No strange things are allowed to evolve!

This shouldn't actually be called a good ending and a bad ending; it should be called a bad ending and an even worse ending.

Fortunately, he achieved the hidden ending; otherwise, he would have found it unacceptable regardless of which ending he chose.

But amidst the astonishment, this also prompted Jiang Shu to ponder deeply.

In his view, this incubator was actually very similar to [Lies Town].

It's all a process of seeking change.

The ultimate goal of all the evolved beings who come to this incubator is to change the world, but the results of different choices may be very different.

The more challenging the incubator, the more pronounced this feeling becomes, and the more ambiguous the ultimate goal becomes. Conversely, the less challenging the incubator, the clearer the requirements and the less uncertainty there is.

For example, simple incubators like [Creative Workshop] and [Insurance Continent] tell you directly what to do. But [Lies Town] and [Desert Lone Smoke], which may not be as difficult as Cataclysmic difficulty, are already showing signs of being more challenging.

However, Jiang Shu was a little puzzled by how exactly is perfection defined?

He always felt that different perspectives lead to different definitions of perfection.

For example, these two endings are both acceptable to both the survivors and the desert creatures. For the survivors who have never seen the light and have been struggling to survive in the oasis since birth, it can indeed be considered a good ending.

On the other hand, a bad ending would clearly benefit desert life. The extinction of humans would be equivalent to the rise of desert life. This would be their epic, their first year, and for them, it would be a perfect ending.

However, the current situation is that the hidden ending achieved by Jiang Shu has been judged as a perfect ending.

If we judge based on the experience gained from [Liestown], and consider that the Hatchery can correct deviations in development, does this indicate that the Hatchery itself is biased towards the most primitive world with no desert and only humans?

The so-called good ending is just the best choice under duress, a compromise. True perfection is to remove all the influence brought by the boundless sand from this world.

This is what Jiang Shu vaguely sensed from it.

Therefore, Jiang Shu had a conjecture.

Boundless Sand...could it be an invasive species?

It was not born in this world, but merely came into this world, and then this world wanted to correct it, or try to maintain the balance of the world as much as possible without removing it, and try to ensure that the world would not collapse because of it.

As he pondered, Jiang Shu looked at the stone figure, which was gradually shrinking and about to disappear—

The desert disappeared, and its life came to an end.

But it did not show sadness or despair; it calmly accepted everything.

"Aren't you surprised at all that I was able to do this?" Jiang Shu asked.

“I was supposed to be immortal, but since I am now heading towards my demise, it means that this is inevitable and must be God’s arrangement. God no longer needs me to give birth to the savior, because you can really take the place of the savior.”

It replied:

"However, I am indeed somewhat surprised that you actually didn't lie to me."

Since you haven't been corrupted by the bloodline of the gods, that means you've also been guided by the gods, right?

"So..." Jiang Shu asked meaningfully, "Have you really seen a god?"

“No.” The stone man shook his head. “But I can feel that He is always by my side, and I can feel what He wants me to do. Therefore, I don’t need to see Him. I just need to do what He says, and everything will be arranged in the best way.”

"I've never seen this before..."

Jiang Shu nodded with some disappointment.

It seems I won't be able to verify my hypothesis.

At this moment, the stone man began his final farewell to this world:

"I was born because of the desert and I will die because of the desert. My mission is complete. I have no regrets now. May the gods always be with all living beings."

After saying this, the stone man, along with the last of the yellow sand, completely disappeared.

After the stone man disappeared, the cavity that had been used to incubate the giant egg was fully revealed.

"Ok?"

Jiang Shu noticed something.

The white silk fibers, no longer obscured by the sand layer, can now be seen in their entirety.

Standing on the rocks along the coastline and looking down, Jiang Shu felt that these wisps did not seem to grow randomly and wildly; they were arranged in an orderly manner, like some kind of symbols.

From this perspective, the deep pit where the cavity is located looks very much like an altar.

However, it only looks like it, and Jiang Shu doesn't really understand it, so he can't be sure.

Moreover, these silk threads had been damaged many times before, and many parts were no longer the same as they were originally, making it difficult to verify anything.

"It seems this will remain a mystery."

Jiang Shu thought about it, noted down the general shape of the pattern formed by the silk threads, and then decided to simply erase all traces.

He reached out and grabbed at the air, and a giant hand made of yellow sand emerged from the ground, firmly grasping the silk threads.

With a gentle tug, the silk threads, along with the fragments of the eggshell they were attached to, were pulled out from the ground like a plug.

next moment.

A deafening roar came from underground.

A huge column of water shot into the sky.

Water splashed onto Jiang Shu's body. He tasted it and found it bitter and astringent.

"Is it seawater?"

Jiang Shu suddenly realized.

No wonder when I first came here, even though there was no water on the seabed, I could still smell the salty, fishy smell of the sea. It turns out that the seawater was always there, just deep underground.

Did the desert disappear, and therefore the water reappear?

This was Jiang Shu's first reaction, but he quickly shook his head.

Energy is conserved everywhere. If water and sand can transform into each other, then when desertification occurs in reverse, the world will become a water world.

But now the seawater is gushing out from underground, which means that it was not water that turned into sand in the first place, but rather the seawater was sucked in and sealed underground.

Furthermore, there is another piece of evidence: Jiang Shu has now acquired the complete Boundless Sand and mastered all the power of the desert, yet his skill bar does not have the option to convert water into sand.

What's going on...?

Jiang Shu stared at the increasingly large hole that had once held the giant egg, which was now spewing water outwards.

Could it really be an altar, and the offering is water?

