Coincidence was one of the defining features of this universe. It was born from the unexpected, yet confined within the bounds of reason. It seemed absurd, ridiculous, even laughable, but once examined closely, there was not the slightest trace of irrationality to be found.
Others said it was inevitability. Coincidence did not truly exist; it was an event bound to occur upon the foundation of countless inevitable events, merely falling outside the scope of people's expectations.
When a die landed on six, was that coincidence? Or inevitability?
The ice and snow spread across the globe gradually melted away through the cooperation of the Hive and Rhizome systems under Huo Gu's control. Though nothing had been deployed at the North and South Poles, they were affected to some extent as well.
Towering glaciers broke apart and collapsed piece by piece, becoming part of the sea.
And at that very moment, certain inconspicuous individuals awoke from the bitter cold and fell into the ocean alongside scattered chunks of ice crystal.
Compared to ice layers below zero, the liquid seawater above zero was incomparably warm.
As though all life would ask itself the same question, one appeared within the little individual's mind—Who am I?
It was a question without beginning or end. Some humans who liked to burrow into dead ends spent their entire lives seeking its answer, but the little individual was different from them. It had long possessed an answer that belonged solely to itself.
[Your kind differs from the 'Gourd.' Though you resemble them in appearance, you are fundamentally different and should have a new name...] [...Your original purpose was to gather sufficient organic material, so from today onward, you shall be called 'Collectors.']
This was a memory engraved into its genes, not something that could be so