Civilization's Evolution (I)

The dust from the initial impact and the volcanic ash from the subsequent eruption drifted in the atmosphere for decades before finally beginning to slowly fall back to the ground.

As the dust thinned, the earth's surface finally received much-needed sunlight. Temperatures began to rise, the frost on the ground began to melt, and after several heavy rains, everything began to revive, and the dust in the air began to decrease dramatically.

Early in the morning, several Fat-Tail Rat crawled out of their burrows. Although the PM2.5 level in the air was still high, it no longer affected their ability to move around.

These cubs are lucky; their great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfathers could only imagine the sun, but in their generation, they finally saw it in reality.

The Fat-Tail Rat reproduces rapidly, but has a short lifespan, living at most a dozen years. In those few decades, not counting wars and accidents, countless Fat-Tail Rat have died of old age.

Their greatest enemy, after fighting them for more than twenty years after the disaster struck, also perished in the long river of history.

With no enemies left, the number of Fat-Tail Rat began to increase dramatically, and underground burrows and farms were repeatedly expanded. However, this still could not alleviate the situation.

Then, their internal war broke out.

Over the decades, more than ten civil wars broke out, each killing many Fat-Tail Rat. After the war, they would have a period of peace when resources were plentiful again, then the population would explode, and civil war would begin again, and the cycle would repeat itself.

Until they noticed that it was bright outside.

The existing Fat-Tail Rat couldn't understand the meaning of the word "bright," just as they couldn't understand the sun, or the great "god."

These are the knowledge passed down from their ancestors, along with language and writing.

Legend has it that they and their mortal enemy were once ignorant wild beasts. The "gods" took pity on them, made them intelligent, and taught them knowledge.

But their ancestors were too foolish, which angered the "gods," who then punished them.

A giant fireball fell from the sky and destroyed their home.

Many things that happened afterward are now impossible to verify. There were few written records left from that time, and much of it was lost during the civil war. Now, many things have been passed down to us through oral tradition.

Legend has it that "God" is kind and compassionate. The sage who invented "planting" revealed the truth in his later years: "Planting" was not invented by him at all, but was taught to him by "God," and "God" did not abandon them.

Perhaps their infighting angered the "god" again, and from then on, the "god" disappeared. So much so that now, newborn cubs only hear this as a story and do not believe in the existence of the "god".

Once they emerged from their burrows, the Fat-Tail Rat faced a vast expanse of land, where population could no longer limit their growth.

At this time, there were more than 100,000 Fat-Tail Rat underground. After some discussion, they split into dozens of teams and went in different directions.

The Fat-Tail Rat entered the tribal era.

Rowan carefully nurtured this Seed of civilization. He discovered that excessive interference might hinder its development. Therefore, aside from providing necessary guidance and assistance, Rowan no longer meddled in their affairs, including their civil wars.

Dozens of generations later, the Fat-Tail Rat is more intelligent than its ancestors. It has become accustomed to using tools and has adapted to walking upright.

Rowan saw the shadow of the Blue Star Homo erectus in them.

In the aftermath of the disaster, the planet was in ruins and needed rebuilding. The Fat-Tail Rat had no natural enemies, and they quickly spread across the continent, expanding at an extremely rapid pace.

The previous testing grounds were too small to contain this nascent civilization. So Rowan decided to go all out and use the entire continent as his testing ground.

In order not to affect the development of the Fat-Tail Rat, Rowan removed all the large insects and Creep from this continent, leaving only small units such as ants and Flying Bug to serve as observation points.

He himself wouldn't be idle either; he would go to the ocean to continue developing the Swarm, at the very least to maintain the ability to control the situation should the experiment go out of control.

The oceans on this planet are several times larger than the land, and even after the disaster, a large number of genetic samples still exist in the sea.

In recent years, besides spying on experimental subjects, Rowan has also been busy, gaining some new understanding of his own talents and genetic combination.

However, the prospect of escaping this planet using this method remains a distant dream. But he will not give up, nor will he place his hopes on just one method. As long as his abilities allow, he will seek more avenues; self-evolution, the search for unique genes, and the cultivation of civilization are just some of the possibilities.

Collecting samples from the sea was only one of the objectives. The second objective was to separate the main body from the Mother Nest. Rowan had always been resentful about staying with the Mother Nest.

Out of responsibility for the future of the Swarm, he decided to leave the Mother Nest in a base deep underground, which, after years of excavation, had reached a depth of two thousand meters.

This is no easy task for the insects. Once they reach a certain depth, every additional meter of digging requires extensive reinforcement work, which is quite troublesome.

His main body, on the other hand, would head towards the depths of the ocean. He remembered his previous knowledge that developing the deep sea and venturing into space were roughly the same in terms of difficulty.

Enduring the atmospheric pressure of the deep sea is no easier than surviving in space. Since space is currently inaccessible, he can first conquer the deep sea.

It is believed that the immense pressure at the bottom of the sea will act as a great catalyst, helping him to unleash the potential of his talent and enhance his strength.

The rapid reproduction rate of the Fat-Tail Rat also accelerated their civilization's progress. Without natural predators, their population quickly grew from hundreds of thousands to hundreds of millions.

The explosive population growth, while causing resource shortages, also led to the emergence of social classes. Some clever Fat-Tail Rat began to hire their own kind to do work.

Subsequently, transactions led to the emergence of commerce.

Just then, the legendary "god" reappeared.

Several tribal chiefs and sages spoke out, claiming that they had received the favor of "gods" who had taught them numbers, which could be used for calculation and trade.

Moreover, the "gods" live on the moon, and if they could go to the moon, they might be able to see the "gods".

However, when asked what "God" looks like, their descriptions varied. Some said it was a beautiful little bird, some said it was a Flying Bug, and some even said it was a giant ant.

The Fat-Tail Rat doubted their words, believing that they had fabricated everything and that "God" was an ethereal being who did not exist.

However, the knowledge about numbers did spread, making transactions more convenient for people. At the same time, the desire to see the moon quietly took Seed in the hearts of the Rat-folk.

Wishing everyone a peaceful and joyful Lunar New Year's Eve, and a happy holiday.