Who started the experiment?
What is the most prolific organism? It's definitely a plant. One seed grows into a tree, and one tree produces millions of seeds. Among animals, there are also species with extremely high reproductive rates, such as fish, frogs, and the most powerful reproductive machine—the queen bee.
“But species are balanced, or rather, what is exploited will eventually be exploited back,” Al smiled. “Plants are food for almost all species, and that’s the price. The more fertile a species is, the more offspring it produces, and the easier it is for them to become food.”
"Since the whole world follows the law of reproduction, then what is the reason for the emergence of humankind?" Mi paused for a moment. "Oh, no, according to our local genetic theory, humans evolved from animals, and humans themselves are animals."
“Actually, you know that humans were originally a matriarchal society, just like animals, and women held the initiative.” El sighed. “As you travel to more worlds, you will find that women have more initiative and choices.”
“I actually find what you said quite reasonable,” Mi thought for a moment, “No, I can only agree with the first part. Since female gods hold the initiative, why have women been relegated to a secondary position for so many years?”
“Child, you’re talking about humans. It’s not like that in the animal kingdom,” El sighed. “Divinity has only one function: reproduction. All of His actions are ultimately for the purpose of reproduction. The female god’s power inevitably weakens during the process of giving birth, while the male god, who initially provides a larger part of himself, also weakens. Later, in order to produce more offspring, the male god provides smaller and smaller parts of his body, while the female god is seduced by the pleasure of union and ignores the male god’s subtle actions.”
"What is this? Is it just being love-struck?" Mi didn't know how to evaluate this behavior.
“The female gods may not be unaware of this, which is why they are becoming increasingly picky,” El laughed. “In your world, it’s easier for those who are beautiful, well-endowed, and skilled in bed to gain the favor of women, and that’s why.”
“But men also care about looks,” Mi said speechlessly. “We have a saying where I’m from: whether a man is eight or eighty, he will always like an eighteen-year-old girl.”
“No, that only appeared when humanity developed to a certain stage. Men’s attraction to appearance isn’t just for reproduction. In the animal kingdom, males are more beautiful, more flamboyant, and more attractive to females. Don’t think of male gods as men and female gods as women. Humans are different from those genetic organisms; humans have humanity,” El said. “During periods of restricted reproduction, when females reach maturity, they emit a specific scent to attract males. After becoming pregnant, they shut down this scent. During their pregnancy and lactation, they won’t have this scent until they want to reproduce again.”
Why did this situation change?
“I’ve said before that the male god has sliced himself up. To maximize output, the male slices are getting smaller and smaller, and the effort put in is getting less and less. You’ll find that—males pursue quantity, while females pursue quality.” El paused for a moment before continuing, “The children that females expend a great deal of effort to give birth to are of the same sex to them; males are different. They don’t need to get pregnant and give birth, nor do they raise newborns. They put in almost no effort. In the long matriarchal society, when men found that they needed to go out hunting, men were the more important helpers, and thus gender differences arose. Men would unite with each other, and the use of force to suppress each other was the most fundamental reason for the demise of matriarchal societies and the establishment of patriarchy.”
"You're right." Mi's spirits were clearly low; he looked listless, like a little person who could collapse at any moment.
Do you need a rest?
“Yes, I need to rest.” Mi turned and crawled into a dormant flower, entering a long, long dream. A tiny cell was in a vast ocean; it would soon disappear, like other cells. But the sea brought many cells like itself, and so the cell was no longer just a cell. Various creatures appeared in the ocean, and gradually the ocean could no longer satisfy these creatures, so they appeared on land. Then the number of creatures increased until the planet was destroyed, and the world fell into an endless cycle, until—the appearance of the witch.
Mi sat bolt upright in shock. She gripped the guiding stone tightly, letting its sharp point pierce her palm. The pain reminded her this wasn't a dream. Mi climbed to the top of the tree. What was up there? And what was a witch?
“Let’s continue.” Mi came to El again.
"The offspring produced during the union of the first gods possess the characteristics of both male and female gods. Reproduction is for the inheritance of one's own traits, and of course, due to the differences in reproductive systems, the only difference between the offspring is in this aspect," El said with a smile. "Male gods experience a sense of loss and exhaustion after union because, after all, they have given up a part of themselves. To minimize their own loss, the time spent in union with male gods is very limited. Female gods, on the other hand, have higher requirements in this regard. Females need enough pleasure to withstand the pain of childbirth. As a former woman, you should understand this."
“What do I understand?” Mi suddenly paused. “You mean female goddesses are harder to please?”
"Do you remember the Second Elder? She was extremely skilled in this."
"Um, oh, ah, oh—" Mi suddenly became embarrassed, "Go on, don't dwell on this."
“This is the origin of species,” El laughed. “Your theory of evolution precisely explains the characteristics of divinity—survival followed by reproduction, doing everything possible to pass on genes. What you are experiencing is the evolutionary process of Blue Star under the combined influence of humanity and divinity. As you travel to more worlds, you will discover that divinity is reproduction; all animals, plants, including humans and all living species, are the result of the transmission of divinity. When you have seen more worlds, you will find that there are not only gods, but also other life forms, such as long-lived species, immortal beings, silicon-based life forms, conscious life forms…”
Do all life forms want to reproduce?
