───「 GODZILLA POV 」───
By the time Godzilla had retrieved all the Titan corpses, dusk had already fallen over the land.
It placed the massive bodies on the ground, and as expected, a notification appeared on the luminescent panel before it.
[Side Mission: Tremors of the Earth! (Completed)]
[Mission Reward: Increase the strength of the ecosystem's life by one level, unlocking convergent evolution for you. Do you want to use it now?]
"Note: Increasing ecological intensity requires 12 hours. When used, it will immediately induce 12-hour hibernation for all life forms in the ecosystem. Please be aware if any life forms are currently active."
"After hibernation, there will be a basic improvement for 12 hours, and the remaining enhancement will be gradually completed over the next year."
A series of notifications sounded, and Godzilla finally received its reward for increasing the ecological life intensity.
This brought a sense of satisfaction to the titan.
However, contrary to its expectations, the reward wasn't a one-time evolution but seemed more like an immediate enhancement followed by gradual improvement.
It was reminiscent of a subscription service in human video games—immediate rewards upon purchase, followed by continued benefits over time.
This differed somewhat from what Godzilla had anticipated, but it didn't matter; the basic intensity would still increase. With this, it was content. At least now its offspring would possess the ability to defend themselves.
Godzilla decided to activate the enhancement tonight.
Using it while birds were still flying and beasts were still running would induce forced hibernation, which could lead to disastrous consequences. If activated now, creatures might plummet from the sky or suddenly collapse mid-stride, crashing into trees before they could stop...
To prevent such tragedies, it would be prudent to wait until nightfall when most creatures were already at rest.
Having completed this task, Godzilla had done everything possible before Ghidorah's arrival in three days. Next, it needed to prepare for the coming battle.
...
After darkness blanketed the land and the forest creatures had closed their eyes in slumber, the transformation began.
The entire ecosystem influenced by Godzilla began emitting a faint white luminescence.
Strange phenomena manifested throughout the region.
At this moment, all life entered the deepest of reveries, their consciousness emptying as they merged with nature itself.
Then their bodies began to change at an inconceivable rate.
The process mirrored Godzilla's previous evolution, though compared to the titan, their changes weren't as dramatic. None of them would wake to find themselves seven or eight times larger.
Most retained their existing structures, with only a small percentage developing entirely new features—such as certain small plants sprouting rudimentary legs.
Biological structures were being fine-tuned: muscle distribution adjusted, bone shapes optimized, redundant organs eliminated... all while the white light bestowed upon them their future forms.
Trees learned to better utilize their bark under the white light's influence, constructing tougher, more puncture-resistant exteriors. Simultaneously, they developed optimal root distribution for exploring underground nutrients and maximized energy absorption without burning their leaves while competing for precious sunlight.
The muscle fibers of animals became more efficient. Predators' claws and teeth were infused with metallic compounds, while the crystalline lenses of their eyes adjusted to see farther and with greater clarity.
The armor of non-predators became more structurally sophisticated, with multi-layered protection similar to composite tank armor, making their shells significantly more resilient.
Some trees abandoned their passive nature under the white light's influence. Near the surface of tall trees, roots sprouted malicious thorns, and certain vines developed basic muscle structures to drive poisonous spines into the bodies of other creatures.
Extremely fine roots with remarkable regenerative abilities emerged, capable of penetrating the ground at any moment to absorb nutrients. Entirely new species appeared, including gigantic spherical insects unlike anything seen before.
Under the white light's guidance, everything evolved, and this ecosystem grew increasingly complex.
They were becoming "stronger."
Strength manifested in physical power, vitality, self-healing, defense...
Every organism was growing more powerful.
Stronger under the cover of night.
...
Yet compared to the living creatures, the dead ones became the real focus of the transformation.
Dead organisms, decaying remains, lives that had recently been extinguished...
Many had just arrived in this world only to perish again. Some had transformed their forms, hoping to find sanctuary in this new natural order.
But at this moment, they were all dead.
Corpses lay scattered throughout the forest, too numerous for scavengers to consume in a single day.
Their vacant eyes stared blankly at this new ecology, leaving no indication of their final thoughts before death.
If one were to speculate, perhaps some of the lifeforms that had transformed their forms in the face of new birth and death felt no regrets.
However, such an absolute statement would be presumptuous.
At the moment of death, there were indeed some creatures who regretted their transformation.
They thought it would have been better if they hadn't changed forms to enter this realm—even if the outside world was desolate, at least they might have survived.
Although they lacked a clear sense of self, these thoughts existed within them.
These notions, these ideas, all existed within nature's fabric.
And tonight, under the illumination of the white light, the wills of the lifeforms that hadn't completely succumbed to death were absorbed by it. A common longing emerged from their collective consciousness:
To continue witnessing this new world's evolution.
The power of the white light responded to this desire, though it did not include resurrecting the lifeforms harboring this thought.
Instead, it focused on the cells of the dead organisms that hadn't completely died—the nerve ganglia still harboring this fundamental desire.
Using their still-viable cells and intact neural networks, a new life began to form.
Convergent evolution—this was also part of the reward.
And so, a miracle occurred.
The corpses that should have remained lifeless in the forest emitted a faint glow.
The dead bodies stirred once more, and within a radius exceeding a hundred kilometers throughout the ecosystem, countless bodies moved in unison toward a single destination.
Thoughts united, bodies merged under the white light. Then, according to their innate programming, they began to converge evolutionarily toward their creator.
Under the moonlight's silver glow, the second Godzilla was born.
Its eyes glowed with pure, blinding white light.