Shepherding Humanity

If these guys were planning to act, then it was absolutely necessary to place a spy among them who could restrain them when necessary.

Xu Zhi accompanied Chen Xi to the meeting, which lasted for over an hour. After eavesdropping on them for a while, he logged out.

Xu Zhi learned from the meeting that 173 out of the sandbox’s 180 players were going to participate in the plan to create the Giant God.

The remaining seven chose to not participate like Xu Zhi.

Some of them would be busy in reality for the next few days and won’t have the time, others felt that the species they were half done with evolving had great potential, and couldn’t bear to commit suicide and return to being a spore.

After the participants had been decided, it was time to move on to the main agenda.

These players have all entered the sandbox through writing research papers, and were old hands at this. They were all extremely competent, and quickly started the discussion and kicked off their crazy god-making plan.

As soon as they began, a certain shameless big-shot spoke up.

Akina’s Speedster: "F*ck this! Is it alright to make a synthetic life-form that’s only a thousand meters tall? That’s not nearly cool enough! We should make it at least 5000-6000 meters tall! Actually, no, even 5000-6000 meters is not enough; if we’re gonna do it, we should aim for the greatest possible impact! Its size should be comparable to that of the Creator residing in our little yard: a ten-thousand-meters tall giant! Only then can we call this the “God-Maker” plan! (😤)"

Everyone: "…"

His words were too shocking, and for a short while, everyone was silent.

Cerebral Bluff: "F*ck, the big boss is acting up again! This guy is always thinking of treasonous things like making God or killing God. (😱)"

I Love Learning: "So scary! What do you think, boss?"

Learning is a Waste of Time: "I think it’s possible! If we’re gonna do it, we might as well go all the way! (😊) After all, if each of us were to lead our own species with dozens to hundreds of members and combine, reaching the same size as the Creator should be possible…"

Xu Zhi, who was eavesdropping on the players, was stunned.

You’re not just acting up, you’re going all in?

Aren’t you afraid of the consequences?

Originally, the giant god was only supposed to be the size of a Husky, but the more they discussed, the more their ambitions grew. Finally, they unanimously decided: We’ll go for it! They’ll create a creature that’s the same size as Xu Zhi, a ten-thousand-meters tall giant.

For an ant, that’s already the size of a vast continent.

Under the leadership of Learning is a Waste of Time, these super ambitious madmen eagerly got started with their plan, and began to create the ship that would form the basic framework for their creature.

They worked together to chop down trees, move timber, raise manpower, and started building a giant ship that was the size of a continent.

"OK, so you’re building a ship, but why are you *ssholes chopping us trees down?"

"So what if we are? The earlier you die, the earlier you can reincarnate! Sooner or later, everyone will have to die anyway. We'll all have to return to being a spore and then combine into this new creature."

Akina’s Speedster took advantage of this opportunity to get his revenge.

The large, fiery red rooster had his chest puffed out and his head held high as he patrolled the area like an inspector:

"You trees should show some initiative! Hey! The trees with legs over there, carry these trees that can’t move and line yourself up before the chopping block!!"

The Pallbearer Chicken was practically strutting. "Also, those players who’ve evolved scythes on this side, move quicker will you? You call yourselves men? I want to see some blood! The sooner you chop off their heads, the sooner they can be on their way, and the less they’ll have to suffer!"

All trees: ? ? ? ?

The players who were plants burst into tears.

This guy was obviously trying to get back at them!

It turns out that the reason everyone had worked so hard to evolve trees before was so that the sandbox would have more timber?

We had such great foresight!

…….

This was going to be a momentous project.

A group of ants were working together to build a massive ship.

But, everyone moved extremely quickly, and the division of labor was very clear. Although there were only 173 players, each of them was leading their own species, forming a workforce that was tens of thousands strong, equal to what built the Great Wall of China.

Screenshots,

Screenshots,

Screenshots,

In front of a dark green forest, a “King” tree with legs led its tribe, composed of dozens of trees with legs, to line up before the chopping block.

On the other side, a bunch of oddly shaped, scarlet-colored creatures with scythes sat on small benches and frantically chopped away.

There were also some players who have already got started on their task of assembling the ship.

….

These screenshots were all posted in the “God-Maker” thread, and there were also live-streamers who kept the outside spectators constantly updated on their progress.

"It's so exciting! Look at the beautiful, sexy long legs on those trees. I’m drooling! Such sexy trees getting chopped to pieces online! (😂)"

"How shocking! It turns out that these trees evolved legs so that it would be easier for them to line up for suicide! (😂)"

The discussion online was really lively. Everyone had something to say, and they were all envious.

Almost all the players were participating in this god-making plan, and everyone knew that if they succeeded, it would be a very big deal. The second Beta had the god-slaying plan, and now, the Third Beta had this god-making plan.

It was crazy how much trouble these players could get into, and the things that they managed to come up with. To think that they would be creative enough to conceive of such a creature: I’ll form the head, I’ll form the arms… They've managed to turn a small sandbox into something really special.

Before this, everyone had been extremely envious of the Emperor of Alchemy.

But now? They all said that they were unimpressed, and were going to enter as a team and beat him up online!

In no time at all, not counting the occasions when they had to log out to eat, they’ve already live-streamed for over a dozen hours. A gigantic ship that was the size of a small wooden boat in reality was quietly parked in the small sandbox before Xu Zhi’s gate.

The reason why this took so little time was because it was a very rough-shod job.

The “ship” was little more than a pile of wood that had been haphazardly spliced together; it was fine as long as it could float on the ocean. After all, it was only the basic framework for the creature, and they wanted it to decay as quickly as possible.

"One, two!"

"One, two!"

A bunch of bizarre creatures labored away. Tens of thousands of little ants worked together and pulled the huge ship into the ocean.

Fortunately, there was enough space. The ocean that Xu Zhi prepared for them took up 40% of the 30-square-meter small evolutionary sandbox, and was a 12-square-meter pond. This was more than enough room for a 1.8-meters-long and half-a-meter wide wooden boat..

"We’ve succeeded!"

"It’s time! Everyone, commit suicide! We must now reincarnate and start over as a spore in the primordial ocean! Then evolve into single-celled creatures!"

"Remember that as soon as we’re born as spores, we must attach ourselves to the ship, and cover every inch of it as a group… You have all been shown the evolutionary process: as the ship slowly decays, us parasites will gradually replace its individual parts while joining up and forming a cohesive whole. Eventually, all the wooden parts will be gone, and the ship will be entirely composed of living organisms."

"Look, everyone! The Creator, who is sitting on his chair in the yard and eating his apple, is looking at us spores."

"That's normal! According to the setting, the supreme Creator is omniscient and omnipotent, it’s only natural that he’d want to know what we’re up to if we start acting up in his transdimensional evolutionary courtyard…"

"The Creator must be dumbfounded! With his own eyes, he’s seen us work together to create a creature that’s just as immense as he is. He must be very confused right now: What are these single-cell creatures doing? Are they crazy?"

"Haha! Maybe we’ll get a hidden achievement award!"

"In ancient legends, the great Ship of Life sailed through the eternal Sea of Chaos. The ship had eight sails, a single anchor, and was surrounded by countless tentacles. This unknowable horror is the cradle of the Old Gods. It is the indescribable existence that unifies all in this world!"

……

Xu Zhi sat on his chair and ate his apple as he silently observed the players in the distance. Contrary to the crazy excitement they displayed, he was very calm. He had become used to their daily antics by now.

Xu Zhi asked the Hive Mind: "Is the player who’s overseeing this plan, ‘Learning is a Waste of Time’, a spy from the research institutes?"

"No, he’s not."

The Hive Mind provided him with the data it’s gathered; this person was another extremely outstanding talent.

Xu Zhi took a look.

Learning is a Waste of Time was a college student from an ordinary background who was studying marine ecology. No wonder he had so much specialized knowledge about the parasitic organisms on seafaring ships, and came up with this idea.

"Everything’s fine then." Xu Zhi thought for a while, and decided that he wanted to see how they’d evolve.