Chapter 1143: Chapter 1142: How to Break the Deadlock

From the perspective of the real universe, this world has never been reshaped, and it will not be reshaped due to any kind of magic tide in the future.

Even after experiencing so many bizarre and mysterious events, witnessing countless unbelievable miracles, Gawain himself, who is himself an "abnormality," couldn’t help but lose his breath for a moment. A feeling as if his entire worldview had been overturned enveloped him. He opened his eyes wide, his mind swirling with thoughts, and the long-held understanding of this world began to shake at this moment, making him start to doubt all his judgments and guesses about this world.

Yet the mindset honed over endless years ultimately proved useful. This brief moment of wavering did not affect his ability to reason and think. Soon, he gathered up his scattered thoughts and summarized in his mind the key information Enya had revealed to him about the chaotic wave and the operation of this universe so far:

From the perspective of the real universe, the world will not be reshaped by the chaotic wave; the existence of all things is stable and orderly. But from the perspective of the Observer (rational wise beings), the reshaping of the world’s myriad things does indeed occur and is the inevitable result of the chaotic wave. On the other hand, the "Observer Effect" in this universe presents a chaotic and macroscopic state. The Observer’s understanding of the universe truly acts upon "their own world," with the Observer’s universe and the real universe mapping like shadow and body. Under normal circumstances, they accurately overlap, thus stabilizing the Observer himself. But in the environment of the chaotic wave, the two deviate, and the Observer will be engulfed by the mad illusion seen...

The chaotic wave indeed has distinctions of "large" and "small," but according to Enya, the so-called small chaotic wave is actually a certain unformed "pre-tremble of the chaotic wave". In terms of "not affecting entities in the real universe," it is no different from the actual chaotic wave. And the catastrophe experienced by the refugees of the Gondor Empire seven hundred years ago was actually not the entity of the chaotic wave but merely the shockwave following the explosion of the Well of Deep Blue.

This moment, Gawain wasn’t sure whether it was a good thing or a bad thing; he only knew that this strange and colorful world had unveiled yet another veil before him, revealing beneath... an even more wanton and chaotic world.

His gaze fell on Enya’s eggshell: "You mean, whether it is the chaotic magic environment in the Gondor wasteland or the crystal ores we mined in the Dark Mountain Range, they are merely ’reaction products’ formed after high-intensity magic power radiation acts upon specific substances. Seven hundred years ago, mortals... were actually not affected by the chaotic wave, whether the Great Magic Tide or the smaller ones..."

Enya’s voice was calm and flat: "Indeed."

"What exactly are ’small chaotic waves’? What do you mean by ’unformed pre-tremble’?" Gawain asked again, "Does it mean it is still part of the Great Magic Tide but just hasn’t exploded out? Or are the Great Magic Tide and the smaller ones essentially continuous, two phases of a catastrophe, and the mortal nations right now just happen to be surviving in this disaster interval by luck?"

"In fact, both statements are correct," Enya slowly said, "You must understand I am not omniscient and omnipotent, my understanding of the chaotic wave is also built upon long-term observation and research, speculation and verification. I can only tell you the details I know—

"The chaotic wave is a natural phenomenon of this world, occurring in irregular cycles; several small-scale eruptions usually occur between large-scale eruptions, and the specific timetable is almost impossible to predict. The small chaotic wave exhibits characteristics consistent with the Great Magic Tide in part, but the difference lies in its eruption usually being localized, while the Great Magic Tide sweeps across the entire celestial system, the smaller one tends to be limited to a continent, or even a kingdom. The eruption of the small chaotic wave is relatively brief, and less intense, not necessarily completely destroying the Observers within the eruption range—there are various ways to weaken or counteract it completely."

"Small chaotic waves can be weakened or counteracted..." Gawain suddenly thought of something, "Wait, you mean..."

"Without mastering precise techniques, it can only be resisted with brute force—short-term ultra-high intensity magic power eruptions can compress the turbulent layer of planetary atmosphere, forming a vast coverage energy field, and since the essence of the chaotic wave is still a magic phenomenon, it will be influenced by this energy field, potentially even eradicated. This energy field erupted indeed is formidable enough to trigger regional ecological extinction, but at least, some fortunate seeds can survive on the periphery.

"Seven hundred years ago, the only energy source on the entire Loren continent that met this condition was—"

"The Well of Deep Blue." Gawain’s face darkened and he spoke with a heavy voice.

