Evolution Sandbox

"Have you really thought this through? If you're dissatisfied with the salary, we can still negotiate..."

"I've already made up my mind."

"...All right. The company's doors will always be open to you."

Ten minutes later, Lin Tuo walked out of the office building with a backpack slung over his shoulders. Standing by the roadside, he turned to look at the building behind him, feeling a little sentimental.

Lin Tuo had majored in advertising design in college. With talent, diligence, and a bit of luck, he had made a name for himself early on and successfully joined this well-known company in the industry.

Over the past two years, he had handled several major projects and won deep appreciation. Along with some freelance work, he had saved several hundred thousand. If he had continued developing like that, his future would have been bright.

Yet today, he had finally resigned without hesitation.

He had already returned his rented apartment and hired someone to ship his luggage. Lin Tuo hailed a taxi and left Yangcheng City's urban district.

More than an hour later, he stood at the foot of Li Mountain in his hometown.

Li Mountain was an obscure peak, part of the Taihe Mountain Range. It stood in the outskirts of Yangcheng City. With no famous scenery and little development, it had retained a rare simplicity.

It was summer, and the mountain was lush and green. Whenever rainy weather came, mist would rise through the air. Lin Tuo had grown up here. He had attended elementary and middle school in the town at the mountain's foot, but when he counted it up, he realized he had not returned in a very long time.

Following the mountain path, he soon climbed Li Mountain and spotted a standalone courtyard residence halfway up the slope.

It had two courtyards, a classical style, and occupied quite a bit of land. But once he drew close, he discovered that it had already fallen somewhat into disrepair.

This was Lin Tuo's old home. He had grown up in this residence. Since his parents had died early, he had been raised by his grandfather, who ran a Martial Arts Hall and took in disciples to practice martial arts and strengthen their bodies.

When Lin Tuo was young, people still came here to become disciples and learn martial arts. But as the times changed, old-fashioned Martial Arts Halls gradually fell out of favor. His grandfather had languished in sorrow and died despondently.

His greatest regret before death had been that the family Martial Arts Hall had ultimately been lost from his hands, leaving him too ashamed to face his ancestors in the underworld.

Therefore, Lin Tuo had secretly made up his mind long ago that once he earned enough startup capital, he would return and reopen the Martial Arts Hall, fulfilling his grandfather's final wish. That was also why he had resigned so decisively.

"Creak." He twisted the lock open and pushed through the gate. Passing through the front courtyard and crossing the quiet, desolate Training Ground, Lin Tuo looked at the dense weeds growing between the stone cracks and sighed. "Looks like I'll need to give this place a thorough cleaning. Then it'll need renovating."

As he considered his plans for the future, Lin Tuo immediately found a broom and began sweeping the residence with all his strength.

"Cough, cough." When he pushed open a large room in the rear courtyard, the dust immediately made him cough. He fanned the air, waited for it to clear, then walked into the old room—only to discover in astonishment that the roof had a huge hole from years of neglect.

"You've got to be kidding..." Lin Tuo sighed helplessly and withdrew his gaze, only to discover in surprise that the room was completely empty except for a huge table. Its surface was bare and covered in dust, and he had no idea what it was for.

"Why don't I remember there being such a huge table at home?" he muttered. Feeling somewhat wistful, Lin Tuo reached out and touched the corner of the table.

Then he felt as if his finger had been pricked by something sharp. As his blood fused with the enormous table, the dark old room suddenly lit up.

Beep beep—Blood medium detected. Evolution Sandbox restarting.

Evolution Sandbox restart complete. Current location identified. "Observation Mode" automatically activated. Observation range: 15,000 square kilometers.

Current Aether concentration: Low

More mysterious information surfaced in his mind. Then Lin Tuo saw a translucent Virtual Panel appear in his field of vision.

The panel was extremely simple. The most conspicuous words on it were "Observation Mode."

At the bottom was "Aether concentration," followed by the word "Low."

Other than that, there seemed to be nothing else.

"What is this? Some kind of black technology? Observation Mode? Could it be... I'm observing the real Yangcheng City? The observation range is fifteen thousand... That's roughly the area of Yangcheng City."

Because he had practiced martial arts since childhood, Lin Tuo quickly calmed down from his shock and began analyzing the situation.

"But... how is that possible? A real city has been shrunk down and placed on a table? Sandbox... is that what Sandbox means?"

"Incredible." Lin Tuo could not calm his heart. The whole thing felt utterly inconceivable. After hesitating for a moment, he tried moving closer to the "Sandbox" to examine it carefully.

The entire Sandbox truly encompassed the city proper and its surroundings. Yet at its edges, everything was cut off cleanly. Lin Tuo noticed a freight truck driving along the national highway, heading straight out of the Sandbox's observation range and vanishing into thin air.

A layer of dark clouds drifted above the entire Sandbox, obscuring his view to some extent. Lin Tuo remembered that it really was overcast today.

At that moment, a domestic passenger plane suddenly appeared out of nowhere at the edge of the Sandbox. It flew straight above the clouds like a model, passing over the city.

"Could it be real?" Lin Tuo's breathing tightened. Finding the dark clouds rather obstructive, he instinctively bent over and approached the city from above, wanting to see the details more clearly.

At the same time.

In Yangcheng City, not far from the mountain, it was noon. Employees crowded into elevators in office buildings, preparing to head out for lunch, while delivery riders on the streets swarmed in on their bikes.

Outside Lin Tuo's former company building, the manager who had approved his resignation had just stepped out of the first floor when he felt the light over the city suddenly change. The previously gloomy sky brightened.

Then he heard cries of alarm.

"Look at the sky!"

"Holy shit, what is that?!"

"Am I seeing things? How did... how did... a face appear in the sky?!"

"Take a picture! Where's my phone?"

Countless people on the street raised their heads, following the changing light to look up at the sky above the city.

The manager froze for a moment before looking up as well. His eyes suddenly widened, and even his mouth fell open unconsciously, revealing the turmoil in his heart.

Above the city, the piled-up dark clouds suddenly churned as if stirred by some mysterious force. Then, within the clouds, a blurry human face gradually seemed to be "printed" into existence!

The face was formed from wisps of cloud, lifelike and almost real. Where its eyes should have been were two hollow voids, staring down majestically over the entire land.