Greece: I am Zeus!

Chapter 283 Changes Brought About by Death

Humans may be special in His Majesty the God-King's eyes, but perhaps only by a tiny bit.
Prometheus made a resolute decision: No! This simply won't work. Relying on His Majesty's ambiguous attitude alone cannot protect humanity!
Human beings must be made extraordinary in God's eyes!
That would make most gods willing to protect humanity!
As long as the majority of gods are willing to protect humanity, the minority of gods, in order not to offend the majority, will not arbitrarily bring destruction and death upon humanity.

And the most important thing in all of this is His Majesty the God-King's attitude!

Only if His Majesty the God-King speaks will no god dare to destroy humanity!
But how can we get His Majesty to formally declare his willingness to protect humanity?

So, how should humans treat the gods in order to gain their favor?

Prometheus fell into deep thought about this.

However, He did not remain immersed in this thought for long.

A few days later, accompanied by a piercing, rock-shattering cry of an eagle, a giant eagle flashing with lightning tore through the oppressive air and flew in from the horizon.

It is the messenger of thunder, the queen of birds—Claunia Ornia—who has arrived.

The lightning on her body was a special gift from her creator. Whenever she travels with lightning on her body, it means that she is carrying the will of the God-King and heading to a certain place.

She landed and transformed into her divine form, still as aloof and radiant as ever, with a sharp and elegant demeanor.

Her face held a solemn expression that commanded respect, devoid of any personal feelings.

As soon as she landed, she proclaimed in a businesslike tone devoid of any emotion: "Prometheus, son of Iapetus, the supreme god-king, the god above gods, the great and eternal sovereign, commands!"

Prometheus quickly composed himself, bowed respectfully, and said in a deep voice, "Greetings to Your Majesty. Please, Your Excellency, Messenger of Thunder, proclaim the decree."

Claunia Ornia stood tall and straight, her posture even more upright and solemn, her voice clear and powerful: "Prometheus, a long time has passed. 'How should man treat and respect the gods?' This matter should have a definite answer by now."

Prometheus's mood grew increasingly heavy.

He replied in a muffled voice, "Please inform His Majesty, Your Majesty, that Prometheus is aware of the matter. I will soon return to Olympus to report to His Majesty in person."

Klaunia Ornia nodded slightly, her expression no longer so cold and serious, but she didn't say anything more and turned to leave.

"Claunia, please wait a moment," Prometheus called out to her just in time.

Klaunia Ornia's sword-like brow furrowed almost imperceptibly.

She turned around, nodded, and asked, "Honorable Prometheus, is there anything else?"

Prometheus gave a wry smile, his tone tinged with a helpless intimacy: "Claunia, we're old friends, why be so cold?"

Claunia Ornia thought to herself, 'How dare you ask? It's precisely because we're old friends that I understand you so well! Ever since you started creating humanity, you've become increasingly utterly shameless.'

She remained outwardly calm, her expression softening slightly, and replied softly, "My old friend, it's not that I want to be cold to you. It's just that His Majesty ordered me to come and urge you. Now that you've given me a reply, I need to return and report as soon as possible."

Her sharp eyes looked meaningfully at Prometheus: "Your Majesty's will is supreme and must be absolutely obeyed."

Prometheus nodded: "That's natural; Your Majesty's will is everything."

Klaunia Ornia nodded and said, "Since there's nothing else, I'll be leaving now."

She paused for a moment, but ultimately couldn't bring herself to do it, and as a friend, offered a word of advice:
“Prometheus, as your friend, I offer you a small piece of advice. Please take His Majesty’s orders seriously and carefully consider His Majesty’s true intentions.”

Prometheus nodded and said, "Claunia, thank you for your advice, I will."

Then He asked, “You are His Majesty’s messenger, always by His Majesty’s side. I would like to ask you, how do you think His Majesty wants to treat humankind? And how does His Majesty want humankind to respect God?”

Klaunia Ornia's expression immediately turned cold again.

Clearly, Prometheus had not heeded her advice, or at least had not listened attentively.

She said solemnly, "Prometheus! This is not a question I should be pondering, much less one I can ponder or speculate upon!"

"In fact, this is not even a question you should be thinking about! His Majesty has entrusted you with only one task, and that is to teach mankind how to respect the gods."

At this point, her tone softened slightly.

She paused for a moment, then said, "Prometheus, you are the god of prophecy and foresight, and all the gods know of your wisdom and intelligence."

"Your wisdom far surpasses mine. You are a truly wise and intelligent god. But perhaps, because of this, you sometimes think too much."

"Instead of thinking too much about things that shouldn't be thought about, or things that are unnecessary to think about, you should really calm down and think about what is the right thing to do that truly aligns with His Majesty's sacred and just order."

"You once personally taught humanity that the core of His Majesty the God-King's sacred and just order lies in having a heart of compassion, mercy, kindness, love, tolerance, respect, courage, and wisdom."

