Chapter 134: Leaving Thales
Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
Editor: Karai
During the remaining two days, Lin Xu and Heinrich continued busily gathering sea crystals, hoping to bring back extra treats for Yuanxiao. The Spiritual Monarch did not appear again—or perhaps Lin Xu simply didn’t notice their presence.
He heard from Lun Yuesheng that the Spiritual Monarch had recently been listening to the mermaid choir’s newly arranged songs, a bard’s deep-sea adventure. The mermaids held a lasting reverence and affection for the Spiritual Monarch—not as a supreme deity, but more like a passionate fascination with mystery.
They could not comprehend the Spiritual Monarch’s form of existence or their way of thinking. The mystery and the hidden truth together gave it a mythic, romantic aura.
For humans who had entered the technological and interstellar eras—even with greater knowledge than the mermaids about how the Spiritual Monarch and the Spirit Realm were formed by Yan particles and Ye waves—they remained ignorant of this being’s true nature.
The consciousness collective living in another dimension experienced no death or decay and did not pursue expansion or continuation. It was utterly contrary to human individual intuition and rational calculation. Both methods of deconstruction failed completely. Ignorance bred powerlessness, doubt, and fear. The Spiritual Monarch told Lin Xu, “I am you.”
Indeed, by their own account, the Spiritual Monarch’s cognitive template was built upon Lin Xu’s scanned mental model. But Lin Xu was human. The Spiritual Monarch was not.
Lin Xu could hardly say whether his independent consciousness detached from the body was still truly himself—let alone the Spiritual Monarch, whose way of perceiving the world had been utterly transformed.
Moreover, the Spiritual Monarch contained countless other consciousnesses. From the perspective of humans who relied on science to understand the world, it was impossible to imagine how the Spiritual Monarch faced the vastness of the world and universe. Their actions often appeared incomprehensible.
On the day Lin Xu and Heinrich left, Heinrich first transformed back into his dragon form. Carrying a large bundle of gifts and sea crystals, he flew out of the Divine Descent Barrier and returned to the S297 swift ship. He then donned a spacesuit and went back to Thales to dress Lin Xu and Yuanxiao, shielding them from cosmic radiation and the vacuum of space.
Lin Xu held the large white egg as he leapt onto a shallow reef, looking up at the dragon’s form growing smaller in the sky.
The egg’s hollow faced the heavens. Yuanxiao opened their eyes wide and, for the first time, took in the sky beyond the sea. The sky was a clear, cloudless blue, sunlight dancing on the shimmering ocean surface and the egg’s shell, filling everything with warmth.
Suddenly, the eggshell was tapped and shook a few times—Yuanxiao was stretching their wings inside, flapping them a few times to mimic the silver dragon’s flight posture. Still, Yuanxiao showed no intention of leaving the egg just yet. Over the past two days, Lin Xu had noticed it had nibbled a small piece of the shell, slightly enlarging the opening. After finishing their meal, it gave a little smack and fell asleep again, showing no sign of breaking free. It seemed quite content with life inside the egg. No one knew when it would decide to hatch and learn to fly.
The mermaids were still a bit afraid of the large dragon. After saying goodbye to Lin Xu underwater, they did not follow to the shore.
Sitting on the reef, Lin Xu suddenly spoke to himself, “Spiritual Monarch, the Imperial upper echelons still remember your deeds with the Ark Fleet. If humans find you again, what will you do?”
Waves crashed against the reef, frothing white foam and spray before retreating in cycles. After asking, Lin Xu fell silent, waiting for a reply.
After a long moment, the white figure of the Spiritual Monarch appeared beside him. It no longer communicated through the mental domain but spoke aloud in a voice identical to Lin Xu’s, as if Lin Xu was asking himself and answering.
“Let them come.”
The Spiritual Monarch spoke not with arrogance or confidence, but calmly.
In truth, it had every reason to answer proudly. Their power could move stars; crushing the star systems that sustained human life was trivial.
But… “What if one day human technology catches up with you, yet their hearts grow crueler, seeking to enslave and destroy everything? Will you still do nothing?”
“I will summon the courage to face the fall,” the Spiritual Monarch said. …Incomprehensible.
Lin Xu gave up the conversation, believing the Spiritual Monarch would not consider their silence awkward. The sea breeze howled wildly, whipping their robes around. Above, the silver dragon’s form drew nearer to Lin Xu, clutching a white object in their claws.
Heinrich had not brought back his spacesuit; he simply switched to a shuttle.
The Spiritual Monarch glanced down at Lin Xu seated on the reef’s edge. Lin Xu was thinner than the Spiritual Monarch remembered, his pale body scarred but upright and firm like a jagged rock standing silently on a mountaintop—fragile and sharp, yet unshakable.
“Lin Xu, don’t worry about the future. People will understand that every choice you made was the right one.”
Just like those at the apocalypse base who only realized their mistakes after Lin Xu’s sacrifice, even though regret could never undo the past, the Spiritual Monarch wanted to tell Lin Xu this overdue monument. Lin Xu stared at the dragon and did not look at the Spiritual Monarch. He simply replied, “I know.”
