Chapter 4111: The First Leader! II

เผยแพร่เมื่อ 9 มี.ค. 2569 04:26

Chapter 4111: The First Leader! II Before Noah could respond, she turned her attention to Vex’thul, her expression growing serious. "I just returned from the neighboring Ra’ni Tribe. Half their hunting parties have gone missing." She paused, white flames flickering with agitation. "The...First Leader, Gilgamesh, is expanding faster than we anticipated. HUUM! Vex’thul’s casual demeanor vanished. "Gilgamesh...is moving truly? I thought it was all rumors..." Sear’ya replied, her voice carrying weight. "He’s offering something none can refuse...unlimited Drops of Everything. Not daily rations but continuous flow." ...! "How can he produce such quantities?" Vex’thul asked, his massive form tensing. "Even the eldest tribes can only...." Sear’ya’s flames pulsed with uncertainty. "The rumors say he’s discovered something- a way to cultivate Everythings at accelerated rates. And there’s more..." She hesitated, as if speaking it would make it real. "They say THE Living Spirit stands beside him." ...! Vex’thul actually stepped back, his crystalline skin flickering with shock. "THE Living Spirit? That’s impossible. THE Living Existences don’t involve themselves in out matters." "Yet witnesses from three different tribes report the same thing...a being of pure spiritual authority beside Gilgamesh, teaching him methods that shouldn’t exist yet." Her gaze grew distant. "If true, it explains everything. THE Living Spirit could show him how to mass-produce Everythings, how to bind loyalty through abundance rather than force." She glanced at Noah and Ozymandias. "Keep your new pets close, Vex’thul. Gilgamesh has been recruiting the weak specifically- easier to elevate, more grateful for power, more loyal to their benefactor. These two would be perfect candidates for his growing coalition. Of course, there are rumors that others have to give their Blood in exchange for the chance to join them. If their blood is deemed not worthy...." She never finished her words as she sighed. With that cliffhanger, she departed in a pulse of white fire that left afterimages burned into reality. Vex’thul stood still for long moments, his eyes focused on horizons beyond the village. "Move along," he finally told them, his earlier friendliness replaced by deep contemplation. As they continued walking, Khor’s voice resonated in Noah’s mind with recognition that transcended surprise. "Gilgamesh... now that’s a name that echoes through existence itself. He was the first Early Creature looked to as a leading force apart from THE Creature itself." Her consciousness fragment pulsed with ancient memory. "When Early Creatures first began organizing into groups, most operated through consensus or might. But Gilgamesh proposed something different...leadership through provision. Why fight when you could simply offer more than anyone else? Why conquer when beings would willingly follow whoever granted them the most power?" Her tone grew more contemplative. "He was called The First Leader because he was the first to understand that authority didn’t require force if you controlled the resources everyone needed. In your era, this may see obvious. But in the First Folds, when every being was essentially a terrifying force unto themselves, the idea of voluntary subordination in exchange for benefit was revolutionary." She paused, processing the implications. "I did not know that...the Living Spirit was involved here. THE Living Existences were supposed to be neutral, above the conflicts of Early Creatures in the beginning..." ...! 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎 Noah absorbed this information while following Vex’thul deeper into the village. A figure from the earliest myths of existence, potentially backed by one of THE Living Existences themselves, building an empire of Early Creatures. Whatever happened to such a being?! "The question," Khor mused, "is whether Gilgamesh’s vision of unified Early Creatures under his leadership is progression or catastrophe. Unity sounds positive until you realize it means everyone serves one will, one vision, one interpretation of what existence should become." ...! The words felt like a warning and lesson all at once! Vex’thul’s crystalline form moved through the tribal pathways. Each step left impressions in ground that had been compressed by eons of Early Creature passage, the very earth here denser than planets in Noah’s era. The Pattern Keeper’s usual jovial demeanor had given way to contemplation that made the air around him taste of concern. The village sprawled around them gloriously. Buildings carved from single stones that had witnessed the birth of concepts rose like monuments to what architecture could be when reality was merely a suggestion. The path they walked was wide enough for beings of Vex’thul’s scale, which meant Noah and Ozymandias looked like insects in comparison! Finally, after what felt like meaningful silence, Vex’thul released a sigh. The sound carried exhaustion, the kind that came from realizing problems were approaching that strength alone couldn’t solve. "With how weak you are," he began, his voice rumbling through frequencies that made Noah’s bones resonate, "there’s very little you can do to contribute." The words hung in the air. Noah’s current complexity- achievement that had felt monumental moments ago, registered as barely noticeable against the likely hundreds of trillions these beings carried in their everyday existence! "For our tribe," Vex’thul continued, each word deliberate, "contribution is everything. Effort is everything. Those who cannot contribute, who cannot exert effort that benefits the whole..." He didn’t finish the sentence, but the implication settled over them like a shroud. In a society where power was currency and everyone was wealthy beyond measure, what happened to those who had nothing to offer? Effort was everything. Noah’s lips curved into the faintest smile at hearing this fundamental truth spoken so plainly. The Seed of the First Farmer, growing within his existence, pulsed with recognition. These were Early Creatures that had independently discovered what the Principle of Perpetual Harvest encoded...that effort, not result, was the true measure of worth! Vex’thul’s massive head turned slightly, crystalline features suddenly brightening with the particular expression of someone who had just solved an irritating problem. "Ah, you can do that!" HUUM! The enthusiasm in his voice created small aurora in the air, his mood shift so sudden that reality had to scramble to adjust. He led them toward what Noah initially perceived as another building, but as they approached, his perception revealed it to be something far more complex. A transparent dome of light rose before them, its surface rippling with distortions. Space and time twisted around it like fabric being wrung by invisible hands. Inside, impossibility had been made practical, light-years worth of space had been compressed into an area that appeared no larger than a city block from the outside. And filling this compressed space, mountains and valleys and entire geographical features of it...was manure. The sheer scale defied comprehension. Mountain ranges of dung rose toward skies that existed inside a bubble. Valleys carved by rivers of liquid waste wound between hills of compressed feces that had fossilized! The stench was mercifully contained by the dome, but even seeing it made Noah’s enhanced senses attempt to shut down in self-defense. "These," Vex’thul announced with the pride of someone showing off treasured resources, "are the excrements of the Cow of Fertility."

React

พูดคุย