Chapter 1454 663: Half-Step Triple Crown, Collection of Mint Tax_2

"I will wait for you in the collective unconscious sea, waiting to fall into Fire Hell with you!"

This is Muhammad II's Captain of the Guard, also a loyalist of the Old Sultan.

An era of the Star Moon Empire has ended, and there's no place for him in the new age. After venting his grievances, he slashed his own throat with one fatal stroke across his shoulder.

Some of the Guardsmen behind him emulated his act, intensifying the already pungent smell of blood by several degrees.

Bayezid heard these words, his blue veins throbbed, realizing that he also had no second choice.

If the Holy Spirit did not manifest, the problem might not be too severe.

He has become the only heir; even if others rebel, they could never exploit the Royal Family's influence. At worst, just as he said himself, wherever there is division or rebellion, he would just recapture it.

But the key issue is, if the Holy Spirit returns those massacred kin to the Material World, making him no longer the lone heir, it will certainly cause him great trouble.

Having personally witnessed the Great Power of Myriad Wings Angel, he knows that life and death are merely a human chasm, not one for gods.

Thus, with a slight hesitation, he bowed towards the Star Moon Sacred Emblem and prayed reverently:

"My Lord, You are the only sun in the world of the Holy Spirit Sect, and your follower, Saint Byron, will also be the sole leader [Caliph] of the Holy Spirit Sect.

I, the current Sultan of the Star Moon Empire, will be your most faithful servant, implementing all your will."

Externally, "Sultan" is translated as king or emperor, but within the Holy Spirit Sect, this term solely represents a "Governor" managing a specific region under the Caliph.

Only the [Caliph] holds both religious and secular power as the supreme leader.

In certain respects, the Caliph wields greater power on his territory than the Pope.

Thus, with representatives of the Assassin Sect led by Amita, the Desert Eagle Nasser Din of the Followers Faction, and Fatih Conqueror Bayezid of the Orthodox Way Faction all successively converting.

Even though there are still many branches wandering outside the system, Byron successfully consumed the largest share under the Silver Law system, apart from the Orthodox Church.

Perhaps a Rank comparable to the Papal Tiara isn't easily born, but the Crown on Byron's head now makes tangible strides forward.

Regardless of Byron's current Royal National Church or the Emperor called "Son of Heaven" in the central imperial realm, aside from secular rulers, they are also the highest religious leaders.

They can freely appoint or dismiss any clergy within the Empire's governing area and freely confer deities, essentially not much different from the West Coast's integration of religion and politics.

The position of Caliph is more akin to Byron's envisioned [Human Emperor] than the Pope.

Ding ding ding...

The chimes of Heaven echoed in his ears.

The Rank of Byron's [Human Emperor] was originally a mere double crown, now gradually giving rise to a slightly illusory third circle, directly approaching the mortal world's highest under the legal system.

Byron smiled gracefully:

"Perhaps during the Great Nautical Age, the East Coast, with its vast colonies, was stronger, governed more people and followers, and occupied a larger share than the West Coast.

But my foundational presence on the East Coast and overseas is quite substantial.

Next, as long as I can take down Netherland and Iris, I should be able to ask the Pope to abdicate on the spot.

Then promulgate the [Saint Byron Code], fundamentally achieving reform. Eh?"

Byron noticed a change in vision after the completion of the crown's transformation over his head.

Everyone has a gold-red striped light appearing on their body, some with long gold stripes and short red ones; others with long red stripes and short gold ones; or some were entirely blood red with no gold at all.

As Byron's rank in the human collective unconscious elevates, [Human] clergy and [Human Emperor] allow him to directly see the "good and evil" of everyone.

This isn't using a narrow moral standard of any one ethnicity but using someone's contribution and harm to humanity as a whole as the standard.

Human collective unconscious is constantly keeping a record for everyone.

If a farmer obeys the law, works diligently, and uses his produce to feed his family while selling surplus to sustain others, he creates positive benefits to the human collective unconscious, increasing the gold stripe;

If an official is dedicated, using his wisdom to ensure residents live safely and prosperously, this also generates positive benefits, and his gold stripe is longer and thicker than that of a single farmer;

But if a second-generation slacker exploits his forebears' power to commit evil, oppress and harm civilians, and is merely a rentier producing nothing, thus contributing nothing to humanity, there is only the red sin.

Whether it's King, Nobility, Priest, General, merchant, Artist, Inventor... all societal roles follow the same principle.

Byron glanced up at the top of his head and unsurprisingly saw the radiant gold light stretching beyond sight, along with a negligible bit of crimson.

Not only did he and Violet create many epoch-defining inventions together, repelling the kin-world's backfeeding to the Material World several times, expanding humanity's basic share of the cake...

In this era, there is no individual more contributive to humanity than him.

Only after seeing the Sailing Logbook marked with information did he suddenly realize:

"So this is the very essence of a supreme human ruler's most fundamental power.