Nurturing Humanity

Chapter 25

The Way to Enter the Sandbox

“Witches?”

Xu Zhi smiled.

He had waited in silence for more than three days, which was more than three hundred years in their world. After the Great Flood ended, they had struggled for a long time, doing all they could to prolong their moribund life. And now, there were finally signs of revival.

Unexpectedly, people who were able to assimilate a second set of genes had appeared. The second gene that they had chosen was that of the Evil Eye.

As bugs, it was still relatively easy to assimilate gene segments so long as physical conditions were compatible, and there happened to be a large blank fragment in their own genetic strands which could accommodate foreign genes.

Gilgamesh had assimilated a second type of gene, the genes of white ants, and had gained infinite strength.

And this group of women who came to be known as witches, had incorporated a second type of genes, the genes of the Evil Eye, and gained psychic power.

If that Evil Eye species had not appeared in this sandbox as the first transcendent species, it would never have become a form of inducement for the path to transcendence.

“Evil Eye, you big-eyed monster… good stuff! You’ve greatly surprised me.”

Xu Zhi smiled happily. He felt that it was had been a great idea to create this small sandbox on a whim. The unconstrained creativity of the players and the unconventional theory they perceived for the process of evolution gave rise to the creation of such a surprisingly amazing species.

He sat on a bench by the entrance of the yard, munching on an apple as he said to himself, “So it’s true that more heads are better than one. It’s too tough to rack my brains alone; it’s much better to put more heads together to brainstorm and draw on the wisdom of others.”

In fact, the genes of the white ants were much too strong. They had a terrifyingly immense strength that enabled them to carry things which were hundred times that of their own weight, and the blank fragment in the genetic strands required was simply too large.

It was hard to find such a large blank fragment in the genetic strands of normal people, whose genetic strands were all filled up with miscellaneous genes that were not of any use at all.

The genes of the Evil Eye, on the other hand, were much, much weaker in comparison, thus they did not require many blank fragments in the genetic strands. This was also why there is a higher probability for the Evil Eye species to give birth to more of its kind. Three successful cases of gene assimilation after the death of four hundred females were not bad at all.

But the three of them were still a far cry from Gilgamesh.

Even when dealing with ordinary Alla beasts, they still had to work with the warriors in the front to win the battle, whereas Gilgamesh had conquered the world all by himself. The difference between the two parties was much too great.

After all, their mastery over the use of psychic power was rudimentary. However, the three of them had started to study their own strengths. Within their tribe, they developed herbalism and studied sorcery, but the progress was still much too slow.

Xu Zhi thought about it for a moment and returned to his room to look up information on the Internet. “On the Internet, I can find information on yoga meditation in the West, as well as information on the Taoist viewpoint on cultivating internal strength in the East. These are all ways to train one’s mind, spirit, and energy; they should be useful. Should I give them these seeds of meditation, let them bring these to fruition, and develop a witch’s cultivation path?”

It was truly difficult to pave a new path from scratch. One would be running into obstacles and meeting rejections from everywhere along the way, but once there was a direction to advance in, the progress was bound to be umpteen times faster. Perhaps Xu Zhi could provide them with that direction.

But how was he going to meet the three witches of this tribe?

Should he transform into the Great Beast of Wisdom and hand them the Three Treasures of Civilization once again?

The thought came to mind but was quickly dismissed by Xu Zhi. Definitely not.

There was also no way he could directly control or seize a microscopic creature in the sandbox and turn it into his avatar to walk and talk in his stead. Otherwise, he would already be having a whale of a time in the sandbox.

While Xu Zhi was contemplating his options, in the sandbox, the group of hardcore players who were leading in this game had already started to climb ashore. They found that there actually was an incomparably colossal giant, and at that moment, he was sitting on a huge, exceedingly tall chair that seemed to reach all the way up to heaven. He appeared to be thinking deeply while munching on an apple.

“This sandbox game is so interesting. In our settings, we are really bugs evolving in someone’s yard, so are we going to have to go up against the giant in the yard…”

Three or four players with weird forms and odd shapes started to whisper amongst themselves. They all felt that the degree of freedom players had in this game was terrifying, yet amazing. There was no main plot, it was all about exploration and discovery. It was very novel.

“Awesome! With that huge size, he’s just like the legendary Pan Gu.”

“You mean to say that we are going to evolve and then go all out for a great showdown with him?”

“Shush! Let’s observe him secretly. Brothers, the few of us are no match for him now. We are all ants; he can’t see us.”

“Don’t go near him. It took us great pains to finally climb ashore. If he tramples our “king” to death, then we won’t even have the chance to cry.”

A group of players were crouching along the shoreline of the forest, snickering amongst themselves as they observed him in secret.

“Bunch of clowns.” Xu Zhi sat in the courtyard and looked at the distant bunch of tiny ants on the ground. They were whispering amongst themselves, acting secretively in a head-to-head huddle, and were an extremely unpleasant sight to behold. They thought of him as a big boss and were trying to think of strategies to defeat him.

Knock knock!

There was a knock at the door. It was Chen Zi bringing food over again.

“Forget it, let’s eat first.” He stood up and walked towards the door.

“D*mn! D*mn it! D*mn it! It’s an earthquake! It’s a freaking earthquake! These virtual five senses are so realistic!”

“Brothers, it’s only because he’s standing up! He has covered the entire sky, and the world seems to be shaking. Quickly, run! We have to survive to develop further! Don’t let him stomp you to death!”

Countless screams were heard.

A bunch of bizarre-looking creatures were scurrying away in panic.

Like a bunch of maniacal wild dogs, they ran like crazy across the vast expanse of land, while behind them, a towering ten-thousand-foot giant was slowly approaching.

With one step, he crossed a thousand miles.

He easily stepped across all the heads of this group of ants and disappeared into the distance. When he came back, there was a blue lunchbox in his hand. He returned to his chair by the entrance of the yard and started eating, taking big mouthfuls of food from the lunchbox.

There were fried eggs, carrots, and even cabbage. Every bite was an explosive sensation of flavor and fragrance. Food found in the rural village was just so savory and delicious. Xu Zhi was feeling blissfully delighted as he continued to ponder how he could pass the information on meditation to the three witches of the Babylonian tribe.

At this time, the players who were hiding amidst the trees secretly crept out again. They watched the giant who was seated in the yard eating his lunch. They huddled together and began to whisper amongst themselves again.

“Wow, the degree of freedom in this game is truly awesome!”

“This boss, he even has cutscenes in his game, and we have actually triggered them somehow. And yet, there he is, still eating away.”

“Shush, let’s start by developing with great caution.”

“This game is so freaking fun! It’s mind-blowing fun!”

...

Xu Zhi sat on his chair and ate from the lunchbox as he looked at the group of players in the distant little forest on the ground. They were secretly discussing and looking for strategies to beat him. For the moment, he was rendered speechless. But then, he was struck by a sudden thought and exclaimed, “Right! The sandbox evolution game!”

Xu Zhi thought about it and said, “I will just go through the game like any other players do. Start evolving from a spore, then turn into a creature. Then, I will be a microscopic creature and be able to go over to the large sandbox. Problem solved!”

He was really excited. While eating, he was also studying the feasibility of this idea. If he could actually do this, it would mean that he would be able to enter the miniature sandbox whenever he wanted.

As expected, it had been wise to build this little sandbox. It had brought him such great surprises, as well as many other effective uses.

After his meal, Xu Zhi planned to test the game himself. Since he was going to enter the field and play the game in person, then naturally, he had to clear the playing field.

In the next second, a notice appeared.

“This game will undergo emergency maintenance. You have three seconds. Please go offline immediately!”