Chapter 1006: Chapter 550: Noah’s Ark, the Sudden Storm

"An unidentified ghost ship appeared at the edge of the Sea of Monsters? Church sanction? Severe enough for excommunication?"

I originally thought the fourth beast tide would first reach the First Island Chain, what is happening now?"

When Byron received the message, most of his attention was still on Peridot’s Raven, meticulously searching for [the person whose name could not be mentioned] through a series of clues.

He flapped his wings and landed on a tree branch, watching the people passing by under the tree, a hint of solemnity flashed in his eyes.

The intelligence only contained eyewitness descriptions; no one managed to truly capture the image of that ship.

Byron didn’t have the opportunity yet to find the coastal individuals to review their memories.

Judging from the Church’s two factions’ reactions, they clearly already confirmed the true identity of that ship in a way Byron doesn’t know.

And it’s rare for them to reach a consensus, not wanting others to meddle in it.

The severity of the sanction order made this apparent.

"Excommunication," also known as "ecclesiastical punishment," is among the Church’s many methods of punishment, one of the most severe aside from various death penalties.

It’s to exclude someone and even their descendants from the Believer Covenant, forbidding them to participate in church sacraments, depriving them of their rights as church members.

Should the Pope announce the excommunication wearing the [Papal Tiara] and [Fisher’s Ring of Authority], it can even strip the individual of the power to use [Silver Law], ensuring they cannot ascend after death, only sink at the Edge of the World.

The Pope once used such punishment against an emperor of the Silver Empire.

Of course, the conditions for excommunication against emperors and kings are extremely stringent, very rare throughout history.

This is because they act as core nodes of a country’s laws.

Imposing excommunication on them requires the Pope to pay a heavy price and may permanently erode the node of power and limit of Silver Law.

The Pope only used this against Emperor Henry IV of the Silver Empire, also known as Heinrich IV, and later had to pardon under pressure.

Its deterrent power is already remarkable.

Excommunications imposed by Saints are more frequent and can deprive parts of the anchoring governed by church authority, where low-sequence Transcendents might lose control instantly if unlucky.

At worst, during the Dark Millennium, it amounts to social death, with no one daring to interact with the have-excommunicated individual.

Even twenty years after the Dark Millennium ended, with the significant weakening of [Silver Law], it is enough to cause fear to any believer or even a king.

Byron is not afraid in the slightest.

Excommunication can only be applied from a higher rank to a lower one, and be it Pope or Saint, they are essentially only at the extreme Fifth Order Legend of the [Ladder of Glory].

Byron’s being had already surpassed the 1% threshold of the "Unity of All Things" activation, borrowing the rank of [Myriad Wings Angel]; the Church can’t use this move against him.

Byron saw through the phenomena to the essence.

"Secrets worthy of excommunication are few and far between. At this critical junction, for Orthodox and Protestant Doctrine to simultaneously issue decrees targeting it, the secret of a ship’s body can only be one."

He pronounced a name known throughout the Old Continent, word by word:

"Noah’s Ark!"

More precisely, it’s Noah’s Ark that severely polluted an entire Material World ecosystem, creating numerous degenerate sea monsters and nearly wiping out the ten major underwater kingdoms."

Then, another hint of doubt arose in his eyes:

"But according to my mother’s memory, and the descriptions from the fugitives of the Mermaid Kingdom, shouldn’t Noah’s Ark be on the other side of the Sea of Monsters near the Eastern Continent at this time?"

"Why did it suddenly arrive at the East Coast?"

Opening the [Sailing Logbook], the intelligence read from Heather’s memory was clear:

"[Noah’s Ark], Silver Era 1452, coordinate: centered at ’36 degrees 32 minutes N, 006 degrees 18 minutes W’, within a 500 nautical mile radius, the underwater Mermaid Kingdom, polluted Tudor Dynasty..."

Status: Moving continuously..."

Twenty-one years ago, that ship was still roaming near the Tudor Dynasty.

A dozen years ago, his father-in-law, [Whale Hunter] Jack Harold was threatened by the church with his wife Vanessa’s life, traveled thousands of miles to first open the north-south passage, set foot on the Second Circulation Belt, and fought to the Mermaid Kingdom to search for [Noah’s Ark].

The final message was he incarnated into the Leviathan Whale and charged into the last remaining Royal Capital of the Mermaid Kingdom, completely cutting off contact since.

What happened afterward?

[Whale Hunter] spent more than a decade exploring, braving countless hardships, unable to obtain that treasure, now it suddenly returned to the New Continent, right at his doorstep.

No matter how this is viewed, it seems bizarre.

But as Byron inadvertently scanned the last part of this record, the polluted part of the text, he suddenly realized this coincidence was not a real coincidence, but a long-planned part of the "Dragon Court Collapse Plan":

"...Mythical Warship...Noah’s Ark...World Ecosystem...Pollution...Blood Beast Nest...Mother of Monsters Echidna...Mistake...Mistake..."

[Mother of Monsters Echidna] was one of the oldest deities born during the Paleozoic Era; her survival to this day shows she once escaped the Great Flood during the transition from Paleozoic Era and Mythological Era by boarding this Ark.

Only then did she give birth to a series of renowned gods during the Mythological Era, even the chief god [Hundred-Headed Dragon Mother Tiamat] among the dragons in the Dragon Court was merely her eldest daughter, showcasing her tremendous power.