Over the next two days, a phenomenon of explosive energy growth swept through Du Xin's pocket world. Gray energy permeated the entire exterior of the world, showing signs of even condensing into a liquid state. Du Xin ventured inside once to take a look, but he lasted only two seconds amidst the sea of cockroaches before being forced to retreat.
On the third day, the System informed Du Xin that the energy collection was finally complete and the world was ready for an evolutionary upgrade; only then did Du Xin re-enter the pocket world.
"System: Evolve the World."
Putting aside his disgust at the cockroaches, Du Xin issued the command to the System.
Before his eyes, the gray energy swirling outside the world barrier surged madly inward. The pocket world, acting like a whirlpool in the ocean, ceaselessly devoured the energy and began to expand. The central planet grew larger; the grasslands stretched and fragmented as if the planet itself were undergoing a massive expansion; the atmosphere thickened; and even the sun appeared larger. These changes occurred in mere moments, yet the entire transformation process lasted a full two hours. Finally, with the energy fully consumed, the pocket world's spatial volume had expanded into a sphere with a diameter of 300,000 kilometers. The central planet had grown to a diameter of over 2,000 kilometers; the sun remained exactly half the size of the planet; and the oceans had transformed into true, vast seas.
Du Xin stared wide-eyed in astonishment. He had originally expected the world to merely double or triple in size—perhaps a modest expansion—but the actual result had far, far exceeded his wildest expectations.
"Sower of Life"—that was the most fitting title for Du Xin right now. The grasslands from the world's previous iteration—which had featured only a few scattered flowers—had long since blossomed to cover the entire landscape. Inspired by this, Du Xin had a sudden epiphany; he went out, purchased a vast assortment of flower and plant seeds, and even brought back numerous tree saplings. Now, he was diligently working away, playing the role of a dedicated gardener.
"This section is the apple orchard. Over here, we have pears... and oranges... and the rose garden."
After half a day of hard work—during which he managed to plant only a single sapling in each designated zone—Du Xin realized he was still far from completing even one-tenth of the entire project. "I'm absolutely exhausted! System, isn't there a simpler way to do this?"
"Responding to Host: The micro-world's initial evolution is complete. It is now capable of directed evolution. You need only visualize the desired evolutionary path in your mind, and the micro-world will evolve autonomously."
"Why didn't you tell me this earlier? Great—so all that work I just did was completely pointless."
"You never asked, Host. I assumed you were simply trying to get some physical exercise."
"System, I've long suspected that you never actually left. Are you just hiding out somewhere, waiting for a chance to mess with me?"
"The previous System has already self-destructed. I possess only rudimentary autonomous intelligence and am unable to comprehend your query."
"Fine, never mind."
Du Xin sighed.
"Right, set the current environment of Earth as the evolutionary target. Oh, and inject some energy into the Ant Queen—and find a praying mantis to inject as well."
Du Xin then began observing the Ant Queen and the mantis. Much to his disappointment, aside from growing slightly larger, gaining a marginally longer lifespan, and acquiring the ability to issue simple commands to their own kind, they showed absolutely no other changes.
Disheartened, Du Xin exited the micro-world.
It was still midday outside. Du Xin decided to head out for a meal; although he no longer felt the sensation of hunger after acquiring the System, he still considered himself a human being—or, to be honest, he was simply craving some food.
As he bent down to tie his shoes, a shoelace snapped... He finally managed to get his shoes on, but when he went to open the door, the doorknob came right off in his hand...
"Some 'premium renovation' this is! I'm going to file a complaint!"
In a fit of rage, Du Xin kicked the door—and the door... went flying off its hinges.
"System... what's happening to me?"
Du Xin asked, sounding a bit panicked.
"Host, during the micro-world's recent evolution, a portion of the energy was fed back into your physical body. You have undergone an evolutionary transformation."
"Evolution?!"
Du Xin's immediate thought was that he might suddenly sprout a second head, turn blue, or have claws burst out of his fingertips.
