Chapter 17: Construction Ideas for the Attached Sand Table

This kind of handsomeness and body proportion already made him seem like a perfect Norse god. However, instead of feeling complacent about his new appearance, Xu Zhi felt a headache coming on.

To suddenly look like this, Chen Xi, that girl, would probably go crazy, right?

She’d definitely accuse me of using a photo-editing cheat.

“I’m finished. People are going to study me…” Xu Zhi suddenly asked the Zerg Mother Nest, “Can I modify my genes? I want to change these outwardly superior genes.”

He felt this perfect appearance, like a face straight out of a myth, was too exaggerated and striking. Walking down the street, he’d be the kind of person who could make countless people scream – like a mythical fantasy character from legends, anime, or books.

He wanted to revert to his previous appearance.

To be honest, he had been quite satisfied with his previous look; it was already very eye-catching. And even with his former facial contours, it had been difficult enough for Chen Xi and the village aunties to accept, though explaining that he had 'become more handsome' was barely plausible.

But now, with repeated changes, he feared they would become completely suspicious.

“Integrate Zerg cells?”

The Zerg Mother Nest asked, “Creator, you possess the innate ability to unlock genetic locks. You are a Zerg Hero, capable of modifying your own genetic fragments and genes.”

I’m already a Zerg Hero?

Does that mean countless Zerg attempt to transcend, unlock their genetic locks, and become Zerg Heroes, while I already am one?

In fact, Xu Zhi’s body had been too weak to undergo transformation before. Now that he was physically stronger, he could finally accept Zerg cells and become a proud member of the Zerg.

He didn’t hesitate long over the choice of whether to remain human. He was already dying; why silently wait for cancer to claim him? Being a normal person wasn’t exciting at all! Being an insect, now that would be interesting.

So, he silently commanded: Integrate Zerg cells!

“Integration initiating!”

A mechanical voice responded.

Instantly, tearing pain surged from every corner of his soul. His entire body broke out in goosebumps and cold sweat. He collapsed onto the bed, howling in agony, and then blacked out.

When Xu Zhi finally regained consciousness, three hours had passed. He quietly got out of bed and found his entire body covered in blackish-grey grime, as if he had been soaking in mud. He quickly took a shower and changed his clothes before returning to examine himself.

He felt his body had changed somehow.

It felt limitless in potential.

“I am now a true insect! I possess the Zerg’s suicidal racial talent – ultra-fast cell division acceleration. If I wish, I can easily commit suicide at any time, effectively aging myself to death!” He silently clenched his fists, feeling that his body’s genes could be regulated at will.

He gently closed his eyes.

In a dark space, he saw a twisted double helix of DNA.

A person’s genes consist of vast amounts of complex, disordered, meaningless, and even numerous latent disease-causing genes.

Xu Zhi saw that his own genes, specifically the large segments of useless junk information from his human form, had been cleared and optimized. Now, most of his genetic chain was blank.

He could choose to integrate other genes, but he had no such intention at the moment.

Because in his current evolving species, within the evolutionary gene pool, only two types of genes were stored:

Termite genes.

Orangutan genes.

And their combination.

This was the state of Gilgamesh, who was covered in white fur and possessed both termite and orangutan genes.

But he didn't have any particular ideas; he disliked both gene types and was too lazy to integrate them. After all, as a mere farmer tilling fields, his life wasn't in immediate danger, so why rush to acquire life-saving abilities?

He was dying anyway. The top priority was to find a way to deal with his cancer, to eliminate or alter the cancer genes within himself. Survival came first; power could be considered later.

He silently sensed his condition.

“I’m already in the late stage of stomach cancer?” Xu Zhi’s face instantly paled. “How can it be so fast? I only just received the diagnosis for mid-stage stomach cancer a few days ago.”

The Mother Emperor of the Zerg answered, “Cancer cells are rebellious cells of the human body. The stronger a person becomes, the stronger their cancer cells become.”

Xu Zhi: “…”

So, if I get stronger, my cancer cells get stronger too, reproducing wildly inside me?

Does that mean if I absorbed more power from this current mass extinction event and became even stronger, I might have just died outright?

He couldn’t help but be startled.

“I can’t accept a fourth power feedback from a mass extinction event in a short time,” Xu Zhi took a deep breath. Although it was still distant, if the ecosystem hadn’t lost its balance, he wouldn’t have reset the sandbox. What he truly hoped to see was thriving prosperity.

But he remained vigilant.

“So, in the short term, even if they run rampant and become tyrannical on this land, I can’t simply wipe them out en masse and reshuffle everything?” Xu Zhi felt a headache coming on, but being in the late stage of cancer, he was practically done for anyway.

Xu Zhi hadn’t anticipated things would progress so rapidly.

He recalled Gilgamesh from last night, his madness and struggle before death, which had also instilled in Xu Zhi a profound terror and immense reverence for death.

Death was the most terrifying thing for any living creature. He couldn’t help but sigh with a complicated expression, “Can I truly survive?”

Xu Zhi felt death approaching and became as fearful as Gilgamesh.

He stood up and walked towards the courtyard gate.

“Late-stage cancer means I don’t have much time left… I must quickly deduce racial civilizations and supernatural powers within the grand sandbox in the next era, and find abilities within these powers that can improve or counteract cancer cells!”

Xu Zhi looked at the scene in the sandbox.

Everything was withered; there was almost no life left.

A night had passed, which for them was forty or fifty years, yet they hadn’t fully recovered.

All their various species had only brought one pair each, and were slowly repopulating.

They had also begun to heed “God’s” warning that all beings were equal. Therefore, apart from necessary food, they reduced unnecessary barbaric killing and even helped propagate some species to expand their populations.

However, at the same time, after a mass extinction, various new species subtly emerged and began to proliferate. They were bizarre and diverse, like new sprouts after a world-ending event.

Xu Zhi watched for a while, then sat in the sunny courtyard, eating the rustic breakfast Chen Xi had brought him.

“They’ve stabilized and are starting to redevelop, but it’s still too slow. My illness won’t last much longer…”

Xu Zhi sighed.

“Should I open a second sandbox and recreate genesis?” Xu Zhi pondered.

He wanted to open a new world sandbox.

He would guide its evolution, allow civilizations to develop within it, and even boldly deduce a vast, high-level world, perhaps of a fantasy or immortal-hero genre. But clearly, that was somewhat unrealistic.

After all, this current grand sandbox had only just begun to show signs of supernatural power. Spreading himself too thin was unwise; it would be better to wait for this sandbox to yield the power he hoped for.

For the time being, he set aside the idea of creating a new sandbox. He could only look for other ways to accelerate the emergence of supernatural species in the grand sandbox after the great flood.

“But they won’t just appear because I want them to,” he thought, sitting on the wooden chair in front of the courtyard. He suddenly recalled a previous statement: “Wisdom is impermanent… and many things that defy evolutionary theory will also emerge with it.”

“Since wisdom is impermanent, perhaps I should leverage the wisdom of others. After all, me alone burying myself in evolutionary theory is too limiting. It’s better to gather ideas… better to drag a group of people into this,” a bold and audacious thought suddenly surged into Xu Zhi’s mind.

Indeed, this time, he wanted to go all out!

Evolving species and spores by himself was too slow.

It would be better to bring in others to help him deduce spore evolution!

He remembered a sandbox game he used to play called *Spore*, where players started as spores, evolved and reproduced, eventually transforming into various bizarre creatures.

Xu Zhi asked the Zerg Mother Nest’s AI: “If I create a small, miniature sandbox, could it be set up like an online game, allowing other people’s souls to enter the courtyard and treat the sandbox as a game? Would they help me evolve new species?”