Oasis

On the island in the Sandbox.

Lin Tuo's voice rang out like thunder, startling those lazy Strange Fish into jumping up at once.

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

Others had probably been sleeping too comfortably. They jolted upright but were still dazed, merely staring blankly toward the sky.

These Strange Fish were roughly the size of humans. Even with his Body Tempering-enhanced eyesight, far surpassing that of an ordinary person, and despite being so close, Lin Tuo could only make out the general outline.

The Strange Fish had dark-blue skin and long, slender fish tails for lower bodies, though they did not have many scales.

They possessed two "arms" and humanoid heads, but no hair. They were vastly different from any fish Lin Tuo knew and looked exceedingly bizarre.

At that moment, perhaps sensing the hot wind produced by Lin Tuo's breath, the Strange Fish erupted into a clamorous chatter. Yet it was clearly not language, only beastlike howls.

"They don't look... like advanced Sentient Beings. A novel Amphibian Race?"

Puzzled, Lin Tuo raised himself and carefully checked the Operation Log again, yet found no relevant records.

But no matter how he looked at them, these things did not seem naturally evolved...

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

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

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

Those creatures could live freely underwater, possessed very low intelligence, and could not communicate with humans...

Still, that was only a Wasteland legend. After all, not even the Three Major Powers dared enter the incomparably dangerous ocean.

"Could it be... that this life form is a race evolved from humans mutated back then?" Lin Tuo could not help thinking. His expression immediately grew complicated.

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

If the Sandbox continued accelerating, perhaps after a very long time, these Mutant Species might give birth to intelligence once more. Maybe they would become the new masters of this ocean.

"Mm... then I'll move you to the New Continent as well." After some thought, Lin Tuo turned and brought over an abandoned fish tank.

He planned to place this race in the fish tank as a temporary transfer point.

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

He dipped in a finger and gently stirred the sea surface. The Strange Fish finally snapped fully awake, diving into the depths in terror and fleeing for their lives.

Unhurried, Lin Tuo lowered the entire fish tank over this stretch of sea, then gently turned it over, taking in the Strange Fish population along with the surrounding ocean.

"I'll put the fish tank beside the Potted Plant." Lin Tuo wiped away the water stains with a towel, set it firmly to one side, then casually pinched up some breadcrumbs and sprinkled them in.

After that, he did not hesitate. Taking a bucket, he began drawing out the accumulated water from Sandbox No.1.

More precisely, he was removing the water he had poured in before. After purification, the water no longer contained Corruption. As the waterline fell, the land that had been submerged for over ten thousand years finally saw daylight again.

It looked like a mass of sludge.

The civilization of the past lay buried beneath the earth.

"Time Acceleration."

Once he had finished adjusting it, the entire Sandbox began evolving rapidly again. Visible to the naked eye, the riverbeds dried up, vegetation reappeared, and swiftly spread across the whole continent.

Everything seemed to have returned to how it had looked in the beginning, when this world had just been born.

"Mm, based on past experience, by tomorrow at the latest, the entire Sandbox will completely recover its original terrain and ecosystem."

Lin Tuo was quite satisfied with this speed.

However, according to his plan, once this place had been reforested, he would abandon Sandbox No.1, shut down the Isolation Shield, and build a new world.

That was right!

The "New Continent" he had found for the Wasteland's life forms was not Sandbox No.1!

If Tako Continent itself had been an experiment through which Lin Tuo explored the Rules of the Evolution Sandbox, then that experiment had now reached its end.

"Three hundred thousand square kilometers is simply too small for a civilization... Aether's upper limit is also too low... It's time to switch to a bigger map."

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

Within his field of vision, the Virtual Panel appeared, shifted, returned to the main page, and then opened the Store.

Originally, there had only been one item here: "Observation Range," priced at 1,000 Aether points.

But not long ago, Lin Tuo discovered that a new item had quietly been added:

Creation Range: 1,000 points per one million square kilometers

As his gaze moved over it, an explanation automatically appeared beside it.

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

For only 1,000 points, he could obtain a full one million square kilometers of land!

More than three times the size of Tako Continent!

Compared to "Observation Range," which could only purchase ten thousand square kilometers for the same price... the value for money was terrifyingly high!

He had also accumulated quite a bit of Aether from Chi Kingdom, enough to make several purchases. Naturally, the thought of replacing the Sandbox arose.

