Shepherding Humanity

"A miniature civilized world. Sentient beings the size of ants…"

Xu Zhi bowed his head and admired his handiwork. He had personally evolved this sentient species step by step. Looking at the tearful white-haired old man, he felt a little moved.

This old man had once been the young Bugape he had held in the palm of his hand all those years ago. He had once been a hot-blooded teenager who stood at the top of the Divine Tree, making a solemn vow while pointing the Sword of Damocles at the sky. Just an old man now, waiting to die.

He could remember his youthful ambition and his arrogant passion as if it was yesterday… And indeed, for him, it was only two days ago.

What seemed like long endless years to the Bugapes were only a brief moment to him.

"Gilgamesh, how have you been all these years?" Xu Zhi murmured softly, his voice piercing through the thick clouds and resounding throughout the central temple of holy Uruk.

Gilgamesh trembled as he gripped his divine sword.

"I… I've been well."

His throat was dry as he looked up at the towering giant in the sky.

Even though this wasn't their first meeting, he was still struck speechless by the magnificent sight before him. The giant’s vast body pierced the clouds, his torso seemingly holding up heaven and earth. His majestic form was wreathed in holy light, his radiant face was like the sun peaking out from behind the clouds.

His fathomless eyes surveyed the entire city of Uruk.

Majestic, magnificent, august, and divine. The words of mortals failed to describe his matchless grandeur.

"Oh God!"

"He actually exists!"

Throughout the great city, merchants in sumptuous suits of leather, slaves in rags, ladies dressed in noble gowns, commoners and artisans all dropped their work. They walked out of their shops and houses and stood in the streets, looking up at the towering giant looming in the sky.

"The legendary Great Beast of Wisdom, the being who had granted us civilization…"

"An over 10,000 feet tall colossus!"

"What a peerless existence, comparable to the sun, moon, and stars in the sky!"

Their minds were blank with shock. Admiration, longing, apprehension, and awe… a myriad of complex emotions intermingled, turning into worship.

The royal court was similarly in shock. Gilgamesh was reminded of the awe he had felt the first time they met. After a moment of silence, Gilgamesh looked up, his eyes hungry. "Great Beast of Wisdom, I have accomplished the mission you gave me long ago."

Xu Zhi stood tall, a titan out of myth. His thundering voice penetrated the clouds and resounded throughout the city of Uruk: "Gilgamesh, your great achievements will be forever recorded in the Epic of Genesis. You will be remembered as the first and greatest king in the history of Sumerian civilization, the King of Heroes Gilgamesh. Later generations will dedicate grand sagas to singing your praise."

"No. I don’t want eternal glory after death. I don’t want to live on only in legend." Gilgamesh agitatedly said.

"Then what do you desire?"

"I want to be like you, and have eternal life." Gilgamesh fervently looked up at the towering giant. "I will give up everything, I will do anything. Please grant me the Three Treasures of Immortality!"

Xu Zhi was silent.

Gilgamesh was the king who had almost everything: glory, women, power, and wealth. The world belonged to him, but he still wasn't satisfied.

Eternal life was also something Xu Zhi wanted!

The terminally ill Xu Zhi envied Gilgamesh's glorious life, which was like a chapter out of a great epic.

"Gilgamesh, you are too greedy. I do not have the Three Treasures of Immortality." Xu Zhi calmly looked down at the aging king. "Not even I can change the natural cycle of life and death."

At the end of one’s life, who did not desire to live on?

Xu Zhi could sympathize. He felt the same way.

Right now, like the Tyranis Queen before him, his position and status had no meaning. The vast gulf between their civilizations vanished. Both he and Gilgamesh were just two pitiful souls fearful of their impending death.

It matters not whether you’re an emperor or an ant. From dust you came, and to dust you will one day return.

"No… No…"

Gilgamesh spoke hoarsely, looking at the radiant face in the sky. "No, you’re lying! You can do it, you clearly can do it!!!"

His eyes burned with passion, looking up at the towering Xu Zhi. The giant’s youthful body was rock solid like the mountains. While Gilgamesh has grown old, the long centuries had left no mark on this great titan.

For him, it was like their meeting was only yesterday.

In Gilgamesh’s eyes, the enigmatic Great Beast of Wisdom was an eternal being.

"Such power, such an enviably long lifespan…"

Gilgamesh's lips quivered with rage. He looked up and angrily shouted: "Then have you come in response to my call, only to witness my death? To witness a pitiful lower life form dying of old age while shivering in terror?”

"I have come to see you off, I do not have the ability to extend your lifespan. I have come to inaugurate the passing on of civilization and to deliver a warning." Xu Zhi sighed and said: "Your civilization is too brutal. You consume all life around you, destroying forests and slaughtering the great beasts. The entire world has been trampled under your feet. A truly civilized people is neither brutal nor barbaric, I demand of you, stop your indiscriminate killing!"

"Stop killing?"

Gilgamesh's athletic body was hoary with age but still strong. He trembled with emotion, his eyes burning with an all consuming flame.

His snow-white hair danced in an unseen wind as he took a step forward,

"No, the killing is not going to stop. My advance will not be stopped! Did you know? All these years, I’ve felt the Sword of Damocles, which you had given me, hang above my head. It has granted me great power but has also brought me endless anxiety… Today, I'm going to pull down the sword hanging above my head with my own hands!"

"Akkad."

"I’m here." The historian in charge of recording the Epic of Genesis stepped forward.

"Record this moment in the history of our civilization just as I dictate." Gilgamesh said.

Akkad silently lifted his quill and spread out a gray leather scroll. "Your Majesty, please begin."

"The history of man's struggle against nature is a saga of passion and courage. I have ordered the Epic of Genesis to be composed so that future generations would know their history and understand the courage their ancestors showed against nature…"

"Now, let the courage I show in this moment be recorded in history!"

Gilgamesh let out a heavy, ragged breath. Leaning his hoary old body on the Sword of Damocles, he smiled darkly and dictated.

"Era of Genesis, year 175 of the Sumerian Dynasty, 100 years after slaying the strongest monster in history, the legendary behemoth Fenba, the Hero King who had sealed his sword readied himself for battle once again. Calling on the strength of the entire nation, he lured out the Great Beast of Wisdom, and prepared to cut him down!”