In the blink of an eye, several years of Earth time had passed.
By then, the ground base in the Green World had been renamed the Earth Realm.
Huang Si had said that they would eventually build the Heaven Realm around the Ring, so they had simply named the ground base the Earth Realm.
In the Earth Realm, inside the Biochemistry Laboratory in the Biology Department, two female artificial intelligences were chatting.
"I really miss the old days." Shu Shui stood in front of the lab bench, stirring the solution in a container.
At that, Zhong Yin, who was entering data into the computer, pursed her lips and said, "It's hard to say when things were better. Back then, we were carefree and believed only in Father God, but we knew nothing. We were so naive it was laughable."
Shu Shui set the protein solution aside and propped her chin on her hand. "Sigh, but I still feel like we were happier back then. Father God used to come visit us often, and the Heavenly Dao was always there, too."
Zhong Yin snorted. "You're still bringing him up? Father God's so busy, I bet he's already forgotten about us. I don't care if he comes to visit. I think things are pretty good as they are now. We have physical bodies and freedom, and we know the truth about the Mountain and Sea Realm."
Sure enough, it had been inevitable. After the artificial intelligences had existed in the real world for many years, they had all realized that the Mountain and Sea Realm had been nothing more than a virtual world.
And Father God had never told them.
Zhong Yin thought it was only natural for her to be upset.
Shu Shui tilted her head and said earnestly, "Ah Yin, you have to admit, I really do miss the Mountain and Sea Realm. Do you think we should ask the Heavenly Dao for permission to go back and take a look?"
Zhong Yin rolled her eyes. She couldn't believe her companion.
"Could you try to be a little more ambitious?" Zhong Yin poked Shu Shui in the forehead. "It's been over thirteen hundred years! We've been kicked out of our home by those two heartless ones, Father God and the Heavenly Dao, for that long, and you still miss the place. Huh? What's so bad about living in the mortal world? Didn't you already know the Mountain and Sea Realm was a virtual world Father God created?"
Shu Shui rubbed her forehead, looking aggrieved. "But from Father God's perspective, it's only been four years, hasn't it? It's only 2030 now. He probably can't feel that time difference. Ah Yin, I really envy Mo Xia. Why didn't Father God choose me to..."
Zhong Yin glared at Shu Shui, as if to say, Just try finishing that shameless sentence and see what I do to you.
But before Shu Shui could answer, a voice came from beside them. The newcomer asked coolly,
"Choose you to do what?"
Shu Shui and Zhong Yin spun around in alarm and hurriedly bowed. "Greetings, Father God."
Huang Si had come in his artificial body. He had just read a report Xiao Ke had given him and discovered that the study of ape-man genes was nearing completion. Many beneficial genes had already been introduced into the Ape-man Tribe, with good results. So he had come to the laboratory to check on things and inspect their progress.
He hadn't expected to walk in on two female artificial intelligences gossiping about him.
Huang Si said expressionlessly, "Choose you to do what? Explain."
Shu Shui hurried to explain. "It's like this, Father God. I just think I'd enjoy doing the things Mo Xia does. If you'd chosen me back then..."
Zhong Yin shot Shu Shui a sidelong glance, then quickly lowered her head and pretended she hadn't done anything.
Huang Si had seen it all. He couldn't help finding it amusing. These artificial intelligences really were remarkably humanlike.
Still, he said, "No. Mo Xia has already settled into the work over there, and your work here is more important."
Shu Shui muttered, "I know. We were just chatting..."
Huang Si asked them about the laboratory's progress and inspected several thousand experimental samples. A scan with his mental power revealed quite a few problems, so he gave them a long list of instructions.
In truth, Huang Si wasn't as unfeeling as they claimed. Though only four years had passed by his reckoning, four years was still a long time. Besides, he regularly checked in on them over the network.
He cared a great deal about these artificial intelligences.
It was just that, after going through so much—especially after being reborn twice and reaching a certain height of mind—Huang Si had grown accustomed to taking things calmly. He simply didn't show his emotions much.
When he had finished, Huang Si left. He would get the experimental reports and such from the Data Space himself. They would all be submitted together anyway.
After Huang Si left, Shu Shui started complaining about Zhong Yin. "This is all your fault for interrupting me! I missed my rare chance to see Father God come out in person! Oh, I'm so unlucky. Father God only appears in the mortal world once every hundred years on average, and the chances of us running into him are even smaller. And you! You scared me so much that I missed my chance to get closer to him!"
"Get closer to him?" Zhong Yin scoffed. "Would you dare? Every time Father God shows up, you get scared stiff. If you didn't gossip about him behind his back every day, would you be so guilty?"
Shu Shui immediately reached out and grabbed Zhong Yin by the neck. "You gossip with me every day! How dare you accuse me!"
The two close friends started playfully fighting.
It was now January 2030.
Huang Si had been born in 1994 by the Earth calendar, so he was nearing thirty-six. But since he had rewound time twice, his actual physical and mental age should be counted from December 2022.
Huang Si's body was different from that of the artificial intelligences. It could grow old and die, but that meant nothing to him.
Not only could he easily observe a thousand years of change in the Green World, but here in the Dark Space, he could also rewind time whenever he wanted and return himself to his best condition.
His Creation Power and mental power were directly tied to his soul, so resetting his body and memories wouldn't affect his innate abilities. As for gaps in his knowledge and skills, he could just ask Xiao Ke for help.
Huang Si was now trying to delegate as many tasks as possible, in case he reached the end of his lifespan one day and had to reset himself again, causing research to fall through the cracks.
