A Dragon against the Whole World

Chapter 723: Chapter 423: Holy Ora Era, Time and Gears_4

He looked very young, with delicate features.

His face was somewhat pale, and his short, light golden hair lacked luster, his aura appearing weak.

At this moment, the young man was lowering his gaze, intently... playing with a gear structure.

It was layered and intricately nested, at a glance, made up of at least hundreds of precision gears of different sizes.

The first gear at the beginning was spinning at a speed almost impossible for the naked eye to catch, while the second gear rotated nearly ten times slower than the first, the third ten times slower than the second... Thus, the speed decreased sequentially, and the gear at the very end of the sequence appeared completely still under such a long transmission chain.

The young man watched the gear, unblinkingly.

”This thing... is a bit like the Ancient Gogol Gear.”

Galos had seen a similar structure in a previous life.

It is said that under the premise of assuming material strength can sustain infinitely, if this last gear could be nudged into motion, then the speed of rotation of the first gear at the very beginning of the sequence would surpass the speed of light! Conversely, the first gear would need to spin for an incredibly long, nearly infinite amount of time to possibly set the last gear into visible motion.

As if sensing Galos’s gaze, the young man lifted his head, revealing a pair of deep green eyes.

His eyes bore a trace of fatigue that was hard to conceal.

But beneath that fatigue, they still appeared profound and calm.

Galos was certain that this seemingly frail and ordinary young man before him must actually be a Giant Dragon whose life level had reached the Legendary Domain, though it was unclear why he appeared in such a state.

”Are you interested in those dull and heavy histories?”

The young man spoke, his voice gentle and magnetic, utterly different from his outer frail appearance.

Galos wasn’t reserved due to the other’s possible Legendary identity. He naturally walked to the opposite side of the desk and sat down on a chair naturally formed by roots.

”The growth and decay of civilizations, the rise and fall of nations, the flow and succession of power... To me, all these follow a certain pattern.”

Galos calmly responded, his gaze candid, ”Observing history lets me see this pattern and better anchor the future.”

”Besides, everything we do now, in the next moment, doesn’t it become history in the eyes of future generations?”

A flicker of surprise and admiration flashed in the young man’s gaze.

He nodded slightly and said, ”In this era, there are very few young Dragons willing to engage in such thoughts. Very impressive.”

After speaking, his gaze returned to that slowly meshing string of gears on the table.

He extended a long, pale finger, trying to nudge the completely still gear at the very end of the sequence.

Crack!

A crisp, clear sound was heard.

The still gear did not turn as expected but instead seemed unable to withstand the finger’s force, breaking apart into a small heap of fine metal fragments.

The young man gazed at the heap of fragments and let out a sigh.

He then extended his palm and lightly waved it, an invisible force sweeping over.

The metal fragments quickly reassembled, returning to their original undamaged gear structure, continuing their meshing process.

After doing all of this, he lifted his gaze again, glancing at Galos sitting across from him.

He casually asked, ”What do you think time is?”

”Is it a rushing river, unstoppable, only ceaselessly moving forward? Or, like this gear set, seemingly able to be freely observed and even attempted to be manipulated, but in reality, there’s nothing one can do about it?”

Galos didn’t answer immediately.

His gaze swept over the still slowly meshing gears, then returned to the young man’s pale, calm face.

He pondered in silence for several seconds.

Finally, he lifted his head, sincerely saying:

”To me, time is a grand furnace, an anvil, an endless rigorous trial.”

”I rarely think about why it exists or philosophically ponder how it actually flows.”

”I care more about how to better forge my scales and claws under the scouring of time, making them sharper and more resilient; honing my will, making it unshakeable; tempering my soul to bear greater power.”

The young man slightly froze.

Soon after, a smile appeared on his face, subtly softening the fatigue between his brows.

”Quite an interesting understanding, very pragmatic, and full of a sense of power.”

He commented, ”I can sense from it your extraordinary pursuit of power. However, what’s precious is that your pursuit doesn’t lack reason.”

The young man slowly stood, casually putting away the Ancient Gogol Gear, and his figure gradually faded.

”For a Dragon like you, level 21 Legendary is just a beginning; you can reach even greater heights.”

His voice turned ethereal, as if coming from a distant place, ”I look forward... to seeing your future performance.”

As his figure completely vanished.

Galos’s ears caught Deborah’s voice, carrying a hint of confusion.

”Galos? What are you daydreaming here for? Weren’t we going inside to have a good look around?”

Hearing this familiar voice, Galos was abruptly awakened.

He instinctively turned his head quickly, looking at the surrounding environment.

Deborah, Nasha, Alberto, and the others were standing right beside him, their faces showing slight puzzlement.

And he himself was standing at the grand entrance of the library, his feet not yet truly stepping inside.

The prior events felt like a momentary illusion.

Gears... time... that green-eyed young man... what just happened?

Galos shook his head, trying to grasp those rapidly fading fragments of memory in his mind.

But those images and dialogues, like sand slipping through fingers, quickly became blurry, finally leaving only a sense of disorientation, making Galos feel as if he had just woken from a dream, unable to recall what he had dreamed about.

”Nothing,” he returned to his senses and said to his companions, ”just dazed for a moment, let’s go inside.”

Galos resumed his steps, stepping once again into the magnificent library before him, feeling astonished at its grandeur and splendor.