Outside, the night was deep; inside the study, the lamps shone brightly.
Lin Tuo quietly gazed at the illusory ocean before him, drawn in grids, his eyes brimming with anticipation.
Compared to land, the ocean clearly offered far more room to maneuver. The Pacific alone spanned 180 million square kilometers—next to that, Sandbox No. 2 was insignificant.
And on the open high seas, as long as he avoided the major shipping lanes, the external impact would be minimal.
The only problem was potential climate disruption, but he had already asked the Evolution Sand Table about it. The answer was that the impact would be limited, and adjustments would be made automatically.
Given the power the Evolution Sand Table had displayed, he needn't worry.
"Then it'll be on the ocean."
Having decided, Lin Tuo deftly began selecting the sandbox area, each grid lighting up as his finger brushed over it.
At the same time, the virtual panel displayed his remaining available area in real time.
"This should do."
After fine-tuning the details, Lin Tuo straightened up and exhaled.
[Selection complete. Construct sandbox in selected area?]
"Yes!"
[Host confirmed. Clearing selected region… Generating isolation shield…]
As information streamed into his mind, the light-and-shadow map shifted, zooming in until only the scaled-down chosen sea zone remained.
Around its perimeter, a familiar translucent barrier slowly rose, arching high into the sky and closing to seal off the entire expanse of ocean.
The entire process was silent.
At the same time, far across the South Pacific—
Night blanketed the sea.
Starlight flickered from above as ocean winds howled, waves crashed, and beneath the black currents, marine life continued in its ancient rhythms.
Suddenly, above the vast ocean, a colossal translucent shadow appeared.
It was enormous, blotting out swathes of starlight. At first it was transparent, but within a breath, it deepened into darkness, solidifying into near substance.
As it became real, the seawater was forcibly displaced. Countless marine creatures, too, were quietly shifted aside by an invisible, immense force.
From the sky, one would see a vast, irregular ring suddenly emerge within the endless ocean.
Inside, the sea turned pitch black.
Outside, winds grew chaotic.
"Wooo…"
Not long after the black box formed, a cargo ship came plowing through the waves from the east-north direction.
This sea zone was remote, far from land, dotted only with a few barren islets. Only an occasional long-haul freighter passed by.
Onboard—
The ship's floodlights lit the deck, piercing the dark like blades, while the engines' steady hum was almost soporific.
Only a handful of bored watchmen loitered about, stepping onto the deck now and then.
"Feels like the wind's a little off," one sailor remarked as he came out again.
"Really?" His colleague, clearly half-asleep, muttered, "So what if it is?"
"No, something's not right…" The first couldn't put it into words, but his instincts tingled.
Muttering, he strode quickly around a corner to the portside railing.
Clutching the rope against the turbulent wind, he peered forward."What's that? An island? There aren't supposed to be any islands this big around here…"
A murky black silhouette loomed in the distance. His puzzlement grew, and he rubbed his eyes for a clearer look.
Just then, the clouds above parted. Moonlight spilled down.
It lit the sea, it lit the wall that now stretched across the waves like a monumental barrier without end.
It also lit the steel freighter—and the sailor at its railing, frozen stiff, eyes bulging, utterly speechless.
A full ten seconds passed before a cry finally rang out across the deck:
"Look! What the hell is that?!"
At the Lishan Martial Arts Hall, inside the study—
When Lin Tuo saw the isolation shield complete, he couldn't help but marvel quietly, even though this wasn't his first time.
Under the lamplight, the ocean in the sand table gleamed deep blue, with the surrounding waves reduced to the faintest ripples.
Just then, a fresh piece of information bloomed in his mind.
The Evolution Sand Table was transmitting a new function description:
[New Function Unlocked: "Zoom." Because the sandbox corresponds to an area exceeding preset values, Zoom has been enabled for easier observation…]
It was short, and Lin Tuo understood it at once.
Simply put, with such a vast area shrunk into this tiny space, the scale was even more exaggerated than Yang City or the Oasis.
He had always been able to magnify sections before, but only slightly, and without control.
It had been so difficult to observe life in the Oasis that he might as well have needed a microscope.
"Zoom, huh…"
Intrigued, Lin Tuo fixed his gaze on a few barren islands scattered across the sea.
As he focused, he willed them to enlarge.
Before him, the map expanded, most of it pushing beyond the sandbox's edges, leaving the islands detailed and clear.
"Shrink." With another thought, the map returned to normal.
Yes, just like a smartphone navigation app.
Of course, the feature was limited to observation only, with no effect on the actual physical scale.
"Useful ability. Too bad magnification has limits—you can't zoom in enough to see human faces."
After a few more tests, he grew familiar with the controls. The Evolution Sand Table prompted him again:
[Sandbox No. 2 complete. Current environment has excessive seawater proportion…]
"You don't need to tell me, I can see that…" Lin Tuo muttered inwardly, then retrieved the buckets and tools he had already prepared and began draining water.
If he wanted to build a "New Continent," things couldn't stay like this.
The "fish-men" were fine, but the humans and mutant beasts from the Transit Zone couldn't survive here. Toss them in now, and all the lives he had painstakingly saved would be lost.
That was why, in his plan, step two after claiming the sea was filling it with land.
But first, the extra water had to be removed.
Luckily, he had just done this not long ago and was quite practiced.
"Splash…"
"Splash…"
He dipped into the sandbox, scooping up millions of tons of seawater, dumping it into barrels, then pouring the sterilized water over the courtyard plants.
Soon, the sea level in Sandbox No. 2 dropped significantly.
Several islands emerged.
"Next is to bring in the soil."
Rolling up his sleeves, hefting his shovel, Lin Tuo headed straight for the back mountain.
(End of Chapter)