I'm Trapped in the Block

Chapter 62: Chapter 61: Eagle Catches Chicks

The eagle... is gone?

Upon hearing the Goddess’s words, not only was Mo Ling completely baffled, but the surrounding Transparent Race People were also filled with confusion.

”My Goddess, what is an eagle?” one of the Transparent Race People asked, his voice trembling.

The Goddess was surprisingly patient, explaining, ”The eagle from ’eagle catching chicks.’ The chicks are still here, but the eagle is gone. You have already lost.”

’A game again?’

Hearing this, an idea began to form in Mo Ling’s mind.

’Could it be that these Transparent Race People played a game of ’eagle catching chicks’ with the Primordial Cell?’

He didn’t know the specific rules of the game, so he could only continue to listen.

”What are the chicks?” Seeing that the Goddess was answering everything, the Transparent Race Person grew bolder.

”They are the chicks from ’eagle catching chicks’,” the Goddess replied, her tone completely flat.

”...”

The Primordial Cell was as evasive as ever.

Even the Transparent Race People present were stunned. The Goddess’s answer seemed to confuse them, and they didn’t know how to ask any further.

After a moment of silence, one of the Transparent Race People finally gathered his thoughts and continued to question the Goddess. ”My Goddess, can you explain in more detail? We truly don’t know what ’eagle catching chicks’ is.”

The Goddess slowly walked over to the one who had asked the question and looked down at him for a long time. Only when the person began to tremble uncontrollably under her gaze did she continue to speak.

”The eagle was your ancestor. The chicks are what you call the ’indestructible things’...”

She began to explain the rules of this game in meticulous detail, just like an NPC in a beginner’s tutorial.

Her steady, mechanical, yet beautiful voice laid out the origins of ”eagle catching chicks” with perfect clarity, even going back to tell the story of the Transparent Race People’s ancestors.

Only then did Mo Ling understand that this game of ”eagle catching chicks” was played between the ancestors of the Transparent Race and the Goddess.

And as the conversation between the Goddess and the Transparent Race People continued, a distorted version of history slowly began to take shape in Mo Ling’s mind.

...

In the beginning, there were no ”indestructible things” in the Underworld, no Flesh Race.

At that time, the Transparent Race People were the undisputed rulers of this Underworld.

Like the Anti-Cell World, this was a world composed of Theseus Cell Life.

All creatures were Theseus Cell Life, and the Transparent Race People had already developed to the Cold Weapon Age, occupying a vast expanse of the underworld through agriculture and animal husbandry.

They used stone to craft all sorts of tools, creating a brilliant civilization.

In the Underworld, their only enemies were the various powerful exotic beasts.

The stone weapons of the Transparent Race could not inflict much damage on these exotic beasts, and they could only watch helplessly as the creatures wreaked havoc.

Some exotic beasts were even highly intelligent, knowing to bide their time and wait until the Transparent Race People’s crops were ripe before coming out to feast.

The exotic beasts would also specifically target farms and lone Transparent Race People in sneak attacks, making it impossible for the villages to defend themselves effectively.

The bizarre abilities of these exotic beasts were also a huge headache for the Transparent Race People; hunting a single one often required an enormous expenditure of manpower and resources.

After finally managing to kill one exotic beast, a new, different one would appear to attack the village after some time.

The Underworld’s abundant resources also meant there was an endless supply of exotic beasts, and completely new types would often appear.

It was at this time that a hero appeared among the Transparent Race—the Prophet.

At first, the Prophet was just an ordinary member of the Transparent Race, but a journey through the Underworld changed his life forever.

It was an expedition to explore the unknown depths of the underworld. As a member of the exploration team, the Prophet reached hidden regions where the Transparent Race People had never been before.

The Umbral Corner, completely devoid of light.

The Columnar Wastes, a rugged badland of broken stone.

The Ten Thousand Mushroom Forest, filled with all sorts of strange creatures.

And the Endless Void Wall, said to be the very edge of the Underworld.

Along the way, the Prophet studied the geology and the characteristics of the flora and fauna of each region, collected various specimens, and recorded all this information.

He systematically classified the creatures, dividing them into different categories.

After a long time, the Prophet and his team traveled through the various regions of the Underworld before finally returning to the Transparent Race.

During his travels in the Underworld, the Prophet discovered that each region had creatures that were similar yet different, with abilities that were alike but had slight variations.

In other cases, the environments were similar, but the creatures were completely different, displaying distinct forms and possessing vastly dissimilar abilities.

These discoveries made the Prophet even more engrossed in the study of biological characteristics.

Not long after, the Prophet summarized his findings into a systematic set of rules about living beings, and he called this set of rules—

The Origin of Species.

The nature of the Transparent Race limited them to recording words on stone, but as time passed and it spread by word of mouth, this set of rules caused a huge uproar within the entire Transparent Race.

Before this, the Transparent Race People’s understanding of living creatures was based entirely on religion. All sorts of gods were invented, forming a very traditional polytheistic belief system.

The ignorant people were still using creationism to explain the origin of life, constantly inventing new gods to fill the gaps in their understanding.

These religious ”patches” also made the entire system for classifying exotic beasts convoluted and bloated.

The moment The Origin of Species appeared, it began to challenge the authority of the gods, causing a tremendous stir throughout the entire population of the Transparent Race People.

Natural selection, survival of the fittest.

In the Umbral Corner, completely devoid of light, eyes continually degenerated. Only creatures with other, sharper senses could slowly survive. Their offspring gradually began to inherit these traits, which is why the Umbral Corner was filled with exotic beasts possessing extraordinary senses.

And on the Endless Void Wall, creatures unable to climb were slowly eliminated, leaving only various rock-dwelling lifeforms whose climbing abilities continued to improve.

The ability to manipulate rock also appeared through mutation and was passed down genetically.

These peculiar ideas within The Origin of Species began to slowly change the perceptions of the Transparent Race People, replacing creationism and the theory of immutable species.

This theory gradually gained ascendancy.

The Prophet’s status grew higher and higher, because his theory of the origin of species made it easier for the Transparent Race People to deal with exotic beasts.

By systematically classifying the exotic beasts and targeting their weaknesses, they no longer had to throw away lives when facing them.

The Transparent Race People also used this knowledge to analyze the diets and resistances of the exotic beasts attacking their villages, allowing them to create specialized traps to kill them.

Knowledge is power. The territory of the Transparent Race expanded once again, and their civilization achieved unprecedented prosperity.

Step by step, the Prophet was elevated to the highest throne.

However, just when all the Transparent Race People believed the Prophet would lead them to explore the entire Underworld and achieve complete dominion over it, an accident occurred.

During an expedition into an unknown part of the underworld, the army of Transparent Race People led by the Prophet encountered the Primordial Cell.

The zone of accelerated evolution surrounding the Primordial Cell dealt a massive blow to the Prophet’s way of thinking.

Witnessing the process of evolution in such a direct and visceral way caused the Prophet’s worldview to shatter and warp.

’So this is what evolution is really like?’

”I am beginning to understand everything.”