Chapter 433 - 430: Joyful One

Chapter 433: Chapter 430: Joyful One

As the sea cooled, geological activity slowed, and the atmospheric circulation stabilized. This world began to burst with vibrant life.

Complex and diverse species appeared in the ocean, and the once-simple lifeforms evolved into different branches.

Some creatures began to climb onto the land, escaping the control of the giant cell.

At first, the giant cell paid them no mind. It was still playing games with the creatures in the sea.

But gradually, the land-dwelling creatures began to display astonishing potential.

Their intelligence grew, and they developed brilliant civilizations.

The giant cell watched these creatures and desperately wanted to play games with them, but the land dwellers were too far from the coast. It couldn’t reach the center of the continent to find the things it deemed "interesting."

So, it made a decisive choice—to abandon its original body.

It gathered all its power within that giant cell, flew out from the surface of the sea, and rushed toward the land.

In an instant, the sea lost its god. Or rather, its god had abandoned it.

From that day on, the sea died, becoming a perfectly ordinary puddle.

"The Joyful One abandoned its divine Authority and instead pursued pleasure. From that moment on, it was no longer a god."

The vast voice carried Mo Ling high into the air, overlooking the vibrant sea. But Mo Ling knew this sea no longer had a god.

"The Joyful One never fulfilled its divine duties. Lost in hedonism, it only ever used its power for games. It was like that from beginning to end."

"But... why could an irresponsible god create such a beautiful world?"

The voice held Mo Ling aloft, where he felt the sea breeze and gazed upon the glittering sea.

"Perhaps life never needed a god to begin with?"

It posed two questions to Mo Ling, one after the other. It seemed to be asking him, yet it also seemed to already know the answers.

"I don’t know."

The Joyful One had completely ignored the world’s inhabitants, letting them fend for themselves, yet life had found its own way.

It was even more irresponsible than the Slothful One, yet its world was able to thrive.

Mo Ling didn’t know if this was the right way or not.

"Perhaps a god is something that’s optional, after all," Mo Ling sighed, speaking to the voice.

The voice didn’t respond, instead yanking him back into the original puddle.

His two companions were gone. Mo Ling was all alone again.

As time passed, the civilizations on his body began to flourish once more.

The number of his people grew and grew, and the clamor of their prayers became noisy once again.

And so, a choice was once again placed before Mo Ling:

"Will you choose to be like the Slothful One, continuing to grant wishes and divide yourself... or will you be like the Joyful One and abandon them all?" the voice demanded of Mo Ling.

The terrible consequences of his previous division were still fresh in his mind. For a moment, Mo Ling didn’t know how to answer. But the voice was in no hurry; it simply waited in silence.

’If I keep dividing, this sea will soon dry up like the Slothful One’s world. If I abandon them, maybe this sea will develop even better... but of course, it could also plunge into the abyss.’

’Should I choose to drag out a meager existence, or take a massive gamble?’ The choice left Mo Ling deeply conflicted.

He wanted to be like the Joyful One and just abandon it all, but his sense of divine responsibility held him back.

"Can I... compromise?" Mo Ling asked the voice after thinking for a long time.

"Compromise... Yes, you can."

"I could set a boundary and concentrate my power there. I’ll let the people who want to make wishes come within that boundary to pray, and I’ll ignore everything outside it. That way, I’ll have enough energy to respond to their prayers," Mo Ling stammered out his idea.

"Very good. But what if too many people come to make wishes within this boundary? The clamor of prayers will still be noisy. And as civilizations develop, their wishes will become more and more abstract and difficult to grant. What will you do then?"

Mo Ling thought for a moment before answering, "I’ll just divide myself within that boundary and have all my companions gather together to handle the wishes. That way, I can delegate the work without causing the world to dry up."

"Not bad. But how will you guarantee that the companions you split off won’t produce individuals like the Slothful One or the Joyful One?" the voice pressed.

This question greatly troubled Mo Ling. He thought for a long time but couldn’t come up with a good solution.

Just then, he had a flash of inspiration:

"I’ll set each companion’s energy to a minimum, and their intelligence will be suppressed to a very low level. Then I’ll just train them to handle simple wish-granting tasks."

"They won’t need to communicate with language or have any thoughts of their own. They’ll just need to know how to process wishes, just like..."

"...a machine."

A familiar word suddenly escaped Mo Ling’s lips.

The word seemed to shatter his train of thought, making him remember something.

"A machine?"

Mo Ling froze. He suddenly realized he wasn’t a god at all. He had just accidentally fallen into that bubble-like void and participated in a "game of gods."

"Who are you?"

The moment his thoughts cleared, Mo Ling asked the voice this question.

Immediately after, he heard a soft, resigned chuckle.

The voice suddenly pulled his consciousness to a rock by the side of the puddle.

Only then did Mo Ling realize that he had been sitting on this rock the whole time, talking with a figure beside him.

He couldn’t make out the figure’s appearance at all. It was just hugging its knees, sitting forlornly on the rock and staring down at the small puddle below.

"The simulation is over," said the figure, who was wreathed in golden light.

It stretched out a hand and pointed at the puddle.

"The choice you made... it’s the same as mine..."

Mo Ling stared blankly at the figure, then looked at the small puddle on the ground.

"You’re... God?"

"Mm," the figure nodded, answering calmly.

"To think someone would make the exact same choice as me. This is the first time I’ve ever seen it," God remarked, sounding somewhat emotional.

It was then that Mo Ling remembered. His final choice seemed to correspond with everything that had happened in the Sea of Creation.

"A designated prayer zone... a group of kin who are like machines..."

This was the current state of the Sea of Creation.

And the one before him was the true God.

Looking at the shimmering golden figure, Mo Ling felt a mix of complicated emotions. After personally experiencing everything a god goes through, he no longer thought possessing Authority was something to be happy about.

Authority also brought with it endless responsibility. God, too, was trapped by choices, unable to break free, left with only the most helpless of solutions.

Having gone through the simulation and faced the same choices, Mo Ling felt a trace of pity rise in his heart for the god now sitting on the rock.

"You feel like no matter what you do, it’s the wrong choice, don’t you?"

God gazed at the puddle and spoke, a hint of loneliness in his voice.