A farm that breeds gods and demons
Chapter 954 - 717: Universe and the Fruit Tree_1

Chapter 954: Chapter 717: Universe and the Fruit Tree_1

As Tezcatlipoca spoke, he tossed the seed in his palm to the ground, and upon making contact, it began to germinate slowly.

"If we liken the chaos before the universe to a seed, then the sprouting of this seed is akin to the Big Bang that birthed that chaotic mass. The power of the Big Bang caused the universe to expand and stretch incessantly..."

As Tezcatlipoca continued, the seed germinated, took root, and grew at a visible rate, quickly forming into a massive tree. It extended branches and sprouted leaves, relentlessly reaching upwards and outwards.

Listening to Tezcatlipoca and observing the towering tree that sprung from a single seed, Su Yu suddenly understood and said, "So, the growth of this great tree represents the expansion process of the universe forming?"

"Correct... Once the tree has grown, it will flower and bear fruit..." As Tezcatlipoca spoke, he waved his hand, and the tree transformed once again, rapidly blossoming and eventually bearing abundant, ripe fruit.

"Kid, what do you think the fruit borne by this great tree represents in the universe?" Tezcatlipoca asked with a smile on his face.

Contemplating for a moment and looking at the large, spherical fruits, Su Yu had a sudden realization and said, "Planets? Is that it?"

"Haha, yes, for instance, one of these fruits is Earth," Tezcatlipoca said, pointing to one of the spherical fruits.

Curiously, Su Yu asked, "If this fruit represents Earth, then what are we humans? What do we represent?"

Tezcatlipoca smiled without uttering a word, merely waving his hand as the great tree underwent yet another slow transformation. Su Yu knew that Tezcatlipoca was using the remnants of his soul’s power to conjure this illusion, which wasn’t real but could change according to his wishes, somewhat akin to a dreamscape that allowed for free control.

With Tezcatlipoca’s continuous waving, small black dots began to appear on the fruits of the great tree, which quickly grew, broke through the fruit skins, and emerged. Su Yu was shocked; these fruits, resembling apples, had countless wriggling worms inside, greedily devouring the fruit’s flesh, presenting a gruesomely eerie sight.

"You... you mean to say..." Su Yu gasped, beginning to stutter.

"This fruit represents Earth, and those swarming pests crawling over it are the creatures on Earth, with humans being the most notable among them."

"Earth is the fruit, and humans... are pests that emerged within the fruit..." Su Yu was dumbfounded and struggled to accept this fact; however, he intuitively felt there was truth to Tezcatlipoca’s words. He often heard, during his studies, about how humanity was destroying nature, leading to environmental pollution and habitat deterioration, issues like the ozone hole and the greenhouse effect, and even mass deaths and extinction of various other species.

All these could be attributed to the evils committed by humanity.

"But even so... What does this have to do with the end of The Fifth Era... and that great catastrophe?" After a while, Su Yu regained his composure and inquired.

Laughing heartily, Tezcatlipoca said, "The pests are multiplying, and if this continues, the entire fruit will be consumed and rot. At that time, there’s only one thing to do..." As he spoke, he waved his hand, and mist seemed to fall from the void: "In such times, one can only spray pesticide to eradicate these pests..."

As the mist descended, the pests that writhed on the apple-like fruits suddenly fell off in droves, soon covering the ground with a carpet of dead insects.

"This, then, is the end of each era..." Right as Tezcatlipoca finished speaking, Su Yu, as if enlightened, thought, "Could ’sinkholes’ or other disasters be like pesticide? And the places where these pesticide-stricken pests fall, are they the world I am currently in?"

In that moment, Su Yu finally realized, finally understood how the so-called apocalypse of The Fifth Era came about and why humanity perished.

Seeing the look of realization on Su Yu’s face, Tezcatlipoca showed a pleased expression, when suddenly, a cold voice interjected, "Nonsense."

Following this voice, Ada’s phantom slowly materialized and then truly appeared within Su Yu’s consciousness.

Ada shared a soul with Su Yu, and thus, she could also enter his consciousness.

"Ada?" Su Yu was taken aback by the sound of Ada’s voice.

Ada looked at Tezcatlipoca and said, "Old man, what utter nonsense you speak. Although you claim to be the progenitor of the Maya, Aztec, and other tribes, your actual age doesn’t even pass ten thousand years. You haven’t even experienced the last day of the Fourth Era, and everything you say is pure fabrication—a wild guess at best."

