Chapter 229 Little Ai: Is This Something I Can Know? (Two-in-one)
“Fireworks?”
Aerora listened to Shaya’s words and couldn’t help but be slightly taken aback.
“Mm.”
Shaya extended a finger and drew a few strokes in the air.
His finger was empty at the moment.
Yet, azure lines appeared in the void.
Then, they materialized into incredibly clear magic models.
“Little Ai, do you still remember the hunting techniques of the Ceylon snowfield hunters for reindeer herds, which I told you about when we were very young?”
Shaya spoke softly as he drew in mid-air.
“Of course.”
Aerora nodded gently.
Although that was many years ago.
Aerora remembered every single thing she had experienced with Shaya, every ordinary daily fragment, every simple or complex memory.
Memories do fade with time, but legends are legends precisely because they can solidify fleeting things into eternity.
Back when Aerora broke free from the Holy Spear’s restraint, officially advanced to Legend, and began to condense her exclusive Spiritual Ocean.
The first thing she did was to firmly seal and back up all past memories related to Shaya, along with all her emotions for Shaya at that moment, in the deepest part of her soul.
Because after accompanying Shaya through so many bizarre events, Aerora was truly afraid.
She was afraid that for some reason, she would lose her memory, forget her memories with Shaya, and forget her feelings from that time.
Even more so, she was afraid that like many other Legendary Experts, she would gradually forget her original intentions over time, forget the feelings she once cherished, and eventually walk down a completely opposite path from Shaya, becoming strangers whose destinies could no longer intersect.
Even knowing the possibility of these things happening was extremely slim, the mere thought made Aerora feel incredibly uneasy.
So, she engraved the precious memory fragments into the depths of her soul.
As long as the soul named Aerora existed for a moment, even if her physical body perished and time passed, that imprint, like one carved in stone, would never disappear.
Even if one day, she, like in those melodramatic romance novels she had read, suffered amnesia, forgot the past, or chose a path contrary to Shaya’s under the temptation of others or various reasons…
As long as that imprint remained, she could recall everything from the past and rediscover the intensely passionate emotions she held for Shaya today.
Such a thought flashed through the blonde maiden’s mind.
She spoke softly, “I remember everything you’ve ever told me.”
“Mm.”
Shaya, unaware of Aerora’s inner thoughts, simply nodded. “This is also experience the icefield hunters learned from the wolf packs on the snowfields.”
“Snowfield reindeer are large, and each herd numbers in the hundreds. Although they are herbivores, if they truly unleash their shared courage and choose to fight together, they can be a significant threat even to a wolf pack.”
“Being trampled by hooves, being pierced by antlers, these actions can injure the wolves.”
“And for wild snow wolves, injury is equivalent to death.”
“Therefore, to avoid injury during the hunt, the wolf packs choose smarter hunting tactics.”
“They divide the reindeer herd into smaller groups, using prolonged harassment and guerrilla tactics to fatigue the reindeer’s spirit, thus severing their possibility of uniting against a common enemy.”
“When the reindeer’s spirits are completely exhausted, and they start to become extremely vigilant, seeing enemies everywhere… then the wolf packs will join forces to drive the reindeer into a dangerous terrain, such as a cliff.”
“At that point, the wolf packs don’t even need to attack actively. They just need to create some noise outside to scare them, and those already on edge reindeer will start to fight amongst themselves, falling off the cliff in mutual trampling, crowding, and chaos.”
“Without active attacks, they can feast effortlessly.”
Shaya’s words paused slightly.
Between his fingers, red dots representing mythical creatures slowly gathered in a certain part of the void.
“Similarly, in our current situation, the principle is much the same.”
“Being enemies with all the mythical creatures in the world sounds cool, but it also means recklessness and inefficiency.”
“Conversely, if we can find ways to divide those mythical creatures who are already hostile to each other, making them deplete each other’s strength.”
“Then, we just need to find a suitable opportunity to catch them all in one net—”
“Then.”
Shaya opened his crossed fingers. “Boom.”
At the same time, the lifelike azure image he had sketched in mid-air exploded in an instant.
It transformed into countless shimmering azure light dots, scattering downwards.
“So, should the fireworks be viewed from below? Or from the side?”
Aerora remained silent during this process, only listening quietly to Shaya’s narration.
This was also why Shaya always liked to talk casually in front of Aerora. She was always an excellent listener. As long as Shaya started talking, she would attentively assume a listening posture, occasionally nodding obediently and asking questions, never being perfunctory.
Only after Shaya finished his explanation did Aerora look at him.
“Making those powerful mythical creatures feel threatened, making them suspicious and on edge, is not that easy.”
“So, who are you planning to deceive this time?”
Shaya was stunned. “Why do you say that? Has my image in Little Ai’s heart already been solidified into a great deceiver?”
Aerora stared into Shaya’s eyes and said softly, “Because of experience.”
“Since childhood, you’ve always been like this.”
“Whenever you wear that expression, it means you’re about to deceive someone again, or rather, another existence that’s your enemy is about to have a bad time.”
The first time she saw Shaya wear such an expression was in the train station of Crimson Frost Lord City, the closest one to Ceylon after its destruction.
Shaya said he was going to the city library to check some information and asked Aerora to wait for him on the train.
But he had not returned by the time the magic train was about to depart.
Only later did Aerora learn that Shaya had thoroughly investigated and discovered that a female Titled Beast Tamer from the White Tower was on that magic train and would certainly notice Aerora’s talent as a Beast Tamer, feeling a desire to nurture her.
If Aerora hadn’t jumped off the train on impulse in that split second, without even thinking, then she and Shaya would truly have parted ways.
