Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 968: Chapter 967: Consultation

What is the meaning of life?

The bright white words remain silently displayed on the crystal interface, as if Omega is patiently waiting for Gawain’s answer, while Gawain... for a moment doesn’t know where to start responding.

This question is classic, but also too broad, especially in this context, facing an ”human” artificial intelligence he knows nothing about, he is even more uncertain on how to answer. Perhaps an eloquent and incisive Philosopher could deliver a wide-ranging discourse here, but unfortunately Gawain is not such a Philosopher, so after thinking for a dozen seconds, he just shook his head: ”I don’t know where to start answering this question.”

”...Interesting, system records show that the same or similar answer has appeared four times.”

Gawain paused for a moment, then reacted: ”You’ve asked others this question too?”

”Foreigners are rare in Talronde — which means there are occasionally foreigners,” the text on the interface begins to refresh, ”perhaps intervals of hundreds of years, perhaps thousands, each time a new observation target appears, Omega asks them similar questions — the reaction of the observation target in front of the problem is also very meaningful.”

Gawain suddenly finds it interesting and can’t help asking: ”Is someone instructing you to do this? Did anyone give you instructions to observe and ask questions?”

”No.” The text on the interface immediately responds.

”So this observation behavior is your own... ’interest’?” Gawain finds it increasingly interesting, ”What is the purpose of doing this? To satisfy your curiosity? Do you have curiosity?”

”... Out of necessity for data collection,” whether by illusion or not, the letters appearing on the interface seem to delay for a moment but soon lines of text begin refreshing up, ”Expanding the database and self-growth to become a better service provider is Omega’s duty.”

Gawain looks at the text appearing on the interface, thoughtfully for a moment, then casually says: ”You see, for you, expanding the database, self-growth, becoming a better service provider, that is your life’s meaning.”

”...Hard to understand, Omega does not have life, Omega is a service system, thus does not possess ’life’s meaning’,” those texts begin refreshing again, ”Are you diverting the topic or avoiding answering? Is this question too difficult for you?”

Gawain is speechless for a moment, in fact, until the previous second, he hadn’t taken the conversation seriously — this unexpected communication lacks realism, communicating through a text interface gives him the illusion of playing a question-and-answer game across a great barrier, and only now does he sense this so-called ”Omega” system is sincerely communicating with him on certain matters, sincerely... ”consulting” him.

He does not speak for a moment.

What does this artificial intelligence want to do? Why did it suddenly find him? Is it merely for the need of ”observation” and ”information gathering” it mentioned? It chooses to come after his private conversation with the Dragon God, is there something special about this timing? Is this really a connection initiated by it, or is there actually another commander behind it?

Various guesses surface in his mind, stirring Gawain’s thoughts, and when he temporarily presses these questions down, he finds the text on the interface still remains.

Should he seriously answer this sudden, inexplicable artificial intelligence?

After a brief hesitation, Gawain couldn’t analyze any possibility of conspiracy behind this matter, then he spoke: ”I can only talk about my own thoughts — just consider it as reference.

”I think this question should be thought from both individual and group perspectives — if what you are saying about ’life’ refers to life forms, then they are divided into individuals and groups, at least it’s like this on this planet. For a single life form, it may have many meanings of existence, it could be for reproduction, could be for survival, if it possesses higher intelligence and pursuit, then it might be for acquiring knowledge, for pursuing truth, for better enjoyment, or perhaps live for dreams and self-worth... these are the ’meanings’ to life individuals.

”But if referring to groups, to ’life’ as a broad concept... then I feel, enabling self-perpetuation is ’life’s own meaning of existence.”

The interface text this time does not start refreshing immediately, causing Gawain to wait for two seconds and unable to help but ask: ”Omega, are you still listening?”

”Omega is listening,” Omega’s information finally resumes refreshing, lines of text begin rolling upwards, ”Interesting answer, sounds like a thoughtfully considered result. Is this the ’human being’ answer?”

”This is just my own answer,” Gawain immediately says, ”As I said before, life is divided into individual and collective, and in such issues, there is no unified, recognized answer for human beings as a whole, so I can only state my own opinions. To be honest, your question itself is quite vague, the definition of life, the definition of existence, definition of meaning... these are not quantifiable concepts, so I said my answer only as reference.”

