Chapter 17 Evolution

Deeper inside, the cave passages widened, and the number of crystalline structures multiplied, but the overall evolutionary process was diverging towards two extremes.

Land-based creatures were becoming dominated by primates, with chimpanzee-led simulated worlds taking the lead. A small number evolved into hominids, and some populations showed hints of early Homo sapiens.

However, a very small number of groups were dominated by other evolving animals, such as large carnivores at the top of the food chain like tigers, leopards, bears, and lions. These athletic specimens overly relied on their agility and top-notch hunting skills. Although they formed group structures and conflicts arose between groups, none of these races had enough intelligence to choose to use weapons, because nothing was more aggressive and threatening than their own bodies.

Ultimately, their evolutionary progress lagged far behind the primates.

It turned out that weakness was the only way to force a group to evolve.

Ocean-based creatures, on the other hand, showed an evolutionary trend towards mammalian dominance. New species of fish-men appeared in the ocean. These mammals were like water monkeys, mainly amphibious, with gills and lungs, able to breathe both on land and in the sea. They could simultaneously acquire resources from both land and sea.

Zoey pointed to the fish-man and said to Fatty, "Fatty, doesn't that fish-man look familiar...?"

"Someone's chatting with Fatty, even if they're not familiar, they have to become familiar. Fatty chuckled, "This fish-man is probably related to the ugly mermaids I saw in the Bermuda Triangle—but it's also strange, the ugly mermaids evolved from land to sea, while the mermaids here evolved from sea to land, yet the two have the same effect by different means."

From these two seemingly different but actually very similar fish-men, Zoey saw the evolutionary trend under the influence of the meteorite, a trend of seeking advantages.

Under the influence of this meteorite and evolutionary trend, any species had the opportunity to evolve towards the perfection of its own species.

Zoey naturally thought of the Young Master again. The Young Master was the first person to come into contact with the meteorite, so maybe the Young Master had already completed some kind of evolution.

Thinking of this, Zoey felt a deep worry in her heart. She only hoped that the Young Master was still a normal person.

Fatty had no intention of observing the myriad forms of the surrounding crystalline structures. He was single-mindedly trying to find Jennifer, but there was no sign of Jennifer anywhere.

The good news, however, was that Fatty's condition was gradually improving. The black blood in his lungs and trachea had been almost completely coughed up, and he no longer needed Zoey and Dodge's support to walk.

As they continued to walk, the scenery on the other side of the crystalline structures kept changing. The most mainstream evolutionary direction of the first batch of creatures to land from the ocean, primates, was flourishing.

Some chimpanzee groups had not completed the evolution of their species, but they had already reached the level of early humans in terms of sociality and organization.

This reminded Fatty of the chimpanzee war that they had witnessed a few days ago. It was completely on the scale of an ancient war, and some of the tactics used were beyond the grasp of chimpanzees in the natural world in reality.

Fatty suddenly understood that the chimpanzees he had seen had completed some kind of evolution. He could no longer think of them from the preconceived perspective of animals, but rather observe and judge them from a human perspective.

Underestimating the enemy would inevitably lead to suffering, as Fatty had personally experienced.

Fatty's attention began to be drawn to the chimpanzee groups. He was very curious to know what kind of world these chimpanzees, with their amazing strength and developing intelligence, would create.

On the other side of the crystalline structures, the chimpanzees were expanding their territories and building on a large scale. They did create an early human ruling system and royal architecture symbolizing power, but the bestiality in the chimpanzees' blood always prevailed. They revered force even more than humans.

Because they were naturally strong, they preferred to charge into melee combat.

The chimpanzee groups gradually rose rapidly in the simulated world at a speed surpassing most races.

At this time, the evolutionary stage of human ancestors was still stuck in the Homo sapiens period.

After all, the simulated world did not have as many rich variables and true randomness of evolution as the real world, so he was not surprised by any results.

If the simulated world did not have so many factors guiding evolution, then the dominant position of humans would still be unshakable.

On the other side of the crystalline structures, nearly half of the worlds collapsed during the process of species evolution. Many species evolved to the final stage, showing no signs of surpassing today's human society, so they were eventually forced to terminate under the control of some force.

After walking through the complex corridors of crystalline structures for more than half an hour, the group came to a dark environment again.

In the alternation of light and darkness, Lewin lit a new torch. This was the second torch lit by the team; the first torch had burned out.

Since the cave passage had become wider, the light of the torch seemed a little weak.

It was pitch black all around, and the figures of the other people could only be vaguely seen through the light of the torch.

Since the number of crystalline structures had increased and the passage had become larger, the dark sections had become longer.

In the past, it only took a dozen minutes for the light and darkness to alternate once, but now it might take nearly an hour.