, everyone's wishes. 】

"I heard it all. 】

And now is the time to eliminate the mistakes. 】

Elemental calendar, year 307, July 7.

In the central sanctuary, after the final judgment of Albert, the Sea King, the square was still crowded.

A large number of clergy priests came with their own equipment and stood neatly on the square.

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

A new team has begun to gather, form a line, and prepare to set out on the road to the sea once again.

Two gods will walk with them and be with them.

And this time, what they have to do is to put an end to their own mistakes.

And bring a new 'innovation' to the world!

"Let's go!"

There was such a voice ringing out.

"Let's go!"

Thousands of voices rang out, echoing.

And then, that's all.

People set off.

To the distant horizon, and to the future ahead.