Chapter 102 Evolution Theory (Two-in-One)

Perhaps the land holds such magic, feeling the steadiness of the earth, one no longer yearns for the ocean's swaying.

After spending a night watching the stars in the forest, Goldy, Joy, and Fiery, the three big fish, decided to live their days in the forest.

And since they were to live together, the three fish, who only knew how to "swoosh," "ying," and "squeak," named themselves amid a cacophony of these sounds.

After all, in the sea, there are many fish of gold, black and white, and red colors besides them.

Seeing other colored big fish, the golden fish wanted a unique name that belonged only to itself.

It chose the name Goldy, which suited its color and temperament.

The red fish thought about it and should have been named Big Red, but for some reason, the name "Fiery" popped into its mind. Although as a fish, it had no idea what fire was, it insisted on being called Fiery.

So, it decided to name itself Big Fiery, or Fiery for short.

Although Goldy thought the name Fiery was a bit off-topic, it remembered that fire is at least red, so the name wasn't too far off.

Therefore, the most perplexing was the black and white fish naming itself Joy.

Who would understand? The "ying ying ying" fish insists on being called Joy.

Goldy firmly believed that the guy should be named Swooshy or Owey. The kind of Owey that owes a beating.

However, since they had just crawled out of the sea onto land and could only move through the dense forest in a dark, twisted, and cautious manner, they formed the Crawling Alliance, trying to survive on land.

Just the first day of survival had already been quite awkward for the three fish crawling out from the sea, nearly becoming prey for other hunters several times—

Every life needs a nest of its own, doesn't it?

As fish, they could hide in the mud, empty shells, or among seaweed clusters and coral caves; naturally, as large crawlers, they should also have their own caves or shallow pits.

Initially, Fiery thought a dense patch of grass was good; the thick grass could conceal their bodies and collect dew from the morning and night, beneficial for their now much drier skin and scales.

Goldy and Joy agreed, as they had also slept among coral and seaweed clusters in the sea.

Then, they meticulously chose a snake den.

When seven or eight venomous snakes, fierce and slithering in a standard "S" pattern, raised their heads in unison, the three big fish sharply realized that terrestrial animals tend to be much fiercer than the small fish and shrimp in the sea!

"Swoosh swoosh swoosh!" Quick, flee, we can't beat them!

"Squeak squeak squeak!!" I've seen these things in the sea, but they weren't in groups like this! And they didn't have so many colors!

"Ying ying ying~" Ah, I slapped one away! But I got bitten.

Hm, seems like the effort to slap things away here is much more than in the sea?

The three big fish frantically crawled away, finally getting a chance to breathe after each being bitten but managing to kill four snakes.

Then, the three big fish lay flat like dead fish, limbs and bodies sprawled out, after which Goldy and Joy each slapped Fiery.

"Squeak squeak squeak?" Why hit me?!

"Swoosh swoosh swoosh!" Look at the great place you picked! Nearly killed us!

"Ying." If I hit you, I hit you, I'm happy.

Fiery was extremely angry, feeling it was not the time to set such a precedent. Otherwise, it would end up being the one getting slapped after every meal and nap.

Hmm, strange, who is DouDou? Why beat DouDou?

"Squeak squeak!" Then find a place, won't you!

Thus, Goldie offered a second choice: find a cave.

"Swooosh." It doesn't need to be too deep, could be by the river, under a rock, or beneath a large tree, and could also use some cover to block the entrance.

Huozi and Lezi had no objections.

So, the three big fish, whose limbs were gradually becoming more robust and bodies were starting to flatten from being upright, began to sneakily crawl in the shadows while looking for a suitable cave.

They even attempted to shovel the soil with their sturdy fins in places that seemed appropriate, scratching and scraping until their fins began to fork and become more flexible.

However, finding a cave wasn't going smoothly.

By a river, they intently observed how a crocodile opened its 150-degree wide mouth to bite off a deer's head in one go.

