The atmosphere was deathly silent.
At first, everyone had thought the Funeral Chicken race was an enormous reward. But now that they had witnessed this scene firsthand, they could not help but feel deeply shaken.
"How tragic! Who would've thought that after the boss ate you from the lunchbox, not only would he not die from the poison, he'd actually remember how delicious you were?"
"Congratulations, bro! You've successfully obtained a new starting race—Ayam Cemani on the Tongue. You've changed classes into a dish: tastes like chicken, crunches like crackers, and has eight times the protein of beef."
"No matter how beautifully you shaped your face just now, even if you spent more than ten minutes on it, you were still going to be eaten. In fact, you even made the dish look more appealing."
"To be honest, I was having a late-night snack when I saw this. I spat my food out laughing. I know it's pitiful, but I still can't stop cackling like a pig being slaughtered!"
"Bro, your first species, the Funeral Chicken, is probably finished."
Listening to the forum's laughter and teasing, Chen Wenshan was completely dumbfounded. Looking at how most of the Funeral Chicken population had been taken away, countless regrets instantly flared up in his heart. Why the hell did I let him eat me? Now he remembered my taste and would come looking for my species to eat every day. Is my species really done for?
For a moment, his joy turned into sorrow.
The boss's realism, as though it were truly part of a real world, and its ability to remember things caused another enormous stir among the players. Everyone became wildly excited, heatedly discussing how the first evolved species to earn an achievement had already become part of the boss's menu.
This was a warning to learn from! Xu Zhi, meanwhile, appeared quite relaxed.
He walked back from Orchard Courtyard to his room, carrying dozens of quail-egg-sized Funeral Chickens into the kitchen. He placed them in a basket, washed them clean, plucked their feathers in a few quick motions, and said, "I'm hungry anyway. They can be tonight's late-night snack."
Perhaps this species had evolved to be extremely poisonous, but it had also evolved to be exceptionally delicious. As expected of a creature designed to be tasty after studying professional evolutionary knowledge.
Xu Zhi felt that his situation was perfectly normal. After all, when someone grew crops in their fields, didn't they go out to pick some vegetables whenever they were hungry and turn them into a meal? These Funeral Chickens were just vegetables he had grown.
Leaving him a king and eating some of the population he had bred was already generous enough.
Xu Zhi put them on to stew, cracked in two eggs, and smiled calmly as he cooked in the kitchen. "I knew that guy would definitely choose option one. I've been waiting for you here all along."
Brother, from now on, you were one of the dishes in my garden menu.
After simmering them over low heat for half an hour, he sprinkled on some chopped scallions. They were unexpectedly fresh and delicious, one bite after another, satisfying beyond belief.
"Looks like I'll have to encourage them to evolve more tasty species in the future." Xu Zhi muttered to himself. In his view, since he had terminal stomach cancer, treating his stomach better was what really mattered.
Having just finished practicing witchcraft and taken a bath, enjoying a delicious late-night snack truly was a wonderful pastoral life.
His brows suddenly twitched. "Right, what if I let them evolve a plant that grows some delicious vegetables and fruits?"
To be honest, Xu Zhi liked sitting at the entrance to the courtyard, watching the Great Sandbox while eating apples, pears, and all kinds of fruit. Those days were simply sweet, happy, and leisurely. If they could produce even more delicious fruit now, that would be perfect. "It's not impossible."
Xu Zhi thought about it. Most players currently would not choose to evolve into plants, after all. They could not move at all, which greatly affected the gaming experience.
More importantly, the players had all fallen into a misunderstanding. From the very beginning, they had wanted to evolve eyes, evolve arms, and gain the ability to move. None of them had considered taking the immobile plant route. "Perhaps I should give them a reminder. Their diligence and ability to endure pressure are stronger than I imagined. Remaining motionless and taking the plant route, using photosynthesis, is something they can probably endure too." Xu Zhi thought for a while, then secretly logged into the game account he had created earlier to enter the Sand Table, Write Down All Those Who Scold Me, and made a post.
The contents were as follows.
"I've been watching all you experts play this game. Why hasn't anyone chosen to evolve into plants? After all, this world has two major categories, plants and animals. Is no one taking the plant evolution path?"
His words woke everyone from their dream. In an instant, the players began discussing it fervently.
"Holy shit, how did I not think of that? Plants! Plants!"
"Yeah, this is a completely new field. I died fighting the boss anyway, so I have to start evolving from spores again. I might as well give it a try and open up an unprecedented new world. I've decided—I'm staying up all night studying plant biological structures, chlorophyll, photosynthesis, and plasmolysis. I'm going to create a perfect plant!"
"Tomorrow, I'll have another life. I'll become a tree, standing eternally, with no posture of joy or sorrow. Half at peace in the dirt, half soaring in the wind; half casting cool shade, half bathing in sunlight. Utterly silent, utterly proud."
Xu Zhi watched with satisfaction. Someone had already become highly interested and set out on the plant path, so he quietly withdrew after accomplishing his goal.
Sure enough, secretly lurking on the forums was important. He could learn about the enemy's situation and subtly guide public opinion, steering evolution in the direction he wanted.
He would turn them completely into his free laborers, making them frantically research science and evolution for him, study knowledge, become Edisons one after another, and use ninety-nine percent perspiration to work themselves bald, exhausting all their energy to evolve species for him.
If plants appeared, could delicious fruit be far behind? It was already close.
"My vegetable garden plan."
Xu Zhi smiled, continued eating Funeral Chicken, and began browsing the forums again to monitor the species the others were evolving. He discovered a rising player besides Mount Akina Speed who was worth paying attention to.
It was that fellow, "My Hunyuan Thunderbolt Hand, I Want to Evolve into a Kun." He was also a well-known player, but this guy was completely neglecting his proper business now. He was neither trying to evolve into a kun nor trying to evolve species.
As a veteran Minecraft player and a true casual gamer, he was obsessed with farming and building houses.
The reason he had previously evolved five tentacles was so that he could better become an "inventor" and a "craftsman."
Of his five tentacles, two had serrated, sharp praying mantis scythe structures for cutting wood. One was shaped like a shovel for digging soil, while the other two nimble tentacles served as support.
The entire creature looked like a robot built for making tools.
He built a chair.
Swish, swish, swish!!
He chopped down trees, processed them, assembled and fitted them together. In less than a few minutes, all five tentacles moved at once, each performing its own task. The tentacles became a blur of afterimages, and the chair was instantly completed. Xu Zhi was utterly stunned when he saw it!
What the hell had this thing evolved into? This was a goddamn machine-tool assembly line, like mechanical arms in a factory.
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