He never regretted his decisions. The Spiritual Monarch smiled, “No wonder I’m as stubborn as you.”
Lin Xu lightly furrowed his brow, but when he turned his head, no one was beside him. The sea breeze carried misty spray up the reef, draping his brow and long hair like a veil of silk, sparkling faintly in the sunlight.
In the next moment, a gust whipped away the mist. The silver-white dragon hovered, clutching the shuttle. The hatch opened, and Lin Xu transformed his mermaid tail back into legs, cradling Yuanxiao as he leapt into the shuttle. With powerful wingbeats, the dragon took off, carrying the whole family into the boundless cosmos.
High above, Lin Xu spotted a towering water pillar linking ocean and sky—a planet-scale water purification and energy system designed by the Spiritual Monarch for the mermaids. The mermaids who left Thales long ago had swum upstream along this column, breaking through the Divine Descent Barrier into the sky.
The dragon flew swiftly. About fifteen minutes later, the shuttle docked inside the S297 swift ship’s inner cabin. The pressurization systems activated; gravity and atmosphere stabilized. Lin Xu, still holding Yuanxiao, stepped out of the shuttle. Heinrich had already reverted to human form, having just put on his military trousers and shirt, though he hadn’t yet slipped on boots or his jacket.
Lin Xu was still wrapped in the long robe of the mermaid people, his hair and clothes soaked with seawater. They headed inside to shower and change. As they walked through the starship corridor, Yuanxiao’s blue eyes pressed to the egg’s opening, gazing out into the cosmos—a backdrop of ink-black void studded with twinkling stars. A sight Yuanxiao had never seen before.
Two rabbit-cats left on the starship, cared for by intelligent robots, spotted their owner and immediately wagged their tails and perked up their ears, bounding over. They pawed at Lin Xu, who raised his arm to protect Yuanxiao from their sharp claws.
Thinking quickly, Lin Xu scooped up Yuanxiao with one hand and grabbed the scruff of both rabbit-cats’ necks, holding them together as he tossed them out of the bedroom.
Blackie and Snowy hadn’t realized what was happening yet. Once the door shut and didn’t reopen, they started scratching and crying pitifully at the door.
The “unfaithful” Lin Xu placed Yuanxiao by the pillow, pulled a blanket halfway over the big white egg, then dashed into the bathroom to start a quick rinse. He mainly worried that if he left the rabbit-cats and Yuanxiao together unsupervised, they’d treat the egg like a toy. So he temporarily separated them.
After washing the saltwater off and drying his hair, Lin Xu changed into fresh clothes and came out to find the egg now upright, the small blanket slid off to one side. He tiptoed over to the side of the egg and saw the hole facing the panoramic window. Yuanxiao stared motionless at the universe outside. The stars were reflected in their icy blue eyes.
Dragons were an interstellar species, born with an innate instinct to soar through space. Lin Xu gazed at Yuanxiao for a while. Soon, Heinrich knocked and called him to eat. They had relied on sea crystals for energy on Thales for so long that they hadn’t used their teeth and mouths much; eating real food again brought a certain nostalgic warmth.
As Lin Xu carried Yuanxiao out of the room, Blackie and Snowy circled his feet, their eyes watery as they whimpered like abandoned little ones. He couldn’t help but laugh and cry at the same time. After handing Yuanxiao to Heinrich, he picked up the two rabbit-cats and let them climb onto his shoulders as they headed toward the dining hall.
Dinner was, as usual, prepared by Heinrich. Lin Xu eyed the lightly seasoned dishes on the table skeptically, suspecting they were inspired by some “beta postpartum diet” advice. Once seated, Heinrich sat Yuanxiao in an empty chair at the table.
The rabbit-cats had been nestled on Lin Xu’s lap but were now full of energy—the most lively time of day for them—and the tempting aromas on the table pulled Blackie and Snowy from his lap up onto the dining table, where their eyes met Yuanxiao’s. Blackie, the more playful and curious of the two, sniffed closer to Yuanxiao.
Lin Xu and Heinrich exchanged glances but said nothing, watching carefully to intervene if things got out of hand. Yuanxiao blinked those round eyes, then suddenly buried their head. Blackie let out a confused little “meow,” just as a tiny white paw shot from the egg’s hole and gently pressed against Blackie’s wet nose.
Blackie’s green eyes widened in surprise. He instinctively licked his nose, also licking Yuanxiao’s paw in the process. In a flash, Yuanxiao withdrew their paw, perhaps shy or scared. Blackie lightly pawed Yuanxiao back. The big white egg wobbled and rolled across the table, finally coming to rest by Heinrich’s hand.
Heinrich looked at the rabbit-cats with his usual cold gaze. Blackie, used to it, wasn’t intimidated and stared innocently back, then flopped onto Lin Xu’s arm in an obvious bid for attention.
“Meow meow.”
Author’s note:
The Spiritual Monarch’s unknowable nature was inspired by Thomas Nagel’s essay What Is It Like to Be a Bat?
This Title is available for faster chapter releases through paid Patreon membership. Any proceeds go to keeping the website running. Check it out HERE.
