Chapter 353: What the heck—a poem?

High above in the lands of Cecil, Gawain had no idea what that “My Little Pony” lady had been up to after she left. His full attention was fixed on the Eternal Slate before him—or rather, some kind of ancient information storage medium.

Amber stood nearby, eyes wide with curiosity as she stared at the metal plate in Gawain’s hands, murmuring, “This one’s shape is totally different from the last piece!”

Then she muttered something else, “But seriously, you traded a chunk of scrap metal for an Eternal Slate… is that really fair?”

“The value depends on who needs it,” Gawain replied calmly. “To us, that’s just scrap metal—we have piles of the same stuff, even samples of divine flesh. But to others, that scrap is a transcendent artifact on par with the Eternal Slate.”

Amber snorted, “Your made-up explanations are even better than Pittman’s.”

Gawain just smiled quietly, not bothering to argue. Deep down, he knew he wasn’t wrong—divine flesh is priceless, after all. Tossing a small piece to the major churches could probably make all the sects go berserk. But Tyr didn’t think that way; those deep-sea harmony gods could devour dozens of tons of divine corpses at a single party…

He waved his hand and instructed Amber, “Watch over this while I try to communicate with the Eternal Slate.”

“Alright, alright,” Amber agreed, then immediately started rambling, “You know, I feel like I’m always standing guard over you. Every time I think about you crawling out of a grave, I get this vibe like I’m watching over a wake…”

This girl never ran out of nonsense to say while working.

Gawain ignored Amber’s chatter and began to release his mental energy. The Eternal Slate in his hands immediately responded with a familiar resonance.

As the plate seemed to warm slightly, Gawain felt his spirit detach from his body once more. A transcendent perception washed over him—an indescribable, drifting sensation—and suddenly, brief fragments of information surfaced in his mind…

He focused intently to listen to the message, but when it fully appeared, he was stunned:

“…Do not drown in this illusory tranquil long night… the darkness will inevitably be broken…

“…Do not cling to your warm cradle… the cradle will one day overturn…

“…Do not slumber in the sanctuary of your soul… the sanctuary will become an unbreakable shackle…

“Set forth, before the stars flicker, set forth, before the long night ends…

“If you do not hurry, the daylight will arrive…”

After this poem-like message ended, only long-lasting background noise and an unbearable spiritual emptiness remained.

In this boundless, perceptionless state of transcendence, Gawain’s mind kept racing. He was baffled: that was it? The second Eternal Slate contained only a poem?

What did this poem mean? Who left it? The legendary Zenith Star Fleet that once defied the gods? What was their purpose in leaving this poem behind?

Could it be that these ultra-advanced alien beings also had an artistic streak?

Gawain’s thoughts spiraled wildly, but he quickly reined them in. The truth couldn’t be that simple—the Eternal Slates weren’t just ordinary storage devices. They held divine secrets, transcendent powers, god-slaying battle reports, and countless other things capable of altering humanity’s course. For such a small poem to appear among all that… it was no coincidence.

This poem must carry special significance, perhaps hinting at something deeper.

Gawain carefully recalled what he had “heard” and “seen.” The poem seemed to warn against becoming intoxicated by a fleeting, peaceful illusion. It hinted that something would shatter this temporary calm—the cradle would overturn, the night would break. Could this be a metaphor for the cyclical… magical tides?

Was the brief peace the interval between these magical storms? The cradle—could that be the planet humanity currently inhabits?

The poem also mentioned shackles and the sanctuary of the soul… what did that mean? Could “sanctuary of the soul” relate to the Sleepless Ones?

But whoever left this poem probably didn’t know about the Sleepless Ones—the Eternal Slates were created long before human history even began…

And what about “daylight”? Was that just a poetic way to describe the magical tide? If so, why call it daylight?

Gawain’s mind raced through these questions in his transcendent state. Just as he wondered if the information on the second Eternal Slate was truly finished, new data suddenly flooded his mind. The endless background noise vanished, replaced by a growing light in the infinite darkness.

