Famine 176: Ant Blind Box

What was he saying?

Si Zhiyan struggled to focus, but he couldn’t make out a word. All he could see was a wash of crimson. Bian Xu’s voice grew fainter and fainter, until it disappeared entirely from his ears.

“…I…”

Hazy words drifted past his ear.

Their connection still wasn’t enough. That vague, indistinct barrier continued to block Si Zhiyan’s consciousness.

…………
……

The vision ended.

Si Zhiyan opened his eyes; the sky was on the cusp of dawn. After a full night of restful sleep, he sank into the softness of the bed. Beside him, there was a weighty, gentle warmth—slow, steady breathing.

Bian Xu lay beside him, still clothed.

They were so close, his sleep posture less restrained than usual, one arm wrapped tightly around Si Zhiyan’s waist as if holding the dearest treasure of his life.

…So close.

Si Zhiyan let out a soft breath, turned his head slightly, his eyes tinted with a faint flush as he glanced at Bian Xu sleeping.

No blood, none of that rainy night. The young man’s features had matured, delicate and clear, his golden hair sprawled across the pristine pillow, half his face rising and falling gently.

It was obvious he had cried again during their meal last night; the dry traces on his lashes were still there. Yet he smiled in his sleep, lashes trembling ever so slightly, as if lost in a beautiful dream.
…Or perhaps, being here, together with him, in this moment was already his greatest dream.

That day—what was it you said?
Were you all right at the time? Did we go through something together, something momentous in the span we shared?

Bian Xu breathed evenly, his chest rising and falling slowly.

Si Zhiyan stared at his soft, slightly parted lips, remembering again that flutter of emotion from yesterday—the quickening of his own heart.

For a moment, he wanted to move closer, but in the end, his lashes just trembled and he did nothing.

…Forget it.
He didn’t want to startle him.

Si Zhiyan silently closed his eyes, waiting for the heat on his cheeks to fade.

No need to rush—there would be time… He would see it all, eventually.
After all, they now had so much time ahead of them.

Head to head, the two of them together, weathering the long, cold night.

……

The next day, as agreed, Si Zhiyan moved the farm’s eastern teleporter to the western side, placing it at the border between the Abyss and the lava quarry to facilitate the transport of gems.

The farm’s players, despite all the times Si Zhiyan had astonished them, were still shocked anew at the sight.

“The legendary Hephaestus Castle? The ever-elusive, secretive castle of the god of craftsmen?”
“Just like that, we’re establishing relations on the farm? Is this for real?”
“We only went away to take shelter for a day, and the farm owner brought back a mysterious legendary castle?!”

The onlookers gathered, bustling with curiosity, while Naya, the brown-haired maid, stood at the portal entrance—poised and warmly smiling, bowing graciously to all.
She was the gatekeeper of Hephaestus Castle. The castle itself wasn’t open to the public, but those with blacksmithing or trade needs could make requests through Miss Naya.

Liang Qingshuang was somewhat excited to learn of this. Rumor had it he’d once gotten on very well with Miss Alice, the lady of the castle, when they’d both run away from home; they were now close friends.

There was no time to prepare an elaborate gift—he grabbed a basket of the farm’s customary treats and hastened to present his calling card, eager to pay a visit to Hephaestus Castle.

As he offered his card, he was slightly apprehensive: it all felt rushed, and he wasn’t even sure if Miss Alice remembered him; being turned down would be entirely reasonable.

…Yet, it seemed he was given an extremely warm welcome, and was ushered in immediately… but that was another story.

By the afternoon, Hephaestus Castle delivered the first batch of forged goods.

Living up to the title of god of craftsmen, Miss Alice’s efficiency and skill were second to none. A heap of glossy, jet-black, perfectly rounded little black hole stones were piled up in a small bamboo basket, the topmost one jutting above the rest, all bouncing energetically as they were delivered.

[Da-da!]
[Ji!]

