After quite a while, Metis said, "Honored son of the Queen of Gods, tell me your plan."
Zeus drew a bit closer to Metis, his expression more solemn. "I need to make the God-King fall completely asleep, with no power to resist—just for an instant is enough."
Metis asked, "What is your honor?"
Zeus was silent for a moment, then said slowly, "To divide, everything."
Metis was shaken to her core; even her golden pupils tightened for an instant. She let out a light laugh, smiling slowly. "What a prerogative—great to the point of terror."
"The son of the God-King and the Queen—truly fearsome."
"But is that all?"
It was the first time she had smiled in front of Zeus. Although it was a meaningful smile, Zeus was still dazed by it.
He had seen hundreds and thousands of ocean maidens on the way here, but never had any goddess's smile been so enchanting.
This was the flawless smile of supreme wisdom.
What intelligent being can refuse wisdom?
Zeus laughed heartily. "Of course not only that. Sky, dominion, future, hope—these are all authorities the Mother has bestowed upon me."
The goddess of wisdom made no comment, and suddenly asked, "Honored son of the Queen, what do you think of the current cosmic order?"
Zeus marveled inwardly; the thoughts of this goddess of wisdom moved too quickly, and leapt too far.
Even so, he followed Metis's lead and answered, "Whatever your view is, that's my view."
The cool Metis's inexplicable smile faded; she said coldly, "I want your view."
Zeus furrowed his brow and replied gravely, "A rotten order. The son of Uranus is merely following in the footsteps of the lord of spirit."
Metis, the wise, pursued at once: "And you? How will you build the cosmic order?"
Zeus lowered his head in thought. Metis waited quietly. After a long time Zeus raised his head with a sunny smile. "Since it cannot be stopped, then embrace it actively."
"In the world as it is now, all gods are isolated from one another. The world is lifeless; such a world is stale and I dislike it."
"I hope all gods can be interconnected, let the laws freely collide and unite; let all the gods together make the world better. I will not allow any god to destroy this world."
The bright-eyed Metis listened to Zeus's words and was silent for a long while. Suddenly she broke into a radiant smile, and even her cold tone vanished without a trace.
"Honored son of Rhea, I hope you will remember everything you have said today."
Before Zeus could speak, the goddess of wisdom continued, "The Queen's authority, in itself, can restrain the God-King. But the God-King is too strong; even if he is restrained for an instant, he will not be without response, much less wholly unable to resist."
"When the God-King is lax, the Queen can slowly limit his linkage with the motion of Heaven and Earth, constraining his power."
"The God-King most loves to drink nectar brewed by flower nymphs. I can mix a cup of mead compounded with pure water infused with a trace of void."
"Once the Queen dulls the God-King's senses, have him drink this special mead. It can make him fall silent for an instant, severing him from the world."
"Remember: only an instant. There will be no second chance."
(PS: The god of wine invented wine from grapes, for mortals to drink. Before that, the gods had their own wine, called Nectar—this is a transliteration—meaning divine wine/ambrosia-like elixir, akin to flower honey. It is the divine wine that gods drink, also called mead, a liquid vessel of divinity that grants a god's body immortality, maintains eternal youth and divine power, and contains divinity and imperishability.)
Having said this, the tranquil Metis paused, then went on, "The essence of the God-King—you are likely still unable to divide it now. What you can divide is only the laws the God-King has already swallowed."
"Even if the laws were swallowed, their spirituality is not easily consumed. The divine nature is vast and unyielding; it should still exist."
"After you divide out the laws, you will have no chance to swallow them yourself. I suggest you return them to their original owners. That way, in the very first instant, you will have several powerful allies."
Zeus nodded again and again. This external brain truly was useful; he hardly needed to say anything—everything was already arranged, the reasoning was orderly, the plan clear, and the feasibility high.
The stratagem was not wrong, and matched the original; the original process by which the God-King was defeated was already the best process. There was no need to change it—only to optimize the details.
And that most crucial key point—the only choice, the one thing that must be done—required Metis's help.
The present God-King was simply too strong—absurdly so—truly an invincible cosmos. Without shaving him down, there was no way to fight this battle at all.
Look at the armful of laws the God-King now carries—if they were to clash head-on now, whoever went up would die!
Try it and die. Guaranteed.
No fear of old tricks if they work; this was already the optimal solution. To show off and go astray would be to lose one's wits—pure idiocy courting death.
"Now that I have you, I am like a fish in water! Hearing one sentence from you is truly like the clouds parting and the sun shining, my mind opened!" he said to himself.
Then, brisk and decisive, he said, "I understand. I'll do exactly as you say."
Puzzled, Metis lightly knit her brows, tilting her head as she asked curiously, "This is only our first meeting today—do you really trust me so much?"
Zeus threw back his head and laughed. "But of course. I trust you."
As he spoke, he gave Metis a gentle and profound smile, lifted his gaze to that infinitely towering mountain within the world, and sighed with a smile. "Because we both hope to see a more beautiful world."
Metis looked at the young god before her and was briefly lost in thought. Perhaps the God-King, long ago, had been like this as well.
A figure full of courage and confident optimism; even at a first meeting he possessed a persuasive charm.
The son of the God-King before her would succeed—he would be the next God-King.
A decayed order is always overthrown, is it not?
Zeus, at some unknown point, had already come to stand before the spellbound Metis; the purple tresses of the beautiful goddess of wisdom, floating with the water, were nearly brushing Zeus.
"Then from here on, I leave everything to you, bright-eyed goddess." Zeus's sudden remark recalled Metis to herself.
Metis started for an instant, then, pretending nothing had happened, nodded and hurriedly turned to swim toward the distance—toward where the ocean met the cosmos.
Zeus followed close behind. Without looking back, Metis asked, "Son of the Queen, why are you following me?"
"Many of my sisters miss you very much. Brewing the mead will take time; you can go find them first. I will find you."
Zeus laughed. "But I can't find you—so it's better to follow you."
"Oh—right, I have another question I want to ask you."
"Hm?"
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