“To be honest, yes, even long-lived species with infinite life will reproduce.” El paused briefly. “But that involves another reason, which is that new life will use all its strength to gain recognition, and the power brought by new life is also one of the reasons for reproduction.”
"Are witches included?"
“Yes, you are incredibly adorable in our eyes,” El said with a smile. “We went to great lengths to come back for you, and the elders even gave up their hibernation to see you. The power of new life is beyond your imagination. To put it simply, the desire to reproduce is not enough; a new life is born with its genes already replicated and passed on. But new life needs to grow. You tell me, a new life brings so much pain to the female, so why would the female still be willing to raise these new lives?”
“Am I a child now?” Mi couldn’t help but scratch her head. These witches were just treating her like a newborn witch, tolerating everything about her? Just like human cubs, oh no, all cubs are incredibly cute. Cubs are the only species in the world that has no power but possesses the greatest power.
“Witches are also special beings in life, and you will understand this when you become a real witch,” El continued. “Evolutionary theory proves the law after the gods have continuously differentiated and merged. Although the gods have reproduced enough offspring, the power of divinity has indeed weakened, because the first generation of gods eventually disintegrated.”
"Isn't every living being endowed with the genes of the first god?"
“You’re right. Reproduction was the only thing the first god insisted on, and genes could be passed down.”
"If even God is sliced up, will divinity eventually perish?"
"In the history of your Blue Star, no, genes have indeed gone through several periods of dormancy." El sighed softly. "Before the appearance of humans, the first generation of gods did perish because they constantly divided their bodies. That was not the extinction of genes, but the extinction of different species that the gods differentiated from. Moreover, the extinction of these species was due to external forces, not self-destruction."
In its more than four billion years of history, Earth has undergone several evolutions, each time giving rise to new species. Earth is a vast testing ground; a single cell, with each introduction of different variables, produces different life forms.
"So after these repeated destructions, who restarted this evolutionary process? Or where did these primordial gods come from? Who created them and who controls them? Are the primordial gods really gods, or just gene carriers who were put in?"
“This? I’ve never thought about it,” El said, a look of confusion on his face. “That’s what my guide told me. And that’s what I told you too.”
“Have you ever considered that not only the sudden appearance of a single cell, but also the witches you mentioned, the long-lived species you mentioned, the silicon-based life forms, and so on—who controls all of these, and who pushes them forward?” Mi whispered, tempting El like the serpent in the Garden of Eden tempting Eve to eat the fruit called “wisdom.” She softly asked, “Do you think there are higher species? Those boring species, like planting crops, produce different organisms one after another, putting them into different environments and creating different combinations?”
“But if it’s like you say—it’s a long and uncontrollable process.” Al stopped talking, seemingly thinking of some possibility.
“You know that time varies. You said that if I went back to Earth from here, only one day would have passed.” Mi tried to make her voice calm and seductive. “How do you know that it was just a short game time up there, or even just an afternoon tea?”
“Let me think about it,” El said, clearly intrigued by Mi’s words. She asked blankly, “But why is that?”
“On our Blue Star, there are all sorts of experiments. The subjects are placed in different boxes, each with different settings, temperatures, and living environments. The subjects move freely inside the boxes, while outside, people observe them, record their activities, and even provide specific environments to interfere with them,” Mi continued softly. “As for the purpose, it might just be curiosity, a gamble, some kind of scientific research, or simply control. Who can know?” Mi spread her hands. “Can you be sure there isn’t a pair of eyes watching over the forest?” As Mi finished speaking, the murky clouds above the Witch Forest began to churn rapidly, and enormous lightning bolts seemed to try to cleave the ancient, silent forest in two, blinding flashes of light passing before their eyes.
Al and Joe jumped to their feet in surprise, and the three of them leaped to the treetops to look up at the top of the Witch Forest. Gray clouds churned violently, and bolts of lightning struck down silently, yet looked terrifying. The Witch Forest remained silent; the violent turbulence above the forest quickly subsided, and even the occasional tiny flashes of light, like fish swimming in the water, were gone.
Al and Joe exchanged a glance and landed. Joe grabbed Al's arm: "Al?" Joe was clearly a little nervous.
“Joe, I think I know why she came here,” Al said gravely. “Maybe she’s right.”
What was she thinking about?
“She feels like we’re locked in a box,” Al said, closing his eyes in anguish. “I can’t quite articulate what she’s thinking; it’s terrifying.”
El hugged Joe and kissed him eagerly. Joe responded gently, "It's okay, El, it's okay. I'll always be with you, whether inside the box or outside the box, I'll always be with you."
Blue and pink smoke intertwined, from which tiny lightning bolts struck the grass in the forest, causing it to wither rapidly. Neither Al nor Joe, lost in their lust, saw any of this, nor did Mi, standing on the treetop staring intently at the clouds.
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