Chen Ran did not quite understand. Puzzled, he stepped forward.
He leaned closer to the new planet model and studied it for a while.
Then, though late, the translucent pop-up appeared—
"Look, a newborn planet."
"To the billions of living beings upon it, this is their entire world. But to a god, it is merely a beautiful glass marble worth collecting."
The translucent pop-up flickered several times before, just like last time, it finally began introducing the current state of the planet model:
"First Biological Outbreak."
Chen Ran: "... ..."
Why not start with Pangu creating the world while you were at it?
"So this time, it starts from the beginning? And it isn't Terra?"
"Why?"
"Is it because last time I placed a model of an entire star system, while this time it's just a single planet?"
While guessing why the outcomes of the two attempts differed, Chen Ran walked over to the set of planet models that had previously been the solar system... no, it should have been the Sea Creatures' apocalypse timeline.
Just as he had grabbed Heart of the Corrupted Skadi last time, Chen Ran reached out this time, intending to catch a Sea Creature.
... ... ...
... ...
Not long before—
The entire Great Swarm of Sea Creatures had descended into chaos.
They had followed Heart of the Corrupted Skadi toward the stars and were preparing to roam the universe when a majestic figure whose body spanned an entire star system—a god—appeared before them.
Then, wearing an expression that said, "I'm taking your mother away," that god snatched Heart of the Corrupted Skadi right in front of them.
"Sea Creature 1: Wow, so this is the sea of stars... But why isn't there any water?"
"Sea Creature 2: Dunno."
"Sea Creature 3: Why can we breathe in the sea of stars?"
"Sea Creature 4: Dunno."
"Sea Creature 5: What's that? What a huge person!"
"Sea Creature 6: Dunno."
"Sea Creature 7: Isabella! Isabella was taken away!"
"Sea Creature 8: Dun... Isabella! Isabella was taken away!"
In an instant, the entire Great Swarm of Sea Creatures became a complete mess.
They wanted to rescue Isabella, but the god's majestic figure had already vanished.
No matter how the Great Swarm of Sea Creatures gave chase, it was as though an invisible barrier kept them apart.
Until the god's figure appeared before them again.
Just as before, the god crossed half a star system with a single hand and arrived before them.
The difference was that this time, the god seemed to be making a selection. From the vast, densely packed swarm of Sea Creatures, the god ultimately chose one that looked like a little flower and took it away.
"Sea Creature 1: Little Flower! Little Flower was taken away too!"
"Sea Creature 2: Why did Lord God take Little Flower away?"
"Sea Creature 3: Did Lord God take it away because Lord God likes how Little Flower looks?"
Once that conclusion was reached, a small portion of the Sea Creatures immediately transformed themselves into little flowers.
If Lord God came again next time and still took away a little flower, then the entire Great Swarm of Sea Creatures would probably evolve themselves toward the appearance of little flowers.
Your Sea Creature No. 1 Was Eating Like Crazy
Chen Ran looked at the little flower pinched between two fingertips and nodded in satisfaction.
The reason he had spent so long choosing this little flower was that, at the very least, it was somewhat pleasant to look at. The other Sea Creatures... sigh...
Although the part that should have been its stem writhed madly like tentacles, while the part that should have been petals opened and closed to reveal circles upon circles of mouthparts within, making it extremely sanity-draining.
But it was small, after all.
Heart of the Corrupted Skadi was only about the size of a figurine, and this little flower was even smaller.
Fortunately, the notion that "Lord God is kind-hearted" had already been conveyed to every Sea Creature through the Hive Cluster Mind. The little flower neither struggled nor screamed. Like Isabella, their Sea Creature god, it merely examined Chen Ran with the curiosity of a child.
Though Chen Ran had no idea where this little flower's eyes were.
Still, Chen Ran did not waste words and said directly, "I remember seeing in the settings that Sea Creatures can voluntarily devolve back into their most basic forms, then wait to evolve again once they encounter a suitable environment, right?"
Upon hearing this, the little flower wanted to speak, only to discover that it had not evolved vocal cords yet. It tried to convey information through the Hive Cluster Mind, only to find that it had been muted.
Left with no other choice, the little flower could only wave its tentacles to indicate agreement.
"Oh, so you can?" Chen Ran nodded. "Then kill yourself."
The little flower did not express any confusion upon hearing that. Instead, it rapidly withered and wilted.
After all, among the four Firstborn Sea Creature gods, one represented and governed the authority of "continuance," and one of its abilities was allowing Sea Creatures to kill themselves.
Even Heart of the Corrupted Skadi, who was wringing out her clothes beside him, showed no confusion at this.
Therefore, Chen Ran's words were perfectly normal to the little flower.
