After enduring the scorching sun of the day, the seventh night finally descended.
The Violet Radiance Grass still thrived in the ocean, unshaken by the alternating illumination of five thousand years of sun and moon.
With its vast proliferation, photosynthesis from these aquatic plants filled the seawater with oxygen. The conditions for the birth of marine animals were now in place.
In nature, without aquatic plants or flowing water, oxygen from the air can't easily dissolve into the sea. Such stagnant water could never nurture life.
But now, things were different.
Spores and single-celled organisms in the sandbox ocean began to evolve again. The first to emerge were black-shelled insects—shaped like Earth's ancient Paleozoic creatures, the eurypterids.
Marine animals had officially entered the stage of history.
"My sandbox world... marine animals have finally evolved from single cells. I've waited for this moment through two mass extinctions."
Xu Zhi smiled in satisfaction. His exhausted body, having endured a day and a night of observation, finally couldn't hold on any longer. He went back to his room, collapsed onto the bed, and drifted into sleep.
When he woke, it was already the eighth day of the spore's evolution.
Anyone who studied biology knew the ocean was the cradle of life. But to Xu Zhi's amazement, some marine animals had already begun to change—no longer content with the fierce competition of the sea, they started growing toes and scales, gradually evolving into amphibians that crawled onto the barren shore.
Seeing this, he picked up his black notebook and carefully recorded the next page after the Radiant Martial Era.
This third evolutionary stage—a rebirth following mass extinction—he named The Neogene.
[Neogene Era]The world welcomes new life. Countless creatures burst forth.The first marine animals appear—a golden age of species.Invertebrates, clad in hard shells, dominate the seas for a time.But soon, vertebrates are born, agile and fierce, dethroning the old rulers.They crawl from the ocean onto land, becoming the new overlords of the Neogene.
Xu Zhi finished writing and closed the notebook with quiet satisfaction.
Earth had its Cambrian, Ordovician, and Silurian eras.
And now, Xu Zhi's sandbox had its own — the Dark Martial Era, the Radiant Martial Era, and the Neogene.
"So fast…" he murmured. "I slept one night, and the spores are already leaving the ocean, evolving into land species."
He raised an eyebrow, thoughtful."To reach intelligent life, who knows how many epochs it will take? Now that the ecosystem's complete... why don't I—"
A grin crept across his face."—stir up some trouble?"
He glanced down at his fingers, contemplating whether to prick one and let a drop of blood fall into the sandbox—letting his genes merge with theirs, accelerating the evolution of humanoid beings.
Would there appear a beautiful merfolk race beneath the ocean waves of his courtyard?Or perhaps a strong, intelligent ape race upon its miniature mountains?
"Just thinking about it is thrilling. A miniature sandbox world right in my own backyard."
But after a moment, he shook his head. He wasn't ready to use human genes for that kind of experiment.
"I remember there's a zoo in the outer city," he muttered. "I can get some ape fur or a blood sample—use that as a gene template to stir things up."
With that, he set off immediately.
The zoo was lively. Couples strolled hand in hand, families wandered with laughing children. Xu Zhi, alone, stood out like a sore thumb.
A single man coming to the zoo by himself—it was as if he were the exhibit.
A family whispered nearby.
"Dad, look at that uncle... he's bald! But he looks really strong!"
"Shh, don't say that about people. He's not strong—he probably has some illness. Poor guy, coming to the zoo all alone."
Xu Zhi was only in his early twenties, but chemotherapy had aged him. His hair was thin, his face pale. To outsiders, he looked like someone at death's door.
He had been pitiful before. But now? Now he was having the time of his life—creating species, watching evolution unfold before his eyes.
"Heh, if only you knew," he thought. "This balding guy might evolve a full head of hair tomorrow, rewrite genetic codes, cure cancer, and reverse aging."
Then he smirked. "But even I don't believe that yet. Evolution's still too slow. My orchard's world hasn't even left the Paleozoic."
After a while observing the gorillas, he chose a healthy male specimen and approached the zoo manager.