The little black holes bounced and knocked together, brimming with vitality. The bamboo basket kept them from scattering everywhere.

Bian Xu crouched down, leaning over the basket, and called out: “Hey! Where’s the king of the black holes?”

[Da! Pa-da pa-da!]

One of the little black holes on the lower level worked its way up with two determined jumps, breaking through the others to stand before Bian Xu.

“Oh! You’re still here!” Bian Xu grinned, raising a finger for it to high-five.

Da!

Si Zhiyan was at the desk handling affairs. Hearing this, he looked over and smiled: “If you like that one so much, keep it.”

[Ji!]
“Really?”
In no time, the black hole had scrambled onto the crown of Bian Xu’s head.
Together, Bian Xu and his black hole companion looked up, golden eyes sparkling.

“Thank you, sir!”
[Da-da!]

Like a pair of children.
Si Zhiyan smiled to himself, absently reaching out to pet a Frosthorn Rabbit Cookie on his desk.

The Frosthorn Rabbit, cool to the touch, twitched its long ears, seemed to understand, and nodded knowingly, spitting out a strawberry-cream ice pop.

…The room was a mess.

Mmm—cool and sweet, with a rich blend of strawberry and cream. Delicious.

Just then, the system’s alert chimed with no warning—

[Ding! The number of forged Rotating Black Hole Crystal clusters has exceeded 100!]

[Harmony—Famine Seed] unlocked.
[World Shard Detection] unlocked.

[Harmony—Famine Seed]
Black Hole Crystals are able to seek out [World Shards], attempting to gain [Recognition] from the residual consciousness within those shards.
Once enough [Recognition] has been amassed, they can resonate with the shard’s consciousness and borrow the power of the world itself.

If multiple Black Hole Crystals achieve resonance with [different shard consciousnesses] and gather together, they can form a [Harmony] between Black Hole Crystals.

When more than 500 Black Hole Crystals trigger [Harmony] at once,
the [Famine Seed (Embryonic)] of this world will be born.

Place it into an empty space slot on the farm, and it will grow into a [World Sapling].
The World Sapling will retain all the resonant souls collected, and the Black Hole Crystals’ consciousness will sink into the Famine Seed, becoming new life.

……

The possibility of cultivating a new Famine Seed had appeared.
Bian Xu leaned in, meeting Si Zhiyan’s eyes, and they exchanged a nod.

Si Zhiyan had spoken to Bian Xu about it before.
If you wanted to collect world seeds, you’d have to search far and wide across the apocalypse, especially seeking out and exploring the most dangerous [Towers].

Even notorious teams like Xu Bei’s, famed as the best in Famine, often suffered casualties when exploring [Towers].
Progress was slow and riddled with failures.

After seven years of effort, Xu Bei’s team had only managed to acquire two Famine Seeds.

But if you could collect enough recognition and let Black Hole Crystals resonate, a new Famine Seed could be attained—it would be a tremendous advantage.

“And to think—it really can grow from a seed into a world sapling…”
Si Zhiyan let out a deep breath.

Deep in the farm’s underground, the living core—the truest heart of the farm, once born from the blood and flesh of Bian Xu and Si Zhiyan—pulsed faintly in the dim light.

This was a miraculous farm.
It could nurture curses, nurture crops.

Maybe it could… nurture worlds.

He was increasingly curious just where this place had come from.
Si Zhiyan pondered.

He asked: “If I want to let a [Famine Seed] already absorbed by the farm grow into a [World Sapling], what should I do?”

The system display flickered twice, then a new line of text appeared:
[Ordinary Famine Seeds are dry and withered.]
[Once the first [Famine Seed (Embryonic)] appears, you can unlock the function to cultivate absorbed Famine Seeds.]

“So, all I need is to first collect a new Famine Seed (Embryonic), and all the issues up to now will be solved?”
Bian Xu’s eyes lit up. Leaning forward on the desk, he exclaimed,
“Wow—collect one seed, and you can grow three world saplings? That’s a real bargain!”