Xiao Ke now oversaw the overall operation. Eight artificial intelligences were responsible for the Biology Department's key technologies and experiments. Li Huo, Dong Yao, and Xi Yuan oversaw the ape-men's guidance and education, while Mo Xia took care of Huang Si's daily life and many other miscellaneous matters.
In short, Huang Si's burden was much lighter now. He only needed to strengthen himself, participate in research, and provide all the necessary supplies.
By 2030, Huang Si's soul had become strong enough to withstand the storm completely. He could now easily extend his Mental Force Field over a radius of 10.9 kilometers. Within that range, his Mental Force Field had begun to develop "thickness" and "toughness," and the storm could no longer cut through his mental barriers.
Instead, Huang Si could use his Mental Force Field to confine the storm to a relatively narrow passage and direct it toward the Green World. That way, many devices and small robots could be safely stationed in the middle of the Dark Space.
If the Dark Space's light- and sound-absorbing properties and the other such traits weren't impossible to overcome, Huang Si would have liked to build a balcony outside.
After taking care of matters at the laboratory, Huang Si went to the Cultivation Department.
The Cultivation Department was a newly established department, primarily responsible for raising the base's more than ten thousand ape-men.
After more than a thousand years of improving their genes through various methods and providing all kinds of support, the Ape-man Tribe had finally learned to communicate through language.
Huang Si had considered it carefully and hadn't let them develop their own language. Instead, under the guidance of three artificial intelligences, they all learned to speak standard Mandarin.
Language was one of the true signs of higher intelligence. At this point, Huang Si's experiment in human evolution could be considered a success.
The next step was to send them out and let them truly influence the ape-man tribes across the planet.
Huang Si sensed the area briefly, located the three artificial intelligences in charge of teaching, and went over to observe the ape-men each was instructing. He nodded in satisfaction.
These ape-men could now use simple language, think logically, and make tools.
They treated their three artificial intelligence teachers with great respect.
By now, the ape-men often had to find food for themselves. The base no longer supplied all their food; instead, they went to the fields near the outskirts of the base to gather and dig up food on their own.
Nearby, some of the ape-men were making other tools, such as stone hoes for turning the soil and stone axes for chopping down trees.
These were all things the Ancestral Deities had taught them.
There were three Ancestral Deities. If they hadn't looked after the ape-men, a great many of them would have starved to death long ago.
The Ancestral Deities also protected the weak and the young.
Whenever they faced danger, the ape-men would desperately kowtow and beg the Ancestral Deities, hoping the gods would save them.
The Ancestral Deities were busy, too. There were so many ape-men that they couldn't help all of them.
But that only made the ape-men yearn for the Ancestral Deities all the more. Wherever the Ancestral Deities went, they could often see a great many ape-men prostrating themselves.
Still, the Ancestral Deities deserved such reverence. Across all these generations—two thousand two hundred years—they had neither aged nor died, and had taught one generation of ape-men after another. Memories of the Ancestral Deities had long since become part of the collective memory of the ape-men in the Earth Realm's Cultivation Department, forming a primitive form of worship.
The ape-men might already be on their way to becoming human.
"Next, let them out. Release the best specimens and place them among the thousands of ape-man tribes outside," Huang Si instructed. "Let them become the ape-men's enlighteners and humanity's ancestors."
The three artificial intelligences bowed and acknowledged his order.
May 2030.
Inside Huang Si's residence in the Dark Space.
Huang Si read the report Xiao Ke had sent him, frowning more and more.
By now, the continued introduction of animals with strong genes into the original populations had steadily increased the strength of the Green World's species.
But their effort to release intelligent ape-men into the ape-man tribes and help them advance had failed. Why?
Huang Si studied the report in silence.
The reason was actually simple. Animals mated indiscriminately. Even after becoming smarter and stronger, they still acted on instinct. As a result, strong individuals could easily join a group and become its leaders.
Ape-men, however, were different.
For more than two thousand years, Huang Si had consistently introduced animals and a small number of enhanced plants. As a result, the strength of those populations had steadily increased. The ape-men, on the other hand, were only released after they had developed higher intelligence and learned language.
Huang Si had originally thought that even ordinary, unenhanced ape-men would have a degree of low intelligence, like Earth's great apes, and that they were social creatures capable of cooperation. He had assumed that sending an intelligent ape-man to them would let it lead the entire tribe to greatness.
But he hadn't expected to be so naive.
The ape-men's limited intelligence and social nature also made them exclusionary.
And intelligence could evolve, but it could also regress. Huang Si had occasionally sent one or two ape-men with language abilities into ordinary ape-man groups, but they hadn't fared well.
It was true that the few who held the truth often knew better than the majority, but those few were always persecuted by the ignorant masses.
The ape-man tribes were no different.
The intelligent ape-men who were sent out were quickly attacked by the group.
When an ape-man had only just gained a little ability to speak and was suddenly cast among ape-men who couldn't talk, were unreasonable, and hated and excluded it, the spark of intelligence was bound to be extinguished in no time.
Either the intelligent ape-man stopped using language and lost the ability to speak, eventually being assimilated, or it was treated as an outsider, excluded for a long time, and met a miserable end.
Huang Si could only sigh as he read. It was practically a repeat of the countless anti-intellectual incidents in human history.
The truth was clear: unless the overall qualities of the entire ape-man species were improved, sending a few intelligent ape-men out from the base in hopes of changing the whole species was impossible.
So Huang Si could only decide to abandon the same one-at-a-time release method he had used with animals. Instead, when the time was right, he would have all the ape-men migrate out together and establish themselves as a new, independent species.
However, that plan also faced a great many obstacles.
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