Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 1070: Chapter 1069: Gift from the Gods

The hall fell into an eerie silence.

The metal box had completely opened due to the mechanical device, revealing the item contained within to everyone—Gawain’s thought of "this Xiao Ma Baoli must be teasing me" evaporated with the appearance of the pale golden sphere. If nothing else, he could be sure of one thing: this thing was definitely a dragon egg...

The Dragonkin, those who survived the great collapse of Talronde, severely damaged, dispatched envoys who crossed the Northern Ice Ocean and countless mountains and rivers to establish diplomacy. They went to such great lengths to deliver a dragon egg to him.

Common sense dictates that unless Melita’s head was damaged in the previous war, she definitely wouldn’t joke about the source of this egg.

After two full minutes of silence, Gawain finally broke the silence: "...The goddess you’re talking about, is it Enya?"

Melita’s expression was slightly complicated, and with a sigh, she spoke softly, "Yes—the sanctuary has once again locked down Talronde’s deity, Enya... now, I can finally call out Her name directly."

"So what does this egg mean exactly?" Gawain felt for the first time that his mind was a bit overloaded. His eyelids twitched slightly, and he expended great effort to keep his tone calm, "Why did your deity leave a last testament for you to hand this egg over to me? No, more importantly—why is there such an egg?"

As soon as Gawain finished speaking, Amber beside him suddenly showed a rather strange look. The half-elf turned her head in a flash, staring intently at Gawain’s face with a look full of words left unsaid—she was undoubtedly brewing an audacious statement of about eight hundred words, but basic crisis awareness and survival instincts were still in play, keeping those bold remarks temporarily bottled up inside her.

No kidding, Amber was quite confident in her abilities. She knew that if she were to utter those bold thoughts from her mind, Gawain could easily grab a scallion and swat her to the ceiling—experience had taught her this.

But not everyone shared Amber’s sense of crisis—standing nearby, Rebecca, who was intently studying the dragon egg, suddenly turned her head and casually blurted out, "Ancestor! Didn’t you say you’ve chatted with that Dragon God a few times? Could it be that you accidentally left..."

Rebecca’s silly remark was half-spoken when Aunt Heidi raised her hand to press on her shoulder, and the reflex developed from being raised since childhood instantly kicked in. Rebecca visibly shivered, and the rest of the words got swallowed...

Gawain silently looked at Rebecca, then glanced at Aunt Heidi whose face had already darkened, showing a gentle smile: "Never mind, there are outsiders present."

Rebecca: "..."

Standing aside, Melita curiously observed the scene, watching Gawain’s interaction with his family—a phenomenon quite magical, for she had never imagined that someone like Gawain, who appeared serious and wore so many halos, would have such a relaxed and amusing dynamic with his family in private. On another note, as a "professional employee" tailored by a biochemical company, she never experienced what a similar family life felt like.

Throughout the long years of the past, enhancers, work schedules, and the Omega System dictated almost her entire life. She never thought it was wrong, yet at this moment, she suddenly felt a bit... envious.

But soon, she shook off the strange emotions and shook her head: "Ahem, I actually don’t intend to interrupt you, but I must clarify regarding this dragon egg.

"Firstly, I honestly don’t know how this dragon egg came to be... Even our leader hasn’t figured it out yet. For now, we can only be certain that it is a leftover from after our deity’s departure, but its mechanism remains unclear.

"Secondly, when the deity left the decree to entrust the dragon egg to you, there were also some words left behind. These messages carry significant weight, and I hope you listen carefully."

Seeing the exceptionally serious expression on Melita’s face, Gawain instantly realized this was no trivial matter. His focus quickly sharpened as he looked earnestly into her eyes: "What messages?"

Melita cleared her throat and solemnly spoke: "The first rule: ’Deities’ as a natural phenomenon, are in essence never annihilated..."

She repeated the words Calador conveyed to her before departing, word for word, clearly and fully. As the listener, Gawain’s expression changed from the moment he heard the first statement, and after that, his tense demeanor never relaxed for a moment. It was only two seconds after Melita had finished all the content that his eyes moved slightly and then focused on the pale golden dragon egg—still quietly resting on its pedestal at the bottom of the metal box, emitting a steady gleam, oblivious to the surrounding gaze and appearing to conceal endless secrets within.

At this moment, Gawain couldn’t help but recall the first statement he had just heard: Deities as a natural phenomenon, are in essence never annihilated...

Dragon God, nominally the guardian deity of the Dragonkin, but in essence also a conglomeration of various symbolic divine traits. Dragons, since the birth of Mortal Races, have revered all natural phenomena—fire, frost, lightning, life, death, and even nature itself... All these amalgamated with the Dragon God. As dragons successfully shattered the chains of adulthood, these reverences also dissipated; thus, the Dragon God as a kind of "aggregation" is... Would It ultimately disassemble into the most primitive symbolic concepts and return to that "deep-sea," or would It leave some kind of residue due to the accumulation of human nature?

"The necessary element of the third story..." Gawain muttered in a low voice, his gaze never leaving the dragon egg. He suddenly grew curious and looked towards Melita beside him, "Is this necessary element referring to this egg, or those four concluding insights?"

"We don’t know either... The will of the God is always vague, but it might also be due to our limited understanding," Melita shook her head. "Maybe both? Ultimately, we don’t know enough about the gods. In this regard, you seem to have some special talent, able to easily grasp many metaphors about the gods."

She lifted her eyelids, gazing into Gawain’s eyes: "So do you know what the ’third story’ the gods refer to really is? Our leader instructed me to ask you before I left: Do mortals truly have another choice?"