What had once been bodily tissue rapidly decayed into a puddle of flesh, and the little flower devolved once more into a white embryo.
Chen Ran looked at the puddle of flesh, and his first instinct was actually to collect it and study it properly.
But after glancing at Heart of the Corrupted Skadi beside him, he felt there was no need. If he wanted anything, he could just get it from Heart of the Corrupted Skadi.
So, pinching the embryo, Chen Ran dipped his hand into the bathtub and swished it around. After cleaning both his fingertips and the embryo, he walked back to the newborn planet model, then—
He tossed the embryo inside.
This counted as making the little flower delete its account and start over. From now on, every ability the little flower gained would be fed back to Chen Ran himself.
Clapping his hands, Chen Ran watched the newborn planet and waited.
"The water droplets remaining on your fingertips have brought this planet a rainy period lasting a hundred years."
"The land has been submerged, sea levels have risen, and oxygen levels have plummeted."
"First Mass Extinction."
Chen Ran: "... ..."
No, I just didn't dry my hands...
Whatever.
Let's keep watching.
"Year One: Sea Creature No. 1, in whom you placed great hopes, is staring blankly at the rain."
Chen Ran: "?"
Chen Ran: "And then?"
Seeing that the translucent pop-up only flickered twice before becoming motionless, Chen Ran asked instinctively.
But then he glanced at the newborn planet's rotational speed, then at the fact that the translucent pop-up was counting in years...
Don't tell me I have to wait for this planet model to complete one full rotation before the translucent pop-up updates again?
With that thought in mind, Chen Ran watched as the planet model slowly completed one revolution, then—
"Year Two: Sea Creature No. 1, in whom you placed great hopes, is about to starve to death."
Chen Ran: "... ..."
All right, so that really was how it worked.
After thinking about it, Chen Ran reached out and held the planet model in his hand as though he were holding a glass marble.
Then, following the planet model's direction of rotation, he gave it a gentle spin—
The entire planet model began rotating at several hundred times its previous speed.
"As its cultivator, you cannot wait to see the final result. Thus, you decide to give this newborn planet a tiny taste of godly shock."
"Time begins accelerating."
"Year XXX: The rainy period has ended."
"Year XXX: Second Biological Outbreak."
"Year XXX: Sea Creature No. 1, which starved to death and devolved back into an embryo, senses the environmental changes and comes back to life."
As the translucent pop-up flickered to this point, it suddenly flickered again before Chen Ran's eyes:
"You have gained a new ability: Second Life."
"Oh-ho."
Seeing this, Chen Ran knew he had guessed right.
But Second Life?
Did it mean resurrecting after death, or like in a boss fight, where the instant its health bar was emptied, it would refill completely?
This... did not seem like something he could test even if he wanted to.
So Chen Ran temporarily set the matter aside and continued looking at the newborn planet.
"Year XXX: Sea Creature: 'What's this? Take a bite.'"
"Year XXX: Sea Creature: 'What's that? Take a bite.'"
"Year XXX: Sea Creature: 'I'm fucking eating, eating, eating!'"
"Year XXX: Your Sea Creature No. 1 is eating like crazy."
"Year XXX: Your Sea Creature No. 1 has eaten itself mad."
"Year XXX: Third Mass Extinction."
"You have gained a new ability: Appetite Increased."
"Your current appetite is equivalent to one-tenth of a Kroos."
Chen Ran: "... ..."
Fucking idiot.
It was not that he found this so-called new ability absurd. With Breathe with Gills and "Breathe with Lungs" as prior examples, he had long since prepared himself mentally.
What Chen Ran could not hold back over was that he had been watching the entire time, so he knew perfectly well that the so-called Third Mass Extinction had little to do with that Sea Creature. No matter how much it could eat, it was only one Sea Creature. Could it really eat an entire planet empty?
But putting those two messages together was pretty damn funny.
Though Chen Ran also knew that if Earth's situation were copied over, the earlier biological outbreaks really would not have posed much of a threat to that Sea Creature.
But were you seriously just going to keep eating over there?
So how exactly had the Aegirians in Arknights managed to fight things like this?
Seeing the newborn planet's rotation gradually slowing down, Chen Ran stopped worrying about it.
He would just treat it like an idle farming game. Whenever he gained another new ability, he could come take a look.
"But even if I really treat it like an idle farming game, with the way that Sea Creature eats..."
Chen Ran took a few steps back, turned around, and looked at his desk.
Could he actively make things a little harder for that Sea Creature?
For example, a Sea Creature battling a hundred-meter-long American Cockroach, or a Sea Creature battling a hamster as large as a mountain range?
After all, Sea Creatures could actively choose to evolve according to their environment and threats. Being forced to act was still acting, wasn't it?
Before you continue