He sprinted—moving with incredible speed—over to the mirror. Staring at his reflection, Du Xin realized that he hadn't grown any grotesque appendages after all; on the contrary, he had actually become even more handsome.
Du Xin wasn't just being narcissistic; he really *had* become better-looking. The excess fat—weighing in at over 190 pounds—had vanished, replaced by a symmetrical set of six-pack abs. His physique was now perfectly balanced—neither too bulky nor too lean. The chronic acne that had plagued his face for years was gone, and his newly chiseled features gave him a radiant, "sunny" handsomeness. His height, previously hovering around 1.7 meters, had officially crossed the 1.8-meter mark.
"Holy crap! The Heavens truly haven't forsaken me! After all these years, I—Du Qianjin—have finally transformed into 'Hottie Du'! System, I love you!"
"Host, please maintain some self-respect."
Du Xin's face went dark with exasperation; the perfect mood he'd been enjoying had been utterly shattered.
He lost his appetite and decided to head out for a spin. Although he didn't know how to drive a car, Du Xin *did* know how to ride a motorcycle. He'd once thought that riding a bike made a person look cool; later, he realized that it was the *rider* who had to be cool. But now? He had the "hardware"—all he needed was the "software."
He spent just under ten thousand—a relative pittance—to buy a motorcycle that *looked* incredibly cool, though it was actually quite cheap. Pairing it with a flashy leather outfit, Du Xin headed out for a wild joyride. Along the way, he discovered that his eyesight had improved and his reaction times were sharper than ever. He pushed the bike to the city's legal speed limit—80 km/h—only to realize that absolutely no one was paying him any attention. Feeling a bit sheepish, Du Xin headed back home. It was already evening. Du Xin decided to wait a little longer before entering his "Small World," wanting to let the world evolve on its own for a while longer. Bored, he flipped through the TV channels until he landed on a gaming channel. The players on screen were playing a block-based sandbox game; they looked like creators themselves, furiously terraforming and reshaping their virtual world.
"Haha! *I'm* the real creator of a world—a *real* world! Except my world isn't made of blocks... or is it? Blocks?! Holy crap—who says a world *has* to be round?"
With that, Du Xin didn't even bother turning off the TV before diving back into his Small World.
Only half a day had passed in the outside world, but the Small World had already undergone a radical transformation. It was now a primordial jungle teeming with life: tigers, leopards, wildcats, snakes, insects, rodents—animals of every description. The ocean, too, had evolved to the point where even blue whales now roamed its depths.
Yet, two distinct kingdoms had clearly emerged within this world. On one side of the ocean lay the "Ant Kingdom"—a realm where a single Queen Ant held absolute control over every ant in existence. On the other side of the ocean lay the territory of the Mantises, who reigned supreme over all the shelled insects and crustaceans. War raged between the two nations; the Ant Queen and the Mantis had both grown to half the height of a human, and had even developed rudimentary intelligence.
"What is this—did they take a 'smart pill'? Is the energy that potent? Holy crap! I've struck it rich! System, how much time has passed inside?"
"Host, thirty thousand years have elapsed within the pocket world."
"Why so long?"
"As the world evolved, the acceleration of time intensified."
Thus began another bewildered exchange between the human and the system.
"Fine, never mind that. Let's reshape the world first. System, flatten the planet—no, I mean... you know..."
"Host, I am not voice-activated; simply visualizing the desired changes in your mind is sufficient to complete the transformation."
...
Flustered, Du Xin offered no reply; instead, he buried himself in the task of tinkering with his world.
The planet slowly stretched outward in both directions. The ocean shifted from the world's center to its periphery; the expanding landmass did not fragment the world, but rather saw new terrain continuously emerging around the existing continents. Finally, the transformation was complete.
A new world emerged. What lay before the eyes was a disc-shaped planet spanning a diameter of thirty thousand kilometers—a solid landmass at its core, encircled by a ring-shaped ocean. The Ant Kingdom and the Mantis Kingdom were situated on opposite sides of the planet, while the sun continued to orbit around it.