Bearing the blue sky

Chapter 119 Patience and Foolishness

The third simulated earth cicada spent 580 years underground!

Even Zhu Ge didn't know whether the earth cicada could stay underground for a longer period of time.

Not to mention the beings behind that terrified the Earth Cicada.

For example, the animal that can eat an entire oak tree in one bite sounds like a monster.

"Then—let's begin the second simulation!"

You are a cicada egg, just hatched from the soil. What is your choice?

First, draw nutrients from the roots of the trees nearby.

Second, find a more suitable location.

Looking at the choices that appeared in front of her, Zhu Ge chose the first option again without hesitation.

Having learned from his previous experience, he understood the logic of this simulation.

That is, in the early stages of larval development, they should acquire nutrients and complete their development as quickly as possible!

This is the safest option.

While finding a location may lead to better resources, it also means exposure and risk.

You absorbed the sweet and juicy nutrients from the tree roots, your body developed, and you became an ordinary cicada larva.

[It starts raining, and you feel the rich moisture in the soil. What is your choice?]

First, drink to your heart's content.

Second, burrow deeper underground.

Third, remain unchanged.

Fourth, burrowing into the ground.

rainwater?!

Why is it raining again?

Zhu Ge had some doubts that this rain was not naturally generated.

This gave Zhu Ge new insights.

Last time, he chose to burrow deep underground, successfully avoiding the risk of suffocation from rainwater and gaining the "secret" trait.

But is this choice really the optimal solution?

He recalled that most of his brothers and sisters who chose to "drink water on the spot" in previous simulations suffocated to death.

But that was the situation in the first simulation; this is the second simulation.

Although they are both earth cicadas, the simulated trajectory may deviate slightly due to his choices.

"Drilling underground is indeed safer," Zhu Ge muttered to himself, "but—"

He suddenly thought of a question!

Is the earth cicada's ability to lie dormant underground for 580 years really just due to its own life cycle?

Or is it that choosing to drill deeper led to such a long underground life?

What if we choose to go up?

No, going up there will only lead to death.

All the brothers and sisters that broke through the soil were preyed upon by their natural enemies.

What if we choose to keep it unchanged?

Zhu Ge stared at the third option, lost in thought.

Staying unchanged means remaining in the same place. Rain can indeed cause oxygen depletion, but if the rainfall is not heavy or the soil structure is loose enough, oxygen may not be completely cut off.

Moreover, staying in place means not expending physical energy and not being exposed to unknown risks.

"Choose three."

Zhu Ge made a decision.

You remain still, quietly feeling the rain seep into the soil.

The rain wasn't heavy; fine droplets seeped slowly down the soil, creating a moist environment around you.

You are not feeling suffocated; you still have plenty of oxygen.

Some of your brothers and sisters burrowed down, some climbed up, and some drank their fill of water.

You are safe and sound.

After the rain stopped, you continued to absorb nutrients from the tree roots, and your body gradually grew stronger.

[Thus, one acquires the traits: patience and foolishness]

endure?

stupid?

Zhu Ge breathed a sigh of relief.

The new choice indeed brought new gains!

This also proves that the same choices in each simulation can lead to different results.

There is a high probability that the simulator is simulating some real-world creatures.

However, those things have nothing to do with Zhu Ge now.

He continued to wait for the simulator to change.

You quietly draw sustenance in the darkness, day after day, year after year.

You cannot perceive the passage of time; you can only roughly judge the changing seasons by the abundance or scarcity of nutrients in the tree roots.

In the 117th year, a drought swept across this land.

The soil cracks, the tree roots wither, and your body begins to shrink.

What is your choice?

First, continue to be patient and wait for the rain.

Second, search for water sources deeper into the area.

Third, it breaks through the soil and searches for new trees.

coming!

New changes!

One hundred and seventeen years.

Zhu Ge took a deep breath.

Although I was mentally prepared, I still felt a chill when I saw the number.

Underground, there was no light, no sound, no change; it simply waited quietly for a full 117 years.

Perhaps—is this what "existence" is?

It is simply living, simply existing, without any meaning, without any purpose, existing merely for the sake of existence itself.

You continue to live underground.

In the two hundredth year, the roots around you suddenly became incredibly thick. You clung to the roots of this giant tree, drawing nourishment from it, without understanding why.

[A hundred years later, you find that your body is also getting bigger. What was originally the size of a grain of rice has now grown to the thickness of a thumb.]

Your outer shell has hardened, taking on a deep amber color; this is a change brought about by the transformation of the tree roots.

[In its fifth hundred years, the giant tree began to age.]

You can feel the nutrients in the tree roots decreasing; this ancient tree, which has lived for over a thousand years, is approaching the end of its life.

What is your choice?

[One option is to continue clinging to the tree, decaying along with it.]

Second, sever ties with the tree and find new root systems.

[Third, emerging from the ground, ending this long underground life]

Zhu Ge took a deep breath.

The cicada underwent a transformation due to the changes it experienced from feeding on trees.

This was yet another unexpected change.

Existence—Zhu Ge pondered the theme of this time, and its correspondence with the three choices.

Choose one, and perish along with the tree.

This means death, but perhaps one can gain some kind of quality related to "symbiosis" or "termination".

Option two: Find new root systems.

This means that continuing to live underground might allow one to live longer, but it could also lead to death along the way.

Based on past experience, moving around will make you die faster.

Choose three, and it will break through the soil.

This means ending the darkness and welcoming the light, but it also means facing an unknown enemy above ground.

After much deliberation, Zhu Ge chose option two.

After all, in the last simulation, the earth cicada existed for 580 years before it broke through the soil.

It's only been 500 years, perhaps it's not the right time yet.

You sever your connection with the old tree and begin to move slowly through the soil.

This is a long journey.

Without light, without direction, you can only move forward little by little by relying on your sense of moisture.

You traverse layers of hard soil, bypass obstacles of rocks, and occasionally encounter other underground creatures—wriggling earthworms, sleeping beetle larvae.

You and they don't bother each other; you simply pass by.

In the tenth year, you finally sensed a new root system.

It was a young oak tree, with a well-developed root system and abundant sap.

You attach yourself to it, continue your underground life, and gain the trait: Migration.