The next morning, Xu Zhi climbed out of bed and looked toward the miniature world beyond his courtyard — a landscape of mountains, rivers, and lush greenery spread across a hundred-acre sandbox.
Even if others came to visit, they wouldn't see this hidden realm tucked behind the orchard. The Bug Nest was skilled in mental manipulation, forming a "mental energy shield" that distorted perception and blocked all living things — animals, plants, even bacteria — from entering. The sandbox was a world completely cut off from reality.
Over the next few days, Xu Zhi's condition improved.
His chemotherapy had ended, and the hair that once fell out had started to grow again. His pallid complexion gradually returned to life.
In the mirror, a tall young man stared back — sharp-featured, broad-shouldered, and brimming with vitality.
"It's been more than half a month since I stopped chemotherapy. The side effects have finally faded. My body's recovered — even better than before. That's the feedback I've received from the Zerg's mass deaths."
He stood silently, feeling the vitality surging within him.
Each time the Zerg in his sandbox perished, their life and soul energy flowed back into him. The stronger the creature's soul, the greater the feedback.
This current surge of health came from the first mass extinction during the "Dark Martial Era" and the second during the "Light Martial Era" — both events that had wiped out countless low-level life forms. Though primitive, their sheer numbers made the effect significant, and he had fully absorbed the energy last night.
"Most importantly, my hair grew back!"
He ran his fingers through it, feeling quite pleased.
"Even though my body's recovering, it doesn't mean the cancer cells are gone. In fact, the healthier I am, the stronger they get."
Still, his mood was good.
Leaving the sandbox behind, he hopped on his bicycle and rode into town for breakfast.
He strolled through the village, proudly showing off his thick, dark hair — daring anyone to pity his baldness now.
The dirt road was lined with fields, the faint smell of cow dung mingling with the scent of the countryside.
Then, a short, plump, dark-skinned aunt carrying a vegetable basket stopped him. "Oh my, isn't this Xiao Zhi? Chen Xi said you came back. I didn't believe her! I heard you were sick — with cancer?"
"Yes," Xu Zhi nodded calmly.
"Oh no, that's terrible!" she exclaimed, eyes lighting up suddenly. "Our Old Xu family has no descendants — what will we do? My daughter is actually quite nice, you know, maybe she could—"
…
After learning he had a terminal illness, her first reaction was to introduce her daughter?
Heh.
She probably knew he had some money saved from working in the city and that he'd inherited his parents' orchard. Maybe she was hoping her daughter could inherit everything after he died.
Xu Zhi's hair might have grown back, but his patience hadn't gotten any longer.
Just as he was about to refuse, a familiar voice called out.
"Hey! Don't listen to her!"
A round-faced girl ran up with a group of nosy aunts in tow.
"My mom told me Piggy was trying to set you up! I knew she'd pull something like this. Her daughter's ugly, bad-tempered, beats her husband, and scared him off! And she still wants Brother Xu Zhi to take over?"
"It's you again, you brat! Watch me teach you a lesson…" The plump aunt — Piggy — huffed in outrage, but seeing the others closing in, she backed off and fled.
Xu Zhi blinked, stunned.
"Xu Zhi, let me tell you," Chen Xi huffed, "Piggy's the only real troublemaker in our village. Every place has one, and she's ours— Wait, what happened to you!?"
She stared at him, eyes wide. "Two days ago you were bald — completely bald!"
Chen Xi's mother, Aunt Li, laughed and smacked her daughter lightly. "Nonsense, girl! Xiao Zhi's always been handsome. He's changed a bit these past years, that's all. Come, Xiao Zhi, have a seat at Aunt Li's house!"
"Yes, come sit!" several aunts chimed in, waving cheerfully.
"No, Mom! I swear he was bald! His hairline was way up here!" Chen Xi insisted, pointing in disbelief.
"Stop cursing your Brother Xu Zhi like that!" Aunt Li scolded.
Xu Zhi couldn't help but smile, feeling oddly satisfied. Hair really was a man's dignity.