Even with the bond they shared from Ceylon, being separated and whether they could reach where they were today, no one could say for sure.
“Although Shaya, you always call me a shrew, and I am indeed clumsy.”
“However, by your side, after watching you deceive people so many times, I can still discern a thing or two.”
Aerora said softly.
“But, isn’t this just your nature?”
“Infiltrating the enemy’s ranks… after gathering all the intelligence, understanding the overall situation, and planning all fallback routes, then making your move.”
“Then, achieve victory in one decisive battle.”
She blinked her azure eyes. “Let me guess.”
“Are you going to use your basic acting skills again, blend in with those who call themselves gods, and then deliver a righteous stab in the back at a critical moment?”
“Just like you’ve done in past Historical Echoes.”
“That’s a slow build-up after forbearance, how can it be called a stab in the back?”
Shaya shook his head helplessly.
“Indeed, nothing can be hidden from you, Little Ai.”
“However, deception is deception. But this time is indeed a bit different from before.”
“Disguising oneself as a subordinate of the enemy, feigning surrender to them, in order to gain a crucial advantage at the critical moment.”
“Such a strategy is indeed effective… but playing a role is playing a role. That feeling of being under someone’s roof, of being inferior, is ultimately too stifling.”
“In the past, when my strength was weak, I had no choice but to use such strategies because the situation was not in my favor.”
“But—”
“With our current strength, sometimes we can act more freely and avoid doing things that make us unhappy.”
“Oh?”
Aerora looked at Shaya. “What do you plan to do?”
“In my hometown, there’s a saying called ‘Horizontal and Vertical Alliances’.”
“Simply put, this saying means winning over some allies among potential enemies to divide your opponents.”
Upon hearing Shaya’s explanation, Aerora’s brows furrowed slightly.
“Everyone understands this principle.”
“But finding our allies or informants among those mythical creatures should be very difficult, right?”
“A simple covenant is just a piece of waste paper. Only a community bound by interests is the most reliable alliance.”
“However, our goals and interests do not align with those of the mythical creatures.”
She glanced at Shaya. “What you want to create is a world without gods, where humans, dragons, elves, dwarves… all races can live freely.”
“Or rather, to maintain the current situation of the Fourth Era, where gods have retreated and intelligent races are self-reliant and unrestrained.”
“But what those demigods and false gods want is to transform the entire Prime Material Plane into their own divine kingdom, relying on the power of faith to ascend to the Throne of Heaven of the Creator from the Glorious Era.”
“Even, relying on the power of faith, to break through further, reaching higher realms that no creature has ever reached before.”
This was a fundamental divergence, and also an irreconcilable contradiction.
Shaya could indeed make promises to certain weak demigods, agreeing to give them the divinity and authority spoils that would be useless to Shaya and his group after the war, in exchange for them acting as spies within the divine faction.
However, the reliability of such a transaction was fragile to the point of being unbearable.
No one could guarantee that those weak demigods wouldn’t leak the information of this transaction in exchange for more benefits… In the end, they would be hoist by their own petard, perhaps even being played by the gods and falling into an abyss of eternal damnation.
“Little Ai, your analysis is accurate.”
Shaya looked at the blonde maiden beside him with some shock.
He suddenly realized that this girl wasn’t as reckless as she appeared.
If Aerora were truly as thoughtless as he remembered, she wouldn’t have managed all his properties in the Black Lily District of the Imperial Capital so meticulously when he left.
However, usually by Shaya’s side, Aerora had long grown accustomed to hiding her brilliance, not overthinking, and not interfering with Shaya’s decisions with her own opinions.
Only when it directly involved Shaya’s safety, like at this moment, would she, very rarely, offer an opinion contrary to Shaya’s.
“Entrusting the victory or defeat of the entire war to such a fragile alliance, like seeking a tiger for its skin, is indeed not a wise choice.”
“Those mythical creatures are all old monsters who have lived for thousands or tens of thousands of years. If they arrogantly believe they can be easily manipulated and deceived with just a few words, they will likely die a miserable death.”
Shaya smiled.
“Then why do you say that…”
Aerora’s words were interrupted by Shaya halfway through.
“In my opinion, becoming a King, and embarking on the Path to Godhood to become a demigod, are both paths chosen to reach higher peaks. There is no inherent distinction in nobility or inferiority.”
“The reason I gave up the path to godhood and chose a more difficult one—”
“Is because in my view, while becoming a god grants power, it also results in the loss of too many things.”
Shaya’s gaze drifted into the distance, as if looking at something much more ethereal, though he was looking at Snow City.
“The madness and contamination caused by containing divinity go without saying. The numerous demigods who fell and lost control during the Great Calamity are clear proof.”
“But—even on what the mythical creatures now consider a more advanced path, is this so-called power of faith truly foolproof?”
“Relying on the image of oneself in the eyes of worshippers and believers as an anchor to stabilize one’s self-will is indeed an effective method to resist disorder and madness.”
“However… binding one’s spiritual body and self to the divine form perceived by believers—”
“Also means that the god’s self will no longer be their own self, but rather will change according to the believers’ perceptions.”
“A single believer might not change much… but if the image of the deity in all believers’ eyes undergoes differences…”
“Then, they will no longer be themselves, but rather something constructed by the concept of ‘god’ in the believers’ hearts… something else.”
Shaya chuckled softly. “So, Little Ai—”
“Have you heard of… Goddess corruption?”
“Corruption?”
The blonde maiden pondered blankly for a moment, then looked up at Shaya. “What is that?”
“It’s good that you haven’t heard of it.”
Shaya breathed a sigh of relief and patted Aerora’s small head.
“Little children don’t need to know about such things.”
