Chapter 249 I Am, After All, a God (7400, First Update, Seeking Month-End Tickets~)

The strange man with gray hair, a dangerous existence who calls himself the God of Wind, smiles and tips his hat to Su Zhou.

According to the etiquette of the Tartadis world, he should take off his hat at this time, but his hat is obviously a strange mimic carapace. Although it can be taken off, it certainly wouldn't look as good.

He originally thought Su Zhou would be surprised by this, but he didn't expect Su Zhou to just let out an ordinary sound: "Oh."

After the 'oh,' seemingly feeling that this attitude wasn't very polite, Su Zhou quickly added, "Hello, God of Wind... I didn't expect you to have transformed into the appearance of a human. It's truly astonishing! How did you do it?"

Clearly, there wasn't a hint of astonishment in his tone, but rather a strong sense of curiosity.

"...Hello to you too." The God of Wind had already revealed his near-god-level aura. In terms of pressure alone, it was no less than the God of Water from the past.

Moreover, being able to release his aura without causing the surrounding spiritual energy to fluctuate proved that the God of Wind's control over his power might be even stronger than the God of Water, and his recovery was also better than the latter.

Although Su Zhou's attitude was a bit deflating, the God of Wind continued to smile and said, "As for how I did it, it's just ordinary carapace utilization."

As he spoke, the gray-haired man's face opened up like windows, divided along the midline of his cheeks—revealing compound eyes and绒毛 (rong mao, fine hair) like a bee to Su Zhou.

Soon, the two human-face-like carapace plates closed back, but everything was clear. This God of Wind's human form was completely using his special exoskeleton armor to wrap himself in a layer of human appearance, while inside, he was still a giant insect.

Just as Su Zhou had initially speculated, the main race of the Wind Epoch was very likely the numerous insect-type demonic beasts of that time.

Of course, the scene of opening his face like a window was indeed very grotesque. The God of Wind originally thought Su Zhou would be shocked by this, but Su Zhou was just simply amazed: "You can even do that!"

Honestly, this slightly amazed reaction was even more enervating than being calm and expressionless.

This immediately made the God of Wind a little depressed.

"You're not surprised?"

This god, whose personality was clearly not very dull or serious, sighed and said, "Clearly, whether it was the ordinary people of the Water Epoch or the Earth Epoch, they were all very surprised when they saw me change my face."

"I'm actually quite surprised."

Su Zhou very honestly told the truth, "But I think if I really show a very surprised expression, I'd be doing as you wished—I don't like letting other people put on a show comfortably, unless that person is my friend. If it is, I'll even play along. But you're not my friend."

Because both sides possessed normal thinking in the general sense, this conversation was not choked off by such straightforward words, but continued very smoothly.

"You are indeed the God of Wind—although you're suppressing it very well, I also have a bit of talent in the wind attribute. I can sense that there are vibrant breezes flowing around you at all times."

When the other party declared his identity, Su Zhou confirmed the truth of the God of Wind's identity. There was indeed a power on him that was similar to wind assistance, but it seemed even more powerful and closer to the essence of 'flowing and gaseous' spiritual energy.

This power, like the God of Water's control over water, was very obvious because it was too strong.

Although Su Zhou was good at talking trash, he didn't want to waste too much time in this situation. "You came to find me alone, which definitely means you've investigated me and know the fact that the God of Water was killed by me. God of Wind, can I assume that you don't want to be my enemy? If so, can I ask you a question?"

"Not be your enemy...in a sense, that's indeed the case."

Although many people were not very comfortable with Su Zhou's straightforward, to-the-point way of communicating, the God of Wind was not a person. He was an insect lifeform of unknown origin. Regarding Su Zhou's question, he just 'smiled' and said, "I came here to meet with you alone, and I definitely want to communicate—as for questions, ask away. If I can answer, I will definitely answer."

"That's good." The huge wingless dragon nodded slightly. He raised one of his dragon fingers, and Su Zhou's purple-blue vertical pupils stared at the God of Wind before him. "God of Wind, you've recovered your power so quickly. Did you use the method of slaughter and blood sacrifice to restore your power?"

"Slaughter and blood sacrifice? Other gods might use that, but I don't use it."

The God of Wind seemed a little unimpressed with Su Zhou's question. "In the end, gods only need time to restore their power, and finding their own divine temple is enough. The power obtained from blood sacrifices is chaotic and impure. At the beginning, it can restore a little power, but later on, it will become a burden."

"Those young gods need to protect their people, so they need to restore their power quickly, so they are willing to slaughter, but I don't need to protect my people."

"Oh, you don't?"

Hearing that the God of Wind did not use the method of slaughter and blood sacrifice to restore his power, Su Zhou, who felt he had encountered someone he could communicate and argue with, frowned slightly. But soon, he thought of an even worse possibility, and his expression became solemn. "I say, although it's a bit impolite and presumptuous—but you wouldn't have...you wouldn't have eaten your people, would you...?"

"Please don't overthink it."

The God of Wind knew what Su Zhou was going to say when he heard him halfway through his sentence. The god shook his head and smiled helplessly. "The previous God of Fire was a strange aggregate of elemental gods. At the end of the epoch, he forcibly absorbed the light and heat of all his people, attempting to break through the realm of gods with powerful power, and then break the cycle of reincarnation."

"But he failed. Even gathering everything from that Fire Epoch, he did not break through—and the Wind Epoch developed on the corpse of that Fire Epoch. Through the information remaining in the Netherworld Labyrinth, I naturally know everything that happened, and of course, I won't do such a stupid thing as absorbing the power of my own race."

"Is that so? You didn't eat your own people..."

Hearing this, regardless of whether what the other party was saying was true or not, at least Su Zhou could confirm that the God of Wind knew more than the God of Water. He nodded a little awkwardly. "I didn't expect that your people would have all perished. I was being presumptuous. Please accept my condolences..."

"That's indeed the case. Moreover, when I said I don't need to protect my people, it's not because they have all perished, but because they are already very strong and don't need me to protect them."

Nodding slightly, the God of Wind 'smiled' again. Even though that smile was just a change in the mimic exoskeleton armor, that relaxed mood emanated from the depths of his soul. As he spoke, he reached out to the air beside him.

Su Zhou focused his gaze on the arm the God of Wind raised, and he was slightly stunned.

Because, on the finger the God of Wind raised, there was a small moth perched.

The God of Wind stared at the moth on his fingertip, his eyes full of affection. "No matter what epoch, whether it's the Fire Epoch, the Wind Epoch, the Water Epoch, or the current Earth Epoch, they always exist—and they are even always longer-lived than the intelligent races of the current epoch."

"In the water, they are water boatmen chasing algae and plankton. In the fire, they are moths chasing light and heat. In the earth, they are bees, cockroaches, flies, and mosquitoes that are all over the land—they are all the tiny creatures that you like or dislike."

"And once it comes to the Wind Epoch, my people can regain their huge bodies and their intelligent souls in the abundant gales and oxygen...and I will eventually reunite with them, not them."

Letting the moth go, the God of Wind smiled as he watched the moth being caught by a jumping spider that jumped out of the grass next to the labyrinth and dragged back to its nest—he didn't care about any of this. His affectionate gaze was not just given to that one small moth, but to a larger aggregate that was above moths.

Turning his head, the God of Wind once again met Su Zhou's eyes, and he said calmly, "The Wind People will never be extinct, but intelligence depends on the gift of fate—some Earth Epochs or Water Epochs, or more unique Lightning Epochs, can possess intelligence. The records left by the previous Gods of Wind tell us to rarely intervene in the final struggles of the epoch's end. Only the civilizations of the Water and Fire Epochs, which need the epoch environment the most, will fiercely fight and compete."

"Su Zhou, I don't have the worries of protecting my people, so whether it's the Water Epoch or the Earth Epoch, I will choose to be an observer, disguised as a commoner of that epoch, witnessing the last scene of other epochs. I have no interest in fighting, battles, or anything else."

Su Zhou listened carefully to every word the God of Wind said, he was extremely serious.

And after the other party finished speaking, the giant dragon nodded slightly, and he said seriously, "Insects are indeed one of the most adaptable species, but since the Wind People have such superior characteristics and are not competing with the world, then why are the Gods of Wind still being replaced?"

"Moreover, how did the Wind People (insects) initially transform their huge bodies into such tiny forms? The insect demonic beasts in the labyrinth are a bit unbelievably large."

Su Zhou had many questions.

The reason why the God of Wind came in person, in addition to his own purpose, was to answer Su Zhou's doubts. He calmly replied, "Gods are not immortal, nor are they indestructible. The epoch's reincarnation will cause great damage to the soul. As for me, I'm afraid I will dissipate in the next epoch, or the epoch after that? Anyway, I'll die when it's about time to die."

When he said this, he didn't have the slightest fear of death. Su Zhou even vaguely heard a strange 'sense of anticipation': "As for how the Wind People transform their forms... Su Zhou, I know what you did in Nesser City. You attempted to transform the Earth People into your category, so as to adapt to the environment of the next epoch. This approach is similar to that of the original God of Wind."

It's Mimicry!

Instantly, Su Zhou understood the reason why the Wind People could continue through multiple epochs—it was because they could adapt to the environment of the next epoch's world through mimicry every generation!

The God of Wind indeed did not need to protect any people. They only needed to revive at the final moment, at the end of the epoch, and then casually transform some insects to continue the inheritance of the Wind People.

This was indeed very similar to what Su Zhou wanted to do, but Su Zhou was thinking even more greedily. What he wanted was to create a race that could guarantee intelligence and continue into the next reincarnation—while the God of Wind's requirements were too simple.

What they wanted, what they wanted to continue, was not thought and wisdom, but simply the bloodline of the species.

And all the knowledge and civilization inheritance were all in the hands of the gods, who lonely mastered these things, waiting for the arrival of the Wind Epoch, and then the gods would re-sow civilization...

Although this sounded a bit strange, for them, at least in terms of the Wind People's morality, it was probably not a big problem.

"Su Zhou, you are a strange existence. In all the previous epochs, I have never seen a lifeform as powerful as you."

At this time, the God of Wind also directly asked, he looked Su Zhou up and down, and issued a sincere admiration: "This is not your complete form, is it? It's a bit like the 'dragon' that once appeared in the Water Epoch and the Earth Epoch, but it's not exactly the same... Could it be that you are an existence nurtured in some strange past epoch, and now you have awakened from the Netherworld?"

He also called the labyrinth the Netherworld. Su Zhou's guess in this regard seemed to be correct.

Regarding the God of Wind's question, Su Zhou directly replied: "No, I am an existence from another world outside your world. For some reason, I came to your world."

"Oh."

This time, it was the God of Wind's turn to make an ordinary sound—and Su Zhou, who was waiting for the God of Wind to marvel, suddenly felt choked up, which caused Yala to laugh, "Aha, you've also been choked up by someone using the same method."

However, unlike the true form that the God of Wind had shown before, that scene, although indeed amazing, had no value.

What Su Zhou was saying now was related to another world—and it was still a very stable world's information, unlike the unstable world of reincarnation of Tartadis!

God of Wind, are you really not interested?

Su Zhou truthfully asked his doubts, and just as Su Zhou had honestly answered his true thoughts before, the God of Wind also honestly replied: "We have actually long had speculation about the existence of other worlds, but we have not had the strength to verify it. For example, the previous God of Fire absorbed the power of all the Fire People, wanting to fight against the end of the epoch, and before failing, he also planned to break the world and go to another world—he also failed."

"Then you're not interested?"

Su Zhou really thought the God of Wind's idea was strange. He frowned and said, "Since you haven't slaughtered innocent people, then in my eyes, you are a green-named person who can be friendly—although I can't just casually let people from this world go to my world, after all, our world is not very spacious, but, don't you have even a little thought of trying to communicate?"

"Why go to another world?"

Regarding Su Zhou's thoughts, the God of Wind couldn't help but laugh and said, "Although I understand that every existence in the world, when facing individuals from other worlds, will have a sense of superiority in their hometown."

"But, doesn't your world have species extinction and era changes? Does your world not have a dominant life form disappearing and then a new civilization appearing? Don't say no, as far as I know, everything in the world is repeating reincarnation, without exception, and your body, which has evolved to such a degree, precisely shows that your world is not peaceful either, because a truly peaceful world cannot nurture great civilization and wisdom."

Saying so, the gray-haired man shook his head: "Escape one reincarnation and go to another reincarnation? This joke is really not funny."

Regarding the God of Wind's words, Su Zhou frowned and thought, and the first time he actually felt unable to refute—because the fact was indeed so.

From the emergence of complex life 500 million years ago, from trilobites to sea scorpions, from ammonites and dunkleosteus, even dinosaurs and mammals, and the subsequent many giant beasts, divine beasts, and demons... If you really look at it from the perspective of reincarnation, indeed, even the earth is only repeating the changes in the environment of the epoch, and the cycle of prosperity and decline of biological groups. After a rough thought, it is actually no different from the world of reincarnation.

But he also understood that there were many places where this could be challenged, for example, although the species replacement on Earth did exist, it was much more gradual than this world of reincarnation. Not to mention creatures like jellyfish that have flourished for 500 million years, Chinese sturgeon, which are more than 100 million years old, and ginkgo trees, which are at least several million years old, still exist today.

What's more, that place on Earth doesn't have an apocalypse every once in a while, unless you count the Devonian extinction a few hundred million years ago and the meteorite that destroyed the dinosaurs, but that thing can only be said to be an exception, not an end of the epoch that must be encountered.

In fact, because of the spiritual energy recovery, those more ancient creatures are probably in the process of recovery. What comparison can be made between this gentleness to extinct species and the world of reincarnation?

"No, wait..."

But thinking of this, Su Zhou was suddenly stunned again.

——The species recovery brought about by the spiritual energy recovery, and the appearance of ancient creatures from the previous epochs in the Netherworld labyrinth, are the situations a bit similar?

Not a bit, but how similar!

If it weren't for the fact that today's human civilization is particularly powerful and sufficient to suppress these restored spiritual energy creatures and suddenly appearing demons, today's humans would probably be in a bloody battle with these creatures that are 'returning from the Netherworld', just like at the end of the epoch, the civilizations and gods that revived in the previous epochs were fighting each other!

However, the problem encountered by the various epochs in the world of reincarnation is indeed that a sufficiently powerful civilization has not appeared... Their strongest, the gods, are only Overlord Earth Immortals, let alone the Immortal Heavenly Immortals and the Heavenly Venerate Creator above them.

If they had them, just like the Heavenly Venerate of the past could take the ancient Earth Immortal God civilization away from the Earth world, those powerful worlds could also lead the lives of these reincarnation worlds away from this world... or lead a group of survivors through the epoch transition to survive to the next epoch, all of which are very possible.

"——Earth and the world of reincarnation are actually so similar from this perspective..." Su Zhou couldn't help but mutter to himself in his heart, and then shook his head decisively.

No, rather than saying that the Earth world is similar to the world of reincarnation, it is better to say that the world of reincarnation is a simplified, more simple Earth world.

Moreover, not only the Earth world, but the world of reincarnation reflects the epitome of most worlds in the myriad worlds, in some respects, that is, in the cycle of reincarnation!

As for the God of Wind's reason for not being interested in other worlds, he also understood, after all, the continuation of the Wind People seems to have continued for a long time, and it is very stable.

In this way, since other worlds also have reincarnation, then why go to a world you don't understand, instead of staying in this world of reincarnation, which has already been practically proven, and where the Wind People can exist for a long time?

"Do you understand?"

Seeing Su Zhou show an undisguised expression of sudden realization, the God of Wind also showed a somewhat vicissitude smile, and said in a low voice: "What's more, I actually don't expect the second Wind Epoch to appear again."

This answer really surprised Su Zhou, causing the great dragon to lower his head, his dragon eyes staring tightly at the other party, completely forgetting his previous idea of deliberately maintaining calm.

Don't want the second Wind Epoch?

——The God of Water did not hesitate to slaughter a city, and fought Su Zhou to the death in order to seize the opportunity to compete for the second epoch, but the God of Wind's attitude was actually to resist?

Under Su Zhou's focused gaze, the God of Wind raised his head.

He stared at the gray sky, the endless gray fog, and the sun that had dimmed to almost no light, and stated in a faint tone:

"Fire, originally created the wind."

"The great fire burned, causing endless wind to be born from the fire, lifting up the continents condensed from the ashes of the flame."

"This is the 'Sky Island Generation', called the Wind Epoch."

"On the sky islands, huge insects reproduced, nurturing a prosperous civilization. Flying insects traveled to and from various sky islands, while land insects built magnificent cities underground. That was the glorious civilization built by my proud people."

"But in the end, at the end of the epoch, the flames went out, and the gale disappeared with it. Huge torrential rains began to pour down, and the sky island world supported by the wind fell along with the endless torrential rain."

Just like that, he lightly said in a faint tone, the God of Wind looked at Su Zhou, and even the gaze of the mimic armor was filled with endless pain and fear at this time: "That was the 'Falling Era', which was endless and lasted for hundreds of years, falling towards the endless abyss."

"Whether it was the king or the beggar, all the Wind People knew that death was coming, but the arrival of the doomsday was so long—just like how the Earth People, after experiencing this thousand-year-long, extremely painful and long endurance, all lost their fighting spirit and turned into survivors who only knew how to linger in the shelter, waiting for death."

"My people, in the fear brought by this long fall, finally chose to give up being proud as intelligent life and as a member of civilization, and chose to follow the secret methods left by the previous generations of Gods of Wind, only willing to turn into tiny reptiles, lingering in this cycle of reincarnation."

The God of Wind, who looked playful and even quite childlike and not very serious, now made a sound that was almost like the noise of the shells scraping against each other, and the pain contained in it, even a child who did not understand the language, would probably be able to empathize with it.

Su Zhou silently listened, the huge dragon squatting in front of the God of Wind who had transformed into a human, listening to the other party's pain.

——Facing the fear of the end of reincarnation, the people chose the death of civilization and turned into beasts.

However, the immortal essence of the gods was given the mission of reviving with the alternation of reincarnation. They will be revived in the next era, gaining the possibility of communicating with other epoch civilizations, or competing for the next epoch era.

But even so, reproducing the Wind Epoch, the Sky Island Generation, also means that there will eventually be a second Falling Era—a second time watching civilization choose death, give up civilization and wisdom, and turn into reptiles, an endless humiliation.

So, in the end, the God of Wind just murmured: "If reincarnation means the reappearance of yesterday, then I would rather not have such an epoch reincarnation."

"Then, God of Wind, what exactly do you want to do?"

At this time, Su Zhou was genuinely puzzled. Even with the blessing of the Wisdom Fruit, he didn't know why the God of Wind ran over to see him—the God of Wind didn't need to protect his people, nor did he yearn for the arrival of the next Wind Epoch... Then what exactly did he want to do?

How to say it? The God of Water and the God of Wind were two extremes. The God of Water wanted many things. He needed the environment of the next epoch, wanted to protect his people, and wanted to continue the civilization of the Water People.

And the God of Wind, only needed the Wind People, that is, insects, to exist.

These were two completely different gods. The former was destined to have some intersection with Su Zhou, while the latter, at least Su Zhou could not find a reason why the other party had to meet him—in a world where reincarnation was the biggest conflict, he actually did not yearn for reincarnation to reappear. This was simply an outsider.

"It's very simple. I originally thought you were like me, an individual who only needed to ensure that you survived and continued to the next epoch."

The God of Wind shrugged in human form: "So I wanted to come over and discuss with you, could you give me the opportunity to choose the next epoch?"

"Why?"

Su Zhou subconsciously raised his voice, as if roaring like a dragon: "Didn't you just say that you don't want to continue reincarnation?"

Saying so, his breath had already begun to bring up fragments of scorching heat, gale and lightning spiritual light. Su Zhou's gaze was focused on the God of Wind, and his eyes became cold: "God of Wind, if you think I look easy to talk to, and can be fooled at will, then you are wrong! When I'm in a bad mood, I will make the guys who make me feel bad, no longer have a mood to speak of!"

"How would I think that a powerful existence who would run to fight the God of Water to the death for ordinary Earth People can be fooled at will?"

The God of Wind opened his arms to Su Zhou, restrained his spiritual energy fluctuations, indicating that he really did not have the slightest hostility. He said almost with a wry smile: "As for why I seem to be going back on my words...it's because only the long lifespan of a god can witness that kind of despair in the Falling Era."

"How many generations have the Wind People (insects) replaced in the hundreds of years of the sky island's fall? Even the final demise, the Wind People at that time will not be able to sense anything. Only the gods, the gods who will revive, will feel that this reincarnation is meaningless."

"For individuals living in reincarnation, who cannot even perceive the existence of reincarnation, the epoch is meaningful. My people undoubtedly yearn for the next Wind Epoch. They will not mind the terror and despair of the epoch's end, and that humiliation of giving up civilization."

"And I, after all, am a god."

The God of Wind 'smiled', but his tone was like a sigh: "God, is a wish. I am the gale from the sky that responds to the wishes of my people, a god of grace who bestows hope—since my people want the next epoch, even if it is a reincarnation like yesterday, I will fight for it for them."

First update, second update coming soon, seeking month-end tickets~