The Legendary Pleasure Seeker

The golden-haired, red-eyed shadow hooked a finger around the loop of a Cuneiform Rune rope and lifted the trembling, writhing snake before his eyes.

The curved blade in his right hand slid along the reptile's newly grown, fine scales, moving downward until it stopped at a point seven inches from its head.

As the tip of the blade pressed down slightly, the intensifying pain made Lin Xian's heart contract sharply, and waves of goosebumps seemed to erupt across his back.

The instant the blade pierced his outer scales, Lin Xian's wildly racing thoughts abruptly converged. His slender neck stiffened, and a string of hisses escaped his mouth.

But then, the guilty snake suddenly realized something. His body froze slightly before his spirits withered, and he collapsed sorrowfully, as though he had lost all hope.

Damn it! We can't understand each other!

I hate foreign languages!

I got screwed over by that subject in my last life. The CET-4 and CET-6 became the shame of my entire life, and now it still wouldn't leave me alone in this one!

His aggrieved soul could only let out helpless roars from within his slender body, cursing Fate's entire female family tree with every venomous insult he knew.

At that moment, the light in the snake's vertical pupils gradually went out in resignation.

Yet the thief's intense reaction seemed to pique Gilgamesh's interest.

The Heroic King raised his fingertip and traced a cuneiform symbol through the air, then flicked it playfully into the forehead of a certain guilty snake.

As the cuneiform symbol exploded within his consciousness, Lin Xian vaguely felt that some form of communicative connection had been established between himself and Gilgamesh before him.

"King Gilgamesh, I am willing to pay a fine and cleanse myself of my sins!"

"Thirtyfold compensation!"

Having found a way out of certain death, Lin Xian hissed urgently and spat out the words he had long prepared to save himself.

The guilty snake's plea, his tongue flicking, brought a trace of disdain to Gilgamesh's eyes.

"Compensation? What right do you have to bargain with me?!"

A cold snort came from him. His razor-sharp aura carried a chilling, needle-like sting that easily pierced Lin Xian's scales and stirred every inch of his nerves and muscles.

That power was cruel and tyrannical, leaving all things nearly incapable of mustering even the slightest will to resist.

The ruby dagger pressed down once more, and the shadow of death followed.

Who the hell wanted to die a second time?!

Fuck you, Fate!

I want to live!

A powerful desire to survive erupted within Lin Xian. The vertical pupils in his eyes shrank to pinpoints as he raised his neck, flared his scales, endured the agony of defying his instincts, and hissed with all his strength.

"Under the witness of Marduk, king of the gods, the king rules all people, brings prosperity to the nation, and ensures that the light of fairness and justice endures in Uruk!"

"If a free man steals property such as cattle or sheep, and it belongs to a god or the palace, he shall be fined thirtyfold!"

Gilgamesh was slightly startled, and an odd look appeared on his face.

While the Heroic King was distracted, the pressure on Lin Xian abruptly eased. He could barely move again, and a thread of hope arose in his heart.

Thank goodness, I bet right!

In truth, the first sentence Lin Xian had shouted came from the preface to the Code of Hammurabi.

It not only represented the divine right of kings, but also embodied the code's sanctity and legitimacy.

However, in order to fit the situation he faced, Lin Xian had made a slight adjustment to the preface.

The crucial second sentence was Article Eight of the Code of Hammurabi, the sentencing standard for theft.

As he endured the torment of waiting to be cooked, Lin Xian racked his brains and thought desperately, only finding the slightest hope of survival amid his present predicament.

However, as far as he knew, Heroic King Gilgamesh had lived around 2700 to 2600 BC.

But the Code of Hammurabi appeared much later, around 1792 to 1750 BC.

Although Gilgamesh and Hammurabi belonged to the same Mesopotamian civilization and worshipped the same gods, they were separated by eight hundred years.

When Lin Xian shouted the theft penalty clause from the Code of Hammurabi at this critical moment, he was gambling.

The Code of Hammurabi was written law, and according to the fairly decent historical knowledge he had retained from his previous life—

Before written law emerged, customary laws established through long practice had often existed for a very long time.

Therefore, Lin Xian could only assume that the relevant provisions in the Code of Hammurabi had already existed in some similar customary form during the Uruk dynasty.

Of course, he also remembered the Code of Ur-Nammu, another code from Mesopotamian civilization, dating roughly from 2113 to 2006 BC.

