mesbooks Chapter 2 [The First Law of the Creator]
Chapter 2 [The First Law of the Creator]
A brand new life, like the first torch lit in the darkness, faintly illuminates the depths of the world.
Besides accelerating evolution, primordial spores have many other functions, though these may not be fully developed.
What we are using now is perception, which brings a very subtle feeling, unlike any other sense.
"Finally... the shipment is complete. Looks like my luck wasn't too bad after all." Xu focused all his attention on this newborn life.
It only has the most basic survival instincts—to ingest, to divide, and to survive.
But beneath this simplicity, Xu also sensed the boundless potential bestowed by the primordial spores.
"No." Although this new consciousness is insignificant now, with a time acceleration of ten thousand times, no one knows what it will evolve into.
The pool has limited space. If it is allowed to grow into a behemoth, the resources will simply not be enough for it to squander, and the pool will eventually be destroyed.
Soon, Xu also used the primordial spores that permeated the pool to directly imprint the restrictions on the world within the pool.
"In the name of the Creator, the first law is established: No living being in this world may exceed the length of one of my fingers."
The spore's inherited memory contains this information: the smaller the size, the more evolutionary possibilities it can carry per unit mass.
With limited resources, the best things come in small packages; of course, more often than not, he simply can't afford that many resources.
It's like injecting equal amounts of energy into a balloon and a diamond—the balloon will inflate greatly but burst easily; the diamond, though small, can withstand immense force.
Perhaps it wants to explore more, and not just become a stupid, big-headed guy who only knows how to grow bigger.
Once the law was established, everything in the pool instinctively resisted, but it was quickly suppressed by the power of the spores' own rules.
From then on, the path of evolution had an insurmountable boundary.
After doing all this, Xu Ye finally felt his tense nerves relax a little.
A week has passed in the real world.
During these seven days, life in the pool underwent 70,000 years of evolution.
Every morning, Xu Ye would come to the pool to observe the rapid changes in the life forms within: from single-celled organisms to multi-celled organisms, from simple aggregation to functional differentiation.
Limited by their size, these organisms chose an evolutionary path they had never imagined—they began to develop extremely complex microstructures.
That evening, Xu, as usual, used spores to perceive the underwater world.
He noticed a type of creature: it was about the size of a grain of rice, its body was translucent, and its interior had a complex structure similar to a honeycomb.
These little creatures swim in groups, forming a kind of collective intelligence through the coordinated movement of the cilia on their bodies.
"Amazing..." Xu couldn't help but exclaim.
But as night fell, a serious problem confronted Xu Ye.
The temperature of the pool water is dropping rapidly.
In the transition from autumn to winter in the south, the chill of the night is just a matter of an overcoat for him, but for the fragile creatures in the pool, it is almost a catastrophe.
"It's too fragile, this won't do." Xu also wanted to see a broader future, and if it couldn't withstand this, where would the various subsequent evolutions come from?
"Survival of the fittest." He turned around, got up, went back into the house, took all the ice from the ice cube tray, and poured it all in!
An endless winter descended by the Creator himself.
"Live on."
"Or, it may become nourishment for those who come after."
The world within the pool experienced its first mass extinction, or, as it could be called, the Winter Era, which was initiated by the Creator himself.
This night was exceptionally long.
When dawn finally broke and the sunlight shone on the courtyard again, only one-tenth of the life in the pond remained.
"One night is equivalent to five thousand years in the world within the pool," Xu Ye said thoughtfully. "Five thousand years of the Winter Era..."
In the following days, this scene played out every night.
Prospering by day, withering by night, life in the pond struggles to find a way to survive in this extreme cycle.
Xu also began recording these observations, partly for his own amusement.
He found the notebook his father had used before his death. The leather cover was worn and the pages were yellowed, but the paper was still sturdy.
On the title page, he wrote four words: "The Genesis Diary".
"Seventh Era Record: Tonight, the temperature plummeted, and nearly all the newly formed multicellular clusters perished. Only one type of deep purple microorganism showed unusual activity; they seemed to be able to harvest energy in some form under the moonlight..."
"The Eighth Era records: Less than one percent survived, but life always finds a way. A colony of bacteria was discovered that can utilize the remains of the dead; they are active at night and dormant during the day..."
"Ninth Era Record: Breakthrough! A small, purplish-black plant has grown on the rocks by the pool. It can photosynthesize under moonlight and uses decaying matter as nutrients. It has been named 'Moonrot Grass'."
The appearance of Moonrot Grass signifies that life in the pond has found a way to survive the alternation of harsh winter and scorching sun.
They are no bigger than a fingernail, with deep purplish-black leaves and fine silver veins on the surface, like condensed moonlight.
At night, these grasses emit a faint glow and absorb energy from the moonlight. At the same time, their roots secrete special enzymes that break down organic debris in the water.
"Absorbing moonlight...devouring decay..." Xu Ye mused, "This property...may come in handy in the future."
The appearance of Moon Decay Grass completely changed the ecology of the pond world.
They are like oases in the desert, providing food and shelter for nocturnal animals.
An ecosystem centered around the moon-rot grass has been established: there are flying insects that specifically pollinate the moon-rot grass for its spores, microscopic snails that feed on the moon-rot grass, and even more advanced predators that prey on these herbivores...
Over the next several tens of thousands of years, the Moon Decomposed Grass flourished and gradually occupied every corner of the pool.
Other creatures either went extinct or were forced to integrate into this new order centered around the Moonrot Grass.
"Fifteenth Era Records: Moon-decaying grass has spread throughout the entire pool, forming a unified 'Moon-decaying Clan.' They exchange nutrients and information through an underground mycelial network, almost becoming a single entity..."
"Records of the Twentieth Era: The Moon Decay Clan evolved a simple social structure, and the Moon Decay Grass in different regions showed functional differentiation, with some specializing in photosynthesis and others focusing on decomposing decaying matter..."
"Twenty-Fifth Era Record: Unbelievable! The Moon Rot Clan, through collective consciousness, has begun to consciously modify the environment. The compounds they secrete are altering the pH of the water..."
When another half month had passed in real time, 150,000 years had passed in the world within the pool.
The Moon Rot Clan has undoubtedly become the overlord of this miniature world. Their mycelial network covers every corner of the pool bottom, and their collective consciousness is like an invisible throne, ruling over everything.
They began to actively reshape the world to meet their own needs.
Several Moon-Rotting Grasses even attempted to break through the size restrictions set by Xu Ye, although each attempt was suppressed by the laws.
"Life... will always find its own way."
Xu Ye opened his creation diary and wrote on a new page:
"Record of the Thirty-Second Era: The Moon Corruptors have become the rulers of this realm, and their collective consciousness is becoming increasingly complex. Today, they were observed to begin attempting to understand the concept of 'boundaries,' and several times tested the laws established by the Creator. Although they failed, their ambition is evident."
Xu also put down his pen and turned his gaze to the calm water.
Among the purplish-black leaves of the moon-rot grass, he noticed some tiny, silvery-white creatures swimming rapidly.
They seem to be beyond the control of the Moonrot Clan, instead feeding on the spores of the Moonrot Grass.
"A new variable?" Xu Ye raised an eyebrow slightly and added another sentence after the record:
"We have observed a new population of 'Silver Gnostic' that feeds on lunar spores and moves swiftly, potentially becoming a major threat to the lunar spore population. Let's wait and see."