Technically, it would not be difficult to accomplish.

Based on the information provided by the Evolution Sandbox, Lin Tuo learned that the entire Sandbox could currently support the calculations for only one Sandbox at a time.

In other words, only one Sandbox could be opened at a time.

Two could not operate simultaneously.

Therefore, if he wanted to switch to a large map, he could only shut down Sandbox No.1.

After it was shut down, the Evolution Sandbox would automatically coordinate and match it with the environment outside the Sandbox. Afterward, Tako Continent, without its Isolation Shield, would be moved into Observation Mode.

That was right. The land Lin Tuo had covered through Creation Mode would not be lost after the Isolation Shield was removed. It would merely turn into a situation similar to Yang City—he could still observe it and teleport there.

But he would also lose the ability to accelerate its Time.

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

However, before that, he needed to consider an important problem: when to shut it down.

If he shut it down now, then the people waiting outside the Great Wall would discover that the former great desert had become a mire.

But if he waited until the Sandbox had evolved a civilization again before opening it, then when the Great Wall vanished, fierce conflict between civilizations would inevitably erupt.

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

So, he planned to wait until the Sandbox had once again evolved fertile land and forests before shutting it down.

That way, first, there would be no conflict between Civilizations.

Second, the former desert would become a fertile Oasis. The value contained within it would be immeasurable. Whether through logging to obtain resources or through cultivation, it would surely create immense value.

Of course, it was not without negative effects. For instance, it would affect the climate to a certain extent, but all of that was acceptable.

As for the possible germs arising from two ecological environments, the Evolution Sandbox would resolve them during the "coordination" process.

"I used Tucker Desert for my experiment before. Now I'm giving back an Oasis. That should settle it, right?"

Lin Tuo sorted through the process and murmured softly.

After tidying up the Sandbox and pouring the wastewater into the Back Mountain, it was already getting late. Lin Tuo handled some other work as well.

When he shut down his computer and stretched lazily, he discovered that the western sky was already suffused with fiery sunset clouds.

"Mm, Hua Xi should be awake by now, right?" Lin Tuo murmured to himself. Then he stood and pushed open the study door.

Hua Xi had indeed been awake for a long time. In fact, she had barely slept at all.

Ever since entering this room around noon, she had been busy. Although there was hardly any furniture in the whole room, she had still attended earnestly to every corner.

Making the bed and folding the blankets, hanging each piece of clothing she had bought in the wardrobe, placing Daily Life and washing supplies where they belonged, soaking a rag in the washbasin, wringing it out, wiping the windows, sweeping the floor...

These utterly mundane tasks were things she did with great seriousness.

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

Occasionally, when she was lucky enough to make a small fortune, after setting aside the costs of food and treating her injuries, there was little left.

In the wilderness, she usually lived in caves, trees, and similar places.

When she returned to a settlement, finding any spot in the ruins that could shield her from wind and rain was already considered quite good.

As for clean houses, those were luxuries only a very small number of people could enjoy.

Therefore, she attached exceptional importance to this first true "bedroom" of her life. It was like saving money for a long time to buy a pair of white shoes, then watching them constantly, never wanting them to get dirty.

Only after she had cleaned every corner of the room did she finally lie down on the bed.

Feeling the softness and scent of the brand-new bedding, along with the comfortable and unbelievably beautiful outfit she wore, she stared at the ceiling in a daze.

It all felt unreal, like a dream.

Especially... when she thought of everything she had seen in that "city" she had toured that morning, that dreamlike feeling grew even stronger.

"So many people actually live together... and none of them are on guard against one another, none of them carry weapons..."

"The roads are so flat, and those colorful, strange-looking vehicles have such low chassis... If they were thrown into the Wasteland, they definitely wouldn't be able to move."

"Restaurants where you can eat whatever you want just by poking at a little box... unbelievable."

Everything she had seen and heard spun before her eyes like a kaleidoscope. Every single thing was so fresh and new.

Thinking that she would be living here from now on, the corners of the girl's lips could not help curling upward.

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

Who knew how much time passed before she suddenly heard that familiar voice from the courtyard.

"Coming!"

She sprang up, pushed open the door, and rushed into the courtyard as quickly as she could. There, she saw Lin Tuo looking at her with blazing eyes.

"What is it?" she asked blankly.

Then she saw Lin Tuo say solemnly:

"Take me as your master."

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