”Omega understands, your answer as ’reference’... is very enlightening. It will be recorded into the database, certainly to be put into use...”

The refreshing text on the interface suddenly stops, followed by the trembling surface of the crystal panel emitting faint light, the interface once used for displaying temperature, air flow, and other data reappears in front of Gawain.

Why did it suddenly leave?

Gawain doesn’t respond immediately, just about to ask Omega what it plans to put this data to use for, when he immediately senses a certain presence behind him, and his facial expression stiffens instantly.

He stands up (as the device is only a little over a meter high, while Gawain is over two meters tall), somewhat awkwardly turns his head, seeing Melita standing at the door, looking at him with a bewildered expression.

”I...” Melita opens her mouth, as if organizing her words before speaking strangely, ”I noticed the door wasn’t closed and heard you seemed to be talking to someone, so...”

Corners of Gawain’s mouth twitch slightly: ”So what did you see?”

”I saw you speaking to my air conditioner,” Melita answers honestly, ”And with such thoughtful expression... ”(translated: literal interpretation)

Gawain: ”...”

”That’s it, Omega suddenly appeared just now,” after a brief embarrassment, Gawain decides to tell the truth, ”It seems curious about me as an ’outsider’, so we exchanged a few things - you know, I don’t have your kind of Resonance Core, so communication is somewhat... strange.”

Melita blinks, actually seems to accept this statement immediately, even showing a look of realization: ”Oh—so that’s it. I thought, you usually look like a serious and responsible person...”

Gawain: ”...”

What more can he say? There’s already one person in this world studying ”Holy Gibberish of Emperor Gawain Cecil” all day long... it’s good that Melita maintains this awareness.

Afterwards, Melita still remains at the door, seemingly having no intention of leaving. Her gaze falls on Gawain, with several hesitations seeming like she wants to say something.

”You looking for me?” Gawain finally realized that Melita’s sudden presence near his room wasn’t a coincidence, so he proactively asked.

Melita pondered, nodded: ”Actually, I’m just a bit curious... After all, today you had a long discussion with our gods, and as far as I recall, no other mortal has experienced something similar...”

Gawain smiled slightly, pointing to the side: ”Would you like to come in and chat?”

Melita didn’t refuse. She went into the room and casually sat on a chair next to the bar against the wall. She motioned to the side, and a drink automatically flew over from a nearby shelf, landing by her hand. She picked up the cup and lightly shook it at Gawain: ”Care for a drink? Though it possibly can’t compare to the gods’ offering.”

Gawain sat down next to Melita, politely declining her offer: ”No need, I’m... not thirsty.”

He wasn’t just being polite; after having had too much ’cola’ with the Dragon God earlier, he felt like his lungs were about to float away. He genuinely didn’t feel like drinking anything now...

Melita was indifferent: ”Alright then, I’ll enjoy it myself.”

Gawain gave her a look: ”You want to know what I talked about with your gods? Are you sure you want to inquire?”

Melita’s gesture froze instantly, a visible sign of tension appearing on her face. Clearly, she immediately recalled some unpleasant experiences and quickly shook her head: ”It’s not like that... I’m just curious about the general topics you discussed, without delving into specifics... Ah, actually, I’m not that intensely curious...”

”I understand, I understand,” Gawain couldn’t help but laugh, ”I already knew. As a member of the Dragonkin, there are things you truly can’t discuss with outsiders—not just issues like Divine Punishment or ’company regulations’... Rest assured, I already have a sense of propriety and won’t touch that ’lock’.”

Melita’s actions froze into surprise this time.

She stared wide-eyed at Gawain for quite a while before revealing a slightly complex expression: ”You... it seems you’ve really talked about some remarkable things with our gods. You actually know even this.”

Gawain nodded: ”We talked about Talronde’s history, the events of the Ancient Era on this planet, and topics involving faith and the realm of the gods.”

Melita seemed to be lost in confusion. After thinking for a long time, she couldn’t help but ask curiously: ”Why would our gods discuss those things with you?”

