Chapter 734 — Mei Heng's Answer

Because experience told him that pressing further would bring them to the stage where this young blue dragon, enduring blood pressure of 200-plus and the strain of a critical failure, would declare, "Ask more and it costs extra."

Though Miss My Little Pony always looked as though she had scraped through narrowly each time, Gao Yang genuinely feared that one day she might fail to keep it under control and drop dead on the spot right in front of him...

But even if Mei Heng could not give an answer, that did not stop him from following his current line of reasoning further:

What exactly was the difference between a technology tree with a complete research-and-development process and one that "fell from the sky"? Why was one safe while the other could spark a crisis connected to the gods? According to Mei Heng's words, there seemed to be a delicate matching relationship between "spiritual civilization" and "material technology." This matching... what exactly did it affect?

After all these questions had cycled through his mind once, Gao Yang suddenly felt he had seized a key point: over the course of developing and disseminating technology, what changes had taken place in society?

He looked at Mei Heng and said, word by word: "The process of technological development is precisely the process of returning, one by one, what once belonged to the gods to humanity. This stolen advanced technology—is it missing that step?"

Mei Heng smiled, and it was not the professional, precisely calibrated smile she usually wore.

Her smile came from the heart.

"To have understood this much on your own—then it seems you will not go astray."

Gao Yun let out a soft breath.

In truth, he had very nearly gone astray.

Very nearly taken that shortcut that almost every transmigrator would choose.

Fortunately, in this world of bizarre physical laws, the shortcut led nowhere.

He lifted his head and looked at the Ultimate Book at the center of the experimental platform. "How will the dragon clan deal with this book?"

"According to the regulations, it is an item connected to the Reverse Tide Empire and must be recovered," Mei Heng said earnestly. "Leaving it 'outside' is extremely dangerous."

"But there are exceptions to everything," Gao Yang said, looking at her. "You know it would be hard for me to simply hand this book over to you on the strength of a few words."

Mei Heng blinked. "Yes... so you may keep it."

Gao Yang had expected to have to argue the point at some length, and never imagined the other party would agree so readily. He could not help but stare in astonishment. "Truly?"

"As you can see, it is already broken, beyond repair. It can no longer steal any knowledge from anywhere. The greatest risk is gone," Mei Heng said unhurriedly. "And more importantly, you have already realized that 'crucial point' just now. No doubt... you will not go astray."

"You certainly trust me."

"Let us call it a display of friendship," Mei Heng said with a soft laugh. "Taking another's treasure is a blow to friendship. Since there is no longer any need for recovery, why should I be unrelenting?"

Hearing the word "friendship" from her, Gao Cen's mouth curled upward—and you still say you are not my little pony?

Unfortunately, Mei Heng could not possibly imagine what this old zongzi was thinking when the corners of his mouth curled up. She only felt that her rhetoric had been masterful, and that her favor with this human leader had been well and truly raised...

The Ultimate Book was placed back upon the experimental platform. The alloy bars rose once more, and the protective shield activated again.

Mei Heng gazed quietly at the book for a while before turning back, speaking in formulaic phrases while a lively smile lingered at the corners of her eyes. "Then this concludes our service for today. I hope you are satisfied with this consultation."

"Worth every penny," Gao Yan said with a nod, but just as Mei Heng was about to take her leave, he suddenly recalled something. "Oh, right—there is one small question I want to ask you."

The smile at the corners of Mei Heng's eyes visibly stiffened, and her tone turned subtle. "You don't mean..."

To tell the truth, she really did have some psychological scars by now. Whenever this human wanted to add a "small question," nine times out of ten it skirted the edge of the Black Pit and the gods, and answering even a single word could cost her half her life. She had thought this time would finally end peacefully—why did he have to add two more lines at the very end?

Seeing Mei Heng's reaction, Gao Yang felt a little awkward too, and quickly waved his hand. "Don't be nervous—it really is just a small question, only to satisfy my own curiosity. I am very curious: what is the attitude of you dragons toward the human stories about dragon-slaying heroes and the legends of dragon knights?"

Mei Heng blinked, clearly a little surprised by the question, but her professionalism let her recover quickly, a smile on her face. "Dragon-slaying stories... Speaking of which, have you heard the tale 'The Dragon in Black Mountain Castle'?"

Gao Yang thought it over and nodded. "I have. It is a famous poem popular among bards since the Gondor era. It tells of a fabricated evil dragon threatening a town and bringing down natural disasters, and then an old soldier who survived the war taking up the knight's sword his commander left him, challenging monsters step by step, and finally dueling the evil dragon at Black Mountain, with both vanishing to parts unknown. It seems that even today, seven hundred years later, variants and fragments of the story still circulate in the North and the western regions. It is regarded as one of the early classic works depicting dragons as evil."

"I wrote it."

"Oh... what?"

"I wrote it," Mei Heng said, pointing at herself. "The prototype was a friend of mine, but she does not know about it yet."

Gao Yang: "..."

After a full half minute of astonishment, he finally asked hesitantly, "What... what was your main purpose in doing that?"

"Villain fiction has been rather popular in Tarrond recently. By recently I mean the last ten centuries."

Gao Yang: "..."

What the hell kind of culture is that in Tarrond? Have these dragons gone stir-crazy from having too much time on their hands?

"You see, this is the attitude of we dragons toward such stories," Mei Heng said, paying no mind to the impact her words had on Gao Yang, only smiling with serene composure. "Do not use human logic to consider a race that can outlive several civilizations. Now then, do you have any other questions?"

"No..."