Abigail Flower

"A monster attracted to ships?"

Mona recalled something.

In the murals depicting past history, people had once painted scenes of sea monsters coming ashore.

He could vaguely sense it.

Perhaps the monster hadn't appeared simply because it was attracted to the ship.

There was likely a deeper reason behind this attack.

If that was the case,

then this would undoubtedly happen again in the future.

"With humanity's current strength, even on the island, the landing of just four or five Giant Monsters like this would spell disaster."

Mona looked at the people on the Drawing Board, lost in thought.

He had already illuminated Light of Technology at the [Bow and Arrow] node on the Tech Tree.

But that was far from enough to deal with the crisis.

The people knew nothing about the future.

That was the true source of the danger.

After considering it for a moment, he decided that before falling asleep, he would create the unfinished thing and let it offer these people some much-needed guidance.

His gaze then shifted to the two other new colors on the Palette.

[Ocean Essence]: One of the most primordial and ancient life essences. A material used to create life, it can also be absorbed—temporarily increases compatibility with all colors by +0.1%.

[Giant Monster Mark lv2]: A mark that can only be used to create life. With it, you have a small chance of creating a creature with Giant Monster lv2 traits.

Mona understood that compatibility was linked to the success rate of color fusion.

For an ordinary person, a 0.1% chance wasn't very high.

But when it came to creating life, something miraculous in itself, he knew that this chance was already extremely high.

Mona decided to use this negligible chance to attempt to create another advanced life-form.

He would create a wondrous creature, just as he envisioned.

The creation of life began.

Mona changed his approach to creating an advanced life-form.

He realized that he'd fallen into a misconception before.

He had always treated animals and plants as entirely separate.

If plants were easier to create, why couldn't he create a plant that could move?

Wouldn't a creature between plant and animal also count as an advanced life-form?

Mona thought it would be fascinating.

If he really succeeded, it would be a life-form that defied convention.

First, he used a plant as the base color.

After further extracting the colors from the [Hermit Crab Soul Essence], he carefully selected a variety of colors with high compatibility with the plant and blended them together.

These included [Parasitism], [Longevity], [Giant Monster], and the previously obtained [Decay Essence].

Mona even took more [Spirituality] and [Wisdom Essence] from the souls of some dead followers and added them to the Palette.

[Wisdom Essence]: A mysterious essence found in intelligent beings. It can be used to create life or absorbed—increases the rate at which your divine power grows ↑

Wisdom Essence was a color unique to humans.

This essence could also increase the rate at which divine power grew.

But to a god intent on losing himself in games, it was undoubtedly poison.

Mona, of course, couldn't possibly consume Wisdom Essence.

So it was only fitting to use it up as material.

Now, all these precious ingredients

were tossed into the Palette.

In an instant, more than half of the colors he'd stockpiled over the years were used up.

It had cost him dearly.

But he was confident that this time, he would achieve unprecedented success.

Because when he'd reclaimed the divine power from the [Drawing Board] earlier, he'd already seized that fleeting inspiration.

This time,

the blending process took an exceptionally long time.

About two or three months passed.

Only then did the colors begin to merge.

At last,

in the fifth month,

all the colors finally fused into one.

Mona woke from his somewhat groggy state.

Next, he had to shape it with divine power.

Using the remaining [Wisdom] power from when he'd reclaimed the Drawing Board, he bestowed a mythical power upon this creature's life.

It would give the creature not only intelligence, but also the potential to grow wiser.

[Somber blue-green strokes spread across the canvas.]

[Then, after you put down your brush, they condensed into a single point.]

[You have created the embryo of a living being.]

[Although it appears incomplete and remains fragile, it can indeed be called a living being.]

[You have unlocked a new color.]

[This is a wondrous life-form between animal and plant.]

[Nourished by Decay Essence, it possesses the power of decay. Its enormous size and long life also grant it limitless potential.]

"Did it work?"

Mona watched as color slowly emerged on the canvas. For the first time, things had unfolded differently from his previous attempts, and a trace of delight gradually surfaced in his heart.

The life-form he had created this time was finally completely different from the previous two.

[You may give this new life-form a name.]

[You named it Abigail Flower.]

[You have obtained: Abigail Flower]

He named the plant Abigail Flower.

There was no particular reason.

It was simply a fragment drawn from memories of the past.

Mona touched the creature's body and soul, and immediately learned everything about the life-form he had created.

[Plant lv3] Abigail Flower

[Age]: 0 years

[Talents]: "Spirituality lv3" "Longevity lv3" "Parasitism lv1" "Growth Potential lv4"

[Knowledge]: None

[Habits]: None

[Sequence]: None

[Skills]: "Rot Spirit Manipulation lv1"

[A miraculous flower created by a god, with the ability to turn decay into wonder. As an intelligent life-form, it has the advantage of being able to learn and evolve continuously. However, such a miraculous life-form is almost impossible to reproduce, and it cannot reproduce.]

Mona read through all the information.

The life-form's panel looked very similar to a human's.

It also had an additional [Skills] section.

He had succeeded.

But it wasn't a complete success.

At present, it was only a fragile embryo.

It was also a solitary individual.

It couldn't reproduce.

That meant this life-form was destined to be alone.

But in any case, it already qualified as a living being.

At Mona's will, it had successfully gained a measure of intelligence through [Wisdom Essence].

Moreover, because he had directly written [Faith] and [Spirituality] into its life, Mona could sense that Abigail Flower belonged to him in every way.

Unlike those who became followers later in life,

it had been born with faith in the god.

It could also sense the god's presence.

As its creator, he could even write his will directly into its instincts.

Mona used his Paintbrush to write something into Abigail Flower's instincts.

It was a mission related to creation.

At that moment,

it received a mission from the god.

"From now on, you will be the first Apostle. Use your power to enlighten the people."

Mona spoke softly.

On this day, the god's first Apostle was born.

Its name was Abigail Flower.