The deer was dragged into the water, and then its body was torn apart and eaten by the crocodile.

"Swooosh."

"Squeak."

"Ying."

This place is a bit dangerous.

Nonetheless, with their amphibious ability now, nearly three meters of body length, strong limbs, and sharp teeth, biting a crocodile to death seemed simple.

But, there were at least a dozen crocodiles in this river.

Three against a dozen.

All three big fish felt this wasn't suitable.

"Swooosh swooosh!" Let's bail! Next time, the three of us will come back for a group ambush!

"Squeak squeak!" Good idea!

"Ying." Wanting to ambush right now.

The three big fish still left the riverside, their need for water gradually decreasing.

Then, they arrived at a pile of rocks.

This place felt somewhat open, barely providing shelter, but the drafts from all sides gave the three fish a very unsafe feeling.

Here, the three big fish saw many small insects under the stones and a kind of reptile that looked a bit like them but was smaller in size.

These creatures had thicker scales than fish scales, their heads were gradually becoming more flexible with the addition of necks, and most importantly, their eyes seemed very sharp, able to move around freely in their sockets.

Jinzi: "Let's scoot."

I think this look isn't too bad, at least having those flexible eyes and a rotatable head is a must!

This way, the crawling speed would be much faster!

"Chirp, chirp!" And hard scales! Harder scales! Plus a long tail!

"Meow." Sharper and stronger claws capable of swatting all those guys away with a single slap.

Thus, after observing the lizard family for a while, the three big fish turned and left.

After this departure, their shady crawling appearance changed somewhat—mainly involving shaking their heads and tails, rolling their eyes, and occasionally making pouncing movements while crawling.

At first, they appeared quite comical and uncoordinated, but gradually, they began to resemble beasts more than fish.

Eventually, they settled at the root of a large tree.

There was a hole there, originally a rabbit's burrow, but it was unceremoniously subjected to the law of the survival of the fittest by the three big fish, who ate the rabbit meat, used the skin to pad the nest, and although the cave was somewhat dry, digging a bit deeper revealed a moist air.

Then, Jinzi also piled some leaves at the entrance, concealing their tracks.

Inside the rabbit hole, Huozi continuously practiced flicking its tail and rubbing the ground and tree roots with its scales. Its fragile scales were knocked off, but the scales that grew back became fiery red and hard.

Lezi kept swinging its claws, sharpening them, flicking its tail, and baring its teeth. After a few days, it became the one with the sharpest and most powerful claws among the three big fish. Its scales also began to fall off, but the new growth leaned towards fine, hard fur.

Only Jinzi did not lean towards any particular type of evolution.

It indeed developed more flexible eyes and a head, as well as longer and stronger limbs and a tail, even its scales began to fall off gradually.

In the jungle, they cooperated in hunting, striving to evolve and grow. Jinzi had no doubt that the three of them would become the most formidable kings of both water and land!

But for some reason, when it came time to choose a direction for evolution, the golden fish hesitated and could not make up its mind—

Huozi, with its hard scales and sharp claws, would be formidable.

Lezi, with its stronger and more agile limbs, huge body, and dense fur, could also dominate its territory.

But why, it always felt, this was not the ultimate direction.

There should be a form of life more formidable, more fearsome, and capable of standing at the pinnacle than these beasts.

But it did not know what it was.

So, it decided to just watch and wait for now.

Then, on their tenth day ashore, at night, a clap of thunder split the sky, and three agile big heads popped out from under the tree. The three big fish witnessed for the first time the disaster on land and the heavenly fire falling from the sky.

"Chirp, chirp! Chirp chirp chirp chirp chirp!"

On that day, when the thunder brought down heavenly fire that burned through the entire forest, Huozi screamed out in unparalleled excitement and exhilaration from under the tree.

Yes, yes, yes, this is it! This is it! This burning flame, this fire falling from the sky is my name!!