“You are absolutely right. You understand His Majesty’s sacred and just order very well, and you also understand His Majesty’s great heart.”

"Then, as a god of prophecy and foresight, as an advisor to His Majesty, shouldn't you also have these same thoughts?"

"Whether it's something you want to do or something you teach humanity to do, doing it with these intentions will never be wrong."

“I believe that the answer to ‘how should humanity treat God’ lies within this.”

Claunia's gaze was filled with the helplessness and advice of an old friend:

“Prometheus, please put down your arrogance and ego as the ‘creator,’ and think about this carefully and seriously.”

"Goodbye."

Before the words "Goodbye" had even finished, Klaunia Ornia's figure had already transformed into a bolt of lightning and vanished.

Prometheus was left alone on the mountaintop, lost in thought for a long time in the mountain wind.

Prometheus truly took his old friend's words to heart this time.

He stayed where he was, thought for a long time, and finally "figured it out".

He felt that Claunia was absolutely right!

Your Majesty's will is clearly rooted in "compassion, mercy, friendliness, love, tolerance, respect, courage, and wisdom."

Klaunia was reminding herself not to forget His Majesty the God-King's benevolent heart just because of the approach of "death"! Because His Majesty was a compassionate, tolerant, generous and loving god!

Therefore, making human living conditions better is what His Majesty, in his benevolence, most desires to see!
In deceiving God, He had already made up His mind!
Several months later, human society finally managed to restore order from the immense chaos and panic caused by "death" and the departure of many goddesses.

Humanity has finally learned to face death and continue to live more earnestly.

To survive on their own.

Because life has its own resilience.

Life without this resilience has no right to survive in the cruel universe.

Prometheus was very pleased with this, as it was a rare sight that pleased him during this period of time.

Prometheus then set off to return to Olympus.

He dared not delay any longer, also in order to implement the new great plan as soon as possible!
With his heart filled with newfound "enlightenment" and worries, Prometheus failed to notice that among the still-living humans, a subtle, yet imperceptible change was quietly taking place due to the arrival of "death."

That was an inevitable change brought about by "death".

The fear of death and the reluctance to part can indeed make the living cherish every day of their lives more.

Let them live their limited lives with more effort and more earnestness.

To live "better" and "more meaningfully".

But this desire to "live better" also ignites deeper, more numerous, and more immense desires deep within the human soul.

Before death truly comes upon them, humanity is united and loving.

At that time, there was no uncontrollable jealousy, nor uncontrollable greed.

Because, from a human perspective, everyone is no different.

Because during their "immortal" time, they were constantly "gaining" rather than "losing".

And now...

The situation is different now.

If you eat the wrong fruit while gathering wild fruit, you will die; if you go hunting, you will die if you are attacked by a powerful beast; if you go fishing or hunting in the water, you may drown even if you just slip and choke on some water.

Overwork will kill you; hunger will kill you; exhaustion will kill you.

You can die from injury, you can die from illness, and you can die from old age.

Things that used to be “insignificant” have now become terrifying things to avoid.

Time that once seemed meaningless has now become the most terrifying force chasing us relentlessly from behind.

When life becomes so fragile, the world becomes too dangerous for humanity.

On a seemingly peaceful night, in what should have been a sweet sleep, perhaps all it takes is a tiny, venomous insect to gently bite you.

A person who has passed away will never see the sun rise again.

When "eternity" is replaced by "finitude," "composure" is swallowed up by "anxiety."

From then on, every day of life was magnified and became a treasure worth striving for with all one's might.

The magnified value of life has given rise to competition and calculation.

Life is so fragile, and so short.

Then naturally, everything is worth cherishing, and naturally, one needs to work harder to obtain what one desires.

The boundary between "mine" and "your" has become so important for the first time.

For the first time, the venomous snake of "jealousy" peeked out from its fear of "scarcity".

The seeds of "greed" were finally sown in the soil, driven by a sense of insecurity.

It's worth giving your all for what you cherish, value, and want!

They would even go to any lengths to achieve their goals.

They even resort to any means necessary.

"Wanting" or "not wanting" are both desires.

Some lead to the light; others lurk in darkness.

At the very beginning of humankind, the human heart contained within it the many "good" and "evil", "good" and "bad", "pure" and "turbid", "true" and "false", "righteous" and "wicked" of creation.

They possess many of the advantages of creation, but naturally also have many disadvantages.

In God's constant presence, there is no fertile ground for evil; but when a sense of urgency arises, when God departs and is no longer by our side, the other side of the coin will also be revived.

The real "evil" has yet to appear.

However, the seeds of "desire" have already been sown deeply.

Now that the seed has been planted, how far away is it from flowering and bearing fruit?
Different seeds will produce different flowers and different fruits.

Some are fragrant, some are foul; some are sweet, some are poisonous.

But it is precisely because of this that the universe becomes so diverse.

A more complex era is quietly approaching with unstoppable strides.

(End of this chapter)