Chapter 1109 — Why Did It Have to Be an Egg

Sudden understanding dawned in Gao Yang's heart. His gaze grew deep, fixed on the golden egg as though gazing into a bottomless pool. "So that god-slaying war in Tarond was part of your plan? You used that method to kill the divinity that was on the verge of running completely out of control, and kept your human part alive in this form..."

"I took the greatest gamble of my conscious existence, but it was not my original plan—in the original plan, I did not intend to survive," Enya said flatly. "I have known what the children were thinking since long, long ago... They suppressed their thoughts and their words with all their might, but those thoughts rippled in the deepest currents of the tide of thought, like the light that no child on the verge of mischief can keep out of their eyes. How could that ever escape an experienced mother? I knew this day would come eventually... In fact, I myself had been looking forward to its arrival...

"But I could not defy my own rules, could not loosen the chains of my own accord. So the only thing I could do was leave them a little room within an exceedingly narrow interval, or turn a blind eye to certain things. So if you call this a 'plan,' it was really the dragons' plan above all. The most I did within it... was, for the most part, nothing at all."

Gao Yang frowned slightly, listening intently, and at this point could not help saying, "But you still haven't said how you survived... You just said that in the original plan, you did not intend to live."

"You should be thanked for that," Enya said with a light laugh, the tone carrying genuine gratitude. "The things you told me brought me a great deal of inspiration."

"The things I told you?" Gao Yang was taken aback, then caught on. "You mean the upper-level narrator... and the god of nature, and all that?"

"This world has seen civilization after civilization arise, countless mortal kingdoms, countless mortal heroes. Some had untamable temperaments, some had thoughts that made even gods turn and marvel, some had talent and courage beyond all theory. And these people, when they faced the gods, reacted in all manner of ways—some with awe, some with disdain, some with bitter hatred... But none of them were like you," Enya said, unhurried, the topic seeming to wander far afield while the content forced one to think deeply. "Yes, you are different. When you face a god, you neither revere nor shrink back—you do not even have likes or dislikes. You do not treat gods as gods at all. Your vantage point is higher than that.

"You treat a god as a simple 'phenomenon,' even an 'object.' You calmly seek the logic behind the phenomenon. You do it so matter-of-factly, as though you were trying to solve a formula with a definite answer.

"From that vantage point, you introduced into the tide of mortal thought a variable that had never existed before—a variable that will guide mortals to view divinity and humanity objectively, to quantify and analyze them.

"In our last conversation, I... borrowed that variable, borrowed your way of looking at problems and the effects that way of looking could produce. And so I gained the ability to cleanly sever my own divinity from my own humanity.

"I am sorry I did not ask your consent beforehand, and did not explain this to you afterward. I feared it might cause unpredictable changes in the situation. I hope you will not take it as deception or affront."

Having heard Enya's confession, Gao Yang suddenly felt a deeper understanding of the "beyond-mortal" aspect of the gods. These beings born of imagination and yet surpassing imagination could actually do such things—obtain an entirely new "angle of thought" from a mere conversation, and turn that "angle of thought" into an ability they could wield... Was this the so-called power of ultimate imagination?

Thoughts surged in his heart, but nothing showed on his face. He only said, as though casually, with a smile: "No need to apologize. Looking at it now, it led to a good result, so I don't mind—I'm just a little curious. This ability of yours to 'sever' divinity from humanity... what exactly is the principle behind it?"

The golden egg fell silent, and only after a few seconds broke the quiet with a helpless tone: "Such vigorous curiosity... a question only you would ask. But unfortunately, I cannot explain it to you, and even if I could, the ability would be of no use—after all, not every god has lived more than a million years, and not every god has undergone a great fusion.

"My 'severing' rests upon my own special state, because 'the gods' are themselves a 'stitched-together' concept. As for gods who have not been stitched... apart from cases like the upper-level narrator, who has undergone a 'death' and whose divinity and humanity have already split, it is best not to rashly attempt 'severing.' Better to choose a more gradual and reliable approach."

"What happens if you sever rashly?" Gao Yang asked instinctively.

"...You sever yourself to death."

Gao Yang opened his mouth, a touch embarrassed: "That does sound rather serious."

He thought it over, then could not help asking, "So you have now returned to this world in the form of 'human nature'... what about Talrund? Should we talk to them? You are pure human nature now, so in theory you should no longer have any harmful influence on them."

The golden giant egg fell silent, pondering longer than at any time before. At last she spoke: "The mythic age of the dragons is over. There is no need to let a ghost of the past go haunting those dragons who have finally won their freedom. And given the complexity of mortal hearts, even if I returned to Talrund's public eye in the form of 'human nature', there is no guarantee I would not stir up unforeseen shifts in their thinking... for the time being, at least for the time being, until the dragons have wholly shaken off the shadow of the past and are ready for a new age, it is better they not know of this.

"Of course, you may tell a small number of the dragons who manage Talrund's affairs. Once they know the truth, they should be able to plan the course of their society's development better and avert certain latent dangers — and their sense of responsibility will keep them from betraying the secret. In the matter of keeping secrets, dragons have always been trustworthy."

"I understand. Later I will find an opportunity to tell Talrund's upper echelons about your situation," Gao Yan nodded. Afterward he could not resist glancing once more at Enya's present round, plump form, and his curiosity finally got the better of him. "I still have to ask... why on earth is it an egg?"

"...Yes, why on earth is it an egg? I have not really figured that out myself..."