Chapter 6: Ch 6 : The Subtle Plunge and the Genetic Hunt

As the two-hour mark of God-time approached, a quiet sense of satisfaction settled over Sunny. His divine interventions had paid off handsomely. Veridia, once a vast blue marble, was now a vibrant tapestry of life. Greenery adorned every newly exposed landmass, a testament to the rapid proliferation of the mosses, lichens, and the burgeoning forms of plants, shrubs, and bushes. In the aquatic realm, the multicellular algae had continued their relentless evolution. Small, rudimentary fish-like creatures now darted through the water, their primitive eyes scanning for sustenance. Some of these early aquatic inhabitants had even developed rudimentary outer shells, a nascent defense against the emerging predators in the primordial soup. "Even with divine intervention, I didn't think it was possible to evolve lifeforms to such an extent in just two Godly hours," Sunny mused, a genuine awe in his cosmic consciousness. The 1000% faster evolution rate for the first 7 Godly days was truly a cheat code, accelerating eons of natural selection into a blink of his divine eye. Having become a God, Sunny found himself with an abundance of "time" on his hands. He had developed a new routine: leisurely observing the intricate dance of life on Veridia, monitoring his steadily climbing Faith points, and occasionally dipping into the chaotic, yet strangely comforting, stream of the God Chat. It was during one of these routine checks, he found an anomaly. "The faith points stopped increasing?" Sunny exclaimed in surprise, his mental voice echoing in the void. His habit of checking his Faith points every few minutes had ingrained their rapid, almost rhythmic increase into his awareness. Before, they had been surging, gaining roughly 1 Faith point every 2 minutes or so, a steady climb that had brought his current total to a comfortable 27.14 Faith points. But now, the counter was stagnant. Utterly, unnervingly still. "System, why are my Faith points not increasing?" Sunny demanded, a flicker of unease turning into a grim premonition. There was no reply, only the vast silence of the cosmic void. "Is this a misfortune?" Sunny grimaced. The global notification from before had warned of daily misfortunes, and this sudden halt in Faith generation, coupled with the System's silence, felt like a direct hit. He had mentally prepared for grand, cataclysmic events – earthquakes, tsunamis, meteor showers – and had even mentally rehearsed solutions for each. But this was different, insidious. He immediately began observing his world with heightened intensity, searching for any potential sign of the misfortune. His gaze swept across the verdant landmasses and plunged into the depths of the oceans. The dwindling number of lifeforms, though not yet catastrophic, was a clear indicator of a problem. A huge loss of lifeforms would mean a huge loss of potential Faith, a blow he couldn't afford. It took approximately 1 month of planetary time (which, given the 10,000x time flow, was still just a few minutes of Sunny's perceived time) for him to pinpoint the root cause of this silent catastrophe. It wasn't overtly dramatic, but it was relentless. The vast colonies of algae, the very foundation of his aquatic ecosystem, were dying. They were not being consumed by predators, nor were they suffering from a lack of light or nutrients. Their demise was slow, pervasive, and utterly baffling at first glance. The reason for their death, once he meticulously traced the subtle indicators, was horrifyingly simple: "Oxygen Depletion," Sunny grimaced. The massive, unchecked proliferation of life, particularly the rapidly growing multicellular algae and the new fish-like creatures, had consumed oxygen faster than it could be replenished. The balance of his primordial world had been tipped. His "Basic Knowledge of Life," the ethereal scroll he had absorbed, now proved invaluable. It contained not just theoretical understanding, but practical applications for planetary management. It outlined ways to increase oxygen levels in a planet. One method was direct divine intervention: he could use his divine power to break water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen, then combine the oxygen atoms to form breathable O2, and finally dissolve this oxygen directly into the seawater. This was a powerful, immediate solution, but it came with a steep price. Such a grand-scale manipulation would consume more than one-third of his current 27.14 Faith points, leaving him dangerously low for future misfortunes. The second way was to use the evolution of lifeforms themselves to create organisms that could effectively produce oxygen. While the newly evolved plants and bushes on land were contributing, they were not the primary oxygen producers. Sunny knew from his memories of the Blue Planet that even there, only about 29% of oxygen was formed by land plants and trees; the vast majority came from the oceans. Relying solely on land plants for this crisis was not a viable long-term solution. Sunny's preference was clear: he wanted to take the second, evolutionary path, to save his precious Faith points. But he also understood that evolution was not simple. One misstep, one incorrect nudge, could lead to failed evolution, mass extinction, and the complete collapse of his nascent ecosystems. The risk was immense. He weighed his options, the silent, dying world of Veridia pressing down on his cosmic consciousness. He needed a solution that was both effective and sustainable, one that addressed the immediate crisis while building resilience for the future. He decided on a hybrid approach, a path that combined both options while conserving Faith points and simultaneously accelerating the evolution of oxygen-producing organisms. His plan was simple in concept, complex in execution: spend a moderate amount of Faith (he mentally targeted 4-6 points) to selectively boost the oxygen-producing efficiency of specific algae types, and to accelerate the evolution of more oxygen-efficient traits across his aquatic lifeforms. This was cheaper than direct oxygenation, but it would take time – planetary time – risking more lifeforms if the problem persisted. But Sunny was resolute. He was sure about the risks. He estimated that a few hundred million of his lifeforms, a significant number but a small fraction of his billions-strong population, would be lost at most. A calculated sacrifice for long-term stability. The "Basic Knowledge of Life" had provided him with key notes about genetic code and the ability to influence it through divine power (Faith). However, Sunny, despite his newfound divine comprehension, was not a geneticist. He didn't possess an intuitive understanding of every specific gene sequence. His only option was a painstaking process of hit and trial. He plunged his consciousness back into Veridia, focusing on the microscopic world of algae. He began to channel his Faith, a subtle, warm energy flowing from him. He would mentally "touch" a specific genetic sequence within an algae cell, observe the minute changes, and then repeat the process, millions of times over, across countless individual organisms. It was like blindly searching for a single, crucial switch in a vast, complex control panel, relying on the subtle feedback from the System and the dying organisms themselves. He was looking for the genetic trigger that would make them hyper-efficient at photosynthesis, at breaking down CO2 and releasing O2. The process was tedious, demanding immense focus and draining his mental energy even as it consumed Faith. He spent what felt like an eternity, patiently, meticulously, trying one genetic permutation after another. The dying algae were a constant, grim reminder of the urgency. After 3 planetary days of this relentless, divine genetic hunt – days that felt like hours of intense concentration to Sunny – he finally felt a distinct shift. A surge of recognition, a clear, undeniable feedback from the System. He had found it. The specific genetic code responsible for supercharging oxygen production in one of the algae strains. He had identified the key. Now, the real work of accelerating its spread and impact could begin. The immediate crisis wasn't over, but the path to recovery had just been illuminated.