Gawain remained silent, quietly pondering within the silence. He deliberated for a long time before speaking in a low voice: "Actually, ever since the fall of the War God, I have been contemplating this question as well... Gods are born from the tide of human thought, yet they can also become cataclysms for mortals due to changes in that tide. Surrendering to the end of the countdown is one path, seeking survival through deicide is another, and as for the third path... I have been contemplating the possibility of ’coexistence’."

"That sounds very difficult," Melita said straightforwardly.

"It is indeed very difficult, but we are not without progress—we have already successfully stripped divine nature from gods like the ’Supreme Narrator,’ and to some extent ’released’ the chains with the God of Nature and Goddess of Magic. Now we are trying to subtly cut ties with the Holy Light," said Gawain as he thought about it. Knowing that the Dragonkin are natural allies in the endeavor of rebellion and that they have already successfully broken free, he felt no need to hold back in front of Melita. "The only issue now is that all these ’success stories’ are too stringent, with each success bound by unrepeatable conditions, while the gods humanity faces are numerous..."

"And there are always new gods being born," Melita said. "Furthermore, you cannot be sure that all gods will cooperate with your ’coexistence’ plan—mortals themselves are ever-changing, and with that change comes diverse thought tides. This means you cannot treat the gods as some ’mass-produced models.’ Each god you face is a unique ’case’."

"Behind each unique case, there is common logic, at least ’born from the tides of thought’ is their common logic," Gawain said seriously. "So I have a plan based on forming an alliance among the Mortal Nations, which I call the ’theocracy Authority Council.’

Melita paused for a moment, quickly grasping the potential meaning behind the term, her eyes widening in astonishment as she looked at Gawain: "You wish to control the tides of mortal thought?"

Without waiting for Gawain’s answer, she shook her head: "That would almost be equivalent to controlling all mortal thoughts... Whether it can succeed or not, such an action itself might provoke universal resistance unless you’re considering something akin to the Omega System, but not all races would be able to bear the cost of such measures..."

"So what I intend to do is not ’control,’" Gawain chuckled, "In fact, our recent research suggests that overly controlled thought tides are exactly what makes gods extremely powerful and constantly reborn. Therefore, what we need to do is not control all thoughts, but to liberate all thoughts."

The room fell silent for a moment, as if Melita had been shocked by Gawain’s grand, even audacious idea. She pondered for a long time and finally noticed the natural expressions on the faces of Aunt Heidi, Amber, and even Rebecca, which made her thoughtful: "It seems... you all have been brewing this plan for some time."

"We’ve already validated its initial success during the transformation of the Holy Light and verified its theoretical feasibility with chaotic models in the neural network. We believe that through long-term adjustments in social structure, educational popularization, and cultural transformation, this goal can be achieved—even in the short term, it can have quite impressive effects," Gawain said. "The crucial issue now is that other countries on the continent might not immediately accept all this, which is why we need a theocracy Authority Council. I hope to reach at least a basic consensus among some national leaders, and then promote this change through gradual economic and cultural influence and technological development."

Melita looked at Gawain, contemplating for a long time before suddenly breaking into a slight smile: "I think I understand what you’re trying to do. World-class educational popularization, using economic and technological development to compel societal transformation... Truly befitting of you, you’ve even named it under the mantle of ’theocracy.’"

Gawain raised an eyebrow: "It sounds like you’re quite interested?"

"Indeed, I’m personally very interested—but whether the Dragonkin is interested depends on when we can see a more detailed plan," Melita said with a smile. "By the way, you don’t happen to have a plan booklet, do you?"

"Of course, there are more related materials than you can count," Gawain said, then suddenly realized, "But do you really need it? You’ve already broken free of that shackle through your own efforts... aren’t the Dragonkin now the only ’free race’ in this world besides the sea demons?"

"Why wouldn’t we need it?" Melita replied, her expression becoming solemn. "Indeed, the Dragonkin are now free, but anyone with a slight understanding of this world’s rules knows that such ’freedom’ is only temporary. As long as the gods are not extinguished... the tendency towards ’ignorance’ and ’blindness’ in mortal minds remains, and the chains will inevitably return. The survivors of Talronde are currently concerned with only two things: how to survive in the wasteland, and how to prevent the returning gods in the near future. These two matters make us restless."

She looked up, meeting Gawain’s eyes: "So, perhaps your ’theocracy Authority Council’ is the cure for these problems, and even if it cannot cure, it is at least a successful exploration."

"That evaluation surprises me," Gawain said seriously. "Then I’ll prepare ample information for you as soon as possible—but there’s one thing I need to confirm: can you represent the will of the entire Dragonkin of Talronde?"

Melita met Gawain’s gaze, and her expression became earnest, word by word, she said: "This time, I represent Talronde fully."

Gawain nodded, then his expression relaxed, and a smile appeared on his face again: "Alright, we’ve talked enough about heavy subjects, perhaps we should discuss other things now."

As his words fell, the atmosphere in the scene quickly became relaxed, and Rebecca, who had been crouching and eavesdropping, finally had a chance to catch her breath. She immediately blinked, reached out to touch the pale golden dragon egg, and broke the silence with a curious face: "Actually, I’ve wanted to ask since just now... this egg is said to be given to us, but how are we supposed to deal with it?"

"It wasn’t given to you, it was given to Gawain Cecil personally—there’s a difference," Melita corrected Rebecca immediately, and then she also showed somewhat confused expression, "As for dealing with this dragon egg... actually, I don’t know either. I was only told to deliver it, and nobody mentioned what needed to be done next."

Amber, having been mostly quiet all along, thought for a moment, pinching her chin, tentatively said: "Why don’t we... try to hatch it?"