Such optimism. Si Zhiyan smiled, amused.

But he refused to dampen the mood. He nodded with a laugh and turned his gaze to the next feature.

[World Shard Detection]
Most Black Hole Crystals, in their quest for higher forms of life, will actively explore and seek out world shards with resonance potential.
They will point the way for you.

Place the Black Hole Crystal cluster before you, and it will display the coordinates of the nearest world shards.

……

Bian Xu took some time gathering the Black Hole Crystals and dumped them onto the desk.

[Da-da!]

The little black holes rolled from the basket, hopping busily around the table.

As they bounced and jumped in turn, a translucent coordinate gradually appeared above them.

[Eternal Night Gothic City—Dense Apartment Complex]

“It’s someplace we’ve visited.”

Hugging the Black Hole King, Bian Xu settled onto the sofa next to Si Zhiyan, stretching his legs with a grin:

“So, there’s a world shard at the Dense Apartment Complex? Don’t tell me that’s the [Tower] of Eternal Night Gothic City? We really landed near a tower the moment we entered this world? That’s some luck…”

The coordinates blinked twice, and suddenly a long string of entries scrolled below—

[Eternal Night Gothic City—Ruined Amusement Park]
[Eternal Night Gothic City—Seven Mysteries School ~The Endless College Entrance Exam Loop~]
[Eternal Night Grasslands—Withered Wilds]
[Eternal Night Ocean—Endless Sea Doomsday Survival]
…………
……

“Hold on?!” Bian Xu jerked upright. “Isn’t that…way too many?!”

“They’re all part of the Eternal Night Gothic world?! Are there really that many world shards here?!”

“Has the main god lost it?! Wasn’t each apocalypse supposed to be an already destroyed world?”

Si Zhiyan wasn’t especially surprised.

Subconsciously, he looked up at the sky.

The farm was now attached near Hephaestus Castle, so the sky there matched, a flawless stretch of blue.

Up above, the main god’s eye… was nowhere to be seen.

After a while, Si Zhiyan slowly, slowly curved his lips into a smile.

“Apparently, losing your sight has affected you more than we imagined. Main god.”

……
Silence.

The main god didn’t know he was still alive, and would not respond.

If they were ants, drifting from one ant farm to another…
The main god had once guided the ants’ growth, selecting them boxes of appropriate difficulty, moving them from farm to farm.

But now, the main god had lost his sense of the ant nest.

He still possessed the power to wipe out any ant colony at will, but now, every ant farm was a giant black box to him.

He could neither see the ants, nor what was inside the box.
All he could do was fumble blindly in the dark, reach inside to take out bedding at random, then stuff the ants into some other box.

It was all far too troublesome.

If, by chance, the ants ran away or he threw them into a box too harsh, wiping them all out, it would be a total loss.

So, the best choice would be…

In a flash, Si Zhiyan recalled the first time he encountered the [Eternal Night Gothic] world.
A faded world, streets empty of people, monster tales coming to life.
The city teemed with countless buildings, countless horror scenarios; beyond the city, the world sprawled with varied terrain…

—He’d crammed all the ants into one vast, all-encompassing ant box, brimming with endless possibility.
Then, he’d stopped switching them so often.

Here, there were low-difficulty scenarios and high-difficulty scenarios, all marked by their façades. The ants could choose their own challenges, improving themselves step-by-step, fighting one another.
When two years passed, he could open the box and end the selection.

It was only a guess, but Si Zhiyan had a deep intuition that this was likely the truth.

“This really is…” Si Zhiyan took a deep breath, smiling slowly, “Thank you.”

“Let’s go.”

Si Zhiyan smiled as he pulled up the system interface and set the southern portal to [Eternal Night Gothic City—Dense Apartment Complex], placing the coordinates on the street outside.

“This is the opportunity we worked so hard to create.”

“We have to treasure it.”