Even the composed Jinzi and the carefree Lezi felt an immense shock in the face of this terrifying force of nature.

The instinct for survival made them tremble with fear, for every wildfire is a life-and-death flight for the forest.

Snap! Snap!

Both Lezi and Huozi received a slap on their heads, and Jinzi was just short of standing up in a fit of rage, pointing at their noses and scolding.

"Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!!" What are you dazing at? The fire's started, let's scoot! Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!!

So, snapping out of it, Lezi and Huozi quickly got a jolt of energy, aiming to slip away towards the river and the sea.

By this time, they had ventured deep into the jungle and hadn't been to the sea in a long while.

So, now they should run towards the nearest riverbank.

However, the wildfire spread from all directions, completely sealing off their escape route to the riverbank.

The wildfire forced them and all other creatures towards the only escape path.

This wildfire was the most dangerous battle for survival the three big fish had encountered since the seismic tsunami at the bottom of the sea.

It was also a contest between life and death.

Jinzi once again felt the terrifying heat pressing in from behind and inexplicably became enraged with fire, considering it the most fearsome entity in the world.

Whether in the sea or on land, high temperatures could kill them.

Its scales fell off due to excessive dryness, and Huozi and Lezi were not in much better condition.

They were all desperately crawling, and like them, other lives in the forest were frantically fleeing and scrambling.

When another agile deer leapt over its head, Jinzi suddenly felt its legs were too short.

And when a wild chicken in the forest screamed and flew a considerable distance with its wings flapping, Jinzi's dark eyes sparkled with a keen light.

It also felt the lack of a pair of wings on its back.

Exactly! Wings!

It had seen birds in the forest. Though not large, they could soar in the sky, fearless of all terrestrial disasters.

No matter how fierce the terrestrial predators were, how sharp their teeth or strong their limbs, they lacked wings and could not fly in the sky.

Amidst the flames, the golden creature, no longer resembling a fish, looked up towards the sky.

Even though the forest had become a sea of flames, the stars and the moon in the sky were still bright.

At this moment, Jinzi decided it wanted a pair of wings!

But all the birds it had seen had only two slender legs and required feathers all over their bodies.

Should it transform its forelimbs into wings?

Would that be the correct and most powerful direction for evolution?

Amidst the difficult escape, Jinzi was also making a tough decision in its mind.

Torn between the choice of wings or forelimbs.

However, it soon no longer struggled with this dilemma because, during this escape for life, it encountered a creature it had never seen before—

It was a group of large, hairy apes that looked somewhat savage and ferocious.

Jinzi had only occasionally seen their figures darting through the forest during hunts.

But none of the three big fish considered this group of apes to be very formidable; they lacked sufficiently sharp and ferocious claws, didn’t have hard armor, weren’t very large in size, and by all accounts, they were just an average link in the jungle’s chain of life.

They were not at the top of the food chain.

Nor were they at the bottom.

But this time seemed different—among that group of apes, a few especially strong ones with large heads were wrapped in thick leaves.

Those leaves seemed to shield them from the pain of the flames, and one of the apes even quickly slapped the flames on a smaller ape’s tail with leaves.

This was a method of instinctual survival, seemingly nothing special. Just as small animals instinctively roll on the ground when they catch fire.

But there was something different.

Jinzi fixed its gaze on the erect apes over there.

Until they finally reached a riverbank, all the animals crowded into the shallow waters, unable to breathe in the water.

However, those few robust erect apes searched and searched along the riverbank, found hollow reeds, broke them off, put them in their mouths, and jumped into the river.

At that moment, Jinzi's fish brain was filled with images of apes breaking reeds with their fingers and placing them in their mouths.

It felt this was an image it should remember and feel something profound about, no matter what.

Why were the apes the only ones daring to enter the water while other animals did not?

Because the apes found a way to breathe underwater.

And this method, it's not about the body, it's about, it's about... what?