Tezcatlipoca’s face flushed red, ready to retort, but Ada said solemnly, "Then I ask you, if it’s as you say, then who planted the seeds of the universe? And what’s the purpose of the fruit that grows on these trees?"

Tezcatlipoca argued, "That’s naturally occurring, just like wild trees and wild fruits in the wilderness."

Ada chuckled. "Well, if they are wild trees and fruits, when the wild fruits get worms, who sprays them with pesticide? Tezcatlipoca, is it you?"

Tezcatlipoca was taken aback, his expression freezing on his face. Clearly, he hadn’t considered this question.

"Su Yu, I ask you, if you were the one who planted this fruit tree, what would be your purpose in doing so?"

After thinking for a moment, Su Yu said, "Of course, it would be to harvest the fruits, whether for personal consumption or to sell them for money. That’s generally the purpose of planting fruit trees, isn’t it?"

Ada hummed in response, saying, "Just as the old fellow has analogized, if this fruit represents Earth and the insects infesting it represent humanity, then why, after living through five epochs—even with The Fifth Era’s end approaching—has such a long period of time passed just to let insects infest the fruit and to keep spraying it with pesticide? Moreover, the insects that get sprayed immediately die... Su Yu, when you entered this world through ’Heaven’s Pit,’ did you die right away?"

Clapping his hands together, Su Yu exclaimed, "Correct! If I were the one who planted the fruit tree, I would have harvested the ripe fruits by now. I wouldn’t have kept letting them sit there, continuously breeding pests... That’s it, could it be, could it be..."

Su Yu’s eyes suddenly widened, and he cried out in shock, "The one who planted this fruit tree doesn’t truly wish to harvest the fruits it bears; their real purpose is to let these fruits breed pests. Their actual goal is the insects."

"Exactly..." Ada laughed lightly while Tezcatlipoca also widened his eyes, muttering to himself, "Could it be so? Are these insects really the ultimate purpose of the one who planted the fruit tree?"

Ada also began gesturing, causing the fruit tree to constantly transform. He said gravely, "Taking this old man’s analogy, if the tree represents the universe and each fruit represents a planet, then the one who planted this fruit tree must have deliberately scattered various insect eggs across the planets." As he spoke and gestured, countless tiny black dots fell onto many fruits.

"These eggs infiltrate the fruits and slowly develop, eventually giving birth to more offspring, and soon... on every single fruit, innumerable insects emerge."

Watching the tree that represented the universe, with every fruit crowded with swarms of tiny insects, Su Yu revealed a look of astonishment on his face and within his heart, beyond description.

Even though it was just Ada and Tezcatlipoca using a tree as a metaphor, listening to it made Su Yu feel the chilling horror, and he even vaguely sensed that the origins of the universe and the birth of mankind might indeed be so.

But if that were truly the case, then who is the person who planted this "universe" as a fruit tree? Merely considering this sent chills all over his body, with an icy dread emerging from within.

"Upon every fruit, countless insects are born; now it’s time for the planter to show up. ’They’ have something to do, don’t they, Su Yu..." Ada suddenly looked at Su Yu.

Su Yu’s face had lost all color, though it was merely a consciousness in thought form, it felt the same, his voice even turning hoarse.

Slowly, Su Yu stepped forward, his thoughts reaching out, he waved his hand slightly and said softly, "Let’s say that I am the one who planted this fruit tree, and let’s say my ultimate goal was just to cultivate these insects. Now that the insects have filled the tree, it’s time to harvest them, to gather all of them."

As he spoke in a deep voice, all the insects started to leave the fruits, falling down in drifts, like a shower of bugs.

"2012... the end of the world... The Fifth Era... The day of the end... It’s just a harvest... the day to collect all the insects..." Su Yu’s face was expressionless, his voice raspy, "The day of harvest of The Fifth Era, four times before, the insects were raised, now it’s the fifth harvest..."

"All these countless insects, once gathered, the place they’re kept... that’s the ’Black Iron World’... which is the world we’ve experienced..." Su Yu spoke slowly, "Is it not so, Ada? Is this what the so-called end of the world, the disaster of The Fifth Era’s day of the end, is all about?" (To be continued, for further information, please log in to www.qidian.com. More Chapters are available there, support the author, support genuine reading!)