Chapter 1144 — An Unexpected Way to End
Blade of Dawn · Page 1 of 4
Silence inevitably fell once more in the incubation chamber. Gao Yang sat in the high-backed chair, his expression grave, sunk in prolonged thought. The faint hum of the ventilation system seemed to drift in from somewhere far away; the cool breeze dispelled the stifling heat of the summer afternoon, yet could not dispel the pressure and shadow cast by the world's truth. How long that thinking lasted, he did not know, until he heard Enya's voice come from beside him:
"It is precisely because the natural laws of the world have been this cold from the very beginning that seeking refuge in the gods became the one path all mortals ultimately have no choice but to take... and yet even the shelter of the gods is nothing more than a part of those cold rules — herein lies the weakness of all living beings before the natural might: they can only choose to face the bleak future head-on, or else a bottle of poison to dream their lives away.
"I have witnessed many splendid civilizations. They too pressed onward tirelessly along the road of seeking truth, or bravely faced their own gods. Many among them were great individuals who made wise decisions, allowing their whole race to flourish until they could touch the sky — until they could even come to knock upon the gates of Tarrond. And the most outstanding of them, in the end, learned the truth.
"Sadly, I saw them trembling before that truth. Some lowered their heads and returned to the embrace of the gods, clipping their own wings, hoping to huddle on this planet for as long as they could... No race has ever dared risk losing that shelter to knock upon the door of the cosmos. Not one."
Gao Yang stared at the runes drifting across the surface of Enya's eggshell: "The ones who now rule the continent of Loren are us. Those civilizations that shone in history have left almost no trace behind. The facts prove their hopes were never realized — the pantheon system is an ever-expanding time bomb; like a demonic tide, it devoured them in the end."
"But at least they lived longer than other races," Enya said faintly.
"Yet the dragons of Tarrond refused to accept that kind of 'peace.' They chose the hardest road of all," Gao Yang said. "They took the initiative to shatter the protection you offered, and chose to believe that mortals' own strength and wisdom could stand against this cold universe — the weakness of living beings may be a fact, but now at last there is a race that dares to raise its head."
Enya was silent for a moment, then suddenly spoke with a soft laugh: "After witnessing with my own eyes the Voyagers' starships tear across the sky, the light of their jump engines illuminate the night, vast expeditionary fleets sail into the cosmos, and the shadows cast by colony motherships cover half a continent — who would still be willing to live forever with their head bowed upon a speck of dust in the universe? Perhaps from the very day the Voyagers descended upon this planet, the fate of the dragons was already changed... Though they did not take us with them, they did show us a road... a road by which one might survive among the stars.
"Dragons are a race that will not admit defeat. As their former god, I know this well — from the day the Voyagers left, the dragons have never once lowered their heads."
A sigh rose in Gao Yang's heart: wherever the Voyagers might be now, whether or not their long grand expedition had reached its destination, their journey through this stretch of stars had indeed changed far, far too many things. The most precious "legacy" they had shown this world might not be those advanced satellites and space stations, nor the ancient era's "unbinding" of this planet's native civilizations — but a possibility, a possibility that one could still advance through darkness that seemed to offer no way out.