After an extensive search, Ethan finally selected the most promising species for his experiment: a beetle-like creature with a vertebrate skeletal structure and joints armored in black chitin.
"It's tough and agile, with the strengths of both invertebrates and vertebrates," he muttered, pleased. "And best of all, its head is armored—no hair to deal with. Lucky you! You get to be the Homo sapiens overlord of the next few epochs."
With metal tongs, Ethan carefully lifted the beetle and placed it in a clear test tube. Next, he prepared a new test field, scattering food across a one-square-meter area to provide for the species. Then, he accelerated its cell division speed by 10,000 times.
Within seconds, the beetles multiplied, their numbers quickly surpassing one hundred thousand.
Ethan set down a row of transparent test tubes. "Here we go—line up! Three hundred per test tube!"
Under the influence of the Hive Mind, the beetles obediently formed a line and entered the test tubes one by one. Ethan then labeled each test tube, diluted some monkey blood, and added a drop to each tube. Using the Hive Mind, he instructed the beetles to pierce themselves, mixing their body fluids with the monkey blood. The acute hemolytic reaction that followed wiped out most of them instantly.
Survival of the fittest.
Two days of testing and countless batches later, with tens of millions of casualties, a few test tubes—#1042, #2041, and #2415—showed promising signs. The beetles in these tubes had accepted the blood transfusion, though it was still uncertain if they'd fully integrated the new genes. There was also the possibility these were one-off mutations.
Among these, Ethan selected the most successful specimen from test tube #2041. This ant-sized creature, resembling an ape covered in black armor, had abundant hair and was now his strongest candidate. He named it the "Bugape." Unfortunately, the creature also had a full head of thick hair, which clashed with his vision of a hairless species.
Trapped in the test tube, the great ape-like creature pounded against the glass, producing a strange, incoherent cry. Ethan leaned closer, listening as the syllables slowly took shape.
"Ba-di... Bal-di?"
"Baldy! Baldy!"
Ethan was dumbfounded. "I wanted you to be bald, and instead, you grow a thick mane and dare to call me baldy?"
He was thoroughly annoyed. "My thinning hair is just a temporary side effect of chemo. Give me a month off chemo, and it'll grow back!"
He took a deep breath, resisting the urge to crush the audacious creature. "I can't accept this. Death before disgrace! I must be the only Creator in the world to be mocked by his own creation as a baldy."
"A newborn creature, yet you have the nerve to mock the one who gave you life? Treacherous heretic!"
But as frustrated as he was, Ethan knew this Bugape was his only successful test subject. Sighing, he made a mental note to deal with it later. "This insult… I'll settle it another day."
With that, Ethan returned the Bugape to the test field, where it could reproduce. He sped up its cell division by 10,000 times.
The original Bugape expired soon after with a defiant cry of "Baldy!" But in minutes, its descendants filled the sandbox, multiplying into tens of thousands. The small Bugapes scurried about, and upon seeing Ethan looming above, they collectively shrieked, "Baldy! Baldy! Baldy!"
Ethan's irritation grew. Though he'd successfully integrated the monkey genes, he was now determined to add termite genes next. "This insolent species must be exterminated," he muttered.
Despite repeated attempts—over seventy rounds, in fact—the termite genes proved impossible to assimilate. He silenced the cries of "Baldy!" from countless Bugapes, yet never succeeded in merging the termite genes.
"Is the genetic mix too chaotic, or are the termite genes incompatible with the monkey DNA?" He paused, deep in thought, searching through the Hive Mind's memories for answers.
Finally, he found a clue. "The species is too primitive to support multiple genes simultaneously," he realized.
Accepting this, Ethan allowed the Bugapes to reproduce freely, hoping they would eventually gain sentience and create a civilization. But after countless generations, the Bugapes still showed no sign of intelligence. They continued to chant "Baldy!" mindlessly.
Reflecting on the situation, Ethan realized his mistake. "Of course! With cell division accelerated by 10,000 times, they barely live for a dozen seconds. There's no time to develop thought, let alone civilization."
He considered setting the time scale back to normal but knew that would take too long. "It took humans thousands of years to develop civilization. There has to be another way."
Searching through the Hive Mind's database, he found the answer: by reducing cell division to 100 times, the Bugapes' brains would withstand the acceleration without losing intelligence. At this pace, their thought processes would also accelerate, giving the illusion of time moving faster.
He set the cell division rate to 100, and the Bugapes instantly became more agile, their movements leaving afterimages. The sandbox seemed to transform into a world of accelerated time. Each Bugape cell was burning energy at an incredible rate, like ninjas opening the Eight Gates.
"The Tyranis' racial abilities are terrifying," Ethan marveled. "With 10,000 units, they lost the ability to think but evolved rapidly. At 100 units, evolution slows, but they gain sentient thought and heightened reaction speed."
Out of curiosity, he asked the Hive Mind, "Can I apply this acceleration to myself?"
The Hive Mind responded mechanically, "No, this is unique to the Tyranis. Only by implanting Tyranis cells could you achieve it. Accelerated cell division would burn your life force, multiplying your speed by 100. Your thoughts would also speed up, making the world appear slower."
"Just like opening the Gate of Death in Naruto…" Ethan mused. Then he shook his head, realizing, "If I accelerate by 100 units, my cancer cells would speed up too, and I'd reach the terminal stage in no time."
Setting that aside, he returned his attention to the Bugapes. They were the first sentient species born from the Mother Hive under his rule as Tyranis overlord. He couldn't help but wonder how far they would go.
Days passed, and Ethan continued experimenting with the Bugapes. Meanwhile, in another part of the sandbox, he maintained the 10,000-unit acceleration, watching as powerful species began to emerge. Towering trees reached the skies, and massive dinosaur-like creatures roamed, the largest of which resembled a crustacean with a black, disc-like shell. It had grown to the maximum size Ethan allowed, as large as a cat.
For the tiny Bugapes, these behemoths were as terrifying as a T. rex would have been to ancient humans.
"I wonder how they'll survive?" Ethan pondered, slowing the cell division speed of the entire sandbox to match the Bugapes' pace, setting it to 100 units. He hoped that other species might also evolve and develop sentience.
The Bugapes were the result of his impatience, his interference in the sandbox's natural evolutionary history. But now, they had a fighting chance.
"The experiment is complete. Time to give the Bugapes a place in the sandbox," Ethan said, pulling on his blue plastic boots. Holding a transparent test tube containing three hundred Bugapes, he strode across the miniature landscape, trampling over lush forests.
Tiny trees fell, and countless creatures scurried away in panic.
"Here, this will do," he said, releasing the Bugapes into a large, tree-filled canyon in the southern part of the sandbox.
This was a species he had high hopes for—warriors who dared to mock their Creator as "Baldy!" Now, he'd watch to see if they'd develop tools, create a civilization, and fight off the monstrous beasts.
Hopefully, they wouldn't be eliminated by natural selection.