Oasis

In the sandbox, on the island.

Lin Tuo's voice boomed like thunder, and those lazy Strange Fish immediately jumped up in fright.

Some near the shore instinctively scrambled and rolled into the water, only poking their heads out afterward to look around.

Others, probably too comfortable from sleep, jolted upright, still dazed, staring blankly at the sky.

These Strange Fish were about the size of a human. Even with his body tempered and his vision far beyond an ordinary person's, and despite being this close, Lin Tuo could only make out rough details.

The Strange Fish had deep blue skin, slender fish tails on their lower halves, but few scales.

They had two "arms" and human-like heads, no hair—completely different from the fish Lin Tuo knew, looking extremely bizarre.

At that moment, probably sensing the warm air from Lin Tuo's breath, a group of Strange Fish started chattering noisily, but it was clearly not language—just beast-like howls.

"Looks like... not a high-level sentient being. A novel Amphibian Race?"

Lin Tuo wondered, straightening up and checking the "Operation Log" again, but found no relevant records.

Yet the way these creatures looked—it didn't seem like natural evolution at all...

Suddenly, Lin Tuo recalled some "history" Hua Xi had told him.

It was said that during the Great Cataclysm, the climate changed drastically, and many coastal cities were submerged.

Later, some hunters claimed that while exploring the ocean, they encountered creatures resembling Mutant Humans.

Those beings could live freely underwater, had very low intelligence, and couldn't communicate with people...

But that was just a legend of the Wasteland. After all, even the Three Major Powers dared not enter the perilous ocean.

"Could it be... that this life is a race evolved from the Mutant Humans of that era?" Lin Tuo thought, his expression growing complicated.

If his guess was true, then losing intelligence was probably the price of survival.

If he let the sandbox keep accelerating, perhaps, after a long time, these Mutant Species might develop wisdom again—who knows? Maybe they would become the new masters of this ocean.

"Hmm... then I'll move you all to the New Continent too." Lin Tuo thought briefly, turned, and grabbed a discarded Fish Tank.

He planned to put this race into the Fish Tank for transfer.

That way, he could preserve the race and give them a chance to continue evolving, without delaying his own plans.

He dipped a finger in and gently stirred the sea surface. The Strange Fish finally snapped fully awake, panicking as they dove to the seabed, desperately fleeing.

Lin Tuo unhurriedly placed the entire Fish Tank over this sea area, then gently flipped it, scooping up the Strange Fish group and the surrounding ocean water.

"I'll put the Fish Tank next to the Potted Plant." Lin Tuo wiped off the water with a towel, set it steadily aside, and casually pinched some Breadcrumbs to sprinkle in.

After that, he hesitated no longer, grabbed a bucket, and began draining the accumulated water from Sandbox No.1.

To be precise, he was removing the water he had poured in earlier. After purification, it was no longer polluted. As the water level dropped, the land that had been submerged for ten thousand years finally saw the light again.

It looked like a clump of mud.

The past civilization lay buried beneath.

"Time Acceleration."

After adjusting, the entire sandbox began evolving rapidly again. Visibly, riverbeds dried up, plants re-emerged, quickly spreading across the whole continent.

Everything seemed to return to the beginning—the way this world looked when it was first born.

"Hmm, based on past experience, by tomorrow at the latest, the whole sandbox will fully restore its original terrain and ecosystem."

Lin Tuo was quite satisfied with this speed.

But in his plan, once the greening was complete, he would abandon Sandbox No.1, shut down the "Isolation Shield," and build a new world from scratch.

Yes!

The "New Continent" he was seeking for Wasteland life was not Sandbox No.1!

If Tako Continent itself was an experiment in figuring out the Evolution Sandbox's Rules, then now was the time to end that experiment.

"Three hundred thousand square kilometers is too small for a civilization... the Aether cap is too low... time to switch to a bigger map."

Lin Tuo's gaze was clear, anticipation rising in his heart.

In his field of vision, the Virtual Panel popped up, shifted, returned to the main page, and then opened the Store button.

Originally, there was only one item here: the "Observation Range," priced at 1000 Aether per unit.

But just recently, Lin Tuo noticed a new item quietly listed:

[Creation Range: 1000 Aether / 1 million square kilometers]

His gaze moved over, and a description automatically appeared beside it.

The meaning was simple: he could spend Aether to purchase land area in Creation Mode.

For just 1000 points, he could get a full million square kilometers of land!

That was more than three times the size of Tako Continent!

Compared to the "Observation Range," which at the same price only bought ten thousand square kilometers... the cost-effectiveness was terrifying!