"Igniting the Well of Deep Blue was the most effective way to prevent the ’pre-tremble’ from expanding, and the only method that was timely then."

"So the Well of Deep Blue was indeed intentionally ignited?!" Gawain instantly widened his eyes, staring at the eggshell with the faint golden runes, "Could it be that the one who ignited it was..."

"Don’t misunderstand, it wasn’t me," Enya’s voice carried a slight sigh from within the golden giant egg, "I am merely the guardian deity of the Dragonkin, my duty binds me to Talronde, hence I cannot interfere with what happens on the Loren continent—the Well of Deep Blue was indeed ignited, and the ones who ignited it were the gods who sheltered the races of Loren."

"You mean the gods ignited the Well of Deep Blue?!" Gawain stared wide-eyed, took a while before softly exhaling, he couldn’t help but recall a conjecture that had popped up not long ago, smiling self-deprecatingly, "Actually, just recently I speculated there was a hidden agenda behind the explosion of the Well of Deep Blue, now it seems there indeed was a hidden agenda, but it has nothing to do with my previous speculation..."

Saying this, he furrowed his brows, a mystery that had plagued humanity for a long time suddenly floated in his heart, as if there was the answer: "Wait, suddenly I remembered, shortly after the chaotic wave erupted, all the church priests lost contact with their respective gods. The gods were silent for a whole year until after the conference at Ancestral Peak, the power of the gods gradually returned to this world... could it be that igniting the Well of Deep Blue was the reason for the silence of the gods?!"

Enya pondered for a moment before responding to Gawain’s question: "In fact, I can’t be sure of the specifics of that time—as you know, there are problems of mutual contamination and interference between gods, so we can’t establish direct contact. Usually, we can only roughly judge the status of other gods by observing the ripples in the ’deep-sea’, as you understand it. I can only be sure that at that time, a god who protected Loren’s races intervened in the energy flow of the Well of Deep Blue, but exactly who, how they intervened, and the subsequent state of the party involved can’t be determined.

"Likewise, I’m unable to determine how many gods were involved back then—could be one, or more than one. The massive energy fluctuations from the Well of Deep Blue were enough to penetrate the various realms of the world, and the interference would create large-scale black barriers in the deep sea. What really happened during that massive explosion... I have no idea.

"But there is one thing I can address—Loren’s gods’ year-long slumber back then was not affected by the Well of Deep Blue explosion."

"Not influenced by the Well of Deep Blue?" Gawain asked in surprise, "Then what was it caused by?"

"The church’s operation has stalled, the parish structure has collapsed, previously regular religious activities have halted abruptly, and most importantly... a sudden drop in population," Enya said in a deep voice. "Don’t forget, the foundation of faith is a sufficient population, the roots of the gods are the believers, and the catastrophe seven hundred years ago... too many people died. For the Loren gods, who haven’t yet broken free from the ’chains’ and must rely on popular thought for sustenance, this was a heavy blow."

Gawain instinctively held his breath, slowly exhaling after a long pause.

"But I have another question," he quickly followed up, "After the ’chaotic wave’ seven hundred years ago, although countries have tried to shake off the impacts of the disaster, population recovery isn’t achieved overnight. Within just one year, the four kingdoms didn’t see a significant population increase. In fact, due to food shortages and monster disturbances, there was even a slight population decline in Typhon and Anzu, so why did the gods experience a resurgence under such circumstances?"

"It’s precisely this harsh situation that drove more people to seek solace in faith," Enya patiently explained. "You should know how things were then—how many became devout followers amidst their struggles? How many who didn’t believe or only casually believed began praying fervently amidst the cold and hunger? Not everyone is a strong-willed hero; most ordinary people are fragile. Dire circumstances transformed them from casual believers into devout followers, so even though your population didn’t grow, the number of devout followers did—and this hastened the return of the gods."

Gawain looked enlightened, then contemplative: "In the circumstances of that time, the return of divine power was beneficial, solving urgent crises for many countries, but in the long run... it also sowed the seeds of disaster for the future overexpansion of the church, with ecclesiastical authority trying to influence royal authority... even impacting our current theocracy Authority Council plans."

"In the grand scheme of history, many things should be evaluated separately in terms of right and wrong."

"You’re right," Gawain sighed lightly, quickly organizing his thoughts to ensure he hadn’t overlooked any questions. Soon, he had another concern, "Wait, I have a question—according to your explanation, the chaotic wave affects the ’connection’ between the ’Observer’ and the real universe, causing their cognition to shift. How did the Dragonkin manage not to be affected by this? What method did Talronde use to safely survive each wave?"