”...Even I’m not sure,” Gawain admitted frankly, ”perhaps... even He is merely searching for some answers.”

”Searching for answers?” Melita seemed even more perplexed, ”Can gods have times of confusion too?”

”Humans can be confused, so gods can be confused too,” Gawain smiled, then looked at Melita and suddenly asked curiously, ”Do you devoutly believe in the ’Dragon God’?”

Melita opened her mouth, but suddenly hesitated for a moment. If she were in front of a priest or the councilors, this should have been a question requiring an immediate affirmative answer. However, in front of Gawain, an ’outsider,’ she ultimately gave a possibly not so ’devout’ answer: ”I... revere Him greatly, but I’m not sure if that counts as devout.”

”Reverence is part of devotion, but devotion requires not just reverence. I understand your answer,” Gawain nodded, then continued to ask, ”What about your friend Nuoletta? Is she a devout believer? And the other upper Dragonkin?”

”Well... I’m not really sure how to rate others,” Melita hesitated but, after a couple of seconds of internal debate, she seemed to decide that selling out a friend is fine, ”Nuoletta is probably similar to me. At least as far as I’ve seen, the Dragonkin of Upper Talronde are more in awe of our gods—of course, I mean to say we have great respect for the Dragon God, but we all feel a bit of fear towards the Church’s priests. You know, places like the Church always make me a bit nervous...”

Melita shrank her neck as she spoke, as if she was already realizing she was doing something quite disrespectful. Then, perhaps to steer away from the topic that made her particularly uncomfortable, she added: ”However, in Lower Talronde, there seems to be many fervently devout Dragonkin... They even use more than half of their monthly free dose of Enhancers for devout ceremonies.”

Gawain appeared thoughtful.

The upper Dragonkin mostly revered the Dragon God, while the lower Dragonkin were closer to unconditionally devout believers...? Is this because the lower Dragonkin’s sole value in society is to provide support for the Dragon God while the upper Dragonkin need to do some actual work? Or is there some deeper arrangement behind this situation...? Is this the silent approval of the Dragon God, or the implicit agreement of Upper Talronde?

”What are you thinking about?”

Melita’s voice snapped Gawain out of his thoughts, and he came back to reality, shaking his head with a smile: ”Nothing much. I just suddenly found your ’Enhancers’ to be quite an incredible and useful thing. They can even be used in religious ceremonies?”

”Enhancers are a series of biochemical agents, some of which can work in tandem with our implant technology, and they have various functions,” Melita immediately stated with a proud expression, ”Some Enhancers can boost nerve responses and physical recovery, while others focus on mental concentration, enhancing transcendental perception. Those used in religious ceremonies are usually ’soul’ Enhancers, and their consumption in Lower Talronde is nearly a hundred times that in Upper Talronde. It’s actually a type of low-potency hallucinogen, just not as strong...”

Listening to Melita’s enthusiastic explanation, Gawain suddenly recalled a face and a promise he almost forgot, so he hurriedly interrupted the Lady Dragon in front of him: ”Right, Melita, there’s something I’d like to ask you a favor about...”

”Ah?” Melita was taken aback, then quickly nodded, ”Of course, if I can manage it.”

”Here’s the thing, I have... a friend,” Gawain hesitated for a moment, trying hard to organize his language so the matter doesn’t come out sounding too weird, ”He wants me to inquire in Talronde if there’s any technology you might have to help... with hair growth... like Enhancers or something.”

Gawain finally managed to finish the request, and Melita immediately gave him a quirky look up and down: ”But you don’t seem...”

Gawain’s mouth twitched: ”I really do have this kind of friend!”

”The friend you mentioned, isn’t it you?” Melita seemed a bit surprised and finally realized, ”Ah, sorry, that was inappropriate, I didn’t mean it that way...”

”It’s okay,” Gawain said helplessly, ”Just tell me if Talronde has something like that—it shouldn’t be difficult for you all, given your technology seems...”

”But we really don’t have anything like that,” Melita said with wide-eyed innocence and an expression of helplessness.

Gawain: ”...With Talronde’s advanced technology...”

”Because dragons don’t have hair...”

Gawain: ”...”