Master of Kaidan-Chapter 488 Goddamn "Cannon" Branding

"F*ck, f*ck, f*ck, f*ck, f*ck! How the hell did I forget that a day in the heavens is a year on earth? It’s only been half a day up here, and half a year has already passed down there!"

Feng Xue, ejected from the Immortal Ascension Platform’s rail-less elevator, had used World’s superior abilities to break into the Earth’s atmosphere alone. Her mouth, however, wouldn’t stop complaining. Even though the plan had seemed flawless, just a moment of distraction had the Earth already in the fifth month of the ninth year of King Zhou’s reign.

Actually, the ninth year of King Zhou’s reign wasn’t much of a problem, given that the real Divine Enthronement battle wouldn’t start until the seventeenth year (when Ji Chang visited Jiang Shang). For now, the era was only witnessing Daji’s cruel branding punishment and Jiang Wenhuan’s rebellion.

But the real issue was with the young apprentice Feng Xue had taken in, who was set to stir up a big fuss this year!

Even though she had taken over the entire Heavenly Palace, the munitions factories at the East Sea Dragon Gate were critical outfits. Even with the Four Seas Dragon Gates, the West Sea resources had been plundered by the Western Churches, the North Sea scarcely had any resources to speak of, leaving only the East and South Seas with operational autonomy-type military factories. If Nezha was careless and ended up "awakening" the Dragon King by accident, she’d lose at least a third of her industrial base!

"Let’s hope this brat listens to reason!"

Passing through the atmosphere with ease, propelled by the wings’ weak nuclear force, World effortlessly arrived at Chentang Pass. Gazing upon the still calm East Sea, Feng Xue breathed a sigh of relief. She used a secret key she brought from the Heavenly Palace to issue commands to the East Sea Dragon Gate factories to not mobilize no matter what happened, then she turned around and flew towards Chao Ge.

...

"The Hermit Power is so much better than the Mirage System!"

Feng Xue, having disguised World as a civilian shuttle, flew into Chao Ge grandly and parked the craft at a public hangar with the air of an "old-timer under the Xuan Niao banner of Chao Ge," striding with an air of unconcern, as she began the search for Daji.

"Branding punishment is happening! Hurry, go see the branding punishment!"

Suddenly overhearing the chatter, Feng Xue’s brows quirked slightly. Of course, as unpleasant as she found it, upon hearing the mention of the famously cruel punishment of Divine Enthronement, she couldn’t help but follow the crowd.

Then she saw Daji—

Or more precisely, Daji turned into a building.

"Seriously, this is brilliant, transforming a Land Ship into a skyscraper? What kind of nonsense is that?"

Staring at the building bearing the "Star-picking Tower" sign, as well as King Zhou and a group of civil officials sitting on an approximately ten-meter-high platform that seemed to be transformed from the ship’s bridge, Feng Xue’s lips twitched. Yet, she still waited for the start of the so-called branding punishment.

"Speaking of which, who’s getting branded today?" frёeweɓηovel_coɱ

Feng Xue casually asked someone in the crowd who looked like a chatterbox. Upon hearing her question, that person, as if asked about a famous local spot, excitedly began to speak:

"How do you not know? Today’s branding victim is Mei Bo, oh, you don’t know Mei Bo? You must know Du Yuanxi, right? The babbling head of the Observatory. A few months back, there was a flicker of rainbow light in the sky, and he insisted it was an issue with the King, talking about demons and stuff. I don’t get it. It’s already the ninth year of King Zhou’s reign; how can there still be such feudal superstitions? What do celestial phenomena have to do with the King? I think he’s colluding with the rebels, stirring up trouble within the military!"

"Exactly, who can say it isn’t true? Grandmaster Wen is quelling the rebellion in the North Sea, and there’s conflict in the West. Talking like this at a time like this, I don’t believe for a second he’s innocent! They’re already revolting and he tells us not to send troops? Anyone with a brain wouldn’t say such things!"

As the conversation progressed, another gossiper joined in, and Feng Xue couldn’t help but find it somewhat amusing, yet she said:

"But shouldn’t Du Yuanxi be the one getting branded? What does Mei Bo have to do with this?"

"Oh, you don’t understand, do you? Generally, those who disrupt the army’s morale before a war get beheaded, Du Yuanxi included. But then someone got a brain cramp and started defending this guy. To put it bluntly, even if there were real issues, it’s wartime – how can you say that openly, especially when it involves rebellion? If he’s pardoned, doesn’t that mean he’s right? If Du Yuanxi deserves to die, then Mei Bo deserves to be punished all the more!"

"Damn!" Feng Xuexin couldn’t help but curse inwardly. Logically, there was no problem, but this was the Shang Dynasty, for crying out loud! There were cultivators in the court! Yet they were calling the Observatory superstitious feudal nonsense...

At that moment, he suddenly heard an officiant shout loudly, "The time has come, execute!"

"Huh?" Feng Xue immediately shifted his attention upon hearing this, but was immediately struck by a bit of strangeness. Although the officiant mentioned execution, there were no tools of execution in sight!

To use a brand, shouldn’t there be a bronze pillar? Even if this was a sci-fi world, there should at least be an induction cooker, right?

Then, he saw the cannon...

Yes, an actual cannon!

"Damn, they’re using a warship’s main cannon for branding? Really?"

Hearing Feng Xue’s involuntary exclamation, the audience next to him suddenly boasted with an air of superiority, "Haven’t seen it before? The so-called brand is warming with the preheating of the warship’s main cannon, and then you can even shoot them out!"

"Shoot?"

Feng Xue could understand, of course, but how should he put it? He had often seen in mecha war genres the scruffy captains threatening, "Be careful, or I’ll stuff you into a warship’s main cannon and shoot you out," and now, he was actually seeing it for real... in the world of Divine Enthronement.

And damn it, it was branding with a cannon!

"Fuck!"

After some thought, Feng Xue could only voice this exclamation, and along with his standard curse, the Daji’s main cannon also began to preheat. King Zhou sat on the bridge platform, holding a microphone, and said:

"Since you refuse to support our great Shang soldiers, let your corpse inspire them!"

"Tyrant! Tyrant!"

Mei Bo, who was shouting ’tyrant’ from his mouth, had it stuffed by the execution soldiers, walked up to the muzzle via a clearly makeshift spiral staircase, and was lowered down in a harness, tethered by ropes. Meanwhile, on the large screen behind the bridge platform, a classic diagram started showing the audience the tumbling journey of a foreign object entering the cannon barrel.

"Main cannon preheat complete, please select firing mode."

The elegant and alluring voice of the AI sounded from the speaker. King Zhou, looking at the diagram where Mei Bo had already stuck to the bottom of the cannon, showed an excited flush on his face. He stood up from an intricately carved chair and even took two steps forward, shouting from almost close enough to feel the heat of the cannon barrel:

"Firework shell! Fire!"

"Received!"

The pleasant synthesized voice of the AI seemed to completely misunderstand the cruel command it had been given. It emitted a rather joyous sound, tilting the muzzle slightly, and a blaze of red tinged with gold spewed forth.

The shell, almost noiseless, carried the nearly charred Mei Bo into the sky, then burst into a spectacular firework. The execution grounds were suddenly filled with the exclamations of the crowd, as well as King Zhou’s laughter, which spread throughout Chao Ge through the microphone...

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