The light formed an image: a blue-green planet drifting silently in the vast cosmos. At the edge of the scene, a massive, curved atmospheric storm loomed, radiating an overwhelming pressure.

After a few seconds of dull realization, Gawain understood he was looking at the very planet beneath his feet. The curved atmospheric storm at the edge was the “sun” orbiting this world—the gas giant!

With this realization, his first instinct was to get a clearer look at the vibrant planet’s surface—how many continents did it have? How vast were its oceans? Where were Loren, Ansu, and Typhon located? And where might the sea witches be?

But he quickly found he couldn’t control the viewpoint. He also sensed that what he was seeing wasn’t a real-time image. Information from deep within his mind told him this was a simulation—a snapshot of what the planet looked like tens of thousands, maybe millions of years ago.

Then, without control, the viewpoint shifted closer. Around the planet, shining points of light appeared, each accompanied by matching symbols.

These were written in a language unlike any known universal tongue, but their meanings flowed directly into Gawain’s mind as the characters appeared. The glowing points bore names:

Radiance Station One, Radiance Station Two… Zenith Satellite Group… Sky Dome Station… Skybridge Reference Station… Gas Giant Monitoring Station, First Starbridge, Second Starbridge…

One by one, these names appeared, but then each was marked in red—likely indicating malfunction or offline status.

At first, only a few were red, but the color rapidly spread until nearly all the space stations were offline or broken, leaving only a handful of lonely lights flickering in space.

Only then did the information stored in the Eternal Slate truly end. A familiar dizziness swept over Gawain as his spirit quickly withdrew from the transcendent state. When his vision stabilized, sure enough, Amber’s big face was right in front of him…

This half-elf always did this every time. Gawain had long since grown numb to it, now able to ignore her completely. He simply waved his hand and pulled Amber aside, then furrowed his brow and began pondering alone.

From the final image, he gleaned a great deal and thought even more. What he saw and realized left him unsettled for a long time—

There really was something out there in space. A vast something.

That super-advanced civilization that left this world many years ago, vanished without a trace—they had left a system of monitoring stations and management facilities orbiting this planet. But over time, these stations had failed one by one. The satellite Gawain had once inhabited was probably one of the last functioning devices!

Were these installations still up there? Gawain was almost certain most of them were.

They might have lost communication, but the orbital control systems likely lasted longer than the comms. Some facilities might have crashed to the surface over the eons, but remnants must remain—after all, the simple satellite he once used was still intact. Larger, longer-lasting space structures wouldn’t all have fallen.

Yet none of these could be observed—whether by magic like Eagle Eye or purely optical telescopes, no artificial objects could be seen in orbit. Perhaps their stealth systems were even more advanced than their orbital controls?

Gawain frowned, lost in thought. Finding no answers, he sighed and looked up to see Amber still standing there. She blinked, surprised. “Hey, you’re still here?”

“Of course I’m here!” Amber said, hands on hips. “You pulled me aside just now and then forgot all about me?”

“Ah… I wasn’t paying attention,” Gawain tapped his forehead, shaking off the last dizziness, then stood and stretched. “How long was I ‘asleep’?”

“About half an hour, but you look like you haven’t slept in three days,” Amber said, smirking. “So, what did you see? I know you can sense all kinds of weird stuff from strange places…”

“What kind of thing is that to say?” Gawain shot her a glance. “Put the Eternal Slate away with the first one. As for what I saw… you wouldn’t understand even if I explained.”

“Tch, stingy,” Amber muttered, packing up the slate while grumbling, “You really trust me to handle something this precious? Aren’t you worried I might sneak off and sell it?”

Gawain laughed, “Go ahead—find someone brave enough to buy it. I guarantee the moment you show it off, twenty church knight orders will come after you. Then I won’t be able to protect you.”

Amber immediately shrank back, as if those twenty church knights were already at her door. “Eek! You’re scary when you talk like that!”

(End of chapter)