Chapter 4: Wisdom and Life |
At first, residing in this towering temple held a sense of novelty, but as time passed and the days stretched on, Yin Shen began to feel weary.
He would not age, nor would he die.
Yet he also lacked a physical body, a mere wandering spirit adrift on the seas of this primeval Earth.
Here, there was only a Fusion Monster eternally emitting gurgling sounds as it roamed the vast oceans, and a Trilobite Man to converse with him.
Yin Shen stood atop the lofty temple, gazing down upon the boundless sea and the entire island.
Heaven and earth were so vast, the whole world belonging to him alone, yet he felt he remained a prisoner.
He wasn’t confined to an eternal prison beyond the heavens but rather imprisoned within the cage known as time.
“Yinsai… God!”
“Yin… sai… God!”
At the entrance where sunlight poured in, a figure blocked the light, casting a long shadow into the palace. With immense strength, he dragged an object far larger than himself, presenting it on the platform before the temple.
The shadow suddenly shrank, transforming into a huddled shape.
He knelt beside the temple’s colossal pillars, prostrating himself as he crawled towards the God he revered as majestic and the bestower of his wisdom.
Trilobite Man brought Yin Shen another rare trinket from the ocean, seeking to elicit a moment of delight, a slight curve of the lips, or perhaps an approving glance from the deity.
This time, the offering was an anomalocaris, a behemoth spanning over five meters in length, the mightiest overlord of the seas in this era.
It was evident that Trilobite Man had exerted considerable effort to capture this anomalocaris, even bearing some scars on his tough outer carapace.
“Yinsai God!”
“Yinsai God!”
Seated upon the stone pedestal of the statue, Yin Shen finally smiled, causing Trilobite Man kneeling outside to be overjoyed, immediately dancing with glee.
However, he didn’t realize that Yin Shen’s smile stemmed from him finally being able to utter a three-character name without pause, even if he mispronounced it.
Not because he had presented a rare treasure from the ocean depths.
Yin Shen descended from the stone pedestal, observing the still-living giant placed upon it. It was a shrimp-like behemoth, its pair of large claws on the head suddenly twitching, striking the stone and actually cracking it.
This enraged and unnerved Trilobite Man.
“Eee-yaa~”
“Yaa-eee-eee~”
Trilobite Man howled and screamed, wanting to slay this foolish, mindless insect that dared to disrespect God.
Yin Shen, however, had no particular thoughts, merely noting how massive the shrimp was.
“So it’s an anomalocaris!”
He reached out but suddenly recalled that aside from Trilobite Man and the Fusion Monster, he couldn’t touch anything.
This brought a hint of melancholy to Yin Shen’s gaze.
Chuckling, he said, “I’ve seen it… Don’t waste it!”
With a shift of Yin Shen’s will, colossal waves surged in the ocean.
A true behemoth broke through the surface, heading towards the pyramid.
“Gurgle, gurgle~”
“Gurgle, gurgle~”
The Fusion Monster climbed up the pyramid, its tentacles dragging away the six-meter-long giant, then swallowing it whole like a jelly bean.
The so-called overlords of the ancient oceans were hardly worth mentioning before a mythical monstrosity like the Fusion Monster.
Yin Shen stood at the temple entrance, the mythical beast contentedly devouring the snack bestowed by the God behind him, Trilobite Man closely following beside.
This scene was enough to chill one’s heart and soul, yet the three figures within seemed to view it as ordinary.
He suddenly halted, gazing at the carvings on the pillars and beams.
Colorless, yet the figures were vivid and lifelike.
Among them were towering buildings, bustling traffic, and countless human silhouettes walking through prosperous streets.
These were carved by the dexterous hands of Trilobite Man. He had inherited Yin Shen’s wisdom and also possessed glimpses of the images from his memories.
However, he didn’t understand what these images depicted, unable to comprehend why there were so many people, why they differed from himself.
Nor did he grasp the nature of the iron birds soaring in the sky or the boxes running on the ground.
He only knew that God favored these things, so he engraved them throughout the temple, inside and out.
God lingered beneath these murals and reliefs for a long while, not uttering a word.
Today, though, was different. He pointed to a tiny, nearly invisible figure within the image.
“Look!”
“This is a human.”
Trilobite Man hastily chimed in, nodding as if eager to affirm his own identity: “I… I…”
“Am also human!”
Yin Shen shook his head: “You are not human.”
“You are a Trilobite Man.”
“You were created by me, a sapient being transformed from a trilobite into human form.”
Trilobite Man didn’t understand the difference between humans and Trilobite Men.
Yin Shen walked along the outer corridor of the temple: “I am alone, and so are you.”
“The human species has not yet been born in this world, and there is only one Trilobite Man—you.”
For the first time, Trilobite Man grasped the concept of species. He finally realized that ‘Trilobite Man’ wasn’t his name but rather God’s term for his kind.
And he…
Was not human.
For the first time, Trilobite Man experienced the emotion of sadness. He was heartbroken.
“Yinsai God!”
“I… also… want… name!”
A thought suddenly arose in Yin Shen’s mind. Since the Fusion Monster could assimilate and replicate the traits of life, why not harness its power to thoroughly create the Trilobite Man species?
Trilobite Man knelt on the ground, beseeching. Yin Shen casually uttered a name.
“Redlichia.”
“You shall be called Redlichia.”
Trilobite Man once again burst into cheers, like a child.
Sorrow came swiftly and departed just as quickly.
———————-
The Fusion Monster was a scientifically impossible mythical creation, a biological tool.
It could plunder the organs of other creatures, forcefully merging the traits and gene fragments of other lifeforms.
Yin Shen planned to utilize its power, using Redlichia and his trilobite forebears to produce fertilized eggs or embryos, then employ the Fusion Monster’s ability to establish a species.
However, this biological tool wasn’t very precise, its output more akin to a randomized box.
Producing the desired creation required some luck, fraught with uncertainty.
Yet Yin Shen harbored no concerns, believing he would undoubtedly succeed.
Because now, he could be said to possess nothing, save for one thing.
And that was time.
The mythical behemoth heard the summons of the God’s will, crawling up to the front of the temple. Its flesh-mountain frame squeezed into the palace, countless eyes of varying sizes peering inside.
The God stood in the great hall, his gaze fixed upon it.
“I want you to give me your spiral shell.”
“Is that alright?”
The Fusion Monster’s mythical powers were primarily concentrated in its spiral shell, while the Fusion Monster itself was merely a control center.
Therefore, its spiral shell could be detached, allowing Yin Shen to utilize it as he wished.
Fusion Monster: “Gurgle, gurgle.”
Over a hundred terrifying large eyes stared at Yin Shen, but Yin Shen sensed a hint of innocence.
It couldn’t comprehend Yin Shen’s words, much less understand the meaning of this interrogative sentence.
It was a God-made being that only needed Yin Shen to input a command, and it would act according to that command, even if it didn’t grasp the command’s meaning.
Compared to the God’s servant, it was more like a tool.
How to use it was the God’s will; it had no thoughts of its own.
Yin Shen caressed its skin: “I asked the wrong question!”
In that instant, he felt a twinge of pity for the Fusion Monster: “So wisdom is also a mythical power.”
Originally, Yin Shen believed that compared to the Fusion Monster’s miraculous abilities, Trilobite Man was utterly feeble.
Now, he realized that the power of wisdom possessed by Trilobite Man was the true myth and miracle.
Humans always regard what they possess as worthless.
Yet they fail to realize that it is already the supreme myth and power within the vast and boundless universe.
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