The voice from the golden egg fell silent, then a few seconds later, she softly reminded, "This already touches on specific technology, Gawain."

It was like a cold wind blowing through the summer afternoon. Gawain suddenly cooled down from the excitement of gaining important knowledge, realizing that his discussion with Enya had ventured into very dangerous territory. Still, he couldn’t resist confirming, "This part can’t be discussed? You’ve already told me so much about the basic concepts..."

"Knowledge and technology are different. Although overly advanced knowledge can also be dangerous and may even be contaminated, at least it requires a process of learning and transformation. You can gradually accept it as you learn, understand, and verify it—even if harmful, its harm can be minimized. But technology... technology that bypasses the research process will eventually reveal its toxicity, and the Dragonkin have learned this harsh lesson in the Inversion Tide chaos."

Enya’s words left Gawain speechless; however, the feeling of "answers within reach yet blocked by a thin barrier" made him particularly uncomfortable. But fortunately, the gentle voice from the golden egg soon spoke again, "Of course, I just can’t directly tell you the technology, which doesn’t mean I can’t point you in some directions—especially after you and the Dragonkin have paid such a huge price, the mortals in this world deserve to take a further step on the path of survival.

"Though the chaotic wave is a terrifying natural phenomenon and a disaster with extinction-level severity for unprotected observers, its duration is not really that long. Each chaotic wave usually ends within one planetary orbit cycle. As far as I know, the longest record doesn’t exceed two cycles, and what you need to do is survive within one to two of these planetary orbits.

"The key to survival is to isolate observers from the chaotic wave’s impact. As long as the observers’ minds aren’t affected, no matter how intense the chaotic wave is, it would be just a breeze to you.

"The key to Talronde’s immunity during the chaotic wave lies in the shield system that once covered the entire continent—the ancient Great Shield of Talronde provides not only protection against the physical world but also deflects the chaotic wave’s impact on the observers’ minds. For over a million years, as the chaotic wave approached, the Dragonkin would collectively return to the Great Shield, escaping the world’s ’mental exile’ until they re-emerged post-chaotic wave... taking stock of the relics left by perishing civilizations.

"So, the crux of the issue is the Great Shield of Talronde," Gawain said, staring intently at Enya’s eggshell. "The key technology to resist the chaotic wave lies in the ruins of the Great Shield. If we can help the Dragonkin rebuild that shield while gradually learning and mastering this crucial technology along the way, we can..."

"Unfortunately, that’s precisely the most problematic area," Enya interrupted with a soft sigh before Gawain could finish. "Firstly, the Great Shield is exceedingly ancient, built over a million years ago during the golden age of Talronde. Its core technology is vast and complex, even a grand mechanic like Balogar couldn’t fully grasp it, let alone the contemporary Dragonkin, who have no means to repair the Great Shield—let alone during Omega’s active era, when the Great Shield underwent dozens of self-upgradations. Today, the remaining shield generators on the Talronde wasteland are beyond the understanding of a mortal mind... I’m afraid only Omega himself knows the complete blueprint of that system.’

"Secondly, even if the shield generators themselves were repaired, the Great Shield doesn’t have a complete protective function because its ’core component’ for protecting the observers isn’t a part of the shield system."

Gawain instinctively raised his eyebrows: "The core component for protecting the observers isn’t in the shield generator? Then where is it..."

"It is me," Enya said calmly. "The key to the Dragonkin resisting the chaotic wave was that they found a way to convert divine power into a shield—though the Age of Mythology has ended."

Gawain: "..."

After staring blankly for a full half-minute, Gawain finally spoke: "So, when the Dragonkin broke their chains during the coming of age, they also broke the key means to resist the chaotic wave? This..."

"As you said, the Talronde Great Shield centered around me was their key to survive so many seasons of civilization amidst the chaotic wave, and it’s because of this that both I and they endured this mutual shackle for so long, but such a demanding balance was always going to break eventually... Although we always carefully maintained it, my divine part reached a critical point of losing control many years ago, and Heragor was very aware of this," Enya sighed, "Remember what I told you? Nothing in the world is truly eternal, even without breaking the cradle, this balance couldn’t be maintained for much longer."

"Well, after destruction, there is reconstruction, at least we have capital to break out from the predetermined slow death," Gawain shook his head helplessly, "But the problems we have to face next are huge..."

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