It was only four or five hundred years removed from Gilgamesh's era.

Unfortunately, its contents were fragmentary, and the key provisions concerning theft convictions were incomplete.

But the period during which the Code of Ur-Nammu had been enforced likewise proved that certain penalties for theft had already become established custom before either code appeared.

That gave Lin Xian the courage to overcome his biological instincts and request permission from Gilgamesh to pay a fine.

Still, if the laws of the two eras had no connection whatsoever, he would lose his final chance to struggle.

And if he unfortunately angered Gilgamesh, he might die even faster.

"My King, I am not trying to bargain. I merely hope to accept punishment through the judgment of the law, thereby cleansing myself of my sins."

"I committed the theft during the day. According to Sumerian custom, I am willing to pay a thirtyfold fine."

Seeing Gilgamesh's expression soften somewhat, Lin Xian lowered his head humbly to show his sincerity.

He vaguely remembered that surviving fragments of the Code of Ur-Nammu recorded that nighttime theft could still result in execution, because it posed a greater threat to the owner.

Naturally, Lin Xian would not forget to emphasize when he had committed the crime.

Under the threat of death, the guilty snake's walnut-sized brain spun madly.

Amid the immense psychological pressure, Lin Xian's nerves actually began to tingle with faint excitement.

He felt that more than twenty years of his ordinary life in his previous world had never been as thrilling as this moment, nor had they made him feel so truly "alive."

Yes, "alive"!

Every inch of muscle and every nerve cell was operating frantically for that single, pure purpose, giving everything it had.

The miscellaneous knowledge he had casually picked up in his previous life surged into his mind, gathering into strategies for defending himself against whatever changes came next.

Having recovered his senses, the Heroic King studied the reptile with great interest, the corner of his lips lifting slightly.

He had actually heard a snake reciting Uruk's legal provisions to fight for a chance to live!

Interesting! Truly interesting!

However, compared to the hollow, tedious word "forgiveness," Gilgamesh preferred "pleasure."

That was right. This Heroic King was the legendary pleasure seeker.

The golden-haired, red-eyed king's lips curved into a sinister smile as his cold murmur struck directly at the flaw in the snake's legal argument.

"If I remember correctly, that is a right reserved for free men?"

Lin Xian paused, then slowly raised his head.

"King Gilgamesh, I was born within the territory of Uruk. I should therefore be one of your subjects..."

"I have never been enslaved. I am not a slave, and I possess the natural right to freedom..."

The Heroic King seemed intrigued. With his right hand, he summoned a gem-encrusted throne from a golden vortex. Leaning against its backrest and resting his chin on his hand, he opened his mouth and interrupted the slender figure's defense.

"But you are a snake..."

"Does your wisdom bestow its blessings only upon humanity?"

"The morning stars above and all things upon the earth belong to the king!"

"Therefore, whether they are living creatures of sky and earth or animals of forest and sea, all shall stand with Uruk. Wherever your splendor reaches is the paradise of Sumer."

Lin Xian raised his head and stared at Gilgamesh. The soul tempered by his education in his previous life unexpectedly carried an air of neither servility nor arrogance.

"That is right. All things upon the earth, the morning stars in the sky, and all nations and living beings in the world belong to me!"

"Ha ha ha ha! You are far more interesting than Uruk's judges."

"Those idiots have studied law for decades, yet they cannot speak as well as a snake. They should smash their heads against a wall and die!"

"As a reward for pleasing the king, thirtyfold compensation? I grant it!"

The Heroic King on the throne clutched his stomach with one hand and laughed wildly, thoroughly pleased.

But just as Lin Xian breathed a small sigh of relief, Gilgamesh summoned a golden goblet from his treasury and gently swirled it. Scarlet nectar rippled within, and the atmosphere abruptly froze.

"Since everything belongs to the king, what will you use to pay a thirtyfold fine?"

"Moreover, the Immortal Herb cannot be valued in ordinary treasures."

As the Heroic King drained the contents of his cup, one golden vortex after another formed behind his throne.

Swords, halberds, sabers, spears, and weapons of every kind emerged from them, their edges aimed directly at the Primordial Serpent. Those scarlet eyes opposite him remained filled with grim coldness.

"If the price you pay does not satisfy me, I will slice you alive into shreds and throw you into a pot to make soup!"