Previously, he had accumulated a fair amount of Aether absorbed from the Chi Kingdom, enough to purchase several times over, so the thought of switching sandboxes naturally arose.

Technically, it wasn't difficult to achieve either.

According to the information provided by the Evolution Sandbox, Lin Tuo understood that currently, the entire sandbox could only support the operation of one sandbox at a time.

That is, only one sandbox could be opened at a time.

It was impossible to run both simultaneously.

Therefore, to switch to a new large map, he would have to close Sandbox No. 1.

After closing, the Evolution Sandbox would automatically coordinate and match it with the environment outside the sandbox. Then, without the "Isolation Shield," the Tako Continent would be transferred to "Observation Mode."

Yes, the land Lin Tuo had covered through Creation Mode would not be lost after the isolation was lifted; it would merely be converted to a state similar to Yang City, still observable and teleportable.

However, it would also lose the ability to accelerate time within it.

Thus, after careful consideration, Lin Tuo decided to abandon Sandbox No. 1 and create a new Sandbox No. 2.

But before that, he had to consider an important issue: the timing of the closure.

If he closed it now, the people waiting outside the "Great Wall" would discover that the original vast desert had turned into a swamp.

But if he waited until the sandbox had re-evolved a civilization before opening it, then when the "Great Wall" disappeared, a fierce conflict between civilizations would inevitably erupt.

Lin Tuo believed that, with his current abilities, he could not perfectly resolve this contradiction.

So, he planned to wait until the sandbox had re-evolved fertile land and forests before closing it.

This way, first, there would be no conflict between civilizations.

Second, the original desert would become a fertile oasis, its inherent value immeasurable—whether for logging resources or farming, it would surely create immense value.

Of course, there were negative effects, such as a certain impact on the climate, but these were all acceptable.

As for potential pathogen issues between the two ecological environments, the Evolution Sandbox would resolve them during the "coordination" process.

"Earlier, I used the Tucker Desert for experiments. Now, returning an oasis should be acceptable, right?"

Lin Tuo sorted through the process and murmured softly.

After tidying up the sandbox and pouring the wastewater into the backyard, it was already getting late. Lin Tuo handled some other work.

When he shut down the computer and stretched, he noticed the western sky was already filled with fiery clouds.

"Hmm, Hua Xi should be awake by now, right?" Lin Tuo muttered to himself, then stood up and pushed open the study door.

Hua Xi had indeed woken up long ago; in fact, she hadn't really slept much at all.

Ever since she entered this room around noon, she had been busy. Although the entire house had hardly any furniture, she still meticulously attended to every corner.

Making the bed and folding the quilt, hanging the bought clothes one by one in the wardrobe, placing daily necessities and toiletries in suitable spots, soaking a rag in the sink, wringing it out, wiping the windows, sweeping the floor...

These were the most mundane tasks, yet she performed them with extreme seriousness.

As a Wasteland Hunter who often went hungry, Hua Xi had never owned her own bedroom.

Occasionally, if she got lucky and made a small fortune, after spending on food and healing injuries, there was almost nothing left.

In the wild, she was used to staying in caves, trees, and places like that.

When returning to a settlement, she would just find a spot in the ruins that could shelter her from the wind and rain, which was already considered quite good.

As for clean houses, only a very few could enjoy them.

Therefore, she placed special importance on this room—the first true "bedroom" in her life. It was like saving up for a long time to buy a pair of white Shoes, always careful, not wanting them to get dirty.

Only after wiping every corner of the room clean did she finally lie down on the bed.

Feeling the softness and scent of the new bedding, as well as the comfortable, incredibly beautiful clothes on her body, she stared at the ceiling, dazed.

She felt this wasn't quite real, like a dream.

Especially... thinking about the various sights she had seen during the "tour" of that "city" in the morning, this dreamlike feeling grew even stronger.

"So many people living together... not wary of each other, not carrying weapons..."

"Such flat roads, and those colorful, Strange Attire cars with such low chassis... if thrown into the Wasteland, they definitely wouldn't be able to run."

"Using a small box, poking and tapping, to casually eat at a restaurant... unbelievable."

What she had seen and heard spun before her eyes like a kaleidoscope, everything so new.

Thinking that she would be living here from now on, the corners of the young girl's mouth lifted involuntarily.

"Hua Xi? Are you awake? Come out."

After who knows how long, she suddenly heard a familiar voice from the yard.

"Coming!"

She leaped up, rushed to the door as fast as she could, and stepped into the yard, where she saw Lin Tuo looking at her intently.

"What's up?" She paused, asking.

Then, she saw Lin Tuo say seriously:

"Take me as your master."