Chapter 23: Our Declining Era

Two hundred years had passed, and several generations had lived since the Great Flood.

Now clad in animal skins and clothes, the people of the Babylonian tribe no longer needed their natural abundant fur for warmth. Their thick black body hair gradually diminished, their bodies became straighter, and their fair skin began to show. They began to evolve from profusely haired ape-like beings to sparsely haired sub-humans, their physique increasingly resembling the rugged, strong, and muscular Western human race.

They once possessed glorious civilized tribes and established city-states, but they had yet to recover, still living in rudimentary agricultural communities, even lacking the ability to rebuild city-states. Their glory was built upon the foundation laid by the great Hero-King, Gilgamesh. That great Hero-King possessed the strongest power in the world. With his sole might, he suppressed all races and countless monstrous beasts, elevating their Sumerian race to the pinnacle of the food chain!

But without the Hero-King, they would have nothing. They could not develop into the Bronze or Iron Age. How could they possibly fight against towering colossal beasts with just simple stone spears and clubs? The only sacred sword of civilization, the metal weapon, the Sword of Damocles, had been permanently buried with Hero-King Gilgamesh in the cataclysmic Great Flood, sinking into the endless deep sea.

Even now, they lacked the ability to rebuild city walls. The royal city of Uruk was built by Gilgamesh alone. He personally moved giant stones to encircle it, completing it in just one month. For ordinary people, the labor involved in building such a colossal city would be comparable to the difficulty of constructing the pyramids in ancient Egypt, requiring over a decade. In this world, without minerals, they could not follow the path of ancient Earthlings in metal smelting, or enter the Bronze and Iron Age. Perhaps they would be forced to embark on a different path of civilization, unlike Earth's.

At this moment, Medea, daughter of the Babylonian tribal chief, sighed:

“It was truly magnificent, an epic era belonging to one man—the great Hero-King Gilgamesh. No wonder people of that time sang his praises, wrote epics for him, and chronicled his glory.”

Vast epics, a glorious civilization.

Merchants, shops, coliseums, slavery.

The exquisite and splendid royal palace of Uruk, where the great Hero-King sat upon his throne, his eyes deep and boundless, his hand resting on the Sword of Damocles, surveying all beings. What a majestic and powerful man he was.

“Our era has declined, heading towards decay and extinction. If the divine Sword of Civilization hadn't been lost, even without the might of the Blood of Power, our lives wouldn't necessarily be so difficult.”

“Heaven, are you abandoning our Babylonian tribe?”

“Civilization is the power that protects our intelligent species... I, Medea, want to know the path for our civilization to move forward! How exactly are we to survive?!”

Medea's expression was calm. She was the bravest and most intelligent person in the tribe. Although her physical strength was less than that of men, her combat skills allowed her to overcome most of the tribe's warriors. She looked at the burly men of the hunting party beside her, dressed in animal skins, and brought herself back to reality. “How has the exploration of this area been going?”

Surrounded by a dense, decaying marsh, a man replied, “This is a vast muddy swamp, likely formed by accumulated puddles after the Great Flood. It’s teeming with species and has many delicious fruits.” This was the fertile swamp land that Xu Zhi had created using chicken manure and cow dung, which naturally made the vegetation more luxuriant.

“The Great Flood?” Medea took a deep breath, gazing at the vast, black muddy swamp before her. It was hard to imagine the catastrophe from over two hundred years ago – that immense Great Flood that submerged the entire world. Gods possessed power unimaginable to mortals; a mere gesture could destroy their entire world.

“So this place has abundant food and will be our tribe's next gathering spot...” Her eyes scanned the surroundings, and she suddenly noticed something amiss. “Wait, where are Galkai and Bolognicas?”

Those around exchanged glances, also realizing that two people had vanished. This had never happened before. The wild creatures in this land possessed little intelligence and would not ambush weaker humans. People armed with crude stone spears and axes could not pierce the scales of giant beasts anyway, leaving them only to be slaughtered.

“Something is wrong. This seemingly quiet and peaceful muddy swamp contains something eerie, a terrifying creature unknown to us.” Medea’s expression changed. “The massive bodies of giant beasts cannot enter the swamp; they would only sink here. There are no signs of giant beasts, so it must be swamp creatures secretly attacking us.”

“Go!” Medea made an immediate decision and led over twenty people away.

But then, a grotesque, horrifying gray-black tentacled monster suddenly emerged from the muddy swamp. Its entire body was covered in tendrils resembling grey seaweed, and its tentacles encircled a massive, bloodshot crimson eyeball. What a disproportionate body it possessed. Its massive, bloodshot eyeball astonishingly took up two-thirds of its body.

“So beautiful.”

“How can there be such a beautiful girl in this world!”

Several burly men in animal skins suddenly locked eyes with the evil, alluring, bloodshot eye of the creature. They couldn't help but walk towards it in a frenzy, as if they had seen an unparalleled beauty, so excited that no one could hold them back.

“What are you doing?!”

“Don't go near it!”

Fear spread among those around. Such a bizarre and extraordinary sight had completely overturned their understanding.

Medea, being the most intelligent person in the Babylonian tribe, instantly realized something. “What kind of terrifying creature lives in this muddy land? Those strange, eerie giant eyeballs can actually enchant prey into approaching them! Galkai and Bolognicas, who disappeared, must have walked straight into a trap and their deaths!”

“Run!” She made an immediate decision, abandoning the few people who were enchanted and slowly walking towards the monster, and led the rest to quickly flee.

But then, she suddenly stopped, her eyes glowing with fervor.

“What a wondrous creature this is... It’s weaker than us humans, with weak, soft tentacles and a clumsy giant eyeball, even weaker than the weakest creature I’ve ever seen. Yet it possesses terrifying, inconceivable power, capable of destroying creatures far stronger than itself.”

“Aren’t we just as weak? Why is it that only *they* possess such a unique power...” Medea, her eyes burning with fervor, as if an unnamed torch ignited within them, felt a terrifying thought awaken in her mind:

“I must seize its power and revitalize our tribe!!”

“Kill it, then we flee!” Medea suddenly roared.

“What?” The tribal warriors were all greatly surprised.

She turned back, raising her white stone spear high. A ray of light from the sky fell upon her beautiful, serene face, making her seem like a goddess of war from Norse mythology. “Follow me, let's kill it! I will bring its body back to the tribe!”