Shaking his head, Jiang Shu felt that there was probably no way to find the answer.

He planned to go back and reunite with his companions first, and then find a way to purify the desert life forms, which were the true remnants of the previous dynasty, before he could leave the hatchery.

But just as he was searching for the beacon, intending to teleport to his companions, a voice came from behind.

"You're leaving? What am I supposed to do then?"

Jiang Shu was taken aback and subconsciously turned around, where he saw the Sand Demon sitting obediently on the ground, hugging his legs.

"Uh..." Jiang Shu scratched his head, looked at him, then at his bare shoulders: "Why did you go outside?"

The Sand Demon, now resembling a normal human, looked bewildered: "I don't know either. Right after you destroyed the Sand God, I was pushed out and lost my powers. Now it seems... I'm a noble human again."

Jiang Shu rubbed his chin.

It seems that not only has the desert been reversed, eliminating the power of the desert from the world, but even beings that had become desert life forms have been successfully reversed into humans.

This saves the trouble of slowly purifying it.

The Heart of the Great Wilderness is still too authoritative.

but...

"Noble humans, huh..." Jiang Shu rolled her eyes at him. "Aren't the newborns the only higher life forms?"

"That was just a change we had to make to survive." The Sand Demon's eyes darted away. "Sigh, there's no other way. The desert turns people into ghosts. If we could be human, who wouldn't want to be an upright person?"

"Looks like you've turned into a clear-headed research team member again," Jiang Shu joked.

Jiang Shu could now clearly sense that the Sand Demon was different from before; not only had its species changed, but its mindset was also different.

Perhaps it's because he was corrupted by the boundless sand before, just not as thoroughly as the Sand God, but what they had in common was that he was driven by his obsession for a long time.

The Sand Demon's obsession is probably to ensure that everyone can survive in the new world, whether they become higher-level new life forms in his eyes or not, even if the methods are somewhat extreme.

"Speaking of the expedition team... my companions," the Sand Demon asked cautiously.

He hoped that Jiang Shu could also save them.

But Jiang Shu shook his head: "They probably can't do anything. Just like I thought at the beginning, the mutants probably can't restart. They can only disappear along with the desert. They weren't ejected from your body like you were, were they?"

"Is that so...?" Although the Sand Demon had expected it, he was still somewhat saddened to receive a definite answer.

After a moment of silence.

"Are you going back to the oasis?" he asked Jiang Shu.

"Probably." Jiang Shu nodded. "Aren't you planning to go back? There are probably many people like you now, and they will probably all band together and go back. Nobody will know who you are."

"I'm not going back."

The Sand Demon shook his head:

“There’s no one I know in this world anymore. Now the world is in ruins and needs rebuilding. I want to stay out here, cultivate these wastelands, and create new oases.”

After becoming human again, I no longer accept my previous beliefs, so now I always want to do something to make up for what I did in the past.

“I understand…” Jiang Shu nodded.

"Then," the Sand Demon stood up and solemnly said to Jiang Shu, "Take care, you who keep your promises. We'll meet again someday."

"Okay, see you again sometime."

Chapter 180 Reward Settlement

Jiang Shu returned to the Zodiac Train.

Using the beacon, he teleported to his companions' side in a flash.

However, he didn't meet up with his companions right away. Instead, he went to the canteen first, mainly to replenish his water supply, because he had just tasted the salty seawater that gushed out from underground. Anyone who has drunk seawater knows how terrible that tastes.

Most importantly, because of its high salt content, drinking seawater requires the body to consume more water to excrete the excess salt, which can cause dizziness, weakness, or even dehydration in severe cases. Fortunately, Jiang Shu didn't drink much, so he was only a little thirsty.

He originally planned to eat and drink his fill before leaving with his companions, but he didn't expect that he had only replenished half of his water and hadn't even had time to eat some soft and fragrant bread to absorb the excess water when his companions, along with the doctor and the falcon, rushed over upon hearing the news.

It turned out that there were guards who had just returned from the Baiyun City operation having lunch in the canteen. Jiang Shu did not recognize them, but they recognized him. So he quickly went to report to Falcon, who then brought everyone over.

Jiang Shu, his mouth bulging, had just raised his head when Xue Wang immediately sat down opposite him, tightly holding his hand as he reached for his water glass: "It's so good that you're safe and sound."

Jiang Shu didn't say much, just nodded, and reached out his other hand to take the water glass, but Xue Wang freed one hand and grabbed it tightly.

"Don't you have anything to say?"

"I... vomit!" Jiang Shu had just opened her mouth when she vomited.

Snow King neither dodged nor avoided the bread crumbs, letting them spray all over him.

"Is your first reaction to seeing me to throw up...?" she asked without changing her expression, her voice tinged with gloom.

But Jiang Shu didn't have time to explain anything: "Water...give me water..."

"Oh, so you choked." Xue Wang's mood brightened, and she quickly handed over a water glass, getting up to help Jiang Shu catch his breath from behind.

"Why don't you just give him the Heimlich maneuver?" Huang Helou shook his head.

Once Jiang Shu had caught his breath, he casually asked, "Was it smooth?"

"It's alright." Jiang Shu nodded.

"Thank you for your hard work. I'm sorry I wasn't of much help."

"Small things."

Men don't need many words.

Jiang Shu then looked at Wang Tiezhu: "Do you have anything to say?"

Wang Tiezhu was taken aback, but then he saw that Xue Wang and Huang Helou were also looking over.

She suddenly became nervous.

This step... wasn't discussed beforehand...

Caught off guard and unaccustomed to such serious and formal occasions, she blurted out in a flash, "Then I wish you eternal life."