The shellfish monsters had once tried to escape this predicament, using wisdom to break free from their miserable fate at the bottom of the food chain.
Yet heaven did not grant their wishes.
In the Age of Wisdom, there were scarcely any foolish lifeforms in the entire world. Their natural enemies, the predators of sea and sky, were no exception.
Thus, they sorrowfully discovered—
Their purpose in existence seemed to be to serve as food. This was their only destiny.
When one's own abilities were limited, seeing the truth was often an exceptionally cruel thing.
The shellfish monsters were no different.
After struggling, their hope turned into despair, and finally into utter numbness.
Some shellfish monsters began committing suicide. Their wisdom made them unwilling to accept their predetermined fate, so they chose to use their own deaths as silent resistance.
This spread to and affected the others of their kind.
Many shellfish monsters began committing suicide, walking the path of self-annihilation.
Until—
The Flame of Wisdom went out.
The Ignorance Flame descended.
"Living is more important! I live to survive! To reproduce! To mate!"
"Eating is more important! Eat, fill your belly, delicious food! Enjoyment!"
"Ah—what were we originally here to do again?"
"Yeah, what were we supposed to do?"
"Forget it, no more thinking. Let's mate first, you and me."
"Get lost! I'm male, don't interrupt me while I'm eating—"
The argument between the two shellfish monsters ultimately ended in an absurd manner that was both laughable and ridiculous. At first glance, it seemed utterly baffling.
Yet Brother Yu, who witnessed it all, had his own conjectures and insights.
"When water is full, it overflows; when the moon is full, it wanes—excessive wisdom is not a gift to some lifeforms, but more like a painful curse. Like these weak