Chapter 7: The memory anchor staff
In the distance, on Ananke's star map, the blue star representing Earth was emitting an exceptionally bright light.
That was the "Master Anchor Point" Lin Yun had specifically left behind.
Within it lay his twenty-five years of life.
There was the scent of fried eggs, the light of the library, and the phrase "Stay curious" written in his mentor's annotations.
He smiled, his consciousness simultaneously appearing in three timelines.
In the canvas tent on Crete Island, his teammates' calls were clearly audible.
In the Void Realm of the Nowhere Land, the cosmic egg was awakening within the grid.
And deep within his memory, his mother was pushing open the study door and saying, "Dinner's ready, Xiaoyun."
This time, the cries of the three "selves" harmonized and unified, forming the first morning bell of creation.
The Echo of the First cosmic egg: Orpheus
The Void Realm of the Nowhere Land suddenly rippled, like a giant stone being thrown into a calm lake.
Lin Yun's consciousness hovered above the primordial time line, clearly seeing countless fragmented points of light gathering from all directions.
Those were the scattered fragments of memory from his past twenty-five years of life.
The Red Scarf he dropped in the mud when he was seven, its edges still covered in dry yellow dirt, which his mother soaked in warm water for three whole hours before it came clean.
The coffee-soaked pages in the university library, next to the annotation on page thirty-seven, where he had written in pencil, "Logical error here," only to realize he had missed a preceding sentence.
The coldness on his fingertips when he first touched the bronze slab on Crete Island, the spiral patterns carved on the slab being strikingly similar to the patterns on his grandfather's pipe... These fragments spun and collided in the Void Realm, emitting a fragmented hum.
Finally, they condensed into a translucent long staff.
The staff was wrapped in a faint mist, and the staff head was inlaid with an irregular crystal, inside which a blurry image was sealed.
His mother was frying eggs in the kitchen; oil splattered onto her blue and white checkered apron, but she turned back and called out with a smile.
"Xiaoyun, just two more minutes."
"Is this... the memory anchor staff?"
Ananke's light silhouette drifted past, the star map on her robe swaying gently with her movement.
The silver-threaded belt of Orion, embroidered onto her robe, brushed against Lin Yun's shoulder, stirring up a slightly cool breeze.
"You can actually materialize Mortal memories into a divine artifact. It seems the identity of 'Lin Yun' has taken root in your Godhead."
She extended her fingertip and gently tapped the crystal.
His mother's voice suddenly became clear.
Even the faint sound of oil popping on the apron was clearly audible.
That was a sound wave from twenty years ago, yet it was completely captured and sealed by the memory anchor staff.
Lin Yun held the long staff; the staff body conveyed a warm, moist touch, feeling more grounded than the divine gold of Mount Olympusand more intimate than the obsidian of the Underworld.
"The creation system of Orphism fundamentally emphasizes that 'memory is existence.'"
He swung the long staff, and the image of the fried egg in the crystal suddenly seemed to come alive.
The yolk slowly swelled in the hot oil, the edges frying to a caramel color. When his mother gently flipped it with a spatula, the semi-liquid yolk flowed down the egg white, spreading a small patch of golden yellow across the bottom of the pan.
Oil spatters seemed to truly splash out from it, transforming into specks of golden light in the Void Realm, landing on Ananke's star map robe and actually causing several dark stars to light up again.
"When Phanes was born from the cosmic egg, the first thing he perceived was the Creator's memory, which is why he recognized Chronos as his father."
"If I only use the Original Godhead to create the Universe, what I create will be nothing more than a cold machine of rules."
"Just like planets running in their orbits and stars extinguishing on schedule, but without a Mortal looking up and suddenly thinking, 'That star is as bright as the lamp on Grandma's roof.'"
He paused, lightly tapping the Void Realm with the long staff.
Countless transparent bubbles suddenly appeared there, each one enveloping a fragment of memory.
The sound of splashing water when stepping in puddles on a rainy day, secret notes passed in class, the mint candy a deskmate offered during a cold... "Adding some human vitality makes the Universe truly 'alive.'"
Ananke lightly tapped her fingertip, and a massive star map suddenly unfolded in the Void Realm.
Hundreds of flickering red dots were marked on the map, and next to each red dot was carved obscure divine script.
"There are too many branches of Orphism; there are seventeen versions of the 'cosmic egg' alone."
She pointed to a red dot in the upper left corner that emitted a smell of sulfur.
"The North African Branch says there are three Dragons hidden inside the egg. Each Dragon head controls fire, sandstorms, and plague, respectively, and the shell was cast from melted giant skulls."
"The East European Branch, however, believes the eggshell was made from giant fingernails, and the crescent patterns on it are actually unhealed wounds."
She then pointed to a red dot in the lower right that glowed sea blue.
"And this one, the Aegean Sea Branch says the cosmic egg floats upon the Sea of Chaos. A giant whale sleeps inside the egg, and when Phanes was born, the whale's sneeze transformed into the first monsoon."
Lin Yun's gaze swept across the star map, finally settling on the red dot marked "Pottery jar unearthed near Athens."
That red dot emitted a faint scent of clay, and a line of small text was written beside it.
The jar body is painted with the cosmic egg, cracked into eight petals, with a deity sitting on each petal. The name of the sacrificer, "Charon," is carved on the base of the egg.
"This one."
He tapped it with the long staff, and the red dot suddenly exploded, transforming into a spinning phantom image of a pottery jar.
The jar body was a rough earthen yellow, and the cracks on it closely resembled a dried riverbed.
Eight cracks divided the eggshell into eight petals.
On each petal, a deity was painted in ochre.
Some were holding wheat ears, some were embracing lyres, and some were holding scepters, yet their expressions all carried a hint of confusion, as if they had just been awakened from a dream.
"This is a relic from the 5th century BC, closest to the origin of Orphism. Traces of sacrificial wine from that time still remain in the cracks."
Lin Yun leaned closer to the phantom image, his nose seemingly catching the sour scent of resin mixed with grape juice.
"Look at the angles of these eight cracks; they precisely correspond to the scope of authority radiated by the eight major gods of Orphism."
"Charon must have placed the pottery jar according to a star map during the sacrifice—this isn't artistic creation, it's the most primitive model of creation."
"You have discernment."
Ananke said approvingly.
Her fingertip traced the neck of the jar's phantom image, where there was a circle of fine finger marks.
"I have also studied this pottery jar, and the most marvelous thing is those eight cracks."
"At the end of each crack, a miniature symbol is hidden: the sun, moon, seed, bow and arrow, lyre, snake, fire, and key, corresponding exactly to the symbols of the eight major gods."
"But you must note the line carved on the bottom of the jar: 'Phanes is born from the egg; strife is born when the egg breaks.'"
She emphasized the word "strife."
In the Void Realm, a vague sound of arguing suddenly arose.
The phantom images of the eight deities on the pottery jar actually began pushing each other.
The deity holding the wheat ears poked the ears toward the one holding the scepter, while the one embracing the lyre wrapped strings around the wrist holding the bow and arrow.
"This foreshadows that the success of creation will inevitably ignite a power struggle among the gods."
Lin Yun lifted the long staff and gently paused; the phantom image of the pottery jar suddenly froze, and the arguing ceased abruptly