"I'm a medical student from the nearby university," he said calmly. "My professor assigned me a research project—I need a sample of gorilla blood for a genetics thesis."
The manager, an older man, frowned. "Young man, you say you're a top student, I believe that. But this gorilla—I raised him myself. He's like a son to me. Even if you threaten me, pay me, or bribe my boss, it's impossible—"
Xu Zhi laid three thousand yuan on the table.
The man froze, eyes lighting up. That was a month's salary.
"You just need one tube of blood?" he asked quickly. "I can draw a few more!"
"One's enough," Xu Zhi said with a small smile.
He ran a hand over his smooth scalp, grinning like a devil."Don't worry, I won't tell your boss. If all goes well, we might work together again. I'm very interested in the blood of your zoo's peacocks and white cranes."
"Deal, deal!" The uncle nodded enthusiastically. "Supporting graduate research—it's a noble cause!"
A few minutes later, Xu Zhi left the zoo calmly, blood sample in hand.
He wasn't worried about money. He still had a few hundred thousand in savings from before his illness. As long as he wasn't reckless, it would last.
He was rich, powerful, and bald—what was there to fear?
"Baldness just means evolution!" he chuckled to himself.
On his way home, he spotted a mound of termites and collected some casually. Ant genes meant raw strength—and best of all, they were free.
By the time he reached the village road near his house, the sun was already low.
"Hey, are you Xu Zhi?!"
He turned his head to see a girl on an electric scooter staring at him in surprise.
"I'm Chen Xi! I used to visit your house all the time when we were kids. You're really back? What happened to you—you look so different now!"
Xu Zhi blinked. "Stomach cancer," he said simply. "The chemo caused hair loss and fatigue."
Her eyes widened. "You... have cancer?"
"I do," he said, unbothered.
"I also got into university last year—the same one as you," she said quickly.
"Congratulations," Xu Zhi replied. He realized it must be summer break—she was home for the holidays.
He wanted to head back quickly. After all, he'd been gone half a day. Who knew what kind of strange creatures had evolved in his absence? With how fast they reproduced, anything was possible.
Once, he had waited for death in silence.Now, his life was bursting with wonder and chaos.
Creating life—it was addicting. Like a drug.
"You're leaving already?" Chen Xi called out, biting her lip. She watched the once-proud boy from her childhood, now bald and frail, walking away.
Even if he pretends to be fine... he's still suffering, she thought.
Her heart ached a little.
She shouted after him, "Hey! Come to my house sometime! If you need help, just ask!"
Xu Zhi's head throbbed.
Why was everyone staring at his bald head like it was tragic art?
"I already said it's just chemo!" he muttered. "Once it's over, my hair will grow back!"
He scratched his scalp and grinned darkly."Heh, maybe I should evolve a powerful species that never grows hair. Let's see how they handle the true might of baldness!"
With that, he stepped back into his courtyard.
By then, another half day had passed.
The species had crawled onto land, spreading across the entire hundred-acre sandbox. The mountains were lush with greenery, the plains blanketed in strange trees, and rivers teemed with swimming creatures.
"There are freshwater fish too," he murmured. "The marine ones have adapted and entered the rivers."
Ten days.In just ten days, life had evolved from single-celled organisms to complex multicellular ecosystems.
A complete biosphere now thrived before him.
If not for the gene locks restricting their growth, this evolution could have spilled into the real world—an ecological invasion unlike anything Earth had ever seen.
Xu Zhi crouched down, gazing at the miniature world with a smile.
"Alright then... let's choose a lucky species for a new trial. Add the genes of gorillas and ants—if it survives, it'll be reborn as the Ancient Insect-Ape of my sandbox world."
Wearing blue plastic shoe covers, he stepped into the field. Beneath his feet, countless ant-sized trees and creatures were crushed without notice.
He didn't care.
"This is natural selection," he said calmly. "Survival of the fittest. Being stepped on just means you're unlucky."
Squatting, he studied the thriving miniature species one by one.
"Now... which of you will be the chosen one to evolve into an ape-like creature?"
He paused, then added with a smirk:
"Preferably one that's bald."