He spent some time chatting with the aunts in a nearby courtyard. They spoke warmly, full of sympathy once they learned about his illness.
The simple, honest kindness of rural neighbors warmed his heart. He hadn't been back in years, and now, surrounded by familiar faces, he felt a rare sense of peace.
When he got up to leave, the aunts stuffed vegetables and homemade snacks into his hands. "Rest well here, don't worry too much — maybe you'll get better," they said kindly.
"Thank you," Xu Zhi replied with a gentle smile.
Meanwhile, Chen Xi slumped in a chair, muttering, "No way. It's a body double. He Photoshopped himself. Hair doesn't grow back that fast, and he looks way too good now…"
Xu Zhi pretended not to hear, feeling amused and content.
After chatting a bit longer, he said his goodbyes and pedaled back to his courtyard.
The moment he returned, he headed straight for the sandbox.
The ape-men's evolution had slowed considerably — one day outside now equaled a hundred years inside.
"Half a day's passed… that's about eighty years in their world," he murmured, lifting his binoculars and peering into the miniature realm.
He avoided entering directly — every visit caused massive ecological disruption.
To these ant-sized creatures, his hundred-acre sandbox was as vast as a province.
"This is…" Xu Zhi's eyes brightened. In a single night, the bug-apes had formed primitive tribes, lived in groups, and even developed a simple language. They wore animal skins and had a sense of shame.
"Having shame means intelligence. I've succeeded," he said, smiling proudly. "Those bug-apes who used to shout 'baldy, baldy' have finally evolved into something civilized. Not bad."
But extinction loomed.
They were too weak.
Even though he had chosen the best genetic templates, time moved quickly in the sandbox. Two real-world days meant twenty thousand sandbox years — and the creatures had long fallen behind evolution's pace.
"If this keeps up, they'll die out," he murmured.
He returned to his study, opened his laptop, and ordered a few things online. "Time to give them a spark of civilization."
The next morning, two express packages arrived.
One contained a miniature potted plant — a Guest-Greeting Pine.
The other held a custom-made alloy greatsword, no thicker than a needle, intricately carved and shining faintly under the light.
"The tribe's lasted a day and a half — a hundred and fifty years in their world. Barely hanging on. Let's take a look."
Xu Zhi walked to the courtyard. "Adjust time flow back to one-to-one."
Inside the sandbox, the southern Mesopotamian valley teemed with life. Fruit-bearing forests surrounded the Tigris River, where fish swam in abundance.
But disaster had struck.
Broken walls and scattered corpses covered the land.
"Run! Alah is coming!"
Black-furred, upright apes roared in panic, shielding the women and children as monstrous theropods charged through the ruins. Blood splattered, screams filled the air.
Xu Zhi sighed softly.
The Bug Nest's voice echoed in his mind. "Zerg are born to reproduce endlessly. They're meant to die — unless they can transcend."
"Transcend?"
"To awaken," it replied. "To break their genetic limits. Those who succeed become Zerg Heroes — individuals who can evolve actively instead of passively."
Xu Zhi nodded slowly. So, even among cannon fodder, there were those who rose above.
"The bug-apes I made… could they evolve heroes too?" he asked with a faint smile.
"If their potential is sufficient," the Bug Nest said. "They're unique — a hybrid with chimpanzee traits. It's possible."
"Then I'll look forward to it," Xu Zhi said, stepping forward.
Boom. Boom. Boom.
The ground trembled as he moved.
Forests flattened. Rivers stopped. Mighty beasts were crushed underfoot.
"To be stepped on by me — that's just natural selection," he said mildly.
A single step turned a whole forest to dust. The monstrous Alah were squashed before they could even scream.
The surviving bug-apes looked up — and froze in terror.
"What is that!?"
"He's ten thousand times bigger than Finba!"
"He's… a god!"
From their tiny perspective, Xu Zhi towered like a mountain that touched the clouds.
And to them, he truly was a god.