A chitinous exoskeleton, segmented body, multiple legs ��� an Arthropod. A beetle-like insect, scuttling across what looked like mossy ground.
-10 times faster then others is truly terrifying. I am evolving my algae and he is boasting about his Arthropods,- Sunny muttered, a mix of admiration and envy swirling within him.
Kairos’s S-grade talent, -Time Accelerate x10,- was proving to be incredibly powerful in the early game.
The chat exploded with reactions:
-My algae died and here the bigshot has already evolved his lifeforms to Arthropods.-
-I want to hug the bigshot’s thighs.-
-I want to have monkeys for bigshot.- The desperation and sycophancy were palpable.
Sunny closed the chat after a few more minutes, a fresh resolve hardening his divine will.
He wasn’t Kairos, but he had his own path.
He checked his faith points again, the decimals now replaced by whole numbers. The sheer scale of life on Veridia was generating Faith faster than he had initially realized, especially now that evolution was truly kicking in and more complex algae were consuming weaker ones.
The algae populations were already above 1 billion, a testament to their incredibly efficient reproduction in a suitable environment.
And his faith points stood at a healthy 16.1526153. This was it.
-Now I can intervene to increase the evolution!- Sunny grinned, a surge of divine power flowing through him.
He wouldn’t directly force evolution, but he could create the conditions for it.
He used 4 Faith points to subtly decrease the available resources for the algae.
Not to a starvation point, which would decimate them, but just enough to spike the competition for survival.
This gentle pressure would act as a powerful evolutionary accelerator, pushing the fittest to adapt and thrive.
It was a delicate balance: too little competition would stagnate growth, too much would cause mass extinction.
Next, with a powerful mental push, he used another 6 Faith points to evaporate the vast, obscuring layers of water in strategic areas. Slowly, majestically, landmasses began to emerge from the depths of Veridia. Continents, islands, mountain ranges ��� not perfectly formed, but nascent land.
This would open up entirely new ecological niches, forcing the evolving life forms to adapt to a terrestrial environment.
The drowning landscape, once a uniform blue, was now revealing its hidden topography.
The remaining 5 Faith points he kept as an emergency reserve. If the lifeforms somehow vanished or stalled disastrously, he would need them.
Sunny then sat back quietly, observing the profound changes wrought by his will.
The newly exposed landmasses steamed under the nascent sun, slowly drying, preparing for the arrival of life.
The vast, billion-strong algae population, now stressed by resource scarcity, was already showing subtle signs of further diversification, adapting to new pressures. He began to think about the next steps.
The first seed had grown, and now, the true complexity of a living world was ready to unfold.
Chapter 4: Ch 4 : Misfortune
Chapter 4 - Ch 4 : Misfortune
It had just been half an hour since Veridia’s grand opening.
In the terms of the world itself, that translated to approximately 208 days, a significant stretch of time for burgeoning life.
Sunny grimaced as he considered the disparity. -I really envy Kairos for this talent of his,- he muttered to himself.
-In his world, 2,000 days would have already passed.
With divine intervention, the evolution and faith points will surely increase wildly.- The sheer temporal advantage felt insurmountable.
Yet, on Veridia, a quiet drama was unfolding beneath the waves.
The sprawling, vibrant algae populations faced their first existential crisis.
The huge threat of predatory algae had pushed their less adaptable kin to the brink of extinction.
But evolution, ever resourceful, sparked a miraculous defense.
Algae that could harness light, others that utilized dissolved soil nutrients, and those uniquely adapted to the specific conditions of the nascent sea united.
In a monumental leap, they formed the first multicellular algae in the world of Veridia.
Congratulations God Cosmos for the first multicellular life in your world!
Sunny grinned at the notification, a surge of triumph washing over him.
This was progress, tangible and significant. -It’s just a matter of time until I also gain arthropods,- he chuckled, thinking of Kairos’s boasting. -About an hour, I guess.-
His internal clock, still calibrated to his own perception, estimated the time until a similar evolutionary leap.
He checked his status panel. His faith points had stabilized and were now at a respectable 10 in total.
Deciding to capitalize on this surge, Sunny made two swift interventions.
He used 2 faith points to subtly decrease the resources in the sea, intensifying the evolutionary pressure on the now multicellular aquatic life.
Then, with a more significant expenditure, he channeled 4 faith points to increase the nutrient availability on the newly exposed landmasses.