Dialogue and the Choice Before Death

"Tiny civilized worlds, intelligent creatures no larger than ants."

Xu Zhi lowered his head and looked at the intelligent species he had nurtured and evolved step by step while restricting their size. Seeing this white-haired old man weeping, he felt somewhat wistful.

Back then, that young Insect Ape he had cradled in his palm—the passionate youth who had stood atop a giant tree, holding the Damocles Sword and roaring at the heavens—had now grown old. He had reached the end of his years.

That ambitious youthful figure, so hot-blooded and arrogant, seemed as if it had only been yesterday. And indeed, it had only been two days ago.

Their seemingly endless years of time were but a brief instant in his eyes.

"Gilgamesh, have you been well these past years?" Xu Zhi asked softly. His voice pierced the vast Cloud Layer and descended upon the flourishing Uruk Royal City below, upon the central royal hall.

Gilgamesh leaned on the Holy Sword, his entire body trembling.

"As for me... I suppose I've been well enough."

His throat was dry and hoarse as he looked up at the towering giant in the sky.

Though it was not his first time seeing him, he was still moved by the magnificent sight. The colossal giant, tens of thousands of zhang tall, rose straight into the clouds, his torso seeming to hold up the entire world. Brilliant radiance concealed his face. A faint glimmer shone through the Cloud Layer, a trace of pure, holy white light. His majestic features could not be seen clearly, but the eyes amid the clouds were unfathomably deep.

The giant was looking down upon the entire Uruk City.

Mighty, great, solemn, sacred—no words in the world could describe that breathtaking beauty.

"Gods!"

"He truly exists!"

The city's tens of millions of people—merchants clad in fine leather garments, ragged slaves, women in noble gowns, commoners, craftsmen—put down their work and emerged from shops and homes, gathering in the streets to gaze up at the vast giant piercing the heavens.

"The Wisdom Giant Beast from legend, the Wisdom Species that bestowed civilization upon us..."

"A supermassive giant ten thousand zhang tall."

"What a great and boundless lifeform, comparable to the sun, moon, and stars in the sky!"

Their minds went blank beneath the shock. Longing, fear, awe—countless complicated emotions intertwined, ultimately becoming incomparable admiration.

The ministers around the palace were equally stunned. Gilgamesh saw their expressions and could not help smiling bitterly. He remembered their first meeting, and he had felt the very same terror then.

After a moment of silence, Gilgamesh raised his head, his eyes filled with longing. "Wisdom Giant Beast, I have accomplished the civilization you entrusted to me over a hundred years ago."

Xu Zhi, like a vast giant who had crossed through eternity, spoke in a resonant voice that pierced the clouds and spread over the Uruk Royal City below. "Your great achievements will be recorded in the Sumerian Epic Genesis that you ordered written. You will be the greatest first-generation king in the history of Sumerian Civilization, Hero King Gilgamesh. Future generations will compose songs of praise for your place in history."

"No. Glory a thousand years after death, living on in epics passed down by word of mouth—that is not what I want." Gilgamesh suddenly grew agitated.

"Then what do you want?"

"I want eternal life like yours." Gilgamesh looked up at the towering giant with boundless yearning. "I am willing to give up everything, willing to pay any price. Please grant me the three treasures of immortality!"

Xu Zhi fell silent for a moment.

At this moment, Gilgamesh, this king, had gained nearly everything in the world—glory, women, power, wealth. The whole world belonged to him, yet he was still unsatisfied.

Xu Zhi wanted longevity too! He was terminally ill and could die at any moment. He envied Gilgamesh's magnificent life, a life that resembled an epic.

"Gilgamesh, you are too greedy. I do not possess the three treasures of immortality." Xu Zhi calmly looked at the aging king. "Birth, Aging, Sickness, and Death are the natural laws of all species. I cannot alter them."

At the end of life, everyone longed to keep living.

Xu Zhi seemed to be lamenting his own fate as well.

Status and position were erased at this moment. The measures of countless civilizations were crossed. He and Gilgamesh were merely two pitiful species silently awaiting decline, both facing the terror of death.

Whether emperor or ant, in the end, all would become yellow earth and white bones.

Xu Zhi suddenly wanted to say:

I am just like you. I too am facing death.

Yet he did not say it. He merely looked down upon the royal city below with profound emotion.

"No... no."

Gilgamesh forced the words from his hoarse throat as he gazed at the enormous holy face shrouded in clouds above. "No, you are deceiving me. You can do it. You clearly can do it!!"

His eyes burned as he looked at Xu Zhi's young, sturdy body, towering like mountains and solid as rock. Over more than two hundred long years, he himself had grown old, yet time had not left even the faintest trace upon this great giant.

To him, time seemed like yesterday.

The Wisdom Giant Beast, the most mysterious Wisdom Species, was immortal in his eyes.

"What incredible power... what an enviable, endless lifespan..."

Gilgamesh's lips trembled. He spoke in a low voice, then suddenly raised his head and could not help roaring, "Then have you answered my summons only to witness my death? To watch a humble, pitiful life tremble as it dies of old age?"

"I came to see you off. I do not have the power to extend your lifespan. I have also come for the second handover and warning of civilization." Xu Zhi sighed. "Your civilization is too cruel. You exterminate the creatures around you, destroy forests, slaughter giant beasts. This entire land has been trampled beneath your feet. True civilization is neither cruel nor barbaric. I demand that you stop your slaughter!"

"Stop... the slaughter?"

Gilgamesh's massive body was white-haired and aged, yet still strong. He suddenly began to shake, his whole body trembling. A flame seemed to burn in his eyes, growing ever fiercer and blazing brighter. This white-haired old man suddenly stepped forward. "No, slaughter can never stop, and neither can my steps! Do you know that the Damocles Sword you gave me all those years ago has seemed to hang high above my head? It gave me immense power, but it also brought me incomparable fear. And today, I will personally pull out the Sword of Damocles above my head!"

"Akad."

"Your servant is here." The historian responsible for compiling Genesis stepped forward.

"Record the history of our civilization at this moment. I will speak, and you will write." Gilgamesh's voice was decisive.

At the red writing desk, Akad silently picked up a quill and spread out a roll of gray beast-hide parchment. "Speak, Your Majesty."

"The history of humanity's struggle against nature is a history of courage and songs of praise. My original purpose in ordering Genesis to be compiled was to leave history for future generations, so they would understand the courage of their ancestors in struggling against nature."

"Now, let history record my courage at this moment."

Gilgamesh let out a heavy, rough breath. Leaning on the Damocles Sword with his aged body, he laughed deeply and proclaimed:

"Genesis. In the 175th year of the Sumerian Dynasty, after slaying Fenba, the strongest legendary giant beast in history, Hero King Gilgamesh, who had sealed his sword for more than a hundred years, acted once more. With the strength of the entire nation, he lured forth the Wisdom Giant Beast high above, intending to raise his sword against it and slay the Wisdom Giant Beast!"