Jinzi doesn't yet know what that is, but it's very clear to it that this must be the most, most, most important evolution to stand at the top of the food chain.

Hmm.

Think about the appearance of those apes.

Not too big, not too small, covered in hair, with somewhat large heads, sometimes walking erect, and their forelimbs capable of doing many things flexibly.

Thus, after this wildfire, Jinzi finally had a direction for growth it felt could put it at the pinnacle—wings were needed, erect walking, flexible hands, a somewhat larger head, and all over its body...

Well, never mind that.

Covered in black fur doesn't look very good, Jinzi thinks its golden scales are prettier and harder.

Just not very warm.

But for warmth, warmth, it seems it could wrap something around itself. Like those leaves that block flames, perhaps they could also block the cold wind?

So, the darkly crawling Jinzi began to darkly observe the group of erect large apes.

Watching how they beat their chests and stamp their feet, how they walk erect, how they flexibly use their fingers to dig holes, pluck leaves, pick fruit, and catch lice.

Then, Huozi, striving to make its scales harder, and Lezi, working to make its body more flexible and its limbs stronger and taller, noticed Jinzi's abnormal behavior.

This guy is actually trying to leave their agile crawling group, wanting to walk erect!

And always swinging its arms, exercising the almost gone fins on its arms, is it wanting to become a fish again?

How is this acceptable? This doesn't look normal at all!

The three big fish rarely gathered together, Huozi and Lezi began to express their opinions.

"Chirp chirp chirp! Roar!" What are you looking at those monkeys for? They're not strong at all! Jinzi, you can't learn from them.

"Meow." Right, they're trash. One day they'll all be eaten by me.

"Chirp chirp chirp roar!" And Jinzi, why choose to walk upright? Look at you, wobbling and needing to lean on trees. The most formidable predators should crawl fiercely!

"Meow." That's true too, but at least legs shouldn't be too short. Too short and you can't crawl fast.

Huozi gave Lezi a fierce look, implying that Lezi was insinuating it had short legs.

Lezi sharpened its claws, utterly indifferent to the little trash's provocation.

It would surely become the strongest one.

"Chirp chirp chirp chirp!!" Jinzi, are you even listening to me? What's so great about those erect monkeys? They're really just a bunch of little chickens; otherwise, I'd go and wipe them out in one fell swoop to show you today!

Huozi slammed its strong and hard scales against a tree.

The tree shook, dropping many leaves, fruits, and startled small animals.

It was indeed very powerful.

But Jinzi remained unmoved.

"Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh." Just wait until I've figured it out, then you, the fool, will understand.

That night, an extremely disgruntled Huozi roared off to battle the erect large apes.

Only to return in a humiliated defeat, whimpering.

The group of large apes stayed up in the trees, refusing to come down, and crazily threw stones and fruit at it, really beating it to a pulp.

"Chirp, roar, roar, roar!!" Damned bipedal monkeys! We are sworn enemies! I will eat them!

"Meow, meow, meow." That's hilarious, but you can't climb trees and can't catch up to them.

And it, Lezi, is nimble and can climb trees.

Huozi roared, Lezi mocked.

However, they both considered the large apes to be worthless.

Until the ninth day after the wildfire, their companion crawling alongside them could already walk upright smoothly, and had made the first spike-filled pit using sharp stones, killing two tigers that were chasing Huozi and Lezi.

The two fierce tigers that usually required a fierce fight to deal with were chilled to the bone the moment they fell into the trap, pierced by countless bamboo spikes, while Huozi and Lezi stood beside the large pit, dumbstruck for a long while before finally turning their heads to look at Jinzi beside the pit with a click, click, click.

Jinzi, who stood upright but had hardly any fur, declared, "I call this pit, wisdom."

Although not knowing what wisdom is.

But on this day, the three big fish realized that aside from their formidable bodies, there was another kind of evolution that must not fall behind, one that is invisible.