Greece: I am Zeus!

Chapter 280 Death is not to be desecrated!

Thanatos said in an extremely solemn tone: "The solemnity of death stems from absolute equality and irreversibility!"

"If today, I were to act out of personal compassion or mercy."

"Then in the future, perhaps I will once again act out of personal interests, out of fear, out of self-interest, or out of other selfish motives."

"At that time, 'death' will become the most hypocritical and ridiculous thing in the universe."

"Because that means that as long as someone can move me, please me, or even threaten me, then 'death' can be negotiated and 'end' can be traded."

Thanatos suddenly retorted, his voice low but each word like a hammer: "Prometheus, do you really think that would be a good thing?"

"At that time, all living beings will no longer think about how to do more meaningful things in their limited lives; nor will they think about how to avoid death as much as possible."

"They only think about how to impress me and please me. They will do everything they can to turn this inevitable death into a bargainable transaction."

"If we break the rules today because of emotions, then the hearts of all living beings will follow suit."

“If life and death can be exchanged for goodwill and emotion, then there will surely be beings who learn how to move me with their actions, performances, and strategies, and thus request a pardon.”

"When that time truly comes, will there still be true feelings in this world? Will sincerity be extinguished? Will affection be desecrated?"

"Won't everything eventually lead to utter hypocrisy and scheming?"

“Think about it, the world’s ambition will no longer be ‘how to do meaningful things in the finite’, but will turn to ‘how to win forgiveness and how to please the judge’.”

"Sincerity and good deeds will be covered by the mask of self-interest, and begging and flattery will replace self-reflection and hard work."

"How filthy and horrible this must be!"

Prometheus looked grief-stricken and remained silent.

Thanatos continued speaking.

"Yes, you might say that I can uphold my kindness and compassion, and only make exceptions for those who are virtuous, kind and loving."

“But Prometheus,” Thanatos’s gaze sharpened, “is the sacred and just order of my great Father merely an empty phrase?!”

This question made Prometheus's already somber face turn even paler in an instant.

He quickly said, "No! I would never have such a foolish idea!"

Thanatos did not respond, but continued speaking sternly:

Do you feel that everything you do is necessarily right?

"No, that can't be it."

"Then I am not either."

"We all make mistakes, and we all have selfish motives."

"Having selfishness leads to favoritism, and favoritism will inevitably disrupt order."

"Prometheus! Everything has its order. If the law can make an exception for selfish reasons, then that exception will eventually become the new norm, and the order will gradually crumble until it comes to an end!"

"You must understand that the destruction of order is irreversible. Once it begins, no matter how small it is at the beginning, it will eventually collapse completely!"

“I am ‘death’, but I do not decide whether a living being ‘should’ die; that is not something I can determine.”

"The order of Heaven is there, and the threads of destiny are constantly weaving forward."

"I am only responsible for, and can only be responsible for, bringing those beings whose threads of fate have been severed back to the underworld."

"If the gods use their own personal sense of good and evil as the standard, rather than the sacred, just, and divine order of Heaven, to judge right and wrong, then chaos will begin!"

"Even if you love them, you must never do so at the cost of breaking the rules and disrupting order!"

"Forcibly reconnecting a broken thread of fate is not something I can do, much less something I should do."

"Even the great goddesses of fate, the noble and illustrious vice-rulers of heaven, the daughters of divine justice and order, would never allow themselves to do such a thing."

"How great is the power of the goddesses of fate? But they can only untangle the threads of fate, and are never allowed to manipulate or weave them at will."

"Everything is left to its own devices; they only provide necessary guidance and support."

"The divine order of my great Father God encompasses everything, and is perfectly just and just."

"Everything He did and the sacred order He established has its own justice, necessity, and absoluteness!"

"It's all for the sake of the universe's more prosperous development, so that all living beings can live better!"

Thanatos, seeing Prometheus's pale face and cold sweat after hearing these words, softened his tone slightly.

He can understand Prometheus's love for humanity.

He exhaled and continued slowly, “Honorable Prometheus, you are a god, and a great god of wisdom. You are the son of the cyclical one, and the advisor to my great Father God.”

"Please set aside your narrow pity for individual creations and turn your attention to the development of the entire universe."

"If 'death' can be done at will, then can 'fate'? Then can 'time' be done? Then can 'order' itself be done?" "Does this mean that all gods can do as they please?"

"And since the gods can do whatever they want, is that really... a good thing for these fragile mortals?"

“You love these mortal souls, and you can save them at will.”

"If a god dislikes them, can he destroy them at will?"

"Breaking the rules, doing whatever you want... you should know what that's called. That's called 'chaos,' that's called 'disorder'!"

"And what will chaos and disorder ultimately bring? You know better than I do."

Thanatos's question was not an accusation, but a warning.

Prometheus turned ashen-faced and could no longer utter a word.

Because He knew very well that everything Thanatos said was true.

Thanatos did not reject mercy; rather, what He sought to protect was order itself, the vast freedom within which all spirits could extend their lives according to the rules.

The order of the God-King is not wrong.

Therefore, it is wrong for one to attempt to disrupt the order.

The threads of fate weave everything together.

All of this is the inevitable development of the entire universe.

The goddesses of fate never arbitrarily manipulate these threads; they only provide general guidance and overall guidance.

What exactly will happen depends on Wanling itself.

All things and all living beings develop in accordance with the natural order.

The rain will fall equally on all living things, and the sun will shine equally on all living things.

If all living beings do not want to get wet in the rain, they should find their own way to avoid it; if they find the sun too hot, they should find their own way to shield themselves from it.

Instead of praying to the gods to disperse the rain clouds and hide the sunlight.

Prometheus's gaze was heavy and sorrowful. The child's life had ended not because the gods were playing tricks on him, nor because fate had deliberately severed his threads.

The most direct reason is that his mother, who was responsible for taking care of the children in the entire tribe, failed to fulfill her duties.

They are always too careless and lack genuine respect for danger.

But is that really the whole reason?
Deep within Prometheus's divinity, a colder voice questions: Why? Why do humans treat potentially deadly dangers with such carelessness?

This answer was something Prometheus dared not ponder; it filled him with divine dread and caused him to break out in a cold sweat.

However, this incident was not the fault of order, nor was it the fault of death or fate.

If this leads to the gods disrupting order, and if the gods do indeed disrupt order, that would be the most terrible disaster for all living beings.

But how can He accept this shocking tragedy before His eyes?
Yes, He was wrong, the mother was wrong, and even the tribe who cared for the child were wrong, but the consequences were too severe and too tragic.

These humans are His children!
It is His most glorious creation, the creature to which He poured His heart and soul and cherished the most.

He has been by their side from the very beginning, teaching them how to survive in this wild world.

He watched as ignorant and clueless humans took their first steps and gradually grew up.

When the first human child was conceived, it was under His personal care that the fragile newborn life was able to breathe its first breath in the world.

Humanity rejoiced over this first baby, and so did He, the Creator.

At that moment, unparalleled happiness and satisfaction filled His divinity, even giving His long and immortal divine life a deeper and more important meaning.

Humans... These are His most beloved children, His children whom He has taught and cared for with all His heart and soul, whom He regards as His own!
How could He possibly stand by and watch such a vibrant little life be plunged into eternal darkness?
Thanatos looked at Prometheus's gloomy and sorrowful expression and sighed softly.

He softened his tone and continued, “O Prometheus, all the spirits of the world had many opportunities to learn about death before I was born.”

"They have too many lucky breaks, and they can even escape deadly dangers by personally experiencing them."

“My sister, the goddess Ceres, never truly fulfilled her duty of ‘dying violently’.”

"This is because I never existed, so she was incomplete; and also because she was unwilling to do such a heartbreaking thing."

"But precisely because of this, too many living beings have long lost their reverence for nature."

"Carelessness, negligence, and contempt... They thought to themselves: At most, they'll just suffer a little, so what?"

"There will always be a God to save them."

Thanatos's sharp gaze fell on Prometheus like a cold blade. His voice was soft, but carried an undeniable power: "And as for why this is, perhaps you should seriously reflect on it as well."

(End of this chapter)