Darkness, chaos, emptiness, ethereality...
All kinds of indescribable sensations eroded in from every direction, stripping Lin Xian's consciousness away from his tangible body.
An inexplicable pull made his spiritual body, like a puppet on strings, drift upward, soar above the clouds, pass through the gale winds, and finally pierce through the blockade of the stars.
After breaking through a faint, almost nonexistent membrane, the luminous phantom condensed into the shape of his past-life human form seemed to find itself within a boundless blue-white ocean.
Looking around, several bubbles of varying brightness and colors floated faintly in different regions.
Yet the hazy, dazzling light mist and obscure, profound ripples all around brought even more uncertainty, allowing any probing force to perceive only the tip of the iceberg of this vast domain.
Countless chaotic streams of matter surged and collided, forming layers of undercurrents and whirlpools that separated everything.
Behind this phantom, invisible threads were tightly connected to a vibrant bubble resembling a giant egg.
Through its nearly transparent inner wall, mountains, rivers, the sun, moon, and stars, the vast fertile land between the two rivers, and the glorious Sumerian city-states could vaguely be seen.
Clearly, a world was being nurtured and growing within it.
A world bubble?!
The phantom floating within the boundless ocean of light muttered to himself, suddenly coming to a realization.
Then this was... the legendary Sea of Imaginary Numbers beyond the World Wall!
I remembered that Heroic King Gilgamesh had used the Gouging Sword to exile me?
But before Lin Xian could sort out his thoughts, undercurrents roiled through the Sea of Imaginary Numbers that nurtured the world bubble.
Within only a few breaths, the thread connecting him to the world bubble of the Ancient Babylonian civilization suddenly snapped.
At once, the humanoid phantom began to flicker unsteadily beneath the wash of the massive, chaotic information streams, like a candle flame in the wind.
Just as that flickering light of reason was about to be swallowed and dissolved, a high, ethereal song tore through the sea mist, forming a thread that glimmered with light.
"Ah... ah~~"
This song was familiar. It sounded so beautiful...
Like... a lullaby... It made him feel safe...
Each call guided the nearly lost soul toward that warm embrace.
A figure rose from the depths of the Sea of Imaginary Numbers. Her pale, slender fingers gently cupped the faint light in her palm, using her body as a wall against the increasingly turbulent undercurrents, revealing her instinct to protect.
Then crimson star pupils looked down, the cross-shaped radiance within them gazing upon the tiny little thing in her palm.
How majestic!
How sacred!
How loving!
The intense sense of safety and belonging, like returning to the womb of origin, gradually steadied that wavering soul and made him involuntarily feel the urge to draw close and worship.
And as his reason returned, Lin Xian gradually pieced together, from the fragmented silhouettes rising through the imaginary-number tides before him, how he had been born in Uruk and become that Primordial Serpent.
The Sea of Imaginary Numbers was primordial chaos. It gave birth to new life from nothingness, yet was abandoned by the world bubbles that represented "new life."
And he had come from another dimension, likewise unable to be accepted by the world here. Naturally, he could only be regarded as harmful matter and rejected into the Sea of Imaginary Numbers, where he would await digestion and decomposition.
But fortunately, before his "self" vanished, Lin Xian encountered this majestic existence floating in the Sea of Imaginary Numbers.
The Mother of Origin of the Ancient Babylonian civilization system—Tiamat!
The authority stripped from her had granted new life to this world bubble, but it had also caused her to lose the foundation of her "existence," leaving her to become a ghost drifting through the Sea of Imaginary Numbers.
After her reason had completely disappeared, what replaced it was her instinct as a mother to return to the side of her "returned" child.
Unfortunately, she was no longer needed by the formed world bubble, nor could stable reality contain her. The self-defense mechanism protecting the Babylonian civilization from outside also regarded her as a calamity.
Without an information anchor, Tiamat simply could not break through that thin World Wall and could only wander through the Sea of Imaginary Numbers.
She lamented and grieved, her heart overflowing with resentment at being "unneeded."
And the arrival of an extraterritorial soul awakened the instinctive maternal nature of this Origin Goddess. As she cared for such a lowly, tiny existence, she regained the joy of being a mother.
But even with Tiamat's protection, this pitiful child still could not withstand the wash of the imaginary-number tides.
In the end, driven by instinct, the goddess used the authority she had accumulated to send this nearly dissipated extraterritorial soul to the place she had always longed to return to.
Because Tiamat was the womb of all beasts, the only vessel she could grant Lin Xian was one belonging to a "beast."
By coincidence, a Primordial Serpent that had swallowed King Gilgamesh's Immortal Herb was shedding its skin and being reborn when its consciousness collapsed and reformed.
Lin Xian slipped in through the opening and gained new life upon that foundation, becoming a "free citizen" of Uruk.
But the convergence and adjustment of the two consciousnesses made him miss his chance to flee after doing something bad, and Gilgamesh caught him red-handed soon afterward.
After several twists and turns, Lin Xian racked his brains to survive and narrowly avoided being stewed into snake soup.
However, while Gilgamesh used the Gouging Sword to tear open the world and exile him, he also blew Lin Xian's unstable soul back into the Sea of Imaginary Numbers.
As a result, at the critical moment, the Origin Goddess who had given him new life saved him once again.
Tiamat...
The soul, a faint light wavering in her palm, looked up at those dazzling Cross Star Pupils and could not help murmuring instinctively.
Yet deep within her eyes was only chaos and emptiness, unable to produce any obvious emotional response.
But as the chaotic tides surged in once more, her cupped fingers drew together even more tightly, fully revealing her instinct to protect.
No, Mother Goddess...
A powerful wave of sorrow surged through Lin Xian's heart. He stretched out his hand, wanting to touch this majestic existence that had protected him twice and granted him new life.
But when wisps of gray mist seeped through his fingers and into Tiamat's palm, the Origin Goddess's body rose from the Sea of Imaginary Numbers, and she suddenly opened her mouth in a piercing cry.
"Ahh↗ ahh↗"
Terrifying divine authority shattered the surging imaginary-number tide, tearing apart mist that stretched for untold hundreds of millions of miles.
At the same time, the world bubble nurturing the Ancient Babylonian civilization system emerged with a clear outline within the mist.
The connection that had been severed earlier reformed like a regenerated thread, gathering and extending from within that world before winding around Lin Xian's consciousness.
Then, after a brief pause, the goddess Tiamat spread her fingers and allowed the tiny little thing to be pulled back into the world bubble.
Watching that majestic silhouette gradually be swallowed by the tides and mist of the Sea of Imaginary Numbers, Lin Xian kept his rigidly outstretched hand raised, opened his mouth, and felt deeply unwilling to accept it.
But before this lowly, tiny existence could vent the frustration and indignation in his heart, his consciousness seemed to keep falling as that spider-silk thread pulled him away.
An intense sensation of weightlessness followed.
It felt as though only a second had passed, yet also as though he had endured a long century.
His five senses returned, and his perception slowly changed from numbness to clarity.
"You're still alive? That's wonderful!"
"The Netherworld finally has life, even if it is only this tiny little thing!"
Within the dim, empty hall, a blonde goddess wearing a crown excitedly lifted the awakened little creature before her eyes, her bright gaze blinking rapidly.
Then, she seemed to realize her loss of composure.
The goddess coughed lightly a few times, barely reining in her excitement. Putting on an air of dignity, she planted one hand on her waist, pointed at the snake within the Spear Cage, and solemnly declared.
"Listen! Little one from the surface, I am the Earth Goddess Ereshkigal. You shall have the honor of becoming a citizen under the rule of the Netherworld!"
"So, behave yourself!"
The Netherworld truly had vitality and living creatures now. Perhaps this was a good beginning.
With great interest, the goddess rubbed the smooth, cool scales of the snake with her fingertip, the corner